readsfreenovel Chapter 191 - 129: Mechanic: Phase Transition
Chapter 191 - 129: Mechanic: Phase Transition
They didn’t even have the strength to stand anymore. All they could do was watch helplessly as that lone figure carried out a long, drawn-out slaughter amidst the endless tide of insects.
An unknown amount of time passed.
When a sliver of dim, gray light finally pierced through the entrance of the subway station,
everyone suddenly realized.
Day had broken.
And the insect swarm, which had raged throughout the night, began to recede as if it had received some invisible command, slowly dispersing like a retreating tide.
Lin Ye keenly sensed that the frenzied, violent aura emanating from the beetles was weakening.
Their movements were no longer a chaotic, disorderly charge. Instead, they became neat and orderly, as if they had received a unified signal to retreat.
A thought flashed through Lin Ye’s mind.
’In nature, the hive behavior of many insects is controlled by a "broodmother" from behind the scenes.’
’Like a queen ant or a queen bee.’
’Could a higher-level, intelligent broodmother be hiding behind this massive, long-distance-flying mutation of these Iron-Eating Beetles?’
’Or was this swarming behavior, like that of locusts, just accidentally triggered by some special environmental factor?’
Lin Ye didn’t know.
But he did know that he’d raked in an insane amount of experience points that night.
He didn’t even know how many insects he had actually killed.
All he knew was that his level had shot up from LV. 24, jumping three consecutive levels straight to LV. 27!
Just as the last beetle vanished into the darkness of the deep tunnel, a system notification sounded in his mind!
[Ding! In this overwhelming insect swarm, you single-handedly turned the tide!]
[You have killed a total of 10,887 Iron-Eating Beetles!]
[You have unlocked the unique special achievement: Ten-Thousand Slayer!]
[You have obtained a new BOSS mechanic: Phase Shift!]
A new mechanic!
Lin Ye’s heart raced.
So far, none of his mechanics had been useless.
Any mechanic, if used well, could be a god-tier skill!
As the sun gradually rose, the insect swarm in the entire underground space and on the surface began to retreat at an astonishing speed.
Within a few breaths, the once-overwhelming black tide had vanished without a trace.
Lin Ye focused his mind on the system to inspect this newly acquired mechanic.
[Phase Shift (Green): You can now ignore phase transition requirements and switch freely between your possessed phases.]
[When you switch phases, you will enter an untargetable state for 1 second.]
[Note: While in combat, Phase Shift can only be used to switch one-way from a lower phase to a higher phase. You cannot switch back to a lower-tier phase.]
[This restriction is lifted when you are Healing out of combat and your maximum Life Value has been restored to full.]
The grade of this mechanic was merely Green.
The same grade as [Soul Furnace].
But after reading its effect description, a tidal wave of shock crashed over him!
Untargetable!
With his gaming experience from another world, he knew exactly what that single word implied!
’Isn’t this basically an invincibility frame?!’
’Even though it’s only for a second, in a life-or-death battle where things can change in an instant, that one second of invincibility is enough to dodge countless fatal attacks and even pull off a stunning counter-kill!’
’More importantly, I can finally enter P2 proactively!’
’No more standing around like an idiot, taking hits until my P1 health drops to zero just to unlock P2 skills like [Frenzy] and [Instant Body].’
The operational potential of this mechanic was enormous!
With a thought, Lin Ye activated it.
The moment the thought formed, he clearly felt himself enter P2.
Since he was currently out of combat and the [Healing out of combat] mechanic had already restored his Life Value to full, the switch was completed smoothly.
At the instant of the switch, Lin Ye deliberately tried to feel the "untargetable" state.
But he didn’t feel anything special, as if he had just blinked.
’It seems this effect will have to be tested in actual combat, or used at the exact moment of being attacked, to be verified.’
...
Having narrowly escaped death, Chan Jiale and the others helped each other out of the subway station, which was now filled with insect corpses and slime.
When they saw the scene outside, they all gasped.
The entire Linchuan Ruins looked as if it had been utterly devastated by a massive earthquake.
The load-bearing structures of countless buildings had been eaten away, causing them to collapse into rubble.
Exposed steel bars were riddled with bite marks.
The already dilapidated city now appeared even more desolate and deathly silent.
"This is horrifying..."
"Insect swarms have broken out in Linchuan City before, but never on this scale!"
Chan Jiale said, still shaken, "In past swarms, they definitely couldn’t fly this far, and the scale was never this massive!"
Zhou Tong also nodded with a solemn expression. He looked at Lin Ye, his eyes filled with a sense of awe and gratitude that was beyond words.
They had survived a swarm large enough to devour the entire Linchuan Ruins.
"Let’s go."
Lin Ye’s voice rang out.
He turned and started walking toward the road leading out of the city.
The others quickly followed.
The path was one of utter devastation.
Occasionally, they saw tattered pieces of clothing or abandoned weapons.
As for the Martial Artists who hadn’t managed to evacuate in time, nothing was left of them.
Even their bones had been devoured clean by the endless swarm of Iron-Eating Beetles.
What was even more bizarre was that the entire Linchuan Ruins had fallen into a deathly silence.
Not a single mutated beast could be seen anywhere.