Chapter 246: The Original World (Requesting Monthly Tickets!)

"Kiki!"

Chen Sixuan called out.

Under all eyes, Kiki slowly rose into the air; her expression, no longer playful or sly, was now endless coldness and focus.

Kiki slowly raised her hands, gazing at the insect swarm like dark clouds overhead, her gaze blazing with killing intent!

"Everyone take cover!" Lin Xian's voice suddenly crackled through the comms!

"Huu~"

Kiki exhaled lightly in midair, then clenched her hands in the void.

Hum!

A low hum sounded as a nearly transparent spherical barrier rapidly contracted toward her chest, instantly transforming into a white-glowing shockwave sphere that radiated outward from her center!

BOOM!!!!

An invisible shockwave expanded spherically in all directions, its immense force spreading instantly over a diameter of hundreds—even thousands—of meters!

Whether on ground or air, every insect was violently thrown back; countless were crushed. Those standing at the front—Dai Ming, Liao Ming, Liang Lei, Lu Chang—nearly got swept away by the blast, all crouching instantly to grip the ground; the supersonic winds turned the area around the Wuxianhao into an oxygen-starved zone, everyone's faces turning pale.

"Holy shit!! What the hell was that?!!" Someone inside the Big Eagle convoy screamed from behind their vehicle.

"Was that a nuclear explosion?!"

"Big Boss! We're friendly! Friendly forces!" Someone screamed desperately against the gale.

"Stop! Stop!"

"Did a typhoon eye just hit?!"

Boom boom boom!!!

The shockwave and windblast lasted several seconds, even blowing away the condensed mist over kilometers; everyone felt a crushing sensation of suffocation.

Chen Sixuan and Miao Lu, closest to the blast, clung tightly to the roof seam of the vehicle, feeling the shockwave fade, then slowly lifted their heads.

They saw Kiki descending from the air, her eyes dimming, breathing out heavily as she looked at Chen Sixuan and Miao Lu.

"Sis Chen, how's my new move?"

Chen Sixuan gasped twice, her pale face slowly regaining some color.

Miao Lu looked miserable. "Kiki, is this move blind to friend or foe?"

"Of course not!" Kiki immediately explained: "I controlled it precisely—if I hadn't, you'd already be flying somewhere!"

Miao Lu's eyes widened. That made sense—they were this close, and even the insects outside were blown away; they couldn't possibly have survived untouched.

Chen Sixuan's gaze shifted. Lin Xian had told her that since the Hell Black Chrysanthemum began glowing at night, every convoy member's abilities and evolutions had subtly changed. Kiki was clearly far stronger now.

"Whoa!"

On the other side, in the mech's cockpit, Shasha watched the frantic alarm alerts on her screen and spoke into the comms:

"Sis Kiki, warn us next time! You scared the hell out of me."

In the Chase-the-Sun convoy, everyone stared in shock at the girl on the train, eyes wide with awe.

"Awesome!"

"Is this a telekinesis ability?"

"These people on the train are getting scarier by the second!"

Whoosh.

Lu Xingchen leapt over and landed on the Vulcan Mech, glancing at everyone with a grunt: "Guess even I need to develop bigger moves."

Shasha called out directly: "Don't even think about it. You're fireproof—we light up with one spark. Keep your moves far away from us."

Lu Xingchen: …

"Incredible." In the Running Far Camp, Li Yi stared at the train, touching her belly and murmuring: "Don't be scared, Mom's still alive~"

On the bus, dozens of children pressed against the windows; moments ago terrified, they now burst into excited cries:

"Oh my god, is that lady a goddess?"

"All the bugs got blown away!"

"That wind was insane!"

"I admire her so much…"

The Big Eagle convoy was utterly stunned—these people had just survived a bug swarm last night, feeling firsthand the suffocating despair.

When they'd seen the sky full of insects and felt their blood turn cold, Kiki's move had blown their minds clean away.

Wu Zhenhai stared, awestruck: "Damn! No wonder Liao Ming insisted I team up with this convoy—I just joined a guerrilla unit with a full army!"

Liao Ming, standing beside the building, panted heavily, his heart pounding.

He was immensely glad he'd bought this intel from Hu Lushou to join the Wuxianhao.

Originally, all three convoys had planned to rush out of the city before dark—but now, their wait was unquestionably the right decision.

