Gluttony's pupils shrank violently.
Absolute disbelief.
CRACK!
A crisp, dry crunch rang out. Gluttony's fist shattered as if a normal human had punched solid steel, his bones splintering instantly. Yet Hyuk stood entirely stationary, completely unmoved.
Gluttony was frozen in shock. He had successfully achieved three evolutions, rising to the level of the Ultimate Lifeform. Yet even with that power, was he still no match for the individual standing before him?
"How is this possible?!"
Only now did he grasp the true meaning behind Wening's dying words. Only now did he understand the tragedy behind his self-manning, and the weight of the despair he had warned him of.
The individual standing before him possessed a level of power that far transcended their wildest imaginations.
Her expression entirely calm, Hyuk gripped Gluttony's shattered fist. With a gentle squeeze, she compressed his flesh, blood, and bones, her immense force packing the matter together into an extreme state of density.
Then, a terrifying phenomenon triggered.
Once his organic matter was compressed past a critical threshold, it suddenly released a blinding, brilliant flash of light, radiating a wave of extreme, blistering heat outward in every direction.
Sensing the cold touch of death, a panicked Gluttony violently tore his own arm free to retreat. Immediately afterward, a scorching, white-hot glare completely consumed his vision.
BOOM!
A cataclysmic explosion blasted a massive crater into the earth. The extreme, searing thermal energy instantly vaporized the surrounding rock and soil, while the ground further out melted into bubbling lava.
The heatwave rolled across the plains.
Though his battered frame showed no outward signs of injury, his internal body had actually been riddled and torn apart by the high-energy particle stream generated by the blast.
PFFT!
He spat out a mouthful of blood, utterly bewildered by what had just occurred. He had clearly retreated far from the epicenter of the blast; how was he still injured?
The detonation had been no ordinary explosion; it was a localized, microscopic thermonuclear fusion reaction. At Hyuk's current level of strength, she only had to exert a fraction of her crushing physical pressure on ordinary matter to trigger a fusion reaction.
...
Up in the sky,
The DR Bio-Pharma surveillance drones were caught in the wake of the nuclear shockwave. They plummeted from the sky like shot-down birds. Back at headquarters, Satoru was completely dumbfounded.
"What... what just happened?"
All he had seen was Gluttony's strike being caught effortlessly, a perfect replay of the encounter ten years ago. It plunged Satoru into a state of profound, suffocating anxiety.
"No."
"This is Gluttony, who evolved into the Ultimate Lifeform. He cannot lose!"
He grew increasingly anxious, able only to offer himself these desperate words of comfort.
...
On the battlefield.
Gluttony scanned his surroundings for Hyuk. Soon, sensing something, he snapped his head toward the sky. Hyuk was hovering in mid-air, completely unharmed.
He needed an answer.
"What kind of monster are you? An existence that transcends even the Ultimate Lifeform?"
"You could say that, yes."
Hyuk had no interest in explaining. She slowly descended from the sky. Gluttony desperately wanted to flee, but his body, riddled with particle radiation like a sieve, bled uncontrollably from every pore, leaving him without a single ounce of strength to move.
It was like watching a god descend.
Gluttony was utterly paralyzed.
He could only watch helplessly as Hyuk walked right up to him. She extended a single finger and tapped him lightly. Instantly, a blinding, blistering light erupted from his body.
And then,
Gluttony's entire physical frame was completely consumed by the light.
BOOM!
Because Hyuk's gentle tap had compressed only a minimal amount of matter, the resulting localized thermonuclear fusion blast was small. Even so, it was more than enough to completely vaporize Gluttony, reducing him to absolute ashes.
[Infinite Overload · Potential Unleashed]
[Strength: 2,900,001,500 tons ⬆]
Gluttony's death had yielded a solid 1,500-ton boost to her strength. Clearly, his raw power had indeed been formidable, but unfortunately for him, his opponent was Hyuk.
There was simply no comparison between them.
This had felt more like mild recreation to Hyuk. Rather than focusing on how to defeat Gluttony, her main priority had actually been ensuring the thermonuclear blast didn't shred her casual clothes.
She could have used the military uniform from the Navy-Blue Alliance as a combat suit, but she found the idea slightly strange and preferred wearing her ordinary clothes.
Type Zero remarked, "I've analyzed that Navy-Blue uniform of yours and discovered it's actually constructed from nanotechnology. I might be able to freely modify its design and style."
Hyuk found the prospect appealing.
