Chapter 369: Bringer's Beast Ghoul Mutation
"Don't worry, Soukaku." Harumasa had already nocked another arrow to his bowstring. This time, a subtle, shimmering aura coiled around the arrowhead, emitting a frequency designed to disrupt energy stability.
"I have roughly figured out its attack pattern," Harumasa continued, his eyes scanning the dense fog. "Next time that thing dares to show its head, no matter who among us it targets, I will shoot an arrow directly into the spatial distortion where its 'eye' appeared. We will see if I can interfere with its retraction process, or at least leave a permanent mark on the beast."
"Are you absolutely sure that will work?" Soukaku shifted her weight, still visibly uneasy. She gripped her massive battle flag tightly with both hands, her muscles tense and ready to defend or launch a counterattack at a moment's notice.
"We have to try something." Harumasa grinned. His smile carried a mixture of calm confidence and sharp defiance in the face of an unknown enemy. "We cannot just keep letting this thing harass us from the shadows, can we? Besides, I have a strong feeling about this..."
He let his words trail off, narrowing his gaze at the increasingly dense, almost gelatinous Ether mist flowing sluggishly through the depths of the ruined passage. The deep purple haze clung to the debris like a living organism.
"We are getting very close to our target," Harumasa murmured. "This hidden assailant might just be Bringer's personal guard dog."
Miyabi followed Harumasa's line of sight. She glanced down at the portable terminal strapped to her wrist. The distance reading on the screen was continuously dropping. Less than five hundred meters remained between their current position and the coordinates Jane Doe had provided.
However, the Ether concentration index on the detector was firmly pinned in the blood-red Highly Dangerous zone, and the needle was still slowly creeping upward.
Just as the Section 6 squad advanced cautiously toward the target coordinates, their senses heightened after the surprise attack from the mysterious giant hand, Wise's voice suddenly crackled through Eous's built-in speakers.
"Section Chief, I have an important intelligence update."
Miyabi immediately raised a hand, signaling her squad to halt their advance. "Go ahead, Proxy," she responded, her tone crisp and professional.
"Two of our allied groups, the Astral Express team and Lumine's team, have successfully arrived at the coordinates of Bringer's hiding spot provided by Jane."
Wise spoke rapidly, but his delivery remained clear and perfectly organized. "However, Bringer must have realized he was being played by Jane's false intelligence. He took extreme countermeasures in advance."
"He violently destroyed all the large Ether fuel tanks he had pre-stocked near his hideout, artificially creating a localized, ultra-high concentration Ether environment!"
Miyabi's pupils constricted. Her gaze swept over the glaring red numbers on her environmental detector once more. So, the sudden spike was entirely Bringer's doing. But was the man completely insane? Creating such a toxic zone was practically suicide for an ordinary human.
Wise's voice continued to broadcast from the small Bangboo. "The abnormal increase in the number of Ethereals you have encountered along the way, as well as their enhanced aggression, is directly caused by this sabotage. The high-concentration Ether environment has massively stimulated the evolution speed and attack desire of all Ethereals within this Hollow sector. But unfortunately, that is not the worst part."
He paused for half a second. When he spoke again, the usual calm in his voice had been replaced by extreme gravity.
"Most, just as Stelle and the others were preparing to apprehend him, Bringer injected himself with two mysterious serums of unknown origin right in front of them."
"Then, in an extremely short window of time, he underwent a terrifying biological mutation, completely transforming into a Beast Ghoul."
"A Beast Ghoul?!" The name of the monstrous entity sealed within the monument that Belobog Heavy Industries had previously defeated flashed through Miyabi's mind. The transport truck carrying that monster's remains had experienced severe technical failures after the incident. That sabotage must have been Bringer's doing as well.
However, Hollow Investigators knew that for such a high-level monster to appear outside the Hollow and cause immense destruction was an anomaly. Logically, replicating that exact mutation should have been an extremely difficult, if not impossible, scientific endeavor.
Miyabi pressed her communicator, her brow furrowed in doubt. "Proxy, are you entirely sure about this? Beast Ghouls are transformed from human subjects? And a mere two vials of serum can rapidly complete this level of mutation?!"
This revelation completely overturned the Special Response Team's established understanding of the Ethereal corruption process. If such a rapid, weaponized transformation technology truly existed and could be mass-produced, the resulting threat to New Eridu would be nothing short of catastrophic.
