Nonliving Things / Complications

"Go back where?"

"Go home."

Lin and Vill-V walked out of the hotel and headed towards Lin's motorcycle, intending to return to the Branch 10.

After several days of investigation, some progress has been made on the Svatogor 51 incident, but Lin felt it was no longer necessary to find out the outcome.

The "person" who fell down, whatever she was originally, should be human now.

"I haven't been back to see headquarters since I left. I wonder what the base in the sky is like. But I don't think flying is necessarily a good thing... Lin, have you ever heard the saying, 'Flying into the sky is just for the moment of falling'?"

"..."

They chatted idly until a cracking sound came from the sky.

"Click".

Sky?

The two of them looked up at the misty morning sky at the same time, unaware that other drowsy pedestrians were passing by them.

The sky, which had been shrouded in shadow, suddenly developed a crack.

It was as if they were on different layers. They couldn't tell where the crack was with the naked eye. It seemed to be only a hundred meters away from them, but it also seemed to be very far away, higher than the sky.

"Click".

The crack made a soft sound again, this time attracting even more attention. People stopped and looked up at the sky in confusion, pointing and whispering about the crack.

"Click".

"Vill-V, hide."

Lin placed his hand on the motorcycle helmet, lifted it, and put it on his head. The display window lit up quickly, and the analysis system swiftly locked onto...

No, it cannot be locked.

This was the first time Lin had encountered such a situation in a long time. Usually, even with unknown substances, the helmet could at most not analyze them, but this time, the clear crack seemed to not exist at all, and the helmet directly judged that there was nothing else in that place.

As more people stopped to look at the sky, a dense murmur of discussion arose, and dense cracks gradually appeared around the fissure.

"Snap—"

It only stopped when the cracks reached a certain number, resembling a spider web spread across the sky.

An eerie atmosphere began to spread among the crowd. Lin watched as Vill-V hid back into the house before he started walking forward.

The crack was located right in the center of the city, and he needed to go there to check on the situation.

But after walking a few dozen meters, Lin stopped and noticed something.

His position was changing, but the position of the crack was also changing, or rather... he couldn't get closer to the crack.

It wasn't a matter of reference point; he was different from ordinary people. He could sense even the slightest change in position. As he walked forward, the crack receded.

Lin looked around and noticed subtle differences in the direction of the people's gazes.

The crack is not in the very center of the city.

Rather, it is the fixed distance of the location he observed.

Then, ten seconds after he stopped walking.

"Bang!"

The crack burst open, and a tidal wave of "ghosts" surged out from it.

Chapter 191 Non-biological entity

Lin's pupils contracted, and the helmet finally locked onto the "things" emerging from the cracks.

"What... are those?"

It has a shape that resembles a living organism, but upon closer inspection, it reveals a completely different, twisted shape.

Each one seems to exist on a different plane.

It wasn't Honkai Beast, but from the word "unknown" after scanning the helmet, Lin sensed a terror far exceeding that of Honkai Beast.

"As expected, it has caused changes." He said to Yan Luo, who was resting with his eyes closed, "Whether it was you or me, what we did to that Parallel World caused the Honkai to change, and it's different from what happened back then... However, it seems that this change wasn't caused solely by the Honkai."

"... Isn't this exactly what you wanted?"

"Hmm... that makes sense."

He smiled, but no one could feel the joy in his voice.

Even just one would be fine.

"What is that thing...?"

The employees working in the high-rise buildings stood by the windows, looking at the eerie purple "rain" flowing from the cracks in the sky, and discussed it noisily.

"What are you all doing! Get back to your posts!"

After the person in charge said that, they decided to disperse. It was just raining rain of a different color; it had nothing to do with them...

"Bang!"

The heavy impact, along with the wind blowing through the gaping hole, filled their minds.

Everyone looked bewildered at the spot where the impact had occurred: rubble, a gap, and... a monster, a roar.

A transparent creature, resembling a crab but with a rounded shell, was rising from its fallen state. Then, it let out a chilling, eerie roar, "Whoosh—"

Lin pushed through the crowd and ran in the opposite direction. He stared at the strange monsters that kept emerging from the crack and falling into the city one after another. Moreover, the crack was not in the correct visual direction, so the monsters fell over the entire city.

In less than a minute, shouts and panicked fleeing filled the city.

Disaster never strikes when you are prepared.

A monster crashed down in front of Lin, who saw it crush a car, then shook itself and stood up.

It looked like a praying mantis magnified countless times, as tall as two people. It stood up and rubbed its two sharp front claws together, making a piercing sound. Then it quickly locked onto the nearest person who was running away with their back to it.

Its powerful hind legs landed firmly on the ground, then it sprang to the ground with a thud, cracks spreading outwards, like a black lightning bolt striking the man's back!

"Bang!"

Another man tackled the fleeing people, his front paws slashing across their heads, and the top of another car was cleanly sliced off like a tofu block.

The person who was tackled was too frightened to move. If he hadn't been tackled, he would probably be separated from his body by now.

"Run!"

A calm voice sounded in his ear. He didn't care about anything else and immediately got up and ran.

Lin braced himself on one hand and half-squatted on the ground. After its attack failed, the dark purple mantis retracted its two front claws, turned around on its four legs, and stared at the human with its huge compound eyes, which were as large as electric lights.

Is this Honkai Beast?

During this brief period of time, Lin observed the monster's appearance. Compared to the indescribable, seemingly created monsters of Honkai Beast, it had a higher degree of resemblance to creatures in nature, much like Upper-class Honkai Beast.

Its shell fluctuates erratically, like the static on an old television screen, seemingly unable to maintain its shape.

This couldn't possibly be Honkai Beast; there wasn't a single type among all the Honkai Beast. Instead, Lin felt a sense of "familiarity" emanating from it.

