Mister, You Wouldn't Want...

In an instant, before everyone's dumbfounded gaze, the thunderclouds filling the sky transformed entirely into silvery-white illusory light. Using the vault of heaven as a screen, it meandered and slithered with wild abandon. In a flash, it stretched across tens of millions of li, tracing a breathtakingly exquisite arc between sea and sky, growing endlessly—until it encircled the entire forbidden zone, closing back in on itself from the opposite side to form a flawless circle. The illusory light rippled gently like water. Just like the halo atop an angel's head in legends. In this moment, crowning the dome of heaven! "You goddamn bastard, Ji—" Yellowbeard muttered in disbelief, his eyes wide. He refused to miss the slightest trace, searching frantically for the reason behind the bone-chilling dread that raised goosebumps all over his skin. It was unimaginable that in mere moments, his own creation could spiral into such a state and fall into Ji Jue's hands. The magnificent spectacle of the moment was secondary—what about the principle behind it? Its essence? What on earth was it? If it were merely a useless showpiece, why would Ji Jue go through all this trouble to pull such a stunt right under his nose? Was it purely to be a prick and bark like a dog? Whether it was being a prick or barking like a dog, it didn't matter. For an absolute consequentialist like Ji Jue, those were merely habitual paths he excelled at using. If there were no necessity, he wouldn't waste an ounce of thought on irrelevant nonsense. And then, he saw it— Endless strands of silver rain spilled down from the halo. Countless drops of quicksilver fell from the ring high in the heavens, droplet by droplet, weaving into fine threads that linked together and overlapped into a shimmering curtain dancing in the wind. Countless silver threads hung down from the sky, plunging into the waves as if reaching deep beneath the ocean surface, blanketing everything between heaven and earth. Shrouding the entire forbidden zone within! It was as though a lid had been placed over it—yet this barrier seemed as frail as a dream or a bubble. Were it not for tens of millions of micro-manipulations every second, it likely would have collapsed under its own weight in the very next moment. What was he aiming for? "Ah, forgot to mention." Ji Jue slapped his forehead, belatedly remembering: "Please make sure critical equipment is well insulated. Also, watch out for the storm." The storm came howling! Though not the slightest stir of air could be felt, in consciousness and perception, a howling, savage gale seemed to rush past in overwhelming fury. At this moment, from all eight directions and twelve bearings, invisible storms converged from everywhere toward the center—or more precisely, toward those impossibly slender silver threads. Despite being so microscopic, they acted like black holes, relentlessly siphoning the spiritus across the entire sea. In the snap of a finger, every trace of spiritus outside the forbidden zone was drained dry. Accompanied by Yellowbeard's nonstop string of Northern curses rattling like castanets, sparks flew continuously across the Dragon Bone Fleet. Having abruptly plunged into an environment utterly devoid of spiritus, who knew how many devices experienced lags and malfunctions. Yet after enduring this surge, Yellowbeard's orders did not cease. Instead, he grew increasingly frantic and violent, as if hearing the roaring tide howling in from afar. A raging surge of spiritus. Under the Crown of Isis's boundless absorption, the vacuum of spiritus across the entire sea naturally pulled in spiritus from other regions to fill the void, just like a change in atmospheric pressure. Following the momentary vacuum, what converged from all quarters was a true storm of spiritus! Yet no matter how much spiritus came roaring in, it vanished into that silver radiance. Like a true black hole, it endlessly devoured the sweeping spiritus, weaving a magnificent eye of the storm that channeled the surging spiritus into tornadoes spanning heaven and earth. Countless shimmering lights flickered, merging into the tornadoes and illuminating the entire world into a magnificent spectacle of kaleidoscopic colors. Devouring all spiritus without refusal, the spiritual body within the halo had already begun the development of a secondary Metamorphosis, like an insect weaving a cocoon to achieve yet another ascension. Yet what the Crown of Isis intercepted was not merely external spiritus, but