Chapter 99: One Body, Three Facets

"No way, again?"

Quickly closing the system package, Gune looked at himself.

After a quick check, fortunately, the flesh on his body hadn't fallen off.

Then what had fallen?

Gune looked around.

On the "flesh floor" around him, there were a few palm-sized chunks of meat, struggling and writhing.

Gune suddenly looked up at the top of the flesh barrier.

There, at the top of the flesh barrier, the flesh that had been so tough that even the Demon Blade Curse couldn't cut it was now splitting apart on its own, falling piece by piece.

"The flesh barrier is collapsing."

"It seems it's mostly because I picked up that piece of Unnamable Flesh."

Watching the falling flesh, Gune was neither anxious nor afraid.

After all, this flesh could no longer harm him.

Moreover, the cave passage was wide, and Gune wasn't worried about it blocking the path.

Pat-pat... pat-pat...

As the flesh continued to fall,

large chunks of flesh on the walls also began to peel off.

When these chunks of flesh piled together, Gune noticed something very peculiar.

These pieces of flesh, varying in size—some the size of a thumb, some palm-sized, some as big as a head, and some as large as a washbasin—

when piled together, seemed to be... fighting each other.

They writhed against one another, devouring each other in some kind of absorption process.

If Gune's perception hadn't been enhanced three or four times, he probably wouldn't have sensed the battle among these fleshes and would have thought they were just writhing and climbing over each other.

"Mutual devouring? Then what will the final victorious lump of flesh become?" Gune's eyes lit up.

Gune wasn't in a hurry to leave; after all, the core Unnamable Flesh was in his hand.

These scattered fleshes would have difficulty causing any trouble.

If things got out of hand, Gune could simply close his eyes and take out the Unnamable Flesh again.

These writhing flesh barriers would have to behave themselves.

Just as Gune was pondering,

"Crash..."

Behind Gune, a loud sound of collapsing flesh came.

Gune quickly turned to look.

This direction was also the end of the flesh barrier passage.

Now, as large amounts of flesh fell away, the scene ahead came into Gune's view.

What met his eyes was a fairly spacious spherical underground cave, about the size of a living room.

Inside this underground cave,

besides the flesh barrier passage he was in, there were two other entrances that looked like passages.

However, those two passages were completely blocked.

Just as the flesh barrier had previously blocked the end of the passage Gune was in.

These two blocked passages:

one was pitch-black, like a black hole devouring all light and stone crystals, a blocked dark cave;

the other was a cave of stark white bones—skulls, hand bones, leg bones, ribs, and all kinds of bones—forming the ground, walls, and even the ceiling, a thorough bone cave.

Staring at the pitch-black blocked passage caused no problem.

But when he looked at the passage built of stark white bones,

Gune felt his entire skeleton go out of control.

It was as if the bone cave was a magnet trying to pull his bones toward it.

Gune sensed danger and quickly turned around.

As he turned, the feeling of his bones losing control gradually faded.

While waiting for the fleshes to fight among themselves,

Gune began to think.

"Three caves: one flesh barrier cave, one pure black stone cave, and one bone cave."

"One body, three facets?"

“Inside this cavern of flesh and blood, there was an indescribable mass of flesh.”

“Then, are there any other indescribable objects or parts inside the other two sealed caverns?”

Gunie opened the system.

At this moment, the system's encounter with the “indescribable flesh” showed a status of “completed.”

And no other encounter content appeared.

However, this did not mean that there were no terrifying things inside those two caverns.

“The system's encounters do not come at the cost of death.”

“Take this flesh for example: if I closed my eyes, bore the mountain-like pressure, walked in step by step, used the system to collect the flesh, and then walked out with my eyes closed, it would be entirely feasible.”

“My previous encounters were the same; the system does not trade death for encounters.”

“But for me,”

“it is necessary to touch those terrifying existences through death to gain extraordinary resistance and extraordinary talent.”

“After all, the touch that brings death deals me the greatest blow, and upon resurrection, my talents and resistance improve even more.”

“Unfortunately… this is not the entrance,” Gunie sighed softly.

“Otherwise, I could touch the black cavern and the bone cavern to gain the corresponding extraordinary resistance, enter them, and use the system space to collect.”

“I don't know about the bone cavern, but the black cavern that absorbs light is very similar to Cavern 9970!”

“When I go see Cavern 9970, I'll know if this place is connected to the main cavern of Incident 9970.”

With this thought, Gunie opened his system again.

Rebirth count: 3

After a moment's deliberation, Gunie had a plan.

Passing through the flesh barrier cavern passage,

Gunie backed up into the small underground space where the three caverns converged.

“Demon Blade Curse.”

With a surge of thought, the Demon Blade Curse quickly condensed.

Swish!

The Demon Blade Curse swiftly slashed toward the dense bones of the bone cavern.

Bang!

The demon blade exploded.

Gunie quickly looked over; the bones were unscathed.

Gunie quickly turned back.

“Indeed, hard as stone.”

Then Gunie condensed another Demon Blade Curse, this time sending it toward the light-absorbing black crystal-like stone.

“Bang!”

The demon blade exploded, and the light-absorbing black crystal stone was likewise unscathed.

At this point, Gunie had a rough idea.

This light-absorbing black crystal stone was likely connected to the main body of Incident 9970.

“Unfortunately… although I know the entrance to Cavern 9970, I can't get in. There are many top experts from the Extraordinary Association guarding it. If I go in and come out, they'll definitely search me thoroughly, and might even interrogate me with some kind of ‘Truth Curse.’”

“Then all my secrets would be exposed. Not feasible.”

“On the other hand… this bone cavern.” Gunie glanced slightly at the bone cavern that attracted his bones.

“If I gain the corresponding resistance, I can enter without dying, meeting the conditions. At that time, perhaps… there will be an encounter guiding me to the entrance?”

“Regardless of whether there's an encounter, I must obtain the corresponding extraordinary resistances of these two terrifying objects and the extraordinary talents they grant me.”

“Hoo… in… hale…”

With a deep breath, Gunie steadied his mind.

“Touching both objects at once, both powers taint me simultaneously. One rebirth, two curse memes infected. Better effect.”

Arriving beside the light-absorbing crystal ore, he steadied himself and looked toward the bone cavern. At the same time, Gunie pressed his palm against the light-absorbing crystal ore.

Two kinds of bizarre, twisted sensations that made Gunie's soul tremble flooded the depths of his mind.

The touch of the light-absorbing crystal ore made Gunie feel as if he saw an endless black hole constantly devouring his soul, his life, his will. Gunie only felt himself falling madly, falling, falling.

The endless falling darkness completely swallowed Gunie. He could not sense any external situation, nor any fluctuations in physiology, will, or emotion.

It was as if he had entered an endless cold stillness.

And the bone cavern was even worse.

It directly attracted Gunie's skeleton to break free from his flesh, turning into a rigid skeleton that plunged into the bone cavern.

This time, Gunie died a miserable death once again.