Chapter 78 72: Deep Dive

Anya bared her teeth at the group of children, scaring them all away."These pesky kids..."

Xu Xiaoyou's fist tightened.

After a moment, she laughed to herself.

Why was she messing with a bunch of kids?

Staring at the pitch-black, ominous pipeline entrance, Xu Xiaoyou walked in.

A kerosene lamp appeared in her hand. She held the lamp, slowly venturing deeper, surveying her surroundings.

This pipeline had been neglected for years, with traces of rust everywhere.

Crawling red fleshly tumors filled the pipe wall, clustering together, from all over the pipeline, squeezing out, even filling up the gaps from the rust cracks with this red flesh.

A glance would trigger anyone's trypophobia.

These tumors, sensing the girl's aura approaching, shrank into the corners like climbing plants scorched by fire.

Large patches of red vanished in an instant.

Seeing this scene, Xu Xiaoyou became more certain of her suspicion.

This pipeline entrance was indeed the doorway to the Dissector's lair.

She had been closely following the news these days, especially those related to sewer workers.

In just two days, more than twenty maintenance workers had gone missing.

While city sewers were popular hiding spots for sporadic bizarre creatures, the frequency of disappearances caught Xu Xiaoyou's keen sense of anomalies.

Sure enough, following the clues, she narrowed down the scope by plotting the locations where sewer workers disappeared.

She found out that over half of the sewer workers had vanished in this suburban area.

This suburb was nearly uninhabited, with only a sewage treatment plant nearby, discharging wastewater through pipelines here.

Following the clues, she had found this sewer pipeline entrance yesterday.

She directed the kerosene lamp towards a spot, and, upon sensing the light, a squirming tumor let out a sharp scream, visibly shrinking, oozing red pus, which flowed inside the pipeline with the wastewater.

Xu Xiaoyou extended her fingertip and brushed against the tumor.

It was slimy and disgusting to the touch, followed by a faint warmth. The tumor reacted to the touch, curling up like an infant in a cradle.

Its surface had a membrane, as thin as a cicada's wing, revealing blood vessels underneath where liquids flowed, seeming to nurture some kind of life, a constant thumping.

The expert's judgment wasn't entirely wrong.

At least one point was correct.

Indeed, Five Alley was in a weakened state after its feeding.

Digesting thousands of people takes a long time, and it was now in hibernation. Judging from the activity of these tumors.

They were all withered; today they were even less active than yesterday.

Yesterday, these tumors were aggressively hostile at the sight of her, but today they were docile and shrunk back willingly.

She judged that the aura Five Alley emitted was less than one percent of what she'd previously felt.

This was the weakest period for Five Alley.

"That's what you get for overeating, stuffed?"

Xu Xiaoyou certainly wasn't going to miss such a rare opportunity.

While it's sick, it's ripe for the taking!

Entering the Dissector's lair alone seemed reckless to the outside world.

But Xu Xiaoyou knew clearly, she never engaged in endeavors where risks far outweighed the rewards.

The events from two days ago left too deep a mark of terror on people's hearts, making Five Alley a taboo most agencies and Cleaners dread.

Time wasn't on her side, no matter how much she tried explaining to the scattered Cleaners in society about Five Alley's weakness and the present opportunity; it was futile.

They'd just treat her like she's gone mad, as if she's drunk too much Su Leshuang.

Assembling a Cleaner squad in such short time was too hard; even if gathered, hidden agendas were inevitable, backstabbing at critical moments unavoidable.

She only trusted herself.

Moreover,

She had an astonishing trump card.

Just as Xu Xiaoyou thought this, a tumor behind her started shaking violently.

Then its surface split open into four, and a crimson tentacle shot towards Xu Xiaoyou!

Xu Xiaoyou didn't even turn her head.

Anya pounced forward, grabbed the tentacle swiftly, and with a slight force squeezed it into countless gory bits, splattering everywhere.

Piercing shrieks echoed again.

The tentacle wriggling on the ground turned into red pus and finally dissipated like foam.

"Nice work."

Anya wiped the blood from her face and licked the froth off her lips.

The Substitute card in Xu Xiaoyou's hand surfaced, confirming once again the Substitute's current position, nodding afterward:

"Let's go, Anya."

The two pushed onward, traversing the maze-like twists of the city's drainage system, soon entering the sewer's depths.

At the circular pipe entrance, in front of the vertical iron bars, dim yellow light cast the shadows of a tall and a slim figure.

Two Dissectors were there, seemingly in conversation.

Xu Xiaoyou thought for a moment, then gestured Anya to stand by.

She climbed up a rusty ladder to the upper level, hiding in a corner by the pipe wall, peering at their direction in the dim light.

"Hee hee, Cookie, Hao Chi."

"I feel it too, delicious."

"I love the sounds those Cookies make before they die, so melodious, like the harmonica my sister plays."

"It's fun to fold the Cookie's limbs into triangles and crawl through the middle."

"And skipping rope, roll them into long strips and skip rope, hee hee."

Listening to these not-so-intelligent beings speaking in a childlike manner yet with dark undertones every few phrases, Xu Xiaoyou frowned slightly.

Soon, a tall and a chubby Dissector started patrolling in her direction, the flowing red liquid at the ground reflecting their outlines.

Footsteps approached, and the teeth-gritting sound of metal scraping became clearer.

"How long until the Mother wakes, I really want to have another Cookie buffet."

"Mother is still digesting the food, next time when she awakes, she'll be full."

"Eat it all clean."

'Mother'

Xu Xiaoyou wasn't hearing this term for the first time from the Dissectors.

It seemed these Dissectors had a unified leading will, all directly obeying the Mother Empress's commands, unable to defy her will, akin to the Ant King in an anthill.

Could it be the main body of Five Alley?

Xu Xiaoyou pondered, planning to slip past when they walked by.

As the two Dissectors got closer, Xu Xiaoyou held her breath, staying in the shadows against the wall.

At that moment, she noticed a flash of red light in the darkness.

Was it the searchlight for the sewer's illumination?

Before Xu Xiaoyou could finish the thought, the red light moved, emerging from the darkness.

Taking in the silhouette, her heart skipped a beat.

There was a ghoulish creature, entirely pallid, with fiery red eyes, hunched over, gazing at her with a ravenous hunger for flesh and blood...