Chapter 80 73: 'Mother'

But the other party could communicate with it and speak their language.Only family would speak the language of family.

"I'm here to find my mother." Xu Xiaoyou added without revealing any emotion.

"You came to, find your mother?"

"Yes, I want to go home."

The tall and thin Dissector suddenly froze, the rusty hook on its arm swinging.

The air was filled with an oppressive tension, like the calm before a storm.

Xu Xiaoyou swallowed slightly, staring intently at the figure before her. If the other party made any outrageous move, she would act immediately!

"Were you abandoned ever since the moment you were born?"

Hearing the choked emotion in the other's words, Xu Xiaoyou was stunned.

The tall and thin Dissector seemed lost in grief, as if remembering something profoundly sad, speaking with tears streaming down:

"I can really understand you, truly."

"Family is important to each one of us."

The tall and thin Dissector embraced her shoulder, leading her deeper into the sewer:

"It hasn't been easy on the way here, has it?"

Xu Xiaoyou slightly opened her lips, but the tall and thin Dissector shook its head, interrupting: "You don't have to say it, I understand, I really do."

"You must have suffered a lot on your way home."

"Haven't had a good night's sleep, haven't had a full meal? Those annoying Cookies must have hurt you."

"We are all mother's children; the family will surely welcome you home."

"Come on, I can't wait to share this good news with everyone."

"Welcome home, Soya."

Anya hid in the corner, her face changing slightly when she noticed Xu Xiaoyou being led away, and she was about to step forward.

Xu Xiaoyou gestured from behind, signaling not to worry and to act when the moment was right.

Anya nodded, watching the girl drift away.

"Hey? Wait for me!"

The short and stout Dissector saw the two walking away and quickly jogged to catch up.

Along the way, Xu Xiaoyou was completely bewildered, being led by the tall and thin Dissector to the depths of the lair in a daze.

After she mentioned 'mother' and her wish to return home, the other party completely dismissed their doubts about her.

When it asked her some key questions, it didn't even need her to answer, the other party would voluntarily fill in an explanation with a comprehending look.

They talked intermittently along the way, and Xu Xiaoyou vaguely felt that the other party's attitude towards her seemed to be gradually changing.

From initial familial feelings, it shifted to a deeper, more bizarre direction.

This sent shivers down her spine.

"Soya, actually, I lost a sister many years ago. I watched helplessly as those hateful Cookies surrounded her in a corner, and she eventually died."

The tall and thin Dissector's voice trembled uncontrollably.

"So I really understand you, that feeling of wanting to go home, to be with family."

"Can you call me sister?" The tall and thin Dissector blinked, "Call me Alina sister."

Xu Xiaoyou's mouth twitched slightly, but still, she cleared her throat and said in a low voice:

"Alina sister..."

"Oh oh oh oh oh!"

Hearing the address, Alina rubbed her arms, twisting her entire body like a maggot, looking very excited.

"I love Soya sister the most the most the most!"

Xu Xiaoyou was hugged by the tall and thin Dissector, even with the thick metal armor separating them, the deep passionate embrace from the other party left her breathless.

Having just met, Xu Xiaoyou already felt that the other party's fondness for her was about to burst through the roof, is this the power of the combination of Social Master and language artist?

Or is the word 'family' simply too extraordinary in meaning to the Dissectors?

Or could it be that the tall and thin Dissector before her is simply an incurable sister complex!

"Soya sister, your smell is strange, why does it have a cookie scent?" Alina suddenly asked.

Even before Xu Xiaoyou could grow wary, Alina shook her head:

"There's no need to explain, it's okay, Soya, I will always understand you."

"It must be because I'm so concerned about Soya, that's why I smell the scent of cookies."

"I love cookies the most."

"My family always says that being near someone you care about lets you smell your favorite scent."

At this point, Xu Xiaoyou thought it wouldn't hurt to add more fuel to the fire, so she forced herself to suppress her discomfort and spoke weakly:

"But didn't Sister Alina just say she likes Soya the most?"

Alina was taken aback.

She gazed at the petite figure in front of her, clad in the Alchemy Armor marred with rust and scars, bearing the hardships of life. The hollow, cavernous eye sockets seemed to express silent grievances, evoking a sense of pity.

Xu Xiaoyou wasn't aware that, in the Dissector's aesthetic, her Alchemy Armor was quite appealing.

Alina hurriedly waved her hands, "No, no, it's not like that! I don't like cookies; I like Soya."

Feeling the overwhelming apology from the other person, Xu Xiaoyou inexplicably felt a bit guilty.

These Dissectors are truly naive.

They essentially possess the intelligence of a seven or eight-year-old child, and under her double whammy combined with a vivid performance, they were directly swindled into submission.

She felt that even if she physically pulled out her heart and lungs now, the other side would not hesitate to comply.

As they delved deeper into the hive, the scene within the sewers gradually expanded, from passages that could only accommodate four or five people to ones wide enough for about a dozen to walk side by side.

The deeper they went into the heart of the nest, the more bizarre the sight became. Flesh-like tissue began to proliferate in the tunnels, eventually replacing the metal entirety of them, pulsating slightly.

The air temperature rose, the humidity increased, and with it came a nauseating stench, similar to stepping into the digestive tract of a massive creature.

Eyeballs on the blood-red walls opened, staring intensely at Xu Xiaoyou for a while before slowly closing again.

Xu Xiaoyou knew that right now, she was inside Alley No. 5.

As she had predicted, Alley No. 5 was in a weakened, dormant state.

Turning a corner, a sleeping blood-red tentacle seemed to sniff out the scent on her, twitching and lifting its body, stabbing towards her back.

Thankfully, Alina noticed in time, grabbed the tentacle, tore it from the flesh wall, and threw it violently on the ground.

"Stay away from Soya!"

Listening to the tentacle's sharp cries, Xu Xiaoyou's expression wavered slightly.

The Dissector she had casually duped seemed to possess quite impressive combat skills.

Definitely stronger than the Dissector she encountered in Alley No. 5 that day...

Xu Xiaoyou discreetly glanced at the Substitute's position.

They were getting increasingly closer to the central part of the hive.

An inexplicable sense of foreboding was growing stronger in her heart.

Finally, she entered a vast space. She paused slightly as she surveyed the surroundings.

Countless holes densely packed this underground space, resembling a beehive.

Her gaze slowly moved upwards.

A colossal heart hung from the ceiling of the hive, blood-red mouths scattered across its surface. Like fledgling birds waiting to be fed, they continuously opened and closed, emitting rasping, discordant notes.

It cast a wide blood-red glow, dyeing the entire hive with an eerie tint. Thick blood vessels spread from it like a gigantic spider web, spreading over the top of the hive and burrowing into the fleshy walls.

The heart was beating, and with each pulsation, the entire hive trembled.

The scent of rot and blood in the damp air was almost tangible.

Thud!

The heartbeat sounded like a ringing bell.

The moist, flesh-colored tissue undulated rhythmically with the heartbeat on the hive walls, writhing, as if about to burst through at any moment.

The sound of dripping water could be heard.

Thick, sticky white liquid dangled from that giant heart, suspending thousands of people in its web-like strands, wrapped like white cocoons.

It was unclear whether it was this viscous white liquid dropping or the dissolved body tissues of humans.

She looked up at the scene in the air, horrified and dumbfounded.

An unusual sense of reverence budded inside her,

as if the scene before her wasn't eerie but a masterpiece, a work of art that should be enshrined in a hall.

Thud!

That heart had a magical lure, firmly grasping her gaze, as if to engulf her completely.

There's no mistake,

this beating heart is the mother entity that the Dissectors spoke of.