Great Annihilation (Part 1)

Power

What is power?

Under the young man's words, the scenes of Irin's life over the past dozen years flashed through the girl's mind like a revolving lantern.

When her father lost control and turned into a "Corrupted Corpse" monster six years ago, only to be executed by The Church, she was too young to understand what power was. She only knew it as the devil that had taken her father away.

When her mother was expelled from The Church and their family wealth was plundered by others, she began to understand her father's actions during the days of poverty and mutual reliance between mother and daughter. She understood the importance of "power."

Then, as the hidden dangers from six years ago erupted and her mother, who had been accumulating Corrupted Source Essence in her body, fell critically ill, she realized her own weakness when faced with the exorbitant medical bills and the crushing weight of helplessness.

In the Relic Cave, when she was about to be silenced by the Kalleva gang and a black muzzle was pointed at her, she craved power. When the Kobold monsters swarmed into the nest and a blood-stained shovel swung menacingly toward her, in that second, she craved power.

It was precisely because of this that she had begged the young man back then, and he had responded to her. At the cost of her freedom, she had obtained the power she so desired.

It was by relying on that power that she transformed from prey into hunter, wiping out the Kobold monsters in the dungeon. It was because she had power that she could stand up when Kalleva attempted to extort and occupy the Haisha Bar, protecting the things she held dear.

However, now that her mother had been dragged into an even larger vortex, she had once again become the weak party. Her power was insufficient once more. If she had never seen the light, she could have endured the darkness, but since that guy had already opened that door for her, then...

Irin admitted that it was addictive, but—

"I want it!"

Resonant and firm, without a moment's hesitation. The revolving lantern had been but a fleeting moment in the girl's mind. In reality, Irin answered almost as soon as Liao Ji's voice fell.

Liao Ji felt both helpless and a bit reluctant regarding this.

If this [Corrupted Source Essence] weren't damaged, he would definitely have saved it for a four-star Corrupted. After all, one was a promotion from four to five stars, while the other was three to four; the latter was a massive loss.

If this were a game, Liao Ji could have pushed through the 60% failure rate, but that wasn't an option here—after all, there was no save-scumming.

Unfortunately, this was a wonderful second playthrough; there were no "ifs."

"You need to think this through, Irin. If you really take this, it won't be so easy for me to let you go later. Our contract term will be extended indefinitely, and your hopes for a normal, happy, and stable life will likely be off the table."

Liao Ji wasn't joking when he said this.

He could accept firing or giving up on a three-star character, but if it were a four-star character—especially one who had consumed one of his [Corrupted Source Essence] items, even a damaged one—he would feel the sting. Even if Liao Ji had sworn before the start of the second playthrough not to be a "meta-chaser," this lingering regret would require him to squeeze the girl dry until the very last drop later on.

That was why Liao Ji confirmed it with Irin a second time; he was afraid the girl was just acting on impulse, and he wanted to paint a picture of the miserable life of a laborer under his command.

But Liao Ji underestimated Irin's resolve.

Regarding this, the girl clearly didn't care anymore.

Moreover, Irin didn't know if it was her imagination, but once the Scarlet Star was in Liao Ji's hands, it not only lost its initial sense of terror for her, but even...

Irin felt that the "Scarlet Star" was also craving her. It possessed the same emotions as she did—emotions of anger and vengeance toward Kalleva!

They...

Must be a perfect match!

Irin was absolutely certain of this.

Therefore.

"Give it to me!"

The girl still only used those two words, and in a special context, they were words almost no man could refuse.

Liao Ji didn't know if this counted as a special context.

But when he read the message conveyed in Irin's eyes—something akin to "Forget the contract term, I'll sell my life to you for the rest of my days!"—Liao Ji nodded.

"As you wish."

Many people dislike raising-sim games; they don't understand what's so good about raising others. If Liao Ji were to answer, it would perhaps be the feeling of being relied upon. Having been alone since birth, he quite enjoyed this feeling; it filled the void in his heart.

Some people like to be peerless and sweep through armies; others like to be lords, competing for hegemony and developing their lands. Liao Ji was clearly the latter.

And he was rather vulgar; he only liked to "till the fields" of beautiful girls.

Just like before, Liao Ji wanted to use physical means to insert the Corrupted Source Essence from his hand into the girl's chest, but this time, he hit a small snag.

[Ding, cannot be used. Current Corrupted level is insufficient.]

Looking at the prompt box that popped up, Liao Ji almost forgot that the prerequisite for star-up was reaching the level cap at the current star tier.

