Reborn as the Last van Ambrose-Chapter 142: Shen Lao’s Anger

The passage Shen Lao led them through was unlike anything they had encountered in the Leviathan’s anatomy. These tunnels pulsed with a different rhythm—faster, more urgent, as if they were moving through the creature’s cardiovascular system itself. The walls here were lined with thick, rope-like structures that Lin realized were major blood vessels, each one thicker than his torso.

"Stay close to the center," Shen Lao warned, his body shifted to human appearance—a tall, lean man with the same midnight-blue hair. "The vessel walls are under tremendous pressure. If one ruptures..."

His warning proved prophetic as the rising temperature from the BloodGate’s activation caused the Levithan’s biology to become increasingly unstable. One of the smaller vessels burst as they passed, spraying them with scalding hot blood that hissed where it touched their clothes and skin.

"The heat is affecting her entire system," Lin observed, maintaining her ice barrier. "Her heart rate is increasing, blood pressure is rising. She’s going into shock."

The tunnel ahead opened into a larger chamber, this one clearly serving as some kind of junction where multiple blood vessels converged. But they weren’t alone. Figures emerged from side passages—other prisoners who had found their way into this part of the Levithan.

Unlike Shen Lao, these creatures had been completely broken by their imprisonment. Some were dragons who had forgotten their true forms entirely, crawling on all fours and snapping at shadows. Others were sea creatures that had been transformed by the Levithan’s digestive processes into something barely recognizable as their original species.

"Fresh meat," one of them hissed—a creature that might once have been a dragon but now resembled a twisted fusion of scales and exposed bone. "New blood for the Mother’s heart." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"They think we’re food," Suanni realized, flames beginning to gather around his mane.

"They’re beyond reason," Shen Lao said sadly, his human form tensing as the mad prisoners began to circle them. "Centuries in this place have reduced them to bare instincts."

The first attack came from above—a creature that had once been a sea serpent dropping from the chamber’s curved ceiling. Shen Lao moved swiftly, catching the creature mid-fall and snapping its neck with a single twist.

But more were coming, drawn by the scent of a human and the promise of something other than the Levithan’s recycled nutrients to sustain them.

A group of three former dragons rushed them simultaneously, their movements coordinated despite their apparent madness. Shen Lao stepped forward, his human lungs drawing in a deep breath before releasing a torrent of blue flame that filled the chamber with searing heat.

The dragon fire was unlike anything Grim had seen before—not the golden flames of Suanni or the controlled ice techniques that Lin used. The blue flames clung to the mad prisoners like liquid, burning through scale and flesh as they screamed for help. Their screams echoed off the chamber walls before cutting off abruptly.

"Stay behind me," Shen Lao commanded, but even as he spoke, more prisoners were emerging from the tunnel network. Decades of accumulated madness had created a small army of creatures that viewed any newcomer as either threat or sustenance.

A particularly large creature—something that had once been a great white shark but now sported additional limbs and a partially humanoid torso—lunged directly at Lin. She raised her ice barriers, but the creature’s momentum carried it through, its clawed appendages grazed her shoulder drawing blood.

Lin was in shock from the news of who her father was. The creature had begun to lick the blood of his morphed claws.

The sight of his daughter being injured triggered something in Shen Lao. His human facade cracked, revealing glimpses of the dragon power beneath. He moved so fast that no one could even move before him. He grabbed the shark-creature by both of its arms.

"You dare touch my daughter?" he snarled, his voice echoing so much that it made the chamber walls vibrate.

What happened next was brutal. Shen Lao placed one foot against the creature’s back, gripping its arms firmly. With a motion that seemed almost casual, he pulled. The sound of tearing flesh and snapping bone filled the chamber as both arms separated from the creature’s torso in sprays of blood.

The shark-thing collapsed, its anguished cries adding to the cacophony of battle. Shen Lao tossed the severed limbs aside with disgust, blue flames still flickering around his mouth.

In the next instant, Shen Lao roared and blue flames came out of his mouth. Every creature in that chamber just watched as Shen Lao brutally maimed and roasted the shark creature alive. By the time he was done, there were only ashes left.

"Anyone else?" he asked the remaining prisoners, his voice deadly quiet.

The effect was immediate. The mad creatures that had been pressing forward suddenly retreated, their broken minds still capable of recognizing a superior predator. They ran back into the tunnel network, leaving behind only the corpses of their fellows and the acrid smell of burned flesh.

"Are you injured?" Shen Lao asked Lin, his voice returning to normal as he examined the scratches on her shoulder.

"I’m fine," she replied, though her face was pale from witnessing his violent display. "Just scratches."

"In this environment, even scratches can be dangerous," he said, producing a small vial from somewhere within his clothing. "This will prevent infection."

As Lin treated her wounds, the chamber shuddered more violently than before. The rising temperature was having cascading effects on the creature’s biology—not just increased heart rate, but cellular breakdown, systemic failures that threatened to make their escape route impassable.

"We need to move," Shen Lao announced. "The thermal shock is causing organ failure. She’s going to get very angry and purge everything inside of her soon."

"Which way?" Grim asked, noting that the blood vessels here branched in multiple directions.

"Up," Shen Lao replied, pointing to a passage that angled sharply upward. "Toward the gills. But the path will be treacherous—the pressure changes as her circulation fails will make the vessels unstable."

They began climbing through what was clearly a major artery, its walls pulsing erratically. Behind them, they could hear more movement—other prisoners following their path, though whether from curiosity or hunger remained unclear.

"Even in madness, they fear you." Lin said.

"Fear is sometimes the only currency left in a place like this," Shen Lao replied. "I established dominance early in my imprisonment. It was that or become like them—a creature of pure instinct and hunger."

A blood vessel above them burst, showering them with scalding fluid that made even Shen Lao grunt in pain. The Leviathan’s body was beginning to shut down, and they were running out of time to reach safety.

"There," Lin pointed ahead to where the passage opened into bright light. "The gill chambers."

But even as they approached their goal, the sounds behind them grew louder. More prisoners were following, and some of them were learning to overcome their fear through sheer numbers.