It was evening in Eastern Europe. Under the lingering glow of the setting sun, the scarlet Blood Moon slowly descended, finally hovering directly over the mountains below. Its massive body, hundreds of meters in size, completely overshadowed the village beneath. Under Marcus's command, the Blood Moon began to emit a powerful mental pulse that instantly swept across the entire nearby area.
Since the timeline was nearly twenty years ahead, there were still some normal people in the village who had not yet been implanted with the Mycelium. Upon witnessing the Blood Moon suspended in the sky, hundreds of villagers emerged from their homes, immediately kneeling on the ground and praying incessantly.
Due to Miranda's long-term influence, most of the residents here had formed a cult-like group, worshipping Miranda, who controlled the Mycelium, and revering her as the Mother Goddess. The Blood Moon in the sky was considered by many believers to be a magnificent masterpiece created by their Mother Goddess Miranda.
However, apart from these unsuspecting villagers, the truly important figures in the village were the Four Lords. These Four Lords, who were also the four special infected creatures Miranda had created, all noticed the ominous Blood Moon in the sky.
"This cannot be her creation," the well-endowed Lady Dimitrescu murmured from inside her dimly lit castle, gazing at the sky with a mix of awe and trepidation. She could feel that the Blood Moon's life essence far surpassed her own, and even that of the so-called Mother Goddess. Beside her, her three "daughters," formed from mutated insects, had already knelt in terror due to the immense pressure emanating from the Blood Moon, scurrying around like true insects, frantically searching for places to hide. Elsewhere, Moreau the Merman, Donna the Dollmaker, and Karl the Strongman all looked up at the Blood Moon in the sky, their expressions grim. This village, which had remained largely unchanged for nearly a century, was now poised for a massive transformation.
Without any superfluous words, under Marcus's direct command, the Blood Moon extended several colossal tentacles and then slammed them down with a thunderous roar.
"Boom!" A small mountain peak was directly leveled, and a massive amount of rubble cascaded downwards, threatening to engulf half of the village below. The next second, an enormous quantity of black, viscous Mycelium surged from the ground, intercepting most of the falling debris. Miranda, clad in a black robe, wearing a golden mask, and with six grotesque wings on her back, slowly emerged from within the Mycelium. At this moment, Miranda's face was noticeably pale. Merely stopping the rubble had consumed a significant portion of her strength.
"Why, why is this thing here!?" Looking at the Blood Moon in the sky, Miranda was utterly bewildered. Unlike the isolated villagers, she had some contact with the outside world. She naturally knew what the colossal entity above was, as well as the Raccoon City disaster caused by her disciple Spencer, and the recent worldwide sensation of the extraterrestrial civilization's spaceship. Before this, Miranda had believed none of these events concerned her. She cared nothing for the Blood Moon, extraterrestrial civilizations, or anything else; having lived for over a century and being deeply bound to the Mycelium, Miranda had only one singular obsession: to resurrect her daughter, whose consciousness was preserved within the Mycelium's vast network.
Several of the Blood Moon's tentacles twisted, then coalesced to form a rudimentary vocalization device. "Executing collection mission, target: Mycelium," a colossal sound wave echoed throughout the entire valley. Miranda's expression on the ground contorted in shock; only a very small number of people on Earth knew of the Mycelium's existence. She couldn't comprehend why this extraterrestrial visitor would possess such knowledge.
After a moment of desperate hesitation, Miranda's form shifted, transforming into a flock of crows that swiftly flew to the summit of a nearby high mountain. "Respected guest, please tell me why you are doing this," she projected, her voice laced with humility. In the face of absolute power, Miranda had decisively chosen to humble herself, lowering her posture to the absolute minimum.
The Blood Moon did not respond to Miranda's humble inquiry, only continuing to emit a booming, echoing sound. "Beginning mission execution." As the words resonated, dozens of thick tentacles extended and continuously lengthened, wrapping around a nearby mountain peak. With the monstrous flesh exerting immense force and the Blood Moon's own anti-gravity ability, the entire mountaintop was torn loose from halfway up the slope. Countless black, viscous Mycelium surged from the rock crevices, climbing greedily up the Blood Moon's tentacles.
Unfortunately, no matter how these Mycelium attempted to erode the Blood Moon, it was all in vain. The Red Marker's status was far superior to that of the Mycelium. The Blood Moon's tentacles wrapped around the mountaintop, then directly flung it away.
"Boom, boom, boom!" In an instant, mountains collapsed and the earth split, with countless pieces of rubble raining down. Seeing that the Mycelium had not yet been fully uncovered, the Blood Moon's tentacles continued to thrash wildly, peeling away the surface rocks of the mountain like peeling an onion. The deeper the excavation, the greater the density of the Mycelium. This confirmed that this was indeed the primary location of the Mycelium.
On the mountaintop, witnessing the Blood Moon's indifference, Miranda knew deeply that she possessed no power to resist such an entity. Therefore, she immediately merged into the Mycelium beneath her feet. For the sacred hope of resurrecting her daughter, she had already decided to risk transferring the Mycelium's core location. Prior to this, she had never attempted such a perilous feat.
Even though she had served as the Mycelium's surface spokesperson for decades, Miranda still didn't comprehend the full scope of the Mycelium, nor did she truly know what would happen if its main body was moved. But the situation was dire, and she couldn't afford to worry about such uncertainties.
"Do your best, stop him," Miranda commanded, issuing a desperate, final order to all villagers controlled by the Mycelium in the village, as well as the Four Lords. In her opinion, nearly a century of painstaking effort was far less important than the hope of resurrecting her daughter. Even if they could only delay the Blood Moon for a few seconds, it would be enough.
The Four Lords displayed varied expressions upon receiving this desperate order. Lady Dimitrescu hesitated repeatedly, but in the end, chose not to execute the command from her Mother Goddess, opting to protect herself and her daughters. Karl the Strongman (Karl Heisenberg) had long harbored thoughts of rebelling against Miranda, so he naturally ignored the command, even scoffing at Miranda's perceived cowardice. Donna the Dollmaker, already extremely mentally unstable, had, by a strange twist of fate, become a fanatical Unified Church member after being swept by the Blood Moon's initial mental pulse, rendering her loyalties conflicted.
Only the truly loyal Moreau the Merman, the moment he received the order, transformed into a giant fish monster over ten meters long, swimming furiously in the nearby reservoir and gnawing at one of the Blood Moon's colossal tentacles. But then, several tentacles swung out with terrifying force, directly smashing the fish monster into a pulp. Its flesh, containing Mycelium, was also absorbed by the Blood Moon, used to strengthen itself.
In the village below the Blood Moon, whether they were normal humans not yet implanted with Mycelium, or infected individuals who had been implanted and turned into various grotesque monsters, they all frantically raised various ranged weapons, attempting to stop this perceived enemy of the Mother Goddess. The next second, an even stronger mental pulse radiated out, instantly sweeping across the entire scene, silencing all resistance.