Chapter 299: Emperor-rank

Chapter 299: Chapter 299: Emperor-rank

Qian Xing and the others were on high alert, staring at the spreading red, bloody aura.

A creature emerged, enveloped in a red, bloody aura. It stood twelve meters tall in a humanoid form. Its ugly head had eight crimson eyes arranged in two vertical rows, and its vicious mouth revealed rows of terrifyingly sharp teeth. Its body was covered in red, fleshy lumps, and bloody red tentacles extended from its back. Its hands were like a Demon’s claws.

Upon seeing it, everyone instinctively took a step back in fear and raised their wristbands to scan the creature before them.

Emperor-Level Blood Breath Beast · Hilic.

Note 1: Due to interrupted incubation, it is in a semi-mature state.

Note 2: Affected by the environment, life activity is decreased by 10%.

"It’s this powerful in a semi-mature state? Imagine if it had been allowed to fully incubate!"

Qian Xing said, his expression grim.

"What’s there to be afraid of? There are so many of us. You’re telling me we can’t kill it?"

Qian Yun was completely fearless.

"Alright! Everyone in second-generation exoskeleton armor, advance together! The rest of you, spread out and surround it!"

Qian Xing immediately issued the combat order to everyone.

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone replied in unison.

Qian Xing and the others charged toward Hilic from different directions.

Hilic let out a furious roar. The bloody tentacles on its back shot out, their tips opening like snakes’ mouths.

ZZZZT~

Beams of terrifying, dark-red light crisscrossed as they shot toward Qian Xing and the others.

"Dodge!"

Qian Xing and the others immediately scattered.

BOOM!

The beams slammed into the ground, and the massive explosions that followed sent Qian Xing and the others flying.

BANG! BANG!

At that moment, Luo Lie and his men opened fire, unloading on Hilic.

The dense barrage of bullets struck its body, but the warheads simply bounced off and fell to the ground, completely unable to penetrate its hardened, fleshy shell.

"Charge!"

The soldiers of Sinful City and Star Tower bravely charged forward.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to attack from a distance; they were out of ammunition and had no choice but to engage in close-quarters combat.

Hilic looked at the swarm of soldiers rushing toward it and opened its cavernous maw.

"Don’t go! It’s suicide!"

Qian Xing shouted, his face paling.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Hilic spewed a wide-reaching cloud of red mist toward the soldiers.

Countless soldiers were enveloped by the red mist.

But unexpectedly, the red mist didn’t burn them to a crisp.

The soldiers charged out of the red mist, swinging their weapons at Hilic.

Seeing this, Qian Wei immediately shouted to everyone.

"Its red mist is being suppressed by the environment!"

"That’s great news!"

Everyone was instantly overjoyed.

Hilic, however, roared in anger and swept its demonic claws sideways.

"AHH!"

Swarms of charging soldiers were torn to shreds.

The mechanical armor they wore was like paper.

Qian Xing and the others hastily charged forward as well.

Just then, the snake-like heads on Hilic’s back seemed to have a will of their own, automatically snapping at them.

The entire area instantly erupted into a chaotic melee.

「...」

「Inside Dark Crow Laboratory.」

Long Ming walked down the corridor until he reached the end.

A pair of broken, seven-meter-high doors came into view.

The ground in front of the doors was littered with bloodstains and fragments of broken mechanical armor, soaked in dark red blood.

From this scene alone, one could tell how brutal the fighting had been when this place fell.

Long Ming stepped through the doorway, and his view immediately opened up. A huge, circular laboratory appeared before him, filled with experimental equipment that was scattered and overturned everywhere he looked.

Holding his breath, Long Ming walked further inside and soon spotted some intact biological vats.

Inside these cylindrical vats, Blood Breath Beasts of various forms were submerged in fluid.

Long Ming’s eyelid twitched as he took in the scene.

’Looks like Rein was telling the truth. The Aniska Empire really was courting disaster by raising Blood Breath Beasts.’

’Then again, it makes sense.’

’If they hadn’t raised Blood Breath Beasts, how could they have developed mecha-armor and Genetic Potions?’

