Chapter 471 - 468: A More Terrifying Activation

Chapter 471: Chapter 468: A More Terrifying Activation

’What on earth are these black spots?’

Mo Ling reached out and pressed against the already blackened tree trunk. With a CRACK, the trunk shattered instantly, and dark fragments fell to the ground.

’This fragile?’

Mo Ling dusted off his hands and tossed the large tree outside.

The large tree materialized out of thin air and fell to the ground. Its trunk snapped into several pieces, the inside completely black, as if it had been afflicted by a potent poison.

’It couldn’t really be some kind of poison, could it?’

Mo Ling slightly regretted touching the black tree without any protection.

However, the black spots didn’t seem to have spread to him.

’What in the world is this stuff...?’

As time went on, the large trees near the clearing grew darker and darker. Mo Ling’s perception sank into their trunks, and he discovered they had been completely corroded by the black spots.

Once corroded, they became extremely fragile. Some animated trees didn’t even need Mo Ling to act; they had already crumbled into pieces on the ground.

Now, Mo Ling could finally confirm it: the animated trees were fleeing from something.

’Why are they trying to get to the clearing? Could there be something in the clearing that allows them to survive?’

After a moment of thought, Mo Ling decided to let one of the animated trees reach the clearing to see what would happen.

Soon, the only animated tree that Mo Ling hadn’t attacked struggled to the edge of the clearing.

Its entire body was covered in black spots. Its leaves had turned completely black and were falling uncontrollably. The tips of its branches were also breaking off as it moved, turning into black dust.

The large animated tree struggled, dragging itself along on its fragile roots. It finally made its way out of the forest, exposing its body to the moonlight.

When its black branches were bathed in the moonlight, a miracle occurred.

The black spots on its body rapidly dissipated like smoke. A breeze blew past, and its brown bark and tender green leaves reappeared, as if the layer of black had never existed.

’The moonlight... it can dispel the black spots?’

Mo Ling was certain it was the moonlight’s doing.

’No wonder they all want to run to the clearing.’

It wasn’t because there was some treasure in the clearing, but because the clearing was the only place they could bathe in the moonlight.

The forest canopy was too dense for the moonlight to penetrate, so these animated trees were desperately trying to reach the center of the clearing in order to survive.

’So that’s how it is.’

Mo Ling finally understood everything. He also had a new understanding of the black spots.

’Something that can be dispelled by moonlight...’

He had a good idea of what those black spots were now.

It was—animated darkness.

The moment the thought appeared in Mo Ling’s mind, he was shocked by it himself.

’Can even darkness become animated?’

Just what kind of thing was this animation contamination on this Sky Island?

’It can grant life to any "inanimate object." Darkness is also inanimate, so can darkness be animated too?’

Mo Ling recalled what Zhou Dynasty had said before, about the danger the investigation team encountered when they first landed on the island—animated light.

’Animated light can’t enter the darkness, and animated darkness is dispelled by light.’

These animated things were still constrained by the properties they had as inanimate objects.

If they hadn’t happened to choose this clearing as their resting spot, they would have certainly been attacked by the ubiquitous animated darkness.

Their bodies would gradually turn black, eventually disintegrating into pitch-black dust...

While thinking, Mo Ling killed the animated tree that had just survived the ordeal.

It had just escaped the corrosion of the animated darkness, only to fall into Mo Ling’s Block.

Mo Ling observed the tree that had entered the Block. The black spots on its bark had completely vanished.

He reached out and pressed it. The trunk was no longer fragile. It seemed that the moment the moonlight hit it, the dark corrosion on the tree had ceased to exist.

’Good thing we didn’t stay in the forest. This darkness is everywhere. I can’t even find a target to teleport, so there’s no way to deal with it...’

It seemed the Block had its limitations.

Even if its space grew larger and larger, Mo Ling couldn’t teleport "intangible" things.

’Thankfully, the moonlight is constant,’ Mo Ling thought with immense relief.

Although clouds and mist would sometimes obscure the moon, the clouds on the Sky Island were very thin, allowing the moonlight to penetrate them and blanket the entire clearing.

In the surrounding forest, the number of animated trees slowly dwindled.

As time passed, perhaps most of the trees were devoured by the animated darkness before they could even reach the clearing.

But some still slipped through the net.

’Animated air.’

Around the clearing, some black winds had appeared.

’So the darkness attacks the animated air?’

The animated air, "marked" by the darkness, lost its previous stealthiness. Mo Ling could now easily distinguish it from normal air.

As a result, they were killed by the Block’s teleportation before they could even enter the clearing.

’There really is always something to keep another thing in check. The intangible air is suppressed by the even more intangible darkness.’

Under Mo Ling’s protection, the clearing was never invaded by the animated things. They couldn’t even reach the edge before being killed by his teleportation.

The gentle moonlight shone on Li Luo’s face. She looked at the sleeping Zhou Dynasty, then at the Block, a relieved expression appearing on her face.

The moon hid quietly among the clouds, and the number of animated things approaching the clearing dwindled.

Under the corrosion of darkness, a silent slaughter was taking place in the forest.

In that unseen darkness, countless animated things stopped moving, turning into intangible black dust that scattered in the wind.

It seemed that not many animated things were approaching the clearing anymore, but Mo Ling did not let his guard down.

’The moonlight... can it be animated too?’

’What about these boulders?’

’What about the grass on the ground?’

’The clouds and mist in the sky... could they have been animated already?’

’...’

These questions kept popping up in Mo Ling’s mind. He felt that he was surrounded by all kinds of dangers.

The animation contamination didn’t just attack the body; it was also slowly corroding the mind.

Everything had become a hostile beast, and all defenses were rendered useless...

This forest, this Sky Island, and even the entire Abyss, had come alive.

Mo Ling finally understood why the investigation team had left Zhou Dynasty behind to monitor this Sky Island.

’This is a true contamination, a contamination targeting the world.’

If this contamination were to spread one day, something like an "animated Abyss" could truly come into existence.

Mo Ling didn’t dare to imagine the terrifying consequences.

’I have to find the beacon and send out a report on the worsening contamination...’

Mo Ling’s perception extended toward the center of the forest, finally stopping at its limit. His view was still restricted, unable to see what lay deeper within.

The darkness there seemed deeper, and the animation more chaotic.

The situation in the central area of the Sky Island was perhaps even worse than Zhou Dynasty had imagined.

’Will there be even more terrifying animated things in there?’