Chapter 579: Thorny

Lin Xin stood beneath the massive Nightglow Mushroom; at the center of his golden pupils, scarlet was frantically devouring his sanity.

"Do you know him?" Xie Jingyan immediately sensed something was off, as the few people from the Church nearby seemed still familiar with that monster?

"His name is Lin Xin, a research assistant who vanished after the Tianmian City incident." Qi Junyi's voice sounded a bit hoarse.

"He's Fang Zhiyan's person." Ying Duo merely stared at Lin Xin from a distance, saying lightly.

After all, since he hadn't turned into a blinding bald head, the other side had helped him quite a lot.

Lin Xin had no intention of catching up with them; he slowly raised a hand that bore no human shape, his five fingers almost turned into mycelium, extending all the way to the massive mushroom that resembled a heart.

In the next second, all the mycelium throughout the cavern was awakened by him.

Tens of thousands of mycelial strands burst from the rock walls, their tips hardening into spear shapes, pouring down like a torrential rain.

"Defensive formation!" Qi Junyi shouted, a dense energy enveloping his fist; a single punch shattered a cluster of spears, yet those fragments regrew into mycelium mid‑air, beginning to reshape.

Around Shen Zexi, lightning and thunder crackled, yet he still found time to use Aberrant Arts to heal the wounded.

"They evolve the moment they're attacked; the same attack method fails the second time."

Sure enough, mycelial fragments struck by his Lightning Chains hit the ground and quickly reassembled, the newly formed mycelium gaining a layer of gel on its surface.

Shen Zexi landed on those mycelia; the energy was directly nullified by that gel layer, leaving only faint scorch marks.

"Then vary the attacks!"

Sha Yufeng listened to the Little Ghosts chattering nonstop, wielding the twin pistols Ying Duo had just handed over, spinning them; left hand firing armor‑piercing rounds, right hand firing incendiary rounds, alternating fire, the mycelium unable to adapt to both attack modes simultaneously.

Ying Duo might be short on reagents or energy, but certainly not out of ammunition.

Yet this is only a stopgap; Sha Yufeng's level is higher, his energy reserves are richer, though not limitless.

"We can't keep going like this." Meng Kexin clenched her teeth; after the mycelial mass coiled around her, not a single teammate dared approach her.

Who could understand the sense of redemption from the plush bear in Meng Kexin's hand suddenly turning into a massive hammer?

Though there were no Aberrant Species, they couldn't see a head explode with each hammer blow, yet the hammer's successive craters revealed just how powerful Meng Kexin was.

"Their adaptation speed is getting faster."

Qi Hengyu did not take part in the first round of defense; he merely stood at the center of the defensive formation.

His control over energy was not as skillful as Qi Junyi's, and his overall energy reserves lagged behind the others.

It can be said that Qi Junyi's exceptional inclusion was solely due to his sufficiently potent Aberrant Arts.

Even Qi Junyi, upon learning that Qi Hengyu had mastered his own Aberrant Arts in such a short time, found no reason to stop him.

Thus you could see a Qi Junyi, sulking at his own younger brother day after day.

When disaster truly struck, it was he who clung to Qi Hengyu protectively.

Qi Hengyu simply watched the heart‑like pulsating mushroom; with each beat, energy traveled through the mycelial network to every point.

Altering their forms, granting them new resistances.

And Lin Xin is the initiator of the mycelial network.

Not correct.

Qi Hengyu suddenly opened his eyes.

Not him.

Lin Xin's both hands, though linked to the giant mushroom, showed no intention of active attack; his gaze remained fixed on the mushroom.

He stared at the mushroom, his lips moving silently, but Qi Hengyu couldn't discern what he was saying; the scene resembled a withdrawn teenager.

Qi Hengyu, though he had mastered his own Aberrant Arts, had limited effect; it would be best to precisely locate the enemy's Core before he activated his ability again.

Logically, what he should do is to direct all his Aberrant Arts at Lin Xin; as long as Lin Xin's true body is weakened, the mycelium would naturally weaken as well.

Yet Qi Hengyu always sensed something amiss, as if Lin Xin wasn't the true body, merely a signal relay…

Why would he have such a thought?

He gritted his teeth; these fungal colonies were truly too thorny, and he might only have one chance—if his ability didn't reach the colony's true body, the consequences would be unimaginable…

"Is there a way to tell who the true body is?!"

Shen Zexi, listening to Qi Hengyu, also found it quite thorny; according to previous logic for dealing with Co-Absorption, Lin Xin was certainly the true body.

But Lin Xin's situation indeed seemed off, like a puppet being controlled; when he saw the dumbly standing Lin Lei, he gradually saw his own figure merge with the image of Ying Duo standing alone in the weapon‑recovery squad back then.

Lin Lei was like an empty shell drifting outside the world.

But actually, there's no need to overthink it.

Having dissected the corpses of Mei Weisi and Bai Mu Yun under Fang Zhiyan's guidance, Ying Duo did learn a few things.

The fatal weakness of an Aberrant Species' body lies in its Aberrant Core, yet Aberrant Species are highly irregular; some operate without a core thanks to extreme self‑healing, others have cores reduced to fragments, and one cannot expect the core to repair the body.

Nevertheless, Mei Weisi and Bai Mu Yun would not casually extract an Aberrant Core; after all, it's not a detachable energy source.

Taking advantage of the cavern's ample size, Ying Duo raised his hand and summoned the mech again; pure white light blades extended from its arms, slashing straight toward the Lin Lei below.

At the same time, a Cannon materialized on his shoulder, its barrel beginning to gather energy, aimed at the massive Nightglow Mushroom behind Lin Lei.

Swish—!

The mech's assault on Lin Lei faced no hindrance; it effortlessly sliced off Lin Lei's head, which rolled a few times on the ground before falling to one side.

The now dim golden eyes finally reacted, not by looking at the culprit who decapitated him, but still staring unblinking at the huge mushroom.

Simultaneously, the Cannon barrel on Ying Duo's shoulder, just as it began charging, was directly targeted by the mycelial swarm.

Nearby, the freshly severed head of Lin Lei sprouted mycelium anew; the mycelium at the neck wound attracted and tangled with each other, quickly reattaching the head.

Ying Duo swapped the Cannon barrel for a modified flamethrower while simultaneously feeding a command into the mech.

The mech once more raised its pure white light blades, slicing countless cuts into Lin Lei's body as if cutting fruit.

Yet it's like a swordsman facing splitting fruit; without a weapon's hue, one simply can't handle it.

No matter how many pieces the mech sliced Lin Lei into, he never blinked, his gaze fixed on that mushroom, his body reconstituting under the pull of the mycelium.