Fortunately, while absorbing the water energy from the tsunami, Zhou Ziwei had twice tempered all the meridians and nerves in his body. Now, Zhou Ziwei can freely spew out attribute-less energy from any part of his body. Therefore, he can release three completely different types of energy from his body at the same time. If it were before this encounter, Zhou Ziwei would never have been able to do this.
After using wind power to accelerate the boat, Zhou Ziwei took less than half a minute to rush straight to the front of the large group of deep-sea piranhas. Then he maneuvered the boat into the sea, turned the bow around, and faced the dense school of fish, blocking the fish and the ocean-going giant ship.
Zhou Ziwei then discovered that because he used wind energy to accelerate, a long trail was left on the path the water boat had just passed, just like the trail left by a speedboat.
Moreover, along this long trail, all the deep-sea piranhas were belly-up.
It seems that these deep-sea piranhas are actually quite fragile and completely vulnerable... Even a strong gust of wind can kill a large number of them.
At this moment, the people on the ocean liner obviously spotted Zhou Ziwei and his two companions. Immediately, there was a commotion on the ship, with many sailors crowding onto the railing and looking in their direction. Some even used loudspeakers to shout at them, telling them to hurry up and approach the ship. Meanwhile, some sailors on the other side were already launching lifeboats to come and rescue them, presumably because they thought Zhou Ziwei and his two companions were survivors of the tsunami.
After all, the boat Zhou Ziwei and the others were on was made entirely of seawater. From a distance, they looked like refugees floating on the sea... Of course... I wonder if anyone saw Zhou Ziwei using the wind to control the boat. But even if someone did see it, they probably thought they were seeing things!
Zhou Ziwei initially didn't want to pay attention to the people on the ship, but when he saw that the group of deep-sea piranhas had started to disperse after approaching the ocean-going giant ship, intending to surround the entire ship from all sides, he had to remind the people on the ship. Otherwise, although he was confident that he could annihilate the group of deep-sea piranhas, he probably wouldn't be able to stop all the fish at once.
Left with no other choice, Zhou Ziwei decided to unleash his domineering aura on this group of "mortals".
Volume 2 The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 467: A Rain of Fire
The watercraft stopped in the middle of the group of deep-sea piranhas and ocean-going giant ships. Zhou Ziwei no longer needed to use wind energy to propel the watercraft forward, so he gathered the wind energy and swirled it around his feet.
The wind wasn't particularly strong, but it was enough to lift Zhou Ziwei's body. So, to the astonishment of the countless sailors on board, Zhou Ziwei slowly floated up, like a god descending to earth. He floated until he was higher than the deck of the giant ship before slowly coming to a stop. Standing there in mid-air, he looked down at the stunned crowd and said in as authoritative a tone as possible, "You don't need to worry about the safety of the three of us. A group of deep-sea piranhas has arrived on the surface, and their target is your ship. If you don't want to die here, retreat immediately… retreat far away, otherwise… once you're surrounded by the piranhas, it will be too late to escape."
After Zhou Ziwei finished speaking, he suddenly turned around and condensed another huge fireball in his hand. He then used his soul power to pull it and threw it a short distance ahead. Under the illumination of the fireball, the sailors finally saw the almost endless yellow waves of fish in their field of vision.
"Boom—" The fireball landed on the water and immediately exploded with a loud bang, like a state-of-the-art cannonball, causing a column of water to shoot into the sky.
Using fireball like that is a bit of a waste, but Zhou Ziwei wanted to give the people on the ship a more direct impression, so he had no choice but to show off a little.
On the deck of the ocean liner, the sailors were stunned for a moment after witnessing this astonishing scene. Then someone shouted, "Captain, come and see God—" The sailors were not amused by the man's humor, but suddenly became chaotic, scurrying around the ship like headless flies. Some even sat down on the ground, trembling.
It turned out that the captain of the ship had been swept into the sea during the tsunami. These people were survivors, but they never expected that they would encounter such a terrible disaster again here when the ship was about to return home.
Piranhas in the deep sea are something that ordinary people would never know what, but for sailors who spend almost all their time at sea, no one is unaware of the terror of this creature.
Zhou Ziwei was slightly taken aback by the sailors' reaction on the ship, and then could only sigh helplessly. He wanted to help them, but if they didn't think about saving themselves, even if a god came, it wouldn't help!
Deeply disappointed with the people on that boat, Zhou Ziwei stopped pretending to be a superhero in the air. He used the wind energy to fly down to the sea surface. This time, he wanted to replenish his water energy while doing his best to eliminate the terrifying deep-sea piranhas. Therefore, Zhou Ziwei did not return to the water boat he had formed with water energy, but instead landed directly in the ordinary seawater.
