“The Glutton has two weaknesses. First, if it consumes too much inorganic matter like glass or steel, it suffers from indigestion.
“Second, once it has eaten a certain amount, it will form a cocoon and enter a molting period. After the metamorphosis, it becomes even stronger, but during the molting period itself, it is extremely vulnerable. That is the best time to kill it easily.”
“I see,” Yue Shi nodded.
At that moment, The Glutton was frantically gnawing on the steel bars of its cell, producing an ear-piercing grinding sound. Meanwhile, the restraints on The Crucible of Life were reaching their limit, nearly at the point of snapping.
Yue Shi walked toward the other cells. His hands swept quickly across the thick steel bars, causing the metal he touched to rapidly corrode and snap.
He grabbed the broken pieces of rebar and stuffed them all at once into the massive, tooth-filled maw of The Glutton.
The Glutton’s giant mouth instinctively clamped down and chewed, but the excessive amount of hard steel clearly caused it extreme discomfort. Its massive, fleshy body writhed violently, and the speed at which it devoured and digested slowed down visibly.
Taking advantage of its indigestion, Yue Shi shouted in a low voice, “Death!”
The power of the Death Sentence curse instantly descended upon the mountain of meat. Dull gray patches of death rapidly spread across The Glutton’s surface.
The Glutton tried its old trick again, attempting to sprout new little mouths near the dead zones to devour the necrotic tissue.
But this time, the growth of the new mouths was slow, and their attempts to devour the “dead meat” were sluggish and weak. The rebar filling its main mouth severely hindered its movements.
Now was the time!
Yue Shi showed no mercy, unleashing Death Sentence repeatedly.
“Death!”
“Death!”
“Death!”
Three even more violent death curses struck The Glutton’s massive frame in succession.
This time, The Glutton was powerless to resist. The massive block of meat seemed to have all its vitality drained in an instant; the writhing mouths went rigid, unable to let out even a sound.
The dark gray death spots spread like a plague. The meat, which had been elastic and full of life, lost its luster at a visible rate, eventually turning into a heap of lifeless carrion as all movement ceased entirely.
Invisible tentacles swept over it, drawing out its source essence.
But... it still wasn't enough!
Yue Shi turned his gaze toward his final target: The Crucible of Life, covered in heads, arms, and legs. This was the real trouble.
He launched a tentative Death Sentence.
“Death!”
Under his curse, the four heads on the torso of The Crucible of Life reacted differently. The heads of the child and the woman jerked upward, their faces instantly contorted in extreme agony as broken whimpers escaped their throats: “It hurts... it hurts so much...”
Meanwhile, the heads of the young man and the old man snapped toward Yue Shi, their eyes exploding with bone-deep ferocity and cruelty.
The dozens of arms and legs on its body suddenly erupted with terrifying strength, frantically tearing and kicking at the already crumbling restraints. The sharp sound of metal screeching and tearing was incessant.
“It’s going out of control!” Dr. Luo, having regained her senses, saw the scene and screamed in terror.
She looked around, finding no other living souls, but continued to shriek at the air, “The Crucible of Life’s containment system is top-tier! For it to break free now, that old bastard Zeng San must have released the core restraints earlier! Find a way to control it, or we’re all dead!”
Yue Shi thought to himself that in a resource-deprived place like Peace Alley, which lacked even a decent transcendent laboratory, all the equipment was primitive and ancient. It was only a matter of time before a supernatural creature of this level went out of control.
“Crack—Snap!”
A piercing snap rang out as the last few restraints on The Crucible of Life shattered.
“Voom!”
An invisible but incredibly powerful shockwave erupted from The Crucible of Life, sweeping through the entire underground space.
Yue Shi’s body was covered by invisible wings, the barrier easily blocking the impact. Dr. Luo, however, was sent flying, her back slamming hard against the wall with a muffled groan.
As the shockwave passed, even the sturdy steel cages were shaken and twisted out of shape.
Now free, all four of The Crucible of Life’s heads tilted back simultaneously, mouths agape, letting out sharp, chaotic, yet extremely joyful laughter.
The dozen or so legs beneath it began to move, its massive body slamming into the iron bars of the cell with a thunderous boom.
CLANG!!!
The sound was deafening!
Immediately after, all the arms across its body grabbed the thick steel bars and shook them, while the legs below kicked violently at the gate.
The strength contained in those limbs was beyond imagination; the hard steel was easily twisted and torn like noodles.
CLATTER!
A large section of the bars was ripped away. In an incredibly grotesque fashion, The Crucible of Life shifted its many legs and walked out of the dungeon.
Its four heads swiveled. Unable to see the hidden Yue Shi, its gaze instantly locked onto Dr. Luo nearby. All laughter stopped, replaced by the pure greed of a predator.
Dr. Luo felt her soul leave her body. She rolled across the floor desperately, trying to get as far away from the monster as possible.
She rolled toward the dungeon exit. After gaining some distance, she scrambled to her feet, ignoring the pain in her body as she stumbled into the secret passage, fleeing for her life without looking back.
The four heads of The Crucible of Life erupted into cheerful laughter again. Its dozen legs surged forward, chasing after Dr. Luo with a bizarre speed that defied its massive bulk.
Yue Shi didn't follow immediately. Instead, he walked quickly to Zeng San to finish him off.
He activated Decaying Talons, pressing his hand against Zeng San’s corpse to rot it away, and finally made sure to sever the head.
“He should be thoroughly dead now, right?”
Yue Shi still felt a sense of dissonance. Would a cunning old fox like Zeng San really die so haphazardly?
After watching the corpse for a few more moments to ensure there was no corpse reanimation, Yue Shi finally hurried out of the dungeon.
When he emerged from the Red House, he saw the massive, deformed silhouette of The Crucible of Life already appearing on the distant street.
Whether Dr. Luo had intentionally led it there to spread the risk or if it was instinctively following the human scent, the monster was now moving toward a densely populated area.
Wherever it went, it was as if hell had descended. The residents of Peace Alley fled in terror, but the arms on The Crucible of Life could actually stretch!
Anyone touched by them was instantly and forcefully pulled, becoming suctioned onto the monster’s ever-expanding body.
One, two, ten... more and more people were merged into it.
The merged individuals didn't seem to die. Their bodies were contorted and fitted into the main body of The Crucible of Life; their hands and feet became its new limbs, while their heads were preserved, becoming part of its massive frame.
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