Epoch of Twilight

"Bio-Metal (Remains of a mutated monster)"

"Rarity: Dark green"

"Weight: 6kg"

"Additional Ability: Energy absorption"

"Remarks: The mutated monster is a great imitator and a tough creature. The bio-metal that is flowing in its body is immune to general attacks as well as certain energy-based attacks. Its massive size can be easily broken down which improves its survival skills. It can be terrifying and there is nothing anyone can do about it!"

The message came from the system. Luo Yuan was stunned as he picked up a silver ball in doubt and gathered his Will. Suddenly, there was a fire burning on his palm. It was caused by his Will! The temperature was not high but it was at least 500 degree Celsius which would kill most living things.

However, no matter how the fire burned, there were no changes to the temperature of the silver ball on his band. After 10 seconds, the flame turned into an intense chill. It was so cold that the surrounding air turned into ice crystals - releasing a chilly white gas. 10 seconds later, he stopped what he was doing and his heart sank.

He realized that the creature was so much more terrifying than he initially thought as it was immune to both physical and energy based attacks. It seemed that the majority of weapons would not be effective on it. Not only that, its cloning ability also showed that if any of the clones managed to escape, it could still live and grow bigger. That would be an endless nightmare for both the reconstruction area and the world.

Perhaps the only solution is to attack using a nuclear bomb. When a nuclear bomb explodes, the temperature from the core could go up to 10 million degree Celsius, which could make anything evaporate. No matter how stubborn this creature was, it would be evaporated as well. But this area was 400 kilometers away from Hope City and the nearest city was at most 20 kilometers away. The radiation from the nuclear bomb aside, the explosion in such an enclosed environment would affect the stratigraphy plates here that had just stabilized. It would cause yet another earthquake. The number of casualties would be uncertain given that there was no time for migration as the mutated monster was eager to leave this place as soon as possible.

With its cloning speed of one per minute, even Luo Yuan would not be able to handle it. After all, his Will was limited. With the speed that he had available to him and the rate of cloning, the most he could handle would be a hundred before he retreated.

Luo Yuan frowned as he squeezed the silver ball. At that moment, there were more than 10 mutated clones that were coming his way. Luo Yuan was getting more and more anxious. Looking at the watch on his wrist, he still could not decide what his best plan of action was going to be. He had just joined the sword unit today but had yet to officially enrol. Therefore, there was nothing on his file. Although he wished to acquire a prestige in the team at Hope City, what he said carried very little weight. No matter how seriously he described the situation, the superior might not take it seriously. This was nothing to brush off as it could cause many casualties. It was not something that could be decided with a snap of a finger.

Moreover, even if they were to act now, there was not enough time. The mutated monster was cloning itself every minute and by the time the nuclear bomb was launched, there would be more than 10 thousand mutated monsters who would have escaped then sinkhole - spreading all over the reconstruction area. Cold sweat was dripping from Luo Yuan’s forehead when he thought about the possibility.

Although he managed to kill a clone easily, to a common soldier or even most evolved humans, it was difficult for one to not be afraid when killing a creature. Something of this magnitude would be a brutal catastrophe and China would fall into a severe winter.

"It’s impossible that the mutated monster is so strong! It must have its weakness!" Luo Yuan gritted his teeth and tried to calm himself down to think of the move he would make.

"The mutated monster exists in a fluid state... What are fluids most afraid of?"

"High temperatures or ice-cold ones." Luo Yuan thought to himself but soon he dismissed the thought as he did not possess the ability to create super high or low-temperature environments.

The clones were arriving. Before they could come close to him, they were slashed by the anxious Luo Yuan at the speed of light. Looking at the silver balls that were rolling on the floor, Luo Yuan’s eyes lit up.

"No, this is not really a liquid. It has a modular structure. Although it could flow and change at will, once its body unit is smaller than a certain threshold, it would cease any activity and die completely."

"The most important question is how do I separate them perfectly? The bio-metal of the mutated monster has a strong adhesion, which makes any attack from common objects or weapons futile."

Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed in his mind!

"Earth Stomp! What could be more suitable to kill such fluid creatures than Earth Stomp!"

Although this theory still required some testing, most of the gloom in Luo Yuan’s heart had subsided. Day by day he used his Will to train his physical body to the extent that every inch of his body to even every cell was imprinted with his Will. The complicated message in his cells had been organized by his conscious mind to the level where he could almost control them with his mind.

With just a thought, Luo Yuan’s heartbeat synchronized with the earth’s wave. In less than a second, he was completely in the Earth Pulse mode. A heavy yet majestic force was coming from the bottom of his feet and it spread throughout his body. The emotions in his eyes disappeared as he turned indifferent and cold.

At the same time, there was an indescribable force that spread in the air and made the atmosphere restless. He lifted his head and looked far away in front of him. Perhaps the mutated monsters finally sensed danger. Countless clones were coming from every direction at a terrifying speed! There were easily more than a thousand of them.

Luo Yuan started his attack by leaping a hundred meters away. Although there were many clones that almost filled up every inch of the space, at such a speed, they would never catch up to Luo Yuan. He arrived at the edge of the mercury lake after 10 seconds.

Suddenly, there was an uproar in the mercury lake! Waves were splashing and numerous whirlpools were appearing out of nowhere. A massive amount of cloning was happening at the bottom of the whirlpool. Despite facing such a reaction from the mutated monster, Luo Yuan did not break a sweat. He was waiting quietly even though there were clones coming near him. All he did was avoid instead of attacking.

The clones that he left behind were now coming back to him. There were more of them that lingered around at the lake. As time went by, the place became crowded with the clones. The scene looked like troops from an army that was coming for his life and there was barely enough space for anyone to stand a round.

Luo Yuan had to fly to avoid the attacks from the clones that were jumping beneath him. Although he was in a calm state, he could not help but feel lucky. The mutated monster had been waiting for life to come to it, which was the reason why it could not unleash its potential. High level mutated beasts aside, even if it only managed to capture low-level birds or insects, he could not let his guard down just yet.

"Run now! Leave this place! This is not something that you can handle.’ The uproar had made Wu Qianru finally notice Luo Yuan. She looked at him in despair while shouting, "Report what is happening here, I hope there’s still time."

Luo Yuan looked at Wu Qianru, but quickly got back to his own business. She was pissed that he ignored her and said, "You have no idea what you are dealing with. Not only are you harming yourself, you will harm the reconstruction area as well."

Wu Qianru saw the watch on Luo Yuan’s wrist and knew who he was immediately. As powerful as he was, she did not think he could not handle such terrifying creature. It was too strong and was beyond human understanding about life. It almost had the power to rule the world.

"Shut up!" Luo Yuan said softly.

He found a gap and landed. The clones were coming towards him like stray dogs sniffing for food. Luo Yuan took out his Zhanmadao and struck them. The clones were cut in half with ease. While he still had time, Luo Yuan lifted his right foot. His face was flushing red and the veins on his neck were bulging. There was a fearsome force boiling within him when... he stomped his foot on the ground.

"Bang!"

Ever since his Sense and Strength had gained +1 respectively, his Earth Stomp was upgraded to level-5. The force was more astounding than ever.

A loud thud was made and the earth shaked immensely. Countless mutated clones nearby vanished the moment he unleashed the Earth Stomp and the lake looked like water that was being poured into a hot wok! Numerous silver balls were shooting out of the flowing lake. They fell from the air and rolled on the floor. They were not as active as they were before.