He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

Chapter 97 Metamorphosis: Sublimation of Flesh and Blood / "Remnant Machine"

The original site of Kane Street.

The gray courtyard is now open.

Ai doesn't consider himself a cunning and wicked person, but he always enjoys things that are "fun".

For example, this time, not only did we blatantly seize a piece of land on the outskirts of the city, but the foundation should thank us.

"You agree, right?"

With her naturally friendly nature amplified, the fox patted Ronan on the shoulder with a mischievous grin. Ronan was clearly still confused and didn't understand the situation. Ai thought about it again and felt that keeping him by her side was a little inconvenient, so she pointed to Mia, who was still unconscious next to her.

"Aren't we going to take care of our teammates first?"

—Who's your teammate?————

Ronan stared at the fox with a forced smile for a long time, feeling that the fox had ill intentions, but he still didn't dare to say it out loud. He just silently stood up, helped the antler girl lean against a vertical rock, and carefully examined her mental state by prying open her eyes.

—Since the culprit worms were already at large, and the newly emerged taboos had no intention of harming them—Mia's out-of-control symptoms did not continue to develop, so at least she was not in mortal danger.

Ronan finally breathed a sigh of relief; his mind was about to explode.

In just a few hours, the situation has been completely reshuffled and is completely out of control. But there is no doubt that the weakest force among the various parties on the field is himself and Mia.

—As for that guy who calls himself "Ellen".

Ronan's lips twitched, and he involuntarily sighed.

The ghost will continue to treat him as a colleague!

Meanwhile, regarding the two pure deer-men who were already in his grasp and awaiting capture, Ai chose to put them aside for a while; he had some more important matters to attend to.

For example, that "creeping tunnel" that hasn't closed yet.

Following the trail of severed limbs and the dried, blackened blood beneath her feet, emitting an unbearable stench—Ai shielded herself with a layer of wind barrier and headed straight for the deepest part of the battlefield—it was here that the unresolved issues with the living bodies remained a problem.

He stopped in front of the snake. At this moment, Miya's body was also covered by a thin layer of gray matter. But unlike the worm that had been completely sealed in the severed arm, before him, from the snake's lower abdomen, a constantly writhing spiral formed a twisted void, and any gaze that fell upon it seemed to be drawn in and swallowed up.

This is an instinct of worms: the tunnels that only they can build and use are the worms' secret weapon for occupying invisible kingdoms in various places and even invading the real world, and it is also one of the characteristics on which they depend for survival.

"Staying here like this isn't a good solution—"

Ai frowned.

"Gray matter" is the quality that flows from the color of radiance. If we insist on waiting, once Gray Court is set up here, as long as Ai wants, he can block those worms that have not yet entered forever at the other end.

However—this feeling was like having a time bomb in the house; he always felt uneasy. Ai stroked his chin and pondered for a while, but in the end, it was the door that reminded him.

"Idiot, can't you just give them a heads-up? Even though you're inside the nest and can't contact the big boss, those worms outside—they're still gathered in that special corner of the Red Pool, deploying their forces—now, use this channel to pinpoint their location in reverse, and then send their coordinates directly to Anda. Imagine that—"

"Good idea."

They hit it off immediately and adopted it at lightning speed.

—If you were to tattle—

Ai thought for a moment, then opened her palm, revealing a short, bright red feather. Almost simultaneously, the writhing passage that had been locked in a tug-of-war with the gray matter visibly quieted down, and the twisted spirals began to rotate rapidly in the opposite direction, their volume suddenly shrinking—

It's obvious they're in a hurry to close down.

"Hmph, trying to escape?"

Ai grinned maliciously, grabbing one end of the short feather without any mercy and shoving it hard into the passage, then stirring it vigorously a couple of times.

"puff--"

A strange sound, like air leaking out, followed a moment later when the passage convulsively closed. The feather was thrown back as if it were something ominous, and the tingling sensation vanished without a trace in an instant—while faintly, Ai seemed to hear an excited dragon roar from a distance that was almost indistinguishable.

—Alright, the worms have run away.

Ai clapped her hands, secretly pleased.

Having been tainted and locked in by the aura of the Lord of Scales, they probably won't have a peaceful day for a long time.

Yay!

And then—

"Hey, little snake, do you still want this thing?"

Tapping his temples with his fingers, Ai shook his head, looking at the still intact snake body before him, while gently awakening the foreign soul within his vessel—at the same time, a soft, delicate voice also rang out in his mind.

"Um—"

The murmur sounded like she wasn't very interested, and it seemed that Miya was quite disgusted with this body—after all, it was a body that had been parasitized by worms. Even though they had all run away, it was like a house that had been wrecked by a toilet explosion. Even if it was cleaned up, she would still feel uncomfortable moving back in.

