Master of the Stars

Chapter 385: New Species

Translator: Strivon

"It's way too thin!" Jiang Yuanzhen was the one who spoke again, and his words were spot on.

This Winghand Bloodbat was thinner than the ones Luo Nan had seen in video by a factor. Though it had been a few days, Luo Nan still remembered the material provided by Trigate Security. There was a scene where countless Winghand Bloodbats were flying around under the setting sun. They weren't large in size, but each one of them were savage and burly canine beasts. Their claws were sharp, their muscles bulged and their skin was smooth, for they lacked hair. They were darker in color from normal bats, but one could tell their strength from how hard they could flap their wings. Just one glance would tell anyone that the Winghand Bloodbat wasn't a beast to be trifled with.

However, this Winghand Bloodbat encountered by Mo Lun appeared to have had development problems. Its wingspan was twenty centimeters at most, and it was withered and thin. There was only its eyes, blood-red, giving off an air of extreme madness.

It wasn't even eleven-thirty in the morning when it happened at the recycling stratum. The sun was pretty much at its peak, the time when its light covered the most area. This Winghand Bloodbat fluttered between the light and shadows formed by the sun. It made a bizarre sound, “bulabula”, as it flapped its webbed wings.

It was in breeding season according to Trigate Security's data. It obviously wouldn't be able to find the same species of the opposite sex within the scope of Xia City. This made it all the more impatient. Perhaps it was none other than these emotions that attracted the Human-Faced Arachnid into considering it a target. The Wraith Sign immediately pounced over in the same impatient manner.

Unfortunately, these two vicious creatures weren't dealing with the topic of breeding, but rather in a battle between life and death.

A normal person would at most see the shadow of a bat spiraling in the sky. They were unable to see the deeper mysteries, but with the light and shadow, Mo Lun’s memories at that time were recreated. The level of detail was quite rich.

This was also Luo Nan's first time seeing the memories of an ability user on the mental plane. He was unable to take his eyes off of them.

The clash between the two sides exploded in an extremely direct manner.

The Wraith Sign revealed its Human-Faced Arachnid body, a treacherous form with six eyes and eight legs, and it unleashed a chaotic and berserk mental attack. The Winghand Bloodbat reactions were a bit late, but its counter attack was also quite fierce. It didn't use its claws or any material weapons. Its pair of blood-colored eyes just darkened, and a bloody mist surrounded its body. A thousand human faces could be seen within this storm of mist, as well as aberrant specters woven within. The scene was treacherous and savage.

Such a scene was far beyond everyone's expectations. Though Jiang Yuanzhen knew that this was a mere recreation of the scene, he still let out a gasp over in the gym.

The perspective drew close, making it apparent that Mo Lun was extremely startled at the time. He had subconsciously drew closer for observation.

The Wraith Sign revealed inconceivable battle instincts. When faced with the bloody mist, it instantly withdrew its explosive mental attack, and the void around its body warped. Perhaps it was due to how much the Bloodsoul Temple had formed within it; this was a sign of interfering with the material world.

Its momentum appeared to have weaken, but its mysteries were boundless, and it sought a distant victory. It was simply like a miniature black hole.

The clash between the two sides proved this: the bloody mist collided along the edge of the warped space and warped involuntarily, losing the imposing flame-like vigor. Instead, the bloody mist became trapped. It was being consumed. Not much remained after a breath's time.

As for the Wraith Sign, its demonic body expanded by a factor. Luo Nan believed this to be the exact moment when the Wraith Sign sent over the 'meteor'.

By this point in the situation, it was practically the Wraith Sign's overwhelming victory. However, no one ever expected the Winghand Bloodbat to counterattack when it had already lost most of its bloody mist. It invoked its savage nature, and its thin-as-bones body suddenly expanded. It bulged into a sphere, and it exploded without giving the Wraith Sign a chance to react, bloody fog spraying everywhere.

A shiver ran through the hearts of all witnessing the scene, and including Luo Nan. In his eyes, what had exploded wasn't a single Winghand Bloodbat, but a million of them.

This bloody fog made even the frontal Wraith Sign retreat. It simply fled to the depths of the mental plane, hiding for now.

But Mo Lun was too close. The bloody fog sprayed him head on, instantly causing his perspective to shake. His internal energy became chaotic, and the image ended here.

"So it turned out to be trouble not of one's own making," Jiang Yuanzhen sighed, waving away his nervous emotions. There was a bit of self-ridicule in his actions, but soon he said, vexed, "I even thought about going to the Wilderness if the Winghand Bloodbat was useful and just kill a bunch of them. They're just as effective as blood sacrifices, but I think I'm wrong after looking at that scene for so long."

He was indeed wrong. Everyone present was a veteran ability user, having gone to the Wilderness several times -- at least a dozen times each. The Winghand Bloodbat wasn't a rare species. Everyone had encountered them before. However, they never expected Mo Lun's memories to be like this. Just based on the bloody mist attack, they were able to see that something was wrong. As for the direct suicide bombing attack, not even a veteran B-rank ability user would walk out unscathed.

"Is there anything left of it?" Lady Halder cut into the conversation, causing the gym to instantly enter a serious state.

