Chapter 12

The once clear features gradually blurred, and within just a second, Lu Li completely forgot what the other person looked like—even their gender and height slipped from memory.

Lu Li had always had an excellent memory. She could still recall what her kindergarten teacher had told her years ago. How could she forget something as basic as whether someone was male or female?

Why was this happening? Why?

Lu Li clutched her chest in panic, utterly bewildered.

Seeing her struggle to remember, the Awakener standing before her sighed softly.

Contaminants of this level rarely left any traces behind. It was normal not to recall their appearance.

Now that they had Li Zhuoxue’s name, the priority was to capture him first.

According to Lu Li’s account, Li Zhuoxue was either an unknown Contaminant or a follower of the Evil God.

His abduction of so many people was likely meant as offerings to some Contaminant.

After receiving Lu Li’s call, the Xucheng police and Official Awakeners immediately launched a manhunt. But Li Zhuoxue was faster—they failed to apprehend him at his residence.

By noon that day, Xucheng had issued a warrant for Li Zhuoxue’s arrest, offering a 100,000-yuan reward for any useful leads.

When the news broke, every doctor at Xucheng Central Hospital was stunned.

Li Zhuoxue was the culprit?

In everyone’s memory, Li Zhuoxue had been diligent and responsible in surgeries, humble and courteous in demeanor. The only peculiar thing about him was his unusual obsession with Mysticism—but in this world, that was hardly remarkable. Many in the hospital were devoted enthusiasts of Mysticism, and Li Zhuoxue had never stood out among them. Yet this same Dr. Li turned out to be the criminal

Li Zhuoxue was a B-grade Awakener, ranking higher than most at the Bixu City Awakening Center.

Inside the abandoned building, all the previously missing people were gathered here, including the girl who had been abducted just last night.

The number of people imprisoned here far exceeded the official missing persons records. There were both men and women, most of them impoverished.

Except for the girl taken yesterday, everyone had been modified. Parts of their bodies were missing, replaced instead by limbs from other Contaminants.

Yet these weren’t mutations—they were living amalgamations, as if animal limbs had been brutally crammed into human torsos.

One woman’s belly was grotesquely distended, her abdominal wall stretched so thin that its contents were clearly visible.

What grew inside this pregnant woman wasn’t a human child. It bore human characteristics, but more prominently displayed traits of various Contaminants.

It ravenously consumed its host’s nutrients, scratching at the thin belly with sharp claws, desperate to break free.

The room echoed with wails of despair.

Li Zhuoxue closed his eyes in pleasure, savoring the symphony of suffering.

His gaze swept over them with tender affection, as though admiring treasured possessions.

To Li Zhuoxue, these were his masterpieces—the most perfect offerings for his Lord.

Since childhood, Li Zhuoxue had been fascinated by bodily modification.

He burned with curiosity—what would emerge when human and Contaminant DNA merged? How powerful? How grotesque?

This obsession tormented him, becoming the fundamental drive behind his medical career.

As a doctor, he began experiments—though initially limited to animals.

Over time, mere cross-species animal hybrids no longer satisfied him. He craved human subjects.

Yet current medical science couldn’t fulfill his ambition.

He continued animal testing, a meager substitute for his growing fixation.

Tragically, his parents discovered his experiments.

Though they remained silent, Li Zhuoxue saw their terrified expressions and the phone hidden behind their backs.

Why? Why this betrayal?

He merely pursued his life’s work. Why wouldn’t even his own parents understand?

Fools. Useless creatures.

For his dream, Li Zhuoxue killed them—his first murders, yet he felt no remorse. For in that moment, he met divinity: the most sacred, most glorious Goddess of Life.

The Goddess wielded dominion over life itself, granting followers contamination abilities related to existence.

From Her, Li Zhuoxue received [Life Fusion]—an ability to merge genetic material across species without rejection.

With this Awakening ability, he could finally realize his long-held obsession and begin the experiment he had been dreaming of day and night.  

All the missing people over the years had been fitted with limbs from Contaminants, but the results of the experiment were underwhelming. Those humans infused with Contaminant genes were not particularly strong—the most powerful among them only reached C-rank.  

To obtain stronger Contaminants and to prove his devotion to the Goddess of Life, Li Zhuoxue turned his attention to pregnant women.  

