Chapter 26: Blood Butterfly

With the gluttonous energy Lin Lei possessed at this moment, even a living Tier 4 anomaly could be forcibly "devoured" and consumed!

The only things that could resist his "devouring" were either entities with special traits that made them immune to it, items possessing effects similar to the Investigation Bureau's "sealing" protocols, or a living Tier 5 anomaly!

"This red crystal ball must be a special life form..."

Deep within the forbidden zone, one could not rely on conventional logic from the waking world. The types of anomalies were endlessly bizarre and varied.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Lin Lei finally recondensed into a physical entity.

At this moment, his face was as pale as paper. Being eroded while in his atomized state had severely depleted his own blood. Although the Blood Potion possessed blood-regenerating properties—far superior to the Blood-Replenishing Potions Lin Lei had previously purchased with investigation points—and could continuously replenish his blood supply during its active duration, the rate of recovery lagged far behind the rate of loss.

Yet, he did not waste a single second.

Swish!

A bone blade extended from Lin Lei's hand. Gripping the hilt with both hands, he savagely slashed down toward the half-meter-tall crystal ball.

Clang!

The infallible bone blade struck the crystal ball, only to chip off a few crystal fragments while leaving cracks upon its surface!

Without a moment of hesitation, Lin Lei swung his blade down once more.

Clang, clang, clang!

As Lin Lei rained down his blows, the crystal ball seemed to sense danger. Brilliance surged from it, and a dense swarm of blood-colored butterflies emerged, surging toward him.

Simultaneously, the surrounding anomalies lunged at Lin Lei.

His hair whipped about in a frenzied flurry while he gritted his teeth and cast an energy shield around himself. Ignoring the blood-colored butterflies and the assaulting anomalies as if they did not exist, he continued to hack away frantically!

However, the surrounding anomalies and blood butterflies were simply too numerous. Lin Lei's whipping hair began to dissolve and melt away. The blood-colored energy shield on his body failed to hold even for two seconds before shattering into pieces.

Having plundered seven Tier 4 red crystal anomalies, the single-use durability of Lin Lei's shields had increased significantly, and the number of times he could consecutively cast them had also grown. Yet, beneath the onslaught of these blood butterflies, they remained exceedingly fragile.

The moment the shield shattered, Lin Lei willed another energy shield into existence. His hair also grew and thrashed at a suicidal speed.

In the span of a split second, Lin Lei had already slashed wildly at the crystal ball a dozen times. The cracks on the crystal ball multiplied.

However, due to the massive consumption of his source energy and the fact that the generation of his energy shields had reached its absolute limit, he simply lacked the surplus strength to produce more hair and energy shields! Sustaining the simultaneous use of various abilities strained even his extraordinary reserves of source energy and stamina.

Deprived of the protection of both, a swarm of blood-colored butterflies rushed forward, and the surrounding anomalies lunged like rabid dogs. More and more wounds and bloody holes appeared on Lin Lei's body!

When he was once again driven to his absolute limit, he triggered "Termination: Blossoming" once more. Using his sword-bone to clear the immediate area, he activated plunder to consume the corpse of a nearby Tier 3 red crystal anomaly that had just died.

Following the "plunder," he retracted the extended bone spurs back into his body, and his flesh squirmed continuously as it began to heal.

However, the rapid recovery ceased in the blink of an eye. Lin Lei's flesh failed to fully regenerate, leaving numerous lingering wounds...

"A single Tier 3 anomaly cannot completely heal all my injuries..."

He shook his head, then "plundered" three more Tier 2 red crystal anomalies before his state was basically restored to its peak.

While plundering, he took advantage of the cleared perimeter to resume his frantic hacking at the crystal ball! But soon enough, the surrounding anomalies swarmed back in.

For the next ten minutes, relying on Dragon's Might, the Spirit Light Shield, and other abilities, Lin Lei forcibly endured the attacks of the omnipresent anomalies and blood butterflies.

During these ten minutes, he cleared the area three more times and performed three more "plunders"! He had already reached the limit of what he could plunder from Tier 2 red crystal anomalies. At this moment, only Tier 3 red crystal anomalies remained as viable targets for his plunder.

A growing sense of anxiety and unwillingness welled up inside him.

Finally, just as Lin Lei was on the verge of giving up and transforming into a bloody mist to escape, he struck the crystal ball hard enough to shatter it into pieces.

The surrounding butterflies, fluttering like ribbons of blood, instantly vanished into nothingness.

"Hahaha!"

A fierce glint flashed in Lin Lei's eyes, and he decisively activated "plunder" on the remains of the crystal ball before him.

*Plunder feasible, consumes nearly two thousand units of gluttonous energy!*

This consumption was even higher than that of the "sword hilt"!

"My guess was correct. This crystal ball is also a living anomaly! Only by destroying this thing could I plunder it!"

Anything requiring such a terrifying amount of energy consumption was bound to be a Tier 5 anomaly!

"Fortunately, although this thing possesses special abilities, it is extremely cumbersome and lacks mobility. Otherwise, given my current strength, I would never have been able to kill a Tier 5 anomaly..."

Lin Lei decisively devoured the crystal ball, not daring to linger for a single second. He rapidly transformed into a bloody mist, forcibly flying away from the cluster of anomalies.

Recondensing into a physical form at a safe distance, Lin Lei frowned as he looked at the dense array of wounds covering his body, a trace of helplessness flashing across his face: "Plundering this crystal ball didn't heal my injuries at all..."

His personal source energy had surged considerably, but not a single wound had healed. This crystal ball was not a tangible anomaly with a physical body, and thus it could not impart physical vitality to Lin Lei!

"This is troublesome. Although I destroyed the crystal ball, I don't have many 'plunder' opportunities left, and my injuries are still quite severe..."

Although these anomalies were numerous in quantity, their variety was far too limited. If there had been a few more species mixed in, Lin Lei would never have exhausted his "plunder" opportunities so quickly.

He shook his head. "Under these circumstances, even though my source energy has increased significantly, it is simply impossible to eliminate the remaining dozens of Tier 4 anomalies using my previous method..."

Yet, his eyes continued to gleam.

His previous strategy relied entirely on the mobility of [Atomization] and his formidable brute strength to forcefully slaughter the remaining dozens of Tier 4 anomalies within the horde. Lin Lei estimated that he could afford to "plunder" at most two or three more Tier 3 red crystal anomalies before reaching his limit, which would likely only be enough to fully heal his injuries once or twice.

Under such conditions, wiping out the remaining dozens of Tier 4 anomalies would naturally be exceedingly difficult.

The crucial point, however, was that after plundering the red crystal ball, not only had his source energy grown, but he had also acquired the ability of the red crystal ball itself—

The ability he acquired was called [Blood Butterfly].

It allowed him to generate those blood-colored butterflies. The blood-colored butterflies possessed a potent "corrosion" trait, capable of dissolving both physical matter and energy bodies.

The drawback was that the efficiency of generating the butterflies and their movement speed were both severely limited.

"No wonder I fought that horde of anomalies for so long before the blood-colored butterflies finally started multiplying..."

Lin Lei's eyes shone brightly. This new ability would be the key to breaking his current deadlock!