Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 572: Jiang Chunshui
Zhou Ziwei was really frustrated. His original self didn't have the slightest bit of goodwill towards Susanna, let alone now that this woman was completely disfigured and looked more like a ghost than a human.
Even when this woman was perfectly healthy, Zhou Ziwei didn't feel anything when he looked at her...
Isn't she just a pretty foreign woman? If this woman has any advantages that ordinary people don't have, it's that she has a unique scholarly air about her.
However... Zhou Ziwei could only associate the woman's demeanor with that of a female professor who taught English in college, and he would never feel any romantic feelings for her.
But now… after completely absorbing Dwight's soul, Zhou Ziwei felt a tremor in his heart whenever he saw this woman, even though… even though this woman's face was ruined like this, Zhou Ziwei still looked at her as if he were seeing an angel without wings… My God…
While Zhou Ziwei was cursing inwardly, he still performed with great effort. When his clone absorbed all the fierce and malevolent energy in that wisp of soul power into the sea of souls, he immediately showed an expression of extreme pain, as if... someone was cutting his flesh.
Susanna could even see his muscles twitching all over his body, as if he had been electrocuted...
In reality, Dwight's body was indeed in a state similar to that of someone who had been electrocuted.
Zhou Ziwei felt that although his clone's physique appeared quite robust, it was actually weak and insubstantial, and quite poor.
So he simply took this opportunity to properly treat the clone's body.
As Zhou Ziwei channeled the wisp of soul power, imbued with a strong aura of ferocity, into Dwight's body, he also simultaneously channeled a wisp of pure soul power into the clone's body. The power circulated within the clone, thoroughly nourishing and cleansing every muscle and bone.
In order to speed up the process and to deliberately put on a show of self-inflicted suffering in front of Susanna, Zhou Ziwei inputted slightly more soul power than a normal person could withstand in this one-time input.
Zhou Ziwei's soul power contains electrical attributes, so... the clone's expression was naturally very painful, and its whole body muscles trembled as if it had stepped on an electric shock.
When Susanna thought about how Dwight had just endured such pain to save her, her long-dormant heart began to flutter slightly.
In Susanna's eyes, her old classmate Dwight was a silly, clumsy guy. Of course she knew about Dwight's feelings for her, but... she never felt anything for him.
Now, seeing Dwight suffering like this in front of her, she still... felt nothing.
But I felt a little touched.
Ten minutes later, Zhou Ziwei finally extracted all the malevolent energy lurking in the sea of bullet souls and injected it into his clone's body. It was completely absorbed by the blood-red crystal in the clone's soul.
However, Zhou Ziwei did not go on to treat the next person, because the soul power he had just injected into the clone was still taking effect. The clone's physique was too weak, and it needed to absorb more before it could continue.
Bullet felt as if he had taken a long, long nap before waking up from his dream.
The first thing she saw when she woke up was Zhou Ziwei sitting in front of her, smiling at her. She was slightly startled and reached out to touch her body. Only when she touched the two silver spears did she feel a little more at ease.
Seeing that all his brothers from the Dragon Group were lying there unconscious, he was startled again and hurriedly moved his body to the blind child's side and picked her up.
Then she turned to look at Zhou Ziwei and asked in surprise, "How...how did we... become like this?"
Zhou Ziwei shrugged and said, "I also wanted to know how you all ended up like this. I thought you would know..."
Bullet frowned, tried hard to recall for a while, but finally shook his head dejectedly, clearly unable to remember anything.
"Let's talk about these things later!" Zhou Ziwei said, then turned to look at the ten people who hadn't been revived yet, and couldn't help but feel worried.
For the time being, it seems that the fierce and malevolent energy that had been lingering in the souls of these people has been absorbed by the souls of their clones, so there shouldn't be any problems for the time being.
However, with each additional person's malevolent energy it absorbed, the blood-drop-shaped crystal became increasingly dazzling, as if it were about to burst open.
Zhou Ziwei was genuinely worried that if this thing absorbed the malevolent energy of a few more people, it might suddenly exhibit some uncontrollable anomalies.
"Again—"
Zhou Ziwei's clone absorbed the fierce and malevolent energy in less than ten minutes, but it took nearly twenty minutes to digest the soul power that nourished his body.
After all that trouble, he absorbed that small portion of soul power into his body, filling every cell in his body with vitality.
Without realizing it, my physical condition has undergone a tremendous change.
