Boom—!
Following four deafening roars, four pitch-black obelisks, their surfaces streaked with crimson, vein-like patterns, suddenly tore through the clouds. Like four spears hurled by gods, they plunged heavily into the shallow coastal sands around the Ember Base.
As these four obelisks landed, a peculiar high-frequency hum silently spread outwards. Before long, the usually calm sea surrounding the Ember Base began to churn. The Children of the Stars within the base were also affected by this unique sound, experiencing varying degrees of discomfort.
"Tendo… my Star Core is restless." Chen Xing gripped the hilt of her demon blade tightly, forcing the half-drawn blade back into its sheath.
"Ugh!" Jing Liuli's pale purple vertical pupils flashed uncontrollably with starlight, and the normally stable Dream Pillow she rode began to sway as if drunk. Then, she suddenly went limp, almost tumbling headfirst from the Dream Pillow. Thankfully, Tendo quickly reached out and steadied her shoulder, preventing her from falling.
"..." Tendo looked in a certain direction outside the base, his expression grim. Although he had somewhat anticipated the effects of the Star Monuments, it seemed he had still underestimated their impact on 'Star Beasts' and 'Children of the Stars'.
"Ahhh—!"
Just as Chen Xing and the others were wondering why they felt this inexplicable discomfort, a Child of the Stars in the crowd suddenly roared. Immediately after, his body began to undergo strange changes. His body uncontrollably hunched over, and with a tearing sound, his back split open, sprouting numerous sharp blades that glowed with an oily, insect-like green luster. These sharp blades, having burst through his uniform, intertwined. Before long, they formed a single, special blade-wing, as thin as a cicada's wing.
In addition to the bizarre blade-wing on his back, two green antennae suddenly grew from his forehead. His arms also developed numerous green patterns before being covered in a layer of light green insect carapace, and grew long, narrow, sharp blades resembling a praying mantis's forelimbs.
"Zach!"
Seeing the anomaly in this Child of the Stars, another Child of the Stars quickly stepped forward, preparing to tell him to calm his 'Star Core: Thousand-Blade Mantis' and stop his 'mutation'. However, Zach, now in a state of 'Star Core Rampage', had completely lost his sanity.
Facing his approaching comrade, Zach's blade-wing on his back slashed out fiercely, seemingly intending to cut him in half. The Child of the Stars was clearly unprepared for this sudden attack. Furthermore, Zach, ranked No. 11 among the Children of the Stars, had a Star Core: Thousand-Blade Mantis that was renowned for its 'speed' and 'sharpness'. This left the Child of the Stars with no time to react effectively to Zach's sudden assault, only seeing a cold glint rushing towards him.
Clang!
In the nick of time, Tendo suddenly teleported in front of him, grasping Zach's blade-wing with one hand. Looking at the ferocious, wild-eyed Zach, Tendo spoke coldly. "Calm down, Zach. Don't let your Star Core control you. Remember, you are human, not a beast."
Despite his words, the completely berserk Zach clearly couldn't hear anything. He ignored Tendo's advice and violently raised his mantis arms, which had completely transformed into blades, slashing towards Tendo's waist with savage force. In response, Tendo's figure instantly blurred into an afterimage, appearing behind him.
Bang—!
With the sound of cracking concrete, Tendo pressed Zach's head with one hand, slamming him heavily into the hard concrete ground in front of them. He then used one knee to pin down the blade-wing on Zach's back, preventing him from causing harm. Not only that, Tendo also twisted Zach's two mantis blade-arms backwards, firmly gripping the central point where their wrists intersected with his left hand, completely subduing the deranged individual.
Yet, even with a bloody head, Zach continued to struggle madly. Unfortunately, his strength was too little for Tendo, and he couldn't break free from his control.
"Liuli."
Hearing Tendo call her, Jing Liuli, who had been stunned for a long time, immediately came back to her senses. She flew on her Dream Pillow to Tendo's side, nervously saying, "T-Tendo, what is it?"
"Make this fool sleep for a bit."
"O-Okay."
Jing Liuli extended her hands, and several dreamlike purple light butterflies flew from the cuffs of her pajamas, sprinkling some purple glowing powder onto Zach's face. A moment later, under the influence of the 'Spirit Dust of Dreams', the madness in Zach's eyes gradually faded, and he finally closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. As his consciousness sank into silence, the physical mutation caused by the 'Star Core Rampage' on Zach's body slowly disappeared, returning him to his normal appearance.
Seeing this, Tendo stood up and flexed his wrist. Then he looked at the unlucky person who had almost been cut down by Zach and said, "You, come and carry this fool back to the underground core area of the base first. Then stay there with him and don't come out casually."
"There's a high-level Star Energy shield placed by the Doctor there, which can block the influence of the Star Monuments from outside, preventing him and you from falling into a Star Core rampage."
"Oh, o-okay."
The Child of the Stars, who had been saved by Tendo and narrowly escaped death, immediately picked up Zach and quickly ran towards the underground base. After dealing with this unexpected incident, Tendo stood up and surveyed the other Children of the Stars.
Although currently, only Zach among the Children of the Stars had gone berserk due to an inability to control his Star Core, this didn't mean he was the only one facing this problem. Every Child of the Stars who had undergone the Star Core surgery was essentially half-human, half-Star Beast—a true small monster.
Besides the departing Zach and his comrade, and Chen Kong, the last-place Child of the Stars at No. 36, the remaining Children of the Stars in the field were all ranked in the top ten of the Star Project. Yet, even among this group of exceptionally talented young monsters, quite a few had begun to show symptoms similar to Zach's Star Core rampage. Some had distorted faces, seemingly fighting against something. Others were drenched in sweat, clearly with their willpower nearing its limit.
Seeing this, Tendo immediately spoke in an unquestionable tone, "Except for Kong, all you guys ranked after fifth place among the Star Students, like Zach, get yourselves to the core area of the base."
"Staying here won't help; you'll only get in the way."
"Yes…"
"O-Okay."
No questions, no doubts. The Children of the Stars ranked after fifth place all took action. This was their absolute trust in Tendo, and their absolute obedience.
After all the Children of the Stars ranked after fifth place had left, only the following remained by Tendo's side: No. 2 Chen Xing, No. 3 Jing Liuli, No. 5 Ye Shenrin, and finally No. 36 Chen Kong.
Seeing this situation, Tendo rubbed his temples, a headache brewing.
"Sigh, if only Caroline were here, her Heavenly Mechanism Base Station could effectively shield against Star Core Resonance within a 100-meter radius."
"While it wouldn't completely eradicate the root cause of these fools' issues, it wouldn't force them to hide in the core area, idly wasting so much combat power."
Hearing this, Jing Liuli, who had recovered and endured the Star Core Resonance, immediately asked like a curious child, "Tendo, what is this Star Core Resonance you mentioned?"
The world of Star Energy held many wonders, and there were many special applications of Star Energy. Although the Children of the Stars had learned a lot about Star Energy, this didn't mean they knew everything. Therefore, Jing Liuli wasn't the only one curious about the Star Monuments and Star Core Resonance; Chen Xing and the others nearby were also intrigued.
Tendo didn't keep them in suspense and immediately began to explain what the Star Monuments were and what Star Core Resonance entailed...