I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 763

I closely observed the lion’s paw sitting lonely on the floor.

Whether it hadn’t been retrieved in time, sharp claws extended sharply from it.

For a feline predator to unsheath its claws meant a fierce battle had taken place against an opponent.

The lion was a powerhouse reaching the so-called ’Ruler’ tier, freely roaming an entire sector.

Furthermore, unlike other Rulers, he ruled not just a sector, but the entire savanna, so one could estimate his strength.

Not to mention making the judgment to invade other animals’ habitats as soon as he realized the environment had changed.

’Thank goodness the sector I reside in has distinct four seasons; otherwise, I almost made a troublesome enemy.’

’This is a guy who defeated a giant centipede all by himself, and yet his paw was cut off...?’

For someone possessing such powerful physical specs to suffer an amputation.

I couldn’t even fathom just how strong the specimen hiding in this place might be.

"Master. I checked the surrounding bugs."

"I don’t know if it’s because the eggs were destroyed intentionally, but they are all dead."

While I was intently looking at the lion’s paw, the rest of the party shared their investigation results.

They said the bugs that hatched from the eggs were all crushed and dead.

It was a fact barely deduced from the very faint traces remaining.

"You don’t know what kind of bugs they are, do you?"

"I am not an entomologist, Master."

"I might know if it were trees, but I don’t really know about bugs either."

Since both of them didn’t know, my only choice was to ask the fixed-nicks on the Gallery directly.

However, as I mentioned earlier, everything was so thoroughly crushed that identification was impossible.

Having no choice, I decided to inspect things step by step and stayed cautious.

"First, let’s move forward... Wait a second."

Just as I was about to say we should slowly investigate as we move forward, I felt a sense of incongruity.

The traces of the bugs crushed after hatching were almost gone, yet the lion’s forepaw still retained its original shape.

Besides, given the earlier example of the maggot mimicking an apple tree, an instinctive anxiety washed over me.

"Lackey. Burn this forepaw quickly."

"Understood."

The moment that thought struck me, I gave Lackey the command.

Soon after, intense flames erupted from Lackey’s palm.

A fiery orange blaze powerful enough to engulf the entire lion’s paw lying on the ground.

Tadadak! Tadak!

At first, the sound of fur burning echoed, followed by the stench of burning protein.

Just when I thought I might have overreacted since there was no reaction—

Ujikeun!

Simultaneously with the lion’s massive paw squirming—

"KkIEEEEEek!"

With a spine-chilling screech, a massive bug burst out and ambushed me.

Because I was already prepared, I easily snatched the bug with one hand.

Badung! Badung!

"Kkieek! Kkieeeek!"

"..."

The bug squirmed and thrashed desperately in my grip.

Overall, its appearance resembled a beetle, but its teeth were hideous.

They stuck out sharply enough to chew through anything.

ㄴAllfather) I cannot tell what kind of bug that is.

ㄴStarlight Lady) I don’t know of any specimen with such ferocious teeth either.

ㄴDon’t Abandon the Hero) It looks like a beetle!

Even the knowledgeable Allfather and Starlight Lady couldn’t get a grasp on what species it was.

This meant it was either a species that originated and grew only on Earth, or an entity artificially created altogether.

It was also possible that as the purpose of building this laboratory was achieved, it additionally drove the evolution of bugs.

Kwajik!

I crushed the bug held in my hand.

An unpleasant sensation transmitted to my hand, but thanks to the presence of Body-Protecting Gangqi, wiping it off wasn’t difficult.

Next, I stared at the bug whose remains fell to the floor before taking another step.

Seeing that it used the lion’s paw as a host, the lion’s main body was highly likely to be in the same condition.

"Let’s go deeper inside. Lackey, project a shield since we might get attacked by bugs."

"Understood."

It was a situation where bugs could pop out from anywhere at any time.

Therefore, 360-degree vigilance was essential, and we even deployed a shield just in case.

Thus, we went down the stairs leading underground, discovering various traces with every step down.

Representative traces were the eggs we saw earlier.

