Chapter 103: The Stitched-Face Monstrosity

“The Psychic Entity has emerged. Recommend immediate elimination.”

Han Bing’s voice came through the channel.

Lu Xin nodded, understanding her words.

He still wasn’t entirely clear on what kind of organization the Church of Technology actually was, let alone why Han Bing had become so tense upon seeing this “probable construct of the Church of Technology,” the white orb. But that didn’t hinder his work.

Under normal circumstances, locating its Logic Chain and Core Key before eliminating the Psychic Entity would be necessary.

But now, since the Psychic Entity had already manifested, naturally, just eliminating it would mitigate the situation.

……

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Lu Xin had already leaped high into the air.

Little Sister crouched on his shoulder, making his movements as agile as a spider’s.

Almost instantly upon surging forward, he reached the Psychic Entity. Facing the numerous ferocious faces lining the creature’s body, all silently screaming at him simultaneously, Lu Xin merely frowned before yanking his hands down.

Riiiiiip!

He grabbed hold of two faces, using them as leverage to tear apart the entity.

That dull sound, like thick paper being ripped, was likely a form of Auditory Hallucination.

Normally, a Psychic Entity being torn apart wouldn’t produce any sound.

But this Psychic Entity was clearly ripped in two. It seemed to feel Fear and pain as its halves rapidly tried to flee in opposite directions. One creature seemed to have been torn into two separate monsters by Lu Xin…

Before Lu Xin could even hesitate, Gecko’s voice crackled in the channel.

“Bro, I’ll take the left one.”

Tie Cui had probably patched Gecko’s channel through.

Lu Xin immediately nodded, planting his feet on the shoulders of the surrounding wooden post-like humans for leverage as he sprinted forward. His speed was extreme. In just a few strides, he caught up to the right “half” of the Psychic Entity, simultaneously thrusting his hand out to grasp it.

Psychic Entities possessed Life characteristics and a stable structure.

Tearing them sufficiently would cause them to dissipate.

Bang!

At the same instant, a gunshot echoed in the distance.

The entity fleeing leftwards was struck by a bullet the very next moment.

The bullet looked peculiar, roughly a finger-length, entirely black, lacking metallic sheen, resembling ink more than anything.

When this bullet struck the Psychic Entity, it shattered. Simultaneously, intense Electric Arcs instantly intertwined and spread out, forming a massive ball of electricity that enveloped most of the Psychic Entity.

That half of the Psychic Entity dissolved and decomposed like thrown snow meeting boiling water.

……

“Ahh, the electro-plasma rounds developed by the Lunar Eclipse Research Institute are really effective. Too bad they can’t be requested casually…” Gecko’s laughter could be heard in the channel. “Linda, let’s just say I fired twice when we get back, okay?”

Linda’s usually cold voice held a trace of relief. “Don’t corrupt the newbie and the underage girl.”

Who’s the underage girl? Lu Xin wondered.

Simultaneously, he landed above the remaining Psychic Entity before him and thrust both hands downward.

Gecko had mentioned before that Spider-Type Ability Users should use firearms.

That made sense.

For instance, right now, his speed in dealing with the monster was noticeably slower than Gecko’s.

Although he hadn’t received much training yet, he could discern an issue: compared to Doll, Drunkard, and others, Spider-Types like himself and Gecko possessed abilities oriented more towards enhancing their own bodies. This made handling large-scale situations difficult. Of course, Spider-Types had their strengths: extensive adaptability and the capacity to wield varied weaponry.

The only real pity was that Little Sister disliked guns.

……

Shrrrriiiiik!

As this thought flashed through his mind, Lu Xin seized the Psychic Entity and tore viciously.

This Psychic Entity seemed weaker than the cafe Psychic Entity he’d previously encountered, and even weaker than the Qin Ran-related 041 Human-Fruit Tree. It showed no Desire to retaliate and felt far less sturdy. Lu Xin caught it as intended and tore away a substantial portion of its body. Visibly, only a small fragment of the Psychic Entity now remained.

Structurally, only an intact human torso plus three arms and four legs remained.

Disjointed and unnervingly Anomalous.

However, Lu Xin didn’t expect that the tiny portion remaining, bearing a face and a half on its body, would suddenly open its mouths simultaneously, as if issuing a cry of agony. Simultaneously, it stepped on the underlying “human posts” and scrambled frantically forward.

Wherever it crawled, various human faces with expressions were continuously brought out and integrated into its body, causing it to rapidly expand in size once more. Those stripped of the “face” objects began dropping to the ground woodenly, lifeless and silent. Consequently, as it crawled past, people fell in swathes while it grew ever larger.

“Something’s off…”

Witnessing this scene, Lu Xin suddenly stiffened, murmuring under his breath.

From the comm channel, Han Bing’s tense voice came through, “What is it?”

……

“Hold on—how’d that monster get bigger again?”

On the High Wall’s battlements, a figure codenamed Gecko also seemed to have noticed the issue, crying out in alarm: “The readings on the detector keep climbing…”

“This Psychic Entity appears capable of siphoning Mental Power from those around it…”

Having uncovered the truth, Lu Xin’s expression tightened with tension. His figure accelerated as he charged toward the monstrosity.

Swish—

In a flash, he tore out a portion from the entity’s back. But the creature ignored the attack, plunging straight into the densely packed masses beneath the High Wall. The immense crowd had transformed into its ocean. As it burrowed deep into this sea of humanity, every body it passed over had its Mental Power ripped away—taking physical form as additional faces incorporated into its evolving form. Thus, its bulk expanded remorselessly.

Faces now covered its enlarging frame. Each time Lu Xin tore away a segment, more faces merged into the whole. Many of those visages turned to watch Lu Xin himself, displaying expressions of either thrill or rage—several even stuck out their tongues at him.

“A Growth-Type Entity…”

“If it can grow by assimilating the crowd’s Mental Power below the wall, wouldn’t that mean…”

“…”

Across the comms, the Information Analysis Team’s voices registered equal shock.

Tie Cui’s frantic shout broke through: “Impossible! No Psychic Entity assimilates Mental Power this rapidly! Higher Contamination levels ease integration—but even an A-level contaminated could never…”

“Then again… it’s tied to the Church of Technology. Unholiness comes with the territory,” Gecko’s voice cut in sharply. “But you’d better diagnose this fast—something’s setting off alarm bells…”

His words were punctuated by the heavy, sickening rhythm of specialized gunfire.

Bang!

Projectiles flew increasingly from Gecko’s weapon, each striking the Psychic Entity with precision.

Every impact erupted into a blinding burst of Electric Arc, vaporizing a fragment of the monster’s form. Meanwhile, each grasp from Lu Xin tore chunks of matter away. Yet despite their synchronized assault, the entity relentlessly swelled. What had begun as four to five fused faces soon ballooned to dozens—then scores.

Within moments, the monstrosity towered three to four meters high and stretched seven to eight meters long—a grotesque tapestry of human visages writhing and twisting, each sporting its own distinct, distorted Emotion.

“Psychic Magnitude reading three hundred…”

“Five hundred…”

“Thousand…”

Beside the wasteland’s edge, an equipped squad monitoring Psychic Magnitude gaped at their display. Their expressions were ghost-pale; their voices choked and uneven.

“Critical! The entity’s Magnitude is nearing two thousand…”

“My god—that’s hitting C-level…”

“At this rate, it’ll hit B-level in five minutes—A-level in maybe twenty!”

“Quit speculating! Transmit a Level One Alert to Headquarters—NOW!”