However, one of the consequences of the sudden and drastic change in his physique was that he was drenched in sweat, completely soaked as if he had just taken a shower, looking utterly disheveled. But Zhou Ziwei's clone didn't care at all. After fully absorbing the soul power, it immediately raised its head and beckoned its main body to continue rescuing the next person.
Originally, Zhou Ziwei's main body and his clone had a very subtle telepathic connection. As long as one of them had a thought, the other would naturally understand it without them having to communicate. However, Zhou Ziwei wanted to put on a show for others, so he still had to deliver that bold greeting.
“Dwight…” Susanna finally couldn’t help but step forward. Looking at Dwight’s clothes, which were soaked through, she couldn’t help but ask softly, “You…you can’t go on like this. You’ll really die.”
Dwight (Zhou Ziwei) smiled and shook his head, saying, "It's okay... I can still hold on!" After saying that, he walked over and sat down next to Zhou Ziwei's main body, who was sitting in front of Long Wu.
Susanna took two steps to catch up, looked at Dwight and her lips trembled slightly, but in the end she didn't say anything.
After absorbing and clearing away the malevolent energy from Long Wu and the blind boy's soul seas, the blood-red crystal in Zhou Ziwei's clone became even more dazzling, turning the narrow soul sea a blood red.
Later, the crimson light seemed to penetrate his eyes, and with each blink, a faint light flickered in his eyes. As the crimson crystal grew more intense, Zhou Ziwei seemed to become increasingly excited.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Zhou Ziwei was really unsure.
Logically speaking... this fierce and malevolent aura should cause people to lose their minds, and absorbing too much should have a negative impact on a person's spirit. However, Zhou Ziwei did not feel any fierceness from this clone. Although his clone's soul had absorbed the fierce and malevolent aura lingering in the seas of six or seven people's souls, it did not affect his soul at all. On the contrary, he felt that the clone's soul seemed to be gaining momentum by borrowing the energy of the blood-red crystal.
Could it be that this clone of mine can actually transform this malevolent energy into a powerful force that helps increase my strength? If so… this would be a completely opposite path to the original soul…
Feeling that these fierce and malevolent energies were becoming less and less dangerous to his clone, and instead seemed to be causing the clone's strength to increase, Zhou Ziwei was both surprised and delighted.
When this clone suddenly appeared, Zhou Ziwei initially felt a bit of novelty, but he didn't think much of its importance.
After all, this clone's foundation is too weak, and in order to increase the clone's strength, it needs to continuously absorb a large number of soul bodies.
In particular, this clone is temporarily unable to absorb the souls of ordinary animals, so it is subject to more restrictions.
If one wants to raise the strength of this clone to be similar to that of the original body, the amount of soul energy required would be an astronomical figure.
It's hard to say when that will be possible. Generally speaking, unless there is a large-scale war, a widespread natural disaster, or an epidemic, the chances of such a large-scale soul devouring are probably not many.
Rather than having so many soul entities for the clone to upgrade and advance, it would be better to let the main body absorb them all, so that the main body's strength can further develop and increase... So... how to improve the strength of this clone, and to what extent to improve the strength of the clone, is really a headache.
However, if this clone can increase its strength simply by absorbing the malevolent energy that exists in most souls... then the clone and the original body will no longer need to compete for resources, but will instead become mutually dependent.
It should be understood that every large-scale absorption of soul power will bring a heavy burden to the original soul with the accompanying malevolent energy, so much so that even if the original soul has the opportunity, it will not dare to absorb too many souls at once.
However, if Zhou Ziwei had this clone, he would no longer need to worry about these things. As long as he had the opportunity, he would absorb as much soul power as he could without fear of any side effects.
The more malevolent energy accumulated, the more beneficial it is to Zhou Ziwei's clone... because what is like poison to the original soul is precisely the nourishment this clone needs.
Zhou Ziwei's eyes lit up at the thought. He gritted his teeth and, disregarding the potential dangers of letting his clone continuously absorb the malevolent energy, he quickly healed several more members of the Dragon Group.
However... when he treated Jiang Chunshui, a sudden change occurred...
Just as Zhou Ziwei was about to place his palm on the back of Jiang Chunshui's head, he suddenly noticed that Jiang Chunshui, who had been unconscious, suddenly rolled over, raised two fingers, and stabbed them hard into Zhou Ziwei's forehead.