Most were burst and trampled, and we could roughly tell who did this.

[Traces of claw swipes are clearly left here. They were carved relatively recently.]

Traces presumed to be from the lion swinging its claws were visible on the wall as well.

Just what kind of entity was in this place that forced the lion to wage such a rough battle?

Even as we moved toward our destination, we could see signs of its energy waning.Get faster updates on novelping(.)com.

’Is there an entity that turned the entire underground into a bug hive, and did he suffer a tragedy on his way to confront it?’

That was a highly plausible story. I decided to look around even more thoroughly.

The research facility didn’t consist of just a lonely corridor; separate rooms were set up along the way.

It seemed the lion had only charged straight down the hallway without entering the rooms, as they were unopened.

So, to check for records at the same time, I opened the doors and looked around the rooms.

Kkumul-kkumul—

"..."

Maybe I shouldn’t have opened it. The moment I opened the door, I regretted it.

And no wonder, because seeing the bug eggs filling the room to the brim left me completely appalled.

ㄴDon’t Abandon the Hero) Gross!

ㄴHeavenly Demon) Burn them quickly. They are hideous to look at.

ㄴSword Matstar) Are you scared of bugs by any chance? Haha.

ㄴHeavenly Demon) Calling a hideous thing hideous does not mean I am afraid.

ㄴSword Matstar) You’re definitely scared, lol

ㄴHeavenly Demon) Nonsense.

Surprisingly, Yoo So-wol seemed to dislike such sights.

Not that she was scared of bugs, but rather the sight of eggs laid out en masse like this.

It was roughly akin to trypophobia. In any case, it was better to clear this place out quickly.

"Are we burning this place too?"

"I’d like to, but any remaining records might get destroyed."

"You mean you’ll step on them directly?"

"We have to."

Ppok!

As soon as I said that, I stomped on the egg right in front of me.

Fascinatingly, instead of a squishy sound, it felt as though I were stepping on bubble wrap.

Besides, for some reason, there wasn’t even a bug inside. It was just an empty egg shell.

Pbook! Ppok! Ppok!

We zealously stomped around on the eggs, thoroughly cleaning the interior of the room.

Here and there, there were indeed eggs with sleeping bugs inside, but before they could do anything, they were crushed to death.

As time passed, after thoroughly checking that no other eggs remained, I searched for records.

Jilcheok—

"Ugh..."

I did manage to find a device similar to a recorder.

Only, it was covered in a sticky fluid, so I wasn’t sure if it would work properly.

After fiddling with it back and forth, I quietly pressed the play button.

Pat!

When I pressed the play button, light flared from the device, soon projecting a hologram.

However, whether it was damaged by the liquid wiped off earlier, the static noise was severe.

[We... failed...]

[Evolution... successful...]

[Escape... broken...]

Even the person’s face wasn’t displayed properly, and the speech was broken in patches.

It had practically lost its value as a record.

Leaving my disappointment behind, I decided to search for other records.

"So does that mean we have to pop bug eggs every time we look?"

"You don’t have to if you don’t want to."

"I’m fine with it! There’s a strange satisfaction to it!"

Seizing the opportunity, Elia tried to win points with me.

Of course, she said it because she genuinely was fine with it, so I passed it off with a chuckle.

I wondered if I should give her some bubble wrap later.

[Forced... We...]

[Test subject...]

[Remaining... director...]

I searched through other rooms meticulously, but most of the records were in a ruined state.

The little I gathered was that experiments were conducted in each room, failing miserably every single time.

I could even discern circumstances indicating human experimentation.

The question ’Why on earth?’ arose, but considering this place was the ’Evolution Laboratory’, something crossed my mind.

’Is this a laboratory built to create a body for the Chief God?’

Aragon’s goal is the resurrection of the Chief God.

However, the Chief God’s corpse, which was resting in eternal slumber, had been taken away by Aris.

From Aragon’s perspective, he had to somehow create a body for the Chief God, which was the greatest obstacle.

’He’s a monster who could hurl a mountain with his bare hands, so of course it’s difficult.’

