Chapter 807: A Confluence of Minds and Powers
by xennovel“Hm?”
Lu Xin’s reply was heard. The two figures above the worm’s head on the other side clearly froze for a moment.
That answer wasn’t what they had expected.
“This isn’t good…”
At the same moment, behind Lu Xin – or rather, in the corner of the old building’s wall – Doctor An looked up and spotted those two figures.
With a sudden sound of ‘swish,’ her expression changed dramatically, her pupils contracting tightly.
Her face was as if she’d seen a ghost, and she instinctively recoiled behind the old building.
Yet she couldn’t help but stick her head out to take a look.
“Who are those two, anyway…?”
Dr. Zhang and Dr. Wang, along with Master Li by their side, appeared puzzled and curiously asked.
“Our… our seniors…”
Doctor An took a deep, cold breath and paused for two or three seconds before speaking in a low tone:
“I’ve only seen their photos, but I can tell – they must be the two founders of the old Red Moon Research Institute.”
“One was the largest financial backer of the Red Moon Research Institute and the head of a certain mysterious pre-Civilization organization…”
“It’s truly amazing – he doesn’t seem to have aged at all.”
“The other was the institute’s chief researcher back then, the host of the Higher-Dimension Life Research Project…”
“My God, how could it be that these two came directly? This… this isn’t right…”
“Shouldn’t there have been a few little monsters attacking first?”
“…”
“Holy shit…”
Both doctors and even the engineer were taken aback; they hurriedly craned their heads out to see, then quickly pulled back.
“Is it really them?”
“They must be from the Pre-Civilization Era…”
“I… I kind of feel an urge to ask them for autographs. Isn’t that odd?”
“…”
“Enough talking…”
Doctor An scolded in frustration before nervously asking Master Li, “Has the Negative Zero Unit transmitted any news yet?”
“N-no, not yet.”
Master Li swallowed nervously, “But maybe they’ve already received our distress signal; they just can’t reply.”
“Let’s hope so…”
Doctor An sighed deeply, a hint of despair in her eyes, “In front of them, even the Ultimate can only tremble.”
……
……
“Money means nothing to us.”
At this moment, the elderly man draped in a mysterious church’s black robe finally replied in a low voice.
His eyes, visible beneath his cloak, were cold as he looked at Lu Xin with a slight blue tint, as deep and enigmatic as a still lake.
In a harsh tone, he spoke to Lu Xin, “Cooperate with us, extract your Unique Consciousness, and you can leave.”
“Return to your old life, and even receive our reward…”
“……”
“No thanks.”
Before he could finish, Lu Xin furrowed his brows and replied in a low voice, “I’m not interested in anything else…”
As he spoke, he gritted his teeth; the black particles in his eyes began to tremble wildly.
From the moment he conversed with the other party, those black particles had not faded.
It was the first time he completely let go of the mental constraints imposed on him.
It was also the first time he felt that exhilarating surge of power breaking through limits—humans can be addicted to freedom.
At this moment, Lu Xin was exactly like that; he wasn’t willing to leave so soon from this state of unbridled freedom.
During his speech, he kept his gaze fixed on the worm above their heads.
He was mentally calculating the nature of those worms and pondering what kind of power would be required to kill them.
He had a hunch about the worms’ identity, but he was too lazy to dwell on it.
After all, his current goal was simply to leave; if he wanted to leave, why waste words?
“Why waste words?”
A thought echoed in Lu Xin’s mind.
It seemed that at the same time, another consciousness stirred violently within him.
His lips suddenly twitched into a bizarre smile, “What a pity…”
“If we continue along this topic, there’s still hope for a deal…”
……
……
“Swish…”
The moment that thought arose, Lu Xin immediately leaned forward; his black hand forcefully pressed ahead.
At the same time, the black particles in his eyes, now seemingly bottomless, connected to another mysterious channel.
“Swish, swish, swish!”
Every bit of his mental power instantly coiled as if it were tangible.
Surging upward with an overwhelmingly terrifying force.
The distorted force field, freshly torn by the worm, instantly transformed into a mental shockwave.
Even within that shockwave, faint clusters of black particles could be seen.
Deep within his pupils, that channel rapidly pulled in, subtly leading toward a mysterious Black Palace.
This lent his mental shock an unusually oppressive pressure…
“Kra-la-la…”
This unprecedented power roared forward like a massive torrent.
Even the air revealed glass-like fine cracks – a sign that the fabric of space was collapsing.
“He…”
Doctor An, witnessing the scene, quickly covered her eyes.
On one hand, she dared not look directly at Lu Xin; on the other, his actions had instantly startled her.
How could he dare to directly attack those two?
……
……
“Hm?”
At the same moment, the two figures below the worm furrowed their brows slightly.
The man clad in a church robe remarked in a tone of surprise, “How long did it take for things to escalate to this level?”
