The Power of the Parasitic City (Four Thousand Words)

Xiao Xiao was unaware of the psychological impact he had on the onlookers. He Mingming simply carrying out his plan seriously and meticulously. He had only briefly considered the issue of his position with Yang Jia and had spoken up. After all, their current positions were perfect, so what business was it of the demons and monsters like them?

Of course, there was a moment when the surroundings did become quieter.

Not only did the bar's regulars, who looked all sorts of strange and wonderful, stand guard around, but their expressions also became a little blank.

Even the music from the Record Player Miss seemed to quiet down for a moment.

Immediately, the music sped up.

The faster the music played, the less time he had to use these powerful borrowed weapons.

Of course, this wasn't the Record Player Miss deliberately causing trouble; after all, she might simply be disgusted by some people using official business as an excuse to smuggle personal goods.

Xiao Xiao also noticed the music speeding up, but he didn't care. After kissing Yang Jia's lips, he had a satisfied look on his face. Looking down at Yang Jia's flushed face, he felt a little nervous and took a few steps back without making a sound. He was on guard, worried that Yang Jia might slap him...

After all, her emotions are still distorted, and she might be a little angry.

But to his surprise, Yang Jia didn't react at all; she just lowered her head and looked at her left hand.

On the ring finger of her left hand, the Platinum Ring sat quietly.

Xiao Xiao's risk just now was successful; he risked being grabbed by that dark red hand to put the Platinum Ring on Yang Jia's finger.

As the most powerful binding weapon in Black Gate City, this Platinum Ring has begun to take effect. Yang Jia's identity has been changed. She was originally determined to kill Xiao Xiao, but the binding power of her identity gave her a forced distortion, which conflicted with the instructions of the Mysterious Source, causing her to temporarily give up her strong desire to kill Xiao Xiao.

Xiao Xiao suddenly realized a serious problem:

... So, when he kissed her just now, she was rational?

Why am I suddenly feeling a little panicked?

When Yang Jia's emotions were distorted, I was brave enough to do it myself, but when I realized that she was normal now, I became a little scared.

"How so?"

Before Xiao Xiao speak, Yang Jia suddenly spoke in a low voice, sounding somewhat confused.

"This dark red gate is too powerful..."

Xiao Xiao hurriedly explained, "Look, I couldn't control myself and bumped into you, and I even accidentally... kissed you."

The principles need to be clear: this whole thing was caused by this door, it has nothing to do with me.

Yang Jia's expression was somewhat strange: Was this a question of whether or not he would be hit?

But she didn't have time to say anything to him, or rather, she deliberately changed the subject. "I didn't ask you that."

"What I mean is..."

Her pupils contracted slightly, revealing the shock in her eyes. "You, how can you resist the power of the Gates of Hell?"

"Um?"

Xiao Xiao then realized what she was referring to.

Looking up at the door behind Yang Jia, the door was still open, and a dark red hand was tightly gripping her chest.

The brooch had been torn off, and at this moment, he should be in a vulnerable fourth-stage enhancement state.

However, he managed to withstand the pull of the dark red giant hand using only his current strength.

He even seemed quite relaxed, and even had the chance to kiss...

Upon hearing this, a smile involuntarily appeared on Xiao Xiao's face. He slightly spread his arms, and the dark red hand behind the black door seemed to sense the surprise. In an instant, it exerted its power several times, and ripples of power could be seen on the dark red arm. This enormous power seemed capable of seizing everything in reality, but Xiao Xiao simply stood there, with surging, writhing flesh behind him like waves, while he himself did not even sway once.

This is what surprised Yang Jia.

Meeting her expression, Xiao Xiao slowly reached out and grasped the dark red hand that emerged from inside the black door.

With a slight effort, Xiao Xiao pried the fingers of the giant hand apart from his chest, his eyes suddenly turning cold and ruthless.

At the same time, deep within Yang Jia's terrified eyes, another pair of pupils seemed to appear, contracting rapidly as if something had sensed fear.