This was completely unexpected for everyone. Even Zhou Ziwei was not surprised that Jiang Chunshui would react in this way. Zhou Ziwei had not noticed anything unusual about Jiang Chunshui all along. She seemed to be just like everyone else, with her soul sea being eroded by a large amount of fierce and malevolent energy. There should be no exceptions.
Zhou Ziwei showed no mercy to these people, blocking up some of the most important neural transmission lines in their brains one by one.
Once these transmission lines become blocked, it's as if a person's soul sea is completely sealed off. No matter how capable a person is, as long as their soul cannot control their body, they naturally cannot exert any of their abilities.
Zhou Ziwei clearly remembered that he treated Jiang Chunshui no differently than he treated everyone else. After all, due to the corruption of the fierce and malevolent energy, everyone here was like a madman who killed without blinking an eye, without any rationality. Zhou Ziwei dared not joke with his own life, so he did not hold back at all when sealing their minds. He didn't care whether they were beautiful women or not.
But... Jiang Chunshui, despite not having had the blockade on her brain's neural transmission lines lifted, actually jumped up on her own, which greatly surprised Zhou Ziwei.
However, Zhou Ziwei's reaction speed was comparable to the speed of lightning, so no matter how unexpected the scene was, Zhou Ziwei still made a swift reaction in the first instant.
With his head tilted back slightly, Zhou Ziwei swiftly raised one hand to block Jiang Chunshui's attacking hand. With a "snap," Zhou Ziwei's hand remained unmoved like an iron wall as their fingers met, while Jiang Chunshui's hand snapped with a crisp "crack!" as her two slender, snow-white fingers broke off cleanly.
Zhou Ziwei's hands, like nimble snakes, instantly climbed onto Jiang Chunshui's slender arms, then surged upwards again, flicking his fingers to send a wisp of pure soul power directly into Jiang Chunshui's forehead...
"Sizzle—" Zhou Ziwei initially thought that the reason for this situation was that he might not have sealed Jiang Chunshui's brain nerve transmission lines properly when he was blocking them, which caused this problem. He quickly pointed and output a large amount of soul power, preparing to block Jiang Chunshui's brain nerve transmission lines again.
However, to everyone's surprise, as soon as this wisp of soul power entered Jiang Chunshui's body, it felt as if it were a metal wire piercing into strong acid, and was completely corroded away almost instantly.
The intense corrosiveness even traveled backward along Zhou Ziwei's fingers, burning like a fiery serpent.
The intense corrosiveness instilled a sense of fear in Zhou Ziwei, a fear akin to encountering a natural enemy.
The intensely corrosive energy emanating from Jiang Chunshui's body resembled a fierce and malevolent aura, yet it possessed distinct qualitative differences. This immediately reminded Zhou Ziwei of his blood-red butterfly… the one that had been imbued with the essence of the black-robed monster after it was killed. And now, the strange energy emanating from Jiang Chunshui's body was remarkably similar to the unique energy that had been imbued with that blood-red butterfly.
With a "whoosh," Zhou Ziwei was startled, and as if springs had been installed beneath him, he sprang backward. With a roll, he arrived at the airplane window. Then, the soul power within his body surged out like a tidal wave, forcing the severely damaged soul power out of his body and severing its connection with his body, causing it to dissipate into the air.
"Who are you? You're the one who orchestrated all of this, aren't you?" Zhou Ziwei stared at Jiang Chunshui, who was slowly standing up, his expression becoming extremely serious.
Jiang Chunshui's behavior was clearly no longer the ordinary manifestation of being lost and driven mad by the invasion of his soul sea by fierce and malevolent energy. It should be noted that although those whose minds are clouded by fierce and malevolent energy have no rationality whatsoever, they will never engage in any schemes. As long as they can move their bodies, they will immediately and without hesitation start a frenzied killing spree, slaughtering anyone around them who does not have the same fierce and malevolent aura.
The fierce and malevolent aura cannot truly replace a person's soul. Therefore, those whose souls are occupied by fierce and malevolent aura will no longer have any rationality, nor will they play any tricks. They are simply killing machines that know nothing but slaughter.
Jiang Chunshui's performance just now was truly astonishing. She was already free to move around, but she remained motionless, as if she were still unconscious, until Zhou Ziwei came to her side. Only then did she suddenly attack and hurt him, which seemed quite premeditated. Therefore, she could no longer be an ordinary innocent person who was taken advantage of by fierce and malevolent energy...
Zhou Ziwei had always wondered where the malevolent energy in these people came from, and how it could linger in their souls and refuse to dissipate. But now he finally guessed it... Among these fifteen people who were invaded by malevolent energy, there was indeed a decisive person, and that person was obviously Jiang Chunshui.
