Chapter 39: Heavenly Mechanisms Feline, Caroline

Chapter 39: Heavenly Mechanisms Feline, Caroline

“This should be the last one, right?”

Caroline walked up to the corpse of one of the crab-type beasts. Behind her, a sleek, cable-like tail extended and hovered right above the carcass.

Click—

With a crisp, mechanical sound, the tip of her tail opened up, revealing a tiny, precision-built device—a miniature scanner. A pale blue light flickered to life, sweeping over the monster’s body with perfect accuracy.

As she worked, her hair—originally a dark shade—gradually turned silver-white. Even the tips glowed faintly, strands flowing like liquid circuitry. It was as if each lock of hair wasn’t organic at all, but a woven network of living circuits.

This was Caroline’s unique advantage—utilizing her mechanoid organs to gather battlefield data at blinding speed.

[Star Core: Heavenly Mechanisms Feline]

[Type: Machina Type]

[Effect 1—Data Relay]: Can act as both signal receiver and transmitter, linking up to five star-energy units and, with permission, sharing data among them.

[Effect 2—Cybernetic Conversion]: Can permanently convert parts of her body into mechanoid organs. Currently converted: Electronic Cat’s Eye, Signal Cat’s Ear, Multi-Function Tail.

As a Machina Type Starbearer, Caroline knew full well that head-on combat was never her forte.

Pre-battle reconnaissance, post-battle analysis—that was where she truly shined.

So even though she had more than enough power to fight, Caroline rarely chose to engage directly unless absolutely necessary.

After all, with someone like Tendou—a blazing “sun”—leading the charge, a “shadow” like her simply had to stand quietly behind and support him.

Because Tendou would handle everything.

So even now, with worry gnawing at her over his whereabouts, Caroline’s instincts urged restraint.

Instead of diving blindly into the fog and searching recklessly, she decided to trust in Tendou and focus on what she did best: gathering intel, analyzing patterns, and piecing together what had happened as quickly as possible.

Under the combined analysis of her Electronic Cat’s Eye and Multi-Function Tail, the two fallen crab beasts were soon dissected—figuratively and literally.

‘Their Star Cores have already atrophied. Primary organs are barely sustaining minimal activity…’

Her brows furrowed slightly.

‘Strange. By all logic, they should’ve died three days ago. They shouldn’t even be moving, unless—’

The thought clicked. Caroline slipped on a pair of star-energy-resistant gloves and pulled out a small, data-lined dagger—more surgical tool than weapon.

With delicate precision, she sliced open a seam in the crab’s shell, prying out a strange, violet coral-like growth embedded in its head.

The moment the coral mass was removed, it began to shrivel rapidly—decaying before her eyes.

Caroline stared at it, emerald-green electronic irises reflecting streams of cascading code.

[Detected: Neural Parasitic Strain]

[Maximum Viable Activity: 72 hours]

[Suspected Controller Type: Oceanic / Toxin / Trait-based]

She discarded the coral sample and began forming her hypothesis.

‘The enemy must be an Oceanic-type Starbearer—one whose Star Origin involves parasitism, toxins, or coralization.’

‘And… there’s more than one. At least two.’

‘This dense fog doesn’t match the Oceanic class—unless the controller’s undergone a secondary awakening, fusing toxin and mist traits simultaneously.’

‘But if they were truly that strong, they wouldn’t need to ambush us like this. Not for a first-order Starbearer.’

Her mechanical tail retracted, the faint hum of data fading into the air.

And though her tone remained calm, her glowing eyes told a different story—cold calculation masking the quiet, growing worry in her chest.

‘If we factor in Instructor Tachibana’s disappearance too… then the enemy’s total strength would conservatively be one second-order Starbearer, supported by multiple first-orders.’

That thought alone made Caroline’s heart sink like a stone.

She hadn’t expected that the moment their team disembarked, they’d run straight into such powerful opponents.

