Chapter 222: Sourceless Forbidden Zone Radiation

"Tch. Such a large quantity. I thought I wouldn’t have enough fuel for even one evolution of the Tai Sui God."

"I never thought this portion from the surface alone would be enough."

"Their estimations were flawed, after all."

"The Wasteland King’s benchmark isn’t a Level 1 Fire Seed Armor, but a Level 1 Fire Seed itself."

Qi Suian watched his armor value slowly increase. This wasn’t just the effect of the Wasteland King’s severed limbs; there had already been fuel inside.

With the addition of the Wasteland King, there was finally enough energy to evolve.

However, finishing the upgrade would take some time, until tomorrow at the earliest.

Qi Suian didn’t plan to touch this particular module slot; he intended to wait until he unlocked another one.

His plan was simple: once he finished creating the artificial Fire Seed, he would install the Sanctuary and Fire Seed Armor obtained upon its activation as modules.

It was true that he could install the Fire Seed directly as a module, which would save a slot. However, doing so would cost Qi Suian an SSS-rank module.

Furthermore, he might lose an extra module akin to a new player’s extra life.

After all, the Sanctuary and the Fire Seed Armor were intrinsically a single unit. Taking this step could potentially create a set bonus effect.

If not, that was fine too.

Two SSS-rank modules were far better than one.

Qi Suian wanted to be frugal, as module slots were rare, but this wasn’t the way to cut corners.

Especially when it came to his strength, he absolutely could not afford to cut corners. Being penny-wise and pound-foolish wasn’t a mistake limited to everyday life.

"AI, find the source of radiation in the forbidden zone," Qi Suian said suddenly.

He hadn’t left the forbidden zone yet. Now that the Wasteland King was dead, it was the perfect time to investigate.

There had to be a reason a forbidden zone had formed; it couldn’t have just appeared out of thin air.

Qi Suian suspected that these so-called forbidden zones were likely former capitals or major cities that had been primary targets during the past world war.

If he could find the source of the radiation, he might be able to get a glimpse of the remnants of the powerful weapons that had turned the entire planet into a wasteland.

At Qi Suian’s command, the AI immediately went to work, but the detection process proved to be difficult.

It wasn’t that it couldn’t detect anything, but rather that it couldn’t pinpoint a source; it was as if the radiation was drifting everywhere.

Like rootless duckweed, the source was impossible to trace.

[Execution Failed. Unable to Trace Radiation Source.]

[Recommend Immediate Egress to Avoid Unforeseen Incidents.]

Untraceable, yet rooted somewhere—this bizarre situation indicated that the Wasteland King was likely the most straightforward threat in the forbidden zone.

Seeing this, Qi Suian had no intention of courting death or making a reckless move. He chose to follow the AI’s recommendation directly.

"Let’s go. The farther, the better," Qi Suian said.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the Tai Sui God shot into the sky, left the forbidden zone, and rapidly retreated along the route plotted by the AI.

From arrival to departure, the forbidden zone showed no sign of disturbance. On the contrary, it was perfectly calm.

’I was thinking about hunting Wasteland Kings in the future, but it looks like I’ll have to stick to being cautious.’ Qi Suian felt his plot armor had been working overtime for him.

But calm didn’t mean there wasn’t a problem.

He had only seen the tip of the iceberg and had no idea what greater terrors lay beneath the surface.

After flying for a little over an hour, they soon reached the designated safe zone.

This area had been cleared out. There were no signs of native inhabitants, only some irradiated creatures at most.

’If I run into any, I’ll just catch them and use them as fuel.’

He might not be able to beat a Level 1 or Level 2 Fire Seed Armor, but could he not even handle a pack of irradiated creatures?

These irradiated creatures were animals before the age of the wasteland, and their lot hadn’t improved much since.

Their population had only increased because of the decrease in human population; this didn’t mean they could resist the purebloods and mutants that had evolved from humanity.

Unless it was a Wasteland King.

However, the birth of a Wasteland King was likely due to more than just the mutation of animals and plants; there were surely other factors involved.

After clearing the safehouse, he began setting up his experimental equipment and then started his in-depth research on the Jade Egg.

He would also attempt to destructively purge the consciousness within the Jade Egg.

The Evil Dragon penetrated the Jade Egg’s mineral-tentacle shell.

This act immediately stimulated the dormant Jade Egg, causing its activity to skyrocket as it awakened.

All its tentacles began to writhe wildly, apparently activating its defense mechanism.

’These tentacles are interesting. They’re hard overall, yet also flexible and extendable.’

’Simply put, they’re both hard and soft.’ Qi Suian watched as the tentacles coiled around the Tai Sui God’s hand and prepared to take root.

Clearly, this thing wasn’t a harmless herbivore; it would bite back if cornered.

Unfortunately, its attack was too weak; it couldn’t even break through the Dragon and Tiger Primordial Divine Force.

But since the egg itself was a Wasteland King, its tentacles weren’t damaged either.

’Its Defense and health are high enough, but it didn’t inherit the attack power.’

’Then again, if it had inherited everything, it wouldn’t need to develop all over again.’

