Translator: CinderTL
After hearing the Narrator's explanation, Feng Qi recalled his encounter in the Flesh Cave.
Back then, he had lured Little Black into the cave and, while it was locked in combat with the Goat-Headed Demon, shattered the deity statue they were worshiping and killed the special lifeform inside.
His Blood Source Ability had been obtained by killing that lifeform within the statue.
So... they see me as that statue?
Good grief, at this rate, you're going to end up on a pet-raising path! First Suction Cup, then the Goat-Headed Demon... what's next?
Hearing the Narrator's sarcastic remark, Feng Qi couldn't help but roll his eyes. He turned to the Goat-Headed Demons kneeling on the ground and asked, "A'Bai, how do I get them to stand up and clear a path for me?"
How would I know? Why don't you try shouting... "My beloved subjects, rise!"?
Feng Qi: ...
While mentally flipping them off, he took two steps forward. As if realizing he wanted to leave, the Goat-Headed Demons immediately rose and parted to create a path.
Seeing this, Feng Qi walked through the gap and out of the encirclement.
Looking back, he saw the Goat-Headed Demons had all stood up and were following him.
Whenever he stopped, they would halt as well, raise their arms, and then kneel in unison.
Realizing the Goat-Headed Demons wouldn't harm him, Feng Qi lost interest in them and immediately sprinted toward the city ruins.
The Goat-Headed Demons followed, seemingly having become his bodyguards.
After running for about half an hour, Feng Qi arrived at the city ruins once more.
The environment was even more desolate than before, littered with architectural debris and rubble. Many buildings, if not for the plants that had fused with them and provided support, would have long since collapsed.
As he walked through the dilapidated streets, an idea struck Feng Qi. Since the Suction Cup had nearly lost its self-awareness, he couldn't use it to hunt domain creatures.
If the Suction Cup attacked, he wouldn't even get a chance to land the finishing blow.
But the Goat-Headed Demons behind him were different. They possessed consciousness, allowing him to communicate with them and enlist their help in capturing prey, which he could then finish off himself.
This strategy would undoubtedly allow him to rapidly increase his strength.
Feng Qi turned around and began gesturing to the Goat-Headed Demons, attempting to communicate with them.
However, whenever he turned around, the Goat-Headed Demons would raise their hands and kneel, chanting prayers in a language he couldn't understand.
After several failed attempts at communication, Feng Qi gave up and decided to try a different hunting method.
But he soon realized he had underestimated the situation.
The domain creatures they encountered along the way would immediately turn tail and flee at the sight of such a large group, giving Feng Qi no chance to hunt them.
The Goat-Headed Demons, however, made no aggressive moves. They remained firmly behind him, their eyes constantly scanning their surroundings like vigilant bodyguards.
With these bodyguards, their progress became much smoother.
Unlike before, Feng Qi no longer needed to hide or take detours after using his Blood Source Ability.
He had traveled this route to the abandoned hospital countless times.
As they advanced, he climbed a tall building to check on little black's location.
As expected, little black was approaching from the direction of the Burial Ground. Its black mist-shrouded form was visible from afar.
Ignoring the Goat-Headed Demons that had followed him up, Feng Qi scanned the city ruins below.
During his survey, he noticed a peculiar pattern: any domain creature he had killed never reappeared.
For example, the nightmare he had encountered near the entrance to the city ruins, the ape-like domain creature he had fought later, and the Scarlet Eye.
The Scarlet Eye, in particular, had appeared multiple times in the city ruins.
But ever since he killed it and stripped it of its "malevolence" ability, it had vanished completely.
Perhaps there's a possibility that any creature you personally kill is erased from the timeline. It's as if you're clearing all traces of its existence from the timeline, rather than the domain creatures you kill simply being unaffected in other timelines and continuing to exist.
Of course, this is just speculation. After all, Little Black killed Scarlet Eye multiple times, yet it persisted. But when you killed it once, it vanished completely.
Feng Qi found the Narrator's explanation quite plausible.
Leaping from the skyscraper, he stumbled several steps before regaining his balance.
Looking up, he saw the Goat-Headed Demons plummeting from the building like dumplings, their heavy impacts shaking the ground.
Next, he headed straight for the Scarlet Secret Base.
With the Goat-Headed Demons guarding him, no unexpected incidents occurred along the way.