The level cap for a three-star was 30. Feeding the girl his last three [Corrupted Crystal (Small)] items would be more than enough. Unfortunately, the excess experience points would have nowhere to go and would simply be wasted. This was the disadvantage of low-star characters; they consumed fewer resources, but their potential was limited.

"Great, now I'm the one being squeezed dry."

After Liao Ji muttered a complaint, he flipped his left hand, and three dark red crystals floated above it.

Irin hadn't reacted yet, but she felt a ball of fire in her lower abdomen, which began to stir upon the appearance of these dark red crystals, as if it had seen a delicious feast, making her throat "gulp."

But for the others present—the Kalleva gang members—it was a completely different story.

They weren't like the girl, who had grown accustomed to Liao Ji's [Corrupted Crystal] and had even "eaten" one.

On the faces of the gangsters, the terror that had only just begun to fade immediately resurfaced. They showed deep fear toward the dark red crystals in Liao Ji's hand, just like their leader, "Grey Wolf," had. Because everyone could feel what was radiating from within those dark red crystals. Corruption.

Pure Corruption.

Corruption concentrated to the extreme!

"W-what is that! Dr. Loka! I'm asking you! Answer me! What is that thing!!" Falmu backed away a few steps, roaring into the ear of the man in the grey coat.

As the leader of Kalleva and a researcher of the power of "Relics," Falmu was naturally a Corrupted himself. It was precisely because of this that he could better perceive the incredible nature of the dark red crystals in the young man's hand.

Dr. Loka, who had long been kneeling on the ground, paid no mind to Falmu's roaring beside him.

Dressed in a gray lab coat, he stood up shakily. Loka began to breathe heavily, as if he had just laid eyes on a naked beauty; the Corrupted Crystal in the hand of Liao Ji had his gaze glued firmly to it.

"It can't be wrong. It can't be wrong! That is... that is a crystal. It is crystallized Corrupted energy, ahhhhh!"

Loka tore at his hair frantically, scratching at his own scalp as if he were a scientist who had spent a lifetime without a breakthrough, only to have the formula for the truth of the universe suddenly placed right before him.

Yes, the truth.

In the heart of Dr. Loka, crystallized Corrupted energy was the truth he had been pursuing.

"Beautiful... it's so beautiful. This is it... it can't be wrong... the most beautiful existence in the world..."

"I actually saw it. In my lifetime, I actually got to see such a perfect creation of Corrupted energy... and there are three of them! Hahahaha!!"

"What a dream, what beauty!! I know, I must be in heaven, I'm in heaven, ahhhhhhh, hahaha!!"

If Liao Ji holding the Scarlet Star earlier had only caused Dr. Loka's worldview to collapse.

Then now.

When Liao Ji brought out [Corrupted Crystal (Small)], and brought out three of them at once, this man in the gray coat had clearly gone insane, his mind completely unhinged.

Perhaps this is what a scientist is.

After all, if one were to draw an analogy, isn't science itself a form of Corrupted energy?

On the other side.

Although Dr. Loka had gone mad.

But at least, from his words, Falmu learned that what Liao Ji was holding was actually... crystallized Corrupted energy!

In contrast, Falmu took out the "precious" reagent he had been carefully hiding in his bosom. It was the most successful and highest-concentration [Corrupted Reagent] that they in Kalleva had developed in decades.

Falmu had always been reluctant to use this reagent, even going so far as to take it out every day to admire the beautiful brownish-red liquid inside and wipe the surface of the vial.

But now, when Falmu took it out and compared it to the dark red crystals in the young man's hand—

Although he wasn't a scientist, anyone could see it.

Trash!

Utter, complete trash!!

The amount of Corrupted energy stored between the two was not even on the same order of magnitude. This made Falmu both fearful and, deep down, filled with a greedy, itching desire. With the appearance of those three dark red crystals, he even temporarily ignored the fact that Liao Ji was still clutching their "Great Emperor's Relic."

After all.

In Falmu's mind, the "Relic" was just a pie in the sky—visible but untouchable, with more potential for the future than actual utility. But those dark red crystals were the real deal, and even he knew how to use them!

If... if he could get his hands on those dark red crystals...

Absorbing the dense Corrupted energy within would cause his strength as a "Corrupted" to skyrocket, and it wouldn't even be impossible to reach the legendary "Danger Rank" in one fell swoop!

Corrupted energy affects a person's sanity, which is why many Corrupted become paranoid and insane.

And that is the benefit of science.

At least Loka still retained basic rationality and judgment.

