The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 455 - 334: Sphere of Light

After the Big Head died, the cowboy hat revealed its ’true form,’ and the Ancient City reverted from half-new to its dilapidated state. However, Ou Chen remained unchanged, which at least indicated he was still alive.

Both the cowboy hat and Gu mentioned that the Evil Spirit could freely alter the city’s architectural structure, such as instantly turning into a real underground passage. So perhaps Ou Chen appearing in the ’wall’ was merely the Evil Spirit imprisoning him in a ’cell.’

Now that the Big Head is dead, Ou Chen walking out of the wall can be considered a regained freedom.

"Are you coming with me?" I asked. He sounded convincing, but those who only talk without taking action are mostly unreliable.

Even if he can’t enter the core to destroy it, he can at least lead the way. Without a guide, I might waste a lot of unnecessary time on the road.

"I can’t get close to it," Ou Chen said as he turned around and lifted the back of his shirt, revealing a black smiling face printed on his back. The smile immediately turned into a frown when it saw me, transforming into a crying face.

"What’s going on? The Big Head is dead, but this thing hasn’t disappeared?"

"This isn’t an illusion; it’s a real energy, dark energy. We must destroy the core for them to vanish."

"Geez, what has the Ancient City been through to end up like this, a prehistoric science fiction epic?" I muttered, waving to Ou Chen, "Alright, I’m going. I’ll come back to chat with you, tell me the story of the Ancient City."

"Okay."

Actually, I still had many questions, but now wasn’t the time for a detailed conversation. I needed to check on how Qinghan and the others were doing.

The ’power source’ has been unplugged, so the shadow monitoring Qinghan should be gone. The worst-case scenario is that they’ve all been ’polluted’ by the core, becoming its slaves.

Perhaps the rumored ’pollution’ refers to being invaded by the Big Head’s consciousness, controlled by the core.

Ou Chen showed me a shortcut, and I followed his direction through alleys, entering the city’s central core area.

After the Big Head died, the core’s light dimmed slightly, yet being close still felt like bathing in light.

Soft light illuminated the decaying buildings. Near some buildings, I saw half-desiccated corpses.

They lay horizontally around the buildings, whether inside or outside, they were all under the walls.

Seemingly dropped from the walls, I recalled the human-like shadows I’d seen before. Perhaps the Evil Spirits created by the Big Head were slaves controlled by the core. They were originally people, residents of the Ancient City, not illusions.

I couldn’t help but wonder about the relationship between the Big Head and the Cosmic Core. Are they discoverers or creators?

What role does Ou Chen play in all this?

The illusions created by the Big Head have vanished, but the danger within the city remains. I saw a swarm of insects hovering in mid-air, resembling the kind Gu showed us in his drawings.

So these mutated creatures aren’t illusions either. As before, I left marks in dangerous areas. Qinghan and the others arrived via underground passages, unaware of the surface situation. Marking it now makes it safer when we return later.

At the light source center, there’s a large sphere emitting light. Unlike a light bulb, which has a glass cover, this sphere has nothing. It should be described as a light orb.

The closer to the light orb, the more corpses there were on the ground. Walking up to it, I realized where the Ancient City’s ancient inhabitants, said to be trapped inside, had gone.

They were all gathered around the light orb. Judging by their state, they had been dead for many years.

Yet the Big Head’s consciousness still had a significant influence. Had they decomposed normally, they would have turned to bone fragments by now.

So it’s not accurate to say the Big Head created illusions; it exerted real impact on people and things, preserving them quite intact.

I didn’t see Qinghan and the others on the ground. I called out towards the light orb, stamped my foot to make a noise, hoping they would hear.

However, it was quiet all around; nobody responded. I glanced at the light orb, thinking this was a perfect opportunity.

Ou Chen’s method to destroy the core sounded suicidal, diving into the combustible center to ignite it is akin to self-destruction. Luckily, I’m fine, but this ’miracle’ is best not witnessed by Doctor Du and the others.

With no one around now, I took out my lighter, pondered a bit, checked my surroundings to make sure no one was there, removed my outer clothes and shoes, packed them into a backpack, and hid them inside a nearby building.

Water and fire are useless; they can’t kill me, but they can ’kill’ my clothes and shoes.