’That’s strange. Why do I feel so uneasy?’
’Could this be some kind of warning from my protagonist halo?’ A sudden shiver ran through Qi Suian, and the back of his neck felt cold.
It was as if someone was blowing cold air onto his neck.
’Don’t tell me someone’s clinging to my back eating a popsicle...’ Qi Suian muttered to himself. ’It can’t be *that* ridiculous.’
He then turned his attention to his virus-related talent.
He’d expected it to take three days, but it ended up taking ten. The main reason was that the modifications to his own body took a little longer than planned.
The endless surgeries, drugs, and procedures had put him through hell and back.
That wasn’t a metaphor—he had literally been watching ads to resurrect over and over.
He’d complained before that shortening the ad-watching time was useless. Well, it was certainly coming in handy now.
[SS-Rank Talent: Divine Ladder]
The name had changed, too. It no longer contained the words "Profound" or "Virus," which meant that after the talent’s sublimation, the Profound Virus inside Qi Suian was no longer related to the Profound Virus from the Profound World.
It had also severed all ties to the Mysterious Divine Corpse.
It was as if Qi Suian had started a whole new family tree for it. Other than its name—which he was too lazy to change, still calling it the Profound Virus—it had no connection to what it was before.
Qi Suian himself had essentially changed his race, transforming from a human into an energy-based, virus-type, humanoid life-form.
After that, Qi Suian put the talent out of his mind.
As for upgrading it to SSS-rank, Qi Suian had absolutely no confidence he could do it right now.
In truth, upgrading the S-rank Person of Profound Darkness talent to the SS-rank Divine Ladder was only possible because he’d been lucky enough to have a wealth of reference materials.
The food had practically been served to him on a silver platter; all he had to do was open his mouth, chew, and swallow.
To this, Qi Suian could only admit that the protagonist halo was truly amazing. Without so many references to help him, how could he possibly have succeeded?
His own effort was important, true, but putting that effort in the right direction was even more crucial.
’It didn’t increase my attributes, but that’s to be expected. This thing was never meant to raise my potential ceiling; it’s more for enhancing the Profound Virus.’
The Profound Virus could be considered a part of Qi Suian, but Qi Suian was not the Profound Virus.
The Profound Virus was just one part of him, not his entirety.
Besides, the talent itself wasn’t the type to directly increase his strength. It was more of a platform.
The rest was all up to him.
And for Qi Suian to raise his two attributes, his only option was to further enhance his own Extraordinary system through study and research, forcefully raising the ceiling for his otherwise potential-lacking self.
Even though he’d become an energy-based, virus-type, humanoid life-form, his predecessor was still a Profound Human. His upper limits wouldn’t just change because his race did.
After all, the very materials used to change his race—the Profound Virus—came from the same world as his former Profound Human self. Their limits were already set in stone.
However, it wasn’t completely without its upsides. In fact, it had one very significant advantage.
As long as he completed the necessary study and research, he could take any given Extraordinary system from beginner to max level in a very short amount of time.
This rate of progress was an achievement the native practitioners of those Extraordinary systems might never reach in their entire lifetimes.
Coupled with the rapid growth effect from his protagonist halo, while others trained diligently for half their lives without reaching max level, Qi Suian could get it done in a matter of days.
To put it elegantly, you could call it "a long accumulation for a powerful outburst."
It’s just that his "accumulation" process was unusually fast, and his "outburst" was incredibly fierce, completely defying all logic.
Qi Suian, however, simply ignored this illogical phenomenon. He was the protagonist, after all. What was the problem with being a little illogical?
[Survivor detected entering reconnaissance network range. High probability of searching for Geng Muquan.]
[Comprehensive strength estimated at 1.5 Geng Muquans.]
The AI brain issued a timely reminder.
’Looks like another opportunity has come knocking.’ Qi Suian chalked it up to a coincidence brought on by his protagonist halo.
Considering the time, Geng Muquan had been out of contact with the Dragon Whale Sect for quite a while. It was only natural for them to send someone to investigate.
"Project it. Let me see," Qi Suian said. The AI brain immediately projected a three-dimensional image.
Qi Suian examined it carefully, comparing it with Geng Muquan’s data.
’Good news. Based on his physique, I can confirm he cultivates the Cloud Dragon Celestial Patrol Skill.’
’Speak of the devil... you get exactly what you need...’
’It really looks like it’s setting me up for something big.’ Qi Suian realized that things had been going so smoothly lately, it gave him the ominous feeling of the calm before the storm.
To put it bluntly: was he eating this well only because it was his last meal?
Of course, it could also be the protagonist halo doing its absolute best, trying to save him.
Trying to keep him from getting killed by... something.
He hadn’t felt it before, but the more he thought about it now, the stronger the feeling grew.
’Forget it. I’ll deal with that later. Time to catch the Dragon Whale Sect disciple.’ These were just Qi Suian’s own speculations.
Only his protagonist halo probably knew what was really going on.
The problem was, the protagonist halo had no self-awareness and couldn’t speak. Even if Qi Suian talked himself hoarse, it couldn’t explain its reasoning.
The Tai Sui God paused its work, leaving a dozen or so Floating Cannons to guard the missile silo and the ICBMs within.