However, in the distant sky, colossal lifeforms clashed, their battle illuminating the heavens with flashes of light and darkness. The thunderous impacts reverberated across the land, audible even from afar.
This suggested that the domain creatures were not a unified force, but rather divided into opposing factions.
An idea surfaced in Feng Qi's mind: could he somehow sow discord among the domain creatures, perhaps even incite a war between them, to give humanity a chance to breathe?
But this idea remained just that—an idea, with no practical plan for implementation.
After a flurry of wild thoughts, he decided to abandon it.
Under the Blood Moon, he traversed the city ruins with the Goat-Headed Demon, walking for what felt like an eternity until the abandoned hospital finally came into view.
From afar, he spotted Suction Cup perched atop the hospital roof, her hands clasped between her knees as she gazed blankly at the Blood Moon.
The sight filled him with profound heartache.
He could only imagine the decades of solitude Suction Cup had endured, forever lingering here, witnessing Human Civilization's descent from glory to ruin, with only she remaining alive.
With no clear path ahead, the latter half of her life was destined to be haunted by endless uncertainty.
Heartache is understandable, but you didn't hesitate to abandon her when the time came.
As his emotions surged, the Narrator's words abruptly shattered his sorrowful reverie.
Suppressing his feelings, he immediately led the Goat-Headed Demon toward the abandoned hospital.
Upon reaching the vicinity, he tilted his head back and shouted at Suction Cup:
"Suction Cup!"
Hearing the call, Suction Cup, who had been gazing at the moon, turned her head toward him. Starlight flickered in her pale gray eyes.
She suddenly leaped into the air, diving straight toward him.
Seeing this, the Goat-Headed Demons stirred, raising their hands as eerie green flames materialized before them.
But Suction Cup moved with lightning speed. Before they could launch their attack, she had already crashed into Feng Qi's arms.
Feng Qi chuckled, reaching out to ruffle Suction Cup's head.
Observing that Suction Cup hadn't harmed Feng Qi, the Goat-Headed Demons exchanged puzzled glances, seemingly unable to comprehend what had just occurred.
Suction Cup showed no signs of aggression, refraining from swinging her fists at the surrounding Goat-Headed Demons.
Feng Qi wasn't surprised by this.
Suction Cup only attacked when he was under attack or when approaching targets displayed clear hostility.
Sensing a shift in aura, she would enter combat mode and violently crush her target.
Since the Goat-Headed Demons harbored no ill will toward him, they naturally didn't trigger her defensive response.
After ruffling Suction Cup's head once more, Feng Qi strode into the abandoned hospital.
The layout of the abandoned hospital had changed slightly, but the interior remained overgrown with weeds, even the walls covered in moss.
"Narrator, get to work."
Turn left ahead, walk about fifteen meters, then turn right. The secret door is right there. You're such a pain in the ass, tsk.
"Understood."
Ignoring the Narrator's parting shot, Feng Qi followed the directions to the secret door's location.
After clearing away the surrounding weeds, he revealed a cracked floor. With a powerful swing, he punched the ground.
Thud!
A muffled crash echoed as the floor shattered completely.
After clearing away the rubble, a black metal secret door came into view, its light blinking steadily.
According to Wei Wei, his genetic authentication had been preserved, so he shouldn't need to force his way through this specially designed door.
But how to verify his identity remained a mystery.
Since it's genetic authentication, it must use your blood for verification. Why don't you try spreading some blood evenly across the secret door?
Feng Qi: ...
Next, he pricked his finger with a fingernail and dripped a drop of blood onto the secret door's lamp.
The light abruptly shifted from red to green. After a few seconds of waiting, the secret door slowly retracted inward and then slid to the right, revealing a downward-sloping passage.
Clutching Suction Cup, he stepped into the passage.
The Goat-Headed Demons behind him followed closely, forming a tight bodyguard formation.
Arriving at the underground plaza of the Scarlet Secret Base, he bypassed the information behind the surrounding iron doors and headed straight for the elevator at the far end of the plaza.
As he pressed the down button, a green light scanned him.
After a brief pause, an electronic voice announced:
"Access granted. Welcome home, Feng Qi."
The specially designed metal door slowly lifted, revealing a metallic elevator.
He stepped inside, followed by the Goat-Headed Demons.
The elevator quickly became crowded, but some Goat-Headed Demons still struggled to squeeze in.
