Chapter 161

Chapter 161

"Rumble, crash—"

In the mountain forest, torrents of rainwater surged. Everyone at the periphery of the pollution zone, hearing the onrushing water, could only assume it was a mountain flood or a landslide.

But mudslides and landslides were equally deadly.

The commander at the periphery, watching the floodwaters that seemed on the verge of submerging the entire pollution zone, shot up in alarm.

Ignoring the panicked retreat around him and the aliens and pollution beasts charging toward them, he bellowed, "Retreat! Teams Three and Four, provide cover! Everyone else, fall back immediately!"

Song Bao also retreated. After nearly an hour of continuous combat, her mental energy was running on empty—high-intensity combat was still too much for her.

Holding the terrified Eighth Master in her arms, she dispersed her psychic energy, controlling several exotic insects to scout deep into the pollution zone.

Eighth Master scanned the area anxiously. There were no familiar faces nearby, and the fighters were too preoccupied to attend to them. Fortunately, Flower was by their side, fighting to clear a path, keeping them safe for the moment.

Song Bao focused her psychic energy, her attention fixed on the pollution zone. The exotic insect she had connected with touched the floodwaters and instantly turned to ash. Her face paled abruptly.

Song Bao's pupils dilated slightly as she sharply withdrew her psychic energy, gasping for air.

Eighth Master panicked. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Song Bao shook her head, then suddenly hurried over to the commander's side. Urgently, she reported what she had seen: "It's not a flash flood—it's pollution!"

The commander jolted. The situation was even more dire than he had imagined. His expression turned grim, but he didn't doubt Song Bao. With exceptional people around, he trusted that she wouldn't lie to him at such a critical moment.

"Good kid, thank you." The commander took a deep breath, turning back to his usual composed self as he rearranged defensive positions and retreat routes.

Song Bao watched the commander's resolute back, then glanced toward the faint, massive black-and-red figure in the distance. She wavered slightly.

She whispered, "Flower, everyone is still in the mountains and hasn't come out. I want to go find them."

Lin Jiaxu, Zhong Qian, and the search team were all still trapped up there!

Flower was also worried about Lin Jiaxu. Moreover, it had noticed that the scent of the aliens in the mountains had changed—the entire mountain reeked of Lin Jiaxu.

Flower was actually very anxious, eager to find Lin Jiaxu, but with a child to care for, it had to suppress its desire to go searching.

When Song Bao brought it up, Flower let out a low growl.

In a flash, its form shifted. It scooped up Song Bao, flung her onto its back, then turned and charged deep into the mountains against the retreating tide. With a few bounding strides, it leaped to higher ground.

Eighth Master was frozen in terror.

Watching the safe zone grow farther and farther away, it stammered and shrank, clinging desperately into Song Bao's arms. "Wh-where are we going?!"

Song Bao quickly leaned forward, clutching Flower, and shouted, "We're going to find them! We can't just abandon them!"

Eighth Master's vision swam as it snapped, "They're National Special Team members! What are you? Just a kid! You think you can rescue them? They might even have to turn around and save you! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"What if they're really in trouble? I have to go. I'm a member of the Lan City Alien Bureau now too." Song Bao remained deadly calm, soothing, "Besides, with Flower here, we'll be fine."

Eighth Master fell silent. Aside from wisecracking, it really had no way to deal with pollution and danger. Since Flower and Song Bao were both determined, there was nothing more it could say.

Eighth Master used its feathers to shield itself from the blood moon, mumbling dejectedly, "Fine, but we leave as soon as we find them."

"Okay!" Song Bao managed a weak smile, her attention drifting distractedly toward the deepest part of the mountains, where a pitch-black monstrosity was clearly visible.

She clenched her fists, turning her head slightly to avoid looking, couldn't bear to look.

Lin Jiaxu—that was Lin Jiaxu.

Right now, what worried her most wasn't Xu Leyu or the others, but Lin Jiaxu.

What had happened in the mountains?

How had Lin Jiaxu suddenly turned into an alien, and why hadn't he changed back?

Song Bao couldn't wrap her head around it no matter how hard she thought. She worried that he might have allied with that alien and turned against the National Special Team members. Her thoughts spiraled with anxious thoughts, growing more frantic by the second. She hoped Flower would find the others soon.

But when she snapped out of it, she realized they were getting closer and closer to the distant monster. The dense, grotesque appearance of the creature was now clearly visible to her psychic senses.

Song Bao's head throbbed with pain, and she nearly froze, speechless. "Flower, aren't we supposed to be finding people? Why are we coming here?"

She didn't want to get anywhere near Lin Jiaxu like this, not at all!

At that moment, Lin Jiaxu was struggling to communicate with Zhong Qian through charades, his tentacles squirming.

Zhong Qian guessed, "Up? No, down? Are you trying to sweep the ground?"

"Are you trying to absorb the pollution?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Lin Jiaxu's tentacles bobbed eagerly. He was exhausted but relieved that Zhong Qian had finally understood.

Zhong Qian frowned in thought for a moment before relenting. "Alright, but we don't know if absorbing too much pollution will affect your body. First, block it off, then try absorbing it slowly. If anything feels wrong, stop immediately!"

"Mmhmm!"

The two finally reached an agreement on how to deal with the aliens and pollution in the zone.

Zhong Qian couldn't think of any better solution. "I'll stay by your side. Remember to use your tentacle to draw a mark every few minutes."

"Mmhmm, got it." Lin Jiaxu waved a tentacle dismissively.

Getting Zhong Qian to agree had been a struggle.

His tentacle coiled around Zhong Qian, carefully placing him on top of what passed for his "head." Though his entire body was pitch black and featureless, with no discernible head or tail, he decided that this was his head—after all, no one could argue with him. Lin Jiaxu proudly turned around.

