Chapter 307: Thunder and Rain (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Xue Lei held amazing valor when faced with such an aberrant situation, but his human instincts still made his scalp go numb. He couldn’t stop the cold shiver that ran down his spine. "What sort of monster is this?"


    Luo Nan didn’t respond. Instead, ck Beetle’s body leaned over a few degrees to face the two directly. The throat continued to reverberate. "...Pashasha. What Ouka means is sorry."


    A few of the words were pronounced very artictely by ck Beetle. If one were to close their eyes, they would probably not hear much of a difference between the prior andter parts.... Even if one were to blink, one could confirm that a person was talking as long as they ignored the ufortable details.


    Right now, ck Beetle had a restrained, polite expression that was uncharacteristic of him. His pair of hands were sped together, stiffly protecting his lower abdomen. His head sagged slightly, and he truly had an appearance of apology.


    "An early move has caused several connections to be missing. A transformation process still needs to be undertaken. Please forgive me."


    Were it not for the unnatural twitching of facial muscles.... Were it not for the pointed insect limbs poking out of his nose, mouth, and ears, the current ck Beetle’s expression would simply be like that of a trained and experienced ceremonial officer.


    Theparison of before and after. Theparison of internal and external. Theseparisons made one’s mind shiver with a haunting alienation.


    Xue Lei realized what had happened by integrating Zhang Yingying’s previous reminder with the situation. He adjusted his positioning, protecting Luo Nan behind his broad shoulders. He directly faced that human-yet-not-human, insect-yet-not-insect thing, and shouted,


    "Snake Tongue?"


    "Before the transformation can bepleted, I will need to deal with you two. However, just as someone said before, I hope to have some useful exchanges with Lord Luo within this small period of time."


    Before them was ck Beetle externally, and a mutated demon bug internally, but its will was Snake Tongue’s in a strange existence. This could be surmised from the calm, courteous behavior in speech. At the same time, the stiff body had leaned forward a bit, and it had adapted to speaking. It soon straightened back up, and then performed a deep bow with a look of extreme respect.


    "Lord Luo’s theory has opened my eyes, breaking through obstacles that gued me for several years. I have benefitted from the lecture."


    For an instant, Xue Lei, who was standing between the two, felt like he was the third wheel.


    This was true in a way. Snake Tongue borrowed ck Beetle’s mouth to speak and move. This was just a form. Its thoughts viewed Xue Lei as nothing. It looked only at Luo Nan.


    "I believe that Lord Luo should also have his own set of gears. Lord Luo is also engaging in a marvelous application of coupling—the power that can see through living beingspletely. However, the operation isn’t very smooth, correct?"


    As ck Beetle’s body spoke, his cheeks revealed convulsionspletely out of tune with his tone. A beatter, his two eyes noiselessly disintegrated. Blood sttered, and mossy green appendages of an insect protruded out of the eye sockets, then withdrew again.


    In this eye-spasming scene, a smile was revealed on ck Beetle’s face. Between the pitch-ck teeth engraved with lines expelled an inhuman and deathly air. "Your gear is extraordinary, but your body is frail. The moreplicated and profound the coupling, the greater the pressure that is brought to you. Lord Luo, how long can you endure it?"


    Luo Nan stood behind Xue Lei. His face felt a bit ufortable. It was because of the blood that flowed down from his eye sockets; it was about to dry up. Luo Nan used the white cuffs of his white coat to wipe his face with two strokes. Such a small action affected the nerves of his face, bringing him pain. It was as if he were being scraped by a knife.


    He exhaled, did his best to maintain the tranquility with his face, and softly said, "Did you simply kill ck Beetle to reduce theplexity of coupling, thereby gaining greater control?"


    "Each time Lord Luo speaks, the meaning is clear, and the essence is there."


    Snake Tongue responded through ck Beetle’s riddled body. At that moment, she was on the same train of logic as Luo Nan. She could hold a two-waymunication with him. "Allow me to express my objection. Lord Luo’s assertion of ck Beetle being dead is rather imprudent. I merely made altercations to his way of existence. ording to what Lord Luo exined, I just took the central gear and transformed it into another shape."


    ck Beetle’s body spasmed violently as the words were released. His entire body shrunk into a ball, and he knelt to the ground, shivering from head to toe.


    Xue Lei subconsciously pushed across with his arm, bringing Luo Nan further behind him. He feared that the enemy might spawn something like a demonic moth. A faint yet fine chant came out from ck Beetle right when Xue Lei moved. The chant merged with the frigid wind atop the viewing tform to blow in all directions.


    Xue Lei didn’t know if it was an illusion, but he felt the strength of the wind weaken. Then a beatter, little sounds of explosions rang from various areas atop the viewing tform.


    Xue Lei’s ears twitched. He spun his gaze in a circle, urately capturing every point of explosion. He just saw light green vapor rise up and diffuse in all these locations.


    "Twenty-seven of them. They should be the bugs controlled by ck Beetle. They all exploded."


    "It’s Insect Explosion. Be careful of the nerve gas inside. If the gas has been made more effective through special techniques, its corrosive nature can be quite strong." Zhang Yingying already knew that Snake Tongue had arrived, thanks to her wristbandmunications. She was even more worried and anxious now, but she feigned calmness in order to prevent the two rookies from panicking. It should be quite exhausting to keep acting like this.


    Xue Lei’s eyelid twitched. "The volume doesn’t appear to be big, but what are her intentions by gathering the gas all together from all sides?"


    Zhang Yingying’s mind went nk. "Gather?"


    Luo Nan inserted himself into the conversation. "Snake Tongue is controlling the airflow atop the tform. Leister, can you take the stairs while carrying me?"


