The tentacle monster let out a scream that was far beyond the limits of human hearing. The fat worm larvae, which had been desperately avoiding the wormhole just moments before, now surged toward it like moths drawn to a flame.
Crackle, sizzle.
Their bodies burst into clouds of thick green mist under the impulsive purple light.
The mist was sucked into the wormhole, forming a swirling green vortex.
An overwhelming tide of fat worm larvae, ignoring the Federation warships and mechs, rushed headlong to throw themselves into the green mist.
On the ground, a mobile fortress exploded open.
A fat worm stretched its mouth wide, and the black beetles lined up to march inside.
The skin of its belly stretched so thin it became transparent, revealing the green mucus flowing within.
The entire scene felt like a sacrifice, and it sent chills down the spines of everyone watching in the live stream.
Mannheim leaned sideways, closer to Kaelin Reno, and covered her mouth with her hand as she whispered, “So they even have this sacrificial trick up their sleeve? Who is this tentacle monster? It should be at least A-class, right?”
Kaelin Reno’s expression was grim. She knew that certain people were also watching this match.
Bishop’s performance hadn’t been bad, but it wasn’t good enough, either.
“If even you, Mannheim, don’t know, how could I possibly know?”
Mannheim chuckled softly and tried to comfort her, “Your nephew has already been chosen by those people. He’ll carry on the Reno family’s glory. Even if your son isn’t chosen, it’s no big deal. He can always compete for the position of student council president.”
Kaelin Reno gave a stiff, fake smile. “You’re right. I heard you’re trying to recruit Li Hao into the Republican Party? I wish you luck.”
The two of them had nothing more to say to each other. They both turned their gazes back to the arena, almost in unison.
The sky was clear, with light, fluffy clouds drifting by.
The rampaging monsters were nowhere to be seen. The only thing left was the massive wormhole in the sky, expanding at an alarming speed.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The entire planet seemed to pulse with the heartbeat of some unknown, unfathomable entity.
The tentacles, which Fanfan had nearly eaten entirely, swelled up like they were being inflated, becoming enormous.
The air was thick with tension, like a cold wave silently seeping into every corner, sending shivers down everyone’s spine.
Finally, the wormhole, compressed to its absolute limit, let out a sharp crackle. A monster squeezed its way out from within.
This creature was twenty meters long and had twelve tentacles, each over thirty meters in length.
These tentacles were flexible, covered in suckers, and semi-transparent. The suckers flickered with faint, pulsing halos of light.
Its main body was also semi-transparent, as if made of a gel-like substance. Inside, you could vaguely see flowing, dark purple energy channels, glowing like living nerve bundles.
When it stepped fully out of the wormhole, everyone seemed to hear a whisper from the depths of the starry sea — mysterious and filled with an overwhelming sense of majesty.
Bishop felt like his body no longer belonged to him. His soul was detaching from this useless shell, drifting upward toward heaven.
Inside the live stream, any viewer with a mental power below B-class was instantly kicked offline by Nuwa.
The B-class viewers were still struggling to hold on, swaying back and forth between reality and illusion.
Only viewers above A-class could maintain long periods of clarity.
Old Man Cao, the fanatic, fed himself a dose of mental recovery potion. His speech was slow and measured, each word carefully considered before he spoke it.
“This tentacle monster specializes in mental attacks. Even through the Star Network, we’re being affected. That just shows how powerful it is.”
Rio’s brow was deeply furrowed, his eyes filled with gravity. “We humans have developed less than one ten-thousandth of our mental potential. Our technology has reached the age of interstellar voyaging, but our use of mental power is still stuck in a primitive era.”
“I can’t imagine how the contestants in this match are supposed to turn things around. I can say, with all responsibility, that even if a flag-rank officer came here, they wouldn’t be able to handle this.”
Old Man Cao watched Lin Xiaohe clinging desperately to the tentacle monster and asked, “What about Lin Xiaohe? Is there any chance she could change the situation?”
Rio shook his head. “I don’t know how she got into the arena in the first place. But don’t forget, her mental power is only rank 1.”
At the same time, in a secret observation post, a group of people wearing virtual masks was also watching the match.
They sat in a large circle, and in the center, a mysterious, glowing blue emblem hovered in the air.
“Bishop isn’t as good as his older cousin. Li Hao is calm, sure, but his actual ability just isn’t there. Sigh. The students at the Central Military Academy are getting worse with each intake.”
“Better to go without than to settle for someone unqualified. If there aren’t any suitable candidates, then so be it.”
“What’s going on with Lin Xiaohe? How did she get into the Star Network?”
One of the masked people flipped through some data and replied, “According to Nuwa’s records, Lin Xiaohe has managed to control four Stardust Mutant Plants. One of them has an ability related to networks.”
“What a pity,” another masked person said, with a hint of regret in their voice.
A young person who could control four Stardust Mutant Plants by the age of eighteen would normally have a brilliant future ahead of them, potentially becoming one of their youngest members.
But unfortunately, Lin Xiaohe had suffered mental damage on Haige Star. Within a year, she would become fertilizer for her Stardust Mutant Plants.
There was no point wasting everyone’s energy on someone who was as good as dead.
The masked person looked at the tentacle monster on the virtual screen and frowned. “How did Nuwa manage to simulate that thing? In reality, we lost ten special ops teams and still couldn’t break through its mental barrier. It only left on its own, and that’s how we managed to hold the line. Does Nuwa really think these students can defeat the Abyss Gazer?”
“Kepler-503 Arena is different from the other Star Network arenas. Nuwa is using a new nebula technology over there. Most of its computing power is dedicated to simulation.”
Based on the existing data, it’s simulating the Abyss Gazer’s abilities and its evolutionary path.
Inside the arena, the Abyss Gazer’s purple light traveled down its main body, through its twelve tentacles, and then through the dense clusters of suckers on those tentacles, broadcasting outward like a horn, spreading across the entire planet.
“There it is. Its ultimate move: Mind Scream!”
In the past, under this ultimate move, three A-class Stardust Creature Controllers had their mental seas collapse and were devoured by their own Stardust Creatures!
None of the masked people had expected the Abyss Gazer to open the fight with its ultimate move right away.
Sure enough, such a high-intensity mental shockwave was devastating!
Ordinary people with mental power below B-class had their brains explode like stomped watermelons, gore and gray matter splattering everywhere!
Civilians and soldiers with A or B-class mental power fell into a deep coma.
Even the officers above S-class who remained conscious had fear branded deep into their minds. They couldn’t muster even a single thought of resistance.
Warships and mechs suffered severe electromagnetic interference. Some of their more fragile electronic components were completely fried.
Nuwa: “200,000 points deducted. 130,000 points deducted. 1,000,000 points deducted…”
“OH COME ON!!” Lin Xiaohe was furious.
The points getting deducted were already more than her own savings!
With this pitiful point total, could she still win the championship?!
“You just wait. If the tiger doesn’t show its teeth, people think it’s a sick cat!”
Lin Xiaohe got serious. She got fierce. She pulled out her secret weapon!
