199: Chapter 199 The Mine Golem Appears, Cthulhu Patterns Emerge

The wind blew out from the depths of the mine shaft, carrying the dry scent of rust and crushed stone.

Chen Wuwang stood on the final step of the top floor of the Stargazing Platform, his footsteps halting.

He had just received the third pulse feedback from the monitoring array—the location had changed, but the frequency remained the same, still that damn once every seventeen seconds.

The signal source was moving toward the Eastern Desolation Mine, like a venomous insect crawling along the ground.

He turned and left, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye lighting up with a faint blue glow in the darkness, scanning every inch of the ground along the way.

The vibrations from the metal plates beneath his feet told him that the psionic delivery pipes on the third basement floor were still operating, but the rhythm was half a beat slower than usual. This wasn't right.

"Xiao Dao," he whispered into the Family communication channel, "take a light mecha and wait for me outside the mine's core area. Don't turn on active detection; maintain silence."

"Received," came the crisp reply from the other side, with no questions asked and no unnecessary chatter.

Chen Wuwang leapt onto the hoverboard docked at the side of the tower. With a soft hum from the engine, the board shot into the night like an arrow from a bow.

Two minutes later, he landed beside a sentry tower on the perimeter of the mine.

In the distance, the illumination talisman lamps of the mining area flickered, as if something were blocking the light.

He jumped off the board, bending his knees slightly to absorb the impact upon landing, and casually drew a dagger from his waist, making a cut across his palm.

Beads of blood seeped out, dripping onto a miniature crystal plate he carried.

The crystal plate activated instantly, projecting three monitoring feeds: node one captured a blurry humanoid silhouette carrying a basket of high-purity Red Scale Ore, its gait stiff.

Node two showed it bypassing the patrol route of the defense mechas, taking the same abandoned maintenance path three times in a row.

Node three recorded that before entering the core area, it had stopped for five seconds, its head tilting slightly as if "listening" to something.

"Not human," Chen Wuwang whispered. "It's a Puppet."

He tucked the crystal plate back into his sleeve, and his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye switched to spectrum tracking mode, tracing the energy afterimages along the humanoid's path.

Data streams scrolled across the edge of his vision: body temperature simulation normal, heartbeat forgery in place, even the breathing frequency matched human laborer standards.

But at the spinal connection, there was a minute energy fluctuation, like some kind of signal cycling repeatedly within the body.

Once every seventeen seconds.

Consistent with the signal frequency.

He narrowed his eyes and lightly pressed a spot behind his ear, activating the passive listening module hidden within his skull.

This was a device Old Lin had installed for him years ago, originally intended to defend against mental attacks, but now it was proving useful.

Sure enough, in less than ten seconds, he captured a hint of something unusual—

An extremely faint whisper, not transmitted through the air, but embedded directly into the background Spiritual Qi, like a mantra played on repeat.

The content was indiscernible, but the syllables were distorted, the ending sounds dragged out too long, like an echo crawling up from the bottom of a deep well.

"The Zerg Broodmother... is giving orders?" His heart sank.

He had heard this kind of whisper once before, on the night of the spirit vein riot two years ago.

At that time, the ground beneath the entire mining area was shaking, and all the workers had fallen into hallucinations, killing one another.

Later, he discovered that the Zerg were transmitting instructions to certain contaminated individuals through leyline resonance.

And now, this voice actually appeared on a Puppet.

He hesitated no longer, quickly crossing the cordon and heading straight for the entrance of the abandoned mining tunnel.

The wind and sand grew stronger, blurring his goggles.

Just as he rounded the corner, he saw Chen Xiaodao crouching behind a collapsed rock wall, his mecha stowed on his back, a short blade in hand, his eyes fixed on the path ahead.

"There," Chen Xiaodao lowered his voice, pointing to a spot about twenty zhang inside the tunnel entrance.

The "laborer" was still working. Its movements were slow, but terrifyingly precise.

With every swing of the pickaxe, it perfectly avoided the unstable fissures in the spirit vein, something even the most experienced technician might not be able to achieve.

