Chapter 359: Transformation

They were going to… reshape an arm for him!

A brand-new arm formed from the power of Extinction Star-Phantom!

This process was a hundred times more agonizing than mere destruction! Every inch of new "flesh" that grew was accompanied by the searing pain of a soul being torn apart and the terror of one's life essence being forcibly twisted!

"Urgh… ah…" Lin Yifan's throat emitted unconscious rasping sounds, his body convulsing violently on the ground, sweat freezing into frost the moment it seeped from his pores.

He didn't know how long passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps an eternity.

When the last trace of energy from that Star-Phantom Fruit was completely absorbed and transformed, the violent trembling of Lin Yifan's body finally began to slow.

He lay limp on the cold metal floor, as if just pulled from water, his body covered in cold sweat and frost, his chest rising and falling faintly, each breath carrying a chill white vapor.

He was still alive.

But… was he still himself?

With great difficulty, he lifted his eyelids, extremely slowly.

What met his eyes was an… arm.

A brand-new arm connected to his left shoulder.

It presented a strange, translucent ghost-blue color, as if carved from ten-thousand-year ice, or like a miniature starry sky imprisoned within. The arm's lines were smooth and cold, and on the surface of the skin, the faintly visible inner flow of silver stardust light, constantly appearing and vanishing, traced profound and icy trajectories. The five fingers were long and slender, the nails sharp, glinting with a metallic ghost-blue cold light.

This arm had no warmth, no pulse—only a bottomless cold and deathly stillness.

Lin Yifan tried to move with his will.

That ghost-blue arm slowly, somewhat stiffly, lifted in response. In the movement, no sound of muscle or bone could be heard, only an extremely faint rustling, like ice crystals rubbing together.

A powerful, cold, destruction-imbued force flowed slowly within this arm. He could sense that with just a thought, this power could burst forth, freezing, tearing, and annihilating everything ahead!

But at the same time, he also felt a strong sense of… alienation. This arm was powerful, yet it felt like an external, cold divine weapon, not a part of his body. Between it and his soul, there seemed to be an invisible layer of solid ice, formed from pain and foreign energy.

Moreover, this power was not inexhaustible. He could clearly perceive that at the core of this ghost-blue arm, the energy of the devoured Star-Phantom Fruit had already been mostly consumed. It needed replenishment, needed to devour energy of the same origin; otherwise, this arm might collapse, or even backlash.

Just as Lin Yifan, his mind shaken, stared at this newborn yet bizarre arm—

At the center of the platform, the confrontation between that dark core fragment and the defense system was also nearing its end.

Having lost Lin Yifan as the "authority conflict" target, the full firepower of the defense system converged on that rampaging dark core fragment. The ancient Star-Phantom power displayed absolute suppression over this foreign dark energy, full of destructive desire.

Chi—!

The last wisp of dark energy was completely purified and annihilated by the ghost-blue rays. The core fragment of that dark gold giant cocoon turned into a wisp of green smoke and vanished entirely.

The platform fell silent.

The remaining two Star-Phantom Fruits on the stone platform slowly stopped spinning, their surface light receding inward. The geometric patterns glowing on the surrounding metal structures went out one by one, and that cold, all-targeting killing intent receded like a tide.

That cold mechanical consciousness sounded one last time:

"Interference source eliminated." "Authority conflict target… vital signs weak, energy signature altered, threat level downgraded…" "Sequence returning to dormant guard state…"

The humming sound vanished completely. The entire platform, along with that black stone platform, returned to its previous deathly stillness, with only the ghost-blue moss providing faint illumination.

The crisis… was over?

Lin Yifan lay on the ground, gasping heavily, a sense of post-crisis exhaustion washing over him. But he dared not relax, and his gaze immediately swept anxiously to the side.

"Lingling!"

He saw the little fox lying not far away, her body curled into a ball, her fiery red fur having lost all its luster, becoming dull and withered. The ancient rune mark on her forehead was completely gone, leaving only a faint, burn-like scar. Her aura was extremely weak, her life force like a candle flickering in the wind, as if it might go out at any moment.

To save him, she had burned her bloodline origin, exhausting her last strength.

Lin Yifan's heart clenched sharply. He propped himself up with his intact right hand, struggling to crawl over.

