As Reiger’s team approached the fringe of the 24th layer, the tree bark-like ceiling and walls began to lose their original form.
The northern border of the 24th layer differed from the maze’s central area. The ceiling, walls, and ground all gradually took on a rocky, uneven structure, changing color from brown and green to pale red, making the surroundings resemble a cave rather than a forest.
This was due to the proximity of the food supply cache.
While there may be slight variations, the underground city’s food supply caches are fundantally cave structures. Deep inside, there is a massive quartz-like rock pillar, from which a highly nutritious liquid seeps. The monsters sustain themselves by drinking this, replenishing their energy and nutrients.
To form the food supply cache and the vast cavity where the quartz pillar stands, the underground city alters the maze’s environnt to suit their existence, ensuring that the closer one gets to the cache, the more the surrounding environnt resembles that of the large cavity.
Thus, the change in the environnt is not a bad thing but rather proves that Reiger’s party is nearing or about to reach the food cache.
However, no one expected that the sight that awaited them before reaching the food cache would be so terrifying.
"...What is this?"
Asafi’s voice had turned hoarse without anyone noticing.
The rest of the Hers Clan was in a similar state, either shocked or gulping in amazent, all finding it difficult to speak.
Reiger and Ais exchanged glances, one with flickering eyes, the other with an unnoticeable astonishnt.
The sight before them was so shocking.
Upon closer inspection, a massive wall appeared on the path leading to the food cache.
The wall blocked the entire road, forming a dead end, refusing entry to anyone who reached this point.
To make matters worse, this wall had a creepy appearance.
Its surface was swollen, resembling a green flesh wall. Compared to the surrounding rock walls, both its structure and nature were different, clearly not sothing that was originally there.
It blocked the path while occasionally pulsating gently, resembling a living creature or a vigorously growing plant, reminding Reiger of the environnt inside the underground monster Yarakulon.
"Tumor...?"
A dog-girl from the Hers Clan hesitantly voiced this description, prompting everyone to nod involuntarily.
The appearance of the flesh wall truly resembled a tumor growing in the underground city, extrely repulsive.
"...Was there sothing like this in front of the 24th layer’s food cache?"
"I don’t know..."
"I’ve never been to the 24th layer’s food cache."
"The intelligence reports don’t ntion anything like this here!"
The mbers of the Hers Clan started discussing in hushed tones, each bearing a slight look of unease, clearly shocked by the wall’s disgusting appearance.
Even the first-level adventurers like Ais, who had ventured into the deep layers of the underground city countless tis, found her beautiful brows slightly knit.
"...I’ve never seen anything like this in the underground city."
Ais voiced her opinion.
"It stinks."
Reiger was much calr than the others, not frightened by its horrific appearance. He was even inclined to investigate further, but upon approaching the flesh wall, he was t with a pungent stench, causing him to wrinkle his brow as well and retreat without hesitation.
"Indeed, it slls awful!"
"I hadn’t noticed it before..."
"Ugh... the sll is overwhelming..."
At Reiger’s words, the beastn, no longer as shocked as before, also caught a whiff of the acrid scent, causing the Tiger-man Warrior, the dog-girl, and other mbers of the Hers Clan to retreat with pinched noses and lantations.
For beastn with an exceptionally keen sense of sll, this pungent odor was akin to a biochemical weapon, causing so people’s faces to turn alternating shades of blue and white.
"This slls like rot, doesn’t it?"
Asafi boldly approached, sniffed the air, and then had a sudden realization.
"It seems the reason for the sudden increase of monsters on the 24th layer lies here."
Asafi seed to grasp sothing and spoke these words.
"What?"
Everyone was taken aback, turning to look at Asafi.
At that mont, Reiger also spoke calmly.
"Most monsters on the 24th layer are biological entities that need to eat, aning they need to reach the food supply cache for sustenance."
"But if the food cache is blocked by this flesh wall, which appeared out of nowhere, the monsters naturally can’t enter the food supply to get the nutrients they need to survive."
"As a result, the monsters that co here can only linger before the flesh wall, accumulating in number until, driven by hunger, a large mass of monsters gathered here will lose control."
Reiger’s explanation enlightened everyone, making them realize the situation at hand.
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