Chapter 348: Current State of the Lizardmen

Spatial leap proceeded smoothly amid continuous humming and shimmering light. Hours later, the scene on the main screen abruptly changed—the twisted corridor vanished, replaced by a deep, dark expanse of an alien Starfield that seemed to swallow all light.

At the center of the Starfield lay an unimaginably vast chaotic region composed of countless shattered continents, twisted nebulae, and spatial rifts—a grotesque scar upon the universe, radiating a chilling aura. That was their destination—Guixu.

Around Guixu, the anticipated scene of fierce battles among the Seven Powers vying for the "Red Packet" did not materialize. Instead, there was an eerie… silence.

In the starry void floated countless warship wrecks, like cold tombstones, silently testifying to the brutality of the recent conflict. These wrecks belonged to different factions, entangled and colliding, forming a vast metallic graveyard. Occasional faint energy sparks flickered between the debris, then vanished into darkness.

Only a handful of severely damaged ships, as if bound by a temporary truce, lingered like wounded beasts, keeping wary distances from one another along the fringes of the wreckage, daring not to approach Guixu even a step closer.

The massive, golden "Red Packet" that had sparked the chaos had vanished—whether seized by one faction, destroyed in the battle, or… dissipated on its own, no one knew.

"Scanning complete. No large-scale life signals or high-energy reactions detected in the outer zone. Remaining hostile units in low-activity state. Threat level assessment: low." The ship's AI delivered its synthesized report calmly.

Inside the bridge, the crew stared at the lifeless battlefield ruins on the main screen, their emotions complex. Mo Yu's "Red Packet" had truly nearly annihilated the allied fleet of the Seven Powers, clearing their greatest obstacle!

"This… effect is a bit too good, isn't it?" murmured a young navigator.

"They got off easy," Mo Yu mumbled through a mouthful of snacks. "If I hadn't feared collapsing the entrance to Guixu entirely, that one blast would've turned them all into stardust."

Xia Wan ignored the outer wreckage. Her attention was entirely drawn to the dark, chaotic Guixu itself. The closer they got, the more she felt the distortion and repulsion emanating from the very fabric of space, along with an unsettling ancient stillness—and something faintly alive.

"Initiate maximum-level environmental scanning. Focus on Guixu's entrance and internal energy flows." Xia Wan ordered.

"Understood."

More precise scanning beams lanced toward Guixu. On the Holographic Sand Table, the model of that region grew clearer—and more terrifying. Countless red zones warning of energy turbulence and black zones predicting spatial collapse intertwined, leaving almost no safe path.

Yet within this extreme danger, signs of life began to appear sporadically.

They did not originate from the surviving alien fleets, but from within Guixu—from the shattered continental fragments and twisted spatial folds.

The imagery was captured, magnified, enhanced.

Still those creatures covered in fine scales, with lizard-like heads and tails—the Lizardmen.

But unlike the agile figures seen in earlier footage, the Lizardmen now observed appeared… profoundly strange.

Most huddled in rock crevices or along the edges of energy turbulence, moving slowly, even lethargically. Their scales had dulled; some were cracked or peeling away, revealing darker, seemingly petrified skin beneath. Their cold, vertical pupils, once sharp and ferocious in the earlier footage, now held not aggression—but a numbness? Or perhaps a suppressed frenzy?

More strikingly, in areas where Lizardmen clustered densely, faint, vein-like strands of dark red energy appeared in the space—connecting to their bodies, as if draining something from them, or injecting something into them.

"Energy readings analysis… these Lizardmen's life signs are extremely unstable, fluctuating wildly, and exhibiting a… pathological symbiosis with Guixu's chaotic energy field," said the Bioenergy scientist, frowning at the data. "They appear to be being… eroded—or assimilated—by the ruin itself."

"Assimilated?" Xia Wan pressed.

"Yes. Their physiological structures are slowly mutating toward adaptation to Guixu's extreme environment—but this is not beneficial evolution. It resembles an irreversible, degenerative distortion. Their spirit waves are filled with chaos and Pain, suggesting immense torment."

Another observer pointed to a segment of footage: "Look here—this individual."

In the footage, a larger Lizardman suddenly let out a silent scream, frantically clawing at its own skull and chest, tearing off scales and flesh—but as if feeling no Pain, until it collapsed from exhaustion, its body twitching slightly, the connection to the dark red energy strands growing tighter.

"They're losing control," the observer said grimly. "The ruin's power is eroding their sanity and flesh, turning them into something… more unpredictable."

Mo Yu had somehow drifted over to the Holographic Sand Table, watching the bizarre Lizardmen. His casual smirk faded slightly; he clicked his tongue.

"Tsk tsk. Looks like all these years, these damn lizards haven't had it easy."

"They were once creatures with a spark of Spirit—though they took a wrong path. But now… they're little better than walking corpses."

He pointed to the dark red energy strands: "See these? That's Guixu's own 'digestive fluid,' slowly turning these Guardians into part of the ruin. Probably a lingering effect of that Big Fireworks back then. This place… has fully 'awakened'—in a twisted way."

Xia Wan's heart tightened. So these Lizardmen weren't merely ruin guardians—they were victims of Guixu, being slowly consumed and mutated by this chaotic wasteland?

This undeniably increased the difficulty and unpredictability of the mission. You could never know whether the next Lizardman you encountered would attack on instinct, or go berserk and do something even more extreme—even trigger surrounding energy turbulence?

"Record all observed Lizardmen activity patterns and energy correlation points," Xia Wan ordered calmly. "Plan an entry route, avoiding their clustered zones as much as possible. If unavoidable… prioritize non-lethal containment. If they display strong aggression or signs of loss of control, authorize immediate neutralization."

"Understood!"

The Mother Ship began carefully adjusting its posture, like a giant walking through a minefield, seeking the most unstable path toward Guixu's depths.

Just as the Mother Ship slowly drifted into a relatively "calm" veil of energy mist, another anomaly erupted!

Deep within the mist, countless pairs of numb, frenzied vertical pupils ignited like ghostly flames—far more numerous than previously observed!

They seemed drawn to the Mother Ship's massive "foreign presence," like zombies scenting blood, slowly, stiffly emerging from shattered rocks and spatial folds all around.

Their condition was worse than in the footage—some were missing limbs, yet still controlled by the dark red energy strands, emitting silent roars.

"Alert! Large numbers of Lizardmen units approaching! Energy readings… highly unstable!"

Inside the bridge, alarms blared again.

Xia Wan's gaze sharpened.

Clearly, silent infiltration was impossible now.

The first contact battle was about to begin.