Things were far more complicated—and far more dangerous—than she had anticipated.

“Caroline!”

A voice called out from behind her.

Instinct kicked in before reason could catch up—Caroline spun around, her cybernetic tail lashing out like a striking blade.

A flash of blue light—a hiss of electricity—then, just in time, she stopped.

The razor-edged tip of her tail froze in midair—less than half a centimeter from Chen Kong’s throat—the compressed current along the blade-edge sizzling and crackling, a clear reminder of how close he’d come to instant death.

Meanwhile, Chen Kong—pale-faced, shaken to his core—fell back hard onto the ground. Sweat beaded down his forehead as he sat there, trembling and breathless, clearly still processing the fact that he’d almost been impaled.

Caroline, however, didn’t so much as flinch. She didn’t even apologize.

“Chen Kong,” she said flatly, her glowing cat-eyes narrowing, “why are you alone? Where’s Tendou?”

“I—I don’t know.” Chen Kong wiped his forehead with a shaky hand before standing up. “You’re the first one I’ve found since the fog hit.”

A flicker of disappointment crossed Caroline’s face—brief, but unmistakable.

Still, logic quickly took back control. She steadied herself and questioned him further.

Just as she’d suspected, Chen Kong explained that right after they arrived at the port, the strange mist had rolled in—swallowing the entire area and cutting everyone off from one another.

When he realized everyone had vanished, his first thought had been to search for the others—especially Tendou and Instructor Tachibana.

After all, despite having unlocked his First Star Core: “Void Mark”, and obtaining his Star Origin: “Dreamweaver”, Chen Kong’s actual combat strength hadn’t improved much.

“Void Mark” let him lower his own presence and nullify others’ star energy.

“Dreamweaver,” on the other hand, allowed him to temporarily copy another person’s Star Origin.

If he could use both simultaneously, Chen Kong would’ve been formidable—a versatile assassin able to vanish, adapt, and strike from any angle.

But reality, as always, was cruel.

Just as his Second Star Core: “Void Star” had been completely suppressed by his “Void Mark,” rendering it unusable—his newly acquired “Dreamweaver” suffered the same fate.

Whenever he activated “Void Mark,” “Dreamweaver” would become inaccessible.

Most Children of the Stars were hailed as “Dual Stars”—able to wield both Star Core and Star Origin in harmony.

But Chen Kong? He could only choose one.

One or the other—never both.

The universe had a twisted sense of humor.

Still, even with just “Void Mark,” Chen Kong had managed to stay alive—evading the crab beasts’ detection, temporarily dispersing the strange mist around him, and surviving long enough to stumble upon Caroline.

Unfortunately, now that he’d dropped his concealment ability to speak with her, the effect faded.

And as his presence reappeared, so did the danger.

From somewhere within the mist came the faint clatter of chitinous limbs—heavy, rhythmic, and getting closer.

The crab beasts had found him again.

Caroline’s ears twitched. Her eyes sharpened.

“Chen Kong,” she said quietly, cutting him off mid-sentence as her head turned toward the fog. “Step back. Now.”

“O-oh! R-right!”

Chen Kong obeyed instantly—retreating several steps—just as the low, guttural sound of snapping claws echoed through the haze ahead.

<+>

Note:

In case you didn’t know or forgot, Chen Kong and Chen Xin have 2 Star Core,1 from birth and 1 from the surgery, the reason why no one has seen his second Star Core at the start of the series is because his first Star Core nullify his second one, so it looks like he doesn’t gain any Star Core after undergoing the surgery.

Caroline and the other Children of the Star have 2 special abilities, Star Core, the thing that they got after the surgery, and the Star Origin, something that they got after the final examination.

Chen Kong and Chen Xin have 3, 2 Star Core, and 1 Star Origin.

No one knows that Chen Kong and Chen Xin have 2 Star Core.

Most of the Starbearers don't have Star Core, they only have Star Origin.

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