He thought: if the later-stage fusion experiments yielded such poor results, what if he directly fused the genes of monsters with the unborn children in pregnant women? Wouldn’t that be far more effective?  

The moment this idea occurred to him, Li Zhuoxue was overcome with excitement and immediately set to work.  

He began abducting pregnant women, transferring the genes of Contaminants into the unborn children in their wombs.  

After the procedure, these women slowly began to feel their children growing increasingly terrifying, increasingly strange—little by little, swelling inside them until finally, they tore through their mothers’ bellies and crawled out.  

Inside the abandoned building, aside from the missing people, there was also a twisted, fleshy mass.  

It had no limbs, moving only by writhing forward on the bristles beneath its body, like a caterpillar.  

Its eyes protruded from their sockets, resembling those of a snail.  

This thing was one of the earliest test subjects born from these experiments—a failure, with low intelligence.  

Li Zhuoxue still remembered the agonized screams of the woman who had given birth to this monster.  

It had been utterly exquisite.  

Now, Li Zhuoxue turned his gaze to another pregnant woman—the thing inside her belly was, by far, his most successful creation yet.  

She had been captured three months ago, the only Awakener among the group.  

The thing inside her was the strongest, the most exceptional.  

It resembled a squirming black sphere, densely packed like a mass of wriggling insects. Thrashing violently within its mother, it produced tremendous movement. Upon closer inspection, one could see it bore a human face, its mouth and nose gaping like black holes as it wailed inside the womb.  

The pregnant woman stared at the thing inside her and began to sob in despair.  

This child had been the product of love between her and her husband. But over these three months, she had watched it slowly transform into a horrifying monster, into something she no longer recognized.  

Why? Why did it have to be her? Why did she have to suffer like this?  

Who would come to save her? Who would save them all? Anyone—please, she begged.  

She didn’t want this. She wanted to live. She wanted her child to live.  

The woman screamed in agony, just as she had countless times over these three months. Yet no hero had come to their rescue.  

Watching her suffering, Li Zhuoxue found it endlessly fascinating and thrilling.  

This Contaminant was his most perfect masterpiece—not S-rank, but the peak of A-rank.  

In just one more hour, it would hatch.  

Li Zhuoxue trembled with excitement, for this masterpiece was also an offering to the Goddess of Life.

The Goddess of Life is currently at S-rank, just one step away from becoming an SS-rank Evil God. As long as he offers this sacrifice to the Goddess, she will devour it and ascend to the supreme status of an Evil God, worshipped by all and gaining even more followers!

And he—he would become the Evil God’s most favored believer.

At this moment, Li Zhuoxue abruptly thought of Xi Le, that handsome orthopedic surgeon.

From the very first glance, Li Zhuoxue had known Xi Le was perfect for experimentation. Merging Contaminant genes into him would yield spectacular results.

Unfortunately, he had never found the right opportunity to act.

Li Zhuoxue sighed briefly but quickly regained his composure. Right now, his masterpiece took precedence.

Not far from the abandoned building, an Awakener named Yan Xingqi lay in silent wait.

Yan Xingqi was a C-rank Awakener with the ability of [Aura Concealment], allowing him to completely mask his presence. At higher levels, he could even turn invisible.

Thanks to this unique ability, he had remained undetected despite staying here for so long.

While investigating Li Zhuoxue, Yan Xingqi had accidentally wandered into the outskirts. But what shocked him most was discovering Li Zhuoxue here—along with so many test subjects.

Watching the horrors unfolding inside the abandoned building, Yan Xingqi was too terrified to even speak.

The situation was far worse than they had imagined. Li Zhuoxue was conducting grotesque experiments! And he truly intended to offer a sacrifice to the Contaminant he worshipped!

A Contaminant capable of amassing followers was undoubtedly high-level—at least S-rank. If Li Zhuoxue succeeded in summoning such a powerful entity, everyone here would die.

No, not just everyone here—the entire city of Xucheng would be in danger.

He had to find a way to alert the other Awakeners.

Seizing a moment when Li Zhuoxue wasn’t looking, Yan Xingqi cautiously reached for his communicator.

Every movement was measured, his eyes darting to ensure Li Zhuoxue remained unaware.