As Qi Suian mused, the Tai Sui God’s Martial Dao Will: Evil Dragon instantly pierced the Jade Egg’s defenses, severely wounding its consciousness.

Instantly, all the tentacles went limp and slowly retracted.

’Not dead, but critically injured. One more hit will make sure it’s as dead as it gets.’

’A sturdy shell protecting a fragile life.’

’Heh, isn’t that just like... wait, no. I’m certainly not as tough as the Tai Sui God, but I’m not that fragile either.’

’With my level of power, I may not be truly immortal, but regenerating from a single drop of blood isn’t an issue.’

Qi Suian’s strength was limited, but when it came to sheer tenacity of life and regenerative abilities, he was even more ridiculous than a mutant.

After all, this "human" was, in reality, what could be called a Profound Darkness Virus aggregate.

He had merely retained his human structure, which allowed him to grow stronger more effectively. This was the origin of his S-rank talent, Person of Profound Darkness, and proof that the Profound Darkness Virus had integrated with him and was under his control.

Otherwise, if the Profound Darkness Virus had been the dominant party and forced him to merge into it, then his S-rank talent would have had to be renamed "Profound Darkness Virus Aggregate."

If Qi Suian didn’t pick such high-difficulty opponents, he could have dominated the battlefield even without the Tai Sui God.

So, his "weakness" was only relative to two things: the SSS-rank Tai Sui God, packed with SSS-rank modules, and the top-tier bosses of the Doomsday World. Against any survivor or non-boss unit, he could rip their heads right off.

He was playing in the big leagues. It might look like he was always taking a beating, but Qi Suian had rarely come out on the losing end.

"Kick ’em while they’re down!" Without hesitation, Qi Suian had the Tai Sui God blast the Jade Egg three more times with its Martial Dao Will.

The consciousness inside the Jade Egg vanished completely.

At the same time, the activity in the Jade Egg began to subside, and its life force started to drain away.

’It’s dying?’ Qi Suian saw the problem at a glance, but thankfully he wasn’t panicked. ’Good thing I was prepared for this.’

Unlike a Fire Seed, the Jade Egg was a living creature. Problems were inevitable after brain death, especially since the Martial Dao Will itself was inherently lethal.

Otherwise, where would the Evil Dragon’s attack power have come from?

That was why, before he had even started, he had a solution ready for what to do when the Jade Egg showed signs of dying after its consciousness was destroyed.

Saving it was impossible, and besides, why would Qi Suian bother?

He could get right down to business.

By turning it into a Fire Seed, he wouldn’t have to worry about it dying.

The principle was roughly equivalent to shooting a suicidal person dead before they could kill themselves; that way, they wouldn’t commit suicide.

’My analogy isn’t wrong,’ Qi Suian thought. ’It’s death in the end, just a different method.’

And the result would also be different.

Qi Suian immediately took out the Level 1 Fire Seed: King of Hundred Beasts and began the process.

’What if I fail without my plot armor’s help?’

He already had the solution; he just needed to follow the steps and write it down.

If he could mess up something as simple as copying, then not even his plot armor could save him.

Avoiding accidents? The plot armor’s assistance might be weaker, but it didn’t lower his luck. His [+2 Fortified Luck] was always active.

You have to be bold when it counts. If it really didn’t work out, he’d just find another Wasteland King. The worst that could happen was that he’d just be facing failure a little sooner.

-----------------

"Hayman hasn’t collected his share for several months? What’s going on?" Fos, the Corpse Eater Pope and Grand Elder of the Frost Queen’s Sanctuary, looked at the list in his hand with a puzzled expression.

"Yes. Cardinal Hayman took a job from the Steel Brotherhood some time ago, and there has been no word from him since."

"The other personnel sent to intercept have all returned," the Second Elder of the Frost Queen’s Sanctuary stated calmly.

"It seems he’s dead. He always wanted to become the Corpse Eater Pope. A shame," Fos remarked with a sigh, then added, "Pull up his file. I want to take a look."

Losing a Cardinal, no matter the circumstances, was a significant loss for Fos.

There were only nine Cardinals in the Corpse Eaters. Losing one was a blow to the organization.

After receiving the file and reading it, Fos commented, "Interesting. This Jack is a mutant."

"If he weren’t, and we’d made him a Corpse Eater, he might have had a chance to succeed me." Fos was always dangling the position of Corpse Eater Pope like a carrot on a stick.

"Barring any surprises, Hayman was likely killed by Jack."

"I never expected that in such a short time, someone could reverse-engineer a Fire Seed to create a special armor technology comparable to a Level 2 Bionic Armor."

"The other five Level 1 Sanctuaries will certainly be interested in this news." Fos’s mind was already racing with ways to use this information to provoke war between purebloods and mutants.

As the Grand Elder of a Level 1 Sanctuary, he was naturally aware of the current state of affairs.

The resource crisis was a powder keg, needing only an insignificant spark to light the fuse and set it off.

However, not every person or event was qualified to be that spark.

It had to carry enough weight.

And the news that a mutant possessed armor technology comparable to a Level 2 Bionic Armor? That had more than enough weight to light the fuse.

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