Chapter 68: The Crystal Barrage, the Moonlight Transformation, and the Doctor's Poison Bait

A frenzy of thorn roots raged outside the barrier, like the earth's angry whips, each lash raising vast swathes of rotting debris. The pale golden vines clinging to the barrier twisted like flexible tentacles, coiling, strangling, and secreting purifying slime. The withered beast horde's assault faltered; thick piles of severed limbs and broken bodies accumulated on the scorched black earth, reeking of foulness.

"Good! Whip them well! Hit them hard!" Copperbeard stood atop the barrier, watching the roots below unleash their fury, and waved his forging hammer excitedly.

Wrench stared nervously at the "Hive"'s charging progress bar: "Faster, faster, faster! Fire another volley!"

Sister Ai Li's Moonlight Beam remained precise, but its frequency had clearly dropped. Sustained high-intensity pinpoint kills and output of purifying power were a huge burden on her as well; the silver scar on her chest throbbed with a faint burning pain.

Just then, a sudden anomaly erupted!

Vwoom—!

Several dull energy hums, like the low growl of a giant beast, came from deep within the withered mist! Immediately, several purple-black energy beams, condensed to the extreme and radiating waves of destructive decay, tore through the air like spears from hell, instantly crossing the battlefield to smash violently into the Rock Barrier!

The targets were not the central area where Lin Mo stood, but scattered points, striking precisely at several areas covered in Thorn-Steel armor that had previously been corroded by the withered beasts' pus! It was those bloated monsters bearing massive purple crystal clusters that launched the attack!

"Crystal Cannons! Be careful!" Lin Mo's pupils contracted sharply, and he shouted a warning!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Deafening explosions roared! The purple-black energy beams slammed hard against the Thorn-Steel armor plates!

Hiss-crackle—!

The ear-piercing sound of corrosion made one's scalp prickle! The struck armor plates instantly erupted with dazzling blue-green light; internal energy veins surged wildly, resisting the terrifying erosion of the decay energy! The excellent resistance of the Thorn-Steel manifested in this moment; the armor plates did not melt and disintegrate instantly like ordinary metal, but glowed fiercely red and deformed like a burning-hot iron, with deep, several-inch blackened pits carved brutally into their surfaces! At the edges of the pits, residual purple-black slime writhed like living things, continuing to erode!

The massive impact force transmitted through the armor, shaking the entire barrier violently! Refugee warriors standing in the struck area were knocked off balance, blood gushing from their noses and mouths!

"Armor damaged! Energy circuits overloaded!" Wrench watched the red lights on the console flashing wildly, his voice changing pitch, "Damn it! A few more shots and we can't hold!"

Copperbeard looked at an armor plate almost pierced through, his face turning iron-green: "Thorn-Steel can withstand the impact, but not this kind of high-concentration continuous corrosion! We need to figure out how to knock out those crystal cannons!"

Sister Ai Li's gaze instantly locked onto those bloated bombardment monsters deep in the mist. They were too far away, and surrounded by a large number of guarding withered beasts. Her Moonlight Beam's range was insufficient!

"Leave it to me!" Sister Ai Li's voice carried a resolute coldness. She took a deep breath and stopped sparing her strength. The silver scar on her chest erupted with unprecedented silver radiance! She clasped her hands together in front of her, and countless fine silver threads surged from her fingertips; no longer pursuing pinpoint kills, they wove and coiled wildly before her!

In an instant, a massive shield, over two meters in diameter and woven from countless layers of fine silver threads, shaped like a thorned round shield, floated before Sister Ai Li! On the shield's surface, instead of simple cold silver light, complex silver runes flowed, resembling thorn bushes under the moon! A powerful energy wave, mixing purification and the will to protect, spread out!

Thorn-Moonlight Shield · Full Form!

"Cover me!" Sister Ai Li lowered her voice, and her body transformed into a streak of silver light, leaping directly off the barrier to charge toward the nearest crystal cannon monster!

"Sister Ai Li!" Lin Mo's heart tightened, and he immediately manipulated the thorn roots outside the barrier to clear a path for her! Several rock-wood thorn roots swept across like giant pythons, whipping the blocking withered monsters away!

Sister Ai Li's figure moved as fast as a ghost under the cover of the roots! She advanced, bearing the massive Thorn-Moonlight Shield, ignoring the scattered withered energy beams that struck the shield, only raising faint ripples; her target was directly that bloated monster recharging!

