Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 325: Lv6 Skill, Miraculous Shadow Cloth!

Exhale!Inhale!

The torn giant had long since dissipated without a trace, but visible pillars of air continued to blast from the golden-armored behemoth's mouth and nose, striking the ground and kicking up clouds of dust.

It took four or five seconds for that berserk aura to gradually settle. Only then did he shake his body, recovering from the unrestrained afterglow of the battle, and walk step by step toward the courtyard.

Thud! Thud!

The heavy footsteps echoed like beating drums through the abandoned Gathering Place, shaking the Armored Vehicle parked in the center of the courtyard until it visibly trembled.

In terms of appearance, the ferocity of the golden-armored behemoth in the eyes of Yin Ruofeng and the other three was several times more terrifying than the previous giant.

The hideous bone spikes on its back stood straight up, gleaming with a bone-chilling light under the moon, sending shivers down their spines.

Its dense compound eyes refracted the surroundings from multiple angles, flickering with an uneven dark golden light that made it look like a demon god.

The spiracles on its face used for breathing were even more bizarre, faintly outlining the shape of a golden insect. It was covered in layers of blood-red veins, exuding a heavy, non-human pressure.

Suddenly, the behemoth raised its hands, its gaze falling on the outer sides of its left and right arms.

There was a slight protrusion on each, not yet fully bursting through the golden armor. Through the plating, one could faintly make out two sharp blades that resembled shadow claws, pulsing slightly in time with its breathing.

"New... weapons?"

The muffled voice echoed through the night sky.

The moment it stepped into the courtyard, the massive body rapidly shrank as if being dehydrated.

All the golden carapace quickly retracted, turning into specks of golden light that merged into his skin. The terrifying insectoid faceplate folded backward, snapping into the back of his neck and vanishing from sight.

In the blink of an eye, a robust human figure stepped out from the lingering shadow of the behemoth.

After rolling his neck a few times, he quickly looked down at his crotch, a look of pleasant surprise washing over his face.

Those silver-white shorts were still firmly strapped to his waist, having survived the explosive growth of his physique without tearing apart.

"Good stuff. Now I finally won't end up streaking every time I enter the Symbiotic State."

Cheng Ye let out a long sigh of relief and looked up at the courtyard.

Liu Bi's gaze remained steady, but deep in his eyes hid an unconcealable trace of worry and astonishment.

The four people inside the Armored Vehicle were completely stunned. Their mouths hung wide open and their eyes were glazed over, as if they had lost the ability to think.

Only Niu Fu pushed open the vehicle door and walked over holding a set of clothes, the only one present who could calmly accept everything that had just happened.

"Inspector Cheng, your combat state is simply... vicious!"

Niu Fu gulped. After holding his breath for a long time, "vicious" was the only word he could think of to describe the scene he had just witnessed.

After all, destroying a monster that humans were utterly powerless against using the most savage, bare-knuckle methods created a visual impact far more shocking than any high-tech weaponry.

Cheng Ye took the clothes and quickly changed. Liu Bi immediately strode over and lowered his voice. "Your fighting style just now was incredibly savage. Did you... lose control of yourself?"

"You mean?" Cheng Ye turned around and glanced at the roll of white cloth on the ground.

Earlier, he had brutally torn and chewed at the giant's gray fog head with his mouth. In the eyes of bystanders, that display truly exuded a terrifyingly vicious nature.

However, only he knew the truth. That condition after entering the Symbiotic State was much like the Heaven-Man Martial Domain—a perfect fusion of power and instinct, not a loss of control.

It was just that this highly primal combat style, combined with his horrifying appearance, packed an overwhelming visual punch.

"It's not losing control. Rather, I actively suppressed my rationality to push my combat instincts to their absolute limits," Cheng Ye explained after a moment of thought. "Simply put, I abandoned all metaphysical restraints and only focused on killing the enemy as fast as possible, ignoring the methods and forms. That's why many of my actions seemed no different from a wild beast, filled with primal violence."