"Go ahead and give it a try."
"And next?"
"Let's pay a visit to DR Bio-Pharma and put a complete end to this."
The primordial parasite-killing virus had already been released. Since Hyuk had finally made her move, there was no reason to allow DR Bio-Pharma to continue running amok. She wanted to obliterate every single primordial parasite genetic sample in their possession.
...
Inside DR Bio-Pharma's headquarters.
Satoru was incredibly anxious.
"Has the signal still not recovered?"
"No, Boss," the assistant replied. "The explosion at the scene severed all local communications. We are still unable to receive Gluttony's vitals."
Hearing this,
Satoru's unease grew deeper by the second.
It's fine.
He has to be fine!
He desperately tried to reassure himself.
Unexpectedly,
CRASH!
A symbiont crashed straight through his office door, slamming onto the floor right in front of Satoru, his status unknown. Satoru gasped in terror. Looking up toward the ruined doorway, his eyes locked onto that hauntingly familiar face.
His breath caught in his throat.
"You... how are you here? Gluttony... what did you do to Gluttony?!"
Hyuk casually strolled into Satoru's office, prompting him to recoil in terror. Hyuk quietly delivered her sentence: "This farce of yours ends here."
A farce?
Thirty years of sweat, blood, and life's work, dismissed as a mere farce? Satoru's fear, rage, and deep resentment swirled together into a toxic, complex storm of emotions.
"A farce?"
"You dare call this a farce?!"
His face pale with fury at his life's work being so casually denied, Satoru charged blindly at Hyuk, completely ignoring the immense disparity in their strength.
Hyuk was in no mood to deal with his tantrum. She lunged forward, grabbed Satoru by the throat, and hoisted him off the ground. With a single, sharp crack, she snapped his neck and casually tossed his limp body aside.
The assistant immediately threw his hands in the air.
"I surrender!"
On that day, Hyuk used sheer, brutal force to purge the entire upper management of DR Bio-Pharma. Every stubborn, ambitious zealot still clinging to the dream of the Ultimate Lifeform project was systematically eliminated.
Immediately afterward,
Deep Blue Biopharma took over all of DR Bio-Pharma's laboratories and research facilities. Type Zero personally oversaw the destruction of every single primordial parasite cell and genetic sample stored within their vaults.
Over the years, by heavily funding excavations of super-ancient civilization ruins, Deep Blue Biopharma had successfully located several new archeological sites.
They mapped out the general distribution of the super-ancient civilization and successfully recovered all parasite eggs resting in the ruins, ten viable specimens, and three inactive ones.
Type Zero inquired, "Should we proceed with the destruction of all the primordial parasites in our possession now?"
"No rush," Hyuk replied. "The virus needs time to spread and trigger a full breakout. Keep our cultivation facilities running for the next few years."
"Understood."
There were still some active primordial parasites and symbionts scattered across Gulan, some located by Type Zero, while others likely remained in hiding. The global spread of the virus would systematically neutralize them.
In the meantime, Hyuk can continue to utilize her breeding facilities to scale her strength. Once the wild parasite population was completely eradicated, she would finally decommission the cultivation projects.
...
No one knew that deep beneath Gulan's crust, shortly after Gluttony had completed his evolution into the Ultimate Lifeform, a colossal eye suddenly snapped open in the darkness.
THUMP-THUMP!
A powerful, resonant heartbeat echoed through the black abyss. An ancient, vast voice rumbled deep underground: "Ultimate Lifeform... primordial parasite species..."
A long-forgotten, ancient entity had awakened.
...
Across the ocean.
A man wearing a black suit walked into a quiet bar. He made his way directly to the basement, descending a flight of steep stairs until a brightly lit hall opened up before him.
This was a secret stronghold.
Aside from the newly arrived suited man, several others were already waiting. Their backgrounds varied wildly; some were corporate elites, others were blue-collar workers, and a few were unemployed.
They had entirely different lives.
But they shared one crucial commonality: they were all hosts to primordial parasites, all symbionts. Furthermore, every single parasite nesting inside them was a wild Primordial specimen.
Since the super-ancient civilization had actually been restricted to a very specific geographical region, the statistical probability of these wild Primordial parasites managing to cross the vast oceans to the other hemisphere was incredibly microscopic.
Over the years, there was no telling how many wild Primordial hosts had awakened and embedded themselves in human society, which was exactly why Hyuk had prioritized engineering the virus and spreading it across the globe.
