By now, The Crucible of Life was no longer a single entity. It had devoured and merged with dozens of people, forming a horrific human worm composed of countless human limbs and heads!
The massive worm tumbled along the streets, toppling buildings in its path.
Even more chillingly, every head merged into its body had its mouth wide open, letting out cheerful, eerily seductive cries: “Come! Join us, become one, and enjoy eternal bliss...”
Simultaneously, a wave of mental contamination radiated from it. Even those at a distance quickly found their eyes glazing over. They walked toward the human worm of their own accord, only to be seized by reaching arms and assimilated.
The worm’s scale grew at a frantic pace. With every person merged, its strength increased, and the mental contamination it emitted grew thicker.
Yue Shi watched the ever-expanding human worm, knowing that with every passing second, the creature would become harder to handle. If left unchecked, all of Peace Alley—and perhaps even further—would be destroyed.
But so what?
Who cared?
He only wanted to harvest this massive experience pack.
Without hesitation, Yue Shi gave chase.
He soon caught up to the side-rear of the human worm. On the street, people were constantly being lured by the mental contamination, walking toward the worm only to be grabbed by countless arms. The newly merged heads immediately joined the chorus, issuing cheerful invitations.
Yue Shi locked his gaze on a dense cluster of heads in the worm's midsection. He closed in quickly and activated his Plague Doctor ability, blanketing the area in a precise array of disease symptoms.
The effect was instantaneous. The dozens of heads in that section, which had been cheering fanatically, suddenly froze. Violent coughing fits erupted; their complexions turned gray at a visible rate, dense clusters of herpes broke out across their skin, and their body temperatures skyrocketed.
“Cough, cough... it hurts so much...”
“Everything hurts.”
“I’m dying, I’m dying! Someone save me!”
Agonized pleas and wails replaced the joyful shouts coming from the infected heads. Having struck his blow, Yue Shi immediately retreated.
Almost the moment he pulled back, countless flailing arms and legs lashed out, whistling through the air with bone-shattering force.
The human worm that was The Crucible of Life began sweeping its surroundings with a speed that defied its massive bulk. It couldn't perceive the hidden Yue Shi, so it resorted to indiscriminate attacks. Hundreds of merged arms and legs whipped and kicked wildly; from a distance, the limbs looked like a dense mass of writhing tentacles covering the giant worm's surface.
Yue Shi narrowly avoided the violent, sweeping strikes and landed further away.
He looked back at the human worm. Within mere seconds, the agony on the diseased heads had vanished. Their sickly complexions were gone.
They split their mouths open once more, erupting into eerie, cackling laughter. Their eyes and expressions held an unmistakable sense of mockery.
The strike from Plague Doctor had only caused them fleeting pain, leaving behind not even a hint of a lingering effect.
Yue Shi decisively increased his distance and exhaled slowly. Plague Doctor was useless, and Death Sentence was equally ineffective. How was he supposed to destroy this horrific fused monstrosity?
The giant worm, composed of countless human bodies, continued to grind its way toward the more populated areas of Peace Alley.
Wherever it passed, buildings were crushed like paper. People hiding inside were forced out, only to fall under the control of the mental contamination. With eerie smiles, they threw themselves into the worm's embrace, becoming new components of its mass.
The worm's volume grew exponentially. It was like an unstoppable fusion machine, frantically absorbing all life in its path.
Yue Shi calmly considered his options, showing no sign of panic.
The destruction of Peace Alley?
The Crucible of Life going completely out of control and wreaking havoc?
He didn't care. It would be best if he could kill it, but if he couldn't, he was confident he could withdraw at any time.
He might even enjoy seeing the collapse of this world accelerate.
Maintaining his invisibility, he sped up to catch up again. The suffocatingly large human worm was no longer satisfied with just moving along the streets; it began slamming directly into the buildings lining them.
BOOM!
Shops and houses collapsed under the weight of its absolute power; concrete, brick, and timber were as fragile as twigs before it.
Amidst the swirling dust, those buried or forced out were invariably seized by the arms sprouting from the worm. Amidst the sounds of laughter, they were merged into the mass.
Both The Crucible of Life and the recently slain The Glutton had shown extremely troublesome characteristics. He wondered if there were other forces interfering behind the scenes of this conspiracy in Peace Alley.
The worm’s power surged as its size increased. Yue Shi moved to its flank, staying about ten meters away.
In the ruins of a building that had just been toppled nearby, twenty or thirty survivors were fleeing in terror.
“Hee hee hee!”
“Come, join us...”
“Don't be shy. Let's all become truly sweet, friendly sisters together.”
The dense forest of heads on the worm’s body called out in unison. A wave of invisible mental contamination spread like a tide. The fleeing people stiffened; the terror on their faces vanished, replaced by a hollow, fanatical joy.
They stopped running. Instead, they turned around and embraced the worm.
A rare sense of powerlessness rose within Yue Shi. Against an S-rank supernatural creature like The Crucible of Life, all the abilities he possessed yielded meager results. And the creature didn't even seem to have revealed its full power yet.
Just as he was reaching his wits' end, the massive human worm suddenly stopped merging the nearby fleeing people. Every single head on its body turned simultaneously toward the same direction.
Yue Shi immediately followed its gaze. A hundred meters away on the ruined street stood several figures.
A flicker of surprise crossed Yue Shi's eyes. Leading the group was the one-armed man who had been imprisoned in the church.
To his even greater surprise, Jiang Cifei was also among them.
The one-armed man’s appearance had changed drastically. Before, he had been disheveled, bearded, and covered in filth. Now, his hair was combed, and his beard was cleanly shaven. Though his face still bore the exhaustion and pallor of long-term imprisonment, his eyes were sharp and filled with a fighting spirit.
He wore a clean, albeit ill-fitting, set of clothes. The empty left sleeve swayed in the breeze. Yue Shi almost didn't recognize him.
Jiang Cifei stood slightly behind the one-armed man, hands in his pockets. He stared intently at the horrific human worm, his expression strange and his jaw tight. He was the picture of defensiveness, looking as though he hadn't stayed behind of his own free will.
Rate on N.U.
