Chapter 1 The Dark Spiritual Power Thickens

"The dark spiritual power concentration is at least ten times higher than before..."

Suren looked at the attribute panel, his expression a bit complicated. He couldn't say he felt good about it, nor could he say he felt bad.

No wonder the pursuers hadn't dared to follow.

After the fog thickened, dark spiritual power gushed out like a spring, permeating everywhere. This wasn't something ordinary people could withstand, nor could gas masks filter out such a highly distorted concentration.

Normal concentrations of dark spiritual power were like a winter breeze, a slight coolness entering the body with each breath; but now, the concentration was like ice knives, making each breath feel like a cut to the throat.

But...

Suren knew the value was very "dangerous," but his body honestly felt a silk-like comfort.

From the time the fog began to spread, he had been paying attention to the changes in dark spiritual power and carefully observing the data on his body, afraid something would go wrong.

However, he found that he had no signs of distortion at all.

Even though the dark spiritual power had reached such a terrifying level, he still didn't feel uncomfortable.

On the contrary... with each breath, his own dark spiritual power value rose rapidly.

His body was frantically absorbing the special energy in the air, and this energy was also transforming his body.

Because there were no examples to refer to, Suren could only judge based on his own feelings: the data was rising, but without distortion, it should be a good thing.

He knew this abnormal situation was definitely related to the dark spiritual power resistance value increased by the "X serum."

...

Not to mention that the fog outside was so thick that it was impossible to see or walk normally.

Since there were no signs of distortion, Suren wasn't in a hurry to leave the bunker.

Moreover... it seemed like he couldn't leave even if he wanted to.

Although he couldn't see, Suren could hear many creepy noises coming from all directions after the fog spread.

Like the heavy footsteps of a very large monster walking, thump, thump, thump...

Like the sound of chewing on flesh and bones, crunch, crunch, crunch...

Like the screams of some distorted monsters being bitten to death...

Listening to the increasing number of terrifying sounds, Suren simply sealed all the vents, not daring to leak the slightest breath.

He knew that he seemed to have encountered a large-scale distorted monster activity phenomenon similar to a "beast tide"...

However, Suren was in a good mood.

Since he couldn't leave, he calmly recuperated here.

His storage ring had enough food and water, and the bunker was sturdy enough, so he didn't have to worry about safety for the time being.

The fog in the ruins was flowing, so this abnormal activity should be temporary.

Even if a small monster discovered him and broke into the bunker, he figured the Abomination Zombie and Black Scythe could protect themselves.

At least, the current situation was much better than being besieged by the Oliver family.

Suren got himself some food and sat cross-legged to meditate.

This meditation lasted all night.

Although there was no distinction between day and night in the ruins, the monsters were obviously much more active during the "nighttime."

When it dawned, the fog showed no sign of dissipating.

But Suren felt pretty good.

Overnight, his body's super healing ability had recovered his injuries by seventy to eighty percent. Although there was still a slight stabbing pain when he pressed his chest, this recovery efficiency was already very satisfying.

And after meditating all night, Suren also felt refreshed.

On the data panel, the upper limit of his dark spiritual power value visibly soared.

After becoming an advanced professional, meditating in Old Lingdun for a night would increase the upper limit of his dark spiritual power value by about 7 to 8 units. In these Dawn City ruins, Suren's dark spiritual power value skyrocketed by more than 100 units in just one night!

Moreover, there were no signs of distortion or any other negative effects caused by absorbing dark spiritual power too quickly.

Although Suren knew that the "X serum" would increase his body's tolerance to dark spiritual power, he was still surprised to see this effect.

Last night, he was still meditating cautiously. If he had absorbed without any restraint, the value might have increased several times.

According to this cultivation progress, in about a month, his dark spiritual power value would reach the upper limit of what his body could withstand. That would be an exaggerated value several times higher than the dark spiritual power value required for ordinary professionals to advance to the second tier.

From this point of view, this "fog tide" was not only harmless to him, but also an excellent aid to his cultivation.

Suren also guessed that the "unknown creature" from which the serum was extracted might be a super-order creature living in this high-concentration dark spiritual power environment, with bloodlines very suitable for survival in this environment. Suren injected the serum to transform his body, and now he had obtained some of the characteristics of this strange bloodline...

Moreover, because his dark spiritual power value had increased significantly, Suren also discovered a good phenomenon, which was that the blue color of his skin was fading faster.

Because he had the Omniscient Eye, he could accurately distinguish the data changes in his skin color.

Although it was only overnight, the change was almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

But the data showed that the speed of fading was several times faster than yesterday.