Otherwise, rooting out these individuals would have been impossible unless she resorted to completely vaporizing the planet Gulan. She preferred to avoid such extreme measures to complete her mission unless absolutely necessary.
Inside the secret stronghold, several members greeted the suited man as he entered.
"You finally made it. You don't look very well."
COUGH, COUGH!
The suited man let out a weak cough, his complexion a sickly, pale white. "My body has been growing weaker lately. Initially, I thought my own health was just failing, but seeing you all, I know it's not just me."
A female lawyer with long, wine-red hair showed no outward signs of illness. However, just as the suited man had described, she could feel her own physical strength steadily deteriorating.
"Ever since I became a symbiont, I haven't fallen ill once. If this were a standard strain of the flu, it would be impossible for only us to fall sick while normal humans are perfectly unaffected."
The suited man nodded, offering a grim, unsettling hypothesis.
"This is likely a virus specifically engineered to target us."
At those words,
The faces of the symbionts in the room darkened significantly.
The lawyer immediately sought a solution. They couldn't go to ordinary public hospitals or government clinics for checkups. She turned to the suited man: "With your resources, is there any way we can run diagnostics and test our bodies?"
"I'll try."
He couldn't make any promises.
Their network and financial clout were nothing like DR Bio-Pharma's. Securing the aid of advanced research labs without exposing their secrets was an exceptionally risky gamble.
Similar scenes were playing out across the globe.
...
COUGH, COUGH!
On a distant street corner, a homeless man coughed uncontrollably. Even isolationists living deep in remote mountain ranges began displaying the exact same symptoms.
Except for the deep oceans, subterranean chasms, and permafrost zones, the anti-parasite virus spread with alarming speed, causing symbionts everywhere to steadily weaken.
Meanwhile, the normal human world remained completely peaceful.
Over the next few years, symbionts around the world quietly passed away, one after another. The virus systematically attacked the cells and genome of the primordial parasites, dragging down and destroying the matching symbiotic cells within their hosts' bodies.
Their deaths were like tiny drops of water in a vast ocean, completely unremarkable. Thousands of people died every day across the globe, and they were simply factored into the daily statistics.
...
Five years later.
[Infinite Overload · Potential Unleashed]
[Strength: 4.5999 billion tons ⬆]
——
[Infinite Overload · Potential Unleashed]
[Strength: 4.6 billion tons ⬆]
Hyuk stepped out of Cultivation Facility No. 10. The kill data on her system interface scrolled frantically before finally coming to a halt at a terrifying status parameter: 4.6 billion tons.
With every passing day, she was stronger than she had been the day before.
Type Zero timely reminded her, "According to my calculations, the virus should have achieved a full global breakout. The wild primordial parasites have been almost completely wiped out. Shall we proceed to the final phase?"
Hyuk did not hesitate for a single second.
"Initiate the total eradication of all primordial parasites within our facilities."
She issued the command.
The ten massive cultivation facilities immediately initiated their purge protocols. Countless primordial parasite larvae were funneled into high-temperature incinerators and reduced to ash, followed by a comprehensive sterilization spray to thoroughly clean every inch of the facilities.
This guaranteed that not a single viable, genetically intact primordial parasite cell remained. Even the ten wild Primordial eggs they had recovered were completely incinerated.
While scaling her physical strength was crucial, completing her mission to secure evolution progress was equally vital. As her raw power grew, elevating her Evolution Rate had become increasingly difficult; therefore, finishing the mission was an absolute necessity.
After the ten primordial parasite cultivation facilities completed their sterilization protocols,
The system interface flashed.
——
[Main Mission · Phase One · Completed]
[Reward Granted: Evolution Rate · 10%]
[Evolution Rate: 50%⬆]
——
[Main Mission · Phase Two: The elimination of the primordial parasite species signals that Gulan's natural selection has entered a new era. Does the future belong to humanity or to behemoths? Please awaken the beasts slumbering across the world. It is time for humanity to face the challenges of natural selection.]
[Mission Reward: Evolution Rate · 15%]
——
Hyuk sank into deep thought.
Ever since her time on Planao, she had realized one thing: the missions assigned by the system were never random. Their objectives were intricately tied to the specific Quadrant she inhabited.
Planao resided within Quadrant 858, a domain that championed civilization and order. Thus, her primary task there had been to put an end to war and guide Planao toward a structured, civilized future.