Noticing the greedy and blasphemous thoughts of Falmu beside him, Dr. Loka issued a scornful and angry retort:

"Hehehehe, you are not worthy! No! I should say that apart from those five supreme existences, no one is worthy! No one is worthy of using them!!"

"Our low-born, inferior bodies cannot contain their nobility. The moment they enter your body, the high-concentration Corrupted energy will tear your body apart, occupy your soul, and you will explode and die, only to turn into one of those ignorant Corrupted Corpse monsters!"

"No one can absorb them all at once. They should be enshrined by me... they should be left for me to study. Let me analyze them bit by bit... peel back their shells bit by bit. Let me dig into their power bit by bit! Yes! Right! This is their true usage! This is the only way worthy of them..."

Before Dr. Loka's fanatical speech could finish, the young man by the boiler, as if to intentionally spite him, shoved the Corrupted Crystals directly into the girl's body—and he did it with all three at once!

"No!!!!!"

At this sight, Dr. Loka let out a heart-wrenching scream.

Because in his eyes, Liao Ji was wasting them, treating such precious, dreamlike existences with the crudeness of a low-level barbarian, like a goddess he had dreamed of being handed over to a street vagrant by some punk.

Even though those three dark red crystals were brought out by the young man.

Even though the "goddess" had nothing to do with him.

Yet Dr. Loka was still furious; this was a waste of heaven's gifts! This was desecrating the greatest artistic crystallization in the world!

He jumped down regardless of anything, as if possessed, and lunged toward Liao Ji with claws outstretched. He wanted to demand why the young man would do such a thing; he wanted to cut open the girl's body and rescue the dark red crystals...

"Wha—"

The momentum rising like a rocket from Irin caused Dr. Loka to stumble and fall flat on his face. After scrambling back up, he shook his head incessantly, feeling even more shocked than he had when Liao Ji held the Scarlet Star.

"Impossible! Why... why didn't she explode and die! Why didn't she turn into a mutated Corrupted Corpse! No, this is not scientific... it can't be, it can't be! Such high-concentration crystals, no matter what, couldn't possibly be absorbed in an instant. What are you... what kind of monsters are you!!"

To this.

Irin had no time to deal with this madman who had appeared out of nowhere.

It wasn't her first time absorbing [Corrupted Crystal (Small)], and perhaps because she had already adapted, Irin felt the process was unusually smooth this time. She felt as if she were soaking in a hot spring, her whole body warm, every pore seemingly stretching out to its heart's content.

To describe it in one word: exhilarating. In two words: incredibly exhilarating!!

But soon, this sense of exhilaration hit a bottleneck. Just as she wanted to push further, an invisible wall blocked her, and heavy shackles wrapped around her entire body, tightening their grip to prevent her from advancing any further.

However, the next moment.

After Liao Ji maxed out Irin's level, he once again pushed the [Damaged Corrupted Source Essence] from the girl's chest into her body. This time, the source essence did not hit a wall; it began to sink in rapidly, merging with the girl as one.

Hum!

Centered on Liao Ji and the girl, a burst of dark red light illuminated the entire factory under the night sky, forcing the gangsters of Kalleva to shield their eyes. The fierce gust of wind that followed blew away and overturned everything in their vicinity.

Irin returned to that mental world, resembling a sea of blood, which she had visited when she first became a Corrupted.

In this world, her limbs were bound by chains, with only the one around her neck having been undone. Now, a new crimson star appeared, falling like a meteor until it finally floated before Irin.

The girl gathered all her strength, trying to reach out and grasp the star before her despite the constraints of the shackles. The star seemed to sense the girl's will, especially her intent to break free from her confinement and shatter her bonds.

Its form began to change, eventually shifting from its original four-pointed star shape into a massive, crimson greatsword.

It aimed its blade at the right hand Irin had reached out toward it—or more accurately, at the heavy shackle cuff binding her right wrist—and in the next instant, it struck down fiercely!

Crack!

The shackle was severed, the cuff was undone, and the girl's freed right hand was finally able to reach forward and grip that crimson greatsword!

At the same time.

Before Liao Ji's eyes in reality, a system prompt popped up.

[Your Corrupted "Irin" has successfully broken through to ★★★★ (Danger Rank), and the maximum level cap has been increased to 50.]

[Your Corrupted "Irin" has successfully triggered the "Corrupted Deviation" effect; the "Danger Rank" ability "Super Berserk" originally obtained upon breakthrough has been replaced.]

[Your Corrupted "Irin" has learned a new "Danger Rank" skill—"Great Annihilation".]