The violent influx of dark spiritual power catalyzed the absorption of the serum, greatly shortening this process.

Originally, it was estimated that it would take at least four to six months to digest the serum, but now it seemed like it wouldn't take that long.

...

The second day, the third day, the fourth day...

The fog showed no sign of dissipating,

The monsters outside were also becoming more and more active.

And so, Suren was passively stuck in this narrow bunker, unable to go out.

During this period, he encountered several distorted monsters passing by, including small distorted monster groups, and also several large distorted monsters with terrifying auras.

Fortunately, the small distorted monsters couldn't destroy the solid bunker and left after pawing at it a few times;

And those giant monsters, although they had discovered him, ignored him. It was probably like a human seeing a rat in a small hole by the roadside, not even interested in using it to fill the gaps between their teeth.

Occasionally, there would be one or two large monsters that smelled the scent and curiously scratched at it with their claws, but they all passed by without incident because the bunker was sturdy enough.

And so, a month passed without him realizing it.

Suren's body also underwent earth-shattering changes.

...

One day, in the bunker.

Suren was meditating.

Because gas masks were useless, he no longer wore a mask.

However, that face was no longer the blue-skinned bald weirdo from a month ago. His skin color had returned to normal, and he had grown a thick head of hair, even his eyebrows had grown out.

Without the dark punk-style smoky makeup, this angular face suddenly became strikingly handsome.

This wasn't Suren's illusion, but the intuitive data on the attribute panel.

"My charm value has increased to 12?"

Suren was also greatly surprised when he first discovered that this fixed value had changed.

Then, over the past month, this value had increased from 9 points to the current 12 points as he fully digested the "X serum."

According to his observations, this data had hardly changed with the increase in strength before. Unless it was someone with a charm talent like Shabina of the Steam Party he had met before, otherwise, the normal person's data would not exceed 10 points.

The only explanation was that the serum not only made the body stronger but also had the special ability to optimize human appearance.

He guessed that perhaps the indescribable creature that extracted the "X serum" was itself good-looking?

Suren didn't care too much, anyway, it wasn't a bad thing.

Moreover, the change in appearance was exactly what he wanted.

At least now, he didn't have to continue shaving his head and going for the dark punk style.

The previous outfit was to conceal his appearance to avoid being recognized by bounty hunters.

Now that wanted posters of his bald image were plastered everywhere, continuing to maintain the bald punk image was no longer appropriate.

Now that his hair had grown out, it was just right.

Moreover, his image now hardly had to worry about the original owner's wanted posters. Because Suren felt that absolutely no one would think that the current him and the original "Fick Legarde" were the same person.

Not to mention the earth-shattering changes in temperament, the 3 points of charm value had grown on his face, and it was basically a different face.

Moreover, even the data of body dimensions such as shoulder width, waist circumference, and hip circumference were completely different from a month ago.

Having completely digested the "X serum," Suren's strength had exploded, and his bones had become tougher, both with two to three times the improvement. However, instead of becoming a burly strongman, his body muscles had become more slender and well-proportioned.

However, he also felt that it was just right.

Whether it was a puppeteer or a gunslinger, muscles that were too large would affect flexibility.

Moreover, the most exaggerated thing was Suren's current dark spiritual power value!

From an upper limit of 2214 points a month ago to the current 23332, an increase of nearly ten times.

This was already a very exaggerated number.

Ordinary professionals need a minimum of about 7000 points of dark spiritual power to successfully fuse black iron materials to advance to the second tier; even some high-requirement silver materials only need about 10000 points. (Tier advancement conditions: material compatibility + current tier of dark spiritual power value reaches a certain value)

But now Suren has reached an astonishing two times more.

He even felt that there was still a small increase in space when he meditated with the [Haigum Breathing Method].

Although Suren didn't know what was special about such a large amount of dark spiritual power, he guessed that it was directly related to subsequent high-level advancements. The more solid the foundation of dark spiritual power value is at the low level, the easier it is to advance to the high level, and the higher the upper limit.

Another immediate benefit was that he was not short of mana for the time being.

Just manipulating the first-tier Eight-Armed Spider Spear, he could now maintain the colonial exoskeletal state for a long time.

The flames used by [Wu Shi] changed from overflowing one inch from before to a blazing foot...

Also, the distance that he could control puppets with the Witch's Hair had become farther...

...

As this month passed, the surrounding fog was gradually dissipating.

It was estimated that this wave of "fog tide" would be over in a few days.

The food and fresh water prepared in the storage ring were almost exhausted,

The "X serum" had also been absorbed,

Suren felt that it was time to leave the ruins.

