This is the forward camp on Black Steel Island.
The forward camp was located next to a natural harbor that was easily accessible for landing.
Of course, this island once had its own harbor, but the other side had been overrun by flesh monsters, so they had to make do with this temporary one.
The camp wasn't very large, occupying only a tiny plot of land on the edge.
Despite its small size, it was built remarkably solidly.
It had every possible defense, even with numerous external triggering barriers.
In the center of the camp, by the fire,
Alka and the others were sitting around it.
Besides them, there were also members of Anris, also nearby, as well as members of the Church of the Holy Machine who had remained on the island to conduct reconnaissance.
They were communicating with one another, naturally exchanging information about the island.
"So, you're saying these believers worship an evil god that existed in the Golden Age?"
After hearing Anris's words,
Arka pondered for a moment.
Pointing to the sky, he asked, "What do you know about the things happening above, about what's happened recently?"
Anris frowned at Alka's confusing and ambiguous words, but immediately understood.
He extended his hand and waved it backwards.
Some members of the council immediately withdrew. Clearly aware that this was not something they could listen to, they silently retreated to the edge of the camp.
Besides Alka and his companions, only Anris and the sixth-level expert beside him remained by the campfire.
Even the members of the Holy Machine Church didn't need to be told anything; they quietly left, knowing they couldn't listen.
"The traitorous gods have returned. Is that what you're talking about?"
Hearing this, Alka saw him nod. It seemed this being knew quite a bit.
Thinking about it, it made sense.
Although the Secret Spell Council was closely tied to the Church of the Holy Machine, it was also considered a major power.
It primarily provided services related to spell rituals, secret knowledge, and curse removal.
And if Alka remembered correctly, their President Yi was a powerful figure at the eighth level.
This figure must possess crown-level treasures, as he was collecting related scepter-level treasures and hadn't concealed them, having directly issued a trade request.
"Indeed, the situation we're facing now is the result of the influence of one of these traitors.
According to the records, he should be called the God of the New Birth."
"The God of the New Birth?... I seem to have heard of him called Olerulis, right?"
Hearing this, Alka was slightly surprised. It seemed they knew quite a bit of secret information.
As expected of professionals.
He nodded.
"Yes, that's him."
"So the God of the New Birth's power is flesh and blood?" Anris himself was a little surprised.
He only knew the title and name, but he had no idea what this god had actually done.
After all, that was 30,000 years ago.
With such a long time span, everything would be lost in the long river of time.
The fact that records still exist is entirely due to their close ties with the Church of the Holy Machine.
Simply put, preserving records from that era is incredibly difficult. Only the Church of the Four Gods might hold information; even those forces that survived from that era rarely have any.
Or perhaps, scattered records were collected from these shattered islands.
After all, perhaps some island has buildings from the Golden Age, and thanks to the unique power of that era, it's not impossible that they've been well-preserved.
The most typical example is Vastvar.
It's a shame; if they had thrived there and found it easier to survive, they could have preserved many more things.
This demonstrates the wise choices made by the Savior Organization during that era.
Aside from the hall where his phantom appeared, the best-preserved artifact in the entire Radiant City is naturally the library.
This library remains the greatest treasure Alka and his team have ever amassed. "You're not wrong. Although he's called the Newborn God, you're also not wrong to call him the God of Flesh and Blood."
Lucille then recounted to Anris some of the deeds and power of this newborn god, including the structure of the flesh and blood before them.
After hearing their words, Anris's expression became somewhat shocked. Looking at the crowd, he couldn't help but ask, "Where on earth did you get all this information? It's incredibly well-preserved, isn't it?"
He wasn't surprised that this flesh and blood came from a god, but that Alka and the others knew this god so well.
This could almost be described as a very complete record.
And this god was clearly not a particularly famous or important deity in his time.
"Treasure hunting always involves receiving information from ancient times. The more treasures you hunt, the more information you'll gather. It's not surprising," Alka offered, offering a plausible excuse.
Siris didn't press the issue, simply nodding. "Since you already have such detailed intelligence, what are you planning to do, and how do you expect us to cooperate?" Ceres asked directly.
He immediately handed the initiative to Alka and his group.
After all, Alka and his group were more than powerful enough, both in terms of intelligence and strength, far surpassing them.
Moreover, Alka and his group's deeds, fueled by the forces of the World Scar, had long since spread throughout the Infinite Sea.
Their writings and deeds had also influenced many.
So, even without the Church's backing, their reputation alone was enough to earn the trust of most forces.
Alka nodded. This was exactly what he meant.
"According to the intelligence we have so far, to eliminate these flesh and blood nests, we must find the core of these nests.
