Chapter 67: The Living Sewer

"What do you mean?"
Liu Zheng asked, half-understanding.
"You humans have an immune system, right?"
"I know."
His expression turned somewhat peculiar.
Today, two different anomaly residents were trying to give him biology lessons. Apparently, you couldn't even clear a dungeon without some education.
"To it, non-native residents like us are essentially foreign viruses or bacteria."
"Once we enter the sewer, it triggers an immune response. The stronger your power, the more intense the reaction."
"So, while I can cover for you, I might not always be in time."
The London plane tree explained.
"So that's how it is..."
Liu Zheng fell into contemplation.
Obviously, the Ox and Horse's plan had a loophole.
However, it was probably not intentional.
Currently, it seemed that both its intelligence and the London plane tree's intelligence had blind spots, and they needed to be combined for reference.
"Something is better than nothing; I still have to go down and try."
Soon, he made his decision.
Ever since Liu Zheng entered this dungeon, when had he not sought wealth and honor amidst danger?
"Fine. Take this."
The London plane tree's two arms detached automatically, and its roots carried them forward to his eyes.
"Each arm can help you once. Once they're used up, you're on your own."
The tree said.
"Alright. By the way, do you take this?"
Liu Zheng pulled out the Chaos Club membership card.
"Bien! How did you get your hands on this?"
The London plane tree exclaimed in shock.
"The Ghost Hand probably gave it to me."
"The Chaos Club..."
The London plane tree stared at the membership card with a complex expression.
Its roots traced patterns in the air, but it didn't dare actually touch it.
"I've never truly seen what the Chaos Club looks like, but ever since I gained consciousness, that unique aura has lingered persistently."
"To some extent, the Chaos Club can be considered my hometown."
"Even my genius-level intelligence might be related to the Chaos Club."
The London plane tree felt a rare trace of sentimentality.
"However, precisely because of that, I can feel the terrifying nature of the Chaos Club all the more."
"That aura feels like one thing, yet also like several. Among them, one is particularly terrifying, seeming capable of completely erasing my existence—not just my body and soul, but even my past and future."
The London plane tree pulled its roots back as if struck by lightning.
"I won't accept this thing, and I advise you not to use it either."
After a moment of silence, it spoke.
"Some things are not up to me to decide."
Liu Zheng shrugged.
What if he happened to receive a commission from the Chaos Club one day?
He had always been willing to attribute the worst malicious intent when speculating about this world.
"Then remember to stay far away from me before you go courting death, so your blood doesn't splash on me."
The tree said.
"Don't you want to go back and visit your old home?"
"I recall that in human language, 'going back to your old home' also means going to hell."
The London plane tree sneered.
"You're a tree, why is your cultural level so high? Planning to take the graduate entrance exams?"
Liu Zheng grabbed the two arms and fastened them onto his shoulders.
"Where is the entrance?"
He asked.
"There."
The tree pointed to a manhole cover not far away.
He walked over to the manhole cover and lifted it.
A foul stench hit him instantly, almost suffocating Liu Zheng.
Interestingly, it wasn't the mixed scent of hydrogen sulfide, methanethiol, methanol, or amines.
Instead, it smelled like morning breath combined with acid reflux.
He held his breath and climbed down the hanging ladder.
The shaft was very long, and it took him several minutes of climbing before his feet touched the ground.
Pitch black surrounded him, just like inside the takeout passage.
Liu Zheng deliberately stamped his hooves; the texture felt soft with a slight bounce.
Four tentacles felt around the surroundings and soon touched the wall.
Wet and warm, the texture felt just like inserting a hemorrhoid suppository.
This forced him to think of the takeout passage once again. Could the two actually be the same thing?
Yet, upon closer reflection, they were slightly different.
After getting used to the darkness in the takeout passage, there was instead a sense of peace and stability.
Meanwhile, the darkness in the sewer wasn't as thick, but it carried a faint, lingering malice that made him somewhat restless and anxious.
Regardless, Liu Zheng pressed forward.
He walked sideways, keeping his body pressed tightly against the wall.
With every step he took, he waited until the ball of his front foot planted firmly before shifting his center of gravity forward.
It looked ridiculous, but it was necessary.
In this bizarre world, he had to maximize his survival rate by any means possible.
No one could predict which careless moment might become the final straw that broke his luck.
After advancing five hundred and seventy-six steps, light finally appeared ahead.
It was clusters of glowing moss growing on the walls, emitting a dim, dark red radiance.
Unlike the stem-and-leaf structure of ordinary moss, these growths looked just like bunches of rotting bananas, or rather—
Well, let's skip the comparisons; they simply looked like feces, and specifically the kind from someone who had suffered from chronic constipation.
Liu Zheng recalled the ingredient list of the Ascension Hairy Moss; surely shit-moss wasn't literally this stuff, right?
After a train of associations, experienced as he was in this world, he still couldn't help but dry-heave a few times.
Wiping the corner of his mouth, Liu Zheng continued onward.
The further he went, the more densely the shit-moss grew.
This allowed him to see his surroundings and the so-called "walls" more clearly.
The bluish-black surface was covered in circular ridges, and every trench was packed with dense wrinkles.
Liu Zheng didn't know whether he was walking inside a sewer's intestines or inside its brain.
"Sanity loss mitigation successful."
The system prompt rang out.
Indeed, exploring while the legendary persona was active was the right call.
He steadied himself and kept moving forward.
Finally, he heard the sound of water.
It wasn't the rushing sound of flowing water, but rather the fizzing sound of a freshly opened can of cola.
Liu Zheng cautiously peeked around the wall, and his field of vision widened significantly.
A sewage river about three meters wide flowed past him, its origin lost in endless darkness and its destination equally unseen.
The base color of the river was blackish-brown, mingled with streaks of red, green, and yellow, with a layer of white foam floating on the surface.
At the same time, bubbles continuously rose within the river, popping the moment they reached the surface to release a brownish-red gas.
What kind of gas was brownish-red again?
Liu Zheng forgot.
Anyway, he remembered it was supposed to be poisonous.
However, given his current physique, ordinary toxic gases posed no real threat—at most, they would just feel a bit uncomfortable.
Liu Zheng observed for a while longer, and sensing no immediate danger, he stepped out of the tunnel.
Standing by the riverbank, the stench of morning breath and acid reflux became even more pronounced.
"Even if you're not human, you should still brush your teeth."
He muttered to himself.
The sewer gave no reply.
Of course, that was probably a good thing.
After watching the bubbles for a little longer, Liu Zheng decided to try his luck right here.
If he couldn't catch any fish, he would move further ahead.
After all, being close to the exit made it easier to run.
With his mind made up, he consumed two lure-pills and plunged his tentacles into the sewage river.