Chapter Fifty-Six: The Onset of Crisis

“Lu Sheng’en…” The bitter, vengeful whisper gurgled from the alien maw that could dissolve steel, its rancid breath dissipating into the wind.

Thud, thud, thud—

A monstrous figure, three meters tall with elongated limbs, vaulted between the buildings, its tremendous legs crashing down with such force that the rooftops caved in, revealing terrified parents and children below through gaping holes.

A father clamped a trembling hand over his child’s mouth, stifling the impending cry. Though fear shook him to the core, he forced himself to his feet, dragging his wife and child away from their shattered home.

But Lin Jicang paid no heed to the chaos in his wake. Driven by madness, only one thought remained in his mind—revenge, revenge, revenge!

His fogged and frenzied mind had long since lost the cause-and-effect of logic. Even if Lu Sheng’en was not the true mastermind, he had become the sole object of Lin Jicang’s obsession.

Having lost everything, Lin Jicang no longer knew what to live for. Only the searing rage that scorched his soul could anchor him to the reality of being alive.

He was still called “he” and not “it” only because of the last vestige of human kinship burning within him—a desperate urge for vengeance for his family, perhaps the final trace left of his humanity.

Lin Jicang skidded to a halt, stomping down on a rooftop and crashing through to the floor below, only to leap back up with a heavy thud.

He now weighed more than five hundred kilograms, his body like a gigantic ape, sharp bone spikes jutting from his spine with a faint metallic sheen.

His skin, unable to keep up with the swelling muscle beneath, split into ragged patches, hanging off him like tattered clothing. The powerful striations of his muscles radiated an intense heat; with his accelerated metabolism, a single punch could flatten a car.

This human, who had absorbed both the Splinter and the ancient super-lifeform, had begun to unlock the ultimate secrets of life itself.

Yet Lin Jicang’s path diverged entirely from that of Adonsa.

Adonsa was a newly minted super-lifeform. Its entire gene pool had been self-collected, deduced, or mutated. Though it had achieved a myriad of transformations, its upper limits could still not rival industrial machinery, and its physical strength had room for improvement.

But Lin Jicang possessed a fragmentary gene bank from a mature, third-stage evolved lifeform. His overwhelming emotions, combined with the presence of Adonsa’s Splinter, had unwittingly become the key to unlocking this genetic trove, allowing him to gradually tap into its extraordinary sequences.

Silicon-based skeletons, piezoelectric nerves, polymer muscles, high-energy respiratory chains...

One by one, Lin Jicang deployed technologies beyond comprehension. In terms of pure evolutionary advancement and individual might, even Adonsa had to concede defeat.

Simply put, Lin Jicang was like a pauper who had suddenly inherited the estate of a fallen tycoon—he knew nothing but how to buy houses and cars. In contrast, Adonsa was a financial expert, able to multiply every cent, though with limited funds for now.

With ample capital, Lin Jicang could forcibly acquire cutting-edge technology, while Adonsa could build a lean, efficient technological enterprise.

That was why Adonsa sought to capture Lin Jicang—to bolster its own reserves.

Such an advanced evolutionary gene bank, even incomplete, would elevate Adonsa to new heights, finally granting it the confidence to stand against the human military.

So Adonsa watched as Lin Jicang, followed by his bizarre army of Splinters, lay in wait for his moment.

“What is he doing?” Angsa asked, seeing Lin Jicang come to a sudden stop.

A mutated bird landed nearby and replied in Adonsa’s voice, “Sympathetic vengeance—an ancient, primal custom. His mother was accidentally killed by the sheriff, and now he seeks revenge against the true culprit.”

Upon hearing this grim news, Angsa tapped his chest four times—a ritual of his faith, signifying mourning and forgiveness.

Arthur spoke with interest, “So we’re just going to wait until he finishes his business? Frankly, I’d hate to stop him. Vengeance is a man’s business, and it ought to be done thoroughly.”

Chen Tu had vanished, as he always did unless summoned by Adonsa; he wanted no part in lingering among these monsters.

Adonsa, however, did not answer directly. Its gaze fell on the distant city hall. “I sense danger there. Something powerful is concealed within... a force of arms.”

The group of black-clad figures Tang Haoming had seen still filled Adonsa with unease—that inorganic sense of power, unmistakable...

Angsa grew solemn. “If they’re not Pulsars, then it’s likely the elite cyborg unit from Amest—the so-called Pallbearers. The central authority of the Heaven Capital is weak; the provinces hold all the power. We have private ties with all the local governments.”

Adonsa recalled the pitiable people turned into weapons. “Cyborgs... but what they use aren’t standard mechanical prosthetics. It’s something far stranger... a different kind of technology.”

Having long researched genetic editing, Adonsa had little interest in the cyborgs it had captured.

Simple experiments showed that the cyborgs’ prosthetics exhibited strange biological characteristics.

Adonsa dubbed it “metal activation technology”—not merely a combination of bearings, rods, gears, and hydraulics, but a true fusion of metal with life-like properties.

On a microscopic scale, metallic ions formed bizarre polyhedral structures. Normally, these structures were rigid and inert—but subjected to certain electrical frequencies, they would shift and recombine as if alive, even interacting with biological cells in ways science could not yet explain.

Technological progress was usually stepwise—copper-zinc batteries, lead-acid, lithium—each advance clear and logical. But these biomimetic machines had little connection to current technology. Metal activation alone was a complete black box.

Adonsa said, “The only reasonable guess is that Amest has inherited some unknown technological legacy.”

Angsa was startled. “The core of the Biochemical Crisis Center is made up of espers and bio-beasts. Cyborgs have always come from the military… But there are plenty of rumors that the military’s District 56 hides alien spacecraft and relics of prehistoric civilizations.”

Adonsa nodded. “Hiding truth within rumor is an efficient tactic. But once the veil is pierced, far more is revealed. For now, let us assume our next foes are the crystallization of alien technology.”

At that moment, Lin Jicang sprang into action in the distance. With a mighty stomp, he caved in the load-bearing wall of a building and hurtled over ten meters straight into the opulent city hall, vanishing into the hole he’d smashed.

A ripple of unrest spread through the city hall.

Adonsa spoke, “Let’s go—let’s see just how powerful these Pallbearers truly are.”