Chapter 83: Star Monoliths

Chapter 83: Star Monoliths

Boom—!

Following four thunderous explosions.

Four pitch-black obelisks, their surfaces crisscrossed with blood vessel–like crimson patterns, suddenly tore through the clouds.

Like javelins hurled down by the gods themselves, they slammed heavily into the nearby coastal beaches surrounding the Embers Base.

And the moment these four obelisks struck the ground, a certain kind of special high-frequency hum immediately spread outward in complete silence.

Before long, the once-calm sea around the Embers Base began to churn and surge.

Those within the base—the Children of the Stars—were also affected by this strange sound, each showing varying degrees of abnormal reactions.

“Tendou… my Star Core is agitated.”

Chen Xing gripped the hilt of the blade at her waist, forcibly pressing it back as the blade had already slid halfway out of its scabbard on its own.

“Ugh!”

Starlight flickered uncontrollably within Jing Liuli’s pale violet, vertical pupils. The Dreamy Illusionary Pillow beneath her, which had been hovering steadily, suddenly began to wobble as if drunk.

A moment later, her body went limp, and she nearly toppled headfirst off the Dreamy Illusionary Pillow.

Thankfully, Tendou reacted in time, reaching out to support her shoulder and preventing her from crashing to the ground.

“…”

Tendou looked toward a certain direction outside the base, his expression grim.

Although he had anticipated the effects of the Star Monoliths to some extent, it seemed he had still underestimated just how strongly they would affect both Starbeasts and the Children of the Stars.

“Aaaah—!”

Just as Chen Xing and the others were still confused about the source of their discomfort—a Children of the Stars within the crowd suddenly let out a furious roar.

Immediately afterward, something went terribly wrong with his body.

His form hunched uncontrollably as his back tore open with a rip, sprouting countless sharp blades that gleamed with an oily, insect-like green sheen.

After shredding through the uniform on his back, those blades interlocked and overlapped—until they formed a single, independent blade-wing, thin as a cicada’s wing.

And aside from the grotesque blade-wing on his back, two green antennae suddenly sprouted from his forehead.

Dense green patterns surfaced along his arms, which were soon covered by a layer of pale-green insect carapace, from which long, narrow blades extended—resembling the forelimbs of a praying mantis.

“Zack!”

Seeing the drastic change in this Children of the Stars, another rushed forward, intending to help him calm down and suppress his Star Core, the Thousand-Blade Mantis, preventing further mutation.

But Zack, already trapped in a full Star Core rampage, had completely lost his rationality.

As he saw his companion approach, the blade-wing on his back slashed out violently—clearly intending to cleave him in half.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the other Children of the Stars had no time to react.

After all, Zack—ranked No. 11 among the Children of the Stars—wielded the Thousand-Blade Mantis Star Core, which is famed for its speed and sharpness.

Faced with Zack’s abrupt assault, all the victim saw was a flash of cold light rushing toward him—with no chance to mount any effective defense.

Clang!

At the critical moment, Tendou instantly blinked into place in front of him, gripping Zack’s bladed wing with one hand.

Staring at Zack’s twisted face and crazed eyes, Tendou spoke coldly:

“Calm down, Zack. Don’t let the Star Core control you. Remember—you’re human, not a beast.”

But Zack, now completely berserk, clearly couldn’t hear a word.

Ignoring Tendou’s warning, he raised the mantis-like arm that had fully transformed into a blade and slashed viciously toward Tendou’s waist.

In response, Tendou’s figure blurred and reappeared behind him in an instant.

Bang—!

Amid the sound of cracking concrete, Tendou pressed one hand against the back of Zack’s head and smashed him straight into the hardened ground. At the same time, he drove a knee down onto the bladed wing on Zack’s back, pinning it firmly in place and preventing him from harming anyone further.

Not only that, Tendou also wrenched Zack’s twin mantis-blade arms behind his back. With his left hand, he tightly gripped the point where the two crossed wrists met, completely subduing the irrational man.

Even so, Zack—his head bloodied—continued to struggle violently.