Now,
Gulan, located in Quadrant 117, adhered strictly to the brutal laws of natural selection. Her mission here was to wipe out a failed, evolutionary dead-end species and catalyze a new cycle of survival of the fittest.
Hyuk was convinced of this.
This was the manifestation of the Quadrant's will. Quadrant 117 was utilizing the system to conduct a transaction with her. By steering the course of civilization and history in accordance with the Quadrant's design, she was rewarded with evolution progress.
This was ultimately just a hypothesis; there was no need to overanalyze the mechanics behind it.
She could choose to proceed with the mission, or she could simply walk away. The system imposed no mandatory enforcement. In the end, Hyuk chose to see the task through.
Located in Quadrant 117, Gulan could not escape its brutal, preordained destiny of survival of the fittest. Since completing the mission would yield more evolution progress, Hyuk had absolutely no reason to decline.
The only problem was:
"Where are the behemoths?"
Type Zero's digital omniscience shone once again. Over the years she had spent immersed in the global network, she had hoarded quite a few interesting archives.
Among them was verified intelligence linked to keywords like "monster" and "beast." A shadowy organization known as Vortex had been conducting covert operations for decades to locate these sleeping giants.
Type Zero hacked into Vortex's secure intranet, displaying the stolen data on Hyuk's phone screen. A vast trove of classified intelligence began scrolling rapidly down the screen.
[1952: A highly anomalous seismic event occurred on a southern island. Investigations revealed the tremors originated from an unidentified object buried deep beneath the island's core...]
[1975: An anomalous sonar signature was detected within the depths of the Lumière Trench...]
...
At the university.
In the late Dr. Pinu's office. At thirty-six, Ch'en looked far more mature than she had ten years ago. She was diligently organizing Dr. Pinu's research papers, carefully categorizing them.
Nearby,
A young man in casual clothes was lazily poking around the room, picking up and putting down objects. He showed absolutely zero interest in the super-ancient civilization relics Dr. Pinu had left behind.
"So this is the junk you've been obsessing over all these years?"
Ch'en answered without looking up.
"Yes. The history of the super-ancient civilization is a monumental archeological breakthrough. Rewriting the entire history of human civilization is no small feat."
As she spoke, a trace of nostalgia for the past swept through her, accompanied by a deep sense of pride in the work she had done alongside Dr. Pinu.
"I have absolutely zero interest in history."
Kenta was Ch'en's younger brother. He had recently returned from studying abroad, though calling it "studying" was a stretch, considering he hadn't learned a single useful thing.
Upon his return, his family grew tired of him idling his days away and kicked him out, ordering him to help Ch'en. It was perfect timing, as Ch'en needed extra hands to organize Dr. Pinu's legacy.
"Hey, don't just stand there staring. Come and help me out!"
Even as Ch'en spoke,
THUMP-THUMP!
A violent, drumming heartbeat echoed in her ears. Startled, she snapped her head up only to see Kenta clutching his chest, his face contorted in agony.
"Kenta? What's wrong with you..."
"I'm fine!"
Kenta bolted into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. No matter how hard Ch'en pounded on the wood, he refused to unlock it, throwing her into a state of panic.
"Is it your heart? Let me take you to the hospital!"
"I'm fine! Just leave me alone for a minute..."
However,
Over ten minutes passed, and Kenta still hadn't emerged. Overcome with worry, Ch'en had no choice but to throw her weight against the door. The moment the lock gave way and the door swung open, she froze.
Standing inside was a creature completely covered in dense, hard scales, clutching its chest in sheer agony. There was no mistaking it, this monster was her younger brother, Kenta.
"Kenta?"
Kenta looked up at Ch'en, his eyes wild. Without warning, he bolted out of Dr. Pinu's office at extreme speed, vanishing from her sight in an instant.
As if suddenly struck by a realization,
Ch'en frantically tore through Dr. Pinu's archives, pulling out a specific, unpublished manuscript, a document she had co-authored with the late professor.
During their previous excavations, their translations of the ancient murals had unveiled a forgotten chapter of history. It was a dark tale detailing the destruction of the super-ancient civilization, tied directly to another distinct sub-race of that era.
...
After sunset.
Ch'en finally located Kenta inside the university's old warehouse. He was curled up in a pitch-black corner; if she hadn't searched thoroughly, she would have missed him completely.
"Kenta, don't be afraid. I know you're terrified of the changes happening to your body right now..."
"You don't know anything!"
Kenta snapped, telling Ch'en to stay away. He had no idea why he was mutating, and the last thing he wanted to hear was Ch'en's empty words of comfort.
