The moonlight was devoured by the dark clouds, leaving only a thin silver edge, and the stench of decaying leaves mixed with the metallic smell of the withered forest wafted into my nostrils.
Lin Yi's short blade burned in his palm, and the spatial patterns flickered with his heartbeat, as if echoing the dark blue light in the monster's chest cavity—the bone wings of the Black Wind Gorge scout three days ago, and the prophecy of "blooming from the heart" before the mother nest dissipated, all exploded into fragments in his mind at this moment.
"The first layer of the barrier has broken!" Chu Yao's projection suddenly distorted into gibberish. "Its movement trajectory... is mimicking the arc of Long Wu's battle blade!"
Before the words were even finished, the dark figure had already pierced through the golden light net like an arrow released from a bow.
Long Wu had barely raised his sword half an inch when the monster's bone wings grazed his ear, the wind from which cut his neck and drew blood.
This was the third encounter, and each time the monster retreated half an inch less than the last—it was learning, adapting to the fighting style of the true dragon bloodline.
"Drink!" Long Wu bit his tongue, and as the fishy sweetness spread, the dragon scale patterns in his chest cavity glowed with crimson gold.
He gripped the back of the blade with his other hand, using the blade as a shield to take the monster's claw strike head-on. The shock caused blood droplets to splatter onto the bone wings, sizzling and emitting wisps of blue smoke. "This thing... is afraid of dragon blood!" he growled, suppressing the excruciating pain. His battle blade slashed out in a dragon-shaped arc, aiming straight for the monster's waist and abdomen.
At the critical moment, the monster turned half an inch to the side, its bone wings lashing out at Long Wu's wrist like steel whips—the angle was clearly the same trajectory Long Wu had used when he had just struck its left shoulder.
"It's the Mother Nest's consciousness controlling it!" Xuan Mingzi's Daoist robe fluttered in the wind, and his fingers, which were forming hand seals, suddenly stopped. "The puppets have no independent consciousness; all their movements are calculated in real time by the Mother Nest through the link!"
Lin Yi's pupils suddenly contracted.
He finally saw the veins of the blue light in the monster's chest cavity—thin, spiderweb-like dark lines spread from the center of the blue light, through the rotting flesh, into the spine, and finally disappeared into the bone crevices of the monster's nape.
Those were neural pathways for consciousness linking, which the Mother Nest used to turn this body into a remotely controlled war machine.
"Sever the link!" Lin Yi shouted, and the spacetime patterns on the short blade suddenly connected to form a complete star map.
He leaped into the air, riding the shockwave from Dragon Five's battle blade. The spatial and temporal power condensed at the tip of the short blade tore tiny cracks in the air. "Chu Yao, locate the link to the source!"
"Coordinates locked!" Chu Yao's data stream stabilized again. "Three centimeters downward from the center of the blue light, the third vertebra!"
The monster seemed to sense the danger and suddenly spread its bone wings, slamming them down onto the ground.
The decaying leaves and pebbles were torn up like a torrential rain, but were swallowed up by the spacetime rift the moment they touched Lin Yi—this was the unique domain of the [Spacetime Overlord], and all attacks would be pulled into the disordered space by the rift 0.01 seconds before they touched him.
"Now!" Lin Yi's short blade pierced precisely at the back of the monster's neck.
Just as the blade was about to touch the bone crevice, the blue light suddenly surged, and the monster's body expanded as if it had been fast-forwarded, with the white marks on its bone wings healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Watch out!" Long Wu roared and pounced, his battle blade held horizontally beside Lin Yi.
The monster's claws grazed Long Wu's battle blade, leaving a half-inch-deep nick on the blade—the first time a nick had appeared on the battle blade tempered with dragon blood.
"It's absorbing the residual energy of the Mother Nest!" Ivan's voice trembled. The wine jar in his arms had fallen to the ground at some point. He stared at the blue light in the monster's chest cavity, his Adam's apple bobbing. "I... I can feel it. There is the resonant frequency of the Mother Nest's core in that light."
Like...like the noises I could hear when it first infested my body.
Lin Yi's short blade paused slightly.
He turned to look at Ivan, who was gripping his wrist tightly, his nails almost digging into his flesh.
The man, who had once been parasitized by the core of the nest, now had complex emotions surging in his eyes—fear, pain, and a hint of fanatical resolve.
"Chu Yao, analyze Ivan's vital signs." Lin Yi's voice softened, but his short blade remained taut, aimed at the monster.