Just one blood essence, and they'd already secured a top-tier expert—tonight's survival was worth ten times that!

At this moment, the insect swarm's noise abruptly ceased; everyone caught a brief breath.

Oooh! Zzzt!

The electromagnetic railgun's ionizing hum pulled everyone's attention back.

A blinding blue-white beam shot instantly toward a stretch of sky kilometers away, where a strange massive shadow floated; its crimson glow flickered, then vanished.

Shhhhh!

The ground trembled. After only seconds of respite, the insect swarm's roar erupted again from all directions.

"Reload!"

"Contract formation!!"

"Move toward the Wuxianhao!"

Lin Xian stood atop the train's front, his comms crackling with voices from the other three convoys.

"Young brother, we've got enough ammo for two and a half volleys—we'll need to cross-fire." Wu Zhenhai's voice came through.

"These bugs won't stop—what do we do?" Li Yi said.

"Lin Ge," Luo Yang's voice spoke up: "I think the swarm's tied to that monster. Let's gather all our ability users and take out the red-light guy first."

Many had already noticed: beneath the swarm, the monster with the red-searchlight head was clearly the real threat.

Wu Zhenhai agreed: "Definitely. Aim for it!"

With so many ability users in the group, a concentrated strike on that thing might just give them a chance.

And among them, the Wuxianhao—with its fire and telekinesis users—was clearly the core.

The monster had vanished. Lin Xian turned back to the railgun, realizing the radar had lost its target—he sensed something wrong.

"Director Ding?"

"Marker still active," Ding Junyi in Car 3 monitored the Hell Black Chrysanthemum's status.

The crimson light remained at Level 3. Logically, after killing so many dark creatures, the marker should've weakened—but since the threat level stayed unchanged, only one explanation remained:

The giant monster was still alive—and continuously overwriting everyone's marker!

The only silver lining: the black smoke from countless dead insects surged in and was absorbed by the Hell Black Chrysanthemum, meaning if they survived, everyone aboard would undergo massive evolution.

But if they didn't eliminate the red-head monster, hundreds here would enter the Palma Grassland with Level 3 markers, facing the blizzard of the Arctic Vortex in darkness.

Lin Xian's gaze turned icy as he scanned the surroundings.

He knew clearly: if they didn't kill the red-head monster, not just the marker problem—everyone here tonight would die.

He didn't know if the red-head monster was B-class, A-class, or S-class—but its ability to summon waves of insects meant it was no ordinary anomaly.

"Target vanished, but hasn't left. Stay alert."

Lin Xian synced the radar data to the public channel, then told Kiki and Lu Xingchen: "Kiki, Fire Brother—watch that red-head. Find a way to kill it!"

Kiki and Lu Xingchen's expressions hardened instantly; both scanned the surroundings.

"The bugs are back!"

Tap-tap-tap!

The fighting reignited. The insect swarm climbed over mountains of dead comrades and surged toward the convoy.

Dozens of vehicle-mounted autocannons, their barrels still red-hot, roared again. The bugs poured from the darkness like an endless tide—no matter how many died, the flood never stopped. Meanwhile, every death in the convoy was a devastating loss.

Ooooommm~~~!!!

A sound like a hundred-thousand-ton liner's foghorn suddenly exploded in the air, its sonic wave carrying terrifying fear that swept across the entire convoy.

Everyone was caught off-guard. Already on edge, many now shattered mentally; black veins surfaced on their skin.

Whoosh!

A black gun shot out, trailing blue guidance lights, soaring toward the sky.

Simultaneously, the 1130 and G3 electromagnetic railguns swung upward, firing at the space above the Wuxianhao!

Streams of fire erupted—Lin Xian's black gun pierced the red light the moment the sound appeared.

Crack!

The black gun seemed to pierce through something, like threading a needle—then a massive fire lance erupted skyward!

BOOM!

Lu Xingchen blasted fire; Kiki used telekinesis to compress it into a high-speed rocket, slamming it into the monster's hollow skull the instant it emerged from the clouds!

The trio's coordination was instantaneous.

In that instant, the booming sound ceased. Hundreds in the convoy narrowly escaped death; those with black veins snapped back to sanity, the ink-black pupils receded, and their eyes returned to normal.

"Hit it!" Kiki shouted.

