Yangshan Town is the Taishui itself! Those buildings, each with its own function, are its internal organs!

The earth and walls are its skin and flesh, the dome its head.

When Yun You and her group entered Yangshan Town, they were acting within the belly of the Taishui from start to finish...

That's why Yun You couldn't guess this result at first.

As they say, what's far away is often right under one's nose. The seemingly complex answers are often around the people.

Yun You felt a tingling on her scalp.

She dazedly released her grasp and looked at the purple rock wall before her and the rubble beneath her feet.

If one considers Yangshan Town as the "abdominal cavity," and the outer layer of the mine filled with wandering corpses as the "oral cavity," then...

The winding mine road she's currently on, which stretches for dozens of kilometers, wouldn't it be...

[Esophagus]

[This mine road is the esophagus of the Taishui!]

Master Zero took a deep breath and slowly revealed the answer in Yun You's heart.

It was trying to stay calm... however, the fact was too bizarre for it to remain composed.

"It really is the esophagus..."

Yun You lightly bit her lip, forcing herself to suppress the trembling of her hands and feet.

She had previously felt it was strange why the rock walls and ceilings of Yangshan Town were light purple, with hints of crimson mixed in.

At the time, she thought it was some special mineral.

But now it seemed that everything she had seen from the start was a part of the Taishui's body.

The pink moss in the upper mine cave was the tongue coating in Taishui's oral cavity.

The Bronze Gate was Taishui's tongue root.

The so-called teleportation... was most likely the Taishui swallowing the three of them, which is why a strong wind blew then.

"But... but this isn't normal!"

Yun You bit her teeth and whispered, "Weren't Taishui's internal organs always under the control of Xie Kang's experimental group?"

"Xie Kang wouldn't have allowed it to grow to this extent, would he?"

"Even if that experimental group was destroyed, it's only been more than half a year... How could it have developed to this degree in half a year?"

"This explanation doesn't work, it doesn't make sense at all."

"There must be some critical information missing..."

Indeed, as the little girl said, Xie Kang's experimental group was destroyed in January 2077, which was the beginning of this year.

It's only 8 months from now, just half a year...

At the beginning of the year, the Taishui's internal organs were still normal, merely chunks of rotten flesh sealed in earthen pots.

The only thing that was out of control was the heart installed in the chest cavity of the Headless Giant.

How did it expand to the point of replacing the entire Yangshan Town in just 8 months?

[There's only one explanation]

Master Zero took a deep breath and slowly expressed its idea.

[That is, the Taishui was never "controlled" from the start]

[When Xie Kang discovered it in the 40s, it already had the ability to move freely, though not very strong, so it needed to leverage Xie Kang's power to gain enough nutrients]

[Remember? To let it grow, Xie Kang sent at least 5,000 lower-class civilians into Yangshan Town in just a few decades, including young children]

[And now, only a thousand or so people remain in Yangshan Town]

[So where did the others go? Naturally, they were eaten by the Taishui]

[Such a large appetite, logically, should have allowed it to regrow its flesh, but Xie Kang's experiment report said the Undying Internal Organs were still just small organs without much change]

[This is obviously not right]

[Perhaps Xie Kang was already deceived at that time]

[Taishui outwardly feigned complete control, but secretly developed itself]

[Remember the "degraded organs"? Those were the flesh walls Taishui grew in the mines]

[I speculate that perhaps Taishui had already begun its layout, using the growth of degraded organs to transfer its essential organs underground quietly replacing the buildings in Yangshan Town, and using cell dissemination to control the townsfolk]

[In this situation, it just needs an opportunity, a final breakthrough opportunity]

[As long as it absorbs high-nutrient organs, it can break through to the third parasitic stage and make up for past regrets]

[And you four, an Apprentice Death God, a mercenary, a hacker, and a little girl targeted by some powerful existence, naturally became its best targets]

"..."

"I understand."

Yun You nodded heavily, while continuing to climb upwards.

Master Zero's speculation indeed seems to be the only logical explanation.

She suddenly felt a sense of irony.

Previously, she thought that Xie Kang failed only because they were too arrogant, attempting to control a power they couldn't handle... leading to mistakes and ultimately losing everything.

This Biotechnology Doctor, although evil to the core, was not lacking in skills, or he wouldn't have climbed to a corporation management position from the bottom.

He must have been defeated by his greed and lack of self-awareness.

At least that's what Yun You thought.

But now it seems, that might not be the case.

Because they were all played from the start by the Taishui.

What bullshit control... what weak incompetence... were all just the disguises of this monster.

As a monster parasitic on a human body, Taishui was best at pretending to be weak and slowly controlling the overall situation in secret.

"But I have a question..."

In her contemplation, Yun You suddenly frowned, realizing something, and asked in a deep voice, "Master Zero, how do you know so much in detail?"

"Your recent description sounded like 'first-hand experiences'."

"Especially when telling the story of the Young King, your words... were like the Young King and the Queen themselves narrating the past."

"What's going on? Did you, Master Zero, see something firsthand?"

Indeed, Master Zero's earlier words seemed unusual.

Its memory is abundant and can sometimes reveal unrecorded information.

But such information is usually fragmented, not complete, which fits Master Zero's amnesia situation.

But this time, its description was too detailed, even revealing some specifics.

This made the information highly credible, but also unusual.

[...]

Master Zero was silent, seemingly hesitant.

But after much thought, it revealed the truth.

[To be honest with you, Little Yun]

[I did not witness those stories firsthand... but I did hear the details with my own ears]

[And the one who told me the story was...]

[The Young King himself]

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