Divine Convenience Store-Chapter 584: Flesh-Shaper

Watching the enemy not even flinch, Lin Mo hurriedly retreated, widening the space between them. Then, he turned to Liu Xiaoyu, who was circling behind the Amalgamation.

"Be careful, it’s durable."

"I got it, Boss!" Liu Xiaoyu replied as she dumped an entire load of her [Stardust Repeater]’s charged magazine into the creature’s back.

Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!

The rapid-fire bolts of condensed spiritual energy struck the creature’s back. Each impact sizzled against the thick, matted fur and toughened green skin, leaving behind scorch marks and wisps of smoke.

However, the Amalgamation, Subject Alpha, didn’t even seem to register the attack.

The bolts, which had easily pierced the throats of the upgraded Decrints earlier, merely annoyed it like mosquito bites.

"What is this skin made of?! Heavenly Iron?" Xiaoyu complained, holstering the repeater and cracking her knuckles. "Fine. If the toy gun won’t work, I’ll use my fists!"

She flexed her arms, her golden lightning aura flaring to life, enveloping her in a coat of crackling storm energy. Sparky, the storm-soul wolf, mirrored her stance, his small body vibrating with accumulated charge.

"Sparky! Go for the legs! Hamstring it!"

The wolf yipped and turned into a bolt of blue lightning, zipping between the Amalgamation’s massive bear legs. It snapped its jaws, sinking teeth formed of pure energy into the creature’s ankle.

Subject Alpha finally reacted. It let out a grunt of annoyance, raising one massive leg to stomp the pest.

But before the foot could descend, Liu Xiaoyu, who activated [Basic Card Talismans] and [Spirit Embodiment Sticker Seal] as well as put on her golden suit of Argentum Armor, was already there.

She launched herself off the ceiling of the place, spinning in mid-air to generate momentum.

"[Nine Heavens Storm: Sledgehammer Heel]!"

Her armored leg, wrapped in a dense concentration of wind and lightning, slammed down onto the creature’s shoulder joint.

CRACK!

The impact was heavy, creating the sound of bone cracking against metal, echoing through the cavern.

The Amalgamation was instantly pushed back and forced to its knees.

"Hah! Not so tough now, are you, big guy?" Liu Xiaoyu grinned, flipping backward to land gracefully a few meters away.

However, her triumph was short-lived.

Subject Alpha didn’t stay down. The violet veins pulsating beneath its skin flared with an intense light.

With a sickening squelch, the shoulder joint that Xiaoyu had just cracked and dislocated snapped back into place. Its muscle fibers writhed and knit together in seconds.

Lin Mo, who was observing the exchange with his [Stillwater Perception], noticed that it was fueled by the Highland Energy pumping through its system.

The creature stood up as its eyes, which looked like glowing fissures, widened.

It focused entirely on the golden nuisance that had dared to strike it.

It opened its mouth, and instead of a roar, a concentrated stream of pressurized violet acid shot out.

"Whoa!" Xiaoyu yelped, her instincts screaming. She activated her newly created [Thundering Void Stomp], leaving a golden afterimage that was instantly dissolved by the acid stream.

The acid hit the cavern wall, melting through the stone like it was butter.

Liu Xiaoyu reappeared a few meters away, ready to pummel another fist.

But before she could do so, Lin Mo shouted an instruction to her.

"Don’t just brute force it, prodigy. You’ve read its details, right? It has a core that’s probably pumping it with Highland Energy to support its highly modified body. We’re only at Area 1. Remember our objective. To unmask the Dreilling."

While he could join her in taking it down, he was confident that Liu Xiaoyu alone was enough.

Instead, he focused his attention on the spot where the chrysalis exploded.

He was looking for any clue or a source of the psychic command that triggered the Amalgamation’s awakening. Unfortunately, there was nothing in it other than the fluids that must’ve been used to soak it in.

"Got it, Boss! I’ll blow a hole in its body then!" Liu Xiaoyu shouted back, sounding so eager it was almost maniacal.

She watched the creature recover. Its chest heaved as violet steam vented from its ears.

"Regeneration requires energy," She muttered to herself as she recalled the lessons from her clan and the recent insights from Danzhu’s lecture regarding energy flow. "And that energy has to come from somewhere. Center mass. Where the heart should be."

Her thoughts instantly swirled as her genius seemed to be activated, quickly grasping the idea and then formulating a plan on how to take down her opponent in one move.

Seeing her approaching again, Subject Alpha roared, slamming its fists into the ground.

