Chapter 376: Mutation
Venti blinked, momentarily stunned by the declaration, before a bright, amused grin spread across his face. Punishment? In his eyes, sharing fine wine with good friends was one of life's absolute greatest pleasures. It was blatantly obvious that Director Hu Tao was just giving him a graceful way out of his blunder, perhaps even masking her own eager anticipation for a post-battle celebration.
He puffed out his chest, patting it with supreme confidence. "No problem at all! Leave it to the best bard in town! I'll make sure everyone drinks until they can't tell the sky from the ground!"
"Now that's more like it." Hu Tao nodded in deep satisfaction. The playful glint in her plum-blossom eyes vanished a second later, replaced by a sharp, business-like intensity as her grip tightened around her submachine gun. "Then what are we waiting around for? We can't just leave our dear consultant to do all the heavy lifting up ahead. Where exactly is this 'big, tough guy' you mentioned?"
"Right in the dead center of the plaza, just behind that mountain of stacked shipping containers," Venti replied, his own demeanor shifting into focus. "The energy signature it's giving off is practically screaming at us."
He smoothly unslung the heavy sniper rifle from his back, his fingers deftly checking the scope alignment and ensuring the magazine was seated perfectly. "Director, let's close the distance and get a better read on the situation first."
Dropping into a low crouch, the duo handled the ruined plaza. They darted between the ubiquitous rusted shipping containers and the decaying, skeletal remains of abandoned dock cranes, their footsteps silent against the cracked concrete. As they pushed deeper toward the central zone, the atmosphere grew suffocating. The sickly-sweet, ozone-laced scent of raw Aether thickened, now violently clashing with a pungent, rotting stench. Unsettling noises drifted through the stagnant air—the grating scrape of chitinous shells, the wet plop of viscous liquid hitting the ground, and a low, continuous hiss that vibrated right in their teeth.
It didn't take long for them to rendezvous with Zhongli. The former Geo Archon had already finished methodically clearing out the scattered, low-level Ethereals wandering the outer perimeter. He was currently crouched behind a massive, overturned cargo container. The barrel of his tactical shotgun rested casually on the rusted metal edge, his amber eyes locked forward with an unshakeable, stony calm.
The moment Venti spotted him, the bard's pout returned in full force. He slid into cover beside the consultant, his voice dropping into a dramatic, aggrieved whisper. "Seriously, Zhongli, that was incredibly uncool! I wasn't the only one who carelessly let her slip away just now. So why did you completely abandon me and pull a 'strategic retreat' first?"
He clutched his chest as if physically wounded. "Leaving me all alone to face the Director's very concerned interrogation... that genuinely hurt my feelings. Are we even old friends anymore?"
Zhongli, ever the stoic, was clearly not equipped to handle the bard's theatrical guilt trips. He subtly averted his gaze, though his chiseled expression remained perfectly neutral. With practiced ease, he steered the conversation directly back to the lethal threat at hand, his deep voice carrying its usual calm solemnity.
"We can discuss such trivial matters at a later time. Our immediate priority is dealing with the Ethereals gathering ahead of us. More specifically, that highly anomalous individual occupying the center."
"If left unchecked," Zhongli continued, "the sheer volume of Ethereals being drawn to this location, combined with the severe imbalance in Aether concentration, will inevitably destabilize this sector of the Hollow. It is highly likely to trigger a localized Hollow Burst."
He paused, raising a gloved hand to point toward the open clearing in the dead center of the plaza. The area was semi-enclosed by a jagged wall of crushed containers, acting as a makeshift arena. This was the exact spot where the ruptured Aether fuel tanks were bleeding into the earth, mixing with the shattered glass of discarded potions.
", during my brief observation, I sensed distinct residual energy traces," Zhongli explained, his amber eyes narrowing a fraction. "Right before Sarah escaped through that Spatial Rift, she discarded two specific potions into that wreckage."
He glanced between Hu Tao and Venti. "Based on the intelligence Stelle and the others shared in the chat group earlier, the physical form and the lingering aura of those shattered vials are practically identical to the substance that forcibly mutated Bringer into a 'Sacrificial Ghost'."
The playful atmosphere instantly evaporated. Hu Tao and Venti's expressions tightened, the gravity of the situation settling over them. They followed Zhongli's line of sight, peering through the rusted gaps to focus intently on the makeshift arena.
Previously, Hu Tao's attention had been entirely consumed by the pervasive, choking purple Aether mist and the immediate threat of the Spine King Worm. Thanks to the abysmal lighting of the Hollow, she had initially brushed off the massive dark silhouette in the center as nothing more than an oversized Aether Crystal Cluster—a common enough sight in these corrupted zones.
But as she squinted through the gloom, taking in the true details of the shape, a sharp gasp escaped her lips.
That was absolutely no crystal cluster.
