chsdbacks Chapter 205 Chaotic Consciousness
Chapter 205 Chaotic Consciousness
A hoarse, lisping voice, a mixture of various biological vocal cord characteristics, completely indistinguishable in gender and age, like sandpaper rubbing metal, was intermittently squeezed out from its mutilated mouthparts. The sound wasn't loud, but it echoed eerily in the deathly silent room and the empty stairwell.
Behind Nie Lingfeng, Chen Duo also saw the terrifying, pieced-together monster. Her face paled, and she instinctively took a half-step back. Disgust and wariness reached their peak in her emerald eyes, but she didn't scream or panic. She simply gripped Nie Lingfeng's clothes tightly, her other hand already forming the Phoenix Seal, golden sparks dancing on her fingertips. To her, this thing was more "stinky," more "disgusting," than the "Cave God" of Luodong Village; it was pure "filth" that needed purification. (๑•́ ₃ •̀๑)
Nie Lingfeng's eyes were icy, and dark golden power flowed silently within him, ready to respond to any possible attack. But a hint of doubt also arose in his heart. This composite monster seemed different from those "failed samples" that remained in jars, exhibiting only basic life responses. It could "move," it could "see," and it could even "sound"... Moreover, it seemed to have been "sleeping" or "on standby" just now—was it awakened by their arrival? Or... had it been waiting, "sensing" all along?
"Flesh...come here...let me...eat you..." the composite monster uttered again in a hoarse whisper. Its thick, bony claw arm rose, making a grasping motion in the air towards the fire door, the knuckles cracking with a teeth-grinding sound. But it didn't pounce immediately. Instead, it leaned forward slightly, its compound eyes flashing rapidly, as if trying to "focus," searching for something on Nie Lingfeng.
Suddenly, its body jolted violently! Its several frantically rotating compound eyes simultaneously fixed on Nie Lingfeng's chest (despite the clothes and door crack separating them)! Deep within its empty eye sockets, the chaotic red light abruptly transformed into a deeper, more ominous…dark red! At the same time, the dark green membranes on its body that constantly secreted mucus, and the tendons connecting its torso, began to writhe and swell uncontrollably, as if subjected to some intense stimulus!
"This...this is..." The voice of the pieced-together monster carried for the first time a distinct emotion, different from pure hunger and madness... It was a complex emotion that mixed disbelief, fear, ecstasy, and something deeper—a twisted obsession that had been awakened!
"This aura...is...is...His...bloodline? No...no...purer...more...complete..." Its voice was broken and incoherent, like a broken tape recorder playing a severely distorted ancient recording. "How could you...be here...who...who are you?!"
He? Bloodline? Nie Lingfeng's heart skipped a beat. Had the other party sensed the Qilin bloodline within him? Moreover, it seemed to have mistaken him for an existence of the same origin as "that being" (the will within the blood moon)? Or rather, had it sensed a more "advanced" aspect of the Qilin bloodline, one that shared the same power as "that being"?
It seems that the research by the Shining Star Society has indeed delved into the analysis and utilization of "that being" and its bloodline power. This composite monster is probably not just a failed "sample," but more likely some kind of... fusion experimental subject, and it seems to retain a portion... of the residual consciousness and memories belonging to the "experimenter" or "subject"!
"You know 'He'?" Nie Lingfeng did not answer its question, but instead asked in a deep voice, while releasing a trace of aura that was infused with the majesty of the Qilin more clearly, like an invisible probe piercing the other's chaotic consciousness.
"Hehehe..." The assembled monster let out a strange, twisted laugh, its body trembling even more violently from excitement (or rather, pain). Dark green pus gushed from its wounds and holes. "I know...of course I know...it was 'He'...who gave me power...no...it was 'He'...who destroyed me...it was 'He'...who sewed me and this trash together..."
Its voice was sometimes manic, sometimes mournful, sometimes full of resentment, and sometimes carrying a morbid worship; its spirit was clearly on the verge of extreme instability and collapse. But the information contained within it allowed Nie Lingfeng to grasp the key.
"Are you a researcher for the Yaoxing Society?" Nie Lingfeng pressed, "or... 'material' they captured?"
"Researcher? Materials?" The composite monster seemed to be provoked by these words. Its tentacle-like arm lashed out, slamming into an empty metal frame with a piercing metallic clang! "I am Dong Cheng! PhD in Bioengineering! Senior Project Manager at the Southwest Research Center of Yaoxing Society! It was me! I discovered the secrets of 'Holy Blood'! It was me! I proposed the topic of 'Bloodline Fusion and Dimensional Ascension'! It was me!!"
It roared madly, its mutilated head raised as if to display its former glory, but combined with its terrifying and twisted body, it only appeared extremely eerie and tragic.
"But they... President Qu... and those... instructions from 'above'... they said I was going in the wrong direction... said the power of 'Holy Blood' wasn't for 'understanding' and 'guiding'... but for 'devouring' and 'conquering'... they took away my research... turned me... turned me into a... living vessel for testing the compatibility of new 'catalysts' and 'contaminants'!!"
