The spear tip moved three inches away from the man's chin.
Jiangnan retrieved the Godslayer Spear.
"As you wish."
Wang Ming.
The man recited his name once and immediately answered Jiangnan's question.
"My major is bizarre biology, and my specialization is cross-species behavioral comparison."
"I used to work at the East China District Seventh Research Institute. The institute was completely cratered by that bloody meteor."
"I woke up in the pit looking like this."
After he finished speaking, he bent down and wrung out his sleeves.
"Superhumans of your level probably think the eerie is nothing more than a monster."
Wang Ming adjusted his glasses. "But for people like us, the eerie is part of the ecosystem."
"It has a food chain, reproductive strategies, and territorial divisions."
"They're no different from tigers and lions on the ground, except their food includes human souls."
After listening, Jiangnan Godslayer Spear horizontally in his hand, with the tip pointing diagonally at the ground.
He threw out a second note.
The piece of paper flew even faster than the first one, almost hitting Wang Ming in the chest.
Why do researchers participate in the trials?
Wang Ming gripped the note, glanced at it, and remained silent.
It wasn't the kind of silence that comes from hesitation; it was more like Qing was compressing the observations and notes in his mind into a utterable answer.
One second.
"Trials? I'm not really familiar with that term..."
"To be honest, you're the only human I've encountered in this godforsaken place these past few days."
He folded the note neatly and stuffed it into the breast pocket of his white coat, the movement as natural as if he were accepting a memo.
Then he raised his hand and pointed due north, his fingertip crossing the lake and the dead trees in the park.
"Seven hours ago, I was rummaging through scrap materials at the military base to the north."
"We came through the residential area, and didn't see a single living person along the way."
Jiangnan's eyebrows were raised slightly.
Wang Ming was unaware of the trial.
This is a global announcement released by Sky Curtain.
Any trial participant who has been teleported from the Barbaric Realm will receive a forced Pop-up Window notification one second before entering Blue Star.
And this is the man who, despite being pursued by the Ghost Infant, managed to walk from a military base to a park with his bare hands.
They actually said they didn't receive even the slightest notification?
That leaves only one possibility.
He is not a trial participant.
Is he the [person] Sky Curtain mentioned?
Jiangnan's fingers twitched, and the starting stance for the Word Spirit Divine Edict: Divine Oracle was already pressed down on his fingertips.
But he didn't click it immediately.
If Wang Ming is indeed the target, then every step from here on out must be flawless.
But at that moment, Wang Ming seemed to sense his doubts and interrupted Jiangnan.
"Don't be so quick to doubt me, let me finish."
I've made a very significant discovery.
"This is crucial to whether An City can be taken back."
"Although I don't know your name, the fact that you were able to wipe out the Soul-Devouring Spawns and such a large number of Ghost Infant in one go means your strength is probably top-tier, so I know very well..."
"I'm not negotiating with anyone right now; I'm betting on whether you're willing to take on this."
Wang Ming looked at him intently, and then made his request.
"I'd like to ask you to help me destroy their nest."
Jiangnan pulled his still-raised fingers back into his sleeve and tossed out the third note.
[A nest? The Ghost Infant's?]
"That's right, but they shouldn't be called Ghost Infant."
Wang Ming took a step forward. "To be precise, they're called Soul-Devouring Monster."
"This is a temporary name I came up with based on their feeding habits and physical structure; it's not an academic definition, but it's more fitting than 'Ghost Infant.'"
They are not babies, they just look like them.
"Real babies need to be nursed, while they need to hunt."
He crouched down, picked up a twig from the ground, and drew a few lines in the puddles on the cement floor.
"The Soul-Devouring Monster, I've currently confirmed it's at four stages."
The tree branch traced the outline of a baby in the puddles.
"Phase One, Ghost Infant Form."
"Those guys who were chasing me just now."
"It is 40 to 60 centimeters long, entirely black, with reverse joints on its limbs, allowing it to attach to any vertical surface."
"It lacks the ability to directly attack physical entities, but it can devour soul energy by feeding on the Shadow of living beings."
"This stage is sensitive to light. Direct exposure to ultraviolet rays for more than three seconds will cause burns, and more than ten seconds will result in carbonization."
"So during the day they only stay inside buildings where the shade is dense enough."
The branches extend the baby's silhouette outwards, outlining the figure of a boy.
"Phase Two, Ghost Brat Mode."
"Its body length is about 1.3 meters, and its appearance begins to resemble that of a juvenile human."
"It possesses a physical form, with bony, spiky claws branching from the ends of its limbs, capable of directly severing soul energy."
"Completely unafraid of sunlight, able to move freely in the midday sun."
"The hunting method has changed from passively nibbling at Shadow to actively tearing apart souls."
He paused, then touched the tip of the scraper to the boy's head.
"The one you just killed was in its second stage."
"I speculate that once it absorbs enough soul energy, it will initiate a second transformation."
"But the number of second-stage individuals is far less than that of first-stage individuals; they must need to devour a sufficient number of people to evolve."
Continue drawing the branches; the third outline is longer than the first two.
"The third stage, the ghostly state."
"Entering adolescence."
"I haven't seen it alive, but I've seen clips of its movements on surveillance footage from a military base."
"Its body length is nearly 1.7 meters, and its appearance is completely anthropomorphic, capable of Simulation human contours and even voiceprints."
"Most deadly of all, it can unleash a domain-type ability, the Ghost Realm."
"Within the Ghost Realm, it can appear in any Shadow, regardless of timing or distance."
"In other words, as long as you have Shadow under your feet, you're already standing right next to its mouth."
The branch stopped at the end of the third outline and was not drawn any further.
Wang Ming raised his head, his face solemn.
"The fourth phase—I know nothing about it so far."
"No biological samples, no observation records."
"But this can be deduced from the evolutionary logic of the first three stages..."
"From passive predation to active hunting, from fear of light to ignoring light, from solitary activity to territorial coverage."
"There is only one path in biological evolution: to devour, expand, and occupy the apex of an ecological niche."
"If the Soul-Devouring Monster has a fourth stage, it will definitely be a monster capable of upending the entire city's ecosystem."
"What form it takes, what abilities it possesses, I don't know..."