Chapter 99: Devouring Beast And Mana Flower
“Now it seems we really can’t attract Devouring Beasts. What attracts Devouring Beasts is actually the Life Essence fluctuations caused by emotional changes,” Meng Huaifeng concluded.
“But we’ve been here for so long and made quite a bit of noise. Can’t those Devouring Beasts sense it at all?” March 7th was somewhat puzzled.
“Under normal circumstances, Devouring Beasts are in a dormant state. They only awaken if they sense intense emotional fluctuations or too much noise,” Hong Kou said.
“If we really need to attract Devouring Beasts, I can do it,” Hong Kou said hesitantly after a moment, volunteering.
Hong Kou and Po Xiao were both battle-hardened Scavengers with extremely stable emotions. Even after learning that the Pioneer Squad were aliens, their emotions barely changed, so they hadn’t attracted any Devouring Beasts.
If the Scavenger Squad and the Dust Citizens transporting materials were all like them, the danger of gathering materials would be greatly reduced.
Unfortunately, in a big forest there are all kinds of birds. It was fine when they first reached the Ground, but after staying longer, someone would always awaken Devouring Beasts due to tension, fear, jealousy, envy, and so on.
Once Devouring Beasts appeared, emotions became even harder to control, attracting more and more, eventually triggering a major battle and escape.
“No need. We’re just curious if we can attract Devouring Beasts,” Meng Huaifeng refused.
The group walked forward another distance, and a huge pit appeared before them. In the center of the pit was a massive crimson flower.
“Is this the Mana Flower?” Himeko took a few steps closer and carefully examined the Mana Flower.
The Mana Flower swayed, spewing out crimson mist.
“Be careful, that’s Scarlet Substance. It causes illusions and can also transmit information to awaken Devouring Beasts,” Hong Kou reminded.
Himeko plucked a petal from the Mana Flower and stored it in her Ticket Space, planning to study it later.
Meng Huaifeng used Aether Editing, turning the real world into a data world in his eyes, then forcibly connected to the Mana Flower.
His Aether Editing proficiency was too low to rewrite reality yet, but he could barely access real-world data.
It was somewhat like the Art of Heavenly Inquiry, but far inferior in both access range and speed.
However, it wasn’t without advantages.
With the Art of Heavenly Inquiry, you first had to ask a question, but when you didn’t even know what you wanted to know, it was useless.
With Aether Editing access, he could pull up all related information, possibly revealing things he hadn’t even thought of.
Meng Huaifeng looked at the information contained in the Mana Flower and couldn’t help exclaiming in surprise.
“Wow, Energy Transmission, Scarlet Substance conversion, Devouring Beast evolution Type I, Type II, metamorphosis type…, so many functions. This doesn’t seem like a plant that could naturally occur; it’s more like an information port, a biological weapon.”
“It seems this world’s catastrophe was really man-made. Such vicious methods,” Welt said in a low tone, somewhat angry.
“That’s too evil, worse than Stellar Cores,” March 7th said indignantly.
“Can’t we find the mastermind? I want to smash his head with my Baseball Bat,” Xing said.
“The mastermind is beyond the Universe. Finding him in the vast Sea of Stars won’t be easy,” Welt shook his head.
“To find him, one way is to wait until I’ve progressed further on my Destiny path and use the Art of Heavenly Inquiry to search this Universe. The other is to wait for him to act again and follow the trail. Neither method is likely in the short term, so let’s solve the Mana Ecology first,” Meng Huaifeng said practically while invading the Mana Flower’s information.
“Sasha sasha sasha~”
Sounds of massive objects moving came from the distance.
“The Scarlet Substance released by the Mana Flower has attracted the Devouring Beasts. Be careful,” Hong Kou drew her Greatsword and looked toward the direction of the sound.
Po Xiao set up the city defense Guardian-configured Gravity Body Machine Gun and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Hong Kou.
“Roar!”
A Devouring Beast crawled out from the ruins of a building, roaring at the group.
Soon, the second, the third… dozens of Devouring Beasts surrounded the group.
The tentacles on the Devouring Beasts waved continuously, as if exchanging something, then they surged forward.
“Ice Seal Ten Thousand Miles.”
March 7th raised her small hand, and the dozen or so Devouring Beasts in her facing direction were frozen into Ice Sculptures in various poses.
“These are this world’s signature monsters. They’re a bit ugly, but let’s take a group photo for memory,” March 7th turned around, aimed the Camera at herself, and pressed the button with a ‘click’.
Xing swung her Baseball Bat, smashing each incoming one back to where it came from.
Zhu Zhuqing activated Martial Spirit Possession, her claws forming half-meter-long Energy blades. With flickering movements, she severed the heads of over a dozen Devouring Beasts.
Hong Kou fearlessly charged into the Devouring Beast horde. With Gravity Body underfoot and occasional flame boosts from behind, she moved, turned, and nimbly shuttled through the Devouring Beasts, her Greatsword decapitating them one by one.
Po Xiao provided cover fire for Hong Kou with the Heavy Machine Gun; any attempting to attack her had their heads exploded by a barrage of bullets.