"Actively suppressing your rationality?" Liu Bi paused, then nodded thoughtfully.

That sounded exactly like the core principle behind the Heaven-Man Martial Domain.

After all, the martial domain also required practitioners to lower their rational thought, keeping only a sharp perception of the outside world. Only then could they enter that profoundly mysterious state and resonate with the natural world.

The two men were in no rush to pick up the roll of white cloth on the ground, instead sitting back down at the wooden table.

The night wind swept dust across the courtyard, carrying a heavy post-battle silence.

The Seamless Shadow Puppet had launched three waves of attacks in total.

The first wave with the old woman and her eight grandsons, and the second wave with the Hongfu funeral troupe, had both been mechanical probes relying on rule-based traps. But the third wave, the Hundred-Shadow Giant, was a complete shift to numerical suppression, utilizing pure strength and massive size to dominate.

Unfortunately for it, Inspector Cheng wasn't just a simple brute-force monster either; he possessed his own set of special mechanisms.

After three rounds of confrontation, the Seamless Shadow Puppet had suffered a total defeat.

Although that sticky chilling dread and the lingering sensation of being watched had completely vanished, Cheng Ye was in no hurry to drop his guard and celebrate prematurely.

Who knew what kind of backup plans these Infected Bodies with their bizarre abilities were hiding?

Moreover, this Seamless Shadow Puppet clearly had a high level of intelligence, its thought process even more cunning than a normal human's.

"As expected of an Infected Body molded by an Extinction-level Infection Source,"

Cheng Ye thought to himself, his fingertips lightly tapping against the tabletop. 'It has both the mechanics and the brute numbers, all while retaining complete intelligence. Its power level is outrageously overturned. If a thing like this isn't killed in a single strike and wiped out at the root, it could easily evolve into a localized natural disaster...'

He pondered quietly.

This skirmish with the Seamless Shadow Puppet had inadvertently revealed the true horror of the winter Infection Tide.

With these intelligent Fusion Entities mixed in among countless low-tier Infected Bodies, humanity simply couldn't achieve a complete extermination.

Just like now. If the Seamless Shadow Puppet realized how formidable he was and chose to decisively retreat and flee rather than hide nearby, that would be far more terrifying than the two of them fighting to the bitter end.

Such patience meant that given enough time to recover, it would bring even greater trouble the next time it appeared.

After waiting for about half an hour, the night remained perfectly still. No new shadow puppets appeared, and that malicious intent had thoroughly faded away.

Cheng Ye checked the time; it was already past midnight. He finally let out a soft sigh of relief and used his intent to open the System Panel, jumping to the Illustrated Handbook.

The harvest from the three clashes was quite substantial. The two Traits, "Shadow Puppet Crafting" and "Shadow Puppet World," had both accumulated to their maximum value of 200%.

Even after dealing with that giant shadow puppet later, no new Traits were unlocked. This likely meant that he could only collect a maximum of these two Traits from an Infected Body like the Seamless Shadow Puppet.

'Do Infected Bodies of this type naturally only possess these two Traits?'

Cheng Ye mulled it over and quickly dismissed the idea.

Just looking at the methods the Seamless Shadow Puppet had displayed, there had to be at least four or five foundational Traits backing those abilities.

But only securing two meant that acquiring more related Traits would probably require venturing into the lair of the Extinction-level Infection Source, the Green Dock Continent archipelago.

The difficulty of that task was simply astronomical.

Humanity knew full well that Extinction-level Infection Sources were entrenched there, yet they had never been able to eliminate them. This proved that even entities in the Transcendent Control State, or even higher-tier existences, wouldn't gain any advantage against those Extinction-level threats.

Cheng Ye's gaze swept back and forth between the two maxed-out Traits, eventually locking onto the "Shadow Puppet World."

While the collection efficiency for "Shadow Puppet Crafting" had been high, and its value was unquestionable.

Judging solely by the old woman manipulating her eight grandsons and the funeral troupe turning illusions into reality, one could conclude that this ability possessed astonishing potential.

