Chapter 1450: 1448: Injuries

Chapter 1450: Chapter 1448: Injuries

The main chamber at the heart of Heize’s fleshy tree

connected to the bathtub room by conduits of forest essence, hailed as the “Origin of the Black Goat,” hosted an Upper Rank entity who now gazed upon the human youth brought by her daughter with an alluring, rotund human form.

To have bested Green, Pope, and Aslan to achieve absolute victory in the London Game—this alone was enough to astonish her.

What shocked her even more was that the Upper Rank circle she had once abandoned had granted this youth the trial rights to the “Book of Dead Spirit.”

Were it not for the critical nature of the “Dead Spirit Qualification,” she might genuinely have wanted to “sample” this champion to uncover why he was different—why he surpassed Green, who bore Abyss as his flesh and mad blood in his veins.

Yet giving into desires might risk breaking this young body entirely.

At that moment, her gaze shifted toward her most beloved daughter.

“Sally, you brought this friend of yours to me—what is it you want? … The ‘Book of Dead Spirit’ has nothing to do with me.”

Sally answered nervously, “Mother, here’s the thing… Nicholas chose the ‘Fate Route.’ He has interacted with various worlds and possesses powers that we Demons lack.

I want him to discover a way to recover your injuries.”

Upon hearing this,

Han Dong, utterly stunned, realized that Sally hadn’t disclosed this plan beforehand.

Shush shush shush~

Suddenly, several feeble tentacles emerged from the bathtub’s depths, clinging to Sally’s body like a loving mother gently caressing her child… Naturally, Sally thoroughly enjoyed the sensation.

But this maternal affection did not end there.

[Mother] elongated her head abruptly to bring her face close to Sally’s.

Her moist lips pressed against Sally’s, initiating an intimate touch through “kissing” that caressed her child from within.

After this embrace, Sally collapsed onto the ground, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.

“Such a good girl~

Your kind intentions, your mother will accept. We must try, even if the chances of success are nonexistent… But staying here is ever so boring, so indulging in a bit of amusement wouldn’t hurt.”

Gurgle gurgle~

In the bathing chamber, wisps of purple, illusory mist wafted out.

A tangible illusion began transforming the [Tree Heart] area’s structure.

In the blink of an eye, Han Dong and the others found themselves in the lady’s bedroom of an ancient castle, the fleshy receptacle now reshaped into a conventional bathtub.

“Nicholas, does this kind of environment suit your comfort better?

I cannot detach myself from the nourishment of this liquid for long, so I’ll have to trouble you to examine my body here… I suggest you remove your clothes—it will also help you recover from the injuries sustained during the London Game.”

“…This…”

Han Dong caught a whiff of something unsettling as the situation veered into an eerie direction.

Throughout his journey, he had seen countless males drained by the wood; he certainly did not want to end up like them… Besides, he needed to return with the group to the Holy City and report on their victory.

He attempted to seek Sally’s help.

But Sally was entirely absorbed in her mother’s affectionate grasp, drool dribbling from her lips, her gaze utterly dazed.

“Don’t mind her. Sally is presently wandering through another world; she has no idea what’s happening here. Come now… Sally’s chosen man, I do find you quite intriguing~”

The woman reclined her body, resting languidly while draping her delicate feet over the bathtub edges.

This sight was all too familiar to Han Dong; Miss Maritzis—the Spotted Toad serving as a “battery” inside him—often struck such a pose… Yet the woman before him was no peer but an existence countless tiers his superior, her age exceeding his by hundreds, if not thousands, of years. An Old King.

Burdened by immense pressure, Han Dong nonetheless stepped forward cautiously.

Though daunting, Han Dong sensed “opportunity” hidden in this endeavor.

Submerging his body fully into the bathtub, he felt as though he were soaking in nutritional essence.

Sticky texture aside, what mattered was the flow of nutrients that incessantly seeped into his pores, saturating every corner of his weary form in dire need of restoration.

“Hiss~ Ah!”

Despite sufficient rest during the war’s late stages, Han Dong’s body remained heavily fatigued.

Particularly after Borrowing God, certain areas felt strangely “hollowed out.”

Harnessing the Black Forest’s essence, his body began rejuvenating rapidly.

A fleshy, elongated tongue gently licked his earlobe, accompanied by whispers from the tiny mouths peppering its surface:

“Feels nice, doesn’t it? If you wish, you could stay here forever.”

“Uh… Let me first examine your body.”

Immersed in the bathtub, Han Dong discovered a truth—a secret regarding the true form of this Old King.

Why couldn’t this “Black Goat” detach from the bathtub for extended periods? It wasn’t merely an issue of nutrient solution but that her actual body was connected to the bathtub’s underside.

What Han Dong and Sally had encountered—the humanoid form—was merely a portion of the [Mother of the Black Goat]… She had molded a segment of flesh into a human form, separating it for interaction.

This piece of flesh was her sole remaining intact specimen.

Her severely injured true form lay attached beneath the bathtub as the root of the main tree.

Hence,

the so-called “body examination” referred to the swollen true form beneath the bath—also known as the “Root of the Black Forest.”

Upon grasping this, Han Dong immediately dove into the fleshy crevice at the bathtub’s base, descending further.

[Demon’s Eye Open]

The sight that met his eye made Han Dong’s scalp prickle with unease,

and he finally understood why Sally had conceded to Green, why the flock sought the refuge of major interstellar forces.

“To survive with injuries like this… how is it even possible?”

Under his Demonic Eye’s gaze lay utterly shattered chambers of flesh.

Skeletal roots, decayed beyond recognition,

tissue without a single unbroken patch,

even fragments of the soul torn apart.

Through continuous supply from the Black Forest’s nutrition and an inherently life-filled domain, its shattered pieces were barely held together, forming a fragile “whole.”

Even minor disturbances or external impacts could lead to the utter disintegration of her form.

This explained why the Black Forest had been relocated to Yaddith’s deepest layer, where even the flock’s teleportation anchor avoided the forest’s center.

Suddenly,

an ultimate sensation—the kind that elevates consciousness—pressed against Han Dong’s back.

The Black Goat Mother’s “human-shaped flesh” submerged alongside him, hugging Han Dong tightly from behind, her lips brushing his ear as she whispered:

“Forgive the intrusion~ Having a male observe my bodily structure on our first encounter is quite embarrassing.

Surprised, aren’t you? That I can survive despite wounds of this extent.

But of course… survival is confined to soaking here.

Had there been a way to heal, I would’ve left long ago.

Now, all I can do is groom successors like Sally, hoping one day they will replace me.

That’s enough; just your presence has already made my body feel uncomfortable, faintly aching.

Let’s return to the surface now.”

In her view, such injuries were blatantly irreparable.

Having Han Dong delve below was merely out of whimsy and curiosity toward a peculiar male.

And yet,

as Han Dong stared at the scene before him, he fell into deep thought, his mind racing at incredible speed.

He delivered his response after conducting the examination:

“I can only think of one possible solution, but I cannot implement it yet… I need to return to Fate Space first.”