It was a grotesque, living monstrosity of abnormal proportions, easily taking up half the volume of a standard shipping container. Even while crouched low to the cracked pavement, its hunched shoulders exceeded two meters in height. Its entire hulking frame was encased in thick, jagged Aether Energy Crystals. The corrupted armor shimmered with a sickly, interwoven glow of deep, bruised purple and violent, arterial red.
The crystalline growths weren't just random mutations; they formed a rough, hyper-dense layer of protection over its vital areas, acting like an overgrown, jagged exoskeleton. But the most terrifying feature was lodged dead in the center of its broad back. A massive, deep purple Core—starkly distinct from the surrounding jagged armor—pulsated with a slow, sickening rhythm, exactly like a beating, exposed heart. It was heavily fortified, caged behind several overlapping layers of razor-sharp crystal spikes.
Surrounding this colossal nightmare was a terrifying honor guard. Ten high-level Ethereals of various deadly classifications stood in a loose ring. There were Dullahans, their heavy Crystal Shields and crackling Energy Blades resting on the ground; Thanatos units, their deadly Aether Longbows lowered; and the exceptionally burly, tank-like Fafnirs.
Yet, their current state was deeply unsettling. They weren't pacing, roaring, or adopting combat stances. Instead, every single one of them faced the central monstrosity. Their limbs were bent awkwardly, their heads bowed low to the concrete.
It looked exactly as if they were... worshipping it.
Squinting through the sniper scope, Venti noticed the horrifying detail. Latched onto the heads, the napes of the necks, or the spinal joints of these elite Ethereals were parasitic creatures. Each one sported a deep purple carapace and a trembling, needle-like tail. They were Spine-Thorn Proto-Insects, though these specimens had clearly undergone a partial evolution, swelling to a much larger size.
The vicious spine-thorns of the insects were driven deep into the seams of the host Ethereals' armor or directly into their glowing energy nodes. The parasites wriggled subtly, their fleshy undersides pulsing as they continuously injected some unknown, corrupting substance directly into the elites' nervous systems.
"This is the direct result of the two discarded potions acting as a catalyst," Zhongli's voice murmured, cutting through the tense silence to explain the bizarre ritual unfolding before them. "Initially, two standard Spine-Thorn Proto-Insects divided the spilled liquid. using the massive influx of high-purity Aether leaking from the fuel tanks, they forcibly completed a preliminary evolution into Spine King Worms."
He gestured slightly toward a cratered section of the plaza. "The one that ended up slightly smaller in size was driven out during their territorial struggle and fled underground. The victor claimed this domain."
His amber gaze swept over the kneeling, parasitized elites. "However, the continuous hemorrhage of high-concentration Aether didn't just attract these powerful Ethereals; it drew in a swarm of common Spine-Thorn Proto-Insects. This newly evolved Spine King Worm appears to possess a hive-mind authority, allowing it to summon and command its lesser kin. Rather than risking a direct confrontation with ten high-level Ethereals, it simply ordered the swarm to parasitize them, subjugating them from within."
Hu Tao's plum-blossom pupils contracted to pinpricks. She leaned over her cover, analyzing the horde with a critical eye.
Zhongli was entirely correct. Although the Dullahans, Thanatos, and Fafnirs maintained their eerie, cult-like genuflection, the glow of their original Aether Cores flickered erratically. Whenever they shifted their weight, their movements were jerky and mechanical, devoid of their usual predatory grace. It was painfully clear that their primal self-awareness had been violently suppressed, entirely hijacked by the dominating will of the central King Worm and transmitted through the nervous systems of the parasites.
"Parasitism... complete mind control..." Hu Tao murmured, a rare chill running down her spine. "Then why the creepy worshipping routine?"
"They are likely seeking a higher degree of evolution, or perhaps the parasites are forcing them to offer their loyalty and latent energy to the dominator," Zhongli deduced. His gaze finally drifted back to the colossal, throbbing silhouette in the center of the plaza, the usual calm in his tone now edged with genuine severity. "As for the core Spine King Worm itself... its chosen host is far more problematic."
As if sensing the weight of the Geo Archon's scrutiny, the massive dark silhouette ceased its hunched resting state. It slowly, agonizingly, raised its head.
Through the scope, Venti sucked in a breath. That was not the scorpion-like carapace of a Spine King Worm. It was a monstrously enlarged, violently twisted canine skull, heavily plated in jagged Aether crystals. Two piercing, scarlet eyes ignited from deep within the crystalline crevices, burning with a rabid, unnatural intellect. Its massive jaws parted, revealing rows of uneven, razor-sharp fangs, thick strings of highly corrosive Aether mucus dripping from its maw to sizzle against the concrete.
The beast pushed itself up on its heavily muscled forelegs, finally stepping into the dim light to reveal its full, horrifying glory.
It was a Hati Headhound. But this wasn't just any standard Hollow predator—it was a severely parasitized, biologically modified nightmare. Judging by the sheer density of the crystals and the pulsating core on its back, this was a high-risk alpha individual, pushed to the absolute brink of mutation by the lethal cocktail of raw Hollow Aether and Sarah's discarded potions.
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