Pushing Open a Mysterious Door

Chapter 12: Opening a Mysterious Door

Seeing that her skin had nearly become as translucent as ice, with even the blue veins clearly visible, Mu Xiao hurriedly said, "As long as you overcome the emotions in your heart—the so-called 'inner demon'... you'll be fine. You'll even become stronger than anyone else, better able to take care of your mother. Don't dwell on dark, negative thoughts. Think of your happiest moments—your days with your mother, how she encouraged you, helped you..."

Water Bailan's thin lips turned as white as snow, and the cold emptiness in her eyes grew stronger. Yet upon hearing Mu Xiao's words, a trace of warmth returned to her expression. Her icy aura gradually melted away, her skin becoming soft and delicate again, while color slowly returned to her lips...

"Don't lose your will..." Mu Xiao felt the cannon in his hand give off a slight tremor. Its energy had finally finished buffering. He shouted, "Water Bailan, get back!"

Once she had retreated into the innermost corner, Mu Xiao pulled the trigger of the Thunderbolt Cannon. From the bowl-sized muzzle burst a high-pressure beam of mingled azure and crimson energy, igniting the air in an instant. It kicked up distorted ripples and countless arcs of electricity, like an exploding lightning orb, melting the entire metal sheet into molten metal.

A ferocious roar came from behind them!

Mu Xiao turned around and went pale with shock. Those genetically mutated guards had actually evolved a mutant human. It was slaughtering its way through the guards, while the remaining three made their final, desperate struggle. The other genetically mutated guards had also nearly completed the first stage of zombie evolution.

"Go!" Mu Xiao pulled out the Thunderbolt Cannon's carrying strap and slung it over his back, then kicked open the iron door inside the cell with all his strength.

At that moment, Water Bailan's expression alternated between cold and warm. She was clearly locked in a mental struggle and unable to spare the attention to leave.

Mu Xiao hesitated before saying, "I'll carry you. Forgive the offense."

If Water Bailan suddenly awakened, Mu Xiao would definitely be the first one to suffer. That was why he had hesitated. But leaving her behind did not sit right with him either—after all, he still needed to take her blood later.

Mu Xiao deftly lifted Water Bailan's soft, water-like body into his arms. Her long legs were supple yet firm, her waist flexible and free of any excess flesh. Her skin felt soft and springy, and when he accidentally brushed against it, an electrifying sensation of icy smoothness ran through him, making him want to touch her a few more times.

If he wanted to die, Mu Xiao certainly could have done that. But he did not want to die, so he quickly calmed his thoughts and carried the stunning beauty out of the secret chamber.

"If, in the great age of evolution when heroes rise everywhere, I told people that I once held the Ultimate Queen in my arms, countless New Humans would surely give me a thumbs-up..."

For now, Mu Xiao could only make a joke at his own expense to distract himself from his trembling heart.

Fortunately, there was no one in the passageway outside the secret chamber, so Mu Xiao quickly carried Water Bailan back to the empty room on the third floor.

Just as Mu Xiao was about to leave, Water Bailan suddenly opened her clear eyes and said, "Put me down. I'm almost unable to control the emotions in my heart. I can remain clear-headed for three minutes at most. After that, I don't know what changes will happen to my body."

After setting her down, Mu Xiao had yet to speak when Water Bailan said, "Actually, I don't trust you. But I have a feeling that you understand me very well. And I know that you risked your life to find me not simply to repay my mother's kindness. There is something more important than your life that made you come looking for me."

Mu Xiao looked into Water Bailan's spring-clear eyes and felt as though everything in his heart had been seen through completely. He also knew that what he had said in the secret chamber had contained many flaws. For example, since he knew about the disaster caused by the New Human Plan, instead of finding a place to hide, he had risked coming here. That was clearly an extremely unwise move.

So Mu Xiao decided to reveal his ultimate purpose, though he still adjusted his wording slightly.

"That's right. I came looking for you only for my own life," Mu Xiao said. "Your mother once injected me with a special genetic serum. So when the apocalypse came, I didn't mutate. I even became a New Human with great potential. But the serum has a flaw—it can only be perfected with your blood."

