Epoch of Twilight

Luo Yuan glanced across the area as he kicked a heavy rock. The rock flew about 7-8 meters away and fell into a wallow, causing mud to splash around. He kept kicking rocks until he suddenly rushed forward and stepped on a big rock, lifting himself up to get closer to the corrosive earthworm. The Zhanmadao penetrated silently the shiny, sticky body of the earthworm. Luo Yuan pulled the sword out before the earthworm had enough time to react, leaving a 2-meter wound on its body.

The worm had a very low IQ and was too distracted by the intense pain to try to escape. It was like an eel in the ashes. It kept jumping around crazily, its movements splashing mud everywhere. Luo Yuan tried to step back while the earthworm struggled, but he still got mud on himself. He felt itchy, and his face and the back of his hand hurt slightly. He instinctively touched his face and realized it was full of blood and pus. His scalp felt numb and he was sure his face had been disfigured, even though he did not have a mirror to check. He wiped his face and cursed, "Damn it!"

He kept on cursing, the thought of his disfigured face making him angry. Since the mutation outbreak had happened, he’d never gotten such a bad injury, even though he’s gotten into a lot of fights. It had been quite dangerous, but he had always been the winner and he’d suffered minor injuries at worst. He had won most of the battles, so he was extremely mad to get injured now. His anger turned into motivation to kill.

The intention made his entire body shake. The Zhanmadao began to shine as it slowly became brighter. The mist in the air coagulated immediately, high pressure occupying a big part of the area. The corrosive earthworms nearby seemed to be able to sense him and had all stopped jumping around. They just lay down anxiously as their bodies began to shake.

“Knife expertise +1”

There was a system notification sound, but Luo Yuan did not seem to hear it. He began to walk towards the worm while he watched it. His footsteps were strong and firm, and his face was full of blood. He looked like a monster crawling out of the hell. It felt like the two of them had exchanged identities. Luo Yuan had become the beast, while the worm had become a small, harmless reptile.

Luo Yuan took a few steps forward before he began to increase his speed. It only took a few leaps for him to reach the worm. His sword released a beam of blue light and this time he could literally feel its force. The blade sliced across the body of the worm like it wasn’t even there. Luo Yuan pulled the sword back and cut through the worm’s 10-meter body. The earthworm was shaking in fear. It seemed to have forgotten how to escape and just let Luo Yuan chop it.

In fact, a blue rank creature would not simply allow someone to hurt them without a fight. No matter how big it was though, the worm was still a powerless Nematoda1. These organisms were like big computers with very basic operating systems. You could control them as long as you had the ability to hack them. The corrosive earthworm was fully controlled by Luo Yuan as its body became a shell without a soul. Luo Yuan kept cutting it, even after the knife had stopped shining.

It was too late for the earthworm to realize why its brain had gone blank. Its body had already been cut into numerous pieces and its internal organs were flowing out under the pressure of its thoracic cavity. The air was filled with an awful, choking smell. The worm twisted a few times until it stopped struggling. The massive blood loss was making it weaker. No matter how strong it was, it couldn’t survive under the circumstances. A few minutes later, the system beeped.

“E+ Level Mission: Killing Corrosive Earthworm, Completed!”

“Duration: 10 minutes and 36 seconds”

“Mission Rating: Pass!”

“Basic Experience Reward 1600!”

“Average Evaluation, Experience Reward +0!”

Luo Yuan was relieved when he heard the sound of the system. His furious energy immediately faded away. Suddenly, the awful stench of the dead worm made him puke. When he stopped retching, he got up from the ground and looked at the worm’s parts. He felt horrified. He could not believe that it had just let him kill it without even trying to escape.

He suddenly seemed to remember something. He touched his face and realized there were several holes with blood on it. It was horrible. He could even put his finger into the holes. His face was extremely itchy. He could not bear it and just started scratching his skin. The more he scratched, the itchier he got. He got frustrated and scratched even harder. He even scratched some of his skin off while he kept bleeding. Fear crept into his head as he lost control of his mind. He was unable to control his emotions anymore. He began to run around like crazy.

“Luo Yuan! Where are you?” Suddenly, he heard Huang Jiahui’s voice.

Luo Yuan was surprised and happy at the same time. “I’m here! Please, come over here!”

A moment later, Huang Jiahui drove over in the Desert Eagle, along with Huang Yuying and Wang Shishi, who both looked terrified. Huang Jiahui had only stayed in the underground chamber for a few minutes before she’d begun to feel worried. After a short hesitation, she couldn’t wait anymore and decided to go find Luo Yuan. Huang Yuying tried to stop her, but she failed, so she was forced to follow her. She was aware of her own situation. It was clear that all her effort to gain their trust would be wasted if she stayed in the chamber. Everyone would shun her. Perhaps not even Huang Jiahui would help her anymore. Nobody would keep around someone who only cared about themselves in a critical situation. What reason did she have to stay safe while everyone was out, trying their best to make things work?

Although Huang Jiahui was scared and she really did not want to go out, she’d much rather take that risk rather than get abandoned again. She walked very fast until she finally found Luo Yuan in the mist. She was shocked at how pitiful he looked. “What happened to your face?” she asked. Wang Shishi screamed upon she seeing him.

“What’s wrong with my face?” Luo Yuan asked, grabbing Huang Jiahui’s hand. Their reaction made him nervous.

“It’s full of blood!” Huang Jiahui said anxiously.

“Am I disfigured?” Luo Yuan asked nervously. He looked close to tears.

“I’m not sure, there’s poisonous mist everywhere. Let’s get back home first.” Huang Jiahui helped him up and supported him. She felt that something was wrong with Luo Yuan. Although people usually tended to get super nervous about their faces getting disfigured, Luo Yuan was not that kind of person. The way he’d reacted had reminded her of an extremely vain woman.

Huang Yuying wanted to laugh, but she did not dare to. Although Luo Yuan looked quite hideous with all that blood on his face, she would not have felt any less nervous if he’d looked like a normal person. She hesitated for a moment before she moved forward to help him. A high-pitch sound penetrated the sky like a car honk being pressed continuously. Suddenly, a strong wind blew above their heads as something fell down from the sky.The four of them raised their heads to check and saw a flame traveling down the sky through the mist, blasting somewhere in the distance.

“A bomb!”

A gigantic mass of red smoke rose up with an extremely loud sound and caused the ground to shake. They could hear the roaring sound of beasts. Luo Yuan turned pale while his entire body shook.

Translator Notes

1 The nematodes or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a broad range of environments.