After all, these ruins were not a good place.

Suren thought that no matter how long the Oliver family's large army that was hunting him had been lying in wait, they probably wouldn't be lying in wait in the ruins for a month.

What's more, even if he appeared in front of those bounty hunters, probably no one would recognize that the handsome face of the current him was the "S-class wanted criminal Suren" with smoky eye makeup and a shaved head from before.

...

On this day.

The fog had almost reached normal levels, and no more sounds of large distorted monsters were heard around the bunker.

Suren opened the vent and carefully observed. He could see a few leisurely feeding two-headed, ram-horned humanoid monsters—[Fallen Ram-Heads]—on the misty walls in the distance.

Eating grass?

No, they were gnawing on the bones of unknown prey.

"Crunch"...

"Crunch"...

It was spine-chilling to hear.

Suren had been observing them for nearly two days.

There were about fifty-six of these upright ram-headed monsters. They looked docile, but were actually extremely ferocious. They were fast, could jump, and had sharp teeth and mouths with a bite force that could easily crush stones.

Especially the ram-headed monster leader, whose size was like a bull, even had a strength no weaker than a second-tier melee professional. When the group surrounded their prey, they could easily kill large prey, and were not to be underestimated.

Suren had Black Scythe in hand, and his strength had exploded, so he was not afraid of these guys.

But he didn't want to fight as soon as he left the bunker.

After all, this was already the middle ring of Dawn City, and the distorted monsters nearby were not just them.

After observing for a while, the monsters showed no sign of leaving.

Suren felt that he probably had to wait another day.

Once they had eaten all the food they had captured yesterday, they would probably leave.

...

After observing for a while,

Suren closed the vent and got himself some food.

He broke a piece of black bread into pieces, added a little of his homemade "instant noodle seasoning packet", and chewed it down. Da Feng Novel

However, this was just an occasional act to fill his stomach when he felt his mouth was bland.

The most important source of nutrition was still direct injection of nutrient solution.

He needed a lot of energy to digest the "X serum" and augment his body this month, and he relied entirely on these nutrient solutions to live.

Suren simply ate his meal.

Then he took out the Puppet Codex and began to read it.

During this period, he carefully read the Puppet Codexes among the spoils, and brushed up on the skills of puppet manipulation.

He also realized that there were so many tricks and shortcuts to puppet manipulation...

Playing with puppets and being a professional puppeteer were completely different things.

As he was looking at it, he saw the golden colonial armor blueprint [Thousand Threads · Lion's Riot Song] in the pile of books.

He had been drooling over this thing for a month.

He not only had the blueprint in his hand, but also the main material [Head of the Crying Witch], and even the refining ingredients had been found in the previous spoils.

But Suren was still helpless looking at this blueprint that he had studied carefully no less than ten times.

He had now encountered the same problem as when he got the [Eight-Armed Spider Spear] blueprint.

Although he had been constantly learning and progressing during this period, and his level of refining colonial armor was already not low,

This second-tier golden blueprint + dark gold material was something he didn't dare touch without a master level.

He really didn't have the confidence, and he didn't dare to waste the materials by messing around.

Then he thought of "Mr. Black."

Unfortunately... that mysterious figure was probably in the Old Lingdun black market at the moment.

Suren didn't dwell too much on the blueprint, and continued to focus on reading those codices.

But as he flipped through them, he suddenly perked up his ears and made a light sound of surprise, "The mist has dissipated, how could a 'big guy' appear again?"

Then, like an earthquake, the ground began to tremble.

He was already used to this situation. Every time a large monster passed by, it would make this noise. This bunker was like a speaker lying on the ground, and he could hear it especially clearly.

However... this time it sounded a little different.

"Is this a large monster fighting?"

Suren immediately realized that the "thump", "thump" of the rapid shock did not sound like a monster walking, but like they were fighting?

Moreover, it was not the small movements of predation, but the movements of a balanced and fierce battle!

Battles between large monsters were very dangerous. These monsters could spit wind, spew fire, pour water... The fact that those ancient buildings in the city were destroyed so badly had a direct relationship with these large monsters.

Thinking of this, Suren didn't dare to be careless and opened the vent to look out.

A huge distorted monster came into view.

But what surprised Suren even more was the "opponent" fighting the monster!

Originally, he thought it was two monsters fighting, but when he looked closer...

What was forcing the monster to wail constantly were actually several humans?!

Looking again, Suren's gaze froze, filled with disbelief: "Someone actually dares to pay attention to a super-order monster?"