Just as he settled Zhong Qian in place, he heard a familiar sound.

"Mrow!"

Flower, concerned only about its charge, charged ahead bravely.

"No—!"

Song Bao screamed, squeezing her eyes shut in despair. "Flower, let's go find the others, please!"

"Flower? I hear Flower!"

Lin Jiaxu heard the cat's meow, mixed with a faint, fragile sound of collapse.

Seeing Flower flying toward him with a dizzy human and bird in tow, Lin Jiaxu simply extended a tentacle, scooped them up, tucking them neatly beside Zhong Qian.

Song Bao's cry cut off abruptly when she saw Zhong Qian sitting calmly and unbothered atop the monster.

"...Captain Zhong?"

"It's me," Zhong Qian said. "How are things outside?"

Seeing that Zhong Qian was unharmed and composed, Flower circled him. If he was okay, then Jia Jia must be fine too.

Relieved, Flower settled atop the monster.

Having another living person nearby made Song Bao feel much more at ease. Although the monster’s presence was intimidating, making her legs go weak, it wasn’t so bad as long as she avoided looking directly at Jia Jia.

Song Bao answered promptly, "The commander ordered everyone to evacuate... Also, Captain Xu and the others came in to look for you!"

Not sure if Zhong Qian had already met up with Xu Leyu and the others, she quickly added the information.

"I know. They’re heading down the mountain from another direction now." Hearing about the situation outside, Zhong Qian's brow furrowed slightly. But since Xu Leyu and the others had already made it out, they should be able to cut through the opposition.

Song Bao realized—that was why they hadn’t run into Xu Leyu and the others along the way.

Hearing that everyone was safe, she felt more at ease.

She looked down and saw the part of Jia Jia near the ground slowly oozing outward, moving upstream against the polluted torrent.

Although Jia Jia wasn’t a slime, his original form was highly malleable. At that moment, he resembled an indestructible slime, gradually enveloping the entire mountain from all sides.

Now, Jia Jia was like an insurmountable mountain ridge, and they were perched atop this towering peak, overlooking the surging torrent below.

The perspective was eerie, as if they could see everything at a glance. She turned her head and saw countless flickering lights in the darkness—the evacuation teams on the outskirts.

Suddenly, Song Bao’s eyes widened.

She watched as the overwhelming black torrent was severed abruptly. The entire mountain seemed encircled by a silver serpent, firmly held within the massive creature’s grasp.

The blood moon narrowed his eyes slightly. Countless tentacles emerged from the enormous monster beneath them, tiny and densely packed like sea cucumbers, extending into the torrent. The floodwaters visibly began to recede, slowly being absorbed and devoured.

Jia Jia absorbed the pollution easily and eagerly.

Song Bao stared in awe and asked, "Is Jia Jia absorbing the pollution?"

Zhong Qian, his gaze never leaving Jia Jia, replied briefly, "Yes."

Song Bao’s breathing slowed, but as she looked toward the heart of the pollution, the torrent continued to erupt like a wildfire. The intense blackness was denser and more terrifying than the sky or the rain.

She whispered hesitantly, "Can he really stop it? Will absorbing so much pollution harm him?"

Zhong Qian didn’t respond.

He didn’t know whether it would cause harm, but it was the only solution at the moment.

He couldn’t let the pollution spread. If it did, it wouldn’t just affect the Mountain City—other regions of Kunlun would likely be impacted as well. By then, it would be truly irreversible.

Jia Jia was aware of this too, which was why he had proposed the solution without waiting for Zhong Qian to speak up—though he was also quite keen to absorb the pollution.

Since he began absorbing the pollution, Jia Jia hadn't moved at all.

They had agreed that every few minutes, Jia Jia would move a tentacle or make a gesture to show that he was still conscious and okay.

But ten minutes had passed...

The colossal being beneath them hadn't moved at all.

Zhong Qian’s expression grew increasingly grim, his entire body radiating a cold intensity.

Song Bao seemed to sense something was wrong too. She huddled silently in Flower’s embrace, using its body to block the drizzle, silently praying for Jia Jia to change back soon.

...

Jia Jia heard Zhong Qian and Song Bao’s conversation but couldn’t respond.

The blood moon in the sky quietly closed its eyes.

Since beginning to absorb the pollution, Jia Jia felt as if he had drifted into a sweet dream, floating and swimming in a deep comfort.

Even though he kept warning himself not to get lost in it, he couldn’t help but be enveloped by the familiar and safe sensation surrounding him.

When he opened his eyes again,

His body and soul seemed to be adrift in a sea of stars. Jia Jia’s red pupils lifted slightly, then lowered as he felt a wave of confusion.

How strange.

Why did it seem like he had turned back into a cloud?

But this mist was different.

It was like a wisp of mist floating in the universe, surrounded by endless darkness and starlight. Within him, countless dark red stars twinkled faintly, and the edges of the mist drifted gently.

With a single thought,

the mist and starlight seemed to pulse with his every breath.

This was truly him.

Fascinated, Jia Jia observed, examined, and played with his new form, feeling a brief moment of regret as he gazed at the dark starlight.

What a shame it wasn’t colorful. How wonderful it would be if it shimmered with all the hues of the stars.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. After a brief moment of regret, Jia Jia pushed the thought aside and spent some time getting used to his current body and situation.

There was nothing wrong with his body, and his original form was fine too.

His lack of movement was simply because the pollution energy his body had absorbed was too intense and abundant, affecting his soul and temporarily preventing him from returning to his original form.

Jia Jia tried a few times to return to his body but failed. Unfazed, he guessed that he would need to fully digest the energy and resolve the fragmentation of his being before he could go back.

So, Jia Jia closed his eyes and began rapidly absorbing the immense energy.