Chapter 153 - 134: Battle of the Extraordinary, Might of the Lighthouse

Chapter 153: Chapter 134: Battle of the Extraordinary, Might of the Lighthouse

"It’s... the Pseudo-Men!"

"A species of Ghosts that uses humanity as a breeding ground to hatch and multiply! They will gradually devour our human bodies, silently killing and replacing us!"

Chen Jianghuai’s eyes were bloodshot as he gnashed his teeth.

It was his first time learning about Pseudo-Men as well!

Although he had been influenced by the Pseudo-Men’s consciousness earlier, he had never actually seen one. He had been completely in the dark about what kind of Ghosts were lurking around them.

It wasn’t until just now, when he was jolted awake by a mysterious force and had countless fragmented, thought-entangled images flash through his mind, that he finally understood what Pseudo-Men were!

Chen Jianghuai was furious, and immediately after, terrified.

He had seen countless Ghosts, including intelligent ones and entire Ghost species. But he had never seen or heard of such a terrifying kind.

It was as if these Ghosts were born specifically to target humans.

He didn’t dare to imagine what a horrific disaster it would be if the Pseudo-Man Ghosts started spreading and infiltrating human society in the Present Realm!

...

"Pseudo-Men?!!"

Shi An was equally shocked.

He was still in the Safe Zone, but through the Lighthouse, he could clearly see every corner of the Fire Radiance Stone Mine.

He suddenly thought of Captain Xia of the Countermeasures Bureau being injured a while ago.

Captain Xia Yuxiu had said that his team members were no longer themselves, as if they had been replaced by Ghosts.

"Could it be that those were Pseudo-Men too?

"The Ghost species lurking around Baijiang City like venomous snakes... are they the Pseudo-Man tribe?"

Shi An’s expression turned grim.

...

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the Fire Radiance Stone Mine.

The members were both shocked and terrified.

Shocked, because the Lost who had been traveling with them all this way had suddenly transformed into Ghosts.

Terrified, because they had nearly fallen into the trap themselves.

Eating food handed to them by Ghosts? Who knew what would have happened?

"Are we really okay?"

"We’re fine."

A sharp-eyed member spoke up, having already noticed the truth. "It was the Lighthouse built by the Manager that saw through the Ghosts’ disguise.

"Look." He glanced around. "Some of the Lost villagers have gray smoke rising from their bodies. These are probably mild symptoms. Others are in unbearable pain under the light; they might be eroded to the bone. But I see bizarre little bugs crawling out of some people’s nostrils—they might still be saved.

"And then there are others..."

The member trailed off, turning to look at themselves instead.

"Fortunately, bathed in the Lighthouse’s radiance, no gray smoke is rising from us. Furthermore, no matter how terrifying these Pseudo-Men are, it should be impossible for them to erode and replace Refining Stage Dream Descenders like us in just a single day."

Despite his words, the members still broke out in a cold sweat.

Lately, relying on the Safe Zone, surviving and exploring the Nightmare World had become increasingly easy for them. They had even taken down a tough area like the Fire Radiance Stone Mine effortlessly, purely by leveraging their numbers.

The entire process had gone without a hitch.

Some members had even started to think that Deep in the Nightmare wasn’t all that challenging.

It wasn’t until today that reality taught them another lesson.

While Pseudo-Men might not be able to erode and replace them in a single day, they had been completely defenseless against internal threats at the time. If these Pseudo-Man Ghosts had actually decided to strike, few of them would have survived.

"From now on, we have to be much more careful and cautious when traversing the Nightmare World!"

While these thoughts raced through their minds, several Pseudo-Men had already lunged at them.

These individuals had blood-red eyes, and bizarre things seemed to be squirming beneath their skin. Yet, they still wore the faces of the Lost villagers and even wielded their Lifebound Curse Objects, albeit in a far more terrifying manner.

The members were forced into a steady retreat.

They had their reservations, uncertain if there was still any hope of saving these villagers. They didn’t dare to deal lethal blows, even though they already suspected that, nine times out of ten, these people were beyond salvation.

"Damn it! If we don’t go for the kill, these Ghosts certainly won’t hold back!"

Cheng Ping cursed furiously. With a flick of his wrist, a flying knife flashed like a streak of light, instantly slashing off one of the Lost’s arms.

However, no blood flowed from the severed stump. Instead, black flesh tendrils spread and intertwined, reforming into a brand-new black arm.

This was clearly no longer human.

"We can’t retreat any further, everyone!"

These were all Ghost Level combatants, and they weren’t any weaker than the members.

If they kept hesitating, they would be the ones to die!

The powerful members finally started to get ruthless.

Someone smashed a "villager’s" head to pieces, but in the next moment, black flesh tendrils intertwined to grow a "new head." Only, this head had no eyes, ears, nose, or mouth. Its shape was bizarre, as if it had been hastily molded on just to assemble a head-like component.

But since the original head was gone, this was definitely not a human anymore.

Only Ghosts possessed such terrifying Recovery Power.

The members finally stopped holding back, unleashing their killing moves one after another.

However, this batch of Pseudo-Man Ghosts was numerous, exceeding thirty in total.

A few of the Pseudo-Men who had taken over the bodies of human experts erupted with even more terrifying combat power.

They possessed human experience, techniques, and numerous Curse Arts, combined with the horrifying Life Force of Ghosts.

The Pseudo-Man Ghost transformed from Shi Han, the captain of Elk Camp, was incredibly terrifying. It single-handedly crushed both Luo Susu and Wu Feng, two Captain Level experts.

It was essentially a combination of a Leader Level Ghost and a Dream Descender at the Peak of Third Refinements Realm, complete with intelligence.

It opened its mouth, speaking with a pure Xia Country accent.

"Humans, you could have died painlessly. Now, I have no choice but to handle this personally."