56: Monster transformation

Lin Feng's calm voice echoed in the Alien Queen's consciousness.

"Don't kill him!"

The Alien Queen's claw stopped abruptly just an inch from the Eagle Claw Beastmaster's head, the gust of wind it created scraping painfully against the scales on his face.

A flicker of bewilderment and the faint glimmer of survival after a brush with death passed through the dying Eagle Claw Beastmaster's eyes, but it was immediately drowned by a deeper terror… He saw the emotionless coldness in the Alien Queen's compound eyes, and… a strange anticipation.

Just then, a tiny black shadow, almost merging with the ground’s shadow, shot out like an arrow from an inconspicuous rock crevice beside the Alien Queen!

Its speed surpassed the perception limit of a Gold-level powerhouse, like a black lightning bolt flying close to the ground, heading straight for the Eagle Claw Beastmaster's slightly agape, fanged mouth, which was open in pain and suffocation!

A Facehugger!

It precisely covered the Eagle Claw Beastmaster's mouth and nose, its eight slender, tough limbs constricting his head like steel bands, and the tip of its spear-like ovipositor glowed faintly, aimed deep into his throat!

"Mmm… Mmm!!!"

The Eagle Claw Beastmaster's remaining consciousness was instantly engulfed by boundless terror and suffocation.

He instinctively wanted to struggle, to tear apart this disgusting thing with his claws.

But the severe injury of his pierced chest, the rampant Xenomorph energy within him, and the Alien Queen’s pseudo-transcendent pressure, which pressed down like a mountain, made him unable to even lift a finger!

He could only emit desperate, muffled whimpers, his body convulsing violently.

The Alien Queen's cold compound eyes watched all this; it even subtly shifted its body, blocking the Serpent Scale Beast Herder’s frantic gaze, while an even stronger mental pressure, like an invisible heavy hammer, slammed down on the Serpent Scale Beast Herder in mid-air, causing his diving body to suddenly halt!

"Puchi!"

There was a chilling, soft sound of viscous liquid being pierced.

The Facehugger's ovipositor, unimpeded, plunged deep into the Eagle Claw Beastmaster's throat, precisely completing the embryo implantation!

The entire process, under the Alien Queen's cover and suppression, was as swift as lightning, silent and swift!

The Eagle Claw Beastmaster's strong body suddenly stiffened, as if struck by a high-voltage current; the violent convulsions reached their peak, and his golden vertical pupils instantly lost all their luster, becoming hollow and dim.

Immediately after, all his body’s struggles and life force receded like a tide, finally slumping to the ground, motionless.

Only his face, covered by the Facehugger, still subtly rose and fell, indicating the terrifying parasitic process occurring within.

"No!!!"

The Serpent Scale Beast Herder finally broke through the Alien Queen's mental interference and saw the scene below.

His most respected elder brother, the other guardian of Barren Rock Ranch, a Gold-level peak powerhouse, was now slumped on the ground like a discarded rag doll, his face covered by an ugly, repulsive bug!

And his elder brother's life force was already so weak it was almost extinguished!

An indescribable grief and savagery instantly overwhelmed all the Serpent Scale Beast Herder's reason!

He felt his very soul burning, exploding!

"Roar, ao, ao, ao!!!"

A roar completely unlike a human voice, filled with primal bestiality and endless pain, like the shriek of a wounded, dying primeval beast, suddenly tore through the twilight sky!

The anger and despair contained in this roar even terrified the surrounding prostrate beasts, causing several to drop dead on the spot!

Amidst the Serpent Scale Beast Herder's mournful roar, his lean body underwent a horrifying transformation!

The fine greenish-black scales covering his cheeks and forearms seemed to come alive, spreading and proliferating wildly!

His body visibly swelled and grew taller, his grayish-green skin tearing open to reveal even thicker, more robust muscles covered in large, dark-green scales underneath!

His head elongated and deformed, his long, pointed ears merging into the sides of his head, his mouth protruding forward, his fangs piercing his lips and growing wildly, finally transforming into a monstrous, massive snake head covered in thick scales!

An incomparably thick, diamond-plated giant tail suddenly burst through his leather armor from behind him and lashed out!

His legs also twisted and deformed, merging into thicker, bone-armored hind limbs better suited for ground travel!

Behind him, two bone wings, supported by massive bones and covered with tough membranes, suddenly unfurled, but one of them was clearly broken in the wing bone during the previous explosion, drooping limply.

In just two breaths, a colossal creature, over five meters tall, exuding an aura far more terrifying and brutal than its humanoid form, took the place of the Serpent Scale Beast Herder, appearing in mid-air!

Its entire body was covered in thick, dark-green scales, as if draped in ancient battle armor; its massive snake head flicked a forked, crimson tongue, and its cold vertical pupils locked onto the Alien Queen and Lin Feng's direction below, filled with deep-seated hatred and an all-consuming madness!

"So… it's a Gold-level 'Azure Scale Earth Dragon'!"

Lin Feng, who had been observing from the shadows, his pupils slightly contracted, suddenly understood.

"No wonder they all have such obvious beast-like characteristics; the so-called Beastmasters are actually Gold-level magical beasts who have mastered shapeshifting abilities!"

"This Barren World's magical beasts actually possess such a broken skill?"

This discovery sparked infinite curiosity about the existence of the Barren World within him.

He glanced at the other Beastmaster on the ground who had been parasitized, his thoughts racing… The Azure Scale Earth Dragon, having revealed its true form, its aura surged like a volcanic eruption!

It was burning its life essence, forcefully activating a secret technique; its original Gold-level peak aura actually vaguely touched the threshold of transcendence, emitting a chilling, violent pressure that seemed to tear the very heavens apart!

Its broken bone wing could not support flight, and its massive body crashed to the ground, creating a deep crater and sending gravel flying.

It fiercely protected the unconscious Eagle Claw Beastmaster, its massive snake head hissing threateningly at the Alien Queen, viscous, foul-smelling venom dripping to the ground, corroding it with wisps of green smoke.

"Roar! (Get lost! Otherwise, we will all perish!)"

The Azure Scale Earth Dragon's mental fluctuations were filled with madness and resolve.

However, through the clear sensory feedback from the Alien Queen, a cold arc curved on Lin Feng's lips.

"Bluffing."

He murmured in his heart.

"Burning life, overdrawing potential, the aura has indeed surged, even touching the edge of pseudo-transcendence."

"But… a fake is ultimately a fake; true transcendence is a leap in the level of life, the initial mastery of the power of rules; your forcibly elevated power is merely rootless duckweed, oil on fire, flashy but useless."

"The chasm of realms cannot be truly overcome by any secret art!"

"Defying the heavens to slay immortals?"

"A fool's dream!"

As if to confirm Lin Feng's thoughts, the Alien Queen, instead of retreating in the face of the surging aura and massive Azure Scale Earth Dragon, took a step forward…