Chapter 286: All Bones and Meat

The insect master Boteesi was ecstatic—he had succeeded! As soon as his venom touched an enemy's flesh, it would instantly infect their body, spreading at incredible speed; even cutting off the limb on the spot wouldn't help.

Once contact was made, it would infect, using the victim's blood and flesh to breed more toxins until the target was fully poisoned to death.

He never imagined he'd poison a hermit monk—a lone ascetic of the Church of Light, so independent even the Pope couldn't command them—and now he'd done it, all for the cost of just one body parasitized by puppet worms.

Normally, those possessed by puppet worms moved slowly and stiffly, but he never expected the hermit monk would personally treat the sick—he'd never seen a clergyman so close to the people.

Those high-ranking church officials rode in luxurious carriages and lived in clean, spacious wealthy districts; they rarely appeared in filthy slums, let alone treated the poor and refugees themselves.

This was a perfect opportunity: kill such a beloved hermit monk in public, devour him down to a skeleton right before everyone's eyes—the shock to the Church of Light would be immense. If even a hermit monk couldn't protect himself, how could he protect the faithful?

All these thoughts flashed through Boteesi 's mind, but instantly he sensed something wrong—why was the hermit monk's hand so hard? All bones? Where was the flesh? Where was the blood?

Boteesi, realizing he couldn't bite through, looked up in shock at Ange.

Ange reversed his hand, grabbed him, and shoved him downward, slamming him straight into the Palace of Rest.

Naigelisi cried out urgently: "Cover yourself! Emit some holy light to hide it! Your Hand of Translocation is far too distinctive—anyone who sees it will recognize it!"

"Oh." Ange replied. Where his forearm had vanished, a blinding surge of holy light erupted, blinding everyone nearby; then he swiftly pulled his Hand of Translocation back out.

To others, it looked as if Ange 's arm had suddenly disappeared, then exploded into light—as if his hand had plunged into holy radiance—and the attacker vanished without a trace.

In the blink of an eye, many in the crowd hadn't even reacted, let alone seen clearly.

Even if they had seen clearly, few could've recognized the Hand of Translocation— Naigelisi was just being overly cautious. Even if someone did recognize it, so what? Nandao a hermit monk couldn't use a Hand of Translocation?

Space mages could do it—why shouldn't a hermit monk? No one found it strange; instead, they thought Ange 's trick—plunging his hand into holy light and making the enemy vanish—was incredibly dazzling.

Everyone couldn't help cheering: "Holy light protects us! Long live Lord Ange!"

With no critical cases left, Ange turned and walked back into the tent. Andongni hurried after him, ordered the guards to keep watch outside and stay away, then activated a Silence Barrier and an Interference Barrier.

The Silence Barrier prevented sound from spreading; the Interference Barrier blocked mental probing.

After completing these preparations, Andongni gestured for Ange to shove Boteesi into the Palace of Rest.

Inside the Palace of Rest, they arrived at a corner of the new farm, where a small horse covered in fine scales bared its sharp, jagged teeth, crunching noisily on a pile of assorted junk before it.

Things like seashell fragments, bones of chickens, ducks, fish, sheep, cattle, and horses, hooves, roots, and tubers of crops—all parts ordinary creatures wouldn't eat. These were discarded to avoid environmental contamination, so they were handed over to the Worm God to handle.

Who'd have thought? The mighty Worm God Hemoer had become a garbage disposal beast today.

But Hemoer didn't mind—the tender, fatty parts were too chewy for its taste; it just slurped them down.

The only thing it never found too chewy was fat—high in calories, it filled the belly.

Boteesi, just shoved in, sat slumped on the ground, trembling uncontrollably, utterly lost. Hemoer didn't even need to do anything—just glancing at him every so often made him go limp.

This body wasn't Boteesi 's true form—he used a special method to synchronize his consciousness with this vessel. Even if Ange crushed the body, it wouldn't harm him.

Nor could his consciousness be attacked through the soul to damage his mind.

This consciousness synchronization made Boteesi fearless of the Light Gods—he was confident that even if he assassinated a hermit monk, the Light Gods couldn't even touch his shadow.

But Boteesi never expected the Worm God to be here?

No—rather, there was a Worm God here at all, because he realized this one didn't seem to be the same as the one he knew.

Whether he recognized it or not, a Worm God was a Worm God—and for his unique synchronization method, it possessed even greater control. That meant the Worm God controlled this body, and through the synchronization, controlled his true self.

Boteesi wanted to cry. Even if all the Light Gods appeared before him, he wouldn't feel as hopeless as now—the Worm God was his bane.

With a tear-streaked face, Boteesi soon saw a crowd gather around him, and a golden book floated to his front.

The Golden Book? Boteesi reached out instinctively to touch it—many creatures had the instinct to reach for anything gleaming.

The book's cover flipped open, slapped his hand away, then with a loud *crack*, transformed into a massive tome taller than a man, slamming upright onto the ground.

From its open pages, the massive head of a bronze dragon leaned forward as if emerging from the book; in the corner of the page, a human clad in red-starred armor peered out, clinging to the edge.

After sizing up Boteesi, Naigelisi 's voice spoke: "You said the Worm God greeted us—which Worm God? This one?"

Boteesi shook his head vigorously.

"So there's a second Worm God, then? Heh, what little worm are you? Where's your headquarters? Who else is there? Did you invent this plague? Your consciousness projection method is unusual—how do you do it? Speak up, or I'll let the little horse eat you." Naigelisi threatened.

The onlooker Leiting snapped: "Who's a little horse?! It's not a horse! It's a little worm!"

"Fine, fine, little worm—I'll let the little worm eat you." Naigelisi quickly corrected itself—it didn't want to be stuck outside the door for a month while Leiting yelled at it over something so trivial.

Boteesi obediently replied: "The plague isn't mine. Consciousness projection uses pheromones from puppet worms—puppet worms have males and females; implant one in each body, and consciousness synchronizes. Our headquarters is in the Jing…"

As he spoke, Boteesi suddenly began to melt—his skin and flesh dripped like wax.

This sudden transformation caused Boteesi to scream in terror: "Worm God Madisi, spare me! I was forced! I didn't want this! I… I…"

Hemoer tilted its head, baring its teeth in a grin.

*Boom! Boteesi 's body exploded suddenly—two Worm Gods' powers had clashed through him, but his vessel clearly couldn't withstand such power.

"Uh… was he discovered? Madisi? There really are two Worm Gods? Did he say where the headquarters was? Jing? Jing what? The Spirit Forest? If the worm nest is in a forest, that's a real problem." Naigelisi muttered.

PS: Need to take my son for his vaccination.