Glancing once more to confirm he hadn’t been noticed, Yan Xingqi hastily dialed the Awakener Center’s number.

But the next second, a scaly hand clamped around his throat.

Li Zhuoxue’s face twisted with malice. “Did you really think I wouldn’t notice you? No one will ruin my sacrifice!”

He crushed the communicator in his grip and, with a single strike, shattered Yan Xingqi’s shoulder. Blood sprayed from Yan Xingqi’s mouth as he collapsed heavily to the ground.

Yet the searing pain sharpened his mind. Gritting his teeth, he retrieved a backup communicator hidden on his person and began dialing frantically.

But before he could finish, an overwhelming wave of Contaminant energy crashed over him.

The sheer aura alone made Yan Xingqi’s hair stand on end.

It was born—the Contaminant inside the pregnant woman had been born!

As the woman’s agonized scream echoed, the near-S-rank Contaminant entered the world. The oppressive weight of Mysticism in the air left Yan Xingqi struggling to breathe.

Witnessing the birth of his finest creation, Li Zhuoxue danced with manic glee, immediately preparing for the ritual.

He dropped to his knees, clasped his hands together, and raised them toward the unseen sky. With devout reverence, he uttered a True Name.

In the world of Mysticism, Contaminants above S-rank possess a corresponding True Name. Merely uttering their True Name can summon them forth.

A True Name is like a string of numbers—dial them, and you connect directly to the Evil God.

The situation was already chaotic enough. If a genuine S-rank Contaminant were to be summoned here, they would have absolutely no chance of survival!

Yan Xingqi’s mind screamed with alarm. Struggling to break free from the control, he lashed out at Li Zhuoxue with all his might.

After an Awakener unlocks their Awakening ability, their physical capabilities surpass those of an ordinary person by tenfold. Even the weakest Awakener could take on three burly men at once.

Had he been facing a normal person, it might have been manageable. But Li Zhuoxue was a Contaminant—Yan Xingqi stood no chance against him.

Before Yan Xingqi could stop him, Li Zhuoxue recited a True Name in a tone of utmost reverence: “Lord of Life and Rebirth, Beacon of the Decaying World, Great Goddess of Life, your devout follower calls upon you. I beseech you to come to my side and answer my prayers.”

A True Name carries the corrupting influence of a Contaminant, but it also affects others with its overwhelming Mysticism power, rapidly draining their sanity.

Almost the moment Li Zhuoxue finished speaking, Yan Xingqi and the others in the abandoned building felt the air grow thin. The temperature, which had been over 30 degrees, plummeted to a chilling 10 degrees.

In the distant sky, a translucent eye materialized out of nowhere. It lazily opened and fixed its gaze upon the abandoned building.

The weight of that unseen stare sent agonizing pain through Yan Xingqi and the others. They didn’t dare look up—an S-rank Contaminant was not something one could casually lay eyes upon.

Yan Xingqi never imagined that Li Zhuoxue’s incantation would actually summon an S-rank Contaminant!

Under the oppressive force of that gaze, Yan Xingqi’s body felt as if it had been filled with molten lead. He couldn’t move a muscle.

His sanity points plummeted wildly. In mere seconds, he lost five points.

Beside him, the others who had been dragged into this nightmare weren’t faring any better. Their bodies began sprouting bird-like beaks.

They screamed in despair.

In the end, they would still perish at the hands—or rather, the maws—of the Contaminants.

But they so desperately wanted to live…

Save them, save them!

Who could possibly rescue them now?

Amidst the wails, Li Zhuoxue stood out with his exhilaration.

Unable to contain his excitement, he cried out to the sky, “The True Lord! The True Lord!”

He poured out praises and adoration for the True Lord to the Goddess of Life.

Then, pointing at the newly manifested Contaminant, he presented his masterpiece to the Goddess.

“Great Goddess of Life, this humble offering is a tribute from your devoted follower. Please accept it.”

The Goddess of Life seemed pleased with the sacrifice. The surrounding contamination levels surged abruptly.

A gentle breeze swept through, as if caressing Li Zhuoxue’s cheek.

His face flushed with fervor, as though he would gladly die for the Goddess of Life without hesitation.

Yan Xingqi was nearly consumed by despair.