In this way, without the barrier of the water boat controlled by his soul consciousness, he can absorb the water energy in the seawater more directly.
What Zhou Ziwei never expected was that the deep-sea piranhas, which had initially seemed uninterested in him, suddenly turned towards him from all directions the moment he entered the water. Then, one by one, they seemed to have taken stimulants, thrashing and swimming frantically towards him. Some of the larger fish even leaped out of the water, flipping over other deep-sea piranhas, swimming a few strokes before leaping up again, just like a martial arts hero stepping on heads to advance in a martial arts movie.
Although those deep-sea piranhas couldn't speak, their behavior undoubtedly revealed their intense desire for something on Zhou Ziwei.
This reaction sent a chill down Zhou Ziwei's spine...
Just a moment ago, I was completely ignored by these deep-sea piranhas, so how come in the blink of an eye, all these damned fish have set their sights on me?
Zhou Ziwei released three butterfly darts, which formed concentric circles around him, spinning rapidly and continuously, disemboweling all the deep-sea piranhas that had entered the area.
The deep-sea piranhas swarmed forward like madmen, and in an instant, the density of all the deep-sea piranhas on this side increased dramatically. Many deep-sea piranhas even piled on top of each other, causing a mountain of fish to suddenly appear, even higher than the height of the ship's side. Several slimy deep-sea piranhas fell into the ship, which made Anirias and Kizilmer scream loudly in fright.
Damn it, have these deep-sea piranhas gone mad from the tsunami?
As Zhou Ziwei cursed, he flew up from the sea again, leaping onto the watercraft. He controlled a wisp of wind energy, which transformed into an invisible giant hand. He immediately grabbed all the deep-sea piranhas that had fallen into the watercraft and casually tossed them out.
"Splash, splash..." With a few soft splashes, the surroundings suddenly quieted down. Zhou Ziwei then realized that the deep-sea piranhas that had been surging forward like madmen had suddenly stopped their agitation. Most of them were still circling in the distance, while the other part began to turn their attention back to the giant ocean liner that was already not far ahead.
No way! Weren't these deep-sea piranhas just showing me a lot of interest? Why are they ignoring me now?
Zhou Ziwei reached out and touched the soft, fluffy alloy suit he was wearing. Then, looking at the water boat beneath his feet, which seemed to be solidified together, he suddenly realized what was going on.
The scent... These deep-sea piranhas must have smelled the alloy on me, which is why they've become so excited. Their sense of smell is only able to detect things through seawater, but the water ship that Zhou Ziwei created with water energy doesn't mix or flow with the surrounding seawater, completely isolating it from all other scents. That's why, even though Zhou Ziwei and his group had been following these deep-sea piranhas for half a day, they hadn't shown them the slightest interest.
However, when Zhou Ziwei fell directly into the water, the unique metallic scent of his alloy suit immediately spread in all directions through the seawater, instantly driving all the deep-sea piranhas into a frenzy.
Originally… Zhou Ziwei had suspected that his wondrous alloy suit was formed by fusing various rare metals in the pilot dimension. This alloy, in terms of both properties and rarity, was incomparable to ordinary metals. Since these deep-sea piranhas so readily consumed metallic substances, how could they be completely uninterested in his alloy suit? It turned out that the watercraft had isolated his aura…
The ocean liner and the group of deep-sea piranhas were already very close. Now that the piranhas had suddenly lost the wonderful smell of the alloy, they had no choice but to turn their attention back to the ship. In an instant, countless large and small yellow fish rushed up, some even diving to the bottom of the ship and starting to gnaw at it with a "crunch, crunch" sound.
Seeing this, Zhou Ziwei shook his head helplessly. Since he had already taken action to save people, he naturally did not want to give up halfway. Since he himself could be used as bait, the only way to save the people on this ship was to make use of the alloy suit he was wearing.
With a "plop," Zhou Ziwei used wind energy to lift his body up, flying more than twenty meters in the opposite direction of the ocean liner before crashing back into the sea.
This time, fearing that the two people on the boat would be implicated again, he deliberately entered the water a little further away from the boat. As long as the boat was within the range of Zhou Ziwei's soul power, he could control it completely. So Zhou Ziwei wasn't worried that the boat would disintegrate if he got too far away.
As soon as Zhou Ziwei's body fell into the water, the scent from his alloy suit once again drove the deep-sea piranhas into a frenzy. The deep-sea piranhas, which had already burrowed under the boat and started gnawing on the metal, all turned around and desperately swam towards where Zhou Ziwei had fallen into the water.