So, we plan to split the team into three and use our developed process and method, using the nest of flesh and blood on Black Steel Island as the primary target for testing.
If it works, we will immediately focus all our efforts on solving the largest flesh and blood problem on White Man Island."
Cerys nodded. "No problem. As long as your method is feasible, we will fully support you."
Arka nodded and began to explain.
"First, we need to find the core and break in. But to do that, we must make this nest of flesh and blood truly violent, or make it feel a fatal threat."
After saying this, Arka raised three fingers.
"First, we need a team to clear out his tentacles at the beach, or even underwater. Start by destroying the tentacles used for fishing, shutting off their feeding mouths.
Second, we'll organize an elite breakthrough team to directly destroy his digestive cavities.
During this time, we need you to cooperate with our people in a ritual that will drain the blood and flesh power from the surrounding area.
This will even reduce his recovery ability, forcing him to expose his core.
At this point, the breakthrough team, after destroying the digestive cavities, will head straight for the core and destroy it."
Hearing this,
Ceres frowned and thought for a moment.
Of the three teams, the breakthrough team would undoubtedly have the most stringent requirements. They would first need to destroy the digestive cavities, and then head straight for the core.
According to the intelligence, that interior is not safe.
Next was the ritual team, as they were likely to face a violent attack from monsters after the ritual.
In contrast, those tasked with destroying the tentacles in the ocean had the easiest time, as they could rely on ranged attacks from the ships.
"No problem, then when can we prepare?"
"Start preparing now, and we'll be in action immediately."
Seeing Alka's decisive action, Ceres nodded immediately, and everyone stood up to discuss their respective responsibilities.
The next day.
The black curtain of the sky had just parted, and the sun's rays streamed down.
The forward camp was gone.
Three ships of varying styles were already arranged in a semicircle on the other side of Black Steel Island.
They faced the bloody coast before them.
The various attacks on the ships were perfectly aligned, awaiting only the command to launch the attack.
Simon stood alone on the deck of the Voice of the Dawn. Besides him, not even a puppet girl was present.
He was piloting a mech, wielding a massive, futuristic-looking energy cannon made of concentrated energy weapons.
Below him, the Voice of the Dawn's various long-range weapons were stored and ready for use, even the space cannon atop was already deployed.
"Swish!"
A cloud of fireworks exploded over the distant island.
The attack had begun.
"Fire!"
The iron ship of the Church of the Holy Machine occupied the center.
"Hit hard! Aim at the marks given by our allies and smash these damn tentacles into smithereens!"
The captain roared furiously.
"Yes!"
The crew manning the cannon roared, loading shell after shell.
As bursts of gunfire roared.
One shell after another streaked across the sky.
They landed precisely on the coastline markings.
Explosions rang out.
The flesh of the entire Flesh Coast began to stir, some tentacles even reaching out from the water. Through the convergence of flesh, they continued to extend, attempting to destroy the ships attacking from afar.
However, these tentacles didn't extend much before being broken off by the shells and falling into the sea.
On the other side, the ships from the Secret Spell Council displayed a completely different attack method.
Various spells unfolded from the ships, then converged into a series of spell disks.
The planes of the magic circles were aligned with the distant coast.
The attacks were all elemental missiles, except that these elemental missiles were more concentrated and more powerful.
The frequency of the attacks was low, but each strike was capable of inflicting severe damage.
The Dawn's methods were the most bizarre.
Meteors, like lava, fell from the sky one after another.
Followed by lightning.
Water streams converged into ice blades, nearly invisible wind blades.
Those who didn't know would have thought there were several elemental masters aboard the Dawn's ship.
A concentrated laser pierced through, severing an extended tentacle through mid-air.
And underwater.
A sharp arrow of water moved at breakneck speed. It was Pororo, swiftly traversing the water. He swiftly approached the tentacles dangling in the water.
Waving his sword through the air.
A storm gathered, a swirling storm, condensing into lightning that began to wreak havoc around the coastline.
He precisely avoided his teammates' offensive line of sight, continuously harvesting the tentacles in the water and on the surface.
As the action began, Urulius and the puppet girls around her immediately began the ritual.
On either side of the ritual, Anris and the members of the Spell Council had already compiled the entire ritual to a great extent, forming a massive magic circle.
Various materials were laid out on top. Urulius presided over the ritual.
Looking at Urulius's crystal dragon-like appearance, Anris couldn't help but exclaim, "I've heard of it before, but I never expected to actually see a crystal dragon presiding over the ritual."
Anris, who was compiling the ritual circle, couldn't help but exclaim.
After all, the Secret Spell Council's earliest origins stemmed from a spell book written by a crystal dragon discovered by pioneers in the ruins.
Therefore, they had some connection to the crystal dragons.