However, his newly formed ghost-blue left arm was abnormally heavy and stiff, unable to cooperate well. The moment he moved, his left arm unconsciously slammed onto the ground with a dull thud, the cold sensation making even him shiver.

Gritting his teeth, he used his right arm to drag this disobedient, cold new arm, inch by inch, painstakingly moving to Lingling's side.

He reached out his intact right hand, trembling, and gently stroked Lingling's cold little head.

"Lingling… hold on… hold on…" His voice was hoarse, filled with indescribable pain.

The little fox had no reaction, only her faint, almost imperceptible breathing proving she was still alive.

What to do? What to do?!

Lin Yifan's heart was burning with anxiety. His gaze swept wildly around, finally fixing once again on that black stone platform and the two remaining Star-Phantom Fruits on it.

This thing contained such immense energy—it could definitely save Lingling!

But… how to take it?

The experience of death just now was still vivid. The defense system was only temporarily dormant; once he tried to approach or touch it again, it would surely awaken that cold elimination procedure once more.

He looked at his own ghost-blue left arm, constantly emitting a cold Star-Phantom aura, then at the stone platform. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

The power of this arm was of the same origin as the stone platform and the Star-Phantom Fruits!

Perhaps… perhaps they wouldn't attack energy of the same origin?

This was a gamble. A gamble with his and Lingling's last lives.

There was no time to hesitate.

Lin Yifan took a deep breath, a look of determination flashing in his eyes. Carefully, he controlled that cold, stiff new arm, extending it extremely slowly, inch by inch, toward the stone platform.

His nerves were stretched to the limit, ready at any moment to pull his hand back the instant the defense system activated, or… be instantly vaporized.

The ghost-blue arm slowly approached.

One meter, half a meter, one foot…

The anticipated attack did not come. The metal structures around the platform were silent, and the stone platform showed no reaction.

His fingertips finally touched the surface of the stone platform.

Cold. Smooth. No rejection at all.

It worked! The defense system seemed to have judged this arm, shaped from a Star-Phantom Fruit, as "friendly" or "non-life-threatening"!

Lin Yifan suppressed the excitement in his heart, controlling the ghost-blue arm to slowly reach for the two Star-Phantom Fruits on the stone platform.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch one of the fruits—

The anomaly reborn!

Inside his ethereal blue arm, the swirling silver starlight began to stir uncontrollably! A powerful, greedy suction spontaneously erupted from the palm of the arm!

It was as if the arm itself possessed an independent will, eager to devour the nearby homogenous energy!

Buzz!

The two Star‑Yonder Fruits on the stone platform shivered violently, their surfaces shimmering, as if about to be forcibly pulled by the suction!

"No!" Lin Yifan was shocked in his heart, desperately trying to control the arm and pull it back.

But the newly formed arm was extremely hard to command, and the devouring instinct was equally intense!

In the instant of this tug—

Lin Yifan suddenly sensed, in the palm of his ethereal blue arm, deep within the wildly erupting suction, besides the craving for the Star‑Yonder Fruit, a faint yet oddly familiar soul fluctuation was also coming through?!

It's Xiao You!!

It's that nearly broken soul link! It had become a faint thread through this arm forged by the Star‑Yonder Fruit, sharing Xiao You's origin!

Though still weak, it was no longer vague! Moreover, from the other end of the link came not merely pain and chaos, but a desperate, energy‑craving… distress signal!

Xiao You isn't dead! But it is trapped somewhere, in a terrible condition, urgently needing energy replenishment!

And the arm's loss of control stems not only from its own instinct, but also from the unconscious draining desire of the distant, dying Xiao You transmitted through the soul link!

Lin Yifan understood instantly.

He faced an extremely cruel choice.

Only two Star‑Yonder Fruits remained on the stone platform. One could be used to try to save the dying Ling Ling before him. The other might, via this arm and the soul link, transmit across distance to the unknown, also dying Xiao You.

Which to save?

Ling Ling, to save him, burns its essence, teetering on the brink of death. Xiao You shares a symbiotic pact with him, and was devoured to buy them a chance at survival, its fate uncertain.

Despair, like a cold abyss, engulfed Lin Yifan once more.