"Not enough fire!" Lu Xingchen roared, intensifying the flames.

The fire concentrated by telekinesis erupted into blinding white heat, like a brilliant pillar of flame illuminating the entire camp.

Zzzzz!

Above the sky, a vast expanse of red light flickered; within seconds, countless black fragments fell like rain, igniting thick smoke as they struck the vehicle roofs and ground.

Lin Xian reached out to retrieve the black rifle, but it remained unresponsive.

After the fire burned out, the sky was pitch black—nothing remained but debris.

The insect tide still surged all around; everyone fought desperately.

Where did it fly off to?

Chen Sixuan raised her sniper rifle, rapidly scanning the night sky: "I haven't found it. Be careful, Lin Xian."

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

The Fire God mech's electric cannons roared wildly; Sha Sha, inside the cockpit, pushed the mech to full power, forcibly carving a gap through the front insect tide.

Amin and Luoluo, the two female combatants, darted like flashing silver stars, their chain-swords crackling with blinding arcs.

Hah!

Li Guangwen punched forward, unleashing a fan-shaped blast that ripped up the earth and obliterated over a dozen large insects.

He stood at the front of the engineering vehicle, becoming the convoy's final line of defense!

The Eagle convoy's missiles and grenade launchers were nearly depleted; Wu Zhenhai emptied one magazine, tore it off, and gripped the steaming, scorching-hot barrel as he shouted at the dark mass ahead: "Pull back the line! Prepare to charge!"

If the insect tide was endless, they had no options left—powerful psychics had limited stamina. He assessed the situation, contracted firepower, and focused entirely on locating the red-light-headed monster.

If they couldn't eliminate it, they'd have to flee by vehicle, grasping at the last sliver of hope.

Taptaptap!!

Li Yi's hands were blackened by the vehicle-mounted cannon's gunpowder; her lips pale, she held back the tidal wave of insects surging toward her husband Liang Lei. The pile of insect corpses grew higher and higher; a rain of severed limbs and blood splattered across the convoy's vehicles, the stench and suffocating pressure choking the air.

Aah!

Liang Lei smashed the skull of a black-armored beetle—only for several more monstrous insects to crush him to the ground, frenziedly gnawing.

Ooo~!!

The 1130 and electromagnetic railgun bases spun rapidly; the radar system operated at full capacity.

Lin Xian, Kiki, and Lu Xingchen stood atop Wuxian's roof, resisting the insect tide while tracking the dark giant shadow.

Where the hell is this thing hiding?!

Kiki watched the battle, her eyes filled with anxiety—when suddenly, a tidal wave of insects surged upward from the front of the Eagle convoy, forming a towering, oppressive spectacle.

What is this!!

Shoot it!

How could there be so many!? Those who saw it were stunned.

Then, the insects atop the wave cascaded down, revealing the silhouette of a humanoid giant amid the gunfire.

It's that monster!

Ooooom~~~!!

A beam of red light shot forth; the insect tide instantly went berserk, accelerating and tearing wildly. Several armed personnel who couldn't retreat fast enough were swallowed whole, their screams drowned instantly by gunfire.

Zzz!

Kiki shot forward at once, attempting to seize the giant with telekinesis; Lu Xingchen ignited a firestorm from the spot.

Aaaah! It's here!

Countless insects fell from the red-light-headed monster as it merged into the tide, approaching the convoy—then it bent low, directing its hollow red head at the Eagle convoy, engulfing everyone in a sea of red light.

Everyone looked up to see a deep crimson circular abyss, like a void; the red light seemed corrosive, turning all vision into shades of black and white.

Doo!!

Ooozzz!!

The 1130 and electromagnetic railgun fired instantly—but at that moment, the flood of black insects stacked like sandcastles, forming two barriers directly before the red-light-headed monster.

Kiki and Lu Xingchen charged from left and right; a telekinetic shockwave and a crimson inferno exploded through the insect towers.

!

Boom!

The insect towers shattered, raining dead bodies—but more black insects immediately climbed up.

As if receiving an order, the black insects continuously gathered, sacrificing themselves as shields before the red-light-headed monster.

Damn it!

Below, Da Lou and Shu Qin watched everyone behind them engulfed in red light—their hearts turned cold.