“Good combat awareness. Great talent for piloting Mecha,” Welt commented, watching their fight.
“These monsters are so weak,” Xing said somewhat disdainfully.
“They’re just the weakest generic Devouring Beasts, and they aren’t dead. They’ll revive soon,” Hong Kou shook the slime off her Greatsword, her expression grave.
The Pioneer Squad looked at the killed Devouring Beasts, only to see their wounds’ flesh wriggling continuously, utterly disgusting.
The more intact bodies, especially those with smashed heads from Xing, had already gotten back up, while the bisected ones had regenerated half their bodies.
“How are they like Abundant Evil Creatures?” March 7th said in surprise.
It really was similar: tenacious Life Essence, revival ability, and plundering others’ Abundance Blessing Life Essence to Become Stronger and evolve. If this wasn’t an Abundant Evil Creature, few would believe it.
Xing rushed up and gave each revived Devouring Beast another Baseball Bat hit, using more force this time; their heads were flattened.
Yet their flesh still wriggled, gradually restoring to original form.
“From the Mana Flower’s information, Devouring Beasts have a core storing Life Essence inside. The Life Essence continuously uses Energy to regenerate them quickly. Destroying the core kills them,” Meng Huaifeng found the weakness from the Devouring Beast evolution Type I info and reminded everyone.
Zhu Zhuqing carefully sensed the Energy flow inside a Devouring Beast and thrust her sharp claws into its body.
The Devouring Beast shuddered, and its flesh stopped wriggling.
Zhu Zhuqing clearly sensed its internal Energy lose control and dissipate entirely into the air.
“So Devouring Beasts can truly be killed?” Hong Kou and Po Xiao looked complicated.
What had the Beacon’s Research Institute been doing these past thirty years?
They couldn’t even research that Devouring Beasts could be thoroughly killed. If discovered earlier, clearing a safe zone on the Ground wouldn’t have been impossible.
The two tried to thoroughly kill Devouring Beasts, but embarrassingly, even knowing there was a core inside, they couldn’t sense where it was.
Each Devouring Beast’s core position was different.
“Um, we can’t sense it,” Hong Kou said awkwardly, looking at the others.
March 7th shot out over a dozen Ice Arrows, shattering all the Devouring Beast cores around Hong Kou.
“Later, I’ll pass you the cultivation method designed by Uncle Yang. Cultivate it well, and once you reach a certain Degree, you’ll sense Energy flows on Devouring Beasts,” Meng Huaifeng said without looking up.
“Thanks,” Hong Kou said.
“But just so you know, my skills are affected by some existence. If I pass you a skill, I’ll definitely gain one of yours. If you can’t accept that, Uncle Yang can teach you slowly,” Meng Huaifeng said.
“What’s unacceptably about that? We’re just worried our skills won’t catch your eye,” Hong Kou said nonchalantly.
On a tall building in the distance, a Devouring Beast different from the earlier snake-dogs climbed up, opened its big mouth, and fired an Energy cannon at the group.
Not just that direction; several other Energy cannons bombarded from elsewhere.
At the same time, more melee-type Devouring Beasts swarmed over.
Xing raised her Flame Spear, and a fiery red shield enveloped everyone. The Energy cannons hit the shield without budging it.
Several drones flew out from Himeko’s Briefcase toward the distant ranged-attacking Devouring Beasts.
Xing, March 7th, Zhu Zhuqing, and Welt each stood in one direction, thoroughly killing all the Devouring Beasts.
Hong Kou and Po Xiao stood awkwardly inside the shield, somewhat at a loss.
“Don’t mind it, relax. Everyone grows from weakness,” Himeko smiled, comforting them.
“Exactly, I went through the same. Hugged thighs for two years; lying flat felt pretty good,” Meng Huaifeng said nostalgically.
Now, he could pretty much stand on his own.
However, both combat power and Aether Editing were still a bit immature; he needed to study harder.
Breaking the Mana Ecology’s Information Blockade would be great training!
Hong Kou and Po Xiao calmed down, assessed the battle, and went to Zhu Zhuqing’s side to assist her.
The City had an immense number of Devouring Beasts, accompanied by dense swarms of spine parasites. Unfortunately, against the Train Crew, numbers meant nothing.
“Endless, how are there so many?” March 7th grew impatient and asked, “No Survivors in this City, right?”
“None. I recorded the life signatures of Devouring Beasts and spine parasites. Scans show no other life signatures in this City,” Himeko said.
“Ice and snow world, freeze!”
March 7th pressed her hand to the Ground, Imaginary Energy surged, and Six Phases Ice bypassed their own people from March 7th, rapidly spreading outward.
In just over ten seconds, the entire City turned into an ice and snow city!
Hong Kou and Po Xiao watched dumbfounded. This… was their true power?
This was practically… a god!
With such power, how could the catastrophe not be resolved?
Zhu Zhuqing, who had seen Dan Heng solo the God Realm’s Gods, showed no change in expression. This was nothing.
Xing walked to a frozen Devouring Beast and smashed it into pieces with her Baseball Bat.
