Because of the presence of Divinity, Li Ang couldn't use Cat's Eye's scouting ability to directly observe the huge sphere.

But the iron chains extending from the surrounding walls and the human-shaped shadows within the sphere revealed that this scene was exactly what he had seen in front of the villa earlier.

What exactly was that scene before? Li Ang thought to himself. A prophecy or an illusion meant to confound?

He had Cat's Eye equipment that not only produced illusions but could also resist hallucinogenic effects to a certain extent, so ordinary illusions were unlikely to affect him.

As the sphere, penetrated by iron chains, showed no further abnormalities, Forest Cat quickly took out the Divination Polaroid camera and snapped a photo of the space near the sphere.

She didn't dare to photograph the sphere directly because the camera certainly couldn't bear directly facing Divinity. Doing so would only burn out the camera.

The photo developed quickly. Forest Cat glanced at it, her expression subtly changing.

On the somewhat blurry photo, endlessly proliferating plants occupied the entire frame. An exuberant tangle of vines and flowers seemed poised to almost fill the entire hall.

Forest Cat had a foreboding feeling. The Divination Polaroid would convert any abnormal event occurring in the next dozen or so minutes at the photographed location into a predictive image.

On the image, there was no information about any player—which was by no means good news.

No words were needed. Her somber expression spoke volumes.

Sensing a strong threat, several players silently took out their most powerful offensive equipment.

Li Ang retracted his stone arm, holding a Triangular Bone Tipped Spear in one hand and a Barrett sniper rifle in the other.

Forest Cat took out a riding crop.

Ur Wunnian's Gryphon Emblem on the back of his hand emitted a shimmering red light.

Dong Fengpo quietly produced a green glass bottle.

This wine bottle was also a Rare-Level offensive equipment. Its Special Effect allowed the user to spew high-temperature flames after drinking the high-alcohol content liquor inside. However, it had a significant side effect: drinking too much could scorch the tongue, leading to several days of mouth ulcers and toothache.

Stonemason, under everyone's watchful gaze, silently pulled out a Carl Gustav M3 84mm rocket launcher from his inventory slot.

As a member of a secret organization, he was naturally aware of some players' speculations about the hidden rules of the killing game: carrying modern heavy weapons could very likely lead to the System's implicit punishment, increasing task difficulty.

This rocket launcher hadn't been obtained through his organization's connections by pulling strings. Instead, he had commissioned other members within the organization to manually craft it using their synthesis skills. This way, it counted as a supernatural item and wouldn't trigger a System punishment.

Stonemason nodded to his teammates, shouldered the launcher, and aimed the infrared night vision scope at the huge sphere, his finger lightly pulling the trigger.

A flash of fire streaked by, followed by a loud bang, as an oversized, rocket-assisted armor-piercing round shot out. It instantly crossed half the hall and directly hit the sphere, which was bound tightly by chains.

BOOM—

The roar echoed back and forth in the room. Fire rose high into the air, and visible shockwaves from the explosion broke all the chains, tossing the luminous worms on the ceiling into disarray.

As dust filled the air, SSST. An almost imperceptible whizzing sound was heard.

Li Ang's eyes suddenly narrowed. He bellowed, "Scatter!" With a tap of his toes, his figure shot out like a bolt of lightning toward the front left.

His teammates were also alert and scattered a step ahead. They looked back at their previous location. Unbeknownst to them, a massive, cone-shaped spear, formed from tree vines and shot with great force, had pierced through the spot where they had just stood.

The over three-meter-long plant-based spear quivered slowly as if alive. Its densely packed vines writhed like snakes, constantly flicking their tails and hissing. They oozed transparent droplets that fell to the ground, corroding the bluestone floor with one deep hole after another.

If the players had hesitated even slightly, they would likely have been impaled by the vine spear and killed on the spot.

In the midst of the smoke, a continuous series of whistling sounds pierced the air again. Li Ang moved with the agility of a startled hare and pouncing falcon, narrowly dodging a vine spear. Using his peripheral vision, he caught glimpses of his teammates also being chased by these spears, forced to keep jumping and running to avoid being caught.

The group moved frantically, zig-zagging in a Z-pattern, advancing with great coordination towards the sphere's location.

As the dust settled, several players who were feigning movements also noticed the scene ahead.

Segments of iron chains, destroyed by the explosion, were strewn around the marsh. The sphere had burst open, its membrane spread over the marsh like a carpet. Grayish-white liquid that poured out from the sphere accumulated in a low-lying area in the middle of the marsh.

Above the membrane, there lay a humanoid creature.

Its skin was deathly pale, and its body gaunt. Its arms, like twinned flower stalks, were crossed and intertwined several times in front of it.

Its legs bent backward like a deer's, its spine arched high, shoulders hunched, and head retracted.

The most terrifying part was its face.

On its round skull, there was no hair or eyebrows, no eyes, and no ears—only a grotesquely large mouth. Above the mouth, a nose flared wide to either side. The bizarre appearance resembled a Picasso abstract painting.

What an unusual little thing.

So, this is the embryo? Li Ang's heart sank.

The creature, barely able to move on its own, gave a slight shake. The surrounding marsh plants and vines automatically gathered, rapidly twisting together to form spears, which then shot towards the players at high speed.

Li Ang narrowly avoided an incoming vine spear. With a sweep of his Triangular Bone Tipped Spear, he deflected another giant crossbow bolt.

As the distance between them closed, Li Ang held his breath and focused. He took quick aim at the humanoid creature lying atop the membrane and squeezed the trigger of his Barrett sniper rifle.

The heavy bullet spun away. Before it could reach the embryo, it was effortlessly deflected by a plant-based spear.

No eyes, but still so accurate. Is it using an aimbot?

Li Ang flipped his hand over and threw several Molotov cocktails. The swiftly arriving spears shattered the Glass Bottles, but the flammable liquid inside still splashed onto the marsh reeds.

The flames burst into life, instantly burning the fluttering insects to a crisp.

Just as waves of heat were about to scorch the embryo, a pair of huge mud hands suddenly rose from the marsh sludge. They securely cradled the embryo in their palms and extended steadily upwards.

Within moments, the mud hands had lifted the embryo to the highest point of the hall, overlooking the many players below.

Forest Cat's expression changed drastically. She shouted, "The Reindeer's divine domain encompasses plants, life, marshes, and creation! This extraordinary power to manipulate mud comes from the Lesley family, who possess the Petrification Curse! The body it's now using is the embryo of a Lesley family member!"