Chapter 449: Child Of Darkness

[System prompt: Child of Darkness activating, expansion process in progress, unknown power detected, unknown power identified as darkness type with perfect rate of compatibility, proceeding with absorption…]

Qiao Qiao took a deep breath.

There on the ground were the blue and green coloured liquids leaking from the crushed containers. Suddenly, as though a certain suction force had been imposed upon them, the liquid rose up. They formed a fine stream of liquid, which flowed straight toward Qiao Qiao.

Qiao Qiao subconsciously spread open her hands and the stream of liquid swirling around her body. Suddenly …

Bang!

Black coloured flames abruptly burst out from Qiao Qiao’s body.

The stream of liquid swirling around her quickly evaporated into steam and was inhaled by Qiao Qiao through her nose and mouth.

The process took less than 10 seconds.

Qiao Qiao then opened up her eyes. However, her pair of eyes had turned pure black in colour. Her sclera had seemingly disappeared and both her eyes were akin to two black coloured crystals embedded into her face, mysteriously deep and serenely dark…

When Qiao Qiao was sucking in the ‘liquid virus’ earlier, the green coloured slime was also pulled out from the surface of Roddy’s body and his mouth. Additionally, a greenish mist also rose out of his body and formed a fine thread heading toward Qiao Qiao…

After 10 seconds, Qiao Qiao finally moved.

There was a strange gleam within the pair of deep black eyes.

[System prompt: Absorption of unknown power complete. Child of Darkness activated. Prompt: Darkness attribute is a permanent attribute and cannot be changed back or altered. It is also incompatible with other attributes.

[Percentage activated: 1.6 %. Child of Darkness at [Beginner] stage. Now entering state of activation! Entering Dark Avatar state!]

Qiao Qiao moved forward until she was standing before the glass wall of the sealed glass room. She held out her right hand and poked the surface of the glass wall gently with her index finger. After making contact, Qiao Qiao knitted her eyebrows – it appeared that her state of mind was still somewhat affected.

In the next instant however, she did something odd.

Swoosh!

Qiao Qiao’s body leapt toward the glass wall.

Unexpectedly, no collision occurred. In a peculiar fashion, her body moved ‘past’ the glass wall.

Neither the glass wall nor the metal fence sealing the glass room were able to obstruct her.

Thus, she made it out of the sealed glass room.

The research lab was now ruined. Its walls had collapsed, deforming the space within the research lab. Qiao Qiao walked around and finally made it to the door area, which was now obstructed by collapsed debris – the way out had been utterly blocked off.

Qiao Qiao’s pair of black eyes coldly surveyed the collapsed ruins before her.

[System prompt: Inspecting with Child of Darkness, found an unknown power that can be integrated. Degree of compatibility is excellent…]

One by one, the system prompts appeared within Qiao Qiao’s personal system. Qiao Qiao on the other hand, appeared ignorant of the prompts. She looked indifferently at the blockage at the door area and something appeared within her eyes. It was a faint… … mysterious desire?

Once again, she reached out with her right hand and poked with her index finger.

Qiao Qiao inhaled and her index finger poked the collapsed wall debris before her.

When the debris, made of concrete came into contact with Qiao Qiao’s finger…

It abruptly fragmented.

The pile of concrete disintegrated, leaving only pulverized powder beneath her feet as she strode forward.

[System prompt: Releasing Child of Darkness’ power, activating sub-skill ‘Antimatter’. Using the power of darkness…]

Qiao Qiao took five steps forward.

With but those five steps, she cleared away the concrete ruins before her, creating a path out.

Although this path she cleared was not too wide, it was enough to allow her passage out. The powdery residue left on the floor was a shocking testament to what had happened.

After Qiao Qiao walked out of the blocked area, she found herself in the oval shaped hall.

When she heard the sound of explosions coming from some distance away, an arc appeared on Qiao Qiao’s mouth and she turned to face a certain direction. Next, her body flew up as she moved forward.

Behind her, her silhouette was reflected off the surface of the wall amid the fires within the room.

Strangely, while there seemed to be no change with Qiao Qiao herself, her reflection on the glass wall… … there on her back was a pair of… … wings.

…

A wall of flames stood before the big meatball. When the meatball came into contact with the wall of flames, it seemingly felt extreme pain. Its large body twisted and the decayed flesh on its surface fell off. Some of them were charred and black smoke rose from those parts.

They were presently in a corner.

Lun Tai and the others had been forced into the corner. Standing before them was none other than… … Soo Soo!

The little girl had a very cold expression on her face and she stared forward icily.

Soo Soo clenched her fists as her small body stood there and the wall of flames before her grew three notches higher.

Next, with great effort, Soo Soo suddenly stretched out with both hands and the wall of flames moved forward.

Appearing terrified, the big meatball quickly rolled backward. The wall of flames swept forward, chasing after the meatball.

Lun Tai and the others took advantage of the opportunity to run out of the corner. At the same time, they pulled out their guns and opened fire at the meatball…

They were not hoping for the bullets to harm the meatball. Rather, they wanted to cause problems for the meatball and prevent it from escaping, thereby helping the wall of flames reach it.