“Sigh…”
On the opposite side of the Jeep, an elderly man wearing a grimy white coat shook his head slightly.
“After all, it’s the power closest to divinity…”
“……”
He murmured softly while reaching into the pocket of his white coat, slowly retrieving something.
His movements were unhurried, like that of an ordinary man.
Under normal circumstances, by the time he reached into his pocket and pulled out that item, Lu Xin could have killed him a hundred times.
But standing beneath the worm, he seemed enveloped in an extraordinary mental force, granting him enough time at all moments to calmly retrieve the item from his coat.
It was a playing card.
The back was adorned with eerie patterns, while the front showcased a diamond: the Diamond K.
After producing the card, he looked at Lu Xin with resigned eyes and sighed softly:
“Kid, you were destined to be pitiful. But you really shouldn’t covet what isn’t yours…”
“……”
As he spoke, he casually tossed it forward, meeting Lu Xin’s mental shock.
The next moment, time suddenly accelerated.
The Diamond K collided with Lu Xin’s mental shock, triggering a bizarre explosion of psychic energy.
In the air, a flash of striking dark red appeared. Within that crimson glow, a serene young maiden with long white hair materialized for less than a second – and in that fleeting moment, she gently opened her eyes.
Her gaze then locked onto Lu Xin.
Boom…
An overwhelming emptiness suddenly flooded Lu Xin’s mind.
It was as if his mental power had been devoured, even the black particles in his eyes vanished completely.
“Dong dong…”
Lu Xin couldn’t help but stagger back two steps, barely managing to steady himself with his sister’s ability.
Dizzy for a full second, he then jerked his head up; his expression suddenly turned eerily distorted.
In the space ahead, there was no trace of that dark red glow.
No sign of the white-haired maiden.
Not even his own mental shock was present.
Even though he had unleashed his most powerful mental shock ever, nothing could be felt.
There was no sensation of impact, no overwhelming wave from an interception, not even the slightest trace.
……
……
“Kid, your understanding of mental power is still too shallow.”
On the right side of the Jeep, the old man in the white coat lightly waved his cane. The playing card danced in the air with the wind, spun gracefully, and then he tucked it back into his coat pocket.
His expression remained calm as he spoke quietly to Lu Xin:
“The rage you control is indeed the most aggressive and destructive—it can be called the ultimate offense.”
“But for every ultimate attack, there is an ultimate defense.”
“……”
“Then…”
Before Lu Xin knew why he had asked, he heard his own voice, slightly hoarse, “Then what is it?”
“Nothingness.”
The old man in the white coat – or rather, the chief researcher of the Red Moon Research Institute – chuckled softly, his expression gentle, “It is also the only ultimate force listed among the Thirteen Ultimates that lacks a designated title, namely, Nothingness.”
“Nothingness is the strongest shield.”
“Because on the mental plane, no attack can break through Nothingness.”
“It’s like no method can hurt someone who has completely sunk into Nothingness.”
“……”
“Nothingness…”
Lu Xin stood dumbfounded. He wasn’t sure if what the old man said was true.
But he recalled that his mother had mentioned in the Thirteen Ultimates that one did not bear a title.
To be precise, back then, his mother mentioned only twelve in the Thirteen Ultimates.
One had been omitted.
That was Nothingness?
An image of the white-haired girl flashed in Lu Xin’s mind as his brows knit tightly.
Could Nothingness counteract the power of the black particles?
“Hmph, why are you telling me all this?”
During this brief exchange, the church elder, clad in a robe, seemed furious at Lu Xin’s previous actions. His anxiety and impatience were unmistakable as he coldly ordered, “You should retrieve that Unique Consciousness immediately.”
“Hehe, no need to panic.”
Instead, the old man in the white coat tried to calm him, smiling, “There’s no need to turn him into an enemy.”
“After all, he suffered a lot for our plan.”
“……”
“……”
“What are they saying?”
A hollow shock surged within Lu Xin as he suddenly sensed more suspicion.
Instinctively, he looked toward the old man, a deep craving stirring at the hidden meaning in his words.
“Kid…”
At the same time, the old man in the white coat smiled at Lu Xin and nodded gently:
“I remember your name is Lu Xin, right?”
“Yes, I am Number Eight of the Sixth Batch.”
“Don’t be hasty. Listen to me – some things might not be quite as you imagine.”
“We are not your enemies. In fact, you could say we’re allies.”
“……”
“……”
He continued at a steady pace, “I know everything about your birth and growth.”
“You…”
Lu Xin slightly raised his head, as his words elicited a sudden surge of suspicion.
It felt as if a long-shut door deep within him had been forced open just a crack.
“I even know how you feel about us right now.”
The old man in the white coat laughed, “Doubt, wariness, even a hint of concealed hatred – isn’t that right?”
