Chapter 336 Source of Invasion

The moment she heard those words, even Xia Xinyan was a bit taken aback.

Source of Invasion… is talking?!

A Source of Invasion can talk?!

In her previous life, she had never seen such a thing, not even heard of it.

But after regaining her composure, she immediately blocked Ling Mo: “Wait!”

Ling Mo was also somewhat stunned, the light blade already raised but frozen in midair until Xia Xinyan spoke, and then he lowered it.

Xia Xinyan stood in front of Ling Mo, locking eyes with the Source of Invasion as if wanting to say something, and at that, Ling Mo couldn’t help but remind her: “Be careful.”

Even if this situation was rare, it was still a Source of Invasion, a being that must be eliminated, so staying vigilant was definitely wise.

He still remembered how this Source of Invasion could summon those beast-eared girls from the throne; while each individual wasn’t particularly powerful, their numbers could create quite the headache.

Xia Xinyan nodded and tried negotiating with the Source of Invasion: “Can you speak?”

“Is that strange?” The Source of Invasion’s expression remained quite flat.

Xia Xinyan squinted slightly: “Do you know what you’re doing?”

“I’m creating a habitat.” The Source of Invasion replied without hesitation.

“A habitat? Killing everyone here? Is that your way of creating a habitat?” Xia Xinyan looked around and asked.

Hearing this, the Source of Invasion tilted its head, seeming not to understand her meaning: “I’m trying to blend into this environment.”

Xia Xinyan stared at the Source of Invasion for a while, generally confirming that this creature was not lying.

Or rather, with an existence like this, it probably couldn’t even learn how to lie.

So, she continued to engage with this creature and managed to get the information she wanted.

Perhaps realizing they wouldn’t be stopped, the Source of Invasion was quite cooperative, answering almost every question, but due to the differing thought processes between races, many answers were totally irrelevant, making it quite a task to piece together useful intel.

In simple terms, the Source of Invasion was born right here, and its birth coincided with the moment the rule event occurred, which nullified Xia Xinyan’s previous guess—she had thought these Sources of Invasion were things deployed by demons from a distance.

The nature of survival for this type of Source of Invasion was somewhat similar to plants; once born, they would transform a specific surrounding area into their habitat and imprint their “rules” upon it, essentially their influence.

However, according to this Source of Invasion, they weren’t creating this habitat to adapt to their survival but rather to adapt themselves to the current environment, creating a sort of “camouflage.”

Like how the sudden appearance of so many zombies in this small town was the Source of Invasion creating a protection layer based on the zombies present in the town—those extra zombies were subordinate beings sharing the same life force as the Source of Invasion, usually behaving like regular zombies, but when danger arose, they would return to protect the Source of Invasion.

It’s akin to a flower in the forest giving birth to a ring of man-eating plants around itself to prevent destruction by outside forces—looking normal when there’s no danger, but revealing its true nature upon facing peril.

The changes in the inner circle stemmed from the active skill of the Source of Invasion—this aligned with Xia Xinyan’s guess: the Source of Invasion’s active skill wasn’t the same as its ability to create a habitat, and they might be completely unrelated.

And this Source of Invasion’s active skill was surely unique—it could transform any controlled entity entering its range into something irresistibly alluring, enticing other individuals into this area and making them succumb to it, thereby eliminating any threat.

As for the current manifestation, it was those beast-eared girls.

Not only did these beast-eared girls have an alluring exterior, but they also came with a persuasion buff, similar to Xia Xinyan’s charm, albeit significantly inferior, and much less effective.

And for some unknown reason, this time it didn’t have any effect on Ling Mo.

After this powerful method became ineffective, the Source of Invasion was left with no recourse but to watch them approach, ultimately giving up on resistance.

After grasping all this, Xia Xinyan pondered for a bit and then asked, “You can only stay here? You can’t move?”

“I can move,” the Source of Invasion nodded.

“Does that have any effect on you?”

“No, but it requires re-establishing a habitat.”

“Is there any consequence if you don’t establish a habitat?”

“…It would be dangerous.”

“What if there’s no danger?”

This time, the Source of Invasion fell into contemplation.

She seemed to not have considered such questions, causing her brain to stall.

Fortunately, she finally reached an answer: “No impact.”

“Well then,” Xia Xinyan nodded, “retract the influence of this habitat and come with us.”

“Why?” The Source of Invasion fell into a stupor again.

This time, Xia Xinyan was quite direct: “Submit to us and come with us, or die. Which do you choose?”

She wanted to capture this Source of Invasion.

A Source of Invasion that could communicate and engage was undoubtedly a rare find. Moreover, its value extended beyond its rarity; it possibly had potential—perhaps it could even communicate with demons, serving as a bridge; it might not only facilitate negotiations with demons but could also play a significant role.

Digging deeper, this creature might even know where the demon base is located. It could possess some form of racial sensing ability!

This was an exploration of an entirely new field; keeping this Source of Invasion would be far more beneficial than killing her.

—And then this creature actually started to think.

Even Ling Mo was quite surprised. What kind of logic does this creature have? Is moving her den worse than dying?

However, the Source of Invasion ultimately did not disappoint them. She stood up from the throne, slowly floated down from the air, and landed steadily before the two, with the throne gradually becoming illusory and eventually disappearing.

She lowered her head, seemingly showing submission: “I submit to you.”

Xia Xinyan was quite pleased with her performance: “Very well, now withdraw the influence you have over your habitat.”

The Source of Invasion obediently nodded.

In the next moment, Xia Xinyan and Ling Mo hurriedly felt the weakening power imposed on them dissipating, as if breaking free from a constraint, their original strength surged back, filling their entire bodies.

At the same time, the illusory beauty surrounding them gradually shattered, the once clean and tidy street once again replaced by desolation and ruin, and daytime turned back into night.

Then, Ling Mo’s communicator buzzed, and Tiger Ba Tian’s excited voice came through: “Ling Brother! Did you manage to defeat the Source of Invasion so quickly?!”

Ling Mo stared at the expressionless queen in front of him for a moment and replied: “No… we captured the Source of Invasion.”

“…Huh?!”