Mo Lun understood Lady Halder's intentions. She was saying whether or not there were any samples remaining of the attack that injured him. In general, this was a very difficult thing to capture, but Mo Lun said,

"Yes."

An extremely fine silk-like bloody line seemed to manifest out of thin air as he spoke. It was sent from Mo Lun's soul, and it was displayed before everyone's eyes.

The bloody thread was only a millimeter in length, but it was incredibly thin. It resembled a severed spider silk, were it not for its bright and bloody nature. Someone like Jiang Yuanzhen, who had old eyes, might’ve not be able to see it clearly.

The characteristics of the bloody line were very strange. In the few seconds it was revealed before everyone's eyes, it seemed to expand a bit, elongated a bit, and even wiggle its tail end. It was like a living insect.

Mo Lun spoke of what he observed of the bloody thread recently, "I am unable to define how this thing exists for now. It appeared within the Winghand Bloodbat's body, but right now it also exists on the mental plane. It is endlessly consuming and paralyzing my soul body, and it is rapidly growing stronger..."

As he continued to search for words to describe it, Lady Halder already had a few words that said it all, "It’s biological fission reproduction. It's a type of mental microorganism or perhaps, a virus."

Jiang Yuanzhen smacked his chin, "Human-Faced Arachnid!"

Everyone understood what he meant. Yin Le subconsciously straightened and said, "It sure is alike. Could it be a Darksider life form? A species we haven't discovered yet?"

Darksider life form?

Luo Nan, who could be said to be an excellent listener, became interested in an instant. This thing is a Darksider life form? If that's true, then its the second type he's seen with his own eyes.

Luo Nan had researched the Human-Faced Arachnid quite a bit these past times. He looked up the Society's internal archives in detail, but he didn't find many results. Darksider life forms, or Darksider species, were new concepts. They haven’t even been known for two years yet. There wasn't a complete system formed, so the available data was pitifully small.

Luo Nan suspected that he could write a few papers based on his understanding of the Honor Society, listing out several phenomena. He could totally submit them to top journals within the Society and make honor points until his fingers bled from typing.

So in the end, he still had to rely on himself.

Luo Nan observed the blood virus and discovered that it was quite different from the Human-Faced Arachnid. It was just as Mo Lun said. This thing's had quite an ambiguous position. It shifted back and forth between the mental and material planes. In essence, because of its living environment, in the border between the mental and the material, it could be considered as an 'amphibian'.

From what Luo Nan observed so far, the root of its developmental growth was all in the mental plane. It didn't have the function to draw nutrients from the material world.

But it was incapable of submerging into the depths of the mental plane. Following the customary division of the mental plane -- Three Zones, One Region, One Realm -- this thing only had activity on the upper-most part of the shallow zone. It was like a mosquito larva on the water's surface, but Luo Nan was uncertain what would happen as it split and reproduced. After all, it was able to harm Mo Lun, but it was not done solely based on skill.

Luo Nan was able to detect that as the mental plane released the blood virus, the Wraith Sign, which was recuperating in the depths of the mental plane, suddenly stirred, its attention alerted by instinct. However, perhaps it saw how weak this thing was, how it wasn't even large enough to get stuck between its teeth, and it lost interest.

Perhaps it still needed to be cultivated?

Luo Nan studied the blood virus, and the others weren't idle as well.

"Is it a parasitic species as well?" Ren Hong tried to determine, "If so, then that Winghand Bloodbat was an injured host? Was this sort of parasitic relationship chosen at will or assigned?"

He probably just wanted to express his thoughts, but the meaning behind his words was like a gust of wind that blew through the room, causing the atmosphere to become ice-cold.

With the complexity of Mutants and the pitiful level of research that humanity uncovered, it wasn't an odd thing to discover a new species out of nowhere -- especially a Darksider life form that leaves neither trace nor shadow.

However, the fact that it was parasitic made people quite unhappy.

Within the study of Mutants, parasitic and symbiotic relationships were actually quite common. In the most crazy era of mutation, a large number of insects and microorganisms on this planet suffered from the warped mutation, evolving similar abilities. They brought about terrifying chaos for a time.

People often said that the emergence of ability users in the new era was the product of a parasitic or symbiotic relationship. They said that special viruses had entered host cells, causing mutations. However, this sort of theory was hard to accept. Human beings, as a species who possessed higher intelligence, were instinctively disgusted by this threat to their self-awareness.

"Nine out of ten Darksider life forms are parasitic. There is nothing to be said."

Lady Halder ignored her instincts through her powerful will. She paid heed to the moving blood virus before her eyes, carefully observing it for a period of time. Then she softly said, "The blood essence of the fleshly blood drives the viral replication on the mental plane. This sort of interference method appears to be berserk, but in fact it is precise and mysterious...is it hard to get rid of?"

"It shouldn't be hard for me as long as I'm careful. It will take a few days, but if we want to increase the number of specimens, then we will need to continue observing it."

"How's the situation now?"

"I've already arranged for people to handle the scene, but given its nature, I have yet to begin collecting samples.”

