The base's main entrance, a massive, jagged mouth made of hardened symbiote matter, seemed to invite doom. The air emanating from within was thick and laden with a corrupting energy even more potent than that outside. Without hesitation, Cid took a firm step into the darkness of the opening. Jinwoo followed, his expression grave, his army of shadows latent beneath his skin, ready to manifest at a moment's notice.
The interior of the structure was an organic, biomechanical labyrinth. The "corridors" were twisting gorges of pulsing symbiote matter, lit by a sickly glow that seemed to emanate from the walls themselves. Arterial conduits made of viscous dark matter snaked across the ceiling and floor, carrying some unknown energy or fluid. The sound of rhythmic heartbeats echoed in the distance, like the heart of a gigantic beast. Everything felt alive, hostile, and designed to disorient and entrap intruders.
Cid walked with the caution of a secret agent in enemy territory, though his body language remained strangely relaxed. He observed the formations with a critical eye, looking for "security systems," "traps," and "access routes" as if he were in a conventional military base.
Cid thought: Infiltration of the Ultimate Cult's secondary operations base. The interior layout is typical of a high-level facility: a defensive labyrinth with containment systems. The organic walls probably detect intruders. I must use my Level 4 Proximity Sensor Evasion Protocol to avoid triggering internal alarms and traps.
As they moved forward, the hallways began to react to their presence. The walls pulsed faster, the conduits contracted. Suddenly, the corridor they had just passed through began to close behind them, the symbiote matter growing and solidifying at an alarming rate, threatening to crush them if they tried to retreat. At the same time, the hallways ahead of them did not open easily; segments of the floor caved in, side walls sprouted sharp spikes, and the air filled with a disorienting psychic pulse. The base itself was an active trap.
Jinwoo sensed the immediate threat. It wasn't a creature, but the environment itself attacking them. He summoned a group of Shadow Knights to use their shields and strength to keep the passageway open behind them while he dealt with the obstacles ahead. He fired blasts of shadow energy at the emerging spikes, pushing them back, and used his strength to leap over the sinking floor segments.
"The base is alive!" Jinwoo exclaimed, frustrated by the evasive and relentless nature of the defense.
Cid, rather than fighting the traps directly with brute force, moved differently. He dodged the spikes with a speed that made him appear to be teleporting, passing through psychic zones without flinching. When a section of the wall tried to trap him, he didn't shatter it; instead, he reached out with a hand and applied a quick, subtle touch to a specific spot of the pulsing matter. There was no sound, no glow, but in that spot, the symbiote matter froze, its growth halted, its reactions temporarily shut down.
Cid thought: Internal defense systems activated. Compression traps and pinpoint defenses. They respond to vital energy or rapid movement. The key is to identify the 'neural control nodes' of the organic structure. A touch of 'Structural Function Override' Level 5 should temporarily disable them. It requires precision so as not to trigger secondary self-destruct protocols. It's like finding the 'master switch' of a complex security system.
Using this strange ability, Cid moved ahead of Jinwoo, touching key points on the walls and floor. Wherever he touched, the traps stopped working, the walls stopped, the spikes slowly retracted. He was dismantling the base's defenses as they went, not by strength, but by an intuitive understanding of its energy structure or by pure, ridiculous luck that he interpreted as strategic skill.
Jinwoo watched in awe as Cid disabled sections of the living base with simple touches. It was incredibly useful. He took care of threats that couldn't be instantly "shut down" or held off sections Cid hadn't yet neutralized, using his strength and his shadows to create a physical path. But Cid was the one enabling the real breakthrough, finding a "solution" to the defense that brute force alone couldn't easily overcome.
The coordination was tacit. Jinwoo dealt with the physical manifestation of the challenge, Cid dealt with the underlying "engineering" of the defense system. One was the key, the other the hammer, and together they made their way through the organic labyrinth.
They delved deeper, passing through chambers that looked like giant chrysalides (perhaps symbiote breeding grounds) and conduits through which dark, corrupted energy flowed. The challenge of the base itself continued: corridors that twisted unexpectedly, floors that tried to suck them in, and organic 'sensors' that fired blasts of pent-up energy. But with the combination of Cid's "nullification" and Jinwoo's strength, they overcame them one by one.
Cid thought: Infiltration progress: 40%. The base is sprawling and well-defended. The internal 'security systems' are varied. The Designated Shadow Asset is handling the physical obstacles well. My 'Enemy Systems Disabling Mastery' is crucial in this environment. Team synergy is optimal for this phase of the mission.
Finally, after passing a particularly complex section where several corridors attempted to close simultaneously while a corrosive gas made of Void energy emanated, they emerged into a larger, central chamber. This chamber wasn't a corridor, but an open space, with larger and more ominous biomorphic structures and an even greater sense of concentrated power. The "heart," or control center, of the base lay nearby.
They had breached the entrance defenses and the first layer of the inner labyrinth. The infiltration had been a success, though exhausting in its own way. They were one step closer to the core of the domain and, therefore, closer to the Black King himself.
Cid nodded, assessing the new surroundings. "We've reached a pivot point, Monarch," he announced, his voice echoing faintly in the pulsing chamber. "According to my tactical analysis, this is likely a 'major control node' or access route to the next level of the facility. The deep infiltration phase continues."
Jinwoo caught his breath, his shadows remaining alert. He looked around, feeling the oppressive power. They had managed to break through the living base. The challenge had been different from the Sentinel's, more insidious, and had required Cid to use his abilities in a unique way.
"Looks like we're not done yet," Jinwoo replied, his gaze fixed on the darkness beyond the chamber. They'd overcome the challenges of the Abyss for now, but the corrupted heart of the planet awaited them.
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