In the sky, the Green Devil skateboard cut through the horizon, and a figure observed from above.
He was Dio Brooke, the psychic controller of the Devil Team.
The deaths of Arno and Zang Ting forced him to change his approach.
The ease and confidence he once had, like in other horror movies, were gone.
He had to find the captain, or he would face danger himself.
Suddenly!
He sensed something was wrong!
Looking down, a rocket sped toward him!
His psychic scan quickly locked onto the target on the ground.
Behind a large tree, he saw a burly man—Da Qiang—carrying an RPG!
"Enjoy flying? Die!" Da Qiang shouted angrily. "This is a tracking rocket! Up there, you're the target!"
But Dio Brooke's expression only shifted slightly.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
When he opened them again, the speeding missile had slowed and, astonishingly, turned toward Da Qiang instead!
Da Qiang's eyes widened. He had expected that an RPG couldn't kill a member of the Devil Team, but he never imagined the rocket would reverse direction and strike him.
The abilities available from the Lord God were far too numerous and varied to judge with conventional thinking.
He instinctively tried to dodge, but the rocket came too fast, and his body couldn't react in time.
Boom—
A massive explosion sent Da Qiang flying, leaving the forest in chaos.
The blast uprooted nearby trees, and flames and thick smoke spread throughout the woods.
Dio Brooke hovered in the air, the glow of his Green Devil skateboard standing out against the fiery backdrop.
His expression remained calm, as if all of this had been predicted.
The danger had never come from this muscle-bound brute.
It came from the unseen captain of the Central Continent team (Breeding Team).
Dio Brooke unleashed his full psychic power, while his Mind Chain notification symbol chimed: "I'm under attack!"
No sooner had he spoken, he suddenly felt the wind surge behind him, causing his heart to skip a beat.
The sound was unmistakable—the gliding of the Green Devil skateboard!
Confusion flashed across his mind. His psychic scan should have detected any approaching object. How had the attacker moved silently?
If not for his keen hearing, he would never have reacted to this ambush.
"Psychic shield?!" His heart sank as he realized he might have fallen into the enemy's trap.
The Central Continent team had a psychic controller!
When the Devil Team appeared, it was obvious they had deliberately revealed information to make them let their guard down.
Dio Brook didn't hesitate for a second and quickly pulled out a transparent blue shield.
He twisted his body and raised the shield!
Instantly, a magnified projection of the transparent shield appeared in front of him.
At that moment, a woman riding a Green Demon skateboard came into Dio Brook's sight.
Meng Yao's hands had already transformed into flesh-like strips, each tipped with two sharp knives!
"Clang clang clang!"
Her knives struck the projection of the energy shield, producing a piercing grinding sound!
"Clang clang clang!"
The rain of strikes made Dio Brook frown sharply!
He could clearly see the cracks on the shield growing larger!
This was a C-level side-quest energy defense shield worth seven thousand reward points!
And yet, it was cracking so quickly under her attack!?
A more terrifying thought formed in his mind.
Could this woman have reached the third stage of the gene lock, reinforced by a B-level or higher parasitic beast?
And at the same time, mastered psychic shielding—making her a psychic controller?
How was that even possible!?
He hurriedly shared his view of the battlefield with Fuming using the Mind Chain skill.
But the shared screen lasted only a moment, as Dio Brook had to fully concentrate on using his most expensive reward-point skill just to survive!
With a sharp sound of shattering glass, the energy defense shield in front of him finally gave way under Meng Yao's relentless assault.
Cracks spread rapidly until the entire shield shattered like broken glass.
In that instant, Dio Brook seemed frozen in fear.
His expression hardened, and a trace of terror flashed in his eyes.
However, at the same moment, Meng Yao's movements suddenly stopped.
Her eyes showed a hint of confusion, quickly replaced by a cold, decisive resolve.
She turned her head and, riding the Green Demon skateboard, headed straight for Da Qiang on the ground, making his pupils shrink in shock.
Da Qiang instantly understood the ability of this Devil Team member!
Psychic control!
Under the control of the mind, Mengyao had become a machine—without emotion, only knowing how to kill.
But knowing the opponent's abilities and dealing with them were two different things.
Da Qiang didn't have a single moment to think. His body reacted instinctively, sprinting toward the underground river where the Covenant was hidden.
[Squad member Tian Liang has died. Crew reduced by one. All members lose 100 reward points!]
[Squad member Nan Zehan has died. Crew reduced by one. All members lose 100 reward points!]
[Squad member Lai Yue…]
[Squad member Fang Min…]
A few alert sounds woke Yujin.
He realized that these four squad members were the same "companions" who had once accompanied him through one or several parts of the "drunken barrel" scenario.
It seemed that things had escalated beyond Mengyao merely wanting those few C-level side quests.
He forced his eyes open, and immediately, a scream pierced his ears.
"Ah!"
Daniels was so scared she fell straight to the ground, pointing at Yujin. "Y-Your eyes!"
Beside her, Zhang Jie looked at Yujin's dual tomoe Sharingan and quickly explained, "Th-This… it's just a mutation! Nothing serious, just a little red!"
"Is he… really not a demon?" Daniels asked, glancing at the fleshy growth on Yujin's back. She had been wanting to ask this for a while.
On Yujin's back, a grotesque lump of flesh had suddenly grown, completely defying the natural shape of the human body.
The flesh emitted a nauseating stench, like a rotting piece of meat abandoned in a damp, dark corner, absorbing filth and decay over years.
Its color was a disturbing dark brown, and the surface was coated with a greasy slime, making it look especially slick and revolting in the dim light.
On the surface of the chunk of flesh, coarse green hairs were scattered, growing in disorder, like weeds forcibly sprouting from rotting soil. They gave off a wild and unclean feeling.
Even more unsettling, the flesh was covered in wrinkles of various sizes, layered one over another, like old leather carelessly crumpled and left with marks.
Between these wrinkles, faint tiny holes could be seen, occasionally oozing pale yellow pus, as if the interior of the flesh hid some source of decay.
As Yujin moved, the chunk of flesh seemed to have a life of its own, wriggling slightly, as if it were breathing.
Yet Yujin did not feel disgusted by what had grown behind him.
Instead, a bright expression appeared on his face as he thought inwardly:
"Synchronization ability!"
****
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