"Adrenaline levels exceed the baseline by 300%, and brainwaves are abnormally active..." Chu Yao's projection flickered. "He's suppressing some intense urge to act."
The monster's scream pierced our eardrums once again.
This time, Lin Yi heard something different—beneath the piercing sound waves, there was a series of extremely fine vibrations, similar to Morse code.
That was the frequency at which the Mother Nest consciousness transmitted commands, and Ivan's body was trembling slightly in sync with that frequency, like a radio receiving a signal.
"Ivan," Lin Yi suddenly spoke, "Can you... hear what it's saying?"
Ivan's shoulders jerked violently.
He looked up, the blue light in his eyes briefly overlapping with the light emanating from the monster's chest before quickly fading. "I..." He licked his chapped lips, his gaze fixed on the bony creases at the back of the monster's neck. "If I could get within three meters of it, perhaps... perhaps I could sever that connection."
The monster's claws struck again.
Long Wu's battle blade collided with the bone wing, and this time, a crack appeared amidst the metallic hum.
Lin Yi looked at Ivan's clenched and unclenched fists, at the struggle and determination surging in his eyes, and suddenly smiled.
He tossed the short blade to Long Wu with a backhand, and amidst the latter's astonished gaze, patted Ivan on the shoulder: "Go."
I believe you.
Ivan's pupils contracted to pinpoints.
He took a deep breath, his chest heaving, and took his first step toward the monster.
The moonlight finally pierced through the dark clouds, illuminating a pale blue mark on the back of his neck—the spot where the core of the mother nest had once resided, now faintly resonating with the blue light emanating from the monster's chest cavity as he approached.
"Remember," Lin Yi's voice, mingled with the wind, reached Ivan's ears, "You are human now, not a vessel for the Mother Nest."
Ivan paused.
He looked down at his palm; his knuckles were white from the force he had used, but he slowly relaxed his grip.
When he looked up again, the blue light in his eyes had completely vanished, leaving only a blazing red flame. "Hold it off for ten seconds," he said. "Ten seconds will be enough."
Long Wu's sword struck the monster's bone wings, and this time, spiderweb-like cracks finally appeared on the bone wings.
Chu Yao's data stream poured out like a waterfall: "Defense barrier remaining strength 78%!"
Dragon Five, Dragon Blood Covers the Battle Blade!
Ivan, two meters from the target!
Lin Yi stood behind, and the spacetime patterns on the short blade flowed even faster.
He watched Ivan's retreating figure as he approached the monster, and suddenly recalled the words spoken three days ago in Blackwind Gorge by this man who had been controlled by the Mother Nest, when he shielded him from a fatal blow with his own body: "I want to be a human being, even if only once."
The monster seemed to sense the danger, and the blue light in its chest began to flash wildly.
It suddenly abandoned Long Wu and turned to pounce on Ivan—but it was too late.
In the final half-meter, Ivan leaped up and placed his hands on the blue light emanating from the monster's chest.
\"boom!\"
At the moment the blue light exploded, Lin Yi saw countless silver threads shoot out from the bone gaps at the back of the monster's neck, scattering in all directions like broken harp strings.
Ivan's body was thrown against a tree by the blast wave, but he managed to stand up before landing and gave Lin Yi a weak OK sign.
"The connection has been severed!" Chu Yao's voice rarely showed any emotion. "The mother nest's consciousness signal has disappeared!"
Long Wu's battle blade slashed down in the same direction.
This time, the bone wing shattered into countless bone fragments.
The monster's body rapidly weathered away under the moonlight, leaving only the core of that blue light, lying quietly on the decaying leaves like a dark blue gem.
Lin Yi bent down to pick up the core, and as soon as his fingertips touched the surface, he heard a very faint sound, like a heartbeat.
He looked up at Ivan, who was slowly sitting down against the tree, his forehead covered in cold sweat, but he was smiling like a child.
"Just now..." Ivan gasped for breath, his gaze fixed on the blue light, "I think I heard it calling 'Mommy.'"
The wind suddenly stopped.
The chirping of insects came from afar, like whistles waking up in the darkness.
Lin Yi gripped the core tightly, and suddenly heard the bronze bell in the spatial ring vibrate gently—a sign that a new spacetime rift was opening.
He looked at Ivan, who was staring at the mark on the back of his neck, his fingers unconsciously rubbing it.
Under the moonlight, the mark was slowly fading, until it was almost invisible.