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 573: Crystal Metamorphosis
Faced with Zhou Ziwei's questioning, Jiang Chunshui's lips twitched slightly, revealing an expression that was hard to tell whether it was a smile or anger. She said in a sinister tone, "Who am I? I'd like to know who I am myself. Can you tell me?"
Jiang Chunshui was speaking English, and her intonation sounded rather strange, not quite like M-style English. Zhou Ziwei couldn't tell where Jiang Chunshui's words were coming from at all.
"I...how would I know who you are!" Zhou Ziwei was taken aback by Jiang Chunshui's question, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, saying, "I don't care who you are, get out of my friend's body right now. She's an innocent girl, and I don't want her to suffer because of you!"
Jiang Chunshui's lips twitched violently again, his eyes burning with a fiery intensity, instantly blazing like two red light bulbs. At the same time, he let out a series of chilling, eerie laughs: "Hahaha... And who are you? What gives you the right to order me around? Hmph... You seem to have some skill, but... in my eyes, you're nothing more than a slightly stronger ant. Daring to disrespect me... your only fate is... death!"
As Jiang Chunshui spoke, the red light in her eyes suddenly intensified, as if two beams of infrared light shot out from her pupils and shone directly on Zhou Ziwei.
"Ah..." Zhou Ziwei exclaimed in surprise as the light from Jiang Chunshui's eyes shone directly on his shoulder. In the blink of an eye, the alloy armor there seemed to be made of paper and clay, and it didn't even last for a fraction of a second before being corroded away by the light. Then, two beams of light, like red-hot irons, pierced into the flesh of Zhou Ziwei's shoulder.
The intense pain made Zhou Ziwei tremble all over. He then realized that he could not break free from the binding of the two beams of light. The two beams of light were like two solid chains that had pierced into Zhou Ziwei's flesh and blood, and he could not get rid of them no matter what.
The tips of the two red rays seemed to transform into two winding snakes, which began to tear through Zhou Ziwei's muscles and swim through his body.
"Boom—" A scorching stream of air suddenly surged out from Zhou Ziwei's middle dantian, and was immediately transformed into fire energy by Zhou Ziwei, rushing towards the two beams of light.
It's now pretty much certain that this guy is probably connected to the black-robed monster in the underground city. The most troublesome thing about that black-robed monster is that all attacks related to soul power are basically ineffective against him.
Just now, with a single move, his soul power was partially destroyed by the monster lurking in Jiang Chunshui's body. It was clear that this guy probably had that kind of ability too. This time, the monster even sent two strange beams of light into Zhou Ziwei's body through its eyes. Without thinking, Zhou Ziwei knew that using soul power to deal with this thing would definitely be ineffective, so he hurriedly mobilized the power in his middle dantian, completed the energy conversion directly in his body, and crashed into the two beams of light.
Transforming attribute-less energy into fire energy within one's own body... this is definitely a suicidal act, but Zhou Ziwei has no other choice now. If he doesn't want his body to be torn apart by these two beams of light, then he has to take the risk!
Fortunately, Zhou Ziwei's body had undergone a transformation in fire energy in the underground city's cave last time, so his body's resistance to fire had reached an incredible level. Even though a large amount of energy was directly transformed into flames in his body, it seemed that it would not harm his own flesh and blood at all.
The flames, flowing along Zhou Ziwei's meridians and blood vessels, surged like an unstoppable tide, directly confronting the two strange red rays that were rampaging through Zhou Ziwei's body.
When the two collided, they clashed violently as if they were irreconcilable mortal enemies.
The scorching light and the blazing flames, two substances with extremely similar properties, are incompatible. Once they collide, the power that is unleashed is unimaginably strong. With just a simple collision, half of Zhou Ziwei's body exploded with a "boom," and blood and flesh flew everywhere.
Fortunately, Zhou Ziwei's alloy suit was sturdy enough. Although it didn't hinder the two beams of light from passing through it, the explosion caused by the collision of energy within his body was too dispersed to break through the suit's defenses. Zhou Ziwei didn't dare let his torn flesh splatter everywhere, because if he did, he wouldn't be able to rebuild his damaged body, and that would truly be a tragedy.
The fire energy flowed freely within Zhou Ziwei's body. After colliding with the two strange beams of light, it immediately consumed a large portion of the bizarre light-like energy.