Era of Magic and Martial Arts

Deng Jiajia’s pupils suddenly constricted, and the images in the camera’s viewfinder were shocking.

A towering figure, three meters tall, was bending its monstrous body segment by segment in an almost absurd posture of submission.

Their decaying heads drooped, revealing bloodied and mangled cheeks, with pus and rotten flesh trembling in the air, just to humbly approach that palm... as if it could be crushed with a single bite.

"Is that... Zuo Bai?"

Deng Jiajia’s mouth formed an "O" shape, the lens focused on Zuo Bai’s pale and cold palm, along with the monsters’ dog-like posture.

This contrast between massive and tiny formed an unparalleled visual impact in the viewfinder, like a surreal oil painting, sending tremors through her whole body.

The trembling surged through her spine like an electric current, a primal fear humans have in the face of the unknown, yet it was also an excitement that could not be suppressed by a journalist.

The scene in the lens was beyond imagination!

Not just monsters chasing monsters, not just one monster hidden under human skin, perhaps, there was another?

And it was the hottest star scientist in Zone 6 now?

This conjecture was so astonishing that it made one hesitant to easily believe it.

But then another bolder hypothesis surfaced in her mind: Could those terrifying monsters be Zuo Bai’s creations?

Deng Jiajia’s mind was racing, and beside her, Ren Xuan and Tang An were also frozen in place, the expressions on all three of them were identical.

Their eyes were fixed on the image in the lens, afraid of missing any detail.

"Big news..."

Ren Xuan’s voice was hoarse, the fear of monsters in his heart seemed to have grown wings and flown away:

"This is a huge news story."

Tang An swallowed hard, his eyes were gleaming:

"Expose this, and even the ’Golden Microphone’ award won’t be able to contain it."

The three of them held the camera steadily, as if bearing the weight of their entire future fortunes.

The images in the lens became even more captivating.

"Beauty and ugliness of the outer shell?"

Zuo Bai’s voice was as cold as a scalpel dissecting a corpse:

"That’s just hormonal prejudice, the tragedy of a species’ self-imposed limits."

His five fingers suddenly clenched, easily piercing into the rotting flesh of the monster’s face.

Pus and decaying flesh exploded between the fingers with a sickening "splitch" sound.

The monster let out a piercing wail, its cries echoing in the sewers, its massive body convulsing violently, scales and muscles emitting a teeth-gnashing scraping noise.

Yet its head remained motionless, allowing Zuo Bai’s fingernails to stir within its cheek, turning the already shattered visage into a complete mush.

Around Zuo Bai, several humanoid monsters collectively prostrated, their heads crowding around in a circle, trembling violently, yet none dared to flee, instead obediently bringing their faces closer.

"True beauty—"

Zuo Bai’s fingertips roamed through the monster’s shattered cheek, as if stirring a bowl of blood tofu,

"Should transcend the shackles of species and genes through the power of science."

His voice carried a chilling rationality, as if proclaiming a cosmic truth,

"To gain the strength to stand at the top of the food chain!"

Feng Yuhuai’s eyes spun like coils, her gaze locked tightly onto the man who had appeared suddenly.

In her mind, fragmentary memory images from devouring the female doctor’s brain flickered like slideshows, and the man before her was undoubtedly the most prominent "protagonist" in those slides.

"Zuo Bai,"

Feng Yuhuai’s voice was filled with vigilance and apprehension,

"Or, should I respectfully call you Mentor?"

The memories in her mind and the scene unfolding before her left Feng Yuhuai with no hesitation in labeling Zuo Bai as extremely dangerous, spitting out the words from between clenched teeth:

"Madman!"

Unfortunately, the dining method of devouring brain pulp to acquire memory was a tasting technique that Feng Yuhuai had only recently developed through frequent meals.

Her application of this technique was not yet proficient, only able to capture the deepest and most vivid memory fragments from her food.

Thus, Feng Yuhuai had not gleaned more flavor from the female doctor’s brain.

Even now, Feng Yuhuai still did not know who Zuo Bai was targeting her for.

The excited covert journalist trio held their breath, the recorder in their hands continuously transmitting Zuo Bai’s enchanting voice, as if conveying the most advanced scientific concepts.

Deng Jiajia murmured, her voice so light it was almost inaudible:

"The monsters now, they seem to have more thoughts than humans."

Ren Xuan and Tang An exchanged a glance, nodding in deep agreement.

Zuo Bai, regarding the label "madman," not only was not the least bit angry but instead showed an extremely delighted expression.

He slowly said:

"Those who are half a step ahead of their time are considered geniuses; those who are a full step ahead are often labeled as madmen.

Therefore, this so-called label of ’madman’ might just be the highest praise by ignorant contemporaries for scientists."

As he spoke, Zuo Bai’s fingers, stirring the monster’s brain pulp, suddenly paused, the pad of his finger seemed to touch something.

Crackle sizzle—

It was the sound of rusted gears grinding inside the skull, seeping from the depth of the monster’s cranium, mixed with the gurgle of thick liquid.

"Found it."

A sinister smile slightly curled at the corner of Zuo Bai’s mouth.

His fingers suddenly tensed, the fingertips curling and then with a forceful pull.

Thwip—

A blood-soaked spinal nerve was forcibly ripped from the monster’s body, writhing in the air like a twisted snake.

The spinal nerve was covered in silvery liquid, teeming with countless nano-worms, converging and wriggling, forming a liquid chip at the top of the spine, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen.

The very moment the entire spinal nerve was violently extracted, the monster’s three-meter-tall body jerked backward violently, its gnarled claws scraping sparks from the ground.

The monster finally seemed unable to bear it, emitting a weak howl from its throat, the shredded flesh of its face splattering and dirtying the layered clothing on its neck.

Zuo Bai’s actions did not pause at all, his fingers swiftly pierced into the next monster’s skull, repeating the same action.

Crunch—thwip—

Zuo Bai’s fingers navigated through the flesh like an artist engrossed in creation.

One by one, he extracted spinal nerves, which twisted and tumbled at his fingertips.

His movements were elegant and precise, weaving the spinal nerves together. The nerve bundles interlaced at his fingertips, forming a meticulously woven web.

The silver nano-worms leaped between the nerve endings, perfectly connecting each nerve to form a complex neural network.

"What beautiful medical aesthetics..."

Zuo Bai murmured softly, his eyes flashing with a scientist’s transcendental appreciation of beauty.

He gently inserted the clusters of neural networks back into the monster’s face, which had been churned to pulp, where no features could be discerned, only bloodstained indentations remained.

...