The route it took to transport the Ore also completely avoided all the reverse cameras in monitoring blind spots, as if it already knew where the eyes were.

"It knows it's being watched," Chen Wuwang sneered. "That's why it's acting so obediently."

"Should we restrain it?" Chen Xiaodao's hand was already on the mecha's activation button.

"No," Chen Wuwang reached out to stop him. "It has a mental link inside. Touching it might break the connection or even trigger self-destruction. We need evidence right now, not a corpse."

After saying this, he closed his right eye, and the Mechanical Prosthetic Eye in his left eye slowly lit up, switching to penetration scan mode.

Blue light swirled in the depths of his pupil as an invisible beam shot out quietly, refracting through the dust in the air to land precisely on the Puppet's back.

The image unfolded in his mind: the skeletal structure was abnormal, with joints made entirely of metal connections; the internal organs were displaced, and a black core was embedded in the center of the chest, its surface covered in fine runes; and at the connection between the spine and the core, a set of dark purple markings was slowly wriggling, like living creatures moving beneath the skin.

The markings did not form words, nor did they resemble any known Formation totems.

The lines twisted and coiled, their ends branching out like tentacles. Every pulsation was accompanied by a faint mental wave, as if responding to some distant summons.

"Cthulhu markings," Chen Wuwang's voice was as cold as ice.

He had seen similar patterns in the Incomplete Manual left behind by Mo Yuan.

Those were the whispering marks of the Great Old Ones, capable of corroding the mind and distorting reality.

But those were things of legend; no one had ever truly mastered them.

And now, they were actually carved into a Puppet's body, serving as a medium for control.

What was even more terrifying was that these markings seemed to be alive.

The scan lasted less than three seconds before it suddenly trembled slightly, as if sensing the scrutiny.

Immediately after, the Puppet's movements paused for half a beat, and its head tilted slightly, facing the direction where Chen Wuwang was hidden.

"It noticed!" Chen Xiaodao immediately tensed up.

Chen Wuwang quickly deactivated the scan, keeping only the passive recording.

He stared at the Puppet; his heart didn't race, but his temples throbbed.

He knew that although the brief scan just now was short, it was enough to make the person behind the scenes realize that someone had seen through it.

But the opponent did not flee.

Nor did they detonate it.

It just stood there quietly, like a statue waiting for orders.

"The Demon Race... has colluded with Cthulhu cultists." He finally spoke, his voice very low. "Mo Yuan is not acting alone."

Chen Xiaodao didn't speak, but he gripped the knife in his hand even tighter.

His hatred for the Zerg was etched into his bones, and the power of Cthulhu was the very source of the madness during the village massacre years ago.

"Seal the scene," Chen Wuwang ordered in a low voice. "No one is allowed to approach, and do not disturb it. I want it to continue 'working' until I figure out how it got in and who let it through."

"Understood." Chen Xiaodao nodded and quickly retreated to the outer side of the tunnel, beginning to set up concealed sentries.

Chen Wuwang stood where he was, his gaze fixed intently on the Puppet.

The wind and sand lashed his face, yet he felt no pain.

Only one thought churned in his mind: if this was just a vanguard, how many more such things were behind it? Was their target the mine, or the entire Spiritual Vein System?

He raised his hand and touched the three claw marks on his right cheek.

Those were marks left by the Zerg, and also the first wound he received after his Transmigration.

Now, the same enemy had changed its appearance and was approaching once more.

It was different now.

Before, it was brute force; now, it was infiltration, disguise, and manipulation.

More sinister, more ruthless, and harder to guard against.

He took one last look at the Puppet, then turned and walked toward the platform at the edge of the tunnel.

Beneath his feet was a bottomless mine pit, the wind rushing up from below, making the corners of his clothes flap loudly.

In the distance, the lights of the main domain were still bright; children were still laughing, and Disciples were still practicing their swordsmanship. Everything seemed normal.

But he knew the fire had already reached the doorstep.

It was just that, for now, he could not yet light the lamp.