Chapter Thirty-Five: Evasion

Qi, inner force, vein arts, martial arts... all these things are formless and unknowable, impossible to detect through mere dissection. Indeed, the source of a Vein Master's power lies in the brain or perhaps the soul itself.

A soft-bodied creature, like an octopus, crawled into the walnut-sized brain, hungrily sucking at the tender tissue, relentlessly assimilating it.

"Get out, get out, get out!"

Che Juchen resisted Adonsa's devouring with all his might. Adonsa had never encountered such fierce opposition before and could only stiffly intensify its psychic suppression.

"My fate is mine to command, not Heaven's!"

Che Juchen's resistance mounted steadily. The unique self-awareness of a Vein Master had honed their will beyond all other professions. To Adonsa, it was like facing a stubborn young bull.

Adonsa kept increasing the psychic pressure, and suddenly, it passed a critical threshold. Che Juchen's mental fluctuations instantly became monotonous and repetitive, losing their earlier vitality.

Che Juchen's mind had collapsed in the struggle; what remained was nothing more than an empty shell.

Adonsa found this outcome deeply regrettable. Such a precious Vein Master specimen, ruined in a single moment.

The dissection continued, but Adonsa's thoughts had already turned to more pressing matters.

After more than half a month of recovery, Adonsa's offshoots had multiplied to five thousand—this, even with considerable restraint.

If Adonsa unleashed itself to parasitize at will, humanity would face extinction in less than five weeks.

Yet the threat from Vein Masters and Espers was immense and imminent. Through its chaos calculations, Adonsa's data models predicted grave danger.

Vein Masters, Espers, Leviathan.

The Heavenly Capital, Amherst.

Multiple powers were converging on Nansea, this seaside city, and a violent clash could erupt at any moment.

Adonsa needed strength—greater, more formidable strength.

"When will Amherst's reinforcements arrive?" Adonsa inquired.

Angsar frowned, clearly unwilling to reveal anything, but Arthur responded candidly, "Tonight. Five senior Espers, leading Terminators, will arrive in the city. Their mission is to deal with Vein Masters."

The Destroyers were upgraded cyborgs—not only were their brains controlled, but parts of their bodies had been replaced with machinery, granting them terrifying combat prowess, though at a staggering cost.

Neither Arthur nor Angsar's anomalies had yet been discovered by Amherst; they still retained their memories and thoughts from life, and had successfully established contact.

But they were only field agents, privy merely to news of someone's arrival tonight—not the specifics.

"Give them Leviathan's location," Adonsa ordered.

Capturing a Vein Master alive was a risky move, sure to enrage their kind and prompt a massive retaliatory force. Yet a living Vein Master could yield Adonsa an unexpected breakthrough.

To meet the coming challenge, Adonsa had to undergo the second evolutionary phase in advance—to become a being truly capable of opposing superhuman powers head-on.

But such an evolution would break the very limits of life itself. Adonsa could not guarantee what might occur, or what anomalies might manifest to draw attention.

To quietly amass all its power for evolution, it had to muddy the waters further—so much so that no one would have the leisure to seek it out, no matter what happened.

————————————————————

Municipal First Hospital, outside Shen Yun’s ward.

Guo Yixian looked at Li Zhicheng, his gaze icy. "So you’re saying you saved a couple of innocent citizens, but in doing so, Che Juchen was captured by some unknown force?"

Li Zhicheng sighed. "Captain Guo, there’s probably nothing I can say that you’d believe. But I still have to tell you—this woman is far more important than Che Juchen, or even you or me."

With a crack, Guo Yixian punched the wall, leaving it fractured. "Li Zhicheng! We all know you have secrets—we trusted you, that’s why we never asked. But you’ve betrayed your teammates!"

Li Zhicheng replied, "Let it go, Guo Yixian. This is no longer your decision. Within two days, someone will come to take over."

Guo Yixian sneered. "Take over? That’s news to me—the Elders’ Council has said nothing."

Li Zhicheng thrust his palm forward, revealing the token etched with the blaze character.

Guo Yixian drew a sharp breath. "You’re... Zhang—"

Just then, the entire hospital’s lights abruptly dimmed, plunging everything into darkness; even the equipment lost power.

The backup generators kicked in, and after a moment, things returned to a semblance of normal, but doctors and patients alike were left uneasy and suspicious.

Guo Yixian and Li Zhicheng watched their surroundings warily, sensing calamity in the air.

Sure enough, a phone call came through.

"Something big has happened—at least a thousand terrorists are attacking across the city, explosions everywhere, and they’re targeting vital waterworks and power facilities! We have a traitor—there’s no doubt!"

Li Zhicheng clenched his fists. "Someone’s creating a diversion. But who?"

In the adjacent ward, the gravely wounded Lin Jicang slept on.

Within him, the tendrils of a split entity crawled, crudely repairing his shattered bones, torn sinews, and damaged organs.

A writhing sensation crept across his skin, like insects crawling—but no one knew.

————————————————————

In the dead of night, Chen Tu awoke with a start, a suffocating sense of crisis pressing down upon him.

He rose swiftly and went to a particular room. As he pushed open the door, he saw Liviada already standing at the window.

Moonlight like frost spilled in, and the little girl gazed at Chen Tu as he entered.

"You’ve been discovered," Chen Tu said.

Liviada nodded and pointed outside. "They’re waiting for me."

"We can’t let them break in," Chen Tu replied decisively.

Liviada tilted her head in confusion. "Why not?"

Chen Tu’s mouth twitched. "Because they’ll destroy this place along with everything else."

Liviada nodded at last. "I don’t want them to ruin it here."

"Do you know who’s outside?" Chen Tu asked.

"They seem familiar, but I can’t quite tell who."

"Can you restrain them?"

Liviada hesitated. "I can kill them, but I can’t control Leviathan’s power. Besides..." She brushed her hair aside to reveal the nape of her neck—a cold metal implant gleamed there.

"I have to divert some power to protect this safety lock. If anything happens to it, it’ll happen to me, too."

Chen Tu looked out the window. "It’s all right. Whatever you can’t handle, I’ll make up the rest."

A pair of hands, pale as jade, rested on the windowsill, scattering radiant colors in the moonlight.