The sensor door remained open, and the elevator's indicator lights flashed, emitting a warning:
"Lifeform obstruction detected. Elevator doors cannot close. Please clear the sensor range."
Hearing this, Feng Qi immediately kicked the Goat-Headed Demon blocking the sensor.
"Get out of the way!"
The kick sent the demon flying two meters.
As the dazed Goat-Headed Demon lay on the ground, the elevator's metal doors finally began to close slowly.
Seeing the doors closing, Feng Qi suddenly thought of a possibility and asked, "Narrator, do you think this reinforced metal door can stop little black?"
Think back to the Sky Giant Beast that little black scared away in your last Dream Realm before you died. Then ask yourself honestly: Can it stop him? Can it?
"What if it can?" he stubbornly retorted.
Heh, whatever makes you happy. Wise men don't argue with idiots.
Feng Qi: ...
Inside the metal elevator, there were no floor buttons. As soon as the doors sealed shut, a sensation of weightlessness washed over him.
Just seconds later, the metal gate ahead slowly began to rise again.
Before him lay a small underground plaza, filled with various instruments. At its center, mirroring the layout of Star City Shelter, stood a control console flanked by two large, divided screens.
Seeing this, Feng Qi's heart raced with excitement.
This place likely housed the administrative accounts for Star City Shelter, along with the answers to the myriad questions burning in his mind.
Without hesitation, he strode to the control console.
After a brief search, he found the "Activate" button and pressed it.
With a mechanical hum, the screen before him flickered to life. Moments later, a menu appeared:
Genetic Technology Database
Domain Creature Analysis Database
Microorganism Projects Database
Spirit Plant Analysis Database
Intelligence Gathering Database
As his gaze swept across the screen, he clicked on the "Search" bar at the bottom of the options list.
One thing was clear: this database was not connected to the outside world, as Wei Wei had specifically mentioned.
Therefore, using it to access external information was impossible.
But it undoubtedly contained information left for him.
After a moment's thought, he typed "little black" into the search bar.
Instantly, a wealth of information flooded the screen, with a video clip at the top.
He clicked on the video. An elderly man with snow-white hair, clad in a scarlet uniform, appeared on the screen.
The video was filmed in a laboratory room, surrounded by various types of precision instruments.
Looking directly at the camera, the man spoke solemnly:
"For this single Black Mist Particle, the Scarlet Research Institute has suffered devastating losses. Eighty-nine warriors have perished. I pray that all this sacrifice will prove worthwhile. I will now begin my research on this Black Mist Particle, and the entire process will be recorded. You can edit out any unimportant segments later."
As soon as he finished speaking, the video cut to the next scene.
The screen was completely white, making it impossible to see anything.
Suddenly, the camera zoomed in, and a black dot appeared in the frame.
As the camera continued to zoom in, the black dot became increasingly clear.
This appeared to be footage from an electron microscope. At high magnification, he could see that the black dot was actually a tiny, circular worm.
As the magnification increased further, he could clearly see intricate patterns etched onto the worm's back.
The tiny creature seemed agitated, constantly thrashing from side to side, but it was restrained by some invisible force, unable to fly more than a short distance.
The scene then shifted again, and the white-haired elder reappeared on screen.
With a solemn expression, he looked directly into the camera and said:
"It's truly unimaginable. The Black Mist Particles on Little Black are actually composed of nanoworms. What we perceive as black mist is merely an aggregate of these nanoworms."
"These nanoworms are made of an unknown material, making them virtually indestructible. They are engraved with patterns resembling formation arrays and possess the ability to devour energy. Most importantly, these nanoworms can coalesce into a unique domain creature..."
Feng Qi's heart jolted at these words.
Nanoworms?
He immediately recalled Mo Fei's message, which mentioned that the core circle of the technology research institute was developing a type of nanoworm—specifically, Spirit Energy Nanoworms capable of integrating with the spiritual energy system.
The institute even planned to embed rune crystals within the Spirit Energy Nanoworm aggregates, transforming them into a special kind of super-soldier.
At the time, Mo Fei had found the idea somewhat unbelievable.
But later, he became involved in the external architecture of the Spirit Energy Nanoworm project and urged Feng Qi to bring back as much technological knowledge as possible, suggesting it might lead to breakthroughs in the nanoworm research.
A chill ran down Feng Qi's spine.
So... was little black a Spirit Energy super-soldier created by the technology research institute?
(End of the Chapter)