"So what are you going to do now? Living inside my body isn't a good idea—my pet bird needs its own space."

"Gurgle!"

The two gulls that had somehow landed on Ai's shoulder immediately agreed—originally, they had been quite disgusted with Miya, but ever since Pure White Mizuki had usurped the title of "Snake"...

Her physical form initially washed away the worm's scent, and the birds' impression of her improved somewhat.

But it's not much better.

"No, no, no, no—"

But the little snake kept pitifully muttering to itself, its rejection resolute. Ai thought about it and decided not to insist on kicking it out, treating it as having an extra beautiful girl by her side.

Let her stay here for two days.

"But we can't waste this stuff!"

Ai sighed, realizing she wasn't such a spendthrift. The living body before her, though now an empty shell and incapacitated, still possessed immense vitality—the previous barrage of attacks hadn't even taken away half of his health bar.

I definitely can't just throw it away like that. Although it's a bit disgusting that it's been infested with insects, as long as I overcome that mental hurdle, it's like a golden plate that's been crawled over by cockroaches—I can wash it clean and it's still usable.

That's one way of putting it.

Ai's eye twitched. He was actually a little disgusted, but he quickly found a more appropriate way to use it—melting it and refining it without losing its value should be an acceptable option.

It's best to disinfect it again.

Holding "Scales and Feathers" in her hand, Ai carefully used the flesh-editing power of the scale principle to envelop the entire body with the secret substance, and then dissolved and deconstructed it again—when the snake in front of her turned into a pool of invisible red liquid, the vivid color flowed with a terrifying life force.

Ai felt a pang of sadness for the lives of these innocent people, but that was all she felt.

"All that you have will be borne in my body."

A deep blue light rose in her eyes, and the red feather in her hand glowed faintly. As this thin layer of blood plasma swirled around Ai Yi, enveloping her like a hard cocoon, the power of transformation was revealed. The red liquid floated and swirled through the pores of her body, and the surging life force was transforming this mortal body into a more complete form. The rejection reaction between organs was instantly soothed by the principle of transformation. Crimson blood flowed in her blood, and intense itching and pain surged from the depths of every cell.

The filth and vulgarity beneath the skin were washed away by the weight of countless lives. Ai Yi's vision was completely black, and her whole body seemed to be hardened by a layer of keratin, unable to move, restless and unbearable.

His eyes felt as if molten lead had been dripped into them; the scalding and throbbing pain threatened to tear his muscles apart and shatter his heart. He felt every bone in his body growing wildly, every inch of his skin churning and twisting in a crimson hue. Under the heat that could melt steel, a frenzied transformation was nourishing the foundation of his physical body, shaping it into a more sacred and complete being.

The quality of this meat is on a completely different level from the fresh frozen meat that the fox stole from the convenience store freezer before!

Ai didn't simply repair the severed arm, as that would be a waste of the life force he had been using. Instead, he chose to strengthen his physical foundation, which had always been his weakness.

The Transformation Society will handle everything—

When inhuman suffering gradually transforms into a newfound lightness—

Until something bumped the edges of the red cocoon until they became uneven, and then suddenly tore a large hole in its hard exterior.

A bloody, fleshy arm, half of which was still just bone, emerged from it.

The clothes I was wearing had melted from the heat, and on my bare limbs—it seemed as if a glow was flowing through my extremities, seeping out and spreading along the invisible framework like vibrant vines.

There really are vines—

The verdant, curled creature, nourished by life, grows even more lush and vibrant, its delicate body enveloped by the roots of the mistletoe. It slowly emerges from the cocoon, a scene of exquisite beauty and sanctity akin to the descent of a holy child.

Beneath its bright red and transparent shell, a complex network of blood vessels intertwines and grows. The moment it comes into contact with the air, it unfolds its thin wings like a hatching butterfly, and its transparent skin instantly transforms into a solid object, wet and glistening as if wrapped in a soft, white membrane.

Tender skin covered tendons and flesh along the crystalline skeleton, blood mixed with secret essence—flowing freely in the manner of learning the red liquid.

Until the body is fully born from the cocoon.

"Metamorphosis: Flesh, Blood, Sublimation, and Transformation"

Shaking his head hard, the fox's vision cleared up again. Everything was as clear as if covered by a filter, so clear that it made him feel dizzy. The information in the picture was many times larger than before, which the fox, who was used to the mortal body, was not used to.

So he blinked hard again and found that his vision was now so clear that he could even catch the traces of dust flying in the air. When he looked up again, he could now count how many sections of the thin aerial rails that he couldn't see clearly before.

Using a layer of flame, Ai gently burned away the thin film of water on the skin, then lightly pinched a tentacle protruding from the ear, driving the obviously overly excited mistletoe back inside.