"I understand. How much do you need?" Water Bailan spoke as if her blood were no more precious than water.

But Mu Xiao's heart surged with excitement. He could obtain her original genetic blood so easily!

"Three hundred cc will be enough." Mu Xiao suppressed his excitement and named an approximate amount. After all, if the serum did not work, even if Water Bailan gave him all her blood, it would be useless.

Water Bailan found a cup in the room and took the heated military knife from Mu Xiao. Even without its heating function activated, the blade remained extremely sharp. She lightly cut her snowy wrist, and a streak of ice-blue blood poured from her artery into the cup like a small stream. Yet the blood quickly returned to bright red.

"This is where we part." Water Bailan handed the cup of blood to Mu Xiao and simply wrapped her wrist wound. With her extraordinary constitution, the bleeding quickly stopped. By then, her expression was gradually turning cold and indifferent. Clearly, her control over her emotions was nearing its limit.

Mu Xiao accepted the blood that countless New Humans had once pursued, yet it had now become the key to changing his fate.

As he watched Water Bailan prepare to leave, Mu Xiao handed her the laser pistol and heated military knife. "I know you're looking for a place to fight your inner demon, but it's just as dangerous outside. Take this gun and knife to defend yourself. I have the ability to protect myself too. Lastly, remember what I said. Your tenderness may bring even greater sorrow, but don't let the power of sorrow control you. Once your inner demon defeats your will, you'll have no hope of redemption left."

"I don't understand, but I'll remember what you said." Water Bailan put away the two weapons, gave Mu Xiao a deep look, then turned and walked out of the room.

Watching her departing figure, Mu Xiao seemed to see her bearing the burden of becoming enemies with the entire world, fighting against fate, and transforming into a weapon of slaughter—the ultimate weapon.

"I'm not the protagonist of this world, and I don't have your kind of ambition. Even though I know about the New Human Plan, I can't stop it. In the end, I'm just an insignificant person struggling to survive." Mu Xiao looked sentimentally at the cup in his hand, filled with Water Bailan's bright red blood, and his mood inexplicably improved. "If I really can obtain that bug-like bloodline, I'll definitely help you break free from fate..."

He knew that according to the future, Water Bailan would mutate and evolve in the secret chamber into the 'Ultimate Queen, supreme over all kings'... But now, he had "saved" Water Bailan from it. She had also listened to his advice and exhausted herself trying to control her emotions. As a result, Water Bailan's fate had undergone a slight, unpredictable change.

But while Water Bailan might be able to control the emotions of the first stage of evolution, when she heard that news next time, Mu Xiao did not know whether she would completely lose her humanity and transform into the most terrifying humanoid biological weapon.

By then, the law office had descended into chaos and become a bloody hell. Piercing screams, mournful cries for help, anguished sobs... The frantic shouts for salvation inside and outside the building, the disorderly hysterical voices, chilled the hearts of the sane. A terrifying aura of death and apocalypse spread through everyone's minds.

Mu Xiao knew that a fight would be unavoidable if he went outside now, but he had to find a safe place to take the serum and evolve into a New Human. Only then would he have the strength to protect himself, and only then could he absorb the "sources" of mutant humans, mutant beasts, zombies, and other monsters—the so-called experience points—to raise his genetic level through evolution.

The third floor was an unoccupied room. Mu Xiao first locked the entrance door, then closed the metal door to the secret chamber. Using the Thunderbolt Cannon at low power, he fired an energy beam that melted the metal door's control mechanism, preventing it from opening automatically unless someone destroyed it by force.

Although there was a mutant human inside the secret chamber, it might not come to this room on the third floor. There were many passageways in the chamber that led to rooms on the fourth and fifth floors, as well as underground. Staying on the third floor was dangerous for Mu Xiao, but it was still far less dangerous than going outside now.

Mu Xiao searched the room, looking for a concealed place where he might remain unnoticed even if a monster happened to break in.

"The monