Epoch of Twilight

Compared to the first time, Xu Zhiqiang’s body was nearly twice as small when he turned into a giant. The first time, his height had been almost 15 meters, but now it was only eight. However, considering that the tunnel was six meters tall at the most, he was still too big. He was actually forced to hunch.

Soon, that was no longer his main worry though. Under the effect of the strong microwaves, the cells in his body had started dying at an alarming rate. They were released from his body together with his blood and flesh, his body shrinking gradually. This unique self-healing technique was absolutely terrifying, but against such a powerful foe, it barely afforded him the ability to live a little longer.

The light at the end of the tunnel was getting brighter. Suddenly, a glowing beetle appeared in front of him, a strong force filling every inch of the space. The intense fear and heat felt like a burning flame, causing Xu Zhiqian extreme pain. At the same time, they triggered a vicious part of him. He let out a loud roar, picked up a giant rock next to his foot, and tossed it over. The giant rock, which weighed about 10 tons, rolled vigorously in the tunnel, producing a loud noise.

The giant bug’s ice cold stare was taunting. It did not stop moving at all. When the rock was 10 meters away from it, it just backed off quickly. Meanwhile, a shadow flashed by like lightning. The giant rock was hanging in the air. A black tail as thick as a washbasin pierced through the giant rock, causing it to hang in mid-air before it was flung and crushed against the wall. A loud thud was produced, and there was a light quake on the ground.

Xu Zhiqiang watched in desperation. He could feel his body melting like a candle, a big amount of fat piling up under his legs like a hill. Within seconds, his body had shrunk to a size that did not allow him to stand up straight. He sensed that he would only live 20 seconds at most. Death was coming for him.

Looking at the giant worm approaching him, he remained calm. Struggling would have been pointless. The ground shook intensely for a while. At first, he thought he was hallucinating, but soon the vibrations were getting more and more intense. There were cracks of all sizes on top of the tunnel, and gravel and dust falling. It felt like the tunnel was about to collapse.

"Is this an earthquake?" Xu Zhiqiang mumbled. He was leaning against the wall, unable to stand still during the quake. Perhaps shocked, the giant bug started screaming and backed off slowly, but the ground shook vigorously once again. A loud thud could be heard, and giant rocks as big as discs started falling from the top. The tunnel was collapsing.

As the radiation from the microwaves subsided, Xu Zhiqiang’s numb heart began to beat again. His eyes brightened up as he began to run for his life. Although the giant rocks were still falling, that did not stop him from running.

When he reached the entrance that they’d come in from, he could not help but turn around. He saw a blurry shadow jump from the top before the tunnel was blocked completely by the rocks.

"That could be Luo Yuan!"

...

Luo Yuan, who had been waiting outside for a long time, could not bear to see the rest of them sacrificing themselves for him. He could find countless excuses to argue that what he did had been the right thing. For instance, the mission would have had to go on even without him. Maybe the goal of the mission was too hard to achieve. Even if he’d risked his life, he could not have saved them all.

It was easy to lie to others, but the most difficult part was lying to himself. He could not bear to do that. He had never thought of himself as a saint, but then again, he was not ruthless either. Life was just a number to him. He was just an ordinary person. He tried to do good within his abilities, but he wouldn’t risk his life for it. He would do things that were selfish, but he would never initiate anything that was inherently bad.

He knew that the mission was dangerous and it would mean certain death for low-level evolved people, yet he had not stopped them. He had even thought of using them as cannon fodder, which was not far from murder.

When he jumped down from the top of the tunnel, the pressure in him was gone along with the strong wind. His spirit became clean once again, and there was peace in his heart. He was smiling without even noticing it, and he eventually closed his eyes.

His Sensory Perception, which had stopped growing, was expanding at the speed of light. 60 meters, 70 meters... It would not stop spreading. It was approaching 100 meters now...

"After a round of Spirit Baptism, you have gained +1 Sensory Perception point." A system notification popped up in his head.

Although Luo Yuan was not aware of it, despite the chaos, he was even calmer and more rational than before. There was no fluctuation on his emotions at all. His body had landed on the ground as light as a leaf. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he opened his eyes to look at the bug that was puzzling him. His eyes were clear, sharp and focused. With a slight change in his thoughts, a thin layer of Will enveloped his body. The layer was as thin as a hair, glowing in the dim light. It seemed like it could be snuffed out at any time. Although weak, the microwave radiation that had killed a few of the evolved people earlier was completely blocked out of his body.

The plasma undergarment Luo Yuan was wearing had the same function too, except that it did not consume any of his Will. Unfortunately, it could not protect his head, which was sticking out. Suddenly the air became restless, and the gravel at the entrance of the tunnel started shaking vigorously. Some smaller pieces were floating in the air as a terrifying vibe spread around.

Sensing Luo Yuan’s energy, the giant bug felt uneasy and took a few steps back while chirping in a sharp tone. The glow on its body was triggered, and it shone a few times brighter than before. It was a warning, but looking at it from a different perspective, it could also have been its way of showing its weakness. Perhaps Luo Yuan’s terrifying energy was making it uncomfortable.

Suddenly, it became an enormous source of light, lighting up the entire tunnel like it was daylight. The intense microwave radiation was causing the temperature in the tunnel to increase at an alarming rate. Soon, the temperature reached a few hundred degrees. It felt like the air was going to catch fire. That strong radiation made the layer of Will on Luo Yuan’s body start to shake slightly, his Will depleting fast.

Luo Yuan frowned, looking at the giant bug calmly as he slowly approached it. The depletion of his Will did not seem to bother him at all. Under the influence of energy, sand was flying everywhere in the tunnel, visibility inside it decreasing fast.

Perhaps the giant bug was badly injured or maybe it could not endure such immense stress, but the terrifying, yet mysterious bug showed no intention of fighting at all. As Luo Yuan made his way towards it, it kept backing away from him.

Its enormous pincers were opening and closing, letting out a sharp noise. Its black scorpion tail swayed in the air, looking like it could deliver a critical hit at any time. The giant bug had all its attention fixed on that small, yet terrifying person in front of it, so it was unaware of what was happening behind its back. It had not noticed that a giant, one-meter tall rock had fallen during the earthquake earlier, not far away from the bug’s back. As a result, the bug stumbled upon the rock.

Seizing the opportunity, Luo Yuan pulled out his Zhanmadao. There was the sound of his sword rubbing against the scabbard before Luo Yuan disappeared from where he was standing. Suddenly, his speed reached its limit, and gravel started swirling in the air from the energy under his feet. Thanks to the sandstorm in the tunnel, he was nowhere to be seen.

The giant bug noticed that something was wrong and started chirping again. Its pincers, which were as big as large excavators, were high up in the air. The pair of antennae on its head that looked like whips were moving left and right, trying to trace Luo Yuan’s location.

An insect’s antennae were its second pair of eyes. They were crucial for their smell and touch, and some of them even helped insects hear. Considering that there were many sensory and smell properties on the antennas, they were connected to the central nervous system. They were highly sensitive and they could sense objects and air, as well as different kinds of smells, even if they were far away. Sometimes, the antennae played an even bigger role than the eyes; for instance, during hunting.

It seemed like the bug had sensed something. Its tail was moving fast, and suddenly it was thrusting its front left violently at a terrifying speed. There were stripes of milky white, ultra high-speed airflow piercing a hole in the sandstorm. The bug had missed, even though it was usually very accurate when it came to estimating distance. If anyone could see what Luo Yuan was doing, they would have noticed that he had managed to avoid the giant bug’s tail when it started to move. The increase of his Sensory Perception had not only increased the range at which he could sense but had also made him extra sensitive to moving objects. In addition, he had acquired a new prediction ability that allowed him to avoid attacks even before they happened.

Such an ability was important during a battle when the slightest mistake could lead to death. When the bug’s tail paused at a straight position after its last attack, a light glow struck through the air. The glow faded immediately, followed by a light noise as if a piece of metal was being sliced. A small part of its tail fell off and crashed heavily against the ground.

Luo Yuan retracted his Zhanmadao, his hands shaking. The bug’s tail had been harder than he’d thought. Despite his Will, it had still been strenuous to use the sword. A similar incident had happened when he had been fighting against a green-level snake, but it was impossible to compare the two. Perhaps this mission had been ranked D Grade because the giant bug had been injured. If it had been perfectly fine, its power might have been even more horrifying.

However, that did not stop Luo Yuan, who ran through the sandstorm like a shooting arrow, straight towards the bug. Within a few breaths, he was already 10 meters away from it. Luo Yuan’s 180-centimeter height looked small compared to the giant bug though. He did not even reach its jaw.

The bug snapped out of its pain. Luo Yuan sensed a shadow above his head before a pincer slightly smaller than a round table smashed upon him. As a human with a superhuman body, facing a giant bug heavier or stronger than him was challenging. If an attack involved air pressure, he could be blown away easily. Physical strength was more powerful than anything else, so sometimes it was difficult for him to even approach his opponent.

He did not dare fight back forcefully against such an attack. His best quality had never been his defense or strength. He just walked two steps to the left and stepped onto the wall. His high Dexterity made the wall seem like a horizontal surface to him.

As the bug’s pincer smashed against the ground, Luo Yuan took a few quick steps on the wall, and then stomped hard it, producing an echoing noise. His tremendous power made a hole in the concrete wall before he ran towards the giant bug as if he was walking on the ground.

The impact from the pincer’s collision could still be felt. Large amounts of gravel were swirling fast in the air, occasionally hitting Luo Yuan before bouncing back from the clothes he was wearing. Luo Yuan grabbed the bug’s joint, which was glowing brightly, and flipped himself onto it. He was confident that he could finish it. Just as he was about to end the mission though, an intense sense of danger rose inside him. He noticed that the layer of Will on him was shaking rapidly, melting and collapsing. A terrifying heat was burning like fire through his exposed body parts.

He had never thought that the body of the giant bug would be the source of the microwave radiation. The power of its radiation was a few times stronger than the radiation in the air. The Will layer Luo Yuan had been relying on was beaten by the radiation and melted away completely. Amid the chaos, Luo Yuan managed to remain rational and calm and get out of the situation fast.

Within a few seconds, his face was blushing as red as blood. Dazed, he felt as if he was losing his sanity as he stumbled, almost falling to the ground. He bit the tip of his tongue hard, feeling a bitterness in his mouth. He was not at the top of his game.

Out of nowhere, he snapped out of it and tore off his clothes. He covered his head with the plasma undergarment, and the temperature on his head decreased rapidly. His abdomen were still burning like fire, but he could not be bothered anymore.

The giant bug’s senses were sensitive, so it knew that Luo Yuan was around. It started to hit the wall hard, the wings on its back flapping immensely. An intense wind was blowing, preventing Luo Yuan from standing up. Upset, he held onto the spikes on the bug’s back desperately as he tried to balance his body.

He could feel his body losing strength at an alarming rate. His body functions were shutting down, and parts of his skin that were exposed were exuding a light barbecue fragrance. He did not have much time left. Taking advantage of the interval between the giant bug’s hits, he groaned and mustered his remaining strength, using the wind produced by the bug’s flapping wings to jump onto its head.

Before he landed, the Zhanmadao, which was giving out an immense glow, pierced straight into the giant bug’s head. The hit took all the strength he had. Luo Yuan let go of his sword. He had lost all his strength, and he fell on his head from five meters high. He collapsed hard against the ground. Unable to move anymore, he fell into a coma.