Before Lin could finish his next thought cycle, the monster attacked again, closing in on him from tens of meters away at a speed that created a sonic boom. The intense wind pressure stung Lin's skin. He stared intently at the monster's movements, his brain alerting him, and without thinking, he rolled forward.

"Boom!"

Its two sharp claws dug into the ground, while Lin rolled beneath it, drew his pistol, and fired at its hindquarters!

"Bang!"

In Lin's vision, he clearly saw that the bullet hit the monster's abdomen, but at the moment of contact with the outer shell, it was momentarily blocked by a blurry layer, and its kinetic energy was instantly reduced!

Ordinary bullets might be somewhat effective against small Honkai Beast, but this monster clearly possesses abilities completely different from Honkai Beast. Lin doesn't know whether these abilities originate from its physical body or its special powers.

Without even leaving a shallow mark, Lin's attack failed, so he kicked off its belly and slid away.

"Roar!"

The monster had no intelligence. Lin Cong couldn't discern the most basic biological emotions of Honkai Beast from its roars, which meant... it might not even be considered a living being.

Lin rolled over and got up, keeping his body low so he could move quickly. He glanced at the sky; the cracks had disappeared sometime earlier, but the monsters were still in the city.

He had already sent a support request to the Branch 10, but even with the fastest transport plane, it would take nearly fifteen minutes to get from the Branch 10 to Svatogor 51. He didn't have the proper equipment, so how was he supposed to deal with these bulletproof monsters?

"Forest!"

Just as the mantis-shaped monster leaped back and turned to face him, Lin heard Vill-V's voice behind him. The monitor on the back of his head immediately turned on and captured Vill-V waving at him.

Lin's pupils constricted, and without thinking, he roared, "Hide!"

"Here you go!" But instead, Vill-V threw him a long, straight sword without a scabbard or guard, then immediately ducked down. The monster swept over her head, the gust of wind nearly blowing her away.

Lin wasn't thinking about anything at that moment. He turned around and rushed towards Vill-V, and another crab-shaped monster appeared behind her without her noticing.

He leaped up and grabbed the long sword in mid-air, then felt a very slight pain in his waist.

No, it wasn't a slight pain; rather, his senses had been weakened countless times, turning excruciating pain into a slight one.

As she lay on the ground, Vill-V's eyes widened, and two drops of blood fell onto her face.

She saw that Lin, who was suspended in mid-air, had a horrific gash cut open in his abdomen, and blood was gushing out of his body.

The mantis-like monster was also in mid-air, the bloodstains on its claws indicating that they were its handiwork.

"Head down!" Lin coughed up blood, then descended from the sky and plunged a knife into the crack of the crab's shell!

Chapter 192 Complications

The moment Lin touched the longsword, he sensed that its material was unusual. Its weight did not match its length and thickness, and he immediately realized that the sword was made of Soul Steel.

Ignoring the wound on his waist, Lin gritted his teeth, gripped the knife handle with both hands, and plunged the knife into a gap in the monster's carapace.

"Bass!"

Without a guard, Lin's hands slid off the hilt, the blade slicing through his palms, warm, crimson blood dripping into the monster's wounds.

"Roar--"

It might have been in pain, but it was more likely just a meaningless howl. The crab-like monster raised its giant pincers, but it was much slower than the mantis-like monster. Canglin picked up Vill-V and grabbed the knife stuck in the gap of its shell with one hand. Like a pole vaulter, he used his body weight to lift himself up and avoid the pincers, then pulled out the long knife.

The sound of wind whistling through the air came from behind, but Lin had already anticipated this by analyzing the environmental information and had his knife held horizontally behind him.

"Bite!"

Sparks flew everywhere, and in the cold winter, a sharp clang echoed. Lin, enduring the strange force, held onto Vill-V tightly, slammed to the ground, and rolled several times before the force dissipated.

Blood gushed from the wound on his waist again. Lin didn't feel much pain, but his internal organs were injured, and blood kept flowing from the corners of his mouth and nostrils. He released Vill-V and said in as calm a voice as possible, "Run towards the outskirts of the city, try to disperse and guide the crowd, and avoid narrow areas."

"Good."

Vill-V knew that her current worries were pointless; she would be useless after delivering the weapons, and staying here would only affect Lin's battle. Although she couldn't take her eyes off the wound on his waist that had almost severed him, she bit her lip and ran away without saying a word.

The mantis monster might react to creatures in motion, and immediately leaped up again to attack her back after Vill-V got up and ran away.

Vill-V felt the stench behind her, but she didn't turn around. She knew Lin would never let her get hurt.

Indeed, although Lin was not as fast as the monster, he was able to predict the monster's actions through a lot of complex information. The moment the monster attacked Vill-V, he was already blocking its path.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

Lin never imagined that one day he would be fighting monsters in a way that could be described as a battle of swords and shadows.

Each of his strikes deflected the force of the monster's forepaws, rather than striking head-on. The dazzling reflections of his swords on the snow resembled lit lamps.

Sure enough, even weapons made of Soul Steel had limited effect on these monsters.

Lin dodged the giant pincers that were thrusting at him, then stepped onto them as a springboard and leaped up again. A pair of sharp claws, like a bloodthirsty embrace, flashed with a cold light as they swept past his feet.

He jumped onto the second-floor balcony of the house next door. The two monsters didn't seem to realize what was happening, giving him time to check his wounds.

Strangely, the shocking wound on his waist was no longer bleeding as much as before, and the edges of the incision had automatically closed and glued together.

Just like that wound on my throat...

At that moment, the swift mantis monster spotted Lin again. Its powerful legs slammed into the ground with a thud before it pounced on him. Lin's gaze sharpened, and a tidal wave of information surged from the screen of his helmet, making everything around him as clear as a flat grid.