Chapter 358: Unleashing the Shadow

An endless, oppressive feeling began to spread.

A crescent Red Moon hung suspended over the city, its light crimson and chilling, hinting at cruelty.

Beneath the Red Moon loomed the flesh monster vast as a mountain, towering over the city itself. Atop this grotesque mass stood the ‘God’ gazing indifferently down at the building ruins below—a compressed mountain of debris crushed under immense force.

In the air, a vast Distorted Force Field blurred its form to any onlookers.

Amidst this dynamic world, it possessed a strange sense of silence.

It seemed puzzled. Everything beneath this ‘mountain’ should have died long ago, and indeed, it hadn’t sensed movement for quite some time. Yet its perception picked up a growing oppressive feeling emanating from below. Some emotion festered under the debris, thickening the air. Like the Red Moon above, it instinctively sensed a threat.

“Captain… why hasn’t the Captain shown up yet?”

Further away, Gecko waited anxiously, but the longer he waited, the more panic set in.

Even against that S-rank Ability User from the Sea Country, the Captain hadn’t taken this much time.

He’d finished him off before the pollution could truly spread.

But now, the flesh monster had already spread significantly.

If this were a densely populated major city, two-thirds of it would already be thoroughly polluted.

And yet, that ‘God’ was still standing there.

Was the Captain really being this patient?

…

Rumble!

Just then, a muffled impact echoed from beneath the mountain of ruins.

The impact was so violent it felt like an earthquake.

Not only did the distant members of the Joint team look up strangely.

The ‘God’ beneath the Red Moon snapped its gaze downwards, its six eyes swiveling rapidly towards the mountain of debris.

It sensed intense mental fluctuations originating from within the ‘mountain’—a place where nothing should have survived.

Rumble!

Another violent tremor shook the ground.

At the same time, a section of the debris mountain began collapsing rapidly, as if a dark void had opened beneath it.

“Om…”

The air surrounding the ‘God’ suddenly warped like boiling water.

Countless python-like tentacles shot outwards, slithering across the empty ground. They skewered seven or eight bungalows like chunks of tofu, ripped them from their foundations, and hoisted them high into the air.

Then, it brought them crashing down towards the collapsing section.

Boom!

Immense pressure roiled the air as the skewered buildings collided, emitting a sound that made one’s scalp tingle.

But just as the chain of buildings was about to smash onto the debris mountain, another intense vibration occurred.

From the heart of the collapse, an impossibly dense black shadow erupted.

The shadow solidified, no longer a mere absence of light but a tangible black substance. Every particle vibrated violently as it surged from beneath the mountain, like a black volcano erupting after lying dormant for ages.

“Swish…”

As the shadow surged upwards, it met the descending tentacles and the buildings they carried.

Instantly, the buildings shattered segment by segment, raining down mud, rock, and steel fragments in all directions like a meteor shower.

The massive tentacle snapped apart moments later, its foul blood splattering across the ground amidst the debris.

The pupils in the ‘God’s’ six eyes contracted sharply as it stared intently downwards.

In the distance, the faces of everyone in the Joint team stiffened as they stared blankly ahead.

Xia Chong, in particular, instinctively rose onto her tiptoes.

…

Amidst the downpour of mud, stone, and stinking blood, Lu Xin emerged from beneath the mountain of debris.

He cradled a little girl wearing a white dress.

His expression remained calm, yet held a subtle new depth.

“Gurgle…”

The ‘God’ lowered its head slightly, its six eyes gazing down upon Lu Xin.

At that same moment, Lu Xin slowly tilted his head back, meeting the gaze of the ‘God’ that towered over the entire city.

As their gazes clashed, violent ripples distorted the air, spreading outwards in all directions.

The ‘God’s’ mental impact was now dozens of times stronger than it had been back in the lab.

As the immense impact washed over him, Lu Xin stumbled slightly, sliding backward.

He only slid about a meter before planting his back foot firmly onto a solid concrete slab.

A silent spiderweb of cracks spread across the concrete beneath his foot.

Yet Lu Xin stood firm, meeting the ‘God’s’ gaze directly, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Seemingly provoked, the God’s vast fleshy body contracted violently before abruptly relaxing. An indescribably powerful mental impact surged downwards, pressing like an immense tide crashing from the sky.

All the surrounding debris suddenly sank half a meter under the immense pressure.

The Mental Detection Device on Lu Xin’s wrist flashed an intense red, its readings turning chaotic.

The sheer force of the mental impact disrupted its function.

Yet, just as the violent assault reached Lu Xin, the shadows beneath his feet rapidly converged.

It was as if surrounding lights had suddenly switched on, concentrating the darkness into a small patch before him.

From the center of this darkness, an eerie black figure ascended rapidly, like a demon clawing its way out of hell. As it rose, more and more shadows flowed into it, making it grow taller, denser.

Whoosh.

