Chapter Sixty: Denizens of Darkness

The clash of minds lasted only a fleeting instant. Even a super lifeform in the third stage, reduced to mere fragments, could not possibly contend with Adonsa, who commanded hundreds of thousands of split bodies. Yet the cellular holography technology was indeed formidable, able to engrave will into genes so that even severed from the central nervous system, activity could persist.

Adonsa, too, now relied on a complete and complex nervous system for thought. As long as all nerves were destroyed, Adonsa, though alive, would lose every means of resistance.

Having finally resolved this lingering threat, Adonsa plunged headlong into the brand-new gene bank, while the split bodies that had landed became targets for the once more airborne Bi Fang.

Bi Fang showed no sign of flagging as it unleashed flame attack after flame attack, as if fueled by endless energy, spewing searing flames toward the split body fleeing with Lin Jicang in its grasp.

In an instant, the split body was engulfed in fire.

Yet in the next moment, a burning figure burst forth from the blaze, accelerating after a brief dip in speed and, within a few breaths, surpassing its former limits.

Bi Fang’s red eyes gleamed. “Evolved again... As expected of an aberrant unit, its rate of growth is beyond anyone’s imagination.”

Theoretically, even receiving new genetic traits and enhancements required a process. It was impossible to achieve a qualitative leap in mere seconds. No matter how high the cell activity or how rapid the metabolism, the rate of bodily change had its limits—those of chemical reaction and matter exchange.

But the knowledge contained within the ancient gene bank surpassed even Adonsa’s expectations.

Though it lacked much crucial information, the knowledge it held was solid. A few streamlined insights resolved an energy efficiency issue that Adonsa had always overlooked.

Adonsa had believed the biological potential had been fully tapped, but by simply refining a few binding sites in the respiratory energy chain, efficiency could be increased by three percent, squeezing out even more energy and pushing physical performance to new heights.

There were a dozen or so such minor modifications, which instantly boosted Adonsa’s physical system by over thirty percent, enabling a short-lived eruption that surpassed all previous limits.

However, the changes were too abrupt, lacking stability. This body would not last long.

But Adonsa’s greatest advantage was precisely in possessing countless avatars.

After dashing some distance, the split body hurled Lin Jicang away before collapsing and being consumed by the onrushing flames, reduced to charcoal in an instant.

Arthur had long been waiting ahead. Like a relay runner, he caught Lin Jicang, but the flames were upon them immediately, giving Arthur no chance to accelerate before he would be swallowed by flames burning at eight hundred degrees.

At that moment, a twisted ripple of light and shadow sliced in from the side, intercepting the sea of fire—if only for a heartbeat.

It was a super soundwave at a hundred and eighty decibels, its pressure as overwhelming as a colossal dam, halting Bi Fang’s raging flames.

Not far off stood a woman with a cold, stern expression, her mouth open to emit visible waves of sound.

She was Flora, a psychic once captured by Adonsa, with the power to control sound waves—amplifying and transmitting them—earning her the moniker "Sonic Cannon."

The precious seconds Flora bought allowed Arthur to take a single step, his speed instantly soaring to nearly fifty meters per second—approaching the speed of wind.

He could have gone even faster, were it not for concerns that Lin Jicang’s body could not withstand the pressure.

Evolution had granted Arthur a powerful physique and the support of Adonsa’s immense computational power. What had once been an underestimated weapon due to its instability—mass control—had now become a terrifying trump card.

Arthur’s current limit for mass conversion was fifty tons. Though the rate was restricted, it was more than enough to make him a formidable force.

“Imaginary Observer!” Bi Fang roared. “Die!”

The torrent of flame poured toward Flora like a river hung from the sky. The psychic, having died once before, drew a deep breath and unleashed a concentrated sound wave that shattered the flames into a shower of sparks.

Bi Fang, enraged, intensified its breath, the column of fire swelling from the thickness of a basin to that of a vat. Flora, without pausing to breathe, amplified her sound wave in turn.

As a reborn, Flora was incapable of exhaustion. Her entire body was equipped with breathing vents, freeing her from the limitations of human respiration and enabling simultaneous multipoint attacks.

Thin membranes split open behind her ears, on her neck, shoulders, back, even her arms, revealing auxiliary breathing vents that emitted powerful sound waves, joining the struggle.

The power of the Sonic Cannon instantly multiplied tenfold, compressed into a milky white mist that sliced through the flaming breath like an arrow, grazing Bi Fang and tearing a gaping wound in its steel wings.

Even the clouds above shone with a hint of blue.

Bi Fang staggered aside, its wings wounded.

Yet this injury brought it clarity. It ceased direct confrontation with Adonsa, instead relying on its unparalleled agility to dodge Flora’s attacks while setting the city ablaze in wild abandon.

Bi Fang howled, “I am the spirit of fire, the soul of flame—”

“You’d better get down here, big bird!”

With a rough shout, a human figure shot skyward like a cannonball—it was Arthur, returned once more.

Bi Fang’s maneuvers had been thoroughly analyzed by Adonsa; the detailed predictive model anticipated its every move. Coupled with Arthur’s unrivaled explosive power, a hit was inevitable.

Bi Fang’s eyes glowed red as it spewed fire from its flank, dodging so that only half a wing was grazed by Arthur, a few small components clattering to the ground, narrowly avoiding a direct collision.

Just as Bi Fang prepared to incinerate this impudent reborn, Arthur planted his foot on a mutated bird.

“Earth throw!”

The bird was instantly crushed to pulp, the tremendous recoil giving the already light Arthur an unmatched acceleration. He rocketed back at even greater speed.

Bi Fang’s hurried breath was scattered by the impact, and it was seized in a powerful bear hug by Arthur, whose body was only a third of its size.

Straddling Bi Fang’s neck, Arthur’s arms constricted like pylons, denting the metal plating.

Furious, Bi Fang became a blazing torch, the flames enveloping both itself and Arthur.

Arthur closed his eyes, mouth, and ears to keep the scorching air from damaging his airways. His whole body was coated with a thick, sponge-like layer resembling heat-resistant ceramic, insulating him from the heat and keeping him from burning alive at over five hundred degrees.

This heat-resistance technique was another lesson Adonsa had gleaned from the ancient gene bank.

Arthur’s actions clearly infuriated Bi Fang, whose flames deepened from dark red to crimson, then to orange. The heat-resistant armor, once sufficient, began to crack.

But the few seconds thus gained were already enough.