chsdbacks Chapter 325 Gaining Control
Chapter 325 Gaining Control
What shocked Nie Lingfeng the most was that the giant monster's enormous body slowly turned towards him!
Although its movements were slow, the oppressive feeling was overwhelming. With every inch it turned, the ground trembled, as if a thousand troops were moving. The black gas spewing from its breathing holes contained tiny sparks, which landed on the ground and burned charred craters.
Even more bizarre was its "gaze"—though its eyes were invisible, Nie Lingfeng clearly felt that he was being locked onto by something. It was a gaze from the depths of his soul, cold, greedy, and tinged with...fear?
Yes, fear.
The giant didn't pounce. Instead, it let out a hiss that was a mixture of anger, disgust, and a hint of...fear. Its body trembled slightly, and the dark red patterns on it flickered, as if it was hesitating, weighing its options, or confirming something.
efficient!
This token is indeed related to the underground object, the giant monster, and even the missile!
Without further hesitation, Nie Lingfeng slammed the black token onto the biometric sensor area of the control panel! At the same time, he frantically channeled his own Qi into the token!
The moment his Qi surged into the token, he felt a sharp pain in his palm, as if countless fine needles were piercing through his skin and shooting upwards along his meridians. The rune's light suddenly brightened, changing from a dull hue to an ominous, rusty dark red.
The console screen began to flicker wildly, with lines of data scrolling at a speed so fast that they were almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
"Now! Wang Ye!"
"The 'Luan Jin Tuo' (a type of ancient Chinese zither)! Order it!!!"
Master Wang Ye's voice was almost squeezed out from between his teeth, each word trembling as if it were being torn apart.
He sat cross-legged on the ground, his hands forming an extremely complex mudra, his ten fingers intertwined like a blooming flower or a tightening net. His face was ashen, and the veins on his forehead bulged, writhing like earthworms beneath his skin. Blood seeped from all seven orifices—his eyes, nose, ears, and the corners of his mouth—bright red blood streaming down his cheeks, dripping onto his rumpled Taoist robe, staining it a shocking dark red.
He was trembling all over, his clothes were moving without wind, and spider web-like cracks appeared on the ground within three feet of him. These were signs of the backlash from the Qimen power being pushed to its limit.
An invisible, mysterious wave emanated from his body!
The wave was like an invisible giant hand, cutting through the chaotic crowd and monsters in the hall, precisely grabbing the giant monster that was slowly turning around.
The troll's movements—visibly slowed for a moment.
In that instant, time seemed to stand still for it. The dark red magma surging within its body ceased its flow, solidifying on its surface like a frozen image. Its raised giant claw hovered in mid-air, scalding magma still dripping from its fingertips, yet it could no longer fall. The black gas spewing from its mouth froze in the air, like a still, stagnant cloud.
But the price Wang paid was devastating.
"puff--"
He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, the blood mist spreading in the air and splashing onto the ground in front of him with a hissing sound—even his blood was heated to the brink of boiling by the overflowing Qi from his body. His body swayed violently, almost collapsing to the ground, and he barely managed to maintain his sitting position by bracing himself tightly on his knees with his hands.
His eyes were bloodshot, his pupils dilated for a moment and then suddenly focused, his lips moved as if he were chanting some ancient incantation, but no sound came out.
"Master Wang!" Zhang Chulan saw this scene from afar and his eyes turned red with anxiety. He rushed over with a flash of lightning under his feet.
"Don't come any closer!" Wang Ye roared hoarsely, his voice like sandpaper scraping against glass. "Maintain your position! I can still hold on! Don't let anyone near Nie Lingfeng!"
Before he could finish speaking, another mouthful of blood welled up in his throat, which he swallowed back down. His Adam's apple bobbed violently, and even more blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
The console screen shone brightly the moment it touched the black token!
The screen no longer displayed the rudimentary interface it once did. Waves of light exploded across the screen, spreading outwards like ripples, enveloping the entire console in a hazy glow. A complex stream of data scrolled rapidly, each character displaying an abnormal brightness, as if some sealed program was being forcibly unlocked.
The characters scrolled at a dizzying speed, with prompts in various languages alternating—Russian, English, Chinese, and even some that looked like ancient script—until finally, all the characters stopped simultaneously, freezing on a single line of text:
[Biometric key verification successful... Highest privileges confirmed... Control acquired successfully. Welcome back, ███████.]
The name that followed was a string of gibberish, illegible. The gibberish looked as if it had been deliberately smeared or some kind of encryption method, leaving only a few blurry strokes faintly visible.
But—they've gained control!
