Lord of Prayer

Chapter 47: Chapter 42: Corrosive Gu

「The next morning.」

In the Civil Affairs Department office, two employees chatted while making coffee.

“I heard someone awakened last night. You know, that unlucky bastard whose soul was eaten by a Corrupter on his first mission.”

“Oh, right, that guy… He’s not dead yet? And he awakened?” a female employee asked in surprise. “Didn’t everyone say he wouldn’t live long after having half his soul eaten? How could he awaken?”

“Who knows? So much weird stuff happens these days, this is just one more thing,” the male employee said with a shrug. “Have you forgotten about that guy who awakened from the pain of using the toilet after eating a ghost pepper?

Or what about that kid who got so mad at his teammates in a video game that he had a brain hemorrhage and awakened in the ambulance…”

“True…”

The two finished making their coffee and returned to their desks, only to find their other colleagues were also discussing the same topic.

Anything related to the Extraordinary Realm, just like celebrity gossip, was prime material for office drones to chat about while slacking off.

“I heard he just woke up from a nap and awakened naturally. How come something that good never happens to me… I’ve been hoping for over twenty years. When will it be my turn to awaken a Superpower?” A young clerk sighed, leaning back in his office chair and fantasizing about what it would be like to have Extraordinary Abilities.

“What? I heard he was constipated and pushed so hard he burst a hemorrhoid, then awakened on the toilet from the pain,” an employee eating a bun chimed in casually.

“How could anyone awaken in such an absurd way… Okay, I guess there have been even more absurd ones. Where’d you hear that rumor?”

“From a junior nurse in the medical department.”

“Huh? Why did I hear that he went to a nightclub to have some ’fun’ and ended up awakening out of sheer shame?” a notoriously glib colleague from the back row interjected.

“Shame? Why would he feel ashamed?”

“He must have… you know… finished early.”

“Ah, about that… my friend in the field department said…”

For a while, rumors flew everywhere. The stories, a mix of truth and fiction, grew more and more outrageous with each retelling. No one knew the real reason for Zhou Chen’s awakening, only that some unlucky bastard had become an Ascender in one of many ridiculous ways.

·

“Slander! This is blatant slander!”

In the office, Zhou Chen slammed his hand on the desk in indignation. “Spreading rumors is a crime! These people have gone too far! They’re tarnishing my image, ruining my reputation, and defaming my dignity! I’m going to report them! I’m reporting them!”

Jiang Che, getting a headache from his shouting, rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Alright, that’s enough. We can use these false rumors to muddy the waters. When the time comes, just make up any old excuse for the Eternal Fire to get them off your back. I’ve already taken care of the other details.”

Then, she took a stack of files from her drawer, placed them on the desk, and pushed them toward him.

“This is the report on the Li Guangjun incident, along with records on the source of the contamination.”

Zhou Chen’s expression gradually grew somber. He picked up the files in silence and began to read.

“The source of contamination was a Forbidden Object?”

He couldn’t help but be stunned when he saw a line of small text.

He had assumed that Li Guangjun’s corruption was caused by mental contamination secretly planted by a High Level Corrupter or an Abyssal Curse, but he never imagined a Forbidden Object was to blame.

——C-071 Corrosive Gu. Appearance: Fossil of a milky-white grub, 4 cm long, 2.3 cm wide. Non-living entity, difficult to destroy. Constantly emits corrupting contamination, equivalent to a small, mobile contamination source.

——Every thirty days, the Corrosive Gu secretes a single egg with no signs of life. Parasitism by this egg is equivalent to having a time bomb planted in your body. If the mother grub is manipulated to detonate the egg, the host will rapidly degenerate into a Corrupter.

——The Corrosive Gu first appeared in Year 106 of the New Era. Nine pioneers exploring Restricted Area ███ discovered the Corrosive Gu in a dormant state. It was accidentally activated after being brought back to a human city, triggering a massive disaster that ultimately led to 76 people degenerating into Corrupters, 105 deaths, and 256 injuries.

——Follow-up: C-071 Corrosive Gu went missing, suspected to have been contained by the Abyssal Church of Eternal Fire.

——Containment method and side effects are both unknown.

——Last Sighting: May 16, Year 233 of the New Era. Traces of C-071’s use were discovered in Western Europe ███ City. Investigation results (access denied).

——Latest Revision: October 8, Year 234 of the New Era. C-071 appeared in Jinzhu City, infecting one adult male and directly causing the death of one adult female.

——Revised by: ██.

——Revision Time: 6:33 AM, October 10, Year 234 of the New Era.

“Corrosive Gu…”

Zhou Chen suddenly looked up at Jiang Che. “Should I try burning myself?”

He was afraid he might have been unknowingly parasitized by an egg.

He had, by a twist of fate, previously burned away the Desire Worm parasitizing Fina Blanch’s body, and had also briefly suppressed the bloodsucking impulse of the C-220 Bloodthirsty Chainsaw Sword. This indicated that his Cyan Flame had a certain resistive effect against both Extraordinary Abilities and Forbidden Objects, so it should also be able to burn away any eggs produced by the Corrosive Gu.

Jiang Che calmly took a sip of the coffee on her desk. “Do you think the medical department’s examination was just for show? There’s nothing wrong with you. If there were, the Essence Communication Device would have sounded an alarm immediately.”

The Essence Communication Device was for far more than just silent communication. It was also a miniature physical examination device, a combination of science and Alchemy, capable of meticulously monitoring Zhou Chen’s physical condition. It would upload a record to the backend for something as minor as a sign of dehydration, let alone being parasitized by an egg.

Since Jiang Che said he was fine, Zhou Chen didn’t bring it up again. He flipped through the document and continued reading the report.

The report combined memory fragments found within the Essence that dispersed after Li Guangjun’s death, completely reconstructing the course of events:

After being attacked, Zhou Yi did not die immediately. During the time she was dying, she kept calling out Li Guangjun’s name, hoping to wake him. But all she received in return was the merciless tearing of the Corrupter.

He didn’t know what kind of stone-hearted bastards wrote this report, but they had described every single detail, making for a ghastly read.

Until the last second of her life, Zhou Yi never gave up calling to him. Using her last ounce of strength, she caressed Li Guangjun’s distorted face, her eyes blurred with tears. As she faded, her lips parted and she pleaded softly, “Mister… please… don’t become a monster…”

“We… we promised… we’d get married next year…”

“We promised… we’d go to the beach together… and watch the sunrise…”

“Please…”

These were her last words.

Perhaps because of this, Li Guangjun was later able to regain his sanity.

But that was no blessing. It was an unspeakable pain and torment.

To open your eyes and see that you’ve become a monster, that the girlfriend you cherished is dead in your arms… Just imagining that kind of despair and helplessness was enough to make one’s breath catch and their chest tighten.

Zhou Chen lowered his eyes and took a deep breath, but it felt as if he could never expel the Turbidity from his chest. An indescribable sadness echoed within him.

When something beautiful is so cruelly destroyed, what’s left is nothing but absolute tragedy.

Tragedy makes people sad, sorrowful, and despondent. But more than that, it makes them…

Angry!

“It’s upsetting, and it makes you angry, doesn’t it?”

Jiang Che said calmly, “This is the Abyss Church. They take pleasure in people’s pain and despair, building their own amusement on the ruins of destroyed happiness.

And this is just one of the most insignificant things they’ve ever done.”