Lu Xin subtly pressed his lips together, unwilling to reveal that the old man had read his mind.
“But really, that’s just an illusion – or rather, a kind of contamination.”
The old man in the white coat chuckled, “The reason you refuse to trust us is because you think you are that person; perhaps you saw something in his message which affected you, and that’s why you’re so hostile toward us.”
“Let me give you the answer.”
“……”
As he spoke, he suddenly turned his head toward the eerie area surrounding them. All traces of contamination had been struck dumb, cowering on the ground in terror and awe, until he softly asked,
“Does anyone have a mirror I could borrow…?”
“……”
Below, nothing dared to answer as the eerie forms trembled.
Mainly because by nature, creatures from the Abyss don’t care for mirrors…
Everyone ended up looking like this…
But after a while, a vine suddenly crept over from a distance.
It stretched gradually, carefully extending from under the worm’s head to the side of the Jeep.
At the tip of the vine, a small pouch burst open, and from it emerged a half-bodied black child – only half a body.
He handed a mirror adorned with a verdigris pattern to the old man, gently swaying his body.
It looked as if a child were eagerly seeking credit in front of adults.
“Take a good look at yourself…”
The chief researcher smiled at Lu Xin and held up the mirror, “This will let you see your true self.”
“Whew…”
Although uncertain whether it would be contaminated, an irresistible impulse drove Lu Xin to look.
The mirror was small and far away.
Yet it seemed to possess a mysterious power; Lu Xin could see his own reflection from atop the old building.
The image grew clearer as he gazed at it.
His features, his clothes, even his slightly disheveled hair were all distinctly visible.
Looking even deeper, it felt as if the mirror could reveal his inner self…
Then, with a sudden ‘swish!’ he was startled awake.
He quickly touched his face and looked back at the mirror in utter shock.
It was his reflection.
There was no denying the clarity of his own face.
But the problem was that the face in the mirror wasn’t Lu Tianming’s…
A profound sense of fragmentation overwhelmed Lu Xin.
It was as if he were looking at a portrait that was identical to someone in a photo.
Absolutely identical in every detail.
Yet when he compared the portrait to the person, nothing matched.
While the person in the photo was an exact match, the logic was utterly chaotic…
Everything was completely confused…
……
……
“This is actually a very simple contamination – only the level of power is slightly higher.”
The old man handed the mirror to the child who clung close to him, though he dared not really touch the kid, and quietly said to Lu Xin:
“Back in our experiment, there was a man – someone with even greater responsibilities – who ended up at odds with us. Uh… let me think how to put it simply. In short, our world has been shrouded in a shadow.”
“If we let him continue, we would become contaminated, turning into a different race.”
“So, we decided to save ourselves by formulating a series of plans. That very man was chosen during the process. Sigh… he had many flaws, yet he alone possessed a certain talent…”
“If someone who can save the world stands before you but refuses to act, what would you do?”
“……”
He suddenly laughed and asked Lu Xin, then answered his own question:
“Some noble souls might choose to respect his will…”
“But we are not like that. We are pragmatic people.”
“So we took measures to involve him in the experiment and successfully pushed it forward.”
“But unfortunately, due to his betrayal and our inexperience, the experiment went awry.”
“Our experiment succeeded, but also failed. It confirmed our theory, yet at the same time, the fruit was stolen. The power that should have belonged to all of humanity was monopolized by that man. Consequently, our world plunged into an unprecedented crisis, but that man evolved into a higher form of life – one might even say…”
“…a god!”
“A true god with limitless authority.”
“……”
Lu Xin suddenly looked up at him intensely.
His tone was strikingly calm as he recounted the events.
Yet the content of his words radiated a chilling, awe-inducing gloom that made one’s skin crawl.
At that moment, Lu Xin felt a tingling across his scalp.
Simultaneously, all the bizarre phenomena around them retracted their mental powers, as if afraid of being seen.
“Well…”
Lu Xin’s throat felt rough. After a brief pause, he said, “As a researcher, you should know that there are no gods in this world.”
It was merely his subconscious reaction.
But the old man in the white coat suddenly laughed, “Yes.”
“That’s why we killed Him.”
In a disturbingly calm tone, he continued, “Then we imprisoned Him in the Abyss.”
……
……
“This…”
Lu Xin was momentarily stunned; his heart even stopped beating, and his eardrums buzzed.
For a moment he couldn’t find the words to respond.
He couldn’t think of any answer that could match what the old man had said.
The disparity was too vast.
……
……
“We’re planning to clean up the mess and complete the unfinished task…”
Fortunately, the old man didn’t wait for an answer and continued in a low voice:
“It’s just a pity that the guy imprisoned in the deepest layer of the Abyss still refuses to give up.”
“He is left only with death and eternal, burning fury. His mental power seeps into reality at all times. This is a destructive force that annihilates everything it touches – you can think of it as his anger, the only mental power he has left.”