Unfortunately for him, his strength was far too insignificant compared to Tendou’s; he had no chance of breaking free from the hold.

“Liuli.”

Hearing Tendou call her name, Jing Liuli—who had been frozen in a daze for a long moment—snapped back to her senses.

She rode the Dreamy Illusionary Pillow over to Tendou’s side and said nervously, “T-Tendou— tell me, what do you need?”

“Make this idiot sleep for a while.”

“O-Okay.”

Jing Liuli extended both hands. Several dreamy, illusory purple light-butterflies fluttered out from the sleeves of her pajamas, sprinkling a dusting of violet, phosphorescent powder onto Zack’s face.

Moments later, under the effects of the Dream Spirit Powder, the madness in Zack’s eyes gradually faded, and he finally closed them, falling into a deep sleep.

As his consciousness sank into silence, the physical mutations caused by the Star Core rampage slowly receded from his body, restoring him to his normal appearance.

Seeing this, Tendou stood up and shook his wrists.

Then he looked toward the unlucky Children of the Stars who had nearly been cut down by Zack and said, “You—come here. Carry this idiot back to the underground core area of the base first, and stay inside there with him. Don’t come out casually.”

“There are high-grade star energy shielding devices installed by the Doctor there. They can block the influence of the Star Monoliths from outside and prevent both him and you from falling into a Star Core rampage.”

“O-Okay, got it.”

The Children of the Stars whom Tendou had just saved—having narrowly escaped death—immediately hoisted Zack onto his back and rushed toward the underground base.

After dealing with this unexpected incident, Tendou straightened up and surveyed the rest of the Children of the Stars.

At present, only Zack had lost control of the Star Core within his body and gone berserk.

But that didn’t mean he was the only one facing this danger.

After all, every Children of the Stars who had undergone Star Core surgery was, in essence, a being that was half human and half Starbeast.

Aside from Zack and the companion who had taken him away, as well as Chen Kong—the dead last, ranked No. 36 among the Children of the Stars—every Children of the Stars still present on the field was a top-ten powerhouse within the Stellaris Program.

Yet even among this group of exceptionally gifted little monsters, quite a few had begun to display symptoms similar to Zack’s Star Core rampage.

Some wore twisted expressions, as if struggling against something within themselves.

Others were drenched in sweat, their willpower clearly approaching its breaking point.

Seeing this, Tendou immediately spoke in a tone that brooked no argument:

“Except for Kong, everyone ranked below fifth—do exactly what Zack did. Get to the core area of the base and hide there.”

“Staying here won’t help. You’ll only become a liability.”

“Yes.”

“O-Okay.”

There were no questions. No objections.

All of the Children of the Stars ranked below fifth moved at once.

This was their absolute trust in Tendou—and their absolute obedience.

Once those ranked below fifth had all departed, only a few Children of the Stars remained by Tendou’s side:

No. 2 Chen Xing, No. 3 Jing Liuli, No. 5 Yagami Rin, and finally No. 36 Chen Kong.

Seeing this lineup, Tendou rubbed his temples with a headache.

“Sigh… if only Caroline were here. Her Heavenly Mechanism Base Station could effectively block Star Core Resonance within a hundred-meter radius.”

“Even if it still wouldn’t completely eliminate the root cause of these idiots’ condition, at least it wouldn’t force them to hide in the core area and waste so much combat power.”

Hearing this, Jing Liuli—who had just recovered after pushing through the Star Core resonance—immediately asked with the curiosity of a wide-eyed child:

“Tendou, what exactly is this Star Core Resonance you’re talking about?”

The Stellaris world was filled with wonders, and the ways star energy could be applied were countless.

Although the Children of the Stars had studied a great deal about star energy, that didn’t mean they knew everything there was to know about it.

Thus, those curious about the Star Monoliths and Star Core Resonance were not limited to Jing Liuli alone—Chen Xing and the others nearby were just as interested.

In response, Tendou didn’t keep them in suspense.

He directly began explaining what the Star Monoliths were and what exactly Star Core Resonance meant.

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