The air completely froze in this instant.
The situation couldn't be described as critical; it was just... extremely, incredibly awkward.
Ren Yi remained in his position, floating in the air, looking down at this wooden lump that wasn't even half as high as a person's knee.
Then, he glanced at the expressionless Evans standing beside him.
A crippled cross that had drifted in from who-knows-where was currently screaming at the rule-consciousness of S-099—a super monster that had just crawled out of the Red Tide and treated a nuclear explosion like a bath.
The scene was like a newly hatched, angry chick flapping its wings at Godzilla and claiming it was going to swallow him whole.
The air was dead silent, with only the Red Tide below dutifully providing the "whooshing" background noise.
Listen, buddy, was your brain blown up too?
I know you're impressive for surviving a nuclear blast, but when you see a living person, shouldn't your first reaction be to wonder what exactly this "person" is?
"...?"
Evans tilted his head slightly, a giant question mark practically appearing above him.
He looked down at the frantically writhing block of wood at his feet, then back up at Ren Yi, his eyes filled with pure confusion.
His expression seemed to ask: Has the bar for a staged accident dropped this low nowadays?
Speaking of which, why didn't this rotten hunk of wood notice him floating in the air?
Ren Yi looked at his current height, then at the height of the wooden cross.
Oh, it's a height issue. Never mind then.
"Die!"
Old Man Wu Erhun, who claimed to be destined by the heavens, clearly didn't realize the gravity of the situation.
With a violent roar, the center of the cross suddenly lit up like a blood-red eye.
Several fleshy tentacles, about the thickness of a finger, burst from the wood fibers with a sharp rip, lunging straight for Evans's ankle!
As for why it was biting the ankle... that was likely due to the "height issue" again.
And then.
There was no "and then."
Evans, clearly maintaining his vigilance against anything crawling out of a nuclear blast, quickly took two steps back.
Immediately after, his body swayed.
The right half of what was once a human youth's torso melted and collapsed without warning, turning into a large pool of viscous black liquid.
It looked like a wax statue half-melted in a fire, possessing a certain eerie beauty.
This mass of melted black liquid rolled forward like a sudden, gaping maw of asphalt, snapping shut in mid-air on those finger-thick fleshy tentacles.
The collision between the two sides was simple and unadorned.
The signature contamination and devouring properties of S-099 activated instantly.
The moment those seemingly fierce tentacles touched the black liquid, they immediately began to emit a harsh "hissing" white smoke, as if doused in concentrated sulfuric acid.
The biological vitality within them was stripped clean within seconds, instantly withering into silent, shriveled strips of rotten meat.
"Ah! This is impossible! My life force... what kind of thing are you?"
The cross calling itself Wu Erhun let out an unbelievable scream.
That majestic, powerful voice cracked on the spot, turning into a high-pitched screech like a eunuch being strangled.
The mass of melted black liquid writhed and reshaped itself on the ground, stretching out in the blink of an eye to reform into a foot.
Then, it simply stepped down.
Applying a bit of pressure, Evans ground his foot back and forth like he was crushing a cigarette butt.
"What is this thing?" Evans asked in confusion once more.
Crunch, crunch...
The wooden cross was ground deep into the earth, making a tooth-grinding sound as it was squeezed against the soil.
Poor Old Man Wu Erhun had been on the scene for less than a minute, and before he could even finish talking trash, he had suffered a critical hit from absolute power.
Quiet was restored to the levee.
Evans reverted half of his body to human form, putting half his weight on his right foot as he firmly pinned the still-twitching wooden cross beneath his sole.
"Handled." The youth shrugged, his tone full of innocence. "...So, where were we?"
【Wait a second, let me check the files.】
Ren Yi looked at Evans, then at the writhing cross under his foot.
Well, he was a professional; he wouldn't laugh.
Besides, he was currently a cloud; even if he did laugh, Evans wouldn't see it.
In any case, Ren Yi finally had the time to look at the file information for the cross that had just popped up.
Oh? It was actually an A-rank?
【Anomaly File: A-071】
【Alias: Undying Totem】
【Danger Level】: A-rank
【Physical Description】
A-071 manifests as a wooden cross, approximately 12 cm long and 6 cm wide.
The material does not belong to any known tree species. Microscopic observation reveals its fibrous structure constantly writhing, as if it were still growing.
【Strength Test Report】
A-071 exhibits indestructibility.
【Containment Behavior and Anomalous Properties】
1. A-071 does not possess mobility in its normal state, but when it comes into contact with a corpse that has been dead for less than an hour, it will actively pierce the corpse and become parasitic.
After a successful penetration, the cross will fuse with the host's fleshy tissues, leaving no detectable traces from the outside.
2. After parasitism, A-071 will activate in approximately 1 to 3 hours, restoring vitality to the original physical body.
Upon resurrection, the host will possess recovery abilities far exceeding an ordinary person, as well as a partial ability to control flesh and blood. They are almost impossible to kill through physical means alone.
3. From the moment the resurrection takes effect, approximately one year later, the host's flesh will begin to grow in a disordered manner. They will gradually lose their sanity and begin to attack indiscriminately.
After the physical vitality is completely exhausted, the host's entire fleshy tissue will gradually dissolve within 24 hours.
In the end, only A-071 will remain on the spot.
【Containment Procedures】
Unknown; A-071 is not contained within the Sky Eye Organization.
It last appeared in 1992, held by the Wilderness Wolf-Chase Tribe, but information was lost after that tribe's destruction.
【Utility Potential Assessment】: High
Rate on N.U.
