The black-haired girl turned around, revealing a somewhat subtle expression to the crowd trailing behind her.

 

“As you can see, this place is probably the true birthplace of the abyssal creatures.”

 

There were far too many abyssal creatures sealed inside this hall, like bees stacked together in a hive. If they were all released, the number would probably triple that of the ones currently wreaking havoc outside.

 

Even Violet couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of such a scene. While she herself wasn’t afraid, if the Alliance’s defenses were breached and such a number of abyssal creatures flooded into the major countries, it would be a true catastrophe for all living beings.

 

She had thought that abyssal creatures were some kind of, or even the main, life forms living in the abyss, created at least by the power of the Goddess of Earth, if nothing else. But the sight before her overturned most of the assumptions made by the priestess.

 

Abyssal creatures were artificially mass-produced, and the means used were similar to biotechnology.

 

Of course, this thing definitely had something to do with Seth, but what kind of place was the abyss… really?

 

“It’s truly… incredible, these strange pods… Miss Violet, judging from your previous actions, have you perhaps encountered something similar before?”

 

The one speaking was a woman named Leona, one of the four temple priests. As the saying goes, old habits die hard, she immediately noticed the unusual behavior and expression of the priestess.

 

Violet had no intention of revealing her secret as a traveler. She had a quite reasonable explanation for this inquiry.

 

“I once saw similar devices in… fragments of someone’s memory. They should be something that doesn’t belong to this world, and to this day, I still don’t quite understand their origin. I never expected to see them here.”

 

“Memory fragments, huh…”

 

As a servant of the gods, the flow of souls was naturally not a secret to Leona. Although Violet’s words were more of a hint than a direct statement, their authenticity could indeed withstand scrutiny.

 

Now was not the time for scheming. After a brief probing, Leona, seeing that the black-haired girl had no intention of providing further details, wisely chose to remain silent and turned her attention to Sigrid instead.

 

“Violet, we absolutely cannot allow these abyssal creatures to leave the magic island. There are too many of them. Once they enter the battlefield, all defenses will collapse in a short time. Since you’ve seen something similar before, do you know how to destroy them?”

 

“Well, even if you ask me like that…”

 

Direct attack was definitely not an option. These abyssal creatures were not juveniles in their development process, they simply hadn’t awakened and become active for certain reasons. Without understanding the situation fully, breaking those culture dishes might backfire.

 

Of course, the priestess did have the means to destroy all the abyssal creatures in this hall at once, even the entire magic island if necessary, but unless absolutely necessary, Violet didn’t want to resort to brute force to solve the problem.

 

After all, the secrets here had not been fully unraveled yet, and she also needed to consider the consequences of using high-level magic.

 

“I think, for now, we shouldn’t rush to deal with those abyssal creatures. Since they’re not moving for the time being, why not proceed further and see what’s deeper inside?”

 

The black-haired girl pointed ahead of the main hall, to the entrance on the other side, which was similar to the main entrance of an ordinary palace but several meters high, with doors made of the same dead gray vine material.

 

Obviously, this hall was not the true endpoint.

 

“Is that so… All right, let’s go according to your suggestion.”

 

As the spokespersons for the two small groups, Violet and Sigrid reached a consensus, and naturally, the others had no objections. They continued forward, stepping on the damp floor soaked with culture fluid.

 

Upon reaching the door, Violet was about to start figuring out how to open this “biological door,” but the vines naturally parted to the sides, like the motion-sensing glass doors in high-end hotels on Earth.

 

“Hmm?”

 

The priestess furrowed her brow.

 

Was this how the door was designed to work, or had something inside already detected their presence and deliberately done this?

 

Moreover, despite the occasional emergence of abyssal creatures from the island’s caves before their arrival, they hadn’t encountered a single living enemy upon infiltration.

 

Could it be that someone behind the scenes intentionally suspended the awakening process at the grand hall, which was supposed to be the sole production or storage point for the abyssal creatures, awaiting their arrival?

 

Interesting, it seemed quite similar to emergency defense systems activated after an external invasion.

 

“Be careful, everyone. There might be a battle ahead, and the enemies likely won’t be just ordinary abyssal creatures.”

 

“Yes, Master.”

 

Naturally, the little Dragon was the first to respond to the declaration of battle, and the others also drew their weapons and prepared themselves.

 

Then, they stepped into the door.

 

Compared to the dim grand hall, this place was brightly lit.

 

The sudden bright light might temporarily blind most creatures, but it didn’t affect Violet in the slightest.

 

She squinted and looked around the environment.

 

“What’s this? Earlier, it was a storage room. Is this place a production line? It seems quite streamlined… Or perhaps some kind of special mechanism?”

 

A voice so low it was barely perceptible escaped the lips of the black-haired girl, and the others around her regained their sight after a brief period of blindness.

 

“Gurgle… Gurgle…”

 

An ominous sound echoed in the air.

 

If the caves outside the magic island were like half-blossomed flower buds, then these flesh pods, similarly made of vine-like material, were fully closed flower buds.

 

Or they could be called “cocoons.”

 

Although there were significant differences in color, texture, shape, and size, the appearance of these flesh cocoons undoubtedly bore a striking resemblance to the 【Cocoon of Blasphemy】 from the Reflection of the Forgotten Land.

 

It was like… different works from the same designer.

 

These dead gray flesh cocoons, composed of vine-like material, were fixed vertically to the ground, seemingly enclosing something. They pulsated and contracted at a certain frequency, emitting those nauseating gurgling sounds in the process.

 

“Oh, come on, not these again?!”

 

Sigrid shivered all over, her white feathers standing on end like a startled pet cat’s. Without hesitation, she aimed her rifle directly at the nearest gray flesh cocoon and fired!

 

Violet didn’t stop her. The number of ‘cocoons’ here was much smaller than outside, only a few dozen at most. After they all entered, the vine door closed again, isolating the hall from this space.

 

In other words, even if a fight really broke out here, it shouldn’t affect the outside.

 

The seemingly eerie flesh cocoon didn’t show much defensive power and resilience. With just one move, it was ruthlessly split in half by the enraged team leader, and what was inside spilled out.