The monster seemed to sense the threat; the massive purple crystal cluster on its back lit up again! The surrounding guarding withered beasts also rushed forward wildly!

"Get lost!" Silver light exploded in Sister Ai Li's eyes! The massive Thorn-Moonlight Shield was thrust forward violently!

Vwoom—!

The thorn runes on the shield's surface blazed with light! An invisible purification field, carrying immense repulsive force, erupted with a boom!

The rushing withered beasts struck an invisible wall; their movements instantly froze, and the decay energy on their bodies was greatly weakened! Even a few weak ones had their cores shattered directly by the purification field!

In that instant, the crystal cannon monster's charging completed! A thick purple-black beam smashed violently at Sister Ai Li from close range!

Sister Ai Li did not dodge or evade! She met the massive Thorn-Moonlight Shield head-on!

Boom—!!!

The purple-black decay beam and the silver Thorn-Moonlight Shield collided fiercely! Blinding light instantly illuminated the entire battlefield! A terrifying energy shockwave exploded in a ring, tossing and tearing apart dozens of meters of withered monsters around!

The shield trembled violently! The silver runes on its surface flashed wildly! The ground beneath Sister Ai Li's feet cracked inch by inch! She let out a muffled groan, a wisp of fresh blood oozing from the corner of her mouth, but her eyes grew even sharper! The shield steadily absorbed the blow; although the silver radiance dimmed significantly, it did not scatter!

"Now it's my turn!" Sister Ai Li, bearing the shield and the continuous stream of purple-black beams, advanced step by step toward the monster like a silver reef going against the current! When the distance was close enough, she maintained the shield with her left hand, formed her right hand into a blade with two fingers, and thrust forward violently!

Hiss—!

A silver Moonlight Beam, condensed to the extreme, thin as a hair yet radiating bone-chilling cold, pierced like an ice needle through the darkness, instantly penetrating the core of the massive purple crystal cluster on the crystal cannon monster's back!

Crack!

The pierced core instantly became covered in spiderweb-like cracks! The wild decay energy inside lost its restraint!

Boom—!!!

An explosion far more violent than before roared! That bloated monster, along with the crystal cluster on its back and a large area of surrounding guarding withered beasts, was completely blown into purple-black fragments dancing in the sky amidst the out-of-control decay energy storm!

Sister Ai Li was thrown back by the explosion's shockwave, caught by a thorn root that curled in time, and pulled back onto the barrier. Her face was as pale as paper, the light from the silver scar on her chest faint, but her eyes remained cold and sharp. The Thorn-Moonlight Shield slowly dissipated, proving the immense cost of her strike.

But the effect was shocking! One crystal cannon monster destroyed! The withered beast horde's ranged firepower weakened!

Lin Mo immediately seized the opportunity: "Concentrate fire! Coordinate with the roots! Clear the remaining enemies!"

On the barrier, the "Hive" spat out pulse nets again, and the "Iron Thorns" finally rotated to the extreme, emitting a terrifying howl, shredding the approaching monsters. The thorn roots, bolstered by the Thorns' Will, became even more ferocious.

The withered beast horde's assault finally began to collapse.

Inside the Doctor's base, the screen replayed a slow-motion clip of Sister Ai Li destroying the crystal cannon monster, along with a close-up of the Thorn-Steel armor after withstanding the bombardment.

【Target Individual (Sister Ai Li) Moonlight Power Evolution (Thorn-Moonlight Shield · Full Form), Threat Level Rising.】

【Thorn-Steel (First Generation) Resistance Assessment against High-Concentration Decay Energy Bundles: A- (Excellent). Damage concentrated at impact points; no structural collapse occurred.】

【Claw of Decay Vanguard Army Defeated.】

【Execute Plan B: Release the 'Poison Bait'.】

【Target: Utilize the residual pollution properties of the 'Order Crystal Plate' to induce the target Lord to voluntarily contact the 'Annihilation Coordinate'.】

In the scorched earth polluted by purple-black slime left behind by the defeated withered beast horde, a deep blue Order Energy Crystal Plate with scorched edges lay there; it was the very one that had previously "glitched" for Wrench, emitting an extremely faint yet specific information-wave glow. Within the wave was a set of disguised coordinate information pointing to a certain distant unknown region, its energy characteristics deliberately simulated to be of the same origin as the Sanctuary Core.