Wise replied without a shred of hesitation. "I am absolutely certain., Bringer seems to have retained his human sanity and intellect. He used his newly acquired mutated abilities to summon a massive swarm of those giant, eyed hands that just attacked your squad. He is using them to temporarily trap the Astral Express and Genshin teams, buying himself time to escape."
Wise paused slightly, the sound of rapid keystrokes echoing faintly in the background as he checked the latest data analysis. "According to Fairy's real-time computational models regarding Beast Ghoul Bringer's behavior patterns, energy flow trends, and the Ether concentration gradient changes within the Hollow..."
"His primary goal right now is not to fight a deathmatch against our allies. Instead, he is actively searching for and heading toward other pre-set locations within the Hollow that may contain intact Ether fuel tanks."
"His intention is highly likely to absorb these high-purity fuels, accelerate his own Ether absorption rate, and complete some form of further evolution or enhancement."
Miyabi drew in a sharp breath. A Beast Ghoul capable of operating outside the Hollow was already a massive headache for Public Security. If this creature were allowed to complete its evolution, its physical strength and destructive capabilities would skyrocket. It would continue to shatter fuel tanks, leading to the overall activity of the Hollow spiraling completely out of control. The civilian casualties would be unimaginable.
"We must stop him immediately," Miyabi declared, her hand resting on the hilt of her katana.
"That is exactly what I was going to suggest," Wise responded. "According to Fairy's calculations and the underground map provided by Jane, the coordinates of the closest suspected fuel storage point to your current location have just been synchronized to Eous's navigation system."
"Let Eous lead your squad to that point at maximum speed. You need to set up a defensive perimeter and intercept him. Other marked potential storage points are already being locked down by Belobog Heavy Industries, the Cunning Hares, and Von Lycaon. We are ensuring that not a single drop of fuel falls into the hands of Beast Ghoul Bringer."
Wise's coordinated tactical arrangements were swift, thorough, and highly efficient. The complete plan slightly eased the heavy burden on Miyabi's mind. However, Wise's next words caught her completely off guard.
"By the way, Section Chief, if your squad encounters overwhelming danger along the way or at the interception point... if absolutely necessary... you can try to rely on Eous. Please believe me when I say that Eous... is actually very strong."
Rely on Eous? Miyabi slowly turned her head to glance at the silent, round, and undeniably cute-looking Bangboo standing beside her boots. A flicker of genuine doubt crossed her disciplined features.
Eous was indeed an excellent piece of proxy equipment, boasting top-tier intelligence support, environmental scanning, and path navigation capabilities. But describing a standard Bangboo as 'very strong' in terms of raw combat power? This completely contradicted her professional understanding of Eous's hardware limitations.
However, this was not the time to demand technical specifications. Since the legendary Proxy said so, there had to be a valid reason behind his confidence.
"Understood. Coordinates confirmed. Section 6 is departing immediately. We will do everything in our power to stop Bringer," Miyabi suppressed her lingering questions and responded decisively.
Almost at the exact same moment, in another highly volatile area within the Hollow...
Bringer's former hiding place had been reduced to a chaotic, pulverized battlefield of concrete ruins and twisted metal.
The Ether concentration here was visibly toxic. Thick purple energy flowed like a liquid mist between the shattered remnants of industrial buildings, corroding everything it touched.
The heavy air was filled with the piercing shrieks of Ethereals and the deafening roar of exploding energy.
"Another one coming from the left! March, freeze it!" Stelle's enthusiastic shout cut sharply through the chaotic explosions.
The Trailblazer executed a swift, fluid side roll, narrowly dodging a grotesque giant hand that swiped viciously from her blind spot.
The fleshy appendage was the size of a commercial delivery truck. Missing its agile target, the hand slammed brutally into the concrete ground, sending shattered rock flying like shrapnel and shaking the earth with the force of a minor earthquake.
Stelle's combat movements were perfectly continuous. The very moment she rolled back onto her feet, the two MAC-10 submachine guns gripped tightly in her hands were already spitting out blazing, deafening tongues of fire.
"Taste this, you overgrown palm tree! Fire Elemental Enchantment, Full Volley!"
Bang bang bang bang bang!
A series of rapid, explosive gunshots rang out, echoing endlessly through the ruined cavern. The projectiles tearing out of the barrels were not ordinary lead bullets. The moment each round left the muzzle, it was instantly enveloped in a layer of intensely vibrant, scorching orange-red flames.
This devastating firepower was the direct result of the Advanced Ammunition buff she had gleefully looted from a special blue-glowing supply box during her previous exploration of the Hollow, right before they had started clearing out the Ethereals attracted by the dense Ether leak.
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