Regrettably, being stuck in the Wilderness left him no time to research it. More importantly, the asterisk attached to it meant the skill contained corruption, requiring it to be fused with the Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse before use.

However, the Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse had strict fusion limitations, only accepting parasitism-type talents. Whether this crafting-oriented skill even fell into the talent category was still unconfirmed.

On the other hand, Shadow Puppet World could be equipped directly. Considering there was no way to replenish his Recharge Value right now, every single point had to be spent where it mattered most.

'Exchange, Shadow Puppet World, skill path!'

Cheng Ye chanted silently in his heart, and the System Panel immediately popped up a confirmation prompt.

Of the three available exchange categories, the item and intelligence options could yield additional benefits by investing extra Recharge Value.

Only the skill exchange manifested directly from the collected Traits, consuming just 25% of the Recharge Value, giving it incredibly high cost-efficiency.

A gentle radiance flashed across the panel, and a softly glowing skill box slowly materialized.

Light gray?

The rating was merely at the Common tier?

Cheng Ye felt slightly disappointed. As the core Trait of the Seamless Shadow Puppet, accumulating Shadow Puppet World had been exceptionally difficult. Given it originated from an Infected Body derived from an Extinction-level Infection Source, logically speaking, even if it didn't reach the Perfect rating, it should have at least been Rare.

Yet it was only Common. That was far below his expectations.

Just as Cheng Ye was secretly lamenting this, the skill box's manifestation gradually completed.

The four black words "Shadow Puppet World" flickered slightly and slowly slotted into the box.

Directly beneath the text, the level information surfaced.

Cheng Ye casually swept his gaze over it without expecting much, but in the next second, his pupils violently constricted. His heart rate spiked, and he lost his breath for half a beat.

Wait!

No, how could this be possible?

An Lv6 skill??!

In that instant, Cheng Ye felt his mind explode. All his thoughts were completely scrambled by that single number "6."

An Lv6 skill wasn't exceptionally rare in itself; a prompt had popped up back when he scanned Liu Kun.

But that had been an Lv6 skill derived from a Transcendent Creature, existing dependently on the creature itself, not something that could be independently equipped and

used normally as an Lv6 skill.

Even more unbelievably, this Lv6 skill had actually manifested from a Trait collected off an Infected Body!

His mind went blank for several seconds.

When he finally regained his senses, Cheng Ye forced down the shock in his heart. With a shift of his intent, the System Panel directly jumped to his personal interface.

Entering the Skill Bar, his gaze remained dead locked onto the unremarkable, light gray skill box.

The panel paused for a moment before a detailed description, similar to the Undying Blessing, slowly popped up.

[Shadow Puppet World (Lv6; Common)]

[Description]: It is rumored that at the border where reality and shadow intersect, a special Gap exists. This realm has neither sun nor moon, with chaos blurring the outlines of heaven and earth. Any shadow-molded creature that enters this realm will have its body and soul frozen by space-time, untouched by the passing years, and achieving eternal immortality.

[Entry Requirements]: Must possess the trait "Shadow-Molded Body* (Lv6; Transcendent; Physique Talent)." Current conditions not met; unable to enter the Shadow Puppet World. [Unlock Requirements]: Shadow Cloth (Special Material; obtained via Shadow Puppet Crafting). Current conditions not met; unable to unlock the Shadow Puppet World. It really was an Lv6 skill.

Cheng Ye took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. His eyes quickly swept over the skill description, finally landing on the talent requirement listed under "Entry Requirements."

Shadow-Molded Body?

It was a talent name he had never heard of before. Judging from the description, not only was its level also as high as Lv6, but it was also marked with the "Transcendent" grade and categorized as a "Physique Talent."

Combined with the unlock requirement needing the special material "Shadow Cloth" produced by Shadow Puppet Crafting, Cheng Ye instantly realized the truth.

This "Shadow Puppet World" and "Shadow Puppet Crafting" were actually a complementary set of abilities!

Moreover, at this level, it was absolutely an orthodox-grade ability that touched upon the fundamental rules of reality.