    "No problem!" In any case, Xue Lei would have to put up with it even if there were problems.


    "Then let’s.... Forget it. We’re a bit toote."


    Luo Nan’s voice grew hoarser. His body was indeed under enormous pressure. He was bing weaker and weaker, but his mind was glowing brighter and brighter.


    Things were just as Snake Tongue guessed. Luo Nan had achieved a coupling rtionship between his gears under his roughly formed order frame. The coupling might not have been smooth, but it was enough to give birth to a divine light capable of illuminating the inside and the outside, reaching everywhere and giving Luo Nan amazing foresight.


    Unfortunately, the difference between the enemy’s experience and Luo Nan’s experience was great. When facing the mage Snake Tongue and her treacherous and mysterious mind, Luo Nan’s reactions were slower by a thread.


    Right then, the frigid air current atop the tform was under the control of a fine spell chant. The winds were tamed and acquiescent. The winds whirled, gathering the scattered green poison clouds over, one after another. Theyers of pressure headed toward Luo Nan and Xue Lei. They looked like rolls of fine cotton at first nce. They floated, not dispersing, and converged into screens, surrounding them at all sides. The way out of the tform was blocked off, sealing Luo Nan and Xue Lei inside.


    Xue Lei looked around in a circle, the veins of his forehead throbbing. He had the mind to use a fist of gale to break through theseyers of poison mist screens. However, he thought about how masterful Snake Tongue’s wind-control spell was, and he hesitated from acting against evil so as to prevent harm to innocents.


    He had reached the realm of obtaining his sign. He might not have to fear the poison mist, but what about Luo Nan? It was impossible for Luo Nan endure this torment with his body.


    Snake Tongue’s method of ying things down had stabbed a lethal point of weakness into them.


    What should they do now? Wait for the poison to vaporize? Disregarding the fact that the tform was constructed in a half-open style, Snake Tongue had made this space no different than apletely sealed room.


    And this wasn’t the end of things.


    Xue Lei’s eyelids twitched, and he saw ck Beetle, who had fallen to the ground with spasms, slowly crawl up from the ground. ck Beetle’s body was still a bit rocky, and his bloody cavities-for-eyes endlessly spewed blood. His face was skewered with several holes by sharp insect limbs, but he still revealed a courteous smile.


    "The transformation has beenplete. I’ve made Lord Luo see a joke."


    Before the final syble ended, ck Beetle’s mask-like smile shattered into pieces. In its ce was a hatred and madness warped to the extreme. The two bloody cavities upon his face spun toward Luo Nan’s location. He spoke through gnashing teeth, "Little bastard who hides beneath a woman’s skirt. GO DIE! AHHHHHHHH!"


    The sudden change in aura made Xue Lei’s scalp explode. The scene before Xue Lei’s eyes blossomed. ck Beetle was charging over with a roar. He directly rushed through the green poison screen and punched straight out.


    The charge pushed the poison screen into a chaotic eddy, and Xue Lei could smell the acridity. He thought about Luo Nan behind him, and Xue Lei flew into a rage. He made a sharp shout, and his powerful body actually expanded by a factor. His body was akin to a giant’s as he unleashed heavy blows.


    A bang exploded out, and ck Beetle was knocked back at a speed even faster than his approach. The bone of his right arm was smashed into three sections by Xue Lei. He was again suppressed by heavy fists. The fists warped and copsed his forehead inward, smashing a depression into his skull.


    But in the instant ck Beetle was bombarded back, ck Beetle ripped off his tie with his left hand and swung it in one stroke. It shed silently across Xue Lei’s chest, and it was as if Xue Lei’s clothes were cut by a sharp de. They instantly split, and a white line appeared on his chest. The line rapidly turned red as it filled with blood. A dark color even shown through right on the eve of breaking through.


    Xue Lei gritted his teeth, uttering not a sound. He just looked unwaveringly at ck Beetle.


    If this was a normal situation, the exchange of blows would have led to ck Beetle’s brain exploding to mush. Xue Lei would have won already. However, the fellow before his eyes, with his twisted expression and cracked skull, did not have brainse out, but part of the shell of an ugly demonic bug.


    ck Beetle even grinned withughter. "Ohhhh, the open wind feels so good.... Why have I never discovered this before?"


    Xue Lei’s mind shuddered with aversion. He didn’t know if it was ck Beetle speaking or the demonic bug.


    What the hell was this guy now?


    Before Xue Lei could finish this thought, ck Beetle’s expression went through another change. His lips and teeth opened, and he conveyed Snake Tongue’s will, "Lord Luo, is ck Beetle dead or alive like this?"


    Behind Xue Lei, Luo Nan spoke in a low yet steady voice, "It is merely a damaged soul that’s been molded by you into a wraith-like monster...."


    "That’s one interpretation."


    Snake Tongue didn’t deny it. "The scale between life and death is fuzzy from the perspectives of you and I. You say he’s dead. I say he’s living. We each have our own criterion. However, I want to ask. If Lord Luo bes like this, will you have the same thoughts then?"


    "...."


    "Of course, I certainly won’t treat you as roughly as I have ck Beetle. I will use the most meticulous of techniques to slowly mold you. I’ll have Lord Luo’s soul be the most precious of my collection."


    Under Snake Tongue’s control, ck Beetle faced Luo Nan and Xue Lei with another bow. Green beetles substituted the brain within the split skull. They squirmed a bit. "When that happens, I will remold a more suitable body for Lord Luo to house your dazzling soul. If fortune would have it, we can even converse about research. I want the thoughts of a genius. Thoughts on perfecting order frames and the like. This is my n....


    "What do you think, Lord Luo?"