Thump, thump...

Xiao Xiao's heartbeat grew deeper and stronger, as if the entire city was beating along with it.

The Black Gate City behind him transformed into a colossal mass of flesh and blood, undulating and surging with towering waves, containing unparalleled power.

"Since you like me so much, why don't you just come over too..."

Xiao Xiao suddenly shouted, then grabbed the dark red hand and pulled it outwards sharply.

This hand, containing boundless power, emerged from the black gate. It was about four or five meters long, roughly the size of a forearm, but now, Xiao Xiao suddenly pulled it, and it was stretched to more than twice its original length.

It was as if the entire arm had been pulled out, and the black door trembled violently.

"How so?"

Everyone who was able to witness this scene was simultaneously filled with astonishment.

They could all feel the terror of that door, and the power contained in that dark red palm, but Xiao Xiao was actually able to contend with it.

What kind of Enhancement Element is this?

"It's not Enhancement Element!"

Only Xiao Xiao, at this moment, understood something more deeply, felt intense excitement in his heart, and his expression became increasingly cold.

Unquenched Heart!

Only now has he finally understood the function of the Unquenched Heart.

Parasitic!

The Unquenched Heart he retrieved from the Night's End City actually possesses the ability to parasitize.

It doesn't parasitize a single organism, but rather a city, a Mysterious Source.

In fact, Xiao Xiao should have understood these things long ago, but because this ability was too magical and defied common sense, his thinking was limited, and he did not think in this direction.

Even before he returned to Black Gate City, he felt a sense of familiarity with the Black Gate City, a faint feeling of resonance.

Later, when he faced the power of Yang Jia's imprint, he should have been taken away by her, but he only had the power to resist because the power of Black Gate City had merged with his own at that time.

But the first two times, it was the Unquenched Heart's instinctive reaction. It wasn't until this time that Xiao Xiao took the opportunity of being moved to deeply understand and deliberately activated the power parasitized by the Unquenched Heart.

At this moment, the Unquenched Heart resonated with Black Gate City, as if Black Gate City had become itself.

Only...

... Although he could now clearly feel the power of the surrounding city, Xiao Xiao still didn't quite understand:

Parasitism is an invasive force.

Logically, he should have faced resistance or even backlash, especially since he had only just discovered the power of the Unquenched Heart and was not yet able to use it skillfully. Yet now, he could feel the power of Black Gate City resonating with him continuously.

It's as if I'm not parasitizing, but rather the city is actively giving me its power.

It could even be interpreted as the city knowing it was still unfamiliar with the use of the Unquenched Heart, so it deliberately guided itself to become familiar with this parasitic process.

In a way that sacrifices herself.

"Crack..."

Similarly, when Xiao Xiao suddenly released tremendous power, almost pulling the dark red giant hand out of the black gate, this arm also seemed to tremble. It was afraid and felt genuine shock.

The enormous hand desperately tried to retract the black gate, causing it to shake violently and show signs of closing.

"You..."

Yang Jia looked at Xiao Xiao up close, her eyes revealing a mixture of surprise and anxiety.

Unfortunately, before she could even utter a complete sentence, a terrifying power suddenly surged within her thin body, like a giant whale swimming inside an ant.

The next moment, countless strands of air around Yang Jia's body were distorted, and crimson tentacles were instantly released. They struggled to pierce Xiao Xiao, but most of them suddenly surged towards the black gate.

At this moment, Yang Jia's face was deathly pale. Ignoring everything else, she warned Xiao Xiao in a low voice, "It's going to escape..."

"Quick..."

"..."

As she spoke, she quickly extended her hand toward Xiao Xiao.

It looked as if she was asking Xiao Xiao for help.

Xiao Xiao's expression tightened instantly at that moment.

He could understand why this power dared not leave Yang Jia's body, as that would mean directly confronting the power of Black Gate City. However, it also sensed a strong threat, so it tried to escape back into the Black Gate.

Xiao Xiao was an insightful observer and could sense the urgency and fear of this force.

