Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Utmost Agony

The first thing that swept over Qi Chen’s senses was an almost intolerable bitterness, more bitter than anything he had ever tasted in his life.

It was as though several tons of bitter melon had been pulverized into juice, condensed into a single drop, and placed on his heart. The violent physical revulsion made him involuntarily open his mouth and retch, while half his strength seemed to drain away at once.

Even the wrath of the Overlord was affected by that bitterness.

Yet the pain inflicted by the amber figure was not limited to the body. Qi Chen’s mind, too, was struck by an extreme and corrosive anguish.

In an instant, he felt an inescapable despair and pessimism toward both himself and the world, and even the thought of ending his own life flickered across his mind.

Fortunately, the effect of the Overlord’s fury had not been completely neutralized. At this moment, Qi Chen’s only thought was this: even if life had become so hard and miserable that he wanted to take himself out of it, he would first smash this amber-like monstrosity in front of him to pieces!

Bang!

His mask-face twisted horribly as he bared his mouth in a howl and hurled out a heavy fist.

The gray-white knuckles rose high, carrying considerable killing force as they crashed into the creature’s body.

With a thunderous impact, the amber figure was sent flying backward, its hard body smashing into a shop inside the mall and triggering a chain of violent explosions.

Qi Chen, landing on the floor, could not control himself and began gagging dryly. His mouth was now full of an unbearable bitterness, so severe that it forced his original plan of pursuit to a halt.

After a moment of recovery, Qi Chen shook his head and rose to his feet. The surging wrath once again seized the upper hand. He glared with fierce eyes, the patterns on his mask writhing grotesquely, then drove off the ground and charged toward where the amber monstrosity had vanished.

That familiar psychic force struck him again, stronger than before. The amber entity, still in the process of awakening, had only grown more powerful; the force it unleashed was now visibly different.

Qi Chen had not yet reached his destination when the amber figure appeared again on its own.

That awkward body somehow performed an elegant ballet movement, hopping several meters at a time on tiptoe. A stiff, uncanny smile was stretched across its face, and then it circled to Qi Chen’s flank and extended both hands.

Whoosh!

A hole suddenly opened in the creature’s palm, and eerie green vines shot out from within, lunging straight for Qi Chen’s throat.

Snap!

At such close range, Qi Chen barely managed to seize one vine with a hand, but the other struck precisely at his throat.

Bright red blood immediately welled from the wound, though it could not penetrate any deeper.

Qi Chen had lowered his head and bitten down viciously on the vine’s rear end. The pain at the wound only made the fire in his chest burn hotter. He lifted a leg and kicked out!

The force a leg could unleash was undoubtedly greater than that of a fist. The amber figure, taking a solid kick to the abdomen, stiffened at once and was sent flying backward.

Before it could land, however, Qi Chen gave a savage grin, grabbed both vines, and jerked hard in return. Under that irresistible surge of force, the airborne creature was dragged back toward him, and then he kicked again!

Wrath had to be vented completely.

...

...

“Miss Fu, what is the situation now?”

The first aberrant operative to arrive in support, Zhe Guang, stepped onto the command vehicle and looked at Fu Ying with concern. On the way here, she had already received a great deal of intelligence from headquarters of the Aberrant Handling Bureau.

But the most up-to-date frontline information was still in Fu Ying’s hands.

“It is not encouraging,” Fu Ying said softly, shaking her head. “Your ability will not be of much use against this aberration. Don’t enter the cordon later. Where is Old Lord now?”

“Old Lord?” Zhe Guang’s expression grew even more troubled at the question. “After finishing the mission with you in Shangfu City, he went to the medical center. He was injured pretty badly—he may not have even received your orders.”

“Oh, right... what’s with the kind uncle?” Zhe Guang pointed toward the kind-faced man sitting in the command vehicle, furious yet motionless, her expression changing slightly. “And where’s that newcomer?”

“In there!” Kind Uncle growled, his body trembling continuously.

Fu Ying’s ability seemed like hypnosis, but in truth it was something else—a different kind of mental distortion that produced a similar effect.

Her aberration was called Sacred Focus, and its power was remarkably simple: it compelled those affected to carry out the first thing they heard with the highest possible degree of concentration.

This focus bore a strong resemblance to the most fanatical believers in the church of the divine emissary outside the city, which was why it was given the name Sacred Focus.

The duration of its influence depended on the strength Fu Ying applied and on the affected person’s own will.

Clearly, Kind Uncle’s inner self was resisting fiercely, and he was close to breaking free.

Still, Fu Ying had no intention of maintaining control indefinitely. She merely said to him:

“Don’t be too pessimistic. Qi Chen is still in a safe state for now. The fact that the aberration has still not left the People's Livelihood Mall is the best proof.”

“But the psychic intensity inside is still increasing!” Without instruments at hand, even as an experienced aberrant operative, Kind Uncle could sense the ever-rising aura of aberrancy from the direction of the mall.

That dense and oppressive aberrant presence immediately brought to mind some of the painful events he had once endured.

“The current psychic intensity has definitely already exceeded five thousand! If you put an ordinary person in there, they’d turn into a madman in less than five seconds. A normal aberrant operative could only endure a little longer. Stay inside too long and you either become insane or lose control!

“I finally got a partner I was satisfied with. Back then you were the one who insisted I take him—now are you really going to make me stand here and watch him die?”

Kind Uncle was agitated to the point of emotion, his eyes faintly red.

But after a brief silence in response to his words, Fu Ying simply said:

“His psychic intensity is B-rank. If he truly sacrifices himself or loses control, I’ll pay you back with my life.

“Now we can only wait until the other aberrant operatives arrive before carrying out the operation!”

...

...

“Ha... ha...”

A low, labored breath echoed through the empty mall. Qi Chen felt his body growing cold.

Using aberrant fusion twice in such a short time had placed a considerable burden on his body, and because the Overlord’s aberrant rank was high, the stronger power it could unleash naturally caused even more severe damage.

But he still could not解除 it now.

The amber aberration had not yet been completely eliminated by him. Even after what could only be described as a brutal beating, the creature’s surface had merely acquired many cracks.

However, there was no smile left on that aberrant face now—only a crying expression.

Just like the candy it gave birth to: seemingly the sweetest and most beautiful food in the world, yet once the delicate wrapper was torn open and it was eaten, its bitter essence would be exposed within the body of whoever consumed it.

Sweetness was nothing more than a disguise for bitterness.

A faint, sharp sound came from its mouth as the amber aberration took a step forward.

It wanted to make up for all its losses on the gray-white figure in front of it.