Then I began to carefully examine my newborn body.

First of all, I have now returned to my original form: a small fox that is 1.5 meters tall with a tail that is almost 1 meter long. Every single hair is covered in a blood membrane and is wet, hanging down softly.

However, unlike before, beneath the harmless exterior lies a concentrated essence. Ai feels that he has now undergone a major evolution—he feels that he could kill someone with a single flick of his tail. The powerful force within this petite body has become an answer.

Just like Pikachu can use Iron Tail.

His other appearance hasn't changed much; he's still that adorable guy that everyone loves. And since he's not wearing any clothes right now, although the morning breeze doesn't bring any coolness, he's still a little uncomfortable.

"I am now————"

With a thought, like a butterfly hatching from its shell and taking flight, Ai tried to condense a secret essence around her—

With a soft metallic scraping sound, he stared blankly at the back of his hand: his once fair skin was now covered with a thin layer of scales, clinging tightly to his skin, the pure white shimmering with a beautiful and elegant sheen.

"Scales—this is the characteristic favored by the criteria of scales."

Ai narrowed her eyes, and with another thought, the overlapping scales were sculpted into a more fitting form, such as a pure white men's robe, the soft texture of which draped down to the calves, swaying and undulating in the wind as if transparent.

In this way, the fox would then put on a pure and sweet smile, and with its already gender-ambiguous posture, it would look like a holy child of the choir.

The kind of guy a priest would be unable to resist, the kind of guy who could have a heart attack if he called out "big brother" to an otaku.

"This is getting more and more interesting!"

There's a unique sense of accomplishment in dressing up and playing dress-up with myself. Ai is quite satisfied with her current appearance and can't help but flap her wings.

—Oh no, I forgot my wings.

The pure white robe concealed the pair of wings that had sprouted from her back, and Ai saw herself in the congealed pool of blood.

He was stunned.

Unlike bird wings or dragon wings, these are a pair of bizarre and grotesque creatures, spreading out noisy shapes from both sides of the shoulder blades: long, dark, sparse and broken arc-shaped feathers.

Like a bleeding machine, like a broken flesh: the mechanical form is wrapped in the texture of flesh and blood. At first glance, it is an unknowable mystery; at second glance, it is a fragmented image; and finally, it transforms into an incomprehensible stitched-together appearance.

The fusion of brokenness and lustful flesh.

It is a jagged and broken form, withered like the dying body of a suffering child, nailed to a cross of wax wood—pure white and pitch black stand in opposition, beauty and grotesqueness stand in opposition. It is clearly made of flesh and blood, yet it is covered by a cold, dead iron-like divinity. In this almost insane beauty, infinite grotesqueness and holiness are manifested.

"Remaining Machine"

This was the first and only meaning that flashed through Ai's mind, and once it took root in her skull, the light screen lit up silently:

—Condensed Organs·Remnants (Wings)/First Stage—Fire (Principles)/Organs/The Etiquette of Construction/The Ambiguity of Flesh and Machine/The Legacy of Machine Armor—Mechanical Life: Remnants construct the form of mechanical bodies from flesh and blood. It is a cold and never-failing machine—when you can understand and control it, when you complete the symbiosis with the machine, it promises you the malleable principle called freedom.

—Multi-modal structure (not yet available): The form of the residual machine is like a machine that can be assembled at will, according to your wishes. (Unlocked after mechanical symbiosis)

—Module list (currently not installed)

"You tilt two horizontal lines toward the direction of melting and reshaping: this is the principle of construction and transformation."

New trend added: Fire 2]

"What the Red Dragon once glimpsed in the pool was a group of rebellious winged beings—though born with wings, they still yearned for a 'higher' realm—they used machinery to modify their wings in an attempt to transcend the sunken sky and climb to a higher level than the heavens: after that, they vanished without a trace, and no one knows whether they succeeded."

The Red Dragon tells you this—

"The shape is that of a machine gun, with wings resembling 'wrecked aircraft'."

"Higher than the sky—"

Ai blinked, a strange sense of wonder welling up inside her. "How did it even break through the atmosphere?"

—It seems that even in this world dominated by mystery, the pursuit of upward exploration and the yearning to escape gravity remain one of the eternal pursuits sought by wisdom.

People today no longer think about whether there is a sky beyond the dome—let alone imagine what kind of scenery exists beyond the sky.

Nobody knows, but there really were lives that searched for it.

I saw their traces and carried them on my back.

-Very good.

Ai chuckled and turned around, patting the little one's head beside her—Qi. She stayed quietly there, while the fox squatted down in front of her, looking gently at the innocent girl, seriously considering her future.

"I'll show you all."

Ai smiled and said, "This is how the world should be."