“Wei Fan, keep your current speed. I’ll go ahead and check, then contact you.”
“Okay.” Wei Fan nodded.
When they were on missions before, Xin Yao usually scouted ahead with her high-mobility abilities to decide the next course of action.
She’d just finished treatment when Mu Qingqing called her over. When she came back, she said she’d taken a mission—to lead a small unit back to Huanxing Town and check if the route was safe.
Of course, the actual mission wasn’t that simple.
Mu Qingqing hadn’t hid anything from Xin Yao.
But Xin Yao believed that this experienced veteran would understand her intentions and her methods, and wouldn’t say anything unnecessary.
Xin Yao did exactly that—when she returned, she didn’t say much, just that she was going on a routine reconnaissance mission, even if the timing was a bit strange.
—
Air currents lifted her body, gliding at high speed through the sky. Her hair, drenched by rain, was slightly messy.
Xin Yao wore goggles, her gaze fixed on the horizon at the edge of her sight.
Because of the overcast weather, she wasn’t flying very high, which also meant her visibility was quite limited.
On normal missions, she wouldn’t carry gear like goggles that blocked her vision—it wasn’t necessary. But this time was different.
When she heard Mu Qingqing say that a King Beast had attacked Huanxing Town, she worried for rear while also unable to stop thinking about a certain someone.
‘Is he in danger?’
But she couldn’t help it.
—
This feeling was just—of course, it was wrong and abnormal. Like there was another personality inside her influencing her, causing some indescribable change in both body and mind.
Change.
At that point… would she still be her?
She bit her lip. It wasn’t a mental hypnosis ability—she didn’t like it and didn’t want it that way—but she really wasn’t sure when she’d unknowingly start accepting it.
No, that kind of ability couldn’t achieve such a strong effect. And there was no gap in her memories, no sense of incongruity.
That was the scariest part.
Her mind recalled what he said back then: “Find a way.” He knew what this was about, so was he doing it on purpose?
Xin Yao really wanted to put the blame on Lin Yu, but his attitude at the time suggested he simply knew about it, never expecting that the person affected would be her.
And at the time, she had only wanted to leave quickly, forgetting to ask what exactly was going on.
After returning, she looked it up but found nothing. Now if she wanted to find out, she had to ask Lin Yu, but the scene when they met…
Thinking about all this, Xin Yao’s heart felt like it had knocked over a five-spice bottle—sour, salty, bitter, and spicy all spilling out at once, leaving her utterly without a plan for the moment.
For now, though, all she could do was hurry back. She heaved a deep sigh, controlled the air currents around her to accelerate further, and left a blurry figure streaking through the sky.
—
The screech of air currents and heavy impacts wove together through the rain curtain.
A humanoid creature’s arm morphed into a bone blade and slashed straight at Qin Wuyue’s head.
‘The weak points of a humanoid creature should be similar to a human’s. As a doctor, I know all the weak points of the human body.’
She twisted to dodge the strike, her toes lightly pressing off the ground as she pivoted. Her slender fingers came together, tearing through the air with a sharp cry as she slashed viciously at the gap in the armor under the creature’s ribs.
But then—
“Clang!”
The crisp sound of metal striking metal exploded. The humanoid creature reacted quickly; its forearm armored in black keratin firmly blocked the attack.
Qin Wuyue used the momentum to flip backward and land lightly. Rainwater dripped from her soaked hair ends, but her eyes grew sharper.
A draw?
No, to be precise, it seemed the opponent wasn’t using full power, more like… testing.
This realization transformed the small curiosity stirred up by the unexpected situation into a fighting spirit.
‘How did I end up being “evaluated” by some unknown creature?’
No matter what you are, I’ll beat you down first!
“Huh…” She exhaled hot steam. The rainwater on her body evaporated again. The raindrops around were pushed away by an invisible force field before they could even approach.
Her speed and strength increased further. She no longer held back in her attacks—each strike was precise and vicious, targeting joints and vital points, trying to force an opening from the opponent.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Lightning danced wildly in the downpour.
Lan Lan’s figure moved so fast it almost left afterimages. Her deep blue Biological Armor mixed with the rain into a flickering electric web.
Each bolt of lightning was drawn by her, turning with her attacks into furious thunder whips lashing at the King Beast’s massive body.
“Roooaaar—!!!”