Soo Soo’s body had begun trembling.

It was apparent that this little girl was exerting a great deal of effort to suppress her own power.

“Unc, Uncle Lun Tai… … hurry up and leave this place, all of you.” Soo Soo’s rate of breathing was heavy and ragged. “I, I cannot control myself anymore… … the flames… … will burn you all.”

Lun Tai’s face sank and he shouted, “Retreat! Go outside! Hurry!”

Xia Xiaolei blurted, “Soo Soo?”

Soo Soo suddenly yelled sharply, “Hurry! Or you will die!”

The moment she uttered those words, the wall of flames abruptly burst with intensity. A loud and clear cry suddenly rang out and the silhouette of a phoenix seemingly emerged and expanded from within the flames.

At that same moment, the temperature inside the underground area spiked. In but an instant, it became difficult for the other members of the team to breathe.

Soo Soo’s body trembled and she whispered anxiously, “Hurry, run away… … everyone, hurry, I can’t hold on any longer…”

Due to the raging wall of flames, the meatball found its area of movement becoming increasingly limited.

Even so, the meatball moved about in a peculiar manner. It dodged the flames but would also occasionally move closer to the wall of flames before retreating again…

It was as though the meatball was deliberately provoking the wall of flames that Soo Soo had unleashed.

The area they were occupying was the underground centre and the amount of space was limited. Following the emergence of the phoenix silhouette and its cry, the wall of flames expanded, charging all the way up until it reached the ceiling.

The flames continued growing stronger!

Lun Tai dashed over and grabbed the others before running out of the area.

Seeing that the metal fence of the area had already collapsed, Lun Tai activated his Muscle Fruit skill and his muscles exploded with power as his body transformed into that of a lesser giant. Tossing away the gun in his hand, he reached out with his hand, picked up a piece of concrete rock and threw it away. Then, he shouted, “Hurry! Run outside!”

The wall of flames had confined the meatball into an area with a radius of less than five metres. The meatball spun in place as the circling Blazing Phoenix approached the meatball.

The meatball bounced up and down a few times before suddenly bouncing toward the Blazing Phoenix.

Soo Soo’s face suddenly contorted and she cried out sharply, “It is going to burn!”

She abruptly retracted both her hands.

The Blazing Phoenix suddenly moved back…

At the same time, Soo Soo, who was standing there, suddenly turned pale. She opened her mouth and coughed out a mouthful of fiery gold coloured blood.

“Hurry, hurry… … everyone, hurry and leave…” Soo Soo mumbled desperately.

“We won’t make it!” Lun Tai howled. He quickly grabbed Qimu Xi, who was at the rear, and tossed her through the doorway. At the same time, he positioned himself in the doorway and retrieved an explosive-proof shield. Putting his body against the inner side of the shield, he slammed the shield down the floor and used both hands to hold it.

…

BOOM!

The flames finally erupted.

Soo Soo was no longer able to suppress the Blazing Phoenix, which spread open its pair of wings and charged at the meatball. The flames exuded by the Blazing Phoenix furiously incinerated the meatball. It split into several pieces before bursting apart.

At the same time, the searing flames wreaked havoc within the underground area.

Flames ravaged about. Up on the ceiling, the vents fiercely sucked in the resulting sparks.

Next, a flaming shockwave spread open, spreading toward the corridor that Lun Tai and the others had run into.

The flames slammed heavily upon the explosive-proof shield before Lun Tai.

The first impact caused a large portion of the shield to deform.

Lun Tai clenched his teeth and entered a lunging stance. Both his hands continued holding the shield tightly.

His Muscle Fruit skill was pushed to its limit and his muscles bulged from the effort, veins popping out into full view.

As the shockwave crashed down on them, Lun Tai stood in front on the narrow corridor with the shield to block the advancing flames while Xia Xiaolei, Qimu Xi and Will were struggling to lie down on the floor behind him.

They had already put on strange looking masks – even though the high temperature failed to burn them to death, breathing in the searing air would still burn their throats and lungs.

Lun Tai gnashed his teeth and held his breath. However, his firm rock-like body was gradually being pushed back by the shockwave. Every joint in his skeletal structure was continuously issuing cracking sounds.

However, he did not falter. He maintained his stance, using the shield and his body to act as a final barrier for his teammates.

…

The meatball had been utterly incinerated. Not a scrap was left.

Even so, the Blazing Phoenix continued raging. Soo Soo watched as the Blazing Phoenix hovered within the underground area, tears almost trickling down from her eyes.

“Come back, hurry up and come back… … why do you refuse my command? Hurry up and come back!”

However, it would appear that the Blazing Phoenix had been provoked by some power. It hovered around in a circle and issued a cry before charging into another corridor.

With a plume of flames spewing off its back, it shot forward like a meteor into the corridor.

It was as though there was something there with a powerful force of attraction, luring the Blazing Phoenix toward it. Not even Soo Soo, its host, could stop it from being attracted toward that thing.

Finally… … a loud noise reverberated out from the end of the corridor.

It was an item fully enclosed inside a square shaped metal box. The Blazing Phoenix raged against the metal box and its surface began to melt…

In the end, the metal box cracked.

