My Abyss Survival Diary

Chapter 10 The Abyss Is Watching You

Simon leaned forward slightly...

"What do you mean?"

"Ants," Mr. Bell began, giving an example. "You've seen ants, haven't you?"

"Of course," Simon nodded.

"There is a fungus..." Mr. Bell's voice was still hoarse, "It specifically parasitizes ants. Its spores land on the ants, grow inside their bodies, control their brains, make them leave the colony, make them climb to higher places, and then slowly absorb the nutrients in their bodies."

He paused, then coughed twice.

"After the ant dies, the fungus grows from the back of its head, forming a stalk and producing sporangia, making its corpse a breeding ground for the fungus. When the wind blows, the spores spread, parasitizing more ants, and then spreading again, until its spores parasitize the entire ant colony."

The way he spoke eloquently was nothing like the "Don Quixote" who had recklessly charged at the monster just minutes before; he seemed more like a knowledgeable biology professor.

The firelight flickered, and all was silent; no one spoke.

Simon stared at Mr. Bell, waiting for him to continue.

Anthony was adding firewood to the fire, while Balda was keeping his head down, maintaining his dagger with a whetstone. Neither of them was listening to Bell's story.

On the contrary, Klein, who had always thought Mr. Bell was talking nonsense, stood in front of the tent, listening attentively...

"No," Simon shook his head, carefully considering his point before rejecting Mr. Bell's view. "If the Flesh of Evidence could spread spores and continue to infect, then it wouldn't need to be so aggressive. Couldn't it just lie dormant in the population and wait for the spores to spread?"

He added from a medical perspective, "Moreover, the body temperature of humans is vastly different from that of insects, making it difficult for fungi to parasitize the human body."

"You're right," Mr. Bell nodded, agreeing with his point, "but the abyss will help the fungi continue to evolve..."

To prove his point, he stood up, clutching his aching wound, and limped over to the beast that Simon had killed.

A weathered hand, calloused and scarred, opened the predator's gaping maw...

In the firelight, Simon saw clumps of fungi and a mouthful of pale mycelium.

He immediately thought of the corpse of the parasite that was the evidence of guilt.

At this moment, just like at that moment, their bodies grew mycelium after death.

Mr. Bell drew a dagger from his waist and plunged it deep into the back of the beast's head. With a skillful dissection, another piece of flesh, evidence of guilt, came into their view.

This piece of meat, the evidence of the crime, was clearly redder and larger than the piece Simon had hunted.

Mr. Bell casually tossed the large piece of flesh, the evidence of guilt, to Simon as if it were worthless trash, and Klein didn't react much.

Simon didn't stand on ceremony. He took it and immediately wrapped the large piece of flesh, the evidence of the crime, tightly with a cloth and stuffed it into his backpack.

"They abandoned their original method of spore dispersal and instead burrowed into the nape of organisms and parasitized through nerves. While this made parasitism much more difficult, it also strengthened their self-awareness. They became smarter, lived longer... and also became more dangerous."

Mr. Bell grinned, a smile that looked strange on his scarred face, carrying a frightening madness.

"They parasitize living organisms, using mycelium to modify their bodies and read their memories... They only choose young, strong hosts, and once the current host gets old, sick, or on the verge of death, they will find a new host."

He raised his hand, extended one finger, and gestured in the air:

"It crawls from one body into another, and continues to live, continues to learn..."

Mr. Bell's smile deepened, to an unsettling degree.

"Whatever the host can do, it can do; whatever the host remembers, it remembers. If the host is a farmer, it will know how to farm; if the host is a tailor, it will know how to make clothes; if the host is a soldier, it will know how to fight..."

Simon felt a chill run down his spine.

He remembered the young man who had been parasitized; when he was still alive, his movements were so stiff, even changing bullets was clumsy.

But then it learned to hold the gun with both hands, learned to aim, learned to use a more stable posture—that thing was learning! It was learning from everyone it had killed and everyone it had ever seen, drawing knowledge from every brain it had parasitized! It kept learning!

"Then..." Simon's voice was a little dry, "just how much knowledge can it store?"

Mr. Bell spread his hands: "It's just mycelium after all, not a human brain. After parasitizing it three or four times, it will probably be unable to continue to acquire information."

"Then where does the information it collects go?" Simon immediately asked.

Mr. Bell stared at him, the firelight flickering in his eyes like two embers about to burn out.

"Once it has learned enough, memorized enough, and collected enough knowledge and information..."

Mr. Bell stopped, held up one finger, and pointed to the ground.

He pointed to the damp, cold ground where they were sitting.

"The Abyss," he said softly, as if afraid of disturbing something terrifying, "It will take all the memories, all the information, all the secrets, back to the deeper parts of the Abyss, and surrender everything to the Abyss."

Give everything to the abyss...

Simon's breath hitched.

Is the abyss... actively gathering information?

The abyss is actively collecting information. Every piece of flesh containing evidence of sin, every host parasitized, every person who dies here—all their memories, all their skills, all their suffering will be recorded, passed down, and gathered into the unfathomable depths of the abyss.

What is the abyss itself?

Does it have consciousness?

Is it watching them indifferently, just as they look down at a speck of dust on the ground?

His mind was a complete blank; he wanted to say something, but found himself at a loss for words.

This abyss... is far more bizarre and terrifying than he imagined!

The campfire crackled once, and finally Klein spoke, breaking the deathly silence.

"Alright!" he said in an unquestionable tone. "That's enough for tonight. You guys go to sleep. I'm on the first shift."

Anthony helped Mr. Bell to his feet and before they entered the tent, Mr. Bell was still staring at Simon with his cloudy eyes.

"You're right," he said softly. "Be careful, the abyss is watching you."

"Stop nagging, buddy, go to sleep. We still have our second shift to do," Anthony said, hurriedly helping him into the tent.

"You've worked hard, boss."

Badar also stood up from the fire, slung his shotgun over his shoulder, nodded to Klein, and then crawled into the tent, the curtain falling.

Only Simon and Klein remained by the fire.

Klein stood there, hands in his pockets, eyes downcast, watching the fire.

The firelight flickered across his face, casting shimmering light on his delicate features. After a while, he slowly sat down, returning to his original position.

"Let's have a good talk, Mr. Simon..."