Demon Hunter

Book 4 Chapter 22.6 - Heart of Darkness

As he looked at Ruler’s body that, although was weak, was close to perfect proportion wise, Su seemed to have thought of something. Perhaps due to the heart of darkness, this body had a vague connection with himself. After some hesitation, a fist sized piece of flesh quickly swelled out from his chest. After taking form, it dropped down from Su’s body, produced six sharp feet, and then quickly moved into Ruler’s body. It then formed mouthparts that were similar to that of an insects, quickly tearing through the flesh in front of Ruler’s chest, and then burrowed inside, stopping when it reached the place where the heart of darkness was originally located. Right now, there was a vacant cavity with a few large broken blood vessels floating inside.

Its six limbs quickly extended, piercing deeply into the surrounding tissues. The sharp limbs then became soft, turning into tubular walls in this cavity and linking up with the blood vessels in Ruler’s body. The floating broken veins and arteries were clamped down on, connecting to that mouthpart. It began to continuously absorb blood, and as a result, its body that was as round as a ball began to swell and expand, gradually connecting to Ruler’s body. Ruler’s body composition was extremely special. Even though he had a brain, there was no other nervous system to speak of. As such, his will was transmitted completely through blood. It seemed to be adapting to Ruler’s body, and after a few minutes, a stream of energy successfully entered Ruler’s brain, moreover ordering all of the intruder cells hiding within the brain to turn into the energy it needed. Immediately afterwards, Ruler’s brain was reactivated.

Following a light groan, Ruler opened his eyes again. Those scarlet pupils immediately revealed an initial vacancy. When he stood up within the blue liquid, his movements were clearly a bit rigid. Ruler looked at his own hands, at his surroundings, and then finally at Su, his handsome face producing an expression of pain and struggle, as if he was struggling to remember something.

“You name?” Su asked.

“... Cirvanas. You can call me Cir or Trembler…” Ruler spoke while stammering. Each word he spoke was done so through pain and struggling. His memories continuously surfaced, but his will, as well as every single decision he made was restricted.

The organ that entered Ruler’s body was a hybrid of nucleus and the heart of darkness, of course, its ability significantly cut down compared to them. Knowledge regarding this organ was obtained from the heart of darkness. It could be viewed as a weakened nucleus that could be used to control a puppet soldier that could protect the heart of darkness’ user. The nucleus forming ability didn’t even reach a hundredth of the nucleus Madeline merged with, and its life force even more so only had a short year. In a year, the nucleus, as well as Ruler who it controlled would die. If Su was able to obtain a higher level of authority within a year, then there might be a way to further extend the lifespan of this nucleus.

The extent of the nucleus’ control and transfer of energy was only simplistic at best, the main consciousness and intelligence still originated from Ruler’s original brain. However, the nucleus will put a restriction on the host body’s thought and actions. That was why right now, Ruler did have the ability to think, but it wasn’t independent or free, and there was no way to resist. The level of civilization the heart of darkness and nucleus represented were who knew how many times greater than the human race’s. Even though after the war erupted, all creatures that survived entered a crazy period of evolution, there was no way a few short decades could make up for such an enormous gap.

It was to the extent where even though the nucleus only had simple intelligence, it was impossible to deceive it. It possessed the strictest logic system, as well as a vague processing capability beyond one’s imagination. All forms of deception, from the simplest character traps to the most profound ambiguous schemes would be shattered by the nucleus in the most direct and effective manner.

At this moment, Madeline finally successfully merged with the nucleus, and she slowly woke up. Her body was in an extremely hollow state, with all of her stamina completely drained. She didn't even have the strength to lift her hand. However, as soon as she woke up, she could feel that Su’s warm and strong arm was still there.

This was a warm and peaceful haven.

Cirvanas also looked towards Madeline, a hint of puzzlement fluttering past his colorful red pupils. The nucleus in his thoracic cavity changed its pulse, becoming identical to that of the girl so beautiful she looked like someone out of a dream. This type of heartbeat resonance gave him a strange feeling. This feeling was extremely peculiar, a bit like looking at himself through a mirror.

Madeline had her own heart. The nucleus had long merged with the rest of her body, so her heartbeat was equal to the pulsation of the nucleus. What Ruler Cirvanas sensed, was precisely Madeline’s heartbeat.

When Su saw Cirvanas’ expression, he said indifferently, “This is Madeline. From today forth, aside from me, you will obey her orders as well.”

“... understood…” Cirvanas expressed his obedience only after struggling for a long time. However, under the control of the nucleus, he then added a sentence that completely disagreed with his will, “... my master.”

Towards this nucleus that came off his own body, Su still had an inseparably close connection with it. However, this type of spiritual connection was extremely vague, so it was impossible for him to precisely know every thought Cirvanas had, everything he felt. Even though his reply left Su feeling a bit strange, it was enough as long as he was still under control.

All of the irregular humanoids had already collapsed, and General already perished. Ruler was now under his control, so the research base no longer had any power to threaten Su. Even though this research base had experienced great battles continuously, the flesh tubes and walls covering it collapsed, the base itself left scattered and smashed, there were still many dark red emergency lights shining.

A military quality that truly made one sigh with admiration.