The red countdown on the screen disappeared completely, as if it had been cut off with a single stroke. In its place was the green word "Ready," and a clear symbol representing missile control—an icon resembling a steering wheel or joystick, occupying the most prominent position in the center of the screen, slowly rotating and emitting a soft, steady green light.
Almost the instant control was successfully gained—
The silver key, which was being fought over and tumbling in the air, suddenly snapped with a "crack"!
It wasn't snapped or smashed, but rather as if an invisible hand had pried it open—a neat crack appeared at the narrowest part in the middle, and then extended along that crack to both ends, "crack, crack, crack"—the crisp sound of breaking was exceptionally clear in the deathly silent hall. A few seconds later, the key that had once carried everyone's greed and hope turned into two pieces of scrap metal, "clinking" twice as they fell to the ground, bounced twice, and rolled into the pile of broken bricks and tiles in the corner.
And that giant monster, which had just broken free from the influence of the chaotic golden clapper and let out an angry roar—
Its roar abruptly stopped.
It felt like someone was choking me.
The massive body stiffened abruptly, and the surging dark red "magma" on its surface suddenly solidified, transforming from a flowing liquid into layers of hard, grayish-black shells, like a pot of boiling iron suddenly doused with ice water. The magma's light rapidly dimmed, changing from crimson to dark red, from dark red to grayish-black, and finally extinguished completely.
Its body began to crack.
Cracks spread from the solidified magma crust, like a dried-up riverbed, like shattered porcelain. The cracks multiplied and became denser, emitting fine crackling sounds, as if something was disintegrating from within. Then, as if all its strength had been drained, it collapsed with a deafening roar—
"boom--!!!"
The sound was so muffled, it was like a mountain collapsing.
The monstrous body crashed to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust and shaking the entire hall violently once more. The few remaining lights on the ceiling shattered with a series of cracking sounds, scattering fragments everywhere. The hall was plunged into darkness, illuminated only by the green glow of the control panel and the pale light of a few remaining emergency lights. Gravel flew everywhere, and several people nearby were struck on the head, their screams echoing through the air.
The troll's aura, a chaotic mix of sulfur, blood, and pure malice, was rapidly waning—like receding tides, like sand slipping through an hourglass, it was irresistibly and swiftly dissipating into the air. The crimson light from its breathing holes gradually dimmed, flickering like a candle in the wind, before finally going out completely with a "poof."
It turned into a huge, gray-black, cracked rock statue.
No, it wasn't even a statue—its body was peeling away piece by piece, and grayish-white ash drifted out from the cracks, falling to the ground and piling up into small mounds of earth.
The hall was deathly silent.
It was so quiet you could hear the dust settling on the ground, hear your own heartbeat, and hear the suppressed groans of the wounded.
Everyone stopped what they were doing.
Whether they were fighting to the death against monsters, killing each other, or trembling in a corner—everyone stopped at the same time, as if an invisible hand had pressed the pause button.
They looked at the monstrous creature lying motionless on the ground, disintegrating, then at Nie Lingfeng, who stood in front of the control panel, holding a black token and looking somewhat pale, and at the glaring green "Ready" icon on the screen behind him.
The deathly silence lasted for a full five seconds.
Then, a flood of reactions followed.
There was a burly bear-like man who was wielding a sword and slashing at the monster. The sword was suspended in mid-air, and he stared blankly as the giant fell. His mouth was so wide open that a fist could fit inside. He had completely forgotten that he was still fighting. It wasn't until the monster opposite him also shattered into dust at the same moment, and dust covered his face, that he suddenly came to his senses, coughed, and took two steps back.
A ninja from the land of cherry blossoms was pulling out his last shuriken from his waist when he saw the giant monster shatter. He loosened his grip, and the shuriken clattered to the ground. He muttered something in Japanese, something like "This is impossible."
Bald Bear's men looked at each other, unsure of which to point their guns at—the monsters still putting up a last-ditch resistance, the superhumans from various factions, or the man in black standing in front of the control panel who clearly had everything under control?
The key... is broken.
The monster... fell down?
Control... was taken away by that man with the child?
This sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.
After a brief silence, an even more intense and frenzied gaze followed.
Everyone's attention was focused on Nie Lingfeng and the inconspicuous black token in his hand.
Those eyes held greed—like hungry wolves eyeing fresh meat; some people's Adam's apples bobbed, and others involuntarily swallowed.
There was a fierceness—like a hunter eyeing its prey, some gripped their weapons tightly, others narrowed their eyes, their pupils flashing with cold light.
There is apprehension—like facing an unknown beast, some people hesitate, weigh the pros and cons, and make calculations.
There was murderous intent—like a sword drawn from its sheath, cold and direct.
There is calculation involved—like a merchant assessing the value of a commodity, his eyes darting around, planning his next move.