The mental impact slammed into the shadow figure and split, diverting harmlessly to either side.

A V-shaped scar tore across the ground, originating from the shadow before Lu Xin.

“Clack!”

Only a single small stone, caught in the psychic wake, ricocheted like a bullet towards the little girl in Lu Xin’s arms.

Lu Xin raised his hand, snatching the stone from the air.

“You really aren’t very good at protecting others, are you…”

Lu Xin crushed the stone in his fist and looked up at the black shadow.

“Hehehehe…”

The black shadow emitted a hollow, chilling laugh—a sound laced with disdain, excitement, and a newfound sense of freedom.

“Are you ready?”

Lu Xin’s expression grew serious as he faced the black shadow.

The shadow paused, its laughter ceasing. Tentatively, it asked, “Are you really willing to trust me?”

Lu Xin paused for a moment before replying, “Actually, all this time, it was you who didn’t trust me.”

The two blood-red eyes within the shadow narrowed slightly, a hint of wariness creeping in.

“Sorry!”

Lu Xin suddenly bowed his head slightly towards the shadow, his voice soft but sincere. “The person I was before… indeed wasn’t worthy of trust.”

“I forgot too much, even the promises I made to them.”

“Someone without even a sense of direction certainly doesn’t deserve much trust. So… I understand.”

“But please, trust me now. I know what I have to do.”

“…”

The shadow seemed startled by his candor, remaining silent for a long moment.

Then, softly, it asked, “You really remembered? Everything?”

“Not entirely…”

Lu Xin sighed, raising a hand to tap his head helplessly. “Many memories are still just blank spaces. But I remembered the most important things. Perhaps I forgot because I thought those memories were useless back then? I never expected… there were still such important tasks waiting, still people waiting for me…”

He offered a slightly embarrassed smile. “This must be that ‘sense of direction’ right?”

“Hehehehe…”

The shadow laughed again.

It was a dark, insidious sound that seemed poised to seep into every corner of the city.

…

“Screech…”

At that moment, having failed with its mental assault, the ‘God’ sent its vast sea of flesh surging forward like a tidal wave.

It didn’t repeat its previous mistake, opting instead to simply drown Lu Xin in its flesh. After all, this highly corrosive flesh was its greatest strength, the true advantage it held as a ‘God’.

The sound of countless tearing muscles merged into a single horrific noise as a mountain of flesh, dozens of meters high, surged towards Lu Xin.

Within the pulsating mass, nerves and blood vessels writhed like nests of vipers.

“You look much more agreeable now…”

The black shadow regarded Lu Xin as a pair of eyes materialized within its form, slowly turning blood red.

Its voice deepened, taking on a low, oppressive quality.

Lu Xin, however, offered a gentle, confident smile. “People grow, don’t they? Especially with trust and understanding from family.”

“Is that so?”

The shadow whispered, amusement flickering in its blood-red eyes.

By now, the mountain—no, the sea—of flesh had surged right up to Lu Xin.

The towering wave blotted out even the Red Moon above, plunging the area into darkness.

Lu Xin was about to be swallowed like a pebble in an avalanche.

But at that very moment, Lu Xin gently set Little Nineteen down, patted her head, and whispered:

“Turn around now. Children shouldn’t watch this.”

As Little Nineteen obediently turned away, Lu Xin faced the monster once more.

His expression twisted into sudden ferocity, blood vessels instantly flooding the whites of his eyes.

Pushing off with his right foot, he shot forward like an arrow.

Simultaneously, he reached out his hand.

Beside him, Sister, already prepared, hesitantly offered her small hand.

“Swish!”

The moment their hands clasped, Lu Xin nearly yanked her off her feet.

She flew onto his back, instinctively wrapping her small arms around his neck.

As they connected, Lu Xin’s speed multiplied instantly. His limbs and torso moved with an indescribable agility and grace. He surged forward again, merging with the shadow before him.

The shadow instantly enveloped him, making his form appear two or three times larger.

Yet his agility and speed remained unaffected. Maintaining a direct path, he crashed straight into the encroaching wall of flesh.

Instantly, countless nerve tendrils and blood vessels within the mass tried to bore into him.

But they were severed by the churning black substance surrounding Lu Xin before they could even get close.

The next moment, the sea of flesh tore open, the rift racing upwards.

Like the Red Sea parting for Moses.

The difference was, Lu Xin forced the flesh to part before him.

He charged straight ahead. Everywhere he passed, the flesh melted away, leaving a massive, expanding tunnel in his wake.

Moving at terrifying speed, he raced upwards along the path he carved through the flesh, heading straight for the ‘God’s’ main torso high above. A grim laugh escaped his lips, his eyes and the shadow’s eyes fixed forward as one.

He looked as though he possessed four eyes.

“God?”

Lu Xin laughed, his voice low and echoing, like two voices speaking as one.

Hollow and cold. “No. You’re just trash!”