He stared at the Star‑Yonder Fruit whose light quivered beneath his palm, then glanced at the frail Ling Ling cradled in his arms, feeling the faint distress wave from the other end of the soul link…

His hand froze mid‑air.

The icy despair, like the most biting current at the abyss's bottom, instantly drowned Lin Yifan.

Two Star‑Yonder Fruits. Two dying companions. One is Ling Ling, whose bloodline burned out, barely alive in his arms. The other is Xiao You, whose faint yet sharp distress signal arrives via the soul link, fate unknown.

Choice? This is not a choice at all, but the cruelest punishment!

His right hand clutched Ling Ling's cold little body tightly, while his left, ethereal blue arm, uncontrolled and exuding greedy suction, pointed toward the fruit on the stone platform that could save Xiao You. His soul was torn in two, each half weeping blood.

Time froze within this desperate tug.

Yet, in this suffocating stalemate, his restless ethereal blue left arm's suction core at the palm suddenly conveyed a fragment of thought—extremely chaotic, shattered, yet packed with massive information—from the soul wave belonging to Xiao You!

It seemed as if the dying Xiao You, in an unconscious state, forced the information it perceived after being devoured—the terrifying space that bound it—through the soul link and the resonant frequency of the Star‑Yonder arm!

"... binding... nest... energy cycle... core... not devouring... but... conversion... factory..."

The fragmented words, mingled with immense pain and terror, pierced Lin Yifan's mind like an ice spear!

Immediately after, a wildly blurry, distorted scene unfolded.

Inside a colossal, terrifying chamber riddled with flesh‑like writhing conduits and ethereal blue energy veins, Xiao You's form was ensnared and bound by countless viscous, rune‑glowing, ethereal blue tendrils.

Its power was being siphoned strand by strand into a slowly pulsating, huge heart‑like ethereal blue crystal at the chamber's center... and around that "heart".

Faintly, dozens to hundreds of "Star‑Yonder Fruits" emitting similar aura, yet weaker and more unstable, could be seen slowly coalescing and gestating!

Lin Yifan's pupils suddenly contracted!

Factory?! Conversion?!

That horrific entity devoured Xiao You not to feed, but to use it as a... high‑quality "raw material", converting it within that dreadful chamber to spawn more Star‑Yonder Fruits?!

The fruit that fell outside and was swallowed by him was never naturally formed, but a "product" of that "factory" beforehand?! It might even be... a defective piece? Or an unfinished one?

And this platform, this stone slab... their purpose...

Lin Yifan suddenly gazed at the ancient black stone platform, at the remaining two fruits atop it, and at the surrounding metal structures etched with geometric patterns!

This is not a natural energy convergence point! It is a... receiver? An... energy relay station? Or perhaps a... mass detection point?!

The terrifying entity's nest is a production factory, and here is its "warehouse" or "shipping outlet"!

Hence the defense system indiscriminately exterminates "unauthorized" life, yet ignores homogenous energy (like his Star‑Yonder arm), because it is merely guarding the "products"!

The cold mechanical will's so‑called "permission" and "sequence" target not life, but the circulation procedures of these "products"!

This revelation split the mist in Lin Yifan's mind like lightning, bringing deeper chill and... a sliver of an extremely faint, off‑blade possibility!

If... if he could reverse‑use this "receiver"?

If he could, via this arm sharing Xiao You's origin and the soul link, not draw energy but... send energy back?!

Not to feed that terrifying "factory heart", but to precisely... deliver energy to the Xiao You trapped inside as "raw material"!

If Xiao You can regain some strength, perhaps it could break free from those binding tendrils from within! Even if only to create a bit of chaos!

And if something changes on Xiao You's side, disrupting the "factory"'s production, might the "receiver" exhibit new changes? Like... a temporary energy backflow? Defense disruption?

He might then seize the chance to obtain the energy needed to heal Ling Ling!

It is an insanely reckless plan with a success rate so slim it borders on non‑existence! Any single slip could cause the energy to be seized by the factory heart, hastening Xiao You's death, or rouse the defense system again, eradicating them completely!

But he has no other choice!

"Xiao You... hold on... help me... it's also helping yourself..."

Lin Yifan summoned all his will, forcefully sending this resolute thought along the soul link!

He does not know whether the dying Xiao You can understand, or cooperate.