Under the cover of night, Liu Ma's fist carried a pale golden halo of star energy and a powerful gust of wind as it blasted through the crimson mist before him, striking the tentacle of an Octopus Star Beast lunging at Chen Kong with pinpoint precision.
Amid a crack of shattering bone, the Octopus Star Beast's tentacle was severed cleanly. Dark green blood splattered across the rails, instantly billowing into pungent white smoke.
"Fall back this way!"
Liu Ma roared as he yanked the staggering Chen Kong over, using his iron-tower-like body to forcibly shield him from the Star Beast horde, radiating an overwhelming sense of security.
His Golden Transformation body, combined with the thick lower half formed by the Nether Warhorse, had swollen his already imposing two-meter-tall frame to nearly three meters in this "transformed state."
Every breath he took came with heavy gasps and clouds of white vapor.
As Liu Ma rammed a charging Shark Star Beast aside with his shoulder, he turned back and asked irritably, "Aren't you supposed to be good at hiding? How did these bastards spot you?"
Chen Kong clutched the side of his waist where a tentacle had struck him. His Combat Suit was drenched in cold sweat, and his face had gone pale.
He stared into the distance, his expression grim.
"Their senses aren't right. It's like something is controlling them."
As he spoke, Chen Kong pointed to a spot in the middle of the Star Beast horde, his voice tightening.
"That 'thing' was what found me."
Hearing Chen Kong's words, everyone immediately followed his gaze toward the center of the Star Beast horde.
On both sides of the railway across the sea, vast swathes of blood-red coral were entwined around the tracks.
The coral's surface glimmered with an eerie crimson light