"Kill—" Zhou Ziwei's eyes narrowed slightly, and three butterfly darts once again circled around his body. Then, three small fireballs condensed one after another from Zhou Ziwei's palm. These three fireballs were not very large, about the size of a rice bowl. However, regardless of their size, the fireballs all had the same high temperature. So Zhou Ziwei controlled these three fireballs at the same time, making them circle around him like the three butterfly darts, sticking to the bodies of the deep-sea piranhas on the sea surface. They were able to roast the deep-sea piranhas they came into contact with one by one until they were charred.
In the blink of an eye, a group of deep-sea piranhas, some gutted and others crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, floated up around Zhou Ziwei. This two-pronged approach was quite effective in killing the deep-sea piranhas.
The ocean liner, which had temporarily escaped the encirclement of the deep-sea piranhas, finally reacted. The panicked sailors on board were restrained by the first mate and began to turn the bow around and retreat. At the same time, Zhou Ziwei heard a familiar voice coming from the ship's loudspeaker.
"Sir, thank you for sacrificing your life to save everyone on board. I am the first mate of this ship, and on behalf of the Hongyuan, I express our heartfelt respect to you..."
Although the voice was slightly distorted after being amplified, Zhou Ziwei still recognized it. The first mate on the ship must be an old acquaintance of his, but... who could this person be? Zhou Ziwei was busy slaughtering the deep-sea piranhas around him and didn't have time to find out the answer to this question.
However, in his memory, he didn't seem to know anyone who worked at sea... let alone the first mate of such a large ocean liner.
"Boom, boom, boom..." After the three small fireballs circled around Zhou Ziwei again and again, they finally exhausted the enormous thermal energy contained within them. They could no longer burn the deep-sea piranhas they came into contact with to death in one go. Zhou Ziwei had no choice but to withdraw the soul power wrapped around them, causing the three fireballs, which had shrunk to the size of an egg yolk, to explode with a bang, releasing the last bit of energy. Each fireball killed more than a dozen deep-sea piranhas again.
Although the three butterfly darts were as easy to kill as slicing melons and chopping vegetables, their efficiency was still insignificant compared to the endless piranhas on the surface of the sea. Moreover, these piranhas seemed to be going crazy and surging towards Zhou Ziwei, making the three butterfly darts feel like they couldn't handle the situation without the support of the three fireballs.
This won't do... It seems I need to do some serious research on how to kill a large number of these deep-sea piranhas at once, otherwise, how long will this drag on...?
Zhou Ziwei felt that the three butterfly darts were no longer enough to keep all the deep-sea piranhas out of the circle. Countless deep-sea piranhas had broken through the defense line of the three butterfly darts and rushed into his vicinity. Helpless, Zhou Ziwei had no choice but to once again harness a wisp of wind energy and shamelessly leap out of the water and float in the air.
As expected, those deep-sea piranhas could only rely on their sense of smell in the water to determine the source of metallic substances. As soon as Zhou Ziwei came out of the water, those deep-sea piranhas all went blind again, and started circling around in a daze.
Zhou Ziwei gritted his teeth and suddenly drew out more than a dozen streams of attribute-less energy from his middle dantian. These energy streams were then released as heat energy from more than a dozen parts of his body, instantly transforming into more than a dozen fireballs the size of rice bowls. He decided to take advantage of the fact that the group of deep-sea piranhas below were gathered in a relatively dense manner and give them a good beating.
However, perhaps because he was too greedy, he managed to condense so many fireballs at once, resulting in these newly condensed fireballs being extremely loose. Zhou Ziwei could naturally feel this by wrapping his soul power around them. Although these dozen or so fireballs looked no different from the three fireballs that Zhou Ziwei had controlled before, he knew that the previous three fireballs were quite solid, while the dozen or so fireballs he had hastily condensed were quite loose, as if a gust of wind could blow them away. On the surface, they were a complete fireball, but in reality, they were made up of countless small flames barely held together.
Oh no, these fireballs are too fragile. They'd probably fall apart after just a couple of rolls on the sea. Then… wouldn't all those dozen or so fireballs have been a complete waste of energy? Sigh… haste makes waste… I guess I was too impatient…
Zhou Ziwei hesitated for a moment, but after trying to use his soul power to make the fireballs more solid but to no avail, he had no choice but to give up. However, he dared not use his powers to control more than a dozen fireballs at the same time to kill the deep-sea piranhas. Instead, he controlled only one fireball to fly down to the surface of the sea.