“What are you doing?” March 7th asked puzzled.
Xing looked at the Devouring Beast body starting to wriggle slowly and said disdainfully, “March, you didn’t finish them off.”
“That’s just the nature of ice. What can I do?” March 7th pouted. “Yarilo-VI’s Destruction Legion was frozen for centuries and still lived after thawing. These guys are weak but have some Abundant Evil Creature traits; not dying to freeze is normal, right?”
“March, thaw this one,” Xing said, going to another Devouring Beast.
“What now?” March 7th asked, but still thawed it.
Xing smashed the Devouring Beast dead with her Baseball Bat and said, “Let’s see how many times this one revives without breaking its core.”
One minute later, the Devouring Beast revived; Xing immediately hit it again.
Three minutes later, it revived again; Xing hit it again.
Ten minutes, one hour…
“Its internal Energy is depleted and slowly absorbing external Energy. Estimated twelve hours to revive,” Welt judged.
Xing had no patience to wait that long and directly shattered the Devouring Beast’s core; the Life Essence dissipated, unable to absorb Energy to recover.
Meng Huaifeng finally put away his Mobile Phone.
“How’d it go?” Himeko asked.
“This Mana Flower is just a child plant, not directly connected to Crimson Vortex Space but to the parent plant. Only the parent, the Mana Flower King, connects to Crimson Vortex Space. I tried invading Crimson Vortex Space via the Mana Flowers’ info channels but failed; the info vanished upon entering the other space. Not sure if it alerted them,” Meng Huaifeng said with a frown.
“So to enter Crimson Vortex Space, we need the Mana Flower King?” Himeko said.
“Yes. Even if I lure a Crimson Vortex Space portal here, it’d appear at the Mana Flower King, not here. So we go there first,” Meng Huaifeng said.
“So complicated,” March 7th’s head spun.
“Don’t listen, we just handle the fighting,” Xing said.
“You’ve found the Flower King’s location, right?” Himeko said.
“Yeah, over a thousand kilometers east, in a place called Jiuchuan City before the Apocalypse,” Meng Huaifeng said. “Mana Flowers mostly bloom in Cities, densely populated areas. I don’t buy no one controlling it behind the scenes.”
It was getting late, so the Pioneer Squad decided to rest one night before setting off.
They found a relatively intact house in the City. Welt activated his Power of the Herrscher of Reason, instantly renovating the rundown house—no need to clean dust or anything.
All-purpose Uncle Yang!
Meng Huaifeng transmitted Welt’s cultivation method to Hong Kou and Po Xiao, gaining Intermediate Mecha control from them.
Though both Intermediate Mecha controls, their focuses differed, complementing each other when combined.
Once Meng Huaifeng familiarized himself a bit, his Technology would likely surpass Hong Kou and Po Xiao.
However, Meng Huaifeng wasn’t too interested in Mecha.
After eating dinner prepped in Ticket Space, everyone picked a Room to rest.
“Knock knock.”
Knocking sounded at the door.
Meng Huaifeng got up and opened the door to see Hong Kou standing there.
“Big Sister Hong Kou, what’s up?” Meng Huaifeng asked puzzled.
“Um, I wanted to ask if we can tell the Beacon about the Devouring Beasts’ weakness?” Hong Kou said somewhat embarrassed.
“Of course, but even if you tell them, they won’t detect it, just like you. At least someone needs to cultivate Uncle Yang’s method to a certain Degree,” Meng Huaifeng said.
Hong Kou’s face lit up, but she didn’t leave. Instead, she kept looking at Meng Huaifeng pleadingly. “That’s good, but I can’t contact the Beacon now. Seems only you can. Can you tell them for me?”
“No problem. They’re all wanting to burn you and Big Brother Po Xiao, yet you still care about them,” Meng Huaifeng said with feeling.
“Some are hateful, but others are innocent,” Hong Kou said sadly.
Meng Huaifeng took out his Mobile Phone, directly contacted Jing Nan, dumped the Devouring Beast weakness info on her, said nothing extra, and disconnected.
Leaving Jing Nan, who hadn’t reacted yet, unable to ask anyone, full of doubts.
Believe it or not; if not, tough luck.
After Hong Kou left, Meng Huaifeng didn’t rest but used Aether Editing to analyze various program Code and researched applying them to reality, striving to improve himself.
He stayed up all night.
Early next morning, seeing Hong Kou and Po Xiao in Gravity Bodies, Meng Huaifeng patted them.
“Added a program to your Gravity Bodies. With it, you’ll see Devouring Beasts’ weaknesses,” Meng Huaifeng connected his Mobile Phone to the two Gravity Body systems and transferred the program he’d just edited last night.
“Unknown program detected installing. Stop?”
Hong Kou and Po Xiao quickly selected no.
Energy detection Equipment was very common in the Universe; the Train had several. Meng Huaifeng had long recorded their programs but hadn’t parsed them yet.
Last night he parsed and modified them with Aether Editing to adapt, finally succeeding in making a pure program effective without the instruments.
This was Aether Editing—rewriting reality!