The floor of the cavern cracked and rippled. Waves of stone surged towards Xiaoyu like a solid ocean.

Liu Xiaoyu kicked the ground and leapt, her armor suit augmenting her jump.

"Up we go!"

She shot into the air, the stone wave crashing beneath her boots.

In the air, she was in her element. Her [Gale-Force Mantle] fluttered, catching the chaotic wind currents of the cavern and stabilizing her body so that she could maneuver freely.

Subject Alpha looked up, opening its maw to unleash another stream of acid.

"Sparky! Intercept!"

The lightning wolf, who had been circling the perimeter, barked. It unleashed a [Thunder Howl], a sonic cone of electrified sound.

that slammed into the stream of acid mid-air, scattering the liquid and turning it into a harmless mist.

Liu Xiaoyu then punched through the mist. Her target was identified. It was his gut. Or near the part where the Decrint Warrior’s body was stitched with the bear. It was the likely place of the entity’s core. Although violet veins covered its entire body, they all converged at that spot.

She channeled her storm qi, compressing it into a spinning drill around her gauntlet.

"[Nine Heavens Storm: Piercing Dragon Drill]!"

BAM!

She struck the creature’s gut, creating another deafening impact.

The Aether-forged metal of her gauntlet drilled through its thick flesh and muscles to reach the creature’s core.

A split second later, the creature’s regeneration fought against the destructive rotation of her storm qi.

Liu Xiaoyu clicked her tongue and poured more of it into the armor, melding it with the Aether Energy being siphoned from the Aether Shard.

"Break!" Xiaoyu roared and the wolf cub joined her in her assault.

CRASH!

Little by little, her fist sank deep into the fleshy cavity until she finally sensed it. A throbbing hot sphere of solid energy. The core.

She grinned as she grabbed it.

"Hehe. Mine!"

She yanked her hand back. Hard.

With a tearing sound, she ripped the [Volatile Highland Energy Core] straight out of the Amalgamation’s gut.

Subject Alpha went rigid. Its roar cut off into a gurgle. And then, the violet light in its fissures flickered and died.

Slowly, its body seemed to dry up as the only thing supporting its life was the energy coming from its core.

Lin Mo furrowed his brows at that. After all, he knew the Decrints were intelligent creatures, and they’re not like beasts who were born with a core. Although cultivators could form one in their path to immortality, it was a different matter entirely.

This core felt artificial. Fabricated. Like a battery shoved into a living engine.

The monstrous body slumped forward, hitting the ground with a heavy thud. Although Liu Xiaoyu earned an ’experience’ from taking it down, it didn’t dissolve into motes of light like the standard tower or anchor creatures. It remained there, a grotesque carcass of flesh and bone, drying up like a dehydrated fish.

"Ew. Gross," Liu Xiaoyu wrinkled her nose, shaking the gore off her armored gauntlet. She tossed the pulsing purple core to Lin Mo. "Here, Boss. Another souvenir for the shelf. Or maybe for the Venom Master? She likes weird stuff."

Lin Mo caught it. The core felt warm but it seemed to shake with an aggressive frequency. Like if he dropped it, it would explode right away.

Thinking about it, it had ’Volatile’ in its identifier.

[Item Acquired: Volatile Highland Energy Core (Prototype)]

[Grade: Low Earth-Grade equivalent]

[Description: An artificial heart created through Flesh-Shaping arts. Contains a highly compressed mixture of Highland energy and life essence. Highly unstable.]

[Note: Can be used as a power source for constructs or refined into potent, albeit dangerous, alchemical reagents.]

"Artificial..." Lin Mo muttered as he confirmed his suspicion. "So, Dreilling can also manufacture these abominations. We might have to prepare to face more of these. As for the remaining barbarians and cultivators that remained captive... we might not be able to rescue them anymore."

He stored the core and walked over to the corpse. He crouched down, ignoring the stench, and inspected the part where the bear’s legs met the Decrint torso. The flesh was fused seamlessly. It wasn’t done by surgery. It’s like a natural mutation of the cells themselves. He recalled the concept of grafting.

Not just in terms of plants. He also couldn’t help but think of that certain ’Boss’ enemy of a game famous for its difficulty. They grafted numerous creatures onto their body, resulting in a similar abomination, far from their original appearance.

He looked at the description of the core again and muttered, "So, a Dreilling can not only dominate the mind. They can also shape flesh. But is it the same Dreilling, or is there more than one of them in this Anchor?"