Sure enough... this time the fireball didn't roll very far before it became so loose that even Zhou Ziwei's soul power couldn't bind it. With a "whoosh," the fireball, which was made up of countless tiny flames, fell apart and broke free from the soul power's containment. However, instead of exploding like previous fireballs, it burst out with a "pop," releasing countless tiny flames the size of beans, which landed in an area of several meters in radius.
However, the destructive power of this obviously failed fireball was not much different from that of a normal fireball detonated directly. Every deep-sea piranha within a radius of several meters was sprinkled with a dozen or so small flames, which immediately caused the deep-sea piranhas to writhe in agony.
These flames, which are purely generated from energy, are exceptionally durable and will not be extinguished even if they are doused with seawater.
Once the flames adhered to the oily bodies of the deep-sea piranhas, they clung to them like maggots. Although they didn't kill the fish instantly, the piranhas, writhing in pain, carried the flames to even more piranhas. In an instant, this failed fireball caused a small disaster for the fish in a small area on the sea surface.
Zhou Ziwei stared blankly at the consequences of the small fireball, then burst into laughter. Instead of immediately throwing out the dozen or so failed fireballs that had gathered around him, he controlled the vortex beneath him, lifting his body upwards until he was nearly a hundred meters in the air. If he rose any higher, the water boat below would disintegrate due to the loss of his soul control. Only then did he stop, shout loudly, spread his arms, and used his soul consciousness to throw the dozen or so bowl-sized fireballs surrounding him far away.
"Boom, boom, boom..." Each fireball exploded slightly in mid-air after being thrown dozens of meters away due to the instability inside the fireball.
This cracking wasn't an explosion; it was more like a lump of sand that had been forcibly held together loosening due to poor adhesion.
Thus, Kyzylem, Anilias, and many others on the distant ship witnessed a spectacle they would never forget... a sky filled with fire raining down.
Volume 2 The Assassin's Nightmare Chapter 468 A Million Soul Power
A dozen or so fireballs exploded slightly at the same time, instantly turning into countless tiny flames that drifted down like rain. However, this rain was composed of tiny, dark red flames, creating a stunningly beautiful scene against the backdrop of a vast blue sea.
If these flames were simply the result of burning ordinary fuels, such as gasoline, they would surely extinguish before reaching halfway down the mountain. However, these seemingly small and weak flames are actually formed from highly condensed pure energy. Therefore, although the process of falling from the sky consumes some of the energy contained within them, it is only a negligible amount.
When the tiny flames landed on the densely packed group of deep-sea piranhas on the sea surface, they remained the same size. Even the sea breeze that continued to rage on the sea surface after the tsunami could not extinguish a single flame.
The crackling sounds were incessant as tiny flames landed on the deep-sea piranhas below, instantly burning holes in them. The piranhas writhed in agony on the surface, as if they were live fish being thrown ashore. Some even plunged headfirst into the deep sea.
Ordinary flames would be extinguished immediately upon contact with water, but these flames, which are formed from pure heat energy, will not automatically extinguish due to the lack of oxygen; at most, they will only be slightly cooled by the cool seawater.
Even a tiny flame, no bigger than a bean, would be enough to burn a deep-sea piranha to a pulp, even if the seawater cooled it down a bit.
This was an absolutely inhumane massacre. In just a moment, a large number of dead fish, belly up and burned beyond recognition, appeared on the surface of the sea.
This seemingly boundless swarm of deep-sea piranhas was slaughtered by Zhou Ziwei's attack, with at least hundreds of thousands killed.
Even Zhou Ziwei himself was taken aback by this result. It seemed that if this method were used to eliminate the entire group of deep-sea piranhas, it would only take ten or eight attempts to finish them off. It wasn't as difficult as he had initially imagined...
However, to maximize the destructive power of this rain of fire, the deep-sea piranhas needed to gather together. So, after Zhou Ziwei unleashed two more bursts of fire at the most densely populated area of deep-sea piranhas on the surface, he plunged headlong into the sea without hesitation. He used his alloy suit to lure the deep-sea piranhas on the surface. Once all the deep-sea piranhas had gathered around him, he flew out of the sea again and continued to scatter the rain of fire.
After several such incidents, the once seemingly boundless school of fish was decimated by Zhou Ziwei, with less than one-tenth remaining.
Zhou Ziwei knew the danger posed by these deep-sea piranhas, so even though there weren't many left and they might no longer pose a threat to the ocean liner, he still showed no intention of letting go.
After all, the fact that these deep-sea piranhas can gather such a large group suggests that their reproductive capacity must be quite strong. If some of them escape this time, given a few more years, they might once again reach the same scale as today.
If Zhou Ziwei hadn't interfered in the first place, that would have been fine. But since he has already brazenly displayed his supernatural abilities in front of others, there is naturally nothing to be afraid of.