"It's time to head back to camp," Lin Yi said, storing the core into his spatial ring. "We need to discuss what happened tonight."
Ivan looked up and met his gaze.
Neither of them spoke, but Lin Yi knew that some things had changed—like the core he held in his palm at this moment, which had once been a symbol of destruction, but could now become the key to unlocking the secrets of the Mother Nest.
More importantly, he gained another companion with whom he could lean on his back.
In the distance, the light from the bronze lamps gradually faded, revealing the pale dawn breaking over the horizon.
Long Wu squatted on the ground wiping his battle sword, Xuan Mingzi began to collect the scattered talismans, and Chu Yao's projection was uploading the battle data from just now.
Lin Yi took a deep breath and turned to walk towards the camp.
He knew that the broodmother's counterattack would not end there, but at least this time, they were no longer a disorganized mob fighting their own battles.
As for Ivan's hesitant look just now, and the disappearing mark on the back of his neck...
There will always be an answer.
After all, they still have time.
The campfire crackled and popped, sparks flying onto Ivan's face before going out, casting flickering shadows on his taut jaw.
When Lin Yi placed the core of the mother nest on the stone table, the bronze bell in the spatial ring vibrated three more times—this was the spacetime rift urging him on, but what was more urgent at this moment was Ivan's suddenly clenched fist on the other side of the stone table.
"I can trace back to the source of the mother nest." Ivan's voice was like sandpaper scraping the back of a knife, the pale blue mark on the back of his neck tinging with a faint blue as he spoke. "The remaining connection channels haven't been completely severed. When I made contact with the core just now, those threads..." His Adam's apple bobbed, "They drew maps in my mind."
Long Wu paused, wiping the nick of his sword with dragon blood. The blade reflected his furrowed brows: "Are you crazy?"
Last time I was almost burned to ashes by the parasite, and now I have to actively connect to it?
Xuanmingzi's fingertips trembled as he held the half-sheet of talisman. Underneath his Taoist robe, he secretly made a calming gesture—he could sense the faint, ethereal aura of the Mother Nest within Ivan's body, like a needle soaked in venom.
Lin Yi didn't speak, his gaze falling on the mark on the back of Ivan's neck.
Three days ago, the blood from Black Wind Gorge was still burning in his memory. When this man used his back to shield him from the bone spurs, the mark on the back of his neck was so red it looked like it was about to bleed.
The mark is now so faint it's almost invisible, but the blue light Ivan felt during the battle, resonating with the monster, still leaves a lingering image on his retina.
"The reason." Lin Yi suddenly spoke, the short blade twirling in his palm, the spatial patterns flickering with his heartbeat. "Why bring it up now?"
Ivan looked up, his eyes bloodshot like a spiderweb: "When I severed the link just now, I heard it calling 'Mommy.'" His fingers unconsciously traced the edge of the stone table. "The core of the mother nest isn't inorganic; it has... emotional remnants."
If we can follow the clues to the source, perhaps we can figure out what it's looking for.
Chu Yao's projection suddenly appeared in the center of the stone table, and the data stream condensed into an electrocardiogram above Ivan's head: "Detected a 79% match between the neural synapses in his brain and the core frequency of the broodstock, a 43% success rate in reverse tracing, but a 37% risk of being reverse-eroded." Her voice unusually sharpened, "It is recommended to wait for the spacetime rift to open and use a mythical-level ability to cover the scan."
"We can't wait." Lin Yi suddenly laughed, lightly tapping the stone table with his short blade. "The Black Wind Gorge scouts discovered the remnants of the mother nest gathering three days ago; tonight's is just the vanguard." He stared at the light flickering in Ivan's pupils. "Are you sure you can control it?"
Ivan didn't speak, but instead raised his hand, a pale blue glow slowly seeping from his palm—the color of the Mother Nest's energy, which evaporated into white mist the moment it touched the air. "Last time it parasitized me, I couldn't even blink," he said, his voice as soft as a sigh. "Now... I can make it dissipate."
Lin Yi's knuckles tapped rhythmically on the stone table.
He recalled that half an hour earlier, when Ivan lunged at the monster, the moment the mark on the back of his neck resonated with the blue light, he used his spacetime power to probe into the other's consciousness, only to touch a tender sprout on scorched earth—the lingering warmth of humanity.
"Long Wu, retrieve my Time-Space Seal." Lin Yi suddenly turned around, the star map on his short blade lighting up abruptly. "Xuan Mingzi, deploy the Triple Suppressing Divine Talisman." He looked at Ivan, "I will place a faith seal in your sea of consciousness. If the Mother Nest dares to follow the thread, I will crush it along with your consciousness."