Who knew what problems might arise in its absence.
It was better to leave some defenses in place.
Once the arrangements were made, it headed directly for the location pinpointed by the reconnaissance network.
The Tai Sui God’s flight speed was considerable. From its position in mid-air, Qi Suian quickly spotted the Dragon Whale Sect disciple.
The man seemed to be taking a break, gnawing on a piece of dry rations.
You had to admit, his physique was incredible. The rations looked hard enough to crack walnuts, yet the man simply shoved a piece in his mouth and started chewing.
He didn’t even chew it thoroughly, just swallowed it after a few bites.
And he didn’t seem to have any trouble choking it down.
"Alright, let’s make the first move and see if we can knock him out cold," Qi Suian said. "If we use the Mad Cathedral to capture him, it’ll reduce his value as an experiment."
By "value as an experiment," he meant that the subject might not survive the Profound Virus and would die from the illness.
And that would reduce the number of experiments Qi Suian could run.
Furthermore, he needed a healthy body to observe the effects of the black and white gunpowder’s stimulation, the resulting enhancement to the Spirit, the targeted evolution program, and so on.
[Given the Tai Sui God’s current number of evolutions, the success rate of a one-hit knockout is not high. Please reconsider.]
"’No need. Just do it. Even if it doesn’t knock him out, we can still fight him.’"
"’Compared to the natives, who are more tactical, these survivors have a much more reckless style.’"
"’Besides, with the help of my protagonist halo, there’s a decent chance we can capture him alive and completely unharmed,’ Qi Suian added."
In the past, capturing someone alive didn’t require worrying about their health. But now, with the Mad Cathedral in play, "capturing them alive" meant considering how long they would *stay* alive.
Even if he promptly extracted all the mutated strains of the Profound Virus from the subject’s body, the pathological damage it caused couldn’t be reversed.
As for treating them... Qi Suian had no such intentions.
For someone like him, living hand-to-mouth, he had to cash in on his assets quickly to survive, not nurture them for the long term.
Receiving Qi Suian’s command, the AI brain took direct control of the Tai Sui God, which became a black shadow and shot straight toward the Dragon Whale Sect disciple.
The disciple reacted instantly, tossing his rations aside and jumping to his feet, on guard. But he never expected the Tai Sui God to dive down from the sky, charging from his blind spot.
It was aiming right for the back of his head.
"Behind me!" the disciple muttered. His Cloud Dragon Divine Intent flared to life as he spun around, ready to counterattack without a moment’s hesitation.
But the moment he turned, before he could even act, an iron head rapidly filled his vision.
THWACK—
It connected squarely with his chin, sending him flying.
Fortunately, his willpower was tenacious enough that he managed to control his Cloud Dragon Divine Intent, forming a protective barrier to shield him from the secondary impact of landing.
At the same time, the cloud dragon carried him, pulling him back continuously.
Clearly, the sneak attack had inflicted significant damage.
’He’s pretty tough. It almost broke through my shield,’ Qi Suian muttered, glancing at the shield that had already regenerated in an instant.
’And that’s just his physique. If he were fast enough and had his Divine Intent protecting him, I wouldn’t have even shattered his jaw.’
"Quick, press the advantage! I mean, strike while the iron is hot!" Qi Suian yelled. The Tai Sui God charged forward immediately.
Using its Wind Master aeronautics system, it rapidly closed the distance and launched a vicious kick straight for his groin.
When the Dragon Whale Sect disciple saw this, his pupils contracted. His face was a clear picture of "what the fuck" and terror.
If that kick landed, he wouldn’t be worried about losing his ability to fight; he’d be worried about the future of his love life.
He hadn’t even produced an heir for his family yet! If he lost it just like that, he’d be a laughingstock for the rest of his days.
So he gambled everything, unhesitatingly maneuvering his Cloud Dragon Divine Intent to block the attack.
A good idea, but ultimately, he was a step too slow.
As the Tai Sui God’s kick connected, excruciating pain shot through his entire body.
The impact was so severe it even shattered his controlled Cloud Dragon Divine Intent.
The Dragon Whale Sect disciple had it even worse. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he passed out cold, just like that.
His entire body went limp, collapsing to the ground like a wet noodle.
"’The crit damage is insane,’ Qi Suian remarked. ’I can see he was quite attached to his family jewels. Let’s take him back first.’"
"’During the interrogation, AI Brain, you can try starting with his ’jewels.’ He might just spill the beans on everything.’"
Qi Suian was, naturally, completely unscrupulous.
Since the man valued it so much, it would be a waste of a perfectly good opportunity if Qi Suian didn’t use it as leverage.
[But... given the Tai Sui God’s strength, it has likely been reduced to a pulp.]
"’Simple. Just sculpt him a new one. Functionality is irrelevant. As long as it looks real enough to convince him that everything’s fine, that’s what matters.’"
"’Once he’s served his purpose, he’s heading for the Melting Furnace anyway. No need to treat him with kid gloves.’ For Qi Suian, it was all about the psychological reassurance.
He wasn’t getting out of here alive, so even if it were repaired, he’d never have a chance to use it again.