Mutated brown and red flesh flowed in the liquid. The walls rose and fell like they were breathing. Han Fei felt like he was back in his mother’s womb. Life had a new meaning here.
“Humans with immortality look so ugly.” Han Fei memorized this scene. If he managed to escape from this altar, he had to go to Immortal Pharma’s headquarters.
“When consciousness becomes immortal, the bodies become clothes. The gardeners we wear are responsible to communicate with the outside world and look after the garden; the big fish you see is the manager. They can live up to hundreds of years. They are also highly adaptive and strong.” Ah Nian explained the secret of the fleshy world to Han Fei patiently, “Humans replace God. You might think this is disgusting, but in their eyes, this place is the world’s most perfect place.”
The liquid thickened. The gardeners, Ah Nian and Han Fei possessed, opened their mouths. They had no teeth, and a web covered their lips. They seemed to absorb nutrients from the liquid. At first, Han Fei was confused about how the water got its nutrients, but he soon got the answer. In the middle of the sea of flowers, all the roots gathered to form a deep blood pool. Even from far away, Han Fei could tell the liquid inside the pool was special.
“Are we going to the pool?”
“The flowers valued by God are all there. We have to go there.” Ah Nian really wanted to help Han Fei but he had his own goals. After the tragedy occurred, he failed to protect his two children. Perhaps as a father, he still wished to find his two children among the flowers.
Among the roots, there were floating heads. They had no bodies or legs. Instead, they had six arms of different lengths growing around their heads.
“Don’t be scared. They are tools of an even lower level than the gardeners. The giant heads are used to store consciousness, and the arms are just there to execute the intention of the brain. Therefore, they are easily replaceable.” Ah Nian walked past them. As long as he didn’t damage the roots, the monsters ignored him.
“What will happen after these monsters die?” Han Fei asked.
“The consciousness will return to the sea of flowers and then bloom again. The fleshy shell will fall into the blood hole.” Ah Nian swam some distance further and pointed down. A lot of dying fleshy shells jumped down into the hole. Their flesh was dissolved in the liquid. Some of them died while new monsters crawled out of the hole. The new monsters would be modified by the blood inside the pool. Most of them wouldn’t survive. A small portion would successfully crawl out of the blood pool and become a new batch of fleshy monsters.
The human consciousness controlled everything. When a certain population of fleshy monsters was low, the pool would increase its number.
Different monsters would require different resources to create. It was why the big fish looked down on Han Fei and Ah Nian.
“Do not get sucked into it.” Ah Nian and Han Fei passed through the roots to reach the edge of the blood pool. Han Fei then realized the pool was much larger than he thought. It was more like a blood lake.
“Shouldn’t the flower of humanity be among the sea of flowers? Why are we doing here?” Han Fei made the calculation. They still had one and a half hours left.
“If you take the flowers by brute force, you’ll be attacked by the Pure Hatreds. Haven’t you experienced that last time? Plus, the flowers of humanity are very fragile. They might get destroyed during the battle.” Ah Nian smiled sadly. “You look so gentle. But you are so crazy.”
“If we don’t do that, are we expecting them to deliver the flowers to us?”
“That’s about it.” Ah Nian stood beside the blood pool and looked into the water. “Sometimes, some special shells will be born inside this hole. They have an extremely long lifespan and certain intelligence. They don’t want to be controlled by human consciousness, so they hide inside the blood hole. Once we fish them out, those precious souls will actively descend into the shells.”
“We’re here to look for Pure Hatred’s humanity. Are you sure this can work?” Han Fei didn’t think they could fish a rare fleshy shell within an hour.
“I am familiar with all the flowers in the sea. The Pure Hatred’s flower of humanity is used by God to control Pure Hatred. They are normally hidden deep inside the sea of flowers. Normally you can find them, so the only way is to lure them out.” Ah Nian patted his chest. “Trust me. You’re my savior. Do you think I’ll lie to you?”
Ah Nian was very confident. He chose a spot to sit and then cut open a wound on the gardener’s body. He took a red rope he had prepared earlier.
“I participated in Immortal Project and knew many details. My mentor took me somewhere similar. But I didn’t think they would manage to make everything.” The red rope was made of an unknown material. It was soaked with Ah Nian’s blood, and it was very alluring to the monsters inside the blood hole. “Since we want to fish for the rarest fleshy shell, then we can’t use a normal lure.” Ah Nian’s voice changed. He tied the rope to Han Fei.
“What are you doing?” Han Fei held the rope and asked in confusion.
“Do you know how to fish?” Ah Nian’s voice lowered like he was falling asleep.
“I’ve received some training at the elder’s murderers club. I know a bit about gardening and calligraphy as well. However, I haven’t tried fishing myself.” Han Fei was honest.
“Then, you can give it a try today. I’ll give you the fishing line. But this lure is very rare, so you have to be careful.” After Ah Nian said that, he cut through his neck and crawled out of the fleshy clothes. Han Fei then saw that the other end of the rope was inserted into Ah Nian’s heart.
“Are you talking about yourself as the lure?”
“Is there a more precious lure than a living person with seven awakenings?” Ah Nian stopped talking. His heart slowed. His eyes blurred. The power of the memory persona enveloped him. Ah Nian then leaped into the blood pool. A few minutes ago, Ah Nian told Han Fei not to jump into the blood pool, but he dived into it.
“And this man called me crazy?”
Han Fei held the red rope and sat on the ground, staring at the lake's surface. He had no fishing experience, but this was more like babysitting a diver. Normal fishing didn’t work like this.
Time flowed by. Han Fei didn’t move. Small vessels grew on his clothes. From afar, he looked like an inconspicuous mound.
“Perhaps I should be the lure? Did Ah Nian not trust me? Then again, with my negative charm, I’ll probably fish out the Pure Hatred.”
Eventually, Han Fei started to get bored. Dead monsters fell from above the blood pool. The bodies melted in the water. New monsters crawled out. Everything was progressing nicely. Only the pool area was silent and quiet.
Han Fei waited for another ten minutes. He stopped thinking about the catch but started to worry about Ah Nian’s safety.
“Should I pull on the rope? I hear that will help attract a bigger fish.” Han Fei had read many books, but he realized he was lacking in real experience. With some hesitation, Han Fei tried to pull on the rope. The blood turned murky. All the new monsters swam away!
“I got something?”
Several seconds later, a giant force came from the pool and almost pulled Han Fei down into it. He had to use the power of the abyss to balance out the force.
“Got it!” To ensure Ah Nian’s safety, Han Fei didn’t dare to let go. He was dragged by the ‘fish’ about 10 meters closer to the edge of the blood pool. They fought for about half an hour before Han Fei slowly dragged the scary ‘big fish’ to land!
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve managed to capture the rare unknown fish—Big Meat!
“Big Meat: It’s an unknown species that hasn’t been captured before. No one knows when it appeared. It has an extremely long lifespan. It has unknown attributes. Perhaps you can give it a taste!
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve unlocked medium talent, fishing! Luck + 1 when you’re fishing! Stamina +1!”
Han Fei didn’t have the time to check the messages.
Staring at the meat mountain, Han Fei was stunned. The fish was covered in strange patterns. The patterns were not painted on. The fish grew with them. They contained the secret of life.
“Help!” An arm reached out of the fish's mouth. Ah Nian’s face appeared in the fish's throat. “I’ll now wear this clothes. When we enter deep inside the root system of the sea of flowers, I will shed this clothes. Many consciousness and souls will come to fight for it. You need to pay attention then!”
