Chapter 64: Future Hearts Like a Bunch of Grapes
The Perfect Lifeform's ability tree functioned much like the vampire ability tree. Yu Xian could awaken a new ability once every ten days.
The problem was that this ability tree contained hundreds of thousands of abilities. There was no way he could unlock them all in a short period of time. He would have to prioritize the most important ones first. For example, Super Stomach would most likely allow him to digest normal food properly. Super Gustation would probably let him enjoy food instead of finding every meal as bland as cardboard.
At the end of the day, he was only seventeen years old. There were still countless delicacies in the world waiting for him to try. Losing both his sense of taste and his ability to digest food had effectively robbed life of more than half its pleasures. Now that he had a chance to reclaim them, there was no way he would let the opportunity pass.
Twenty days is all it will take. I can wait!
After examining the changes within his body, he lifted his head and looked toward the battle in the distance. It was extremely difficult to kill the Perfect Lifeform with punches alone. In fact, it was virtually impossible.
The reason was that the Perfect Lifeform possessed an ability called Photosynthesis. This ability was remarkably similar to Yu Xian's Light Feeder. As long as there was light in the surrounding environment, the Perfect Lifeform would continuously recover its strength. The only difference was that Photosynthesis could not satisfy hunger.
Although Hu Weijie had dragged it down with him and left it severely wounded in the explosion, as long as this ability remained active, Gong Qian's rate of attack was insufficient to finish the Perfect Lifeform off. And while Gong Qian possessed tremendous stamina and overwhelming strength, she could not maintain her current state forever. The moment fatigue set in and her attacks slowed, the Perfect Lifeform would seize the opportunity to counterattack.
Yu Xian understood this clearly. If Gong Qian were forced to fight a heavily injured Perfect Lifeform one-on-one without outside interference, the most likely outcome would be the Perfect Lifeform killing her, not the other way around.
That damn thing is just that terrifying. It's unkillable.
Yu Xian pulled out his phone and called the director of Qilin. He had always been able to contact Yu Lie directly, having received the director's personal phone number during their very first meeting. However, unless there was a major issue or unless both the captain and vice-captain were unavailable, he would never bypass them and contact the director himself.
This time, though, it was necessary. With only Gong Qian and a handful of teammates whose offensive power had yet to reach Wolf-rank, they could fight until the end of time and still fail to kill the Perfect Lifeform.
Yu Lie answered the call.
—Little Fish?[1]
Yu Xian immediately straightened his posture. "Director, it's me. I have something important to report."
After obtaining Yu Lie's permission, he briefly summarized everything that had happened during the operation. He explained how they had encountered the Perfect Lifeform after it devoured Hu Weijie, how they had managed to awaken Hu Weijie's true self, and how, with Hu Weijie's cooperation, he had successfully consumed the creature's blood and obtained fragments of both Hu Weijie's and the Perfect Lifeform's memories.
Yu Lie found himself speechless. The Perfect Lifeform? The Wickedness Purging Squad's operation has truly been one twist after another.
The situation was so unexpected that the director hardly knew where to begin. However, once he understood the terrifying nature of the Perfect Lifeform, he immediately realized the magnitude of the threat such a creature posed to the nation.
This time, only a single specimen had been created. But there was no guarantee there wouldn't be a next time. If creatures like this could ever be mass-produced, the consequences would be unimaginable.
***
Meanwhile, at a five-star hotel in Silver City, Scott was fast asleep when a sudden expanse of darkness bled across the room. It swallowed everything in its path, plunging the suite into pitch-black darkness.
He immediately rose from the bed and dropped to one knee on the floor, bowing his head in deep reverence. "Master, what are your commands?"
A cold voice echoed from the shadowy darkness. "Qilin has beaten us to the Perfect Lifeform. You must not allow them to kill it."
Scott frowned. "But, Master, with my strength alone, I'm afraid I won't be able to recover the Perfect Lifeform."
The shadow in the darkness commanded, its voice low and heavy, "Nightblade will arrive to support you in ten minutes. End this quickly. Recover the Perfect Lifeform and withdraw immediately."