Fortunately, although these deep-sea piranhas were quite powerful, they were not very intelligent and acted almost entirely on instinct. Even after Zhou Ziwei killed so many of their kind in one go, they were not scared away. As soon as Zhou Ziwei jumped into the seawater and they smelled the alloy armor, they immediately gathered around as if they had been given a stimulant, becoming Zhou Ziwei's targets for slaughter.
A moment later, when Zhou Ziwei's elemental energy was almost completely depleted, he looked around and saw only layers of dead fish on the sea surface. It was difficult to find a single living deep-sea piranha. Only then did Zhou Ziwei breathe a sigh of relief.
Thinking about how he had slaughtered millions of lives in an instant, Zhou Ziwei couldn't help but gasp inwardly. Although he had been reborn through the Buddhist Six-Syllable Mantra, he had no intention of becoming a monk, so he naturally didn't care about any rules or regulations. He killed, and he not only killed but also devoured other people's souls. If the Buddhist concept of karma and retribution were to truly apply to him, he would probably be sent to the eighteenth level of hell, and the underworld would have to open up more than ten more levels to accommodate him.
Since he had already killed so many living beings, Zhou Ziwei, adhering to the principle that even mosquitoes are meat, decided to devour the souls of these millions of deep-sea piranhas before making any decisions.
Although these deep-sea piranhas look silly, their souls must be pitifully weak. But... even the weakest souls number in the millions, so they add up.
"Om Mani Padme Hum—" The six-syllable mantra was once again recited from Zhou Ziwei's sea of souls. Instantly, six yellow halos, almost boundless in size, flew out from Zhou Ziwei's sea of souls, completely enveloping the entire area in an instant.
After the six yellow halos shrank back into Zhou Ziwei's sea of souls, Zhou Ziwei was shocked to discover that he had absorbed more than 50,000 units of soul power in one go.
That's impossible... The souls of these deep-sea piranhas are so weak, how could they possibly have so much soul power after purification?
Zhou Ziwei examined the remaining soul memories of the souls that had just been absorbed into the Sea of Souls, somewhat bewildered. However, the number of soul memories he detected was pitifully small. Moreover, he couldn't find any soul memories of deep-sea piranhas among all the soul memories. There were only soul memories of large marine animals such as sharks and sea lions. It seemed that creatures with weak souls like deep-sea piranhas would not be able to retain any memories after being purified by the Six-Syllable Mantra.
Could it be that so much soul energy is because the tsunami just now caused the death of a large number of marine creatures, which is why so many marine creatures' souls were formed in this area, thus benefiting me?
Zhou Ziwei was both surprised and delighted at the thought of this possibility. If that were the case, wouldn't he be able to absorb more soul power by chasing after the raging tsunami?
Zhou Ziwei grew increasingly excited as he thought about it. He immediately leaped down and landed on a boat on the sea. Without saying a word, he steered the boat in the direction the tsunami had struck...
As it turned out, Zhou Ziwei would recite the Six-Syllable Mantra every ten kilometers or so along that direction, and each time he would absorb a large amount of soul power, ranging from a few thousand to as much as thirty to fifty thousand.
This made Zhou Ziwei's eyes practically gleam with excitement. Right now, for Zhou Ziwei, the allure of money was far less than the power of this strange soul energy to ignite his greedy desires.
This tsunami was an absolute catastrophe for humanity. If Zhou Ziwei had a choice, he might have preferred that the tsunami had never happened. But since it had already happened, Zhou Ziwei would not give up this opportunity to make a quick buck.
"Mr. Zhou, we...were we going the wrong way?"
Kyzylem and Aniliyas were somewhat puzzled by Zhou Ziwei's excited demeanor, but after watching for a while and seeing that Zhou Ziwei hadn't made any moves, they looked at the stars in the sky and realized that the direction Zhou Ziwei was driving the boat had deviated far from the route back to China, and even seemed to be heading back towards the direction of the nuclear explosion. Finally, they couldn't help but ask him, both curious and alarmed.
“That’s right… I didn’t say I was going back to China!” Zhou Ziwei had just absorbed more than 30,000 units of soul power in one go, and was in a great mood. Naturally, he was not willing to give up now. He turned his head and glanced at the two sisters, saying, “You don’t need to worry. I won’t go near the coastal area where the nuclear bomb exploded. Hmm… and you don’t need to be afraid of that Black God anymore. Since he’s even gone so far as to detonate a nuclear bomb, it proves that he has no other way to deal with me. Hmph… Now, as long as I find Black God’s lair, then… it’s time for us to settle things once and for all.”