"This seems to be some kind of special spiritual energy item..."

Lin Ye was slowly dissecting the internal structure of the human face. He could sense the independent consciousness within these faces; they seemed to be spiritual energy items with their own awareness.

And they could be affected by the mental defense system, even seeing Little Guardian.

This was the first time Lin Ye had encountered such peculiar parasitic items. The internal structure of the human face was extremely complex and would take some time to fully understand.

But many Deep-Sea Creatures had already chased after them. That enormous human face had attached itself to the surface of the Massive Tendril Monster's body.

It was like someone slapping a strange sticker onto a brand-new car, which made Lin Ye feel a bit uneasy.

A large number of Deep-Sea Creatures had intruded into the coverage of the Parasitism Network. Some smaller Deep-Sea Creatures were eliminated by nearby parasitic organisms before they even got close, but some human faces had escaped from corpses and all attached themselves to the Massive Tendril Monster.

Lin Ye did not act to eliminate those approaching giant Deep-Sea Creatures; their bodies likely contained a large number of human faces. If all those faces were released into the open, the Massive Tendril Monster might develop problems from being covered in faces.

If that happened, Lin Ye would be in a very passive position. Even using Special Ability, he could still be contacted by those faces and touch an alien body.

"Is this getting worse? Should we head to the Surface Layer of the Abyss?"

Ayla's relic was warning her. They were currently in an extremely dangerous situation.

"It is dangerous. Those human faces are eroding the Massive Tendril Monster. Some giant Deep-Sea Creatures will catch up to us soon. We can't counterattack yet, because killing them would release even more human faces. If another batch is released, we might lose the tendril monster that is protecting us."

Lin Ye answered calmly. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

These human faces were very advanced spiritual energy items. Lin Ye couldn't figure out their operating principles in a short time.

He also couldn't just destroy them, because they were extremely fragile and easy to break. That suggested that destroying them would trigger some undesirable consequence.

"Isn't that a death sentence? When are we going to run?"

Ayla had expected to be terrified, but seeing Lin Ye's composed expression wiped away her fear.

"Not necessarily. We can control them."

Lin Ye stopped the Massive Tendril Monster where it floated. Using principles he had learned earlier from the Cursed Bracelet, he created a spiritual energy–mental energy hybrid vortex outside the Massive Tendril Monster that attracted attention.

All the human faces were drawn to that vortex. They detached from the Massive Tendril Monster and gathered near the vortex.

Lin Ye then created a mental barrier container capable of storing deity power, sealing those human faces inside the container.

The human faces had almost no offensive capability and couldn't break Lin Ye's container made from spiritual energy materials. The mental barrier also blocked their influence on the mental plane.

After Lin Ye sealed the nearby human faces, several giant Deep-Sea Creatures approached. He used Red Flash—Tendril Pierce and tore those giant Deep-Sea Creatures into pieces.

A large number of human faces crawled out from the corpse fragments, but Lin Ye had already prepared dozens of attention-attracting vortices and quickly sealed all the faces into containers.

"Is that it? Problem solved?"

Ayla asked in surprise.

The relic didn't lie; they had indeed been in extreme danger, but Lin Ye had quickly resolved the situation.

"Yes. If I hadn't learned that technique from the Cursed Bracelet, I probably would have had to run. Sealing these faces into containers is very difficult. They're extremely flexible, possess independent consciousness, and may have other abilities."

Lin Ye noticed that structures resembling human faces were already appearing inside the Massive Tendril Monster. If he had acted any slower, those faces would have come for them.

"You learned how to make that Cursed Bracelet trick in such a short time?"

Ayla was astonished.

"I'd seen a similar technique before. Have you heard of the Spiritual Energy Mental Energy Mixed Protective Field? There are commonalities between the two."

Lin Ye had not sealed every human face. He left a few to study their functions.

"Looks like I need to learn more... Can you let me go now?"

Ayla rubbed herself across the ground. The tendrils that had been twitching nonstop finally returned to normal.

"Alright, but since I handled those human faces, their masters might take extreme action. You should stay ready to evacuate at any moment."

Lin Ye released Ayla from the tendrils. He didn't know the purpose behind creating those human faces, but it was unlikely to be trivial.

These "submarines" trailed near the Massive Tendril Monster and actually moved a bit faster than it.

The ambush Lin Ye had anticipated did not occur, but that was not good news; it meant the enemy was preparing a more dangerous strike.

While Lin Ye was studying the human faces, Ayla suddenly shouted loudly:

"Stop!"

Lin Ye immediately stopped the Massive Tendril Monster. The entire Parasitism Network ceased advancing.

"It's dangerous ahead, very dangerous!"

Ayla didn't know exactly why it was dangerous, but her relic insisted.

"Can I surface?"

Lin Ye didn't check below. Making contact with something dangerous was risky in itself.

"I don't know... stopping here should be okay."

Ayla spoke uncertainly.

"Then let's stay here for a while."

Lin Ye used the tendrils to make some deep-sea treats, then placed them on the table.

"Is this the time to eat?"

Ayla tensed, watching outside nervously.

"Of course not, but I can't just sit idle."

Lin Ye paused his study of the human faces. He kept the Parasitism Network silent and erected a mental barrier around them.

The Massive Tendril Monster's body transformed. The surrounding space slowly constricted until only a narrow compartment remained.

"Does this feel a bit like being in a submarine?"

Lin Ye had watched some videos about submarines; their interiors were narrow, not spacious.