Deep in the Living-Chapter 203 - 195: First Awakening of Hell

The grave for the corpse is dug,

And the meal cart tipped over.

With its jaw completely torn away and brain scooped out, the body slides smoothly into the perfect grave, awaiting burial.

Just as the blonde girl is about to shovel the dirt into the grave, she suddenly notices complex scars on the corpse’s arms.

The pattern corresponding to the scars is all too familiar to the blonde girl, more so than to anyone else.

However, it required the joining of the two arms to complete the pattern of the scars.

She does not immediately bring the arms together but instead draws a strand of bloody vessel from within herself, slips it over the corpse’s left and right hands, and then proceeds to fill the grave and bury the corpse.

The burial complete, the soil is leveled.

The girl then places her palm on the ground,

Releasing a sort of special ability,

The soil that seemed freshly turned is immediately covered with a layer of green grass, becoming indistinguishable from the surroundings.

She then takes her umbrella, lightly hops onto the tree behind her, about four meters above the ground, making use of the previously wrapped blood vessels to manipulate the arms of the corpse buried in the soil below.

To piece together the scars on the arm’s surface, forming the symbol with a significant meaning.

The girl even preemptively concealed her body with some method,

But the expected impact and heat did not come.

Carefully, she descends from the branch and presses her ear against the very spot where the body was buried.

Thump!

A strong and vigorous pumping sound emanates from below.

Rather than a heartbeat, it more closely resembles the beating of a war drum.

Upon hearing such a sound, the girl does not linger and quickly vanishes into the darkness.

Silent and traceless, leaving behind not even footprints or breath.

...

Suffering, color, and death

These are the last fragments of memory that could be extracted from Luo Di.

All memories related to "Luo Di" are as if a projector was damaged mid-playback, all interrupted.

The brilliant climax that should have unfolded reduced to darkness named death due to "brain damage".

Yet, this darkness seems oddly peculiar.

Empty, yes, but also with a certain warmth.

The consciousness of Luo Di, which should have been utterly annihilated, transformed into a speck, fermenting in the warm darkness.

The swelling, fermenting consciousness is not stable and systematic as before, but more like a bloated and undignified ball of flesh.

This newly fermented ball of flesh-like consciousness also has nowhere to reside, called "brain".

The instinct of consciousness is desperately seeking a dwelling, for without one, it would perish anew in a short time.

At the other end of the warm current,

At the lower reaches of darkness,

There seems to be a new home capable of housing this ball of consciousness.

No longer as fragile as the brain, no longer in need of the skull’s protection.

No longer as inept as the brain, no longer just hiding and manipulating the body to face the outside world.

The new home possesses the toughest structural organization, perfect neural clusters that can coordinate the body’s limbs to fight together, and the courage to expose and display itself.

It’s called the [Spine].

The irregular ball of consciousness sinks, drawn downwards.

It reaches the spine and begins the initial fusion.

The Hell Symbol suddenly illuminates,

A kind of intuitive, intense connection is formed.

The consciousness that just took root in the spinal column immediately responds to a call, following the guidance of the Hell Symbol and projecting itself.

Leaving the present world, heading to the distant reaches of deep space,

Eventually arriving at a hot and arid gargantuan world.

「Consciousness Projection - Outer Realm Spine」

Thick and warm fluid envelops Luo Di’s entire body, an experience akin to being nurtured in the womb, making Luo Di feel newly born.

It seems his consciousness was not only projected here but also endowed with a brand-new body.

As the consciousness projection completes,

The biological tube inserted in his mouth supplying breathing gas is removed.

Deprived of the airway, a desperate suffocation forces his body into movement, into a struggle.

Raising both arms, tearing through the flesh membrane.

Luo Di’s body, along with the nutrient fluid, spills out, falling from a great height.

After a descent of dozens of meters, he crashes heavily onto the ground,

Yet the surface is similarly soft, preventing harm from the fall and instead bringing Luo Di’s consciousness to swift clarity, urging him to scrutinize his current situation.

"This isn’t my body..."

Luo Di looks at his [arm], which, while maintaining some human resemblance, is starkly different in skin and internal structure.

「Skin」- Thinner, whiter, and more adherent to the muscle tissue, to a certain degree revealing the inner muscle structure and special bone arrangement.

「Muscle」- A larger presence, with muscles no longer fixed in form.

Either with distinct protrusions, or curved, or in block shapes.