Wu Zhenhai and Liao Ming's faces paled; even the convoy's firing rate dropped sharply as everyone involuntarily ceased attacking under the red glow.

The power of fear was corrupting them all!

Chen Sixuan and the others on Wuxian saw this and immediately rushed to assist—but every bullet fired failed to pierce the insect wall.

Divine·Inferno of Heaven!

Lu Xingchen's eyes flared with fury; he raised both arms, summoning a towering inferno to blot out the red light and burn the towers.

Kiki prepared to assist, using telekinesis to expand the flames as they had done before against the giant parasite.

But then, Lin Xian's voice suddenly crackled through their earpieces.

Kiki, grab Fire Brother, retreat!

On Wuxian, Lin Xian received a signal from the black rifle. Seeing the red light, he instantly focused his intent, flicked his index finger, and used the black rifle to perform spatial positioning—his eyes flashed with black light as he locked onto the red-light-headed monster's gaze in the darkness.

Gravitational Lens!

If it's light, it can be bent.

Though he couldn't focus energy to inflict damage, Lin Xian's first thought was to save the hundreds of people before him!

Zzz!

A spatial hum echoed; all battlefield sounds abruptly halted, falling silent.

Then Kiki, Lu Xingchen, Da Lou, Shu Qin, and everyone in the Eagle convoy felt the already dim light ahead darken further—a warped space formed above the red-light-headed monster, like a swirling vortex of black water; the edges of the red light now curved unnaturally.

Instantly, the twisted darkness swallowed and churned all red light and starlight into a vast, dark crimson spatial ripple.

It worked!

Lin Xian's gaze sharpened—the red glow enveloping the convoy vanished instantly; everyone whose vision had nearly been swallowed by black ink now regained normal sight.

The near-death moment sent adrenaline surging through them, their mental strength jolting violently!

What is this?!

I almost died.

Holy shit… a black hole!!

Shoot now!

Taptaptap! Bang! Bang! gunfire reignited instantly.

But now, the flames were all distorted—as if every bullet fired curved unnaturally through the air.

Kiki seized the flaming Lu Xingchen midair and yanked him backward; both their pupils reflected the twisted crimson space ahead, stunned, unable to comprehend what was happening.

The red-light-headed monster and the insect tide seemed to grow chaotic, as if the distortion of the red light had disrupted some command signal.

Just as Lin Xian believed he'd bought them breathing room, an even more terrifying sight appeared before him.

Within the twisted crimson space, darkness rapidly disintegrated and reassembled, like smoke spiraling into a vortex; intermittent flashes of an orange-yellow scene flickered into Lin Xian's vision.

Lin Xian stared, his pupils contracting.

For within the warped space, it was clearly the time before nightfall—the setting sun still hung in the sky, bathing the plains in golden-orange light.

The scene flickered, repeatedly obscured by darkness, then repeatedly "erased" by the gravitational lens!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

As the "daytime" world glowed through the twisted space, the warped region emitted an immense, irresistible pull—suddenly swallowing countless black insects and the red-light-headed monster.

The red-light-headed monster, like a puppet yanked by a giant, slammed into the twisted space—half its head and shoulder instantly shattered by the setting sun's light!

Ooooom~~~!!

A whistle-like shriek rang out; Lin Xian's pupils trembled—he gasped for breath, and the twisted space vanished instantly.

All of this happened within a few breaths.

Thud! Hollow! Hollow!

The red-light-headed monster, its head and most of its body sheared off by the vortex, crashed to the ground; the remaining half of its head flickered like a short-circuited bulb.

At this moment, the insect tide surrounding the convoy grew chaotic—not charging forward fiercely anymore, but scattering like cockroaches in disarray. Several convoy units immediately pushed the insect front line into darkness.

Meanwhile, seeing the red-light-headed monster still trying to rise, Kiki and Lu Xingchen charged forward without hesitation.

Strike while it's down!

Everyone saw the monster's broken state—suddenly, all key members of the Rising Sun convoy, the Eagle convoy, and the Running Camp team rushed in unison.

Kill it!

Amin, Luoluo!

Coming! Two silver shadows darted swiftly through the crowd.

Li Guangwen! Luo Yang leapt over Wuxian's roof, covering his eyes as a blinding white beam shot forward first!

Lei Zi! Li Yi swung the turret.