The King Beast screamed in agony. The charred marks on its body grew more numerous. Its carapace shattered, revealing smoking flesh underneath.
The rainwater greatly enhanced the conductivity and damage range of the electricity, giving each of Lan Lan’s attacks a wide area of paralysis and burning.
The King Beast’s movements became noticeably slower. It tried to counterattack several times with tentacles or claws, but was easily deflected and shattered by the surrounding lightning.
However, the King Beast’s vitality was extremely tenacious.
Despite being covered in wounds, its massive body still stood firm, its core weakness well protected.
Lan Lan frowned slightly, intending to increase her output and finish it quickly.
Just as she was about to mobilize a stronger current…
“Watch out!”
Qin Wuyue’s warning came from behind.
Without any warning, the humanoid creature abandoned its target and turned with incredible speed, charging straight at Lan Lan as she was gathering power.
Lan Lan’s combat instincts were naturally excellent. The moment she heard the warning, she had already reacted.
She forcibly interrupted her charge, white flames erupting from the boosters on her back armor as she dodged sideways at high speed.
Screech!
The bone blade scraped past the shoulder armor, leaving a trail of sparks from metal friction.
Then, five fingers spread wide and slammed heavily onto the King Beast’s head.
The next moment, deep purple light burst violently above the King Beast’s head!
But just as the two regrouped and intended to attack again, they saw something that made their pupils contract.
The humanoid creature, having missed its target, didn’t give chase. Instead, it leaped and landed nimbly on the roaring King Beast’s head.
It knelt on one knee, its black-keratin-coated hand spreading five fingers, and light rapidly extended, engulfing the King Beast’s entire body.
“Rooo… aar…”
The King Beast’s roar twisted instantly, as if in great agony.
It hadn’t cried out like that even after being pounded by Lan Lan for so long.
Its massive body convulsed violently in the purple light, as if bound by an invisible force it couldn’t escape.
Then an even more horrifying change followed.
Amid the King Beast’s howls, its hard carapace, tough flesh, and even thick bones began to decompose at visible speed, converting as if being disassembled and stripped from the most basic particle level.
The purple light grew brighter. The King Beast’s body rapidly “melted like weathered buildings into countless glowing purple particles.
Under some force, these particles wildly converged toward the hand the humanoid creature had pressed on the King Beast’s head.
In just a few breaths, the terrifying beast, dozens of meters tall and weighing over a thousand tons, vanished completely before their eyes.
Consumption? Conversion? Energy extraction? This was neither known Rift Beast nor human technology!
“Stop it!”
In its place was a ball of energy, about the size of a fist, floating above the creature’s palm. It emitted an unstable deep purple glow, with starlike light spinning inside, giving off a heart-palpitating energy fluctuation.
This scene completely surpassed what Lan Lan and Qin Wuyue could comprehend.
Lan Lan reacted first. The lightning around her surged as she shot forward like a bolt.
Qin Wuyue moved almost simultaneously, pushing off the ground and turning into a blur, charging straight at the creature holding the orb.
But facing the pincer attack from two top human fighters, the humanoid creature was unfazed. Its free hand plunged into the ground.
“Boom!”
A massive chunk of earth was torn up. Thick concrete slabs mixed with soil came flying at Lan Lan and Qin Wuyue.
Of course, that couldn’t stop them.
Lan Lan pointed her fingers like a sword and slashed out a lightning bolt, cutting the heavy wall in half.
Qin Wuyue, on the other hand, was more direct; as she passed, all the rubble and dirt were shattered to pieces by her raw power.
But when the two broke through, the space ahead was completely empty.
Only the deep pit left by the King Beast when it first burrowed out from the ground silently hinted at a possible escape route.
“…”
Lan Lan stopped at the pit’s edge, her brow deeply furrowed.
Qin Wuyue landed beside her, staring into the bottomless hole.
Pursue?
The underground situation was unknown. The opponent had clearly come prepared and had shown bizarre abilities. Charging in recklessly was extremely risky.
But not pursue?
The opponent had taken an unknown energy body transformed from a King Beast. Its purpose was unclear, and the consequences could be endless.
A feeling of powerlessness and frustration, like punching cotton, mixed with deeper doubts, quietly crept into both their hearts.
Who were they? Where did they come from? All this trouble just for a King Beast’s energy?
Or… was this only the beginning?