The comic content is likely not entirely accurate; after all, it’s just a piece of the lost world's clues.

Li Ang believes all the tentacles originated from starfish, and he has other considerations,

Such as the depiction of the priest's body details and feeding methods in the comic;

The analysis of tentacle cell components;

The structural design of the tentacles themselves;

And the most important point, the exploration of energy pipelines and the tentacles themselves.

In order to explore the energy pipelines, the Zerg specifically evolved several types of small, agile soldier insects equipped with small drills on their heads, capable of digging and prospecting in complex terrains, using sonar to detect locations, and assisting the Overmind in mapping.

These soldier insects drilled into the energy pipelines and discovered that the periphery of the lost world's edge was surrounded by a ring of giant tentacles.

These tentacles were firmly imprisoned in the walls by a massive and incredibly sturdy metal structure, comparable to a wonder.

Through an extraction system composed of syringes, oil wells, hydraulic valves, filter screens, and other equipment, amber-like energy was continuously extracted from inside the tentacles,

And transported to all parts of the lost world via pipelines buried in the ceilings and walls.

Mechanical beasts, security guards, builders, and a considerable number of the original lost world equipment that had not been destroyed or modified by the builders,

All of these things used amber energy, or refined products of amber energy,

It can be assumed that before the collapse of the lost world civilization, the indigenous residents here had already been consciously imprisoning and utilizing tentacle creatures—the evidence is the pipelines buried in the ceilings and walls for transporting potent sedatives and muscle relaxants, which have since dried up.

Like obtaining bear bile, the entire process of collecting and utilizing energy was cruel and efficient.

Considering that the characters' words and actions and the comic panel layout in the *When the Stars Return* series always have a strong theological color, and that the character of the priest has always appeared in a positive light, and even after he transformed into a monster in the ending, he still received worship from the survivors,

Combined with the information observed by the Zerg, all of this is very intriguing.

The starfish is both a mundane life and a mutated monster,

Both a savior hero, a god receiving boundless worship,

And a prisoner, forced to endure torturous skinning and bloodletting for an unimaginable length of time—even completely losing individual will for it.

As for the material and energy source of the mutated starfish, according to the Zerg's estimation, it is likely geothermal or underground magma—the deeper down, the thicker the skin of the tentacles, and the higher the temperature.

"You should... feel it, right?"

The Overmind Tyrant's voice was low and murky. "The recovery speed of divine power is slowing down..."

As if to confirm the Overmind Tyrant's words, several tentacles that made up the Arid Lion's body twitched involuntarily.

The Arid Lion's forelimbs involuntarily went limp, and it staggered, almost collapsing to the ground.

"What did you do?!"

The Arid Lion's roar echoed throughout the floor, and cyan-gray divine power crushed over.

Li Ang swung the bone blade, cutting through the divine power, and the mouthparts, more complex than ordinary insects, made a clicking sound as they knocked against each other.

Soon after the players arrived in the lost world, the tremors in the lost world, or rather, the mutated starfish's breaking free from its restraints, began.

It may be due to disrepair that the restraint system lost its effectiveness.

It may also be that the appearance of the players disturbed the mutated starfish's slumber.

Or perhaps the magma deep underground changed.

In short, according to the original design of the Killing Game system, the mutated starfish was originally supposed to completely break free within one hundred and sixty hours—the fifty-six-story lost world vibrated every three hours.

The tentacles on the upper levels broke free from their restraints, crushing the topmost floors.

The appearance of the Arid Lion and other alien players, and their promotion of the ritual, only accelerated this process.

Now that he knew that the mutated starfish's awakening was not controlled by the Arid Lion,

And that the activity of the starfish tentacles mainly came from biological instinct, rather than the Arid Lion's real-time manipulation,

Li Ang then proceeded to conduct further experiments—directly absorbing a large amount of amber-like liquid, confirming that the liquid was the source of divinity, and attempting to communicate with the starfish.

Each arm of a starfish has an eye at the end, and the mutated starfish is no exception.

After confirming that the mutated starfish's arm vision was no worse than that of humans, Li Ang had the Zerg units arrange themselves into various formations at the end of the arm,

And sent Zerg units to drill into the arm's interior, piercing the nervous system.

The result was no response—that is to say, the mutated starfish not only had no vision, but had also lost control of the ends of its limbs.

The Arid Lion, who seemed to have taken over the mutated starfish, was also the same.

After obtaining the above information, Li Ang further divided the fully equipped Zerg army on the upper floors into more than fifty branches.

They implemented an exhaustive extraction of energy from all the tentacles,

Extracting all of the massive amount of amber liquid.

And...

The Arid Lion suddenly felt a burst of weakness in its limbs, and the originally almost infinite divine power suddenly became much scarcer.

Michael instantly seized the flaw, and the Flame Blade, wrapped in flames, slashed over, shattering the Arid Lion's divine power barrier and tearing a long, deep gash in the latter's tentacle body.

"Roar!!!"

The Arid Lion roared sideways, and its still vast divine power condensed into visible sound waves, pushing back Michael,

And also directly震 into the wall David, who was lying in wait and attempting to sneak attack, was quickly grabbed by the tentacles in the wall and buried.

Not satisfied with just this, the Arid Lion turned its lion's mouth towards Li Ang.

Buzz—

Before the roar arrived, the air vibrated first.

The Overmind Tyrant held the bone blade in front of him, dense barbs extended from his feet, deeply piercing into the soil,

At the same time, the vents on his back spewed out ghostly blue flames, ready to provide thrust at any time.

Clang!

The cyan-gray divine power collided with the bone blade, like a stream meeting a reef, splitting to both sides.

The Overmind Tyrant was hit by the mutated starfish's divine power, and his massive body was blown backward like a fallen leaf in the wind.

His feet plowed two long tracks on the ground, and the vents all over the Tyrant's body even experienced insufficient oxygen intake because of the rapid movement.

Pfft—

The chitinous armor on the Overmind Tyrant's body twisted and deformed piece by piece, writhing like snakes.

This was the result of being affected by the mutated divine power.

The distant Ju Tianfu did not dare to neglect, striking a pose, drawing on the power of faith, and throwing ice crystals at the Arid Lion to cover the Overmind Tyrant.

Four, three, two...

Li Ang calmly and discreetly distributed the swamp divine power evenly throughout his body, resisting the effects of the mutation, while silently counting the numbers in his mind.

One.

The moment the countdown ended, Li Ang's will echoed in the Zerg's communication network.

Execute the plan.

Hiss—

The physical tentacles that had been hanging down in the V-shaped ice wall angle created by Ju Tianfu using Xuangming divine power suddenly trembled, and it seemed that a large number of objects were wriggling under its echinoderm skin.

Starfish nervous systems are generally decentralized, not forming ganglia or nerve centers.

This also meant that as long as the nerve circuits between the arms and the nerve center were severed,

And a large number of Zerg units (which needed to contain Li Ang's divine power to prevent assimilation) were sent into the mutated starfish's nervous system, releasing regular nerve signals,

It would be possible to block the Arid Lion's control over the tentacles,

Turn the tables, and have the Zerg individually command and control a certain arm, or even all of the arms...

Crack-a-lack—

That physical tentacle, parasitized by hundreds of thousands of Zerg units, was like a cloth doll on a hand.

In the Arid Lion's shocked and错愕 gaze, it swayed and stood up, crashing down.