novelraw Chapter 321: Ancient Nest, Tuning Solution of the Moth Mimic
Chapter 321: Ancient Nest, Tuning Solution of the Moth Mimic
[…]
[After traveling underground for a long time, the tremors subsided, and the flesh membranes on both sides of the Courier Mole Cricket’s abdominal cavity opened…]
[The gray-bright light spilling from above was extremely faint. You looked up and saw that the fluorescent fungi clinging to the stone ceiling were very sparse. This was a sign of great depth underground.]
[The deeper the underground space, the rarer the fluorescent fungi. Beyond a certain depth, this species of fungus would disappear entirely, plunging all into perpetual darkness.]
[Relying on the dim glow, you could barely make out the distant shape of the Abandoned Ancient Nest…]
[It was a massive gray-white spherical structure. The outer facade of the building was covered with scorch marks left by burning. Many thick conduits extended from the spherical surface and connected with the ground, making the spherical building exceptionally stable.]
[You left the abdominal cavity and stepped toward the Abandoned Ancient Nest…]
[You arrived before the vast, sphere-shaped structure.]
[The material of the entrance door was very peculiar. The surface had longitudinal, undulating grooves. Lightly stroking it felt supple like living flesh. Pressing harder, you could feel a hard framework inside supporting it, like bone.]
[You flared your nostrils and faintly smelled the stench of rotting corpses.][After a brief hesitation, you slowly pushed open the door…]
[At once, a flood of nauseating, acrid gases spilled from the crack. The stench was so foul it made it hard for you to keep your eyes open.]
[Enduring the discomfort, you squeezed inside…]
[Before you stretched a ring-shaped space in ashen hues. The wall material was identical to that of the door, and embedded on both sides of the walls were the containers you were familiar with, incubation sacs.]
[Only most of the incubation sacs had their membranes violently torn open, and the ‘children’ within were nowhere to be seen, leaving only the ground littered with a viscous, fetid fluid like amniotic liquid.]
[You proceeded along the passage and, after walking for a long time, finally saw an intact incubation sac.]
[The ‘child’ inside the sac had been dead for a long while. The corpse remained soaked in the liquid, rotted beyond recognition. Calling it rotten meat would be a compliment.]
[After observing for a long time and seeing nothing unusual, you were about to move on…]
[Suddenly, you remembered something and quickly stopped, returning before the incubation sac for a closer look.]
[The ‘child’ had decayed into an indescribable mass of flesh. Floating in the amniotic fluid were fragments of the shell it had worn in life.]
[To your surprise, the shell was not the gray-white unique to Ascended ones, but the jet-black luster of Aberrants.]
[You identified the shell’s shape, trying hard to piece together in your mind the child’s complete form… it was an Aberrant like Kim, covered all over in jet-black carapace.]
Lin Xun frowned.
Could this Ancient Nest before his eyes not be an abandoned armory left by the Desire Wet Nurse, but rather something left behind by the Primordial Firefly?
“No, that cannot be right. The description in Return to the Nest clearly states this is the Desire Wet Nurse’s leftover favor.”
Unable to figure it out, he simply continued exploring.
[…]
[Along the way, you found several more intact incubation sacs. The children inside were the same as you had seen before: Aberrants rotted beyond recognition.]
[You gradually reached the other end of the circular passage, where there was a flesh-constructed facility shaped like an elevator car.]
[In front of the elevator, a uniquely shaped treasure chest sat quietly.]
[The chest’s material was similar to that of the door and walls, all carrying a peculiar ‘vitality.’]
[Will you open the chest, or bypass it to board the elevator?]
The appearance of this chest was far too suspicious, clearly abnormal.
The Hellish game had played treasure chests to death, with all manner of traps emerging in an endless stream. He had suffered greatly from them. Saying he had treasure-chest PTSD was no exaggeration.
Lin Xun narrowed his eyes. After a brief thought, a plan came to mind.
In reality he summoned the shikigami Snow Woman, instructed her, and then sent her back into the game.
[You possessed the shell of the Fire-Worshipping Palace Master of Iya Palace!]
[You waved the Purifying Exorcism Wand. The shikigami Origin-Tracing Snow Woman of the Mountain responded to your summons and appeared.]
[As instructed, the Snow Woman strode forward toward the chest…]
[You possessed the shell of the Corrupted Earth Giant!]
[Unobtrusively, you stepped back a few paces, grasping the Ancient Dragonfang Greatclub in one hand and the Tachi: Eight Views Welcome Evil in the other, crossing the two weapons before you, fully on guard…]
[The Snow Woman reached the chest, glanced back at you with a hint of grievance in her eyes, then decisively opened the chest…]
[After the chest opened, no trap you imagined appeared.]
