Alien Hotel.

Chapter 441 Ascension, Rainy Season

What happened in the desolate place? What happened on the surface of the earth?
The people stationed on the orbital platform looked down at their home planet in horror. They saw that it had undergone tremendous changes in the past period of time. They saw strange, pale matter overflowing like a nightmare covering the surface of the planet, and even the thick rain clouds near the equator could not hide the terrible distortion that had occurred on the entire planet—a distortion that had occurred hundreds of years ago, but had only come into their view now.

The cognitive barrier shrouding the garrison is crumbling. This powerful cognitive interference once extended from the planet's surface into space, even pulling the personnel stationed in high orbit into a dream where "everything is normal." Now, the dream is over.

But this is not because the "star body" has stopped functioning—it's because the "angel" parasitizing the planet's interior is ready to ascend.

The ascendant is severing its connection with the molting nest. As the vast underground nervous system and the global dendrites break off one by one, the cognitive interference field, which has been operating in silence for hundreds of years, naturally comes to a standstill as well.

The star system has decided to abandon the nest ahead of schedule—the many unusual occurrences within the nest have made it sense great danger.

Mo Ran stared palely at the Spirit Mirror his subordinate had brought, looking at the image projected in the mirror.

That was a scene of desolation observed from space, just sent by the orbital platform.

A strange, pale substance undulated and rippled across the planet's surface, altering all the surface structures from the poles to the equator. A terrifying "face" covering almost a third of the planet's surface had taken shape. It looked like some kind of complex nest structure, yet also like a face fused with the features of a human and an insect. And at the center of this face was... that "mountain".

Mo Ran raised her head, looking at the end of the plain with a suffocating feeling. She saw that the geological structure rising from the distance had surpassed the highest peak near Mo City. Something seemed to be slowly "squeezing" out of the earth's crust from the mountain, which was made entirely of crystal. Hot magma overflowed from around the crystalline cliffs, and as this process continued, the "tentacles" that had grown from the ground seemed to have entered a terrible state of chaos.

The army outside the city was thrown into chaos. The cultivators led by Lord Yunshan were scattering and fleeing from the clouds. Some seemed to be trying to restore order, while others rushed toward the living jungle as if committing suicide.

But at this moment, Mo Ran had no time to care about what was happening outside the city.

Beneath her feet, the planet where she was born and raised is gradually coming to life.

My hometown has become a living planet brimming with murderous intent, and the city... seems to have become an unwelcome bruise on the body of this terrifying, enormous creature.

The entire city was shaking, and the underground protective structure of Mexico City was in grave danger.

In a deafening roar that nearly shattered his liver and gallbladder, Mo Ran saw an ominous flash of light appear in the distant rain curtain, followed by a massive structure falling from the clouds. Continuous explosions and huge debris crashed against the crumbling city's protective array.

"Refining Tower No. 6 has collapsed... Something has emerged from underground!"

Someone shouted, and then everyone saw a huge crystalline tentacle emerge from the ground where the refining tower had collapsed, and smash it down on the last shield at the edge of the Mo City district.

Amidst the shield's flash that spanned almost half the city, the tentacle shattered, and countless crystalline fragments fell from the sky, transforming into countless crystalline creatures before hitting the ground, swarming like insects towards the already shaky Ink City Guard.

"Don't retreat!" Mo Ran shouted, then leaped off the fourth refining tower without hesitation, leading his personal guards through the wind and rain directly towards the defensive line. "Block the breach!"

They're everywhere.

As far as the eye could see, there were swarms of crystalline insects transformed from the remnants of tentacles. The ground was cracked in countless places, from which emerged small tentacles that shone with an eerie luster. There were also black-clad figures that seemed to appear out of nowhere, like ghosts passing through the wind and rain. They wore withered and twisted black masks, and their bodies were human-like. When they were killed, there was no blood. The wounds contained only pale crystals mixed with gray and black.

The city guards did not retreat in the end. With the city lord himself going to the front line, the warriors once again stood firm and then engaged in fierce battle with the endless monsters.

The gale-force winds carried torrential rain, the rain curtain almost like an inverted sea. Mo Ran was breathing heavily, feeling as if the rainwater was choking her chest, and even breathing felt like a burden.

A strange crystalline creature burst through the rain, leaping silently behind her, its blade-like limbs slashing down viciously.

Mo Ran sensed the danger behind her. She hurriedly turned around, released her flying sword, and slashed at the monster with a streak of light.

