[Mt. Tsuki City, Abandoned Observatory]
Looking at Jing Liuli, who had suddenly started putting on airs, Tendo shook his head helplessly. He then turned his gaze toward the "Parasitic Star Beast" not far away and slowly began to walk toward it.
As Tendo walked, he condensed pure "Vector Greatswords" in his hands. Upon reaching a certain distance, he gave a casual wave of his hand.
The Vector Greatsword carved a golden arc through the air, severing a tentacle that the fleshy mass had suddenly whipped out. The dark green fluid spraying from the wound was blocked by a force field he had deployed in advance; not a single drop of filth touched even the hem of his clothes.
"Roar!"
The severe physical trauma caused the Parasitic Star Beast to let out another pained shriek.
Tendo looked at the struggling, trembling lump of flesh. He was in no hurry to continue the attack, instead turning to Jing Liuli to tease her. "Liuli, your 'grandmaster' lines... are a bit too cliché."
"Mind your own business!"
Jing Liuli's cheeks flushed red, and a ripple of pale purple Star Energy suddenly exploded around her. The next second, the light-ropes she had used to bind the fleshy mass split into dozens of branches, burrowing into the cracks on the surface of the mass like vines.
Simultaneously, special translucent flowers bloomed at the ends of the ropes. These flowers opened in unison, spraying pollen that carried a calming fragrance. However, when the purple-flecked pollen landed on the surface of the mass, it pierced the flesh like red-hot needles, causing the creature to twitch in agony.
Perhaps because she felt she had made significant progress recently, or perhaps because she wanted to show off in front of Tendo, Jing Liuli actually began to narrate her own moves on the spot.
"Tendo, don't look down on my 'Illusionary Dream Erosion.' It is fundamentally different from ordinary 'Mental Suppression.'"
As she spoke, Jing Liuli's fingers moved rapidly through the air. Following this, a large number of fragmented consciousness projections belonging to the Parasitic Star Beast appeared before her.
"Look, Tendo. Its conscious core is entirely made of fragmented devouring commands. Based on this, I am using benign dream power to wash away its ferocity. Also, its core is located inside that black crystalline body right in the center of its mass. I've already highlighted it in red for you with an 'Consciousness Mark.' Your Vector Field should be able to sense it, right?"
Tendo nodded. In truth, he didn't even need Jing Liuli to speak. The moment she restrained the beast, Tendo's Star Eclipse Eye had already locked onto the black crystal hidden beneath layers of overlapping flesh. The surface of the black crystal was covered in eerie patterns, radiating a "distorted" aura at every moment that made one highly uncomfortable.
What interested Tendo even more than the crystal itself were the detailed memory fragments it was currently releasing. White experimental chambers, figures wearing protective suits, and constantly fluctuating energy data. Though these images flashed by as fast as a revolving lantern, they pointed clearly to one conclusion: this Parasitic Star Beast was not naturally born; it was a man-made experimental subject.
Who created it? And who released it into Mt. Tsuki City? Tendo was quite curious.
"Roar!"
Sensing its core had been targeted, the Parasitic Star Beast's massive body suddenly contracted violently and then expanded outward with a bang, forcibly breaking free from Jing Liuli's "Dream Chains." Following this, dozens of slits tore open on the surface of its flesh, and countless tiny tentacles covered in barbs erupted from the gaps, thick with viscous dark green slime.
The white bones that had previously formed the bone wall began to reorganize on the spot, turning into dozens of bone puppets. Gripping bone blades condensed from spikes, the puppets hissed as they charged toward the duo.
However, more troublesome than these was the creature's main mouth at the top of the mass, which suddenly opened and spewed a cloud of foul-smelling grey mist. Wherever the mist passed, the wooden planks of the platform began to blacken and rot, clearly possessing intense corrosive properties.
Seeing this, Tendo expressionlessly shielded Jing Liuli behind him. The Vector Field around his body expanded instantly, forming a translucent dome. Faint illusory patterns rippled across the surface of the field, causing the bone blades to leave only shallow white marks before the puppets were sent flying, shattering into dust against the observatory walls.
As for the highly corrosive grey mist...
Tendo's fingertips twitched slightly. At the edge of the Vector Field, countless tiny vector vortices formed, forcibly drawing the mist inside. Then, guided by the field, he pushed the mist back toward the fleshy mass itself.
Splurge!
The reflected mist hit the creature's flesh, instantly corroding a series of charred holes, causing it to emit sharp shrieks of pain.
