Protagonist?Antagonist? I Reject Both

Chapter 372: 372



The ghost worm of Leon mingled with the black worms and moved in a line. The squishy and slimy dark bodies wriggled as they traveled through the narrow underground tunnel. The passage was tight, forcing them to squeeze and wiggle through the dirt. The soil clung to their shiny skin, making the air damp and heavy.

As they went deeper, the tunnel began to slope downward. The worms followed the warmth that seemed to guide them below as temperature started to rise slowly. The passage became smoother and more consistent, hinting at a larger space ahead.

After a long time of crawling, the tunnel opened into a huge cave. The black worms poured into the vast space, stretching out and exploring. The cave was dimly lit by a soft glow from the walls and ceiling. Stalactites hang down, and the ground was covered with sparkling crystals.

One blackworm, different from the rest, followed behind quietly. It was a ghost black worm, almost invisible, moving silently in the shadows. It watched as the other worms spread out and explored the new cave. The cavern felt alive with the activity of the worms, and the ghost worm remained hidden, blending into the darkness as it observed the scene.

...

While the ghost worm migled, Leon connected the worm positions to the shadow realm which followed the worm while existing in another dimension.

This feature was quite handy when it came for exploration and following prey.

Perfectly suitable for a hunter like him.

Sitting inside, he got a perfect first person view however it wasn't something that pleased his eye.

Even several shadows quivered and spat out in disgust.

Meanwhile, Leon controlled the ghostly black worm as if it was his own body.

The path Leon was on within the cave was very wide and kept extending forward into the distance.

Leon couldn't see anything out of the ordinary as he kept moving forward, but his plan was to check every part of the cave.

After he finished examining it for any suspicious elements, he would push forward with his next plans to farm EXP.

With so many monsters despite getting less exp, it was enough to give him a delightful power boost.

Leon continued moving forward and occasionally saw some black worms overlapping one another as if mating.

The manner in which they did it disgusted him, and made him cry.

'Oh heaven!Just what kind of disgusting thing I have to see.'

One of the female black worms was even sending signals to the ghost worm, but Leon ordered it to quickly distance himself from her.

In a few minutes, he had crossed several hundred meters.

The cave turned into a myriad of colors from his point of view.

Every single black worm he came across had readings above their heads. Some had similar numbers while others didn't. Leon noticed the stones on the cave walls were bright green with varying energy readings too.

'Two thousand, three thousand two hundred... These numbers keep on increasing,,' Leon analyzed.

Leon was already nearing the end of the cave after moving through it for about five minutes. His sight zoomed in on the end of the cave where three different large holes could be seen on the walls.

These holes were more like rooms because Leon could see several black worms inside and sense an immense amount of energy coming from all three.

Squee! Squee!

Some of the worms outside the holes saw ghost worms and shrieked at him.

If Leon didn't understand their manner of speech, he would have thought they had figured out

that it was an imposter. But due to his mind linked with worms, he knew what they were saying.

"Squee! Squee! Squee!"

Leon signaled the worm as he squirmed towards the middle hole.

Squee! Squee!

The two worms outside made those sounds at Leon again while rotating their bodies.

The ghost worm replied with something similar before both worms moved out of the way for him to enter the middle hole.

The ghost worm crawled inside.

The space within the hole was big enough to fit a thousand people, but only about twelve blackworms were inside.

The flow of energy inside this hole was intense, and Leon could tell that it was far higher than the others he had seen on the cave ceiling when he was on his way here.

The hole would have been extremely dark, but there was a bright source of shiny blue light in

the middle.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The blue light was actually a long crystal-like rock protruding from the ground.

The crystal was over three hundred feet tall, glowing with a refreshing light.

The twelve worms coiled around the very large crystal-like rock.

'This is on another level compared to the others,' Leon said internally with a surprised look. 'What's that?' Leon understood why the black worms had guards positioned outside these holes.

Earlier, when he spoke to them, he realized that this place was only accessible to a black worm once every two months, and if a black worm stayed within any one of the three holes for a single day, their strength, along with their internal constitution, would undergo a

fundamental improvement.

[System what are those]

[High energy crystal named as Citrizine. Each of the small creature container is 10 times the energy of high spiritual stones.]

'Huh!'

Leon gasped heavily, taking a deep breath.

'So, the small crystals weighed so much so how did the big crystal do?'

[Do you want me to answer for 5 luck points]

Leon's lips twitched hearing system words and he refused.

As Leon approached the Citrizine crystal, he summoned his ghost worm. The worm, a shadowy extension of his will, slithered towards the crystal and coiled around it.

Leon noticed the crystal's energy flowing into the worm. The influx of pure Qi seemed to rejuvenate the worm, making it glow brighter as it absorbed the energy. The once-bright crystal grew dimmer with each passing moment.

With the energy now absorbed, the crystal lost all its light, and the cave fell into deeper darkness. The worm, now infused with the crystal's vitality, pulsed with renewed strength.

Leon felt the boost in his own power as the worm returned to him, its presence now charged with the vibrant energy of the Citrizine.