What could he do? What could he possibly do? How could he stop any of this? He was just a C-rank Awakener—how could he save everyone here?

His heart burned with grief and fury, and he loathed his own powerlessness more than ever.

If only he were stronger. If only he were stronger, not this weak C-rank, maybe he could have saved the others.

Yan Xingqi felt as though his body was about to explode.

He had tried his hardest to change something, only to realize he was utterly powerless.

This world was so despairing.

At the same time, in the central hospital of Xu City.

Xi Le, who had been starving for a full month, now felt his hunger reach its peak.

He wanted to eat something—anything—to satisfy his hunger. He was just so hungry.

Just as Xi Le’s hunger peaked, he caught a whiff of an incredibly rich aroma.

The scent was so enticing that it made Xi Le’s mouth water.

What was giving off that smell? Where was it coming from? He wanted to eat it… so badly…

Xi Le grew increasingly restless, his behavior turning strange, unlike his usual self.

Driven by this intense craving, a tiny building appeared on the table in front of Xi Le.

Though the structure was no longer than a single joint of his finger, Xi Le immediately recognized it as an unfinished building.

And that tantalizing aroma? It was coming from a tiny eyeball perched atop the unfinished structure.

The scent was reminiscent of fried chicken—utterly mouthwatering.

Moreover, Xi Le had an inexplicable premonition.

If he ate this eyeball, he would gain immense power.

Without hesitation, Xi Le reached out and plucked the eyeball into his hand.

The eyeball, which had been arrogantly taunting Li Zhuoxue and the others moments ago, now trembled pitifully in Xi Le’s grasp, begging for mercy, desperate to survive.

But Xi Le wasn’t himself anymore. He seemed to have slipped into some bizarre state—and he was just so hungry.

So, without a second thought, Xi Le swallowed the eyeball whole.

Inside the unfinished building, Yan Xingqi and the others, drowning in despair, were on the verge of giving up.

But then, an even more sinister sensation washed over them.

What… was happening?

Yan Xingqi wanted to look up, but a split second before he could turn his head, his Awakening ability screamed at him—don’t look.

This was something ten thousand times more terrifying than the Goddess of Life!

Sweat inexplicably broke out on Yan Xingqi’s body, his limbs locking up in fear, making even the act of lifting his head an impossible struggle.

The warning was so intense that it felt like a single glance would doom him, turning him into a monster.

This oppressive force overshadowed the earlier shock from the Goddess of Life, leaving them trembling in agony.

Yan Xingqi couldn’t hold on any longer—he blacked out.

The others fared no better. Not a single person remained conscious.

Their collapse was so swift that none of them witnessed the sun, which had been hanging high above the unfinished building, vanishing without a trace. In its place, a crimson blood moon emerged.

Until now, the blood moon had followed a strict schedule—appearing after 7 PM and disappearing before 6 AM.

But the current time was only 3 PM. For the first time ever, the blood moon had appeared during the day!

The moment the blood moon rose, the entire unfinished building was bathed in its scarlet glow. Even the dark clouds in the sky were dyed an eerie shade of red.

The Crimson Moon, which should not have appeared at this hour, loomed terrifyingly large and unnervingly round.  

In Taocheng and Haishi, Tong Miao, Song Huai, Yu Fanlian, and Yu Luo seemed to sense something. In an instant, they rushed to the nearest window, gazing toward the direction of the abandoned building.  

Everywhere else in the sky appeared normal, except for that area. Yet, it was as if they could see the Crimson Moon, their excitement surging uncontrollably.  

Tong Miao’s cheeks flushed red as she dropped to her knees, beginning a fervent and devout prayer.  

“Is it You? Great Crimson Moon, You have turned Your gaze upon Your faithful once more. Your devoted follower prays to You here.”

By the time everyone in the unfinished building woke up, more than ten minutes had passed.

Yan Xingqi checked his body and found no signs of Aberration.

He let out a sigh of relief.

But suddenly, Li Zhuoxue let out a despairing scream.

“Who? Who did this?”

“Why has the Goddess of Life disappeared?!!”

Only then did the group realize that the enormous, terrifying eyeball in the sky had vanished without a trace.

Author’s note:

Xi Le: Thanks, I’m full.