Ivan's shoulders trembled slightly, but he nodded forcefully: "Do it."
The Time-Space Seal is a palm-sized piece of green jade, engraved with Lin Yi's natal patterns.
When it was pressed against Ivan's forehead, the latter's body arched violently, and a broken groan escaped his throat.
Xuanmingzi's yellow talismans were quickly affixed all around, and the vermilion characters on the talismans emitted wisps of green smoke, forming a golden barrier above the two people's heads.
"Sink in." Lin Yi's voice seemed to come from afar. His fingertips pressed against the mark on the back of Ivan's neck, and the power of spacetime flowed like warm water over the other's consciousness. "Follow those blue lines, and don't touch any glowing nodes."
Ivan's eyelids twitched rapidly, and his breathing gradually became long and even.
Chu Yao's data stream suddenly surged, projecting a mental image above his head: countless blue threads intertwined into a net, at the end of which was a ball of light shrouded in black mist—the shape of that light was clearly the outline of a human, curled up as if trembling.
"Something's up!" Long Wu's battle sword suddenly drew its sheath, the blade pointing into the darkness outside the camp.
The sound of rotting leaves being crushed came from all directions, and three pairs of eerie blue eyes lit up in the shadows of the trees, followed by five pairs, then ten pairs—mutated wolves controlled by the mother hive, each with the same bone sutures on the back of its neck as the monster.
Xuanmingzi's Taoist robe fluttered without wind, and the hand seals he made with his fingertips sparked: "Suppress the Demon!" Three fire talismans flew out and exploded into a wall of fire in front of the wolf pack.
But the wolves charged straight at them, the smell of burnt fur mixed with the aroma of charred meat hitting them – they felt no pain, only the instinct to kill.
"Dragon Blood Covers!" Long Wu roared, the crimson-gold patterns on his battle blade spreading to his arm, each slash bringing up a mist of blood.
But the wolf pack grew larger and larger, and two of them even bypassed the wall of fire and rushed straight at Chu Yao's projection.
Chu Yao's data stream suddenly condensed into a light blade, drawing a silver arc in mid-air. The heads of the two wolves fell to the ground, but new bone wings grew out the instant they hit the ground, and the wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"They're absorbing the mother nest's energy!" Cold sweat beaded on Xuan Mingzi's forehead. He tossed out his last talisman. "If this continues, the camp will be flattened before dawn!"
"Found it!"
Ivan's roar was like thunder splitting the night.
His eyes snapped open, the blue light in his pupils almost scorching everyone—in the deepest part of his consciousness, those blue lines finally converged into a coordinate: the underground secret chamber of the abandoned data center, B13.
"The exact location?" Lin Yi's short blade was already burning hot from gripping it, and a tiny crack appeared on the side of him in the spacetime rift.
"30°17′N, 120°43′E." Ivan's voice echoed metallically, the frequency of a remnant of the Mother Nest's consciousness. "There... there's a woman." He suddenly clutched his head. "She's crying, saying, 'Don't come any closer, you'll all be killed.'"
Long Wu's sword cleaved the spine of the last wolf, whose carcass twitched twice on the ground before finally ceasing to move.
Chu Yao's data stream quickly located the location: "The abandoned data center is 17 kilometers away, reachable within half an hour."
Lin Yi looked up at the sky. The first light of dawn had already covered half the sky, but in the ruins in the direction of the city, a faint blue light suddenly shone, like an open eye.
He stored the core of the mother nest in his spatial ring, and pointed his short blade toward the ruins: "Let's go."
We'll nip it in the bud.
Ivan staggered to his feet, the mark on the back of his neck now dripping red blood—a remnant of faith sealed within the scorching Mother Nest.
He touched the back of his neck, then suddenly gave a pale smile: "If there really is a woman inside..." His voice trailed off, "I hope she can still be considered a human being."
The noise of everyone packing their gear startled the night owls near the camp, which fluttered and flew into the sky.
Lin Yi walked at the very front, and the spacetime rift beneath his feet transformed into a silver path.
When he turned around, he saw Ivan staring at his shadow, which had a faint blue glow, like a tethered snake.
In the distant city ruins, the eerie blue light still flickered, as if echoing their footsteps.
The wind swirled decaying leaves across the broken wall, and the faint sound of metal scraping could be heard—the sound of the mechanical guards activating.
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