A defensive line had been formed around the magic circle.
However, the magic circle isn't activated yet, as the entire ritual hasn't begun.
Once the process begins to drain the flesh and blood power, a flood of flesh puppets will attempt to stop it.
Therefore, the largest force is actually gathered here.
Members of the Holy Machine Church, all members of the Council of Spellcasters, Jason, Julia, Lucelia, and almost all the puppet girls are all here.
The main assault team.
This group primarily consists of Alka, Sofia, Matresha, and Juanlu.
It consists of the four of them.
The four split into two teams.
Alka and Juanlu, Sofia and Matresha.
They each began destroying the internal digestive chamber from either side.
After Alka lit the fireworks, the two teams immediately split into two and quickly began advancing.
Based on the entrance tunnel they had previously explored,
Alka shattered the outer membrane of flesh with a single strike, revealing the passageway within. Together with Juanlu, they flew rapidly inside on the flying mirror.
Such a violent breakthrough.
As soon as the two of them entered the tunnel, sharp tentacles emerged from the side of the tunnel, charging towards them.
Clearly, they had already figured out how to defeat simple invisibility, especially since Alka and the others were completely unconcealed.
Facing these tentacles, round balls the size of heads danced around the mirror.
These balls opened their massive mouths, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. Any tentacle they caught would be chopped off and devoured like noodles.
As they digested, the balls' appearance changed. Tentacles, each with its own small, sharp mouth, sprouted from their originally rounded surfaces.
This could be considered a unique ability of Juanlu's Devouring Sphere.
It can simulate digestion based on the food it consumes.
It can also pass this ability on to Juanlu, though Juanlu is currently quite resistant to these fleshy tentacles.
Suddenly, a strange noise came from overhead.
A tentacle flew towards him, striking Juanlu on the shoulder.
However, the blow didn't even scratch Juanlu's skin. He quickly tugged it away with force.
What he pulled off was a flesh monster at the sixth stage of strength.
As soon as it was torn off, a spherical monster opened, revealing a mouthful of razor-sharp steel teeth. This mouth was something special.
In one bite, it tore a hole through half of the monster's body. The teeth were incredibly sharp, and their destructive power was palpable.
Apparently, this sphere was made from a single divine essence.
He bit into it.
The bite didn't produce any blood, but rather some granulations danced, as if preparing to repair.
With brute force, Juanlu wrenched the monster's head off.
He tossed the head directly into the mouth of a sphere.
The remaining body was immediately devoured.
"Your body is getting stronger," said Alka, watching the scene from the front.
"Of course, I can't just eat some materials every day for nothing. After all, those materials don't taste very good," Juanlu said with a smile.
It was said long ago that the abilities bestowed upon him by Juanlu's bloodline and his treasure configuration would become increasingly powerful as time went on.
This is because, whether the sphere or he ate, they could incorporate a portion of the food they consumed into their own bodies, permanently enhancing their own abilities.
Juanlu most often ate various sturdy materials, which he used to reinforce his skin, bones, and even internal organs. If we were to argue about physical toughness, Juanlu was undoubtedly the strongest in their group.
Whether externally or internally, claiming him to be as tough as steel was an understatement.
These flesh monsters, whose bodies were primarily flesh, were like lumps of plasticine in Juanlu's hands.
In terms of sheer physical toughness, Juanlu completely triumphed.
The flesh he devoured would regenerate within Juanlu's body, strengthening him once more.
By the time the monster was ripped to shreds, Alka and the others had already reached the interior.
Gazing at the digestive cavity within, Alka gathered various energies in his hands.
A sphere was encased and then dropped into the sphere.
The moment the sphere landed, the mirror Alka and the others were riding in flipped, trapping them in the mirrored world.
Since it was simply a mirrored world, everything was a layer within Alka's unusual structure, so they could still see what was happening outside. When the energy spheres collided, they exploded immediately.
The violent elemental energy began to scatter, shredding space and raging around.
The entire digestive cavity was instantly torn into a bloody internal wound.
The damage caused by this blow even expanded the surrounding space by an entire circle.
It completely dissipated into a hollow interior.
Perhaps due to the severing of a blood vessel, a large amount of blood and pus splattered.
The entire flesh mountain began to shake, and a sharp wailing could be heard.
"Alka and the others have succeeded."
Suddenly, a beam of light erupted from the monster's body.
Even the sky darkened, as if the moon were shining down.
That was the power of Sofia.
Clearly, Sofia and her team, who were destroying the digestive cavity on the other side, had also succeeded.
However, there were not only two digestive cavities; there were more.
So, the two teams began a powerful breakthrough.
The flesh monster, or rather, its nest of flesh, shook and wailed once more.