also the souls, desires, and grudges drawn in by the power of the Huangliang Relic—every bit of incoming spiritus was swept into the storm and devoured entirely, without a single drop spared! Having skipped the initial, longest, and most vulnerable phase of charging up with the help of the thunderclouds, the Crown of Isis—having fully grown to the scale of a catastrophe—had entered the stage of expansion. A true natural disaster had been born before everyone's eyes! Pulling the firewood from beneath the cauldron! Who gave a damn about what Paradise of Myriad Phenomena, what Huangliang Relic, or what Realm of Huaxu? No matter how ethereal a phantom dream it was, or how terrifying and hideous an alienated forbidden zone, it all required spiritus, didn't it? Where in the world was there an engine that didn't burn fuel? Ji Jue wanted to see just how long the other side could hold out once this supply line was severed and the souls converging from all around were completely intercepted! Unfortunately, this question was destined to have no answer. The instant the Crown of Isis turned into a storm outside the forbidden zone, at the very top of that bizarre tower in the center of the desolate, ruined city within, fierce light erupted from the blood-red eye. A somber, cold snort rang out. As if some petty riffraff had disturbed a sweet dream, Wen Sheng, hiding behind the scenes, opened his eyes. Terminating his Metamorphosis, he took control of the Huangliang Relic and cast an indifferent glance toward the silver curtain now cordoning off Punabantu. "A clown jumping around, not even worth a glance!" Amid callous laughter, the Huangliang Relic shuddered abruptly. Immediately afterward, the domain of the Paradise of Myriad Phenomena expanded and spread with a sudden swell. Like an intangible illusion, it effortlessly crossed the blockade of the Crown of Isis and the barrier of Solid Alchemy, reaching outside—and then, in turn, locked the Crown of Isis inside it! Alarms blared instantly. The Dragon Bone Fleet rapidly pulled back, narrowly escaping this wave of expansion. But in the next second, Yellowbeard broke into a cold sweat: "Damn it!" Countless phantoms emerged from the shimmering glow. The Paradise of Myriad Phenomena reversed course, spreading toward the Crown of Isis and launching a pervasive conversion and erosion against the spiritus and spiritual body within. In the snap of a finger, it had assimilated the massive spiritus storm and the halo hanging high in the sky— Your stuff is pretty good. Too bad it's mine now— "Pfft—" At that instant, laughter that could no longer be contained erupted from the Prosperity, rocking back and forth. Ji Jue was laughing so hard tears almost came out. He could hardly control himself. The structure of the Crown of Isis was merely an application of Fluid Alchemy and Solid Alchemy. There was no blessing inside it at all, nor any permission settings; it was entirely in a state of accepting anyone and anything. Apart from easily stirring up a storm due to its sheer scale, it held no extraordinary secrets or power. Yet its essence was precisely the opposite—it all originated from Ji Jue and Isis's analysis and reproduction of the Nether Sea Worm's structure in their simulations at the Tower of Myriad Transformations. Whether in properties, essence, or composition, it was, quite literally, a reenactment and rebirth of the Worm's creation. So here came the question: How could anyone in this world think they had lived too long or enjoyed good days for too much, feeling the need to open their mouth for no reason and voluntarily swallow a complete, starving Nether Sea Worm that desperately needed nutrition and hadn't even finished developing into their stomach?! Snap! A crisp sound abruptly cracked from the heavens. In that instant, the brilliant silver light masquerading on the surface shattered completely. Beneath the halo, countless silver tentacles and appendages reached out, and massive amounts of quicksilver vapor diffused, squirming like viscera before rapidly seeping into the entirety of Punabantu. The sky, the islands, the abandoned city, the shattered bones, the walking corpses like hollow shells, and even that bizarre tower all met with a torrential downpour. Flecks of silver light, clinging like maggots in bone, appeared ubiquitously in every corner, impossible to dispel, impossible to wipe away. Within a mere snap of the fingers, adapting to the erosion of the Huangliang Relic, the Worm's reconstruction was already complete. Immediately