The composite monster named "Dong Cheng" suddenly became extremely shrill, filled with deep-seated resentment and madness. The writhing tendons and membranes on its body began to proliferate and deform uncontrollably with its emotional fluctuations, and in some places, new cracks even appeared, revealing even more disgusting, seemingly independent, pulsating fleshy tissue underneath.
Nie Lingfeng's eyes narrowed slightly. Sure enough, this monster had once been a researcher at the Yaoxing Society, and a high-ranking one at that. Due to ideological conflicts (or rather, knowing too much it shouldn't have known), it was used as an experimental subject, forcibly fused with various "contaminated" biological tissues, and transformed into its current grotesque form. However, it seemed that due to its own mental strength or some kind of obsession, it had managed to retain a portion of its self-awareness and fragments of memory amidst the terrible pollution and modification.
"Where is Qu Tong? Who is 'above'? What exactly are the 'Holy Blood' and 'Seed' projects?" Nie Lingfeng seized the opportunity to ask a series of questions. This "Dong Cheng" could very well be a valuable source of information.
"Qu Tong...that bitch!" Upon hearing this name, Dong Cheng's hatred almost materialized into flames. "She...is a dog of 'above'! An executor! She...in the deepest part of the base...the 'Sanctuary'...presided over the final 'sowing' ceremony...she's going to use...the 'nourishment' collected from various 'nurseries'...and the essence of 'holy blood'...to cultivate...a true...'divine body'! Haha...haha...she thinks she's creating a god? She's opening the gates of hell! Those 'nourishment' contain...residual traces of 'His' will...the madness of those corrupted believers...fused together...will only give birth to...an even more terrifying...monster!!"
Its voice grew increasingly frenzied and incoherent, yet the information it revealed became ever more astonishing. A sanctuary? A sowing ritual? A divine body? Nutrients? This seemed to perfectly align with Luodong Village's collection of "offerings" (nutrients?) and its declaration that "the seed has been planted"! Yaoxing Society, or rather, the "above" behind Qu Tong, was attempting to use the power of "that being" and the collected "contamination sources" to artificially create some kind of "god" or a powerful "container"!
"As for 'above'..." A deep fear flashed in Dong Cheng's compound eyes, his voice suddenly dropping to a low hue, as if afraid of being overheard, "It's...it's the 'Council'...it's the 'Hall of Eternal Life'...servants...they...are searching...for the 'way' home...the 'Holy Blood'...is the key..."
Parliament? Temple of Immortality? Key? The Way Home?
These words exploded in Nie Lingfeng's mind like cold bombs! The amount of information was overwhelming! Could it be that "that being" (the will within the blood moon) wasn't alone, but belonged to a much larger organization known as the "Council" or the "Hall of Immortality"? Did they come from "outside"? Was the so-called "Holy Blood" (which could very well be the primordial power of "that being") the key to their "return home"? And was Earth, including the superhumans and ordinary people here, merely a field for them to conduct some kind of experiment, to cultivate "seedlings"?
This is simply... appalling!
"And what about you? Why did you become like this? Why are you retaining your consciousness?" Nie Lingfeng suppressed the turmoil in his heart and continued to ask. He needed more details, and he also needed to determine how credible "Dong Cheng's" words were, and... its true intentions now.
"Me?" Dong Cheng's voice suddenly became somewhat... eerie. A faint trace of the cool, almost ruthless rationality characteristic of "Dr. Dong Cheng" seemed to be mixed into his chaotic, frenzied tone. "I became like this... because I was stupid... I thought I could control the power of 'Holy Blood'... but I also... benefited from it all..."
Its tentacle slowly rose, pointing to the throbbing, dark green pus-filled hole in its abdomen. Its voice trembled with a chilling mix of pain and triumph: "Do you see...this is...the place where the 'catalyst' and the 'source of contamination'...first fused...and also...the place where my will is closest to 'His'...Even though I've become a monster...I can 'hear'...I can 'feel'...his whispers...the pulse of the 'Sanctuary'...even...the wails of those 'nourishments'..."
"I retained my consciousness...for...revenge!" Its voice suddenly rose, filled with venom and madness. "Revenge against Qu Tong! Revenge against the 'Council'! Revenge against everything that turned me into this! I will destroy the 'Sanctuary'! Destroy their 'Divine Body'! Make their plans...utterly fail!"
It abruptly turned to Nie Lingfeng, its compound eyes flashing with a fierce interplay of madness and "reason": "And you...you have 'His' bloodline...and it's so pure...even...it seems to have fused with something else...You are my...best weapon! Help me! Help me destroy this place! I can tell you...the exact location of the 'Sanctuary'...the internal defenses...Qu Tong's weaknesses...and...how to shut down the 'purification process' and...release all the imprisoned 'samples'!!"
Release all samples?!