"You will accompany me for the trip back to the scene of the incident."

"Yes."

There was no room for anyone else to interject within this conversation between two core members of the Order. Lady Halder only changed topics when the plan was made, "Based on Mo Lun's state, he will not be doing any herding for the short-term future. We need to choose a candidate. Let's discuss, people."

Everyone's expression turned solemn.

This was a very realistic matter Lady Halder spoke of. The founding ceremony of the Bloodflame Order was on December twenty-first. There were only forty days left and the mold of the Bloodflame Order had entered its fifth stage. Things were going smoothly, but progress could not be interrupted.

Actually, with the ebb of the incident with the Human-Faced Arachnid, as well as the continual hunting operation, it became harder and harder to find a clone of the Human-Faced Arachnid in Xia City. Just a moment of ease would likely cause irreparable consequences to the sacrificial vessel.

Why was Lady Halder interested in the parasitic life form in the Winghand Bloodbat? It was because she saw a possible alternative in it.

But before she could confirm the feasibility of this plan, there was very basic work that had to be completed.

Jiang Yuanzhen coughed. He took advantage of his age to take those somewhat significant yet had-to-be-considered matters and spoke out, "Four herders have been designated with the herding technique that we possess. Aside from Mo Lun, there is our First Oblatum and our two Second Oblatums. We have three options to choose from, but the First Oblatum needs to make preparations for the ceremony. She has to harmonize frequencies with the Bloodflame Will every day. It's hard for her to attend more than this task. That leaves our choices to be two, Yin Le and Ren Hong."

"Who do you choose?" Lady Halder asked directly.

"Ren Hong." Jiang Yuanzhen responded in a very decisive manner, casually glancing at Yin Le as well. "Yin Le is running around handling external matters everyday. She's very busy. How can she have the time to herd?"

Yin Le smile wryly and bowed. She didn't disagree with this old man.

Jiang Yuanzhen’s thought process was as followed; Second Oblatums should put their full focus in doing their tasks for the Order. The business battlegrounds were something only a professional could handle. The old gentlemen gave Yin Le quite some face in this regard.

"Ren Hong?" asked Lady Halder. She seemed to have muttered these words to herself, but yet she seemed to be asking.

Ren Hong was a bit uncertain of her intentions, but he still spoke with a lowered head, "I am willing to take up this duty for now. I will follow whatever the First Oblatum arranges."

Lady Halder didn't express an opinion towards this. She continued to name, "Meng Chong."

Meng Chong replied honestly, "I'm not an expert. I don't have an opinion on this."

"Yin Le?"

Yin Le was a person involved. She could only say, "I'll follow the boss's orders."

She acted in accordance to her habits formed from serving as a secretary. She didn't call Lady Halder “First Oblatum”, but rather, “Boss.”

Lady Halder swept her gaze across everyone in the room. In the end, she rested her gaze on the one who had yet to speak. She asked, "Wu Kui?"

Wu Kui was a normal man who could disappear into a crowd at anytime. He had a short and stout figure, and he gave off zero sense of presence. Luo Nan's long period of observation yielded no information on what the heck this person did. Luo Nan had no idea why he was a core member of the Bloodflame Order.

He spoke in a manner that was uncharacteristic as usual, "First Oblatum, you decide."

Luo Nan had seen such a scene many times before. The Bloodflame Order's decisions were decided by Lady Halder's words alone. Aside from Jiang Yuanzhen, who purely did research and theory, no one had any thoughts of their own. In the end, these were just words for show. The others typically didn't have their own opinion.

Except for Mo Lun...

Mo Lun suddenly interjected, "I feel that there's something off. The matter with harmonizing the Bloodflame Will doesn't involve only the First Oblatum but Ren Hong as well! Right now he is the main force in sermonizing. The forty year ceremony of founding is at hand. He needs to participate in the series of advance ceremonies. This cannot be avoided."

Jiang Yuanzhen retorted, "In the end, he isn't the First Oblatum. He should be able to squeeze out a bit of time."

"The problem lies with the Bloodsoul Temple upon entering the fifth stage. It has already established a connection with the external world. It is more susceptible to interference from psychic waves. The ceremonies at hand will involve powerful psychic waves and the harmonization of the Bloodflame Will. These things will likely affect the growth of the Bloodflame Will's structure. Even if the direct consequences are hard to determine at this time, do we need to brave this danger for the sake of blood sacrifices?"

Jiang Yuanzhen's expression changed slightly as he listened. He immediately changed his stance, "We have to prevent this!"

Lady Halder gave a slight nod, "Then it's Yin Le."

A bunch of words had been spoken, but in the end it was Lady Halder who made the final decision. And Mo Lun was always the one to provide her with the best justifications.

These were the rules when the Bloodflame Order discussed official business.

Lady Halder turned her eyes to Yin Le, "The founding ceremony is on December twenty-first. Nothing must be lost. You can have someone take over the work you have on hand for these few days. Hand them all over. Have less things on your mind. I will assign Meng Chong to follow you. You must do things in a foolproof manner."

There was no one who offered any further opinions. Yin Le walked forward, nodded in agreement, and said, "Yes, Boss."