The Demon Race member I discovered at a laboratory long ago.Read the latest chapters at novelpi​ng.com.

I still remembered how that demon’s upper body had exploded.

Besides, didn’t Gerdi, whom I met recently, say so?

That forcing mana into a body causes it to explode, unable to withstand it.

And the Chief God harbors several times more mana than Aris.

This alone gave me an idea of how difficult a road it was to construct a body for the Chief God.

’Did they experiment with bugs for that reason?’

It wasn’t incomprehensible.

As I’ve mentioned repeatedly, certain bugs possessed traits far superior to humans.

By maximizing those traits, they might have attempted to construct something even remotely resembling the Chief God’s body.

Of course, even if they constructed it, it would be meaningless without reviving the Chief God’s memories.

’If my memories were transferred to the World Tree for that purpose...’

Then a contradiction arises yet again.

Aris was definitely the one who stole the Chief God’s corpse, so I wondered why she was the one to store the memories.

Her goal wasn’t my resurrection, but eternal rest. If she had resurrection in mind, the math didn’t add up.

"Haa..."

In many ways, the situation was complex, and I couldn’t help but sigh.

For now, my plan was to figure out whether a successful creation existed in this laboratory.

Thus, as we steadily looked around every nook and cranny of the rooms, we penetrated into the deeper depths, and—

"Ah! Grylls-nim! Could that be...!"

"Is that... really a World Tree?"

In a vast space presumed to be the main laboratory, we were able to discover a World Tree.

Its size was only slightly larger than the one at my house, but judging by its aura, it was undeniably a World Tree.

However, the strange thing was that numerous tubes were connected to the trunk of the World Tree.

It resembled hoses hooked up to a terminally ill patient, leaving me wondering what purpose they served.

’Maybe they’re not hoses, but something like electrical cables?’

Since the World Tree was a plant that discharged mana, that could very well be the case.

Furthermore, since it was placed right in the dead center, it felt even more that way.

Just as I was pondering what on earth this World Tree was used for—

"Master. Look below the World Tree."

"..."

Hearing Lackey’s words, I lowered my head and looked down beneath the World Tree instead.

Underneath the thick trunk—right in front of the World Tree—a familiar animal was lying down lazily.

The ruler of the savanna, the lion presumed to have arrived here beforehand.

Looking at his forepaws, one paw was severed.

If so, why was the lion lying down over there?

To pass it off as merely resting for recovery, there were too many oddities.

’Should I wake him up?’

While having that thought, I quietly took a step forward.

Seueuk—

The eyes of the lion, who had been sound asleep, slowly opened and fixed directly upon us.

Instead of the relaxed gaze I had seen before, a sharpness like that of a true beast glinted in his eyes.

"...Ah."

The lion staggered up and uttered a small sigh.

A complex mix of emotion asking why of all people you had to come here, yet a feeling that it was fine nonetheless.

Just when I wondered why the lion showed such a reaction—

Kwajik!

"!!!"

A thick, black arm burst out from the lion’s mouth.

It was such a sudden situation with no precursor whatsoever that I couldn’t help but be flustered.

Udeudeuk! Udeuk!

The thick, black arm bursting out from the lion’s mouth slowly began tearing the lion’s head off.

Literally, as if popping off a lid, it pulled his head right off.

Kuuung!

Before long, the lion’s massive head was slammed onto the ground, and something began crawling out from the neck.

Having lived in the Forest of the Four Seasons, I had witnessed countless situations, but nothing was as shocking as this, leaving me unable to react at all.

Udeudeuk! Kkudeuk! Kkwadeudeuk!

A moment later, a muscular ’human’ form emerged from the lion’s neck.

Overall, its coloring was a blend of black and brown, accompanied by a gloss reflecting light.

Finally, its face... looked like a fifty-fifty mix between a human and a bug.

Because of that, it felt all the more bizarre.

Udeudeuk!

The human that finally stepped out of the lion’s body.

In the dead silence that descended, the first words it uttered were:

[Evolution. Successful.]

It was an expression far removed from a human’s.