Chapter 127 - 109: The Second Stage
The first sensation to greet Lin Ye’s returning consciousness was the beat of his own heart.
He couldn’t move. He couldn’t see.
The entire world was reduced to endless darkness and falling.
After a moment that couldn’t be measured by time, a sliver of light entered his vision.
He saw his own ghastly white leg bones, exposed to the air.
He saw countless tendrils of flesh madly sprouting from the fractured bones at an utterly absurd speed that defied all biological laws.
Sinews were reforming, nerves were reconnecting, and blood vessels were spreading.
Organs that had been completely disintegrated by the energy beam were differentiating and taking shape once more.
Finally, a layer of soft, new skin rapidly covered all the regenerated tissue.
Smooth, perfect, without a single scar.
It was as if the destruction that could melt steel had been nothing but an illusion.
The entire process took a mere ten seconds.
Like billions of years of biological evolution on fast-forward.
In those ten seconds, Lin Ye’s consciousness returned from chaos to complete clarity.
He remembered everything that happened before he fell into darkness.
[Ding! Special Stage Mission: Clash of Kings, complete!]
[Congratulations, you have unlocked the second stage!]
’I see.’
Understanding dawned on Lin Ye.
He had, indeed, died once.
Fortunately, before he was completely disintegrated by the beam of light, the Giant-Winged Demon’s core had collapsed first, heralding its death.
Mission complete, stage unlocked.
After unlocking the second stage, he had naturally gained a second life.
Then, thanks to the Healing out of combat mechanic, he had made a full recovery.
Lin Ye slowly stood up and stretched his limbs.
He raised his head.
The terrifying fissure in the sky, which had stretched for several kilometers, was rapidly closing without its energy source. It finally shrank into a barely visible silver line and vanished completely.
The massive white pillar of light had also long since been extinguished.
Beneath his feet was cold metal.
He had fallen back into the deep, dark underground base.
Beside him was the control console.
Lin Ye’s gaze swept across the console, then froze.
In an inconspicuous slot, a small, black USB drive was quietly inserted.
A handwritten white label was stuck to it: Experiment Log.
A flicker in his eyes, Lin Ye picked up the USB drive and put it in an inner pocket.
He turned and looked toward the center of where the pillar of light had been.
The three giant metal pillars that had supported the entire device had completely melted, turning into a pool of molten metal that glowed a dim red. A pungent smell filled the air.
And not far from the molten pool.
Of the Giant-Winged Demon’s enormous body, only its hideous, grotesque head remained.
Its eyes were hollow, its mouth still frozen in the agonized roar from before its death. The rest of its body, including its massive fleshy wings, had been utterly annihilated in the energy beam, leaving not a single trace behind.
Lin Ye’s gaze finally fell upon the spot where the giant Source Crystal had once been.
Now, only a pile of grayish-white powder and debris remained, like burnt-out cinders.
All of its energy had been drained dry.
Lin Ye let out a long breath.
’It’s over.’
「...」
"Name."
"Lin Ye."
"Why were you in the Dawn Creatures underground base?"
"Work."
"My sister used to work here. I came to collect the wages she was owed. Then they said they could offer me a high-paying short-term job, so I stayed."
Lin Ye’s voice was calm.
He sat across the metal interrogation table, answering questions.
The blinding light overhead made it impossible for him to see their faces; he could only make out two fully-armed silhouettes.
"Do you know anything about your boss’s background?"
"No."
Lin Ye shook his head.
"I only know that everyone called him ’the Doctor.’ He’s a monster."
Those last three words caused a clear reaction from the two silent silhouettes.
One of them leaned forward slightly.
"Tell us the details."
When Lin Ye returned to level B5, he discovered that the entire base’s power supply system had completely collapsed.
The towering white light that had opened the Celestial Abyss had not only drained all the Source Crystals, but had also exhausted the entire base’s energy reserves.
The access control system failed, the cages swung open, and the entire B5 level devolved into a pandemonium of rampaging monsters.
Lin Ye moved through the darkness, slaughtering a large number of mutated beasts as he went.
Finally, at the elevator entrance on level B4, he encountered the first wave of official personnel who had stormed in, all wearing black Dragon Shield Combat Suits.
He knew very well that he couldn’t completely deny his involvement.
On the platform on B6, he had seen surveillance footage from all over the base projected onto the walls.
After an incident of this magnitude, it was inevitable that the authorities would pull the surveillance records for their investigation.
But he was also certain that the magnificent underground launch silo on B6 had no surveillance equipment whatsoever.
’What happened between me and the Doctor on level B6... these official investigators should have no way of knowing.’
Lin Ye began his account.
He laid everything bare: his reasons for coming to Dawn Creatures, what his job had entailed over the past week, how the Doctor had summoned him to witness his insane Source Crystal human experiments, the Doctor’s subsequent transformation into a monster, and how he had ultimately been the one to kill him.
Nothing Lin Ye said was fabricated or concealed.
He only omitted the detail that he could devour Source Crystals.
’The Doctor had been right about one thing.
If the world found out that I can ignore the toxicity of Source Crystals, that I can grow stronger by devouring them directly,
then I’d likely be doomed beyond recovery!’
The interrogation room fell deathly silent.
The two investigators exchanged a look, each seeing the same inexpressible shock on the other’s face.