Double chapters today, Happy Thanksgiving!!!(incase you accidentally skip ch85)
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Chapter 86: Evil eye.
Up in the mountains lie a cave system that digs deep into the planet. A certain miasma leaks out from the entrance deterring most creatures. This miasma causes slight irritation to Crule as he stepped in.
He could feel a powerful energy source near the end of the tunnel. It was also a familiar energy source.
[Crule]: I recognize this energy…
He silently dashed down the tunnels ignoring all the monsters that haunt the place after they have been corrupted by the miasma.
Suddenly, Crule stopped running and hide within a small opening in the wall. The source of the energy was about to pass him. There, he saw it. The creature that haunted his dreams back when he was a child in the previous world. It was the stuff of nightmares. A floating ball of flesh covered in nothing but eye balls. It seems to be dispersing the miasma through pores on its disgusting body.
[Crule]: A Nefarian Legion Eye…
This creature was born from nature but in the most unnatural way. It rises out of large piles of corpses that accumulate in area. The only time there would be such large amount of corpses was due to either natural disaster or infighting between the monster kings of the wild. Thus they are very rare to find.
One trait they hold that would attract Crule to hunt such a thing he use to fear, was the eye balls floating around it can send messages to its body and back at high speeds. It could send messages nearly instantly through a sort of telepathy that travel through the electrons in the air. It would look like a normal spark of electricity that runs across its body every once in a while.
This was the perfect item needed for this synchro-nerves. Why bother using pesky wire based monster parts when he could just use the eyeballs placed regularly across the android. It would not only work as great nerves but also give the android a menacing feel.
[Crule]: I can’t believe my luck to run into such a thing. But what kind of disaster would happen that cause such a monster to be spawned here.
Crule had to capture the creature alive in order to use its eyes as material. He took one of the small cubes he gave everyone else and tossed it at the Legion Eye without being noticed. A small hole opened up out of nowhere and black tentacles shot out from it. It grabbed the Legion eye in a vice grip and rapidly dragged it into the void. Without a single cry, the eye was encased in the cube in darkness.
[Crule]: Let’s head deeper to see what could be the cause of this.
With the Legion eye gone, the miasma started to thin but as Crule reached lower and lower, it once again got thicker.
Feeling the energy coming from the source, Crule could only imagine one thing.
[Crule]: With this much miasma, one can only conclude that there are more than one legion eyes…But the sheer amount of corpses needed to make more than one is astronomical.
As he got closer, he realized the blood and claw marks on the walls of the cave. Although the cave was quite wide at nearly twenty meters, the fight seem to cover both side and damage the entire cave. From the claw marks, Crule couldn’t tell what exactly made them, but he had a clue of its race.
[Crule]: Having a member of the Gestalt Cats would explain the legion eyes. Those things kill and eat enough beasts to wide out the entire mountain if not for their extremely low population.
These cats are incredibly hard to see hence their name Gestalt. They act as shadows and exist but not really. One can only see them as an outline of dust on their body. Everything else was near invisible. Something about their fur having strange reflective properties that refracts light in such a way where it appears invisible.
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[Crule]: If it is a larger species of Gestalt, I may be able to use it.
If the Gestalt cat was a lion breed, it would have powerful jaws and claws. It would make powerful weapons. Panther breeds had enhanced stealth properties and Cheetah breeds had power legs leading to increased agility. Either way, they were extremely rare and perhaps only several dozen of them exist in the wild. They were considered kings of the jungle and live in such a way, consuming thousands of beasts a year.
Strangely enough, these cats normally life far deeper in the wild. Finding one out here near the edge of Mount Tai is very strange.
This had Crule pondering.
[Crule]: I wonder what could have caused it to be drive out here.
He made several hypothesis but could not be exactly sure until he saw the beast. He slowly crept toward the source of the energy with his back along the wall. He made sure to capture any legion eye that pass by as he may need excess in order to fully control his android. Luckily, he himself had the spatial technique required to store such monsters.
The darkness of the cave was mitigated by the glowing rocks that lined the walls and ceiling. They emit a faint purple light that made the entire cave a hue of purple. The rocks contain slightly reactive minerals that upon touching the atmosphere of the cave, started to react in such a way producing light and heat. The cave got warmer the deeper Crule went. Perhaps the warmth was what drew the cat here.
At the next turn, the cave lead into a huge chamber. From the stench, Crule could probably guessed what was in it.
A huge pile of corpses of various beasts lie in the center while bones of already eaten ones lie around the edges. The beast must have been quite busy to gather such a large amount of meat. On top of the pile Crule saw the cat. He grinned when he saw the breed of the beast.
[Crule]: I can’t believe just how lucky I am today. It’s as if some god with a keyboard is suddenly giving me the luck of millions.
The cat was a lynx breed. While the other breeds specialized in combat or speed, the lynx was special as it was the jack of all trades. The cat stared at Crule with its reflective eyes. It knew it had found a new toy to play with.
Judging by the size, Crule assumed it was a maturing Gestalt Lynx nearing its full adult stage. It was still within the range of something he could deal with.
Crule fired his wristband at the cat and the beam hit it square on. The data slowly revealed itself.
[Crule]: Hmm, Gestalt Lynx. Lvl 85. This will be a good material to use.
The cat was huge compared to Crule. Around four meters in length, it towers over the pile of corpses like a god. The beast got up and stretched. It opened its mouth to show rows upon rows of sharp teeth. Its reflective eye reflected the purple light emitting from the sides of the cave. A sharp purple glare stared directly at Crule’s neck like an evil eye wanting to take a bite out of it.
Crule could literally hear the muscles on the beast’s hind legs tense. It was going to pounce. Crule quickly step up his aura to cover his entire body and summoned his famine blades on both arms. Under the darkness of the cave, Crule melded into the shadows with his aura. The Lynx was still staring at him though.
As fast as it opened and closed it mouth, the Gestalt Lynx pounced.