The thought of the Genetic Potion made Long Ming’s heart race, and he pressed deeper into the lab.

Soon, he reached the inner part of the laboratory.

An experimental control console came into view.

Long Ming froze for a moment. He looked around but didn’t see anything that resembled a Genetic Potion.

’What’s going on?’

’Did I come to the wrong place? It’s not here?’

...

Long Ming muttered to himself in a low voice.

Just then, his gaze suddenly fell upon the experimental control console, and he walked over.

The entire console’s screen was dark.

Long Ming tried pressing the power switch.

To his surprise, the console powered on, and the screen lit up.

After the interface loaded, a prompt popped up.

"Please unlock authorization."

Long Ming took out the identity card and swiped it.

"Verification successful!"

The screen immediately switched to the operating interface.

Long Ming began operating the console, trying to find an option to open a hidden entrance.

He actually found the option to open the inner laboratory.

Without hesitation, Long Ming pressed the "open" button.

CLICK!

A section of the metal wall inside the lab split open, revealing a small entrance from which a blast of cold air emanated.

Long Ming walked inside, entering the inner laboratory.

This lab wasn’t very large, only about two hundred square meters. It contained a control console, a square-shaped cryogenic storage unit, and a circular metal platform.

Standing on the platform was a set of dark red, humanoid mecha-armor, along with a dark red blade.

The mecha-armor stood two meters tall and was forged entirely from dark red metal. Its surface was engraved with special patterns, and it radiated a crimson aura, giving off an extremely dangerous feeling.

The first moment Long Ming saw this mecha-armor, he felt as if he were looking at a Blood Breath Beast.

He took a deep breath and walked toward the cryogenic storage unit.

When he reached the storage unit, he saw a vial of red Genetic Potion sealed inside.

His heart skipped a beat, and he decisively raised his wristband to scan it.

Type I Genetic Potion · SCI All-Purpose Gene Syringe (Perfect).

Effect: Unknown.

Producer: Aniska Empire · Dark Crow Laboratory.

When Long Ming saw that it was the "Perfect" version and not an export model, he was ecstatic.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he took the identity card and swiped it on the storage unit.

CLICK!

The storage unit opened instantly.

Long Ming reached in and took out the Genetic Potion.

However, he didn’t inject it immediately. Instead, he took a deep breath to forcefully calm his racing heart.

Long Ming then walked to the control console, used the identity card to unlock it, and began to view the data within.

Seconds ticked by.

Long Ming quickly read through the remaining files.

The Genetic Potion in his hand was indeed the most perfect one ever developed by the Aniska Empire.

Only five were ever produced.

One was given to Emperor Aniska, three were used by test subjects, and the last one was right here.

As for the mecha-armor, it was called the Red Demon. It was created by the Aniska Empire using a Monarch-level Blood Breath Beast.

The mecha-armor was so powerful that no one could pilot it. Every person who tried to test it had died.

And this Genetic Potion was prepared for the user of the Red Demon.

Long Ming then opened his own character panel to take a look.

Name: Long Ming (Gene Defect)

Race: Carbon-based Human

Genetic Level: 0

Profession: None

Power: 9

Agility: 9

Physical Strength: 6

Intelligence: 9

Note: Gene defect status, stamina reduced by 30%, susceptible to infection.

Long Ming noticed that all his stats had reached 9, except for his Physical Strength, which hadn’t changed.

He then picked up the Genetic Potion, made his decision, and injected the contents into his arm.

As the last of the serum flowed into his bloodstream,

Instantly, Long Ming felt his blood begin to boil. His entire body felt like it was about to burst into flames, and the intense pain forced him to his knees.

Long Ming gasped for air, but each breath he took was searing hot.

An agonizing pain wracked his internal organs.

’Damn it!’

Long Ming’s muscles tensed to their limit, veins bulged on his forehead, and beads of sweat dripped from his brow.

The pain was far greater than what he’d experienced when he injected the anti-contamination Genetic Potion.

For a moment, Long Ming suspected he had been tricked.

But he gritted his teeth and held on.

He knew he had to endure it. If he couldn’t, it was all over.