“Many people have been contaminated by this force. You, you are one of them.”
“That is why you’ve become the way you are now.”
“……”
At that, he paused, smiled slightly at Lu Xin, seemingly waiting for him to process everything.
Listening to these words, Lu Xin’s hands trembled uncontrollably.
An indescribable shock surged into his heart, making him feel as though he could no longer control his body.
His sister, terrified, clutched at his leg as she looked at him worriedly.
“But that’s not all…”
The former chief researcher sighed softly, “We realized the impact of that power on reality, so we gradually imprisoned it deeper and deeper into the Abyss until its influence on the real world was finally cut off…”
“But alas, the contamination it has already spread remains troublesome.”
“Its power is indestructible, far beyond what mortal life can bear.”
“Every time it contaminates someone, it spawns a demon that destroys everything in its sight.”
“Even if you eliminate that demon, the anger transfers to someone else.”
“It’s endless. It never stops.”
“And no matter what containment or guidance methods you try, they’ll soon be corrupted and twisted by it.”
“……”
“So, we had no choice but to seek you out…”
He looked steadily at Lu Xin, “Among everyone contaminated, you’re the only one who survived without being twisted.”
“Of course, you look like a severely contaminated person, but you’re doing well.”
“That all-destroying power didn’t obliterate you, nor let it spread outside – that in itself is a miracle.”
“You managed to endure the god’s wrath without turning into a demon of destruction.”
“So, we, having been endlessly troubled by this rampant power, have made a bold decision.”
After a pause, he suddenly looked up at Lu Xin and said, “Seal all the anger inside your body.”
“……”
“Swish!”
At that moment, Lu Xin’s heart began pounding wildly, and he glanced up at the chief researcher across from him.
The black particles in his eyes reappeared, more turbulent than ever.
They burned like two wild fires in his eyes.
They almost scorched his brain into confusion, giving him an abrupt moment of clarity.
So this was how it was?
This was the truth behind the contamination that had plagued him from the start?
This was a standalone chapter – an extremely important one!!
.la To be honest, I originally planned to crack into the top three or top five this month – just for the sake of it.
There are too many big shots; Red Moon still falls into the niche category in terms of genre, lacking strong combat power.
But the support from everyone was unexpected.
And with backing from big names like Noah’s Ark and Schrodinger’s Coconut Cat, unbelievably…
Unbelievably, it shot to first place!!
……
……
Even if it’s like having your rear constantly pricked, first place is still first! (One hand on the waist, the other covering the butt)
I was so moved that I even cried in the restroom with my cat.
And then, urged on by a few readers (Gege, Sisi, and other ruthless big shots of the alliance), I even harbored that little bit of ambition, wondering if I could seize this opportunity to snag the monthly top vote.
Honestly, the chances aren’t great anymore – after all, the two demon kings have already launched their books.
But no matter what, from when Red Moon started to now – from casually writing to adjust my mood, to receiving everyone’s support and affirmation, revising the outline, reworking the setting, and writing nearly three million words when the monthly votes peaked (even once reaching third place, never falling out of the top ten) –
so, a shot at first place is within reach, right?
Old Ghost is thirty-three now and will soon be thirty-four. His most passionate age is nearly over.
Red Moon is my last burst of passion, isn’t it?
I can’t guarantee that every part of Red Moon will be to everyone’s liking, but I’ve looked back countless times and feel that every part was written with care, with no laziness or spared effort.
Red Moon has now reached 2.6 million words. In my outline, there are seven trials forming the main storyline – five of which have been written – and the core secret of the novel is slowly being unveiled. Plus, despite all the blood, sweat, and tears gone into this work, Old Ghost isn’t about to water it down. I aim to wrap up this story completely and with high quality. So the final word count shouldn’t be too high.
Roughly under 3.5 million words.
Sure, I could just pad it to earn extra cash, but I’ve invested too much heart into it to do that.
Bottom line, this book has entered its late stage, and our chance to surge to the top isn’t many.
Right now, Red Moon has 43,000 subscriptions, with the highest monthly votes ranking third for the month, and it even won the Suspense Award from Yuewen this year.
We’re just one step away from reaching Sistar Hall. If everything goes smoothly, we’ll climb up this month.
But who says that’s the limit?
Who says Red Moon has no hope of breaking 50,000 subscriptions before completion?
At least, I want to give it a shot.
So this month Old Ghost has decided to go for it, and I hope everyone supports Old Ghost.
Don’t worry about getting your rear pricked by that demon king – I’ll make sure to kick back in reality.
And maybe even break his hand.
No matter what, I’m going all out!
Charge, charge, charge!!
No matter what the outcome, once I try I won’t regret it – after all, we still have hope!
Finally, thank you all in advance!
——A tearful Old Ghost
.la