[The Snow Woman reached into the chest and scooped out a glittering object, then walked toward you…]
[Just then, a huge shadow dropped from above. A varicolored, highly venomous barbed stinger struck at the shikigami Snow Woman.]
[The Snow Woman had been cautious all along. Hearing the rush of wind overhead, she unhesitatingly dissolved into a swirl of icy mist and snow, evading the killing blow.]
[The snowy mist drifted back to your side and took the form of a woman once more. The Snow Woman patted her chest and looked toward the massive shadow that had attacked her.]
[It was a giant Ascended one shaped like a moth. Its pair of scaled wings, in both color and pattern, looked identical to the material of the domed ceiling, making it difficult to distinguish with the naked eye.]
[The Ascended one’s six walking legs were slender and sharp, like long, pointed spears. At the end of its abdomen was a sharp barbed stinger whose varicolored sheen proclaimed a touch-and-die poison.]
[You discovered the Ascended Moth Mimic!]
[The Moth Mimic missed with its first strike and immediately beat its scaled wings, swooping at you again…]
[With a furious shout, you braced your feet against the ground as brutal strength flooded your entire body!]
[You raised the Ancient Dragonfang Greatclub and brought it down with all your might…]
[Accessory Trait Titan’s Might triggered!]
[That attack inflicted a power crush upon the enemy, triggering the Stun effect within Titan’s Might!]
[A sky-towering giant’s phantom appeared behind you, gripping the weapon with you, and crashed down with force…]
[A thunderous boom!]
[The Moth Mimic was smashed into the ground without any power to resist. It seemed to try to flap its scaled wings to escape the pit, but the wings did not seem to heed control and beat about randomly. Not only did it fail to get out, it sank deeper and deeper…]
[…]
[As the wingbeats grew weaker, the Moth Mimic twitched a few times and then fell still…]
[You defeated the Ascended Moth Mimic. Experience increased slightly!]
[You obtained Large Chunk Spirit Essence of Insight ×1]
[You looked at the corpse of the moth-shaped Ascended one…]
[Shell of the Ascended Moth Mimic: An Ascended one mixed in the initial batch within the Ancient Nest, possessing solid mimicry and toxicity. Unfortunately, because the scaled wings were fragile and the body was huge, it fit neither the needs of war nor of stealth assassination, and it was gradually eliminated. Compatibility: 66% (+55%)]
“Barely counts as an elite monster.”
Lin Xun shook his head, feeling this hidden map was a bit too easy.
If all the monsters in the Ancient Nest were at this level, then with the Greedy Wolf Star Lord or Ninja Master shells, would he not just steamroll?
[The shikigami Snow Woman handed you the item scooped from the chest…]
[You obtained the Moth Mimic’s Ritual Blood (special item)!]
[Moth Mimic’s Tuning Solution (special item): The bottle contains a tuning solution used for Ascension advancement, with tiny egg-shaped objects floating within.]
[Using this item, you will have a chance to enter the Ascension process of the Moth Mimic!]
[Ascension progress is related to your shell’s compatibility. During Ascension, compatibility will gradually fall. When compatibility drops to the possession threshold, the Ascension process will be forcibly terminated.]
[Please note that Ascension can fail. Although successful Ascension can strengthen the shell, it will change the shell prefix and shell form. Use this item with caution!]
Lin Xun studied the item description, thoughtful.
This item seemed to be an advanced version of Ritual Blood, usable to strengthen a shell.
As Ascension proceeded, the shell’s appearance would change accordingly, until compatibility dropped to the brink of being unable to possess.
Therefore, the higher the compatibility of the shell, the greater the strengthening it could undergo.
Judging from text alone, it was impossible to precisely understand the strengthening effect of the Tuning Solution.
Lin Xun decided to try it first with the maggot-person shell. After all, the Moth Mimic did not seem strong, and the maggot-person conveniently had the ability to regress and reset.
Ascension Tuning Solution had a certain failure chance, but he possessed a fate-changing artifact and could handle such lotteries with ease.
[…]
[You possessed the shell of the Ascended Maggot-person!]
[You used the Moth Mimic’s Tuning Solution (special item)!]
[A wave of pain suffused your entire body. Your skin slowly peeled and molted, replaced by a sturdy, furred integument…]
[Ascension in progress…]
Lin Xun fixed his eyes on the compatibility value in the Shell Panel.