Seeing the opening, Jing Liuli immediately seized the chance. The purple butterfly mark on her forehead split into two overlapping shadows. Star Energy condensed into hundreds of light-butterflies around her, their wings shimmering with complex patterns.
The next second, the dense swarm of butterflies self-destructed in unison, transforming into new "Dual Dream Chains" that draped over the Parasitic Star Beast. These new chains were unique. The outer layer was as thick as an arm, capable of locking down the creature's physical movement. The inner layer was as thin as a strand of hair, sliding along the creature's neural pathways to burrow into its body, reaching straight for its black crystalline source.
The former controlled the flesh, the latter... imprisoned the consciousness!
However, controlling an enemy above her own level still placed a significant strain on Jing Liuli. Despite her teasing about the creature's crude use of mental power, its total mental capacity far exceeded her own. Using technique to bridge the gap in raw power was the limit of what she could achieve. Fine beads of sweat broke out on her forehead, and her face turned visibly pale.
"Tendo, its mental resistance is stronger than I thought, and it's swallowing the consciousnesses of other hosts to strengthen itself. I can feel the residual consciousnesses of the devoured Envoys; I'm going to try and wake their 'Conscious Resonance'!"
With those words, countless pale golden points of light suddenly lit up inside the Parasitic Star Beast. These lights were none other than the consciousness fragments of the Envoys it had devoured. Guided by the Dream Chains, these points of light began to strike back at the creature's conscious core, making its movements even more chaotic.
"Tendo, I can only hold this for fifteen more seconds!"
"That's enough."
Tendo's voice was calm and steady. He could clearly sense the pale purple Star Energy fluctuations coming from the core. That was Jing Liuli's marker, acting like a precise lighthouse.
He kicked off the ground, his body turning into a streak of pale blue light. The Vector Field around him condensed into a sharp edge, severing every stray tentacle in his path. As he neared the mass, it suddenly opened dozens of secondary mouths, firing grey rays of mental pollution. This was an attack converted from its own chaotic consciousness; being hit would plunge one into an endless nightmare.
Tendo merely glanced at the grey rays with a calm gaze. A defensive shield made of Vector Fields appeared instantly before him. The grey rays disintegrated into harmless Star Energy particles upon impact, scattering into the air.
Using this gap, Tendo maneuvered quickly through the air via vector nodes, precisely dodging the slime spewed by the creature in its death throes. Reaching the optimal attacking position, he sensed Jing Liuli's inner chains suddenly tighten. This was the signal that the creature's mental defense had been weakened to its limit.
A sharp glint flashed in Tendo's pale blue eyes as he raised his right hand. The next second, Jing Liuli was shocked to find her own dream power becoming somewhat uncontrollable! She looked toward Tendo and discovered that, for some reason, he was able to use Vector Control to briefly seize the authority to use a portion of her dream power.
When did this happen? My Star Source has defected?!
Under Jing Liuli's bewildered and curious gaze, Tendo's Vector Greatsword, now fused with dream power, shimmered with a gold and purple blade-glow, seemingly containing triple power.
Vector Control: Dream Breaker.
Tendo's strike descended, manifesting three types of destruction. The first was an armor-piercing effect, instantly slicing through the thick flesh of the beast to reveal the black crystal bound by light-ropes. The second destruction utilized an oscillation field as its core, shattering the surrounding tentacles and bones while channeling Jing Liuli's Star Energy into the crystal to further dismantle its defenses. The third destructive blade-glow condensed the combined efforts of the two, turning into a slender but lethal dual-colored stream of light that pierced accurately into the core of the crystal.
Simultaneously, a massive amount of Vector Field energy poured into the beast's body through the sword. In the blink of an eye, the creature's body swelled to twice its original size, the blood vessels beneath its skin bulging like earthworms before bursting.
Jing Liuli proved herself to be the ultimate support. Seizing the moment Tendo heavily wounded the beast, she caused the numerous "Envoy consciousnesses" within it to explode collectively. This backlash from the internal mental realm resonated with Tendo's Vector Star Energy, leaving the Parasitic Star Beast unable to cope.
Boom!
Accompanied by a deafening explosion, a massive amount of dark green fluid mixed with shattered bone fragments sprayed in all directions. Tendo, having prepared for this, shielded Jing Liuli behind him, his field forming an airtight barrier.