One can roughly imagine that Mister Du himself was unwilling to return to the black gate.

But now, he had no choice. Sensing a life-or-death crisis, he could only return to the black gate.

At this moment, Yang Jia anxiously reached out her hand, seemingly unwilling to be coerced or led into the black gate by this force.

But Xiao Xiao saw that Yang Jia was holding a thin letter between her fingers, and her body was already uncontrollably drifting towards the black door behind her.

This woman wasn't asking him for help.

She wanted to take advantage of this rare moment of clarity to tell herself some secrets.

At this moment, the Mysterious Source within her body had changed its command from killing Xiao Xiao to fleeing with all its might. So she could only flee. The ring that Xiao Xiao put on her canceled the command that made her kill Xiao Xiao, but it could not cancel the others.

But she is still relatively clear-headed and can take the opportunity to give Xiao Xiao some guidance.

Xiao Xiao had already sensed the repression and sadness in her heart from her expression, and now he saw a resolute look on her face.

"It's no use, Xiao Xiao."

"I am truly pleased with your current strength, but the level of the Mysterious Source is too high for us to control."

"It's unimaginable that you could defeat him, but if you try to rescue me, you'll only delay things that are more important."

"Take these secrets with you and go do something more important!"

"This was all so sudden. It's not easy for you to have done this. Perhaps if we prepare more in the future, you really might be able to lead everyone out of this nightmare..."

"..."

"..."

"Can't..."

But Xiao Xiao didn't even blink when faced with the tentacles surging in front of him, nor did he grab Yang Jia's outstretched hand or the letter containing the secret she wanted to tell him.

He simply clenched his teeth, his cheek muscles tense, and it looked as if he were sneering.

His eyes were fixed on Yang Jia's eyes, and he let the crimson tentacles around him wrap around him, only to be swallowed up by the undulating Black Gate City around him. He only hoped that Yang Jia could understand his decision at this moment.

These secrets cannot be accepted.

"I'm not a superstitious person, but if something is something I care about a lot, I won't let go of any possibility that might affect its success."

"For example, right now..."

"... In too many stories, people die after revealing their secrets."

"So, I didn't dare to hear these secrets before I took this gamble."

"..."

"..."

Thump!

Xiao Xiao's heart pounded again, and the ground beneath his feet suddenly twisted, revealing his body behind Yang Jia.

It blocked Yang Jia, or rather, it blocked the path of the Mysterious Source within her, codenamed Mister Du, back to the black gate.

Then he gritted his teeth slightly, drew the Silver Revolver from his waist, and pointed it directly at Yang Jia was turning around in astonishment.

The Silver Revolver is more than a hundred times inferior to the scepter.

But now that it's in Xiao Xiao's hands, this weapon is rapidly gathering unimaginable power, increasing exponentially, accumulating, and converging into an unimaginable, violent force.

Yang Jia froze, staring at Xiao Xiao through the countless scattered, flying blood-red tentacles.

Xiao Xiao's expression was unusually cold. He looked directly into Yang Jia's eyes and nodded slightly at her.

Then, he suddenly pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

A bullet hole instantly appeared on Yang Jia's forehead. She leaned back slightly, and her body slowly fell backward.

Around her body, all the crimson tentacles surged wildly toward the sky, making a final, futile struggle, only to meet their fate of death.

A moment of silence fell over the surroundings, and the mouths of every creature suddenly opened to their widest extent.

Nearby were the deranged patrons of the Iceberg Bar, or rather, the Hell Legion built by Black Gate City; in the distance were the Hell Organization and some mysterious figures who had come to watch this confrontation with various motives.

They looked at the renowned guild master of Black Gate City, facing the most powerful and uniquely Branders in history.

They danced a close dance, then he put a platinum ring on her finger, and then he bent down and kissed her.

Then, he drew his gun and shot her.

He always had a smile on his face!

My flight was delayed, and I just got back to Qingdao. I'll post this chapter first, then get back to writing—I'm about to explode with energy!