But to his complete shock, his sister actually did know what was happening to him. Ch'en shook her head quickly, presenting Dr. Pinu's manuscript.
Her voice was gentle and steady, doing everything she could to calm his racing heart. "Kenta, listen to me. Don't be afraid of your appearance. You are not a monster. You have simply transformed into another subspecies of humanity, a half-human, half-beast hybrid known as the Beast-kin."
"What?"
Kenta was utterly stunned.
He turned his head to look at Ch'en, his expression filled with bewilderment. "Do you really know what's happening to me?"
"I do!"
Ch'en nodded, showing absolutely no revulsion or hostility toward Kenta's mutated form.
According to the historical records detailed on the ancient murals they had previously excavated, Dr. Pinu and Ch'en had learned that two dominant, non-human races existed during the super-ancient civilization era.
First was the primordial parasite.
Second was the behemoth.
While primordial parasites could nest inside human hosts to turn them into symbionts, allowing them to gain immense power through continuous evolution, the behemoths were entirely different.
The behemoths possessed a level of intelligence that rivaled the primordial parasites, but their physical forms were colossal. They were unable to form a symbiotic bond with humans. Instead, they emitted a unique virus that mutated certain infected individuals into Beast-kin.
The behemoths and the primordial parasites were mortal enemies. Humans mutated into Beast-kin viewed the parasites nesting inside the symbionts as inherently malevolent, triggering a brutal war of survival between the two factions.
The conflict ultimately ended in the total defeat of the primordial parasite species. They were wiped out in that round of natural selection, leaving only a handful of eggs to slumber in a desperate bid for survival until the modern era.
The super-ancient civilization was utterly annihilated in that war. One by one, the behemoths entered hibernation to restore their energy, and the surviving Beast-kin, inheriting the behemoths' genetic legacy, were also forced into a deep slumber.
Kenta's mutated form had been depicted on the ancient murals, a classic, textbook image of the Beast-kin, with razor-sharp claws, pointed fangs, and thick scales covering his skin.
He looked strikingly similar to a dragonkin from a fantasy novel.
Learning the truth, Kenta was entirely speechless. He had never imagined his condition could be linked to a super-ancient civilization. What on earth had his sister been researching all this time?
"Kenta, take deep breaths. Let your heart rate slow down..."
Soon,
Under Ch'en's patient guidance, Kenta successfully reverted to his human form. Looking down at his restored hands, a relieved, joyful smile broke across his face.
Ch'en asked, "How long has this been happening to you?"
"Uh... maybe half a year?"
"Half a year?"
"Roughly."
Kenta couldn't remember the exact timeline. Either way, every time he mutated, he had no choice but to retreat to secluded, abandoned places and quietly wait for his body to recover on its own.
Ch'en's brow furrowed in deep concern.
Her brother's contraction of the behemoth virus meant that either the behemoths themselves were about to wake up, or other dormant Beast-kin had already awakened and were beginning to mobilize.
If she had a choice, she desperately wanted to prevent Kenta from being dragged into this. Years ago, she had encountered two symbionts, Shin Habe and Wening.
Their ultimate fates had been incredibly tragic, both rumored to have met early graves. She was terrified that Kenta would end up sharing their dark destiny.
Listening to Ch'en recount her past experiences, Kenta was left completely slack-jawed. "Sis... your life has been way more wild than I ever imagined!"
Primordial parasites?
Symbionts?
He had never imagined his own sister would be privy to such deep, classified secrets.
...
At the same time.
A tall, middle-aged man with graying temples materialized on the old battlefield. This was the exact site where Gluttony had achieved his evolution into the Ultimate Lifeform, and where his life had ultimately ended.
The man picked up a shattered fragment of rock and sniffed it.
The stench of blood.
The scent of charred ash.
And... the distinct aroma of a primordial parasite.
As the lingering traces of data and physical clues on the battlefield were rapidly collected and processed by his senses, the middle-aged man grew certain: an ultimate symbiont of the primordial parasite species had indeed emerged here.
Yet...
"He's dead?"
The man's expression froze.
Years ago, the massive energy fluctuations released when Gluttony completed his evolution into the Ultimate Lifeform had shaken him from his deep slumber. Yet now, upon arriving at the source, he discovered that this supposedly ultimate being had actually perished here five years ago.
Who could have killed him?
The man fell into deep thought, attempting to salvage more valuable clues from the scarred earth.