As the aftershocks of the nuclear explosion gradually subsided, the entire island fell into an eerie silence.
The airship hovering in the sky was, of course, frantic—one half of the crew was attempting to restore communications with headquarters, while the other half observed the situation below with bated breath.
The mysterious creature controlling the island seemed to have sustained severe injuries from the blast. It was no longer able to control the black, tentacle-like worms in the ocean, leaving them to follow their primal instincts, devouring everything on the seabed—fish, shells, sand, coral, and more. From above, the scene resembled the most harrowing nightmare imaginable.
Regardless, the fact that it had stopped moving toward the human world was a massive relief for the V5. This bought them precious time for research and preparation.
Upon learning that the landing party led by Allen was currently missing, Slean, positioned at the rear base, immediately organized a professional rescue team to board another airship and rush to the site of the incident.
While these preparations were in full swing, within the ruins deep underground, the spherical, fully enclosed bunker finally shattered with a sharp crack. Over a dozen soot-covered people in hazmat suits emerged from the wreckage.
One man, holding a radiation detector, cautiously scanned the area. After a couple of circuits, he pulled off his hood and spoke to the others. "Radiation levels are within acceptable limits! It's safe for now!"
At those words, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief and began stripping off the stifling, hot protective gear. One Sea Hunter even delivered a vicious kick to a red worm that had been crushed to death by the sheer pressure of earth and stone, venting his pent-up fear and rage.
For these survivors who had just cheated death, nothing felt better than breathing fresh air again and feeling the steady beat of their own hearts.
But Allen didn't give them much time to rest. After confirming their position and heading, he immediately used a replication of Elemental Earth, Heart of Earth, and Essence of Earth to create two large Earth Elementals. They set to work at incredible speed, re-opening the tunnels that had been choked with debris.
Because he had used Nen to imbue them with the power to manipulate the earth, their digging efficiency far surpassed that of heavy machinery.
In about ten hours, the team returned to the cavern they had occupied before the blast. The only difference was that the intestinal organ below had been torn to shreds by the explosion, leaving behind nothing but a hollow rock tunnel reeking of a pungent, strange odor.
"Are you sure you want to go down?" the mercenary captain asked, staring into the bottomless pit.
"What else?" Allen replied without looking up.
"I think we've done enough. The island has stopped moving. Maybe that unknown creature was already killed by the nuke."
It was clear that for the mercenaries, they had fulfilled the terms of their contract and had no desire to gamble with their lives further. In fact, the experts and professors shared the same sentiment.
Allen noticed this and shook his head with a slight smile. "Sorry, but I'm not the type to leave things to chance. Regardless of the outcome, I'm going down to get to the bottom of this. As for you all, if you want to come, great. If not, I won't force you."
"Count me in!" Bodoro was the first to step forward.
"Me too," Baise followed immediately.
"Hehe, how could I miss out on something this thrilling?" Hisoka's face lit up with a smile of excitement and anticipation.
As members of the core team, Bodoro and Baise knew exactly how powerful Allen's Nen abilities were. More importantly, they knew he could instantly teleport them into a "Dungeon" in an emergency, ensuring a safe exit from any situation. As for the perverted Hisoka, he was purely in it for the rush.
The others, however, were thoroughly shaken by the nuclear blast and the tidal wave of worms. They ultimately chose to return to the surface to signal the airships for rescue.
Allen didn't make things difficult for them. He even had the Earth Elementals dig a direct tunnel to the surface for their exit. Once finished, he approached the edge of the abyss, ready to investigate.
Since the depth and destination of the tunnel were unknown, Allen directly transformed into his dragonkin form. Using his wings to catch the air currents, he guided his three teammates in a slow, controlled descent through the darkness.
When they reached the bottom, they found the ground was not hard rock, but a vast expanse of scorched muscle tissue. Although the surface was largely carbonized, parts beneath were still alive and rhythmically pulsating.
"Incredible! This looks like something out of a nightmare! Is the entire base of this island made of this muscle tissue?" Baise asked, fighting the urge to gag.
"It must be. Look at these areas vaporized and charred by the nuke; the thickness is easily one or two hundred meters, yet it wasn't completely destroyed. It's hard to believe biological tissue could possess such staggering defensive power. If not for the nuclear warhead, we might never have breached this place. Those muscles alone would have crushed any intruder to death."
Allen knelt to inspect the wreckage left by the blast. The umbrella-shaped crater, nearly a hundred meters deep, was undoubtedly ground zero. His instruments detected extremely high levels of radiation. Without hesitation, he told Bodoro, Baise, and Hisoka to put their hazmat suits back on.
While Nen users can resist environmental damage to an extent, Allen could see the health bar on his interface slowly ticking down. This meant that nuclear radiation was indeed affecting their physical bodies.
Suited up once more, the group continued their exploration along the path carved by the explosion. With zero natural light, they relied on their helmet lamps to peer twenty meters ahead, stepping cautiously.
As for En, Allen had kept it active since the moment they landed. He didn't care about conserving aura now, expanding the field to the absolute limit of his capacity.
After another thirty minutes of trekking, they finally reached the core of the island. There, they saw a hemispherical sphere suspended overhead, connected to tens of thousands of muscles and nerves. Its surface was covered in dense, brain-like fissures.
Undoubtedly, this was an organ, or perhaps a lifeform, composed of millions, even trillions, of neurons. Whether it was the worms or the vast muscle beds beneath the island, everything operated under its command.
Currently, this mysterious creature seemed dazed by the violent shock of the nuclear explosion, having temporarily lost some of its motor control, much like a human brain losing balance and falling into a coma after a sudden impact.
Yet, it still sensed the intruders. It began frantically mobilizing the surrounding red muscles, attempting to squeeze the life out of the four of them.
Seeing this, Allen wasted no time. He pulled a higher-yield nuclear warhead from his Fun Fun Cloth, slammed it onto the ground at his feet with a loud thud, and threatened with a cold sneer: "I assume you have a deep impression of what this can do? Stay your hand! Otherwise, I don't mind blowing you straight to hell!"
"Are you sure it can understand us?" Bodoro gripped his shields tightly, eyes fixed on the encroaching walls of muscle. As a martial artist, he knew exactly what it would mean to be swallowed by such powerful tissue.
"Of course! I'll bet my life that this thing not only understands us but likely possesses an intelligence level far beyond that of a human..."