A direct clash with Qilin?
Scott drew a deep breath and lowered his head. "As you command, Master."
The news had spread so quickly to the shadow in the darkness largely because battles between Dragon-rank powerhouses generated tremendous disturbances. Unlike the operation in the sealed-off zone, Yu Xian and his squad hadn't deployed a formation. Right now, even the outer fringes of Silver City could feel the ground trembling beneath their feet.
The shockwaves from every single one of Gong Qian's descending fists echoed across vast distances. If Scott hadn't been dead asleep, he would have also noticed the battle long ago.
The surrounding darkness dissolved, returning Scott to his hotel room. He rose to his feet and immediately put on his trench coat. Then he wrapped himself from head to toe in black bandages until not a single inch of skin remained visible before swiftly slipping out through the window.
After leaving Silver City, he arrived at an abandoned village. There, a man wearing a mask and carrying two massive blades on his back stepped out of a dilapidated house.
The masked man glanced at Scott and spoke in a cold, emotionless tone. "Let's go."
***
Yu Xian hung up. His mind was now at ease as he waited for reinforcements. Since Gong Qian couldn't take down the Perfect Lifeform on her own, the simplest solution was obviously to bring in more muscle.
For instance, the headquarters could send Jin Dajun, who was still tied up with Deimos's corpse. Or they could send the Tiger-rank navy captains stationed along the coast, as well as the Evil Slaying Squad that had just arrived in Hibiscus City. With a lineup like that backing them up, dealing with the Perfect Lifeform would be a walk in the park.
Since there was a good chance he could do nothing more here, he could finally focus his attention back on himself. He created a bubble, climbed inside to lie down, and took stock of his condition.
Up until now, he had fed on blood exactly three times. The first was when Nora had egged him on and he consumed synthetic blood. That experience had merely left him blood-drunk. He had not gained any ability tree. The second time, he had consumed the Blood of Pangu. Not only had it fully completed his flawed memory-reading ability, but it had also granted him Pangu's ability tree and a second heart. The third time, he had obtained the Perfect Lifeform's ability tree and grown a third heart.
In short, feeding on his target's blood gave him a high probability of unlocking their ability tree. This was clearly not an ability that ordinary vampires possessed. What he couldn't determine was whether this had always been one of his unique vampire abilities or whether it had awakened after he consumed the Blood of Pangu.
Then there was the question of whether this ability worked on all living creatures. If it did, then in theory, he could obtain the abilities of any living being simply by drinking their blood. For example, if he drank Bluebird's blood, he would gain the ability to transform into a bird.
There was one final concern: whether he would end up growing more and more hearts. Right now, he already had three hearts, two of which were beating in a steady rhythm. If this kept happening, would he eventually sprout a whole cluster of them?
A bizarre image flashed through his mind where his chest was packed with a bunch of hearts that looked like a bunch of grapes, each individual grape representing a fully functioning heart.
Suddenly, Yu Xian frowned. His attention snapped to a specific bubble. Just a split second ago, something had stepped on the tiny bubble he concealed on the ground.
Because he could clearly sense the interior space of every bubble he created, he could say with absolute certainty that the material that had pressed down on it was rubber! In other words, it wasn't an animal. A person had passed over the bubble!
He had set this particular bubble right between Starbird Airport and Silver City. Since only the Wickedness Purging Squad was currently present at Starbird Airport, it meant that someone was heading toward them from the direction of Silver City.
Enemies?
The answer had already formed in Yu Xian's mind the moment he noticed the disturbance. None of the reinforcements he had called for were coming from Silver City. So, if someone were approaching from that direction, they could only be enemies.
1. 小鱼 (Xiǎo Yú) is a term of endearment. In Chinese culture, prefixing a surname or given name with 小 (Xiǎo), meaning "little" or "young", is a common way for superiors, elders, or close friends to address someone younger. Here, Director Yu Lie uses it as a friendly, familiar way to address Yu Xian, which also subtly highlights their shared surname. ☜