'Hmm, without a Shadow-Molded Body, I can't enter the Shadow Puppet World. That means tracking down that Seamless Shadow Puppet will be as difficult as scaling the heavens...

'

Cheng Ye couldn't help but feel a twinge of inward regret.

He hadn't expected the Seamless Shadow Puppet's attack mechanisms to be so insidious and disgusting, while its life-saving methods were absurdly terrifying.

No matter how powerful the weapons humanity wielded, if they couldn't damage its shadow-molded body, it would all be in vain.

However, his gaze soon shifted downward, resting on the glaring words "Shadow Cloth" in the unlock requirements for the Shadow Puppet World.

Immediately, his eyes flicked over, locking onto the roll of white cloth lying quietly in front of the courtyard gate.

Could that thing be the Shadow Cloth?

Cheng Ye pulled out his Defense Terminal and typed "Shadow Cloth" into the search bar. The resulting interface was completely blank; there were no related records.

He thought for a moment and tried a different search method, entering keywords like "Seamless Shadow Puppet Materials" and "Seamless Beast Drops," attempting to find information on related materials, but still, no entries popped up on the screen.

This either meant that humanity had never actually obtained this material, or its value was so astonishing that the shelter cities possessing the relevant information simply hadn't uploaded it to the alliance network for sharing.

Cheng Ye put down his Defense Terminal, turned to Liu Bi, and said softly, "Brother B, the Seamless Shadow Puppet should have left already."

"Left?" Liu Bi raised an eyebrow, a hint of understanding in his tone. "That beast really does have brains. It realized it couldn't handle us, so it simply tucked its tail and ran."

As he spoke, he shook his head and offered a grim warning. "But we have to be careful it doesn't circle back and launch a vicious surprise attack when our guard is down."

"Yeah, I'm afraid neither of us will be getting any sleep tonight."

Cheng Ye nodded in agreement. He then pointed to the roll of fabric lying outside the courtyard and explained, "That thing dropped from the shadow puppet giant just now. I just ran a search and found zero records of it. I want to bring it inside and study it to see exactly what it is."

"Alright, be careful." Liu Bi opened his mouth, but swallowed back the words he was about to say.

If he had been alone, he absolutely wouldn't touch an unidentified object dropped by an Infected Body, especially something that didn't even have a record in the Defense Terminal.

God only knew if it was a trap that would explode upon contact. Falling prey to an Infected Body's trick like that would be far too frustrating a way to die.

But remembering Cheng Ye's status as a Researcher, he swallowed his warning.

To thoroughly uncover the secrets of the Seamless Shadow Puppet, starting with the items it left behind was perhaps the best breakthrough point.

Cheng Ye strode over to the roll of fabric suspected to be the "Shadow Cloth." First, he clicked on his flashlight and carefully examined the material.

The thing looked no different from an ordinary piece of white cloth. There were no patterns on its plain white base, and it felt slightly rough and coarse to the touch.

The edges were heavily frayed, looking as if they had been haphazardly torn, scattering numerous fine fibrous burrs.

But strangely, whether the flashlight's beam was aimed directly to pierce the fabric or cast at an angle across its surface, neither the cloth itself nor the area where the beam hit the ground cast even the slightest hint of a shadow. It was as if all the light had been completely devoured by the material.

Cheng Ye couldn't resist reaching out to tug at a corner of the cloth, his heart immediately skipping a beat in surprise.

Who would have thought that this thing, which looked so light and airy, would be absurdly heavy in his hand? It was practically no different from solid steel.

Even though it was less than a meter long, its weight was easily around a hundred kilograms.

Cheng Ye bent his knees slightly, engaged his core, straightened his arms, and carefully carried the fabric back to the courtyard.

After sitting back down, he immediately opened his System Panel and navigated to the "Shadow Puppet World" skill interface.

Sure enough, this thing was the Shadow Cloth required to unlock the Shadow Puppet World.

The description within the Skill Bar had already undergone a direct and intuitive change!