In the intense light of the explosion, Jing Liuli's silhouette glowed with a pale purple aura. She was using her remaining Star Energy to guide the liberated consciousness fragments. Under her guidance, the pale golden points of light turned into tiny butterflies. They circled once in the air, gave a gentle nod to the two of them, and then flew off toward various directions in Mt. Tsuki City.
One light-butterfly landed on Jing Liuli's fingertip, the word "Thanks" appearing on its wings. That was Mitchell's former captain, one of the first Envoys to be parasitized.
Only after the butterfly flew away did Jing Liuli breathe a sigh of relief. She looked at Tendo and said proudly, "Tendo, my strength now isn't what it used to be, right?"
Tendo rarely refrained from knocking her down a peg. Indeed, Jing Liuli's control and development of her own Star Source had reached a level worthy of the title "Grandmaster." And she was only in her early twenties.
Tendo nodded. "It's quite good."
"Hehe." Hearing Tendo's praise, Jing Liuli smiled triumphantly.
Meanwhile, as the aftermath of the explosion faded, the platform of the observation tower was covered in cracks, and rubble began to tumble down. Tendo brought the exhausted Jing Liuli down to a relatively intact edge, his invisible Vector Field shielding them from the impact.
Jing Liuli panted heavily, her cheeks flushed from overexertion. Finally, she reached into her pocket for a strawberry-flavored energy bar, but her hands were shaking so much she nearly dropped it, missing her mark twice when trying to take a bite.
Seeing this, Tendo took the bar, tore open the packaging, and handed it to her. His gaze then fell on the residual black crystal fragments on the ground nearby. His Star Eclipse Eye swept over the shards, and fragmented experimental images surfaced once more. This time, he clearly saw a logo on the experimental chamber.
Tendo memorized the logo, deciding to investigate later to see what it represented. He felt that behind this logo lay some unspeakable secrets.
Noticing Tendo's distraction, Jing Liuli—munching on her energy bar—followed his gaze. She saw a pile of lackluster shards. Then, as if realizing something, she raised her hand and released a wisp of Star Energy toward the fragments.
The pale purple energy landed on the shards, and a blurry image appeared. It was the scene of the Parasitic Star Beast being cultivated. One figure after another in protective suits approached the culture dish, injecting large amounts of "grey energy" into its body. More importantly, in the corners of the image, many similar scenes appeared. Clearly, this beast was only one of many experimental subjects.
Jing Liuli frowned. "Tendo, it seems some people are doing something very dangerous."
Tendo nodded. "We'll let others investigate that later. We've done what we needed to do."
Just then, Tendo's communicator rang; it was a message from Mitchell. On the screen, Mitchell was standing at the entrance of the branch, several Envoys in Headquarters uniforms behind him.
"Lord Tendo, reinforcements from headquarters have arrived. They said they will take over the cleanup and asked you to contact the General President as soon as you return."
"Understood."
Tendo cut the transmission and looked at the revitalized Jing Liuli. "Let's go. Back to headquarters."
"Wait, look over there!" Jing Liuli suddenly grabbed him, pointing toward the streets below the observatory.
Tendo followed her finger. The rain had stopped, and sunlight was piercing through the clouds, spilling onto the streets of Mt. Tsuki City. The Envoys who had been parasitized still bore traces of beastification on their bodies, but their eyes had regained clarity, and they were being gathered and settled by the Headquarters Envoys.
Residents opened their windows, looking out with curiosity. A bakery owner had even begun to set out freshly baked toast; the air was filled with the scent of grain and the freshness of the post-rain atmosphere.
"Even though we ran into a strange experimental subject, at least we saved this city," Jing Liuli said with a smile, the sunlight reflecting in her purple eyes.
Tendo looked at the city below, which was gradually returning to life. A rare hint of softness appeared in his pale blue eyes. He reached out and ruffled Jing Liuli's hair, and an invisible Vector Field condensed beneath their feet.
"Let's go. Stop staring. We need to go back and collect our points. As for your snack expenses this time, I'll help you file for reimbursement."
"Really?!" Jing Liuli's eyes lit up instantly, her exhaustion vanishing. "Then I want the limited edition strawberry cake from the south of the city, and I want to buy the latest energy bar gift box!"
"Fine."
Tendo gave a helpless smile and then leaped into the air with her. Behind them, the red signal tower of Mt. Tsuki City continued to blink, but this time, the red light no longer represented a warning, but rather the symbol of a crisis resolved.
Upon the ruins, new life was quietly budding.