If this encounter were on solid ground or in a deserted area, Zhou Yi would have myriad ways to destroy the creature.
Whether it meant incinerating it with 30,000 C flames or slowly vaporizing it with highly focused heat rays exceeding 100,000 C, the Dawn Knight had options. At worst, he could use his Mental Energy to encapsulate the monster and simply exile it from Earth. He highly doubted it could survive the vacuum of space without any energy source.
The critical issue, however, was that he was currently inside a large metal tube, flying at 20,000 feet, with hundreds of innocent lives depending on its integrity. For the safety of these passengers, all his most effective methods were useless.
Using high-powered abilities like extreme heat would endanger everyone. The force of his flames or heat rays was so immense that even his own Mental Energy defenses would struggle to contain them, and the slightest misfire could breach the aircraft hull. Other methods, particularly pure physical damage, were demonstrably ineffective against the Vampire monster, Giant.
Within the cage of debris, Giant stubbornly clung to life. Its body tissues, now a gruesome, twisted overflow of muscle, bone, blood vessels, and nerves, filled every crack in the wreckage. They were actively pushing outward, resisting Zhou Yi's Mental Energy.
This resisting force was incredibly strong, straining Zhou Yi's use of his power. While Zhou Yi's Mental Energy might not be the most powerful, when fully deployed, it generated kinetic energy equivalent to tens, possibly a hundred, tons of force. The fact that it caused him strain indicated the monster's tissue had mutated to a terrifying degree.
Strain, however, did not mean failure. Unleashing his mind completely, Zhou Yi drove his Mental Energy to full output. Giant's rapid mutation demanded an immediate, decisive end.
Under the combined opposing forces, the cage of debris began to tremble, the metal within groaning under the immense stress. Zhou Yi ignored it, applying more pressure. The entire mass compressed further, squeezing the monster's last vestiges of life.
The monster's cries intensified. As the cage compressed, the screams changed from merely unpleasant to an ear-piercing frequency that made many passengers cover their ears. It was useless; the sound was pervasive.
Many people felt a sharp, stabbing pain in their heads. The pain wasn't auditory, but a deeper stimulus, directly affecting the brain's senses. Those with greater sensitivity began to bleed from their noses, suffering minor cerebral trauma.
Zhou Yi felt the stimulus clearly and was deeply surprised. He recognized the source: the essence of Mental Energy, or rather, scattered psychic fluctuations. It was an uncontrolled emission of power caused by the monster's extreme pain. Giant had passively evolved psychic abilities, but lacked control, merely broadcasting a wave of disruptive Mental Energy. Yet, even in this chaotic state, it was strong enough to harm humans.
This was the third passive mutation and evolution this creature had undergone in less than ten minutes. The rate of evolution was terrifying. If allowed to develop unchecked, this creature could bring about an absolute doom. Makinos had opened a door to Hell, creating a monster entirely beyond his control.
This thing cannot be allowed to mutate any further. Zhou Yi clenched his fists, exerting every last bit of force. Giant was resisting, but its ability to hold the line was dissolving.
The debris cage suddenly imploded. The monstrous biological tissue flowed out through the shattered wreckage, spreading across the cabin floor like a vast puddle of gore and mud. It submerged the debris and covered a large area of the cabin. It was unbelievable that a creature that started human-sized could proliferate so much matter.
The sight was sickening, but also strangely reassuring. As far as Zhou Yi could tell, it was no longer a conscious organism. The Vampire's brain and heart were completely pulverized and mixed with other body tissues. What lay on the floor was a pile of pulverized flesh—a chaotic mix of organs, bones, muscles, and nerves. It lacked any basic biological structure; it was functionally dead.
Despite the collective revulsion at the mess, cheers erupted from the passengers. They sincerely thanked the Dawn Knight; the thought of what that monster could have done was paralyzing. Their admiration for their idol spurred immediate action, especially among the young and impulsive.
A young man, his fear overwhelmed by the desire for a trophy moment, ran toward Zhou Yi. A photo with the hero who had just defeated a terrifying monster was irresistible.
As he neared the gore, an invisible, radiating force emanated from the puddle, like a stone causing ripples in water, but these ripples created monstrous waves.
Zhou Yi instantly sensed the fluctuation. The source shocked him: the monster's remains. It was not a single, cohesive thought, but an intensely chaotic force emanating from every bit of tissue. This was psychic power, materialized, but it felt like a composite whole—an aggregation of countless individual consciousnesses.
It felt as though, with the death of Giant's central consciousness, every piece of its body, every tissue, every cell, had gained a fragmented, unified will. All these tiny wills shared a common instinct: biological hunger.
The approaching worshipper stirred this primal need. Severely wounded, the remains desperately needed energy. The composite will of the tissues formed a unified operational command.
A blood-and-flesh tendril, resembling a spider's thread or a thick tentacle, shot out from the mud. It moved with incredible speed, the finest tip emitting a sharp tearing sound—it had broken the sound barrier. Its target was simple: food walking into its trap.
Zhou Yi instinctively threw up a Mental Energy field to protect the reckless man. But the field was easily pierced. It wasn't shattered; in Zhou Yi's perception, his Mental Energy had been neutralized. The powerful field seemed to resonate with the common psychic fluctuations of the countless tiny Mental Energies, completely losing its cohesive, physical kinetic energy. The tendril continued its attack.
Zhou Yi quickly retracted his Mental Energy, using it instead to physically pull the man away. But he was too late. Though Zhou Yi managed to shift the man sideways by a single step, the tentacle struck his shoulder.
The supersonic tip tore through the man's fragile body, piercing his entire shoulder. The victim stared in disbelief. As he tried to scream, he felt the tendril pulsate rhythmically. Through the thin fascial tissue, he could see blood and fluid rapidly flowing. The thing impaled in his shoulder was, with a strange tingling sensation, flowing deeper into his body.
Terror paralyzed him. He was unsure whether to scream or collapse.
Zhou Yi arrived instantly, looking at the rapidly sinking tendril. He dared not pull it out; he might dislodge unknown organs. He drew his Adamantium spearhead and severed the tendril at the point of contact with the skin.
The moment he cut it, the entire puddle of blood-and-flesh trembled violently, and the invisible psychic fluctuations intensified, further stressing everyone's nerves. The severed tip, however, desperately tried to burrow deeper into the injured man's body. Even separated from the main mass, it retained its independent, predatory consciousness.
This terrifying monster.