The moment the corner of the metal box cracked, a black coloured wisp of smoke flitted out. At that very moment, the Blazing Phoenix, seemingly having met a blood enemy, charged forward with all its might.

Boom!

The black coloured wisp of smoke was struck by the Blazing Phoenix’s flames and it abruptly slipped back inside. Then, the Blazing Phoenix slammed the metal box, causing it to break down completely.

Flames had spread to every corner of the room… in but an instant, the temperature plummeted.

Without making a single sound, a layer of ice formed across the surface of the walls and the floor. This was a coldness shrouded with darkness, one that originated from the broken metal box.

The Blazing Phoenix’s atmosphere of supremacy was instantly weakened. Although it continued to cry out as it hovered in the air, it was obvious that the flames coming off its body had grown weaker. Even the size of its body had shrunk somewhat.

Soo Soo, who was still standing in the other room, suddenly revealed a look of relief.

She could sense that her Blazing Phoenix had grown weaker… however, thanks to that, she could now control it once more.

Without hesitating, Soo Soo quickly commanded the Blazing Phoenix to retreat. Then, it disappeared into the air.

After that, Soo Soo, who was covered in sweat, plopped to the floor and panted.

Back in the other room, the metal box had broken into two.

The temperature inside the room instantly fell to a biting cold level. The layer of ice on the walls and floor grew thicker and they spread into the corridor.

A black coloured object floated out of the broken metal box.

The black colour of the object was one of extreme purity. Pure black!

It was so black that it would make one’s heart palpitate, fear, shiver… … and… intoxicated!

Floating in the air, it then moved out of the room.

Slowly, it expanded, becoming larger as it did.

While it was floating inside the room, it appeared no more than a black coloured shadow.

As it floated out from the corridor, its body no longer appeared illusory. Rather, it had become tangible.

At the same time, it was still gradually growing longer as it expanded.

It floated out of the corridor and stopped somewhere around no more than 10 metres away from Soo Soo’s position. Then, it simply hovered there.

In the doorway, Lun Tai tossed away the broken explosive-proof shield. Smoke rose out slowly as both his arms and palms had turned black and there were burns all over his body.

He plopped to the ground in a kneeling posture. Xia Xiaolei crawled up behind him. Pulling out a healing medicinal substance, he stuffed it into Lun Tai’s mouth.

Lun Tai forced himself to swallow it and exhaled. He whispered with a shaky and hazy voice, “We… … might have fallen into a trap! The meatball is a trap! Hurry, go save Soo Soo!”

…

A feather.

When the black coloured object was finally materialized, its appearance, contour and shape became identifiable.

It was obviously a feather.

A pure black feather!

Then, before Soo Soo’s very eyes, the feather suddenly transformed.

A black coloured silhouette emerged from the feather. The silhouette wiggled slowly, expanded, and transformed…

In the end, it transformed into a wing.

The wing was connected to the black feather, which acted as the main body. The other parts remained illusory.

Next, the one wing became a pair of wings.

Following that, a humanoid looking figure emerged.

In the end, the transformation process ended and what stood before Soo Soo was a…

A black coloured silhouette with indistinguishable features, a pair of wings spreading out behind it.

It was a translucent black coloured silhouette. The only tangible part on the silhouette was the feather connected to one of its wings.

“What pure flames of light… … should I say thank you? Thank you for waking me up from my deep slumber. I have waited too long to awaken.”

The black coloured silhouette suddenly uttered those puzzling words.

Soo Soo forced herself to raise her head.

“Don’t force yourself,” said the black silhouette with a hint of amusement. “You are very strong, but not strong enough to purify me. My deep slumber cannot be ended through ordinary means. Those primitives, no matter what they tried, they could not wake me up. I could only wait for you to arrive, o’ child that bears the flames of light. Your flames of light revived my darkness. As thanks, I will assimilate you and welcome you into the joy filled Dark Abyss.”

With great difficulty, Soo Soo raised up one hand and a white coloured wall of flames appeared before the black silhouette.

“Useless.” The black silhouette laughed and continued, “Your flames will only stimulate even more of my powers. The origin of my powers is much greater than yours. These minor flames cannot illuminate the Dark Abyss.”

After saying that, it gently stretched out one hand… despite being merely an illusory shadow, the black silhouette’s hand casually pushed its way through Soo Soo’s white coloured wall of flames.

The black hand made its way through the wall of flames and sizzling sounds could be heard as black smoke rose from it.

“What a delectable sensation of pain, how wonderful! You don’t get it, do you? The more you harm me, the more pain you inflict on me, the bigger my Dark Abyss will become… you are just not strong enough to purify me. At present, you are only a source of energy to help me develop and stimulate my powers!

“Come, make your flames more intense, give me more pain! I need that wondrous feeling that can fully awaken me!”

After making its way out of the white coloured wall of flames, the black silhouette’s hand reached out toward Soo Soo’s neck…

“Get your filthy hands off my sister.”

A voice suddenly came from the other corridor.

Qiao Qiao’s figure stepped out slowly from the darkness of the corridor.

Her pair of black eyes glared at the black silhouette.

…