Three members were separated from the team, their fate unknown.
Before fully exploring the B1 level, Netero decided to find those three members first.
Unfortunately, they didn't yet know that the three separated members were basically already dead.
After sealing Kanzai in the stone coffin, the team left the room, slowly heading towards the direction of the sound.
Wherever there was sound indicated where the Copper Mechanical Lifeforms on the B1 level were gathering.
Therefore, the team's movement wasn't fast.
To see someone alive or dead, to confirm the person, was actually quite difficult.
Because if a lone individual was surrounded by Copper Mechanical Lifeforms, they would definitely turn into rustified powder, drifting with the breeze in the passages.
B3 Level, Underground Ruins.
Deathly silence everywhere, darkness pervasive.
From here, the structure of the underground ruins completely leaned towards an ant nest, with crooked slopes and uphill terrain everywhere.
The structures had no connection and followed no pattern.
If one could see the entire underground's planar structural diagram, it would be impossible to put oneself in the builder's position.
What motivation, what need, would lead to constructing such an underground building that extremely wasted space and effort?
For any human, this was an unsolved mystery.
In contrast, the B1 and B2 level buildings were flat and straight, vastly different from the branching, leaf-like structure of the B3 level, completely two different styles.
The passage structure was like this, and the rooms connected amidst countless passages were also special.
The room floors were semi-circular pits, with walls rising straight up. From the middle of the walls onwards, they gradually curved, extending all the way to the ceiling's center point.
Rooms like this existed from the B3 level onward, though far fewer in number than B1 and B2 level rooms.
Moreover, from the B3 level onward, there wasn't a clear distinction in levels anymore.
In a hemispherical room on the B3 level, Beyond's team was present, all members accounted for, with no losses.
In the center of the room, suspended in mid-air, was a crystal the size of a sports field, its surface covered with dense spikes, resembling a hedgehog curled into a ball.
Bright yet soft light emanated from within the crystal, illuminating the room's surroundings.
The spikes on the crystal's surface varied in length and thickness.
Among them, the longest and thinnest spikes spanned the entire room, piercing the surrounding walls.
The spaces left between the many spikes weren't small, allowing people to pass through freely.
Thus, there was also considerable space left on the walls. On those wall areas not occupied by spikes, numerous gears were embedded, just like the crystal's spikes… some large, some small, some thin, some thick.
The gears varied in size, densely or sparsely distributed, with obvious differences in how deeply they were embedded in the walls.
To reach the B3 level, one had to pass through B1 and B2.
And passing through B1 and B2, one would definitely witness the terror of the gear-assembled entities.
Therefore, being in the room with the crystal and seeing the many half-embedded gears on the walls would naturally instill deep fear.
Yet Beyond and the others standing before the crystal looked calm, as if unaware of the hidden risks here.
"If we were in a game map, this would be the safe zone in the setting. The gear entities outside can't enter here." Pariston squinted, examining the crystal while his gaze occasionally followed the spikes extending to the walls.
A closer look revealed a droplet of liquid flowing inside the spikes, from within the crystal to somewhere behind the walls.
"And this crystal is the program constantly spawning monsters outside the safe zone."
After days of observation, Beyond's group discovered that the tiny water droplets flowing in the spikes represented a Copper Mechanical Lifeform in the ruins.
Hearing Pariston's words, a certain well-known university professor wearing spiral-patterned glasses, with similarly spiraled long hair, lightly scratched his nose and said seriously, "In my opinion, using 'embryo' to describe the water droplets flowing in the spikes would be more appropriate."
The speaker was named Curly, responsible for ancient script translation in Beyond's team.
"Is it meaningful?"
Beside Curly stood a man wearing a chef's hat and uniform, with black clown-like makeup around his eyes, a straight nose, and black makeup below his lips near his chin.
He was named Hornby, a professional Gourmet Hunter in Beyond's team. Since he had always been an Association's Temp Hunter, even as a relatively rare Gourmet Hunter, his reputation within the Association was low, and his presence very faint.
But in fact, every Pro Hunter chosen by Beyond was no weakling.
However, before launching this operation, they lurked as the despised Temp Hunter, never easily showing their capabilities. Before Beyond raised his banner, they trained their skills low-key but relentlessly.
Perhaps, even the Zodiac members might lack a solid impression of them. But this didn't mean they could be easily defeated.
On the contrary, with unequal information, this group of support staff members chosen by Beyond weren't necessarily opponents the Zodiac members could easily handle.
Hearing Hornby's words, Curly slightly sped up his nose-scratching finger and said in an extremely earnest tone, "I think it's very meaningful. Using metaphors and descriptions in language can help people understand the essence of things faster and clearer. You, who haven't attended school, wouldn't understand."
"..."
Several dark lines instantly appeared on Hornby's forehead. Realizing responding to Curly was foolish, he simply shut up.
"Curly Curly, wouldn't comparing those water droplets to sperm be better? Because, because, the gears outside are eggs, right!" said a person licking a lollipop, wearing a mushroom hat, leaning over.
"Hmm, very reasonable!"
Upon hearing this, a gleam in Curly's eyes seemed about to burst through his spiral glasses.
"Right, right?"
"Right, right, this metaphor is even more fitting."
Curly nodded rapidly. After all, the water droplets transported in the spikes had to fuse with the gears to form the Copper Mechanical Lifeforms in the ruins.
So, using sperm and eggs as metaphors was completely valid.
Listening to their conversation, the others in the team were speechless.
Beyond didn't pay attention to them.
He stood closest to the crystal, arms crossed, looking up at it, a sharp gleam in his eyes. Suddenly, he said, "Hornby, please make some space in the 'refrigerator' for me."
"Understood."
Hearing this, Hornby immediately complied.
Pariston tilted his head, looking at Beyond's slightly excited profile, and smiled. "Need to prepare an escape route in advance?"
Beyond grinned, taking it for granted. "Of course. I'm not a fool."
Since he came, he couldn't possibly leave empty-handed.
So, he intended to excavate the crystal from the room.
However, doing this carried risks. For instance, removing the crystal might destroy the [Safe Zone] mechanism, causing various forms of Copper Mechanical Lifeforms from the B3 level to converge here.
In that case, their difficulty in safely leaving would increase exponentially.
Therefore, they definitely needed to prepare an escape route before acting.