"...I'll go back and hold the responsible parties accountable. And then?"
Knowing she wouldn't gain anything by arguing with him, Yuan Shan gritted her teeth as she responded to Fu Qian's quality complaint.
"And then..."
Fu Qian was clearly dissatisfied with Yuan Shan's stock response. He furrowed his brow, then seemed to think of something.
He put Mercy away and picked up a round object about the size of an orange.
As Yuan Shan's eyes widened, Fu Qian tipped his head back and tossed his find from the Sea of Ashes into his mouth.
Time seemed to lose all meaning.
In the unusual silence, Fu Qian felt his body changing for the second time.
The moment the icy Crystalline Sun went down his throat, it began to seep out wisps of warmth, gently soothing every inch of flesh it passed.
And as it slid unhindered into his stomach, the warmth grew ever more intense.
The flesh around it seemed to melt like snow in the sun, rapidly dissolving and spreading outward.
In an instant, a large hollow had formed in the body cavity around the suspended Crystalline Sun.
Then the flesh around the hollow stretched into countless straight lines, all pointing toward the Crystalline Sun at the center and turning slowly along with it.
It really did look like the inside of a whale. By comparison, this thing seemed even more bizarre than "Eternity."
Amid the searing pain, Fu Qian closely observed the changes inside his body, making no move to intervene despite the strange sight.
Only when his body was almost nothing but an empty shell did the mysterious force of attraction finally seem to reach equilibrium. The Crystalline Sun came to a halt.
And almost at once, the latter—solid as it was—quietly disintegrated.
Countless indescribable, impossible shapes