However, Luo Di’s current physical form seemed to have just been "born," with arms that still looked rather thin, but one could clearly sense that the muscular tissues had vast potential for growth, far beyond what a human body could compare to.

’Bones’ – were no longer the bar-shaped bones wrapped inside, but rather a segmented structure similar to spine bones. Parts of the arm bones were exposed on the backside of the arms, directly visible, extending all the way to the back of the hands at the fore-end.

Luo Di could also feel the potential for the bones to grow, be it in hardness, density, or other such attributes that might develop alongside the body.

The sole resemblance of this arm to Luo Di’s original body was the Hell Symbol imprinted on the inner side of the forearm.

His body had undergone similar changes, possessing skin as thin as paper and primal muscles and bones that could freely grow and be shaped.

But at present, it seemed very frail, or to put it another way, it was like the initial primitive state of an unsculpted jade or a newborn baby.

Perhaps this was Luo Di’s physical form in True Hell,

Or what could be called a [Shell].

Luo Di felt puzzled by this body intended to host Consciousness Projection. After all, the switch from the Fifth Hospital to the Punishment Room previously did not require a vessel.

Of course, now was not the time to ponder over the issues of the body and the shell, as clarity would come naturally later on.

He only needed to know two things:

1. He was not dead.

2. By nourishing the spine with the final Self-slaughter, his Consciousness was officially projected into True Hell as a formal entity, arriving at his true place of belonging, the domain of the Spine.

Luo Di could clearly sense that his present state, or rather this shell, was no longer governed by the brain.

The spinal column was given the highest priority, as the essence of Consciousness fused into it.

Now, he could perhaps be referred to as a true [Spine].

He also instinctively reached out to touch his face,

As expected, the facial structure had also changed.

Superfluous organs had been erased, such as ears and nose, rendering the entire head more streamlined.

The functions of hearing and smell had been transferred to the spinal cord and surrounding skin.

Only two things remained on the face,

1. A [Mouth] for biting and killing enemies, for consuming food.

2. [Eyes] for observing War and discerning the enemy.

Luo Di adapted quickly, gradually standing up to observe the surrounding situation.

He was currently within a [Circle].

A large circle enclosed by walls of flesh and blood, roughly the size of two sports stadiums.

These so-called walls of flesh and blood were the origin walls that nurtured Luo Di’s shell.

Upon them were laid numerous bulging structures resembling pustules, each coiling around a similar shell.

Perhaps,

Once a Spine from the outside world was recognized, their Consciousness Projection would arrive here and obtain a ’Shell’ capable of functioning normally in True Hell.

≮Come hither, newborn Spine≯

The call in the language of Hell drew Luo Di’s attention to the center of the circle.

The words pulled at the spine,

And Luo Di, as if entranced and moving like a Zombie, found himself at the center of the current area by the time he regained his senses.

Ten Huge towering spines surrounded him,

Resembling buildings, thrones, or even scepters.

The voice of Hell emanated from the tops of these spines, delivering a lecture, an interrogation, and an initial acceptance towards Luo Di.

Facing Luo Di, the newcomer from afar, there was not a trace of concern in the words, rather there was oppression, anger, and even a desire to completely crush him.

"Outsider Spine, distant Angel Envoy! We ought to welcome your arrival, to welcome you into our fold.

Yet, you carry the scent of others, your spine contains substances not of this place; you dared to contact the [Order Group] ahead of time and desecrated the essence of the spine with metal.

This impurity,

This arrogance,

This betrayal,

We should be slaughtering you on the spot, sucking your spinal cord dry, spitting on your nerves.

However, you are the first envoy in ten thousand years to feed the spine with ’Self-slaughter,’ the fitting death allowing your Consciousness to no longer wholly depend on the brain but to merge into the spine.

What loyalty this is!

As long as the spine does not perish, you shall not perish.

Such perfection, despite the impurity, deserves forgiveness.

But before granting forgiveness, answer me this.

Do you like War?"

This was another assessment-type of questioning. Luo Di had already accumulated certain experience at his grandmother’s, so he did not directly answer whether he liked or disliked it.

Instead, he made a request.

"Please temporarily project my Consciousness back to my original body in the world where I belong; I will answer this question with action.

Moreover, the so-called War should be fought with the body, not merely articulated verbally."

There was no direct response from atop the spines,

Only after a moment of silence did a voice come:

"Your request has been granted."

The ground where Luo Di stood suddenly surged with fresh blood, the earth turned into a Blood Pool, and his body fell into it.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l