Chapter 372: The Black Fur Nest

The squad leader adjusted to the membrane’s presence over his face, blinked a few times, then drew a deep breath through it. No obstruction.

Satisfied, he swept his gaze over the rest of the team and watched them nod, their eyes clear and focused once more, before finally looking away.

“Looks good all around.”

His attention returned to the black-fur-covered building before them. In the morning light, the fur blanketing every window resembled a layer of grotesque black skin, cocooning the entire structure in silence.

His eyes sharpened.

“Move out!”

………………

Soon, passing through the fur-draped main entrance, the six-person support squad officially entered the building’s interior.

A thick, putrid odor hit them head-on.

It was several times stronger than outside—dense, stifling, like prying open a coffin sealed for countless years, mingling rot, mold, and a peculiar sweet-stench impossible to name.

Unlike when Poppy first entered, the black fur inside had grown even denser now.

It covered nearly every inch of wall, ceiling, and floor. The black fibers squirmed faintly, as if alive, casting restless, unsettling shadows in the dim light.

In some places, the fur crept from the corners up to the ceiling and then spilled downward, forming black curtains that hung in sheets.

Walking upon it produced a soft, clammy sensation underfoot—like treading across the skin of something alive.

More disquieting still, the air itself seemed saturated with countless black particles, barely visible to the naked eye.

They drifted in the pale light, churning lazily with each disturbance of airflow, stirring with every breath the squad took.

But the moment that black miasma reached their eyes, ears, mouths, or noses, the thin organic membrane over each of them shimmered faintly, sealing out the invasion.

The black miasma was repelled on contact, unable to penetrate even a fraction.

And if a minuscule amount of those black particles slipped in with a breath, the Corpse-Plague Acolytes’ current immune strength was easily enough to neutralize it on its own.

The squad leader glanced back at his teammates and spoke in a low voice:

“No issues. The 【Lesser Bulwark】 is holding.”

“Maintain formation. Keep advancing.”

………………

The support squad encountered little resistance along the way.

Occasionally, hunched, humanoid monsters would burst from the shadows beneath the fur.

They let out rasping shrieks, bone-claws sheathed in faint black light, lunging at the formation.

These creatures were unremarkable in strength—most only Rank-1, the strongest barely toeing into early Rank-2.

For the support squad, such threats were beneath their concern.

Of their six members, two were at peak Rank-2, and the rest had all advanced well into Rank-2.

Not to mention they had weathered countless live combat operations, honed their skills to a fine edge, and moved with seamless coordination.

The monsters rarely even got close before multiple strikes converged and shredded them apart. Clean. Efficient. Not a single wasted motion.

After dispatching these ordinary Anomaly spawn, the support squad did not linger.

They stepped over the remains and began working their way up from the first floor, clearing as they went.

“Sir, what do we do about all this black fur and the miasma?”

“If we leave it here, it’s bound to spread eventually, right?”

The question came from the round-faced young woman in the squad, Betty, her voice hushed.

She frowned as she surveyed the revolting black carpeting around them.

The squad leader considered for a moment.

Clean it with potions? That would be far too wasteful. Forget Rank-3 potions—even Rank-2 potions were still precious to them.

Using them on something like this would be an unforgivable squandering of resources. Naturally, that wasn’t an option.

“First, we take out the Anomaly’s main body. Then… we burn it.”

“If ordinary fire won’t do the job, we can request Lady Pandora’s help if necessary.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the squad nodded in unison, without a whisper of dissent.

No reason not to.

Even though Pandora had rarely taken direct action over the past year, the memory of that wizardry fire she unleashed during the food street Anomaly incident a year ago was still branded into the minds of everyone present.

A flame that had burned an entire street to white ash—it was not something these mere Anomaly remnants could ever hope to withstand.

………………

They continued upward.

After clearing a dozen or so lesser Anomalies, the squad reached the sixth floor.

Here, they found signs of something else entirely.

At the far end of the corridor, a load-bearing wall had been punched clean through.

Rubble and rebar jutted outward, the concrete at the breach had burst outward in a fractured, explosive pattern—as if some immense force had burst through from the inside.

Deep impact fractures scored the cement floor, cracks webbing outward like a spider’s web.

In places, the steel framework beneath lay exposed, bent at angles that defied reason.

Clearly, this was the aftermath of Poppy’s battle with the 【Remnant Sovereign】.

Every inch of destruction was staggering, a visceral display of the terrifying force behind Rank-3 combat.

And even this was likely the result of Poppy deliberately restraining herself.

She had reined in the blast radius to keep the whole building from collapsing and burying her alive.

If she’d gone all out…

Studying those savage scars, a subtle shift came over the squad’s previously subdued mood.

Perhaps because the operation’s difficulty had fallen far below expectations—the Anomalies’ strength generally weak—their spirits had slightly eased.

At some point during the march, someone struck up a conversation.

“Hey, you think… who’s stronger? Lady Poppy or Lady Pandora?”

The question instantly piqued the squad’s interest.

This sort of discussion about the strength of Rank-3 figures was not something they’d normally dare to entertain.

“Lady Poppy, obviously,” someone shot back immediately, his tone utterly confident.

“Everyone knows that before the Anomaly cleanup operation even started, her strength was already brushing up against the levels of a veteran Rank-3.

She’s only gotten stronger since. Another step forward, and she might even be able to push for Rank-4!”

“Now, Lady Pandora on the other hand…”

The speaker hesitated briefly, but in the end, voiced his honest thoughts.

“Before this operation, we’d barely heard her name mentioned anywhere in the Dead City.

And looking at the timeline, she hasn’t been Rank-3 for long. Her foundation is naturally a step weaker.”

Another member shook his head, voicing a different opinion.

“Seniority is one thing, but strength is never so simple.”

“Lady Pandora is more mysterious than Lady Poppy. Lady Poppy works with us often—we know her methods well.

But Lady Pandora… she’s rarely shown her hand. That doesn’t mean we should underestimate her.”

He paused, as if recalling something.

“Think about it. We’ve only seen Lady Pandora act a handful of times.”

“The one that sticks in my mind is the food street mission. That fire… tch.”