But before that, a scorching ray struck the crystalline creature's shell—accompanied by a short, intense flash, the crystalline creature seemed to be "illuminated" by the ray, and then exploded into countless fragments.

Mo Ran turned her head in surprise, only to see a small figure with a blank expression standing a dozen meters away.

Immediately afterwards, one similar figure after another appeared nearby.

"Who are you...?" Mo Ran began instinctively, but didn't know which of the figures present to ask—the short, seemingly magical figures appeared blankly, as if they were merely summoned mechanical puppets; she even doubted their ability to communicate. But as she finished speaking, a voice came from nearby: "Coming to help!"

The enormous nine-tailed silver fox strode up to Mo Ran, with a small, arrogant figure perched atop its head.

Another ghostly figure passed through the rain curtain, and in a light, dance-like spin, she instantly killed two black-clad monks with the sharp blades of her fingertips.

Luna turned her head and looked at the already battered Mo Ran with her ever-smiling face.

"Almost over."

She spoke slowly, emphasizing each word.

Mo Ran paused for a moment, about to ask something, when he caught a glimpse of another crystalline creature leaping high and pouncing on the back of the nine-tailed silver fox.

But before she could warn it, the crystalline creature suddenly shuddered, then abruptly withdrew its attack, landed, turned around, and charged toward the nearest man in black.

Caught off guard, the man in black never expected to be attacked by his "benefactor's servant," and was torn in half.

Then several more crystalline creatures emitted chaotic squeaking sounds, and as if suddenly going berserk in the rain, they turned their attack around and pounced on the nearest "friendly forces".

More and more monsters went berserk, and almost in the blink of an eye, a huge chaos spread within those crystalline creatures, as if some kind of rapidly contagious "madness" had driven enemies inside and outside the city into a frenzy.

The out-of-control crystalline "swarm" began to devour the small tentacles that had emerged from the ground, while affected tentacles began to actively attack the black-clad men who were still trying to assault the city guards. Eventually, even the black-clad men themselves fell into chaos.

Those black-clad "monks," whose bodies were merely human shells but whose interiors had completely transformed into crystalline beings, struggled in the rain as if fighting against some unseen enemy. At first, they retreated in panic, but then, as if realizing something, they began to frantically scratch their bodies and desperately search for a place to shield their heads. They ran recklessly toward the nearest building ruins, ignoring even the swords and blades that were within arm's reach. But often, they would lose their last remaining sanity after only a few steps—after a terrible spasm, they would turn around and pounce on their nearest "companions" like wild beasts.

Mo Ran stared at all in astonishment, and after a long while, she finally vaguely understood the behavior of those crazed black-clad "people" before they lost control.

They were taking shelter from the rain.

She raised her hand in a daze, subconsciously wiping the rain off her face, and then looked up.

The rain was dense, even heavier than usual for this season. The unusually dense rain curtain seemed as if two rains had overlapped and were pouring down from two different dimensions at the same time. And within this dense rain curtain... there were streaks of blood mixed in.

Mo Ran lowered her head and glanced at her palm. She saw a blood-like substance spreading in the rain, and a thin red line separating from the blood-red stain. It moved and condensed in her palm like a living thing, first forming a strange triangular emblem, and then gradually forming a smiling face...

Mo Ran let out a scream and flung the rainwater out of her hand in terror.

This directly resulted in her not seeing the phone number behind the smiley face and the message "Contact the hostel if you have any problems".

Then she heard a rumbling sound coming from outside the city.

The Ink City guards who remained on the Refining Tower looked in the direction from which the roaring sound came and saw that the mountain that "rose" at the end of the plain was gradually cracking open from the inside.

The mountain collapsed, and pale crystalline material surged onto the plain like an avalanche. A wave of heat erupted from the cracks, followed by a burst of light rising rapidly from the depths of the earth—the vast crystalline material surrounding this crystal mountain instantly became active, but was then washed away by a torrential downpour from the sky, abruptly returning to "calm."

A chaotic hissing sound came from inside the "mountain." Something emerging from the ground seemed to have sensed the danger. However... the ascension had already begun ahead of schedule, and the process was irreversible.

A massive, irregularly shaped crystalline mass, even larger than the entire city of Mo, rose from the collapsed mountain. It squeezed out of the earth's crust, flew into the sky, and rose all the way through the storm. Large pieces of crystalline material kept peeling off its surface, and a dim glow flowed among the torn fragments.

The ascendant was exposed from its "fetal membrane".

Exposed to the desolate, torrential rain.

(End of this chapter)