The Scytheblade’s original compatibility, after talent boosts, had reached 86.
After the maggot-person shed the Scytheblade outer shell and reset, its shell quality fell to Ordinary, but compatibility rose drastically to a staggering 135% (+55%).
In other words, there was 55% excess compatibility available to fall during Ascension.
“I wonder how far 55% excess compatibility can strengthen the shell.”
While watching the compatibility value, Lin Xun also read the game text.
[You could not help crying out in pain and curled up on the ground…]
[The skin on your back tore, wings of scales sprouted, and your hands and feet became slender, sharp walking legs…]
“Eh?”
Lin Xun let out a puzzled sound.
The compatibility value held steady at 135% and did not drop in the slightest due to the form-changing Ascension.
“The Hellish game bugged out ag… no.”
“Damn, I almost forgot. Thousand Faces, Ten Thousand Forms can lock the panel.”
Only now did Lin Xun recall that his soul talent had a Panel Lock function he rarely used.
Calling it a Panel Lock was not entirely precise. Strictly speaking, the compatibility value of the shell he possessed could only rise, not fall.
For example, after the little dragonkin advanced its bloodline and increasingly resembled a Western dragon, the compatibility value never changed and remained at the initial possession state.
Otherwise, the little dragonkin shell’s compatibility would long since have dropped below 80%, making it impossible to possess.
“In that case, does this mean the maggot-person shell can ascend to the Tuning Solution’s extreme final form?”
[Your clearly black-and-white pupils transformed into compound eyes. Your lips also changed into a siphoning mouthpart…]
[Your body gradually swelled, changing from a thin humanoid into a giant moth…]
[…]
[Ascension successful!]
[You have advanced from the Ascended Maggot-person to the complete-form Ascended Moth Mimic!]
Lin Xun opened the panel to check attributes.
[Shell – Ascended Moth Mimic]
[True Name: Bone-Shatter]
[Compatibility: 135% (+55%). Compatibility exceeded the threshold, shell quality increased!]
[Shell Quality: Epic]
[Shell Level: 67 (+37)]
[Shell Equipment: None]
[Shell Skill: Return to the Nest (special skill): …]
[Shell Skill: Molting (special skill): …]
[Shell Skill: Environmental Mimicry (Rare+ skill): Use this skill to simulate the surrounding environment’s colors and patterns to deceive the naked eye, preventing enemies from perceiving your presence.]
[Shell Skill: Venomous Stinger (Rare+ skill): Use this skill to attack the enemy with the abdominal stinger connected to your internal venom glands, injecting poisonous venom.]
The shell quality rose from the maggot-person’s former Ordinary to Rare+. With compatibility’s blessing, the shell quality rose again, advancing to Epic quality, and two additional skills were gained.
It had to be said, the Tuning Solution was far superior to Ritual Blood.
Ritual Blood could only carry out the first stage of Ascension, and the resulting shell quality was still terrible, whereas the Tuning Solution could ascend directly to the final form, going from Ordinary straight to Epic.
“The only part that feels a bit awkward is that this shell has no human look at all now. It is just a giant moth with a stinger.”
“According to the text, the moth’s body is also very large… there is no way to manifest this in reality.”
Lin Xun scratched his head. If he wanted to manifest a giant moth, he would have to let the Snow Woman or Nurarihyon guest-star as the trainer while he played the Pokémon.
Having a summoned creature be a giant moth is perfectly reasonable.
“This kind of Tuning Solution can upgrade shell quality and even grant skills. It should be a very rare item.”
“I wonder how far other Apostles can ascend… Even if it only grows an extra pair of wings or some special organ, even without improving shell quality, it still has considerable value.”
After weighing the maggot-person’s new form, Lin Xun switched to the Greedy Wolf Star Lord shell and continued exploring.
[…]
[You boarded the elevator-like facility alone. The car vibrated slightly and began to rise slowly…]
[As the car rose, you arrived at the nest’s second level.]
[This was still a ring-shaped, sealed corridor. Most of the incubation sacs on both sides were damaged and empty within.]
[You stepped off the car and followed the passage, seeing only a few incubation sacs with silhouettes floating inside.]
[You strode forward and peered carefully through the semi-transparent membrane…]
[Inside the incubation sac was a naked human with eyes closed. Nowhere on its body could any insect organs be seen. Compared with a normal person, there was no difference.]
[You discovered the Ascended First-Generation Parasite!]
Lin Xun frowned.
“Parasite?”
He had a vague premonition that an extraordinary secret was hidden within the Abandoned Ancient Nest.