following that, everyone saw the surging sea turning, bit by bit, into pure pitch-black! Dyeing the world, mutating the vast ocean, plunging reality beneath a nightmare into the nether realm—the Nether Sea transformation had begun, and the Worm was fully realized! Was the bizarre assimilation resembling the Paradise of Myriad Phenomena effective? It was actually effective. Unfortunately, before it could take effect, the opponent had already surrendered—without even waiting for him to strike, it voluntarily raised the white flag and integrated into this big family of mutation and aberration. Just as it once clung to the mortal world, it burrowed pervasively into every inch of the domain. The same parasitism, the same erosion, and even the same assimilation— Likewise, accepting all comers—you erode me, I parasitize you; you assimilate me, and I can't even fucking wait! If the opponent turned a deaf ear, it would pull the rug out from under them, boiling the frog in warm water, chipping away at their foundations until it devoured the entire forbidden zone. If the opponent tried to destroy it, it would rely on its massive bulk and the drawn spiritus to entangle them in a war of attrition until the opponent burned through all their spiritus and power, collapsing without a fight. And if the opponent wanted to assimilate the Nether Sea Worm... Pfft, how could anyone dream up such a thing? Excuse me, brother, you dropped something—is this little red ball for your nose? BOOM!!!!! Even more fractures surfaced across the dreamlike, bizarre forbidden zone. Those shifting phantoms abruptly vanished, replaced by tentacles and organs manifesting out of thin air. In the cracks of stones, on the reefs, across the mudflats, inside buildings, silver eyes opened one by one, spreading like mold. Even upon those hollow shells of walking corpses, anomalous organs and fissures gradually surfaced, turning them into appendages of the Worm. And most of all, there were fractures—in the air, in the seawater, across the heavens. The entire world was like a glass marble crushed underfoot; the neon luster was gone, the splendor wiped away. The instant parasitism was complete, the Worm began to grow, spontaneously spreading and proliferating. Amid assimilating and being assimilated, it dissolved and regenerated at a horrifying speed invisible to the naked eye, saturating everything within the forbidden zone. It was as though two sets of bones, two sets of blood vessels, and two sets of internal organs had appeared inside a single body simultaneously, entangling and fighting each other, vying for nourishment and control. An uncontrollable cancer began to spread. The eerie demon realm from just minutes ago was now gradually spiraling out of control in rapid collapse—its defenses thrown wide open! "Hey, Ji Jue, that thing doesn't look like anything wholesome..." Yellowbeard's projection looked over, his expression a complicated mix of mockery and awe. You sure know how to put on a show. You actually replicated the fucking Nether Sea Worm... Only, you wouldn't want the Association's Absolute Sentence squad finding out about this little research of yours, would you? "Yeah, true," Ji Jue nodded, offering a resolute guarantee. "Don't worry though, Grand Craftsman, I'll keep your secret." [???] Yellowbeard froze, unable to comprehend what he had just heard. You? Help me? Keep my secret? Are you crazy or am I crazy? Then, he heard Ji Jue's voice: "As long as you don't go around telling people I have a Nether Sea Worm, I won't tell anyone that your North Wind Workshop has fusion bombs." "Bullshit!" Yellowbeard's face turned livid. "When the hell did I ever say I—" BOOM!!!! In that instant, something seemed to drop from the sky. Insignificant. Yet immediately after, a dazzling flare of searing light erupted from the deepest depths of the demonic realm, surging upward and casting everything else into dim, blurred darkness. Then, as the brilliant light flared and expanded, a pitch-black mushroom cloud slowly rose into the sky. A violent blast wave sprouted from the very center of the island, roaring outward in every direction. Colossal waves of immense force surged across the sea, roaring past. A scorching gale swept over the waters, lashing against faces with stinging pain. And amidst shrill wails of anguish, the towering spire snapped at its waist, blood gushing like a tidal wave as it suffered devastating damage! Without a doubt, that kind of object, that kind of momentum, those unmistakable traces— A fusion bomb!!!