Bomb the convoy! Seven-round salvo—fire! Wu Zhenhai bellowed.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Divine·Concentrated Explosion! Fire Brother launched into the air.

Kiki's eyes gleamed as she grabbed the raging inferno with both hands.

Ang buzz!!!

The Red Lantern Head quickly vanished into the swarm, as if diving into flowing sand.

But it had only one arm left and could not move nimbly—it had barely burrowed halfway when a barrage of attacks descended!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Cannonfire, gunfire, beams, explosions, flames, and slashes struck instantly, hammering the Red Lantern Head with relentless force; black shards flew outward, turning into burning energy meteors in midair.

Countless insects were reduced to ash within the radius; thick smoke rolled upward as the Red Lantern Head's massive body began to shatter and collapse, its remaining arm thrashing desperately in the swarm—next moment, it was severed by a metal stream from 1130, exploding into fragments in midair.

The ferocious firepower lasted a full minute; not a single insect corpse remained in that zone—ground had been shaved away by several inches!

Bang! Bang!

The final gunshots faded; the insect swarm around the camp had vanished entirely, swallowed by darkness. The last fleeing beetle was blown apart by the vehicle-mounted machine gun. Between heaven and earth, only the crackling of fire and smoke remained—absolute silence.

Huh huh~

The battlefield fell still.

Everyone's heartbeats had reached their peak; only the rapid, ragged breathing of the crowd remained.

The muzzles of their guns glowed red-hot; the acrid stench of gunpowder choked the air, as if the very atmosphere had frozen.

Kiki stood at the front, then floated forward toward the smoke, raising her hand with a sweep!

Hum!

An invisible shockwave passed through—the flames and smoke instantly scattered. All vehicle spotlights snapped toward the charred, massive crater. Seeing what lay beneath the smoke, no one could remain unmoved.

The Red Lantern Head now remained only as a few chunks of hardened black carapace and spinal segments; its glowing red head had vanished completely.

The blackened trench was filled with chitinous shells left by insects, unburned elytra, and unidentifiable black carcass fragments.

"Dead?"

"Did we kill the anomaly?"

Disbelieving voices rose from the crowd.

The silence shattered; the camp erupted into a roar of chatter.

"Holy shit!!!"

"We won????"

"The swarm's gone—really!"

"We actually killed a giant anomaly?!"

"Was it B-class or A-class? To summon a swarm this massive, it couldn't have been ordinary!"

"Amazing!! Infinite convoy!!"

"Yesss!!!" Countless voices cheered, trembling with the relief of survival.

Kiki finally exhaled, then frowned and turned to look at the young man on the vehicle roof.

Everyone noticed the gaze and turned their heads in unison.

The shadow standing on the roof raised a hand, summoning a black gun glowing with azure light from the air.

"It's Lin's team!"

"Holy crap, what was that just now—a black hole????"

"What kind of ability is that?"

"I thought fire and telekinesis abilities were already insane—holy shit, this is even more terrifying!"

"Obviously, he's the team leader—he's gotta be powerful!"

"Wow, we owe it all to Lin's team and the Infinite convoy—we actually killed a giant anomaly!"

"Our four vehicle teams are incredible."

……

Kiki stared at Lin Xian with unusual eyes, then flew over, her expression excited and curious.

Lin Xian, relieved the crisis had passed, felt his tension ease—but his face grew even more serious.

"Hey, Lin Xian, when did you learn such a powerful move? Nice one, hiding it from me~" Kiki approached Lin Xian, but he acted as if he hadn't heard her—instead, he glanced at his watch, then raised his hand and conjured a device resembling a sundial, along with a lightbulb.

He immediately squatted down, lighting the bulb to shine upon the sundial, as if calculating something.

"What's wrong?" Chen Sixuan hurried over, saw his strange behavior, and asked at once.

"The shadow of the tree I saw earlier—it was roughly in this direction… if calculated this way, the time…"

Lin Xian frowned deeply, muttering softly to himself. Soon, he stopped his movements.

His expression relaxed.

"Of course."

Lin Xian had first assumed he'd seen daylight before nightfall, thinking it was some temporal dimension.

But the thought lasted only an instant—he immediately discarded it.

Through simple calculation, even with slight observational error, Lin Xian was now certain.

He had seen the original world!

(End of Chapter)