Chapter 44 - 37: Stone Lion
’Could it be... the bizarre item that the Research Institute and the Public Security Bureau have been searching for with all their might?!’
Lin Yi’s heart trembled, his eyes filled with disbelief.
’To think I’d find it after they searched so far and wide!’
He never expected that he would so coincidentally encounter the very item the Public Security Bureau and the Research Institute had launched a massive joint operation to find.
This luck... it was simply heaven-defying!
Without a moment’s hesitation, driven by his will, the Mosquito Avatar instantly changed direction. It transformed into an invisible bolt of lightning, speeding toward the coordinates of the blue light.
Of course, he hadn’t let the pleasant surprise go to his head.
Bizarre items were always known for their powerful abilities, which were accompanied by enormous risks or terrifying side effects.
He planned to have his avatar approach it stealthily first to gauge its danger level.
If the risk was manageable, he would take it immediately, find some forgotten corner to hide it in, and then quietly retrieve it after the Red Moon ended.
But if it was too dangerous...
...then he would give up without hesitation and find a way to draw the Public Security Bureau’s attention here. Let the professionals deal with the headache!
The Mosquito Avatar maintained its perfect invisibility, weaving silently through the dense sheets of rain and between the skyscrapers at maximum speed.
「A moment later.」
It arrived at its destination—the location of the blue dot on his sensory map.
Before it was an upscale villa district.
On either side of the main gate sat a half-human-sized granite lion statue. They were majestic and silent, clearly traditional decorations placed by the owner to ward off evil and protect the house.
At that moment, Lin Yi’s consciousness, looking through the Mosquito Avatar’s compound eyes, was locked firmly on the stone lion to the left.
The sensory map clearly indicated that this was the source of the anomaly!
’Under the Red Moon’s corrosion... even a cold stone statue can mutate? It turned into a bizarre item?’
’But why... can’t I feel any energy fluctuations leaking from it?’
The world was rendered in perfect detail through the compound eyes. Lin Yi carefully scanned every groove and every corner of the stone lion, trying to find a clue.
However, the stone lion remained as silent as an inanimate object, showing no signs of anything unusual.
Just as Lin Yi was maneuvering the Mosquito Avatar to investigate more closely—
CRACK! CRACK!
A crisp, sudden cracking sound shattered the dead silence of the rainy night!
The surface of the stone lion began to crack without any warning!
One deep crack after another instantly spread across its entire body!
CRUMBLE!
The hard granite outer layer, like a decaying shell of mud, peeled away and collapsed, the fragments tumbling to the ground.
Amidst the pile of rubble, an item revealed its true form!
It was a palm-sized lion statue that looked as if it had been meticulously carved from a single piece of sapphire.
Its lines were smooth and rounded, and its expression was surprisingly dazed and cute.
But under the eerie glow of the strange Red Moon, the entire statue emitted an indescribable, deep, and cold azure radiance, shining brilliantly!
As it appeared in the world!
VMMM!
A wave of incredibly dense and pure Water Attribute Spiritual Qi, like an invisible tidal wave, slammed into him, almost solidifying into a tangible substance!
A majestic aura of energy instantly enveloped the surroundings.
’Found it! This is it! The newly-formed bizarre item the Research Institute was looking for!’
All doubt vanished from Lin Yi’s mind, and he made an instant decision!
The Mosquito Avatar shot out like a bolt of lightning. Its tiny but incredibly strong, sharp limbs precisely grabbed the small, blue lion statue.
It was slightly heavy in its grasp, and bone-chillingly cold!
The avatar’s wings vibrated at a high frequency, and it instantly shot up from the ground, carrying the bizarre item. It broke through the curtain of rain, becoming a streak of light invisible to the naked eye as it tore through the air, flying at extreme speed above the city.
「In just a few moments.」
It arrived at the rooftop of a skyscraper.
However, the complication arrived faster than Lin Yi had anticipated!
In the brief moments that the Mosquito Avatar was flying at high speed while holding the blue lion statue—
’Thirsty... so thirsty... water...’
An unbearable thirst, originating from the depths of its soul, violently and without warning assaulted the Mosquito Avatar!
This terrible thirst wasn’t from a physical lack of water. It was more like a curse on a spiritual level, frantically conveying an extreme craving for liquid, for the Source of Life!
Even more terrifyingly, this feeling ignored the distance, spreading like a plague and transmitting itself simultaneously to Lin Yi’s true body, deep underground in the shelter!
BANG!
The moment the Mosquito Avatar reached the skyscraper’s rooftop, it immediately slammed the strange blue lion statue onto the concrete ground!
Freed from direct physical contact, the maddening, extreme thirst eased slightly, but it still clung to him like a maggot on a bone, refusing to fade!
’That was close! What a terrifying side effect!’
Lin Yi was horrified, a wave of intense fear washing over him.
Although he hadn’t yet determined the blue lion statue’s specific ability, the terror of its side effect and the speed at which it took hold were far beyond his imagination!
Merely touching it would instantly trigger a dual "dehydration" curse on both the user’s spiritual and physical levels!
Moreover, this curse intensified exponentially with each passing minute!
Even drinking water constantly would be useless, because this thirst acted directly on the Spirit.
Even if you drank a bellyful of water, you would still feel thirsty.
At a certain point, you could be submerged in a vat of water and still die of thirst.
Through the avatar’s compound eyes, Lin Yi stared intently at the statue on the rooftop floor. It radiated a faint blue glow, as exquisite as a work of art, yet also terrifying.
’This is bad! I have to find a way to seal it immediately!’
Bizarre items could only be used after they were sealed.
That way, their side effects would only affect the user.
If one wasn’t sealed, its area of effect would slowly expand, affecting everyone.
Just like now. Even though the Mosquito Avatar had let go, the spiritual "thirst" hadn’t disappeared; its intensity was just slightly weaker than when in direct contact.
What was more unnerving was that this discomfort was slowly but steadily intensifying over time!
The most crucial part was—
Lin Yi could clearly sense that as the statue was exposed to the Red Moon’s glow, it was waking up!
An invisible force field, carrying a curse of extreme thirst, was radiating from the statue as its epicenter, slowly and unstoppably spreading outwards!
’Damn it! The area of effect is expanding!’
’I’m afraid... in just a few hours, this curse will cover a huge section of the city!’
’By then, even hidden in the deepest shelters, the millions of people in all of Yang City... will likely be plunged into endless, torturous thirst, and in the end... they’ll dehydrate and die!’
The cold reality struck Lin Yi’s heart like a heavy hammer.
’This bizarre item... is something I’m completely incapable of handling right now!’
He instantly understood the grim reality of the situation.
He didn’t know any sealing methods; he was utterly helpless!
Furthermore, he had no way to move it to a deserted wilderness far from civilization.
Touching it for even a short period was suicide, let alone carrying it on a long journey!
His original plan was a complete failure.
The danger posed by this blue lion statue was unimaginably immense!
Its potential destructive power was enough to cause a silent and deadly city-wide disaster!
’I can’t keep it! I absolutely can’t keep it in my possession!’
’I have to... I have to let the Public Security Bureau handle this!’
As he made this decision, Lin Yi felt that the situation was incredibly troublesome. He also felt a trace of unwillingness at having to give up this opportunity.
But what was even stronger was his profound fear of an out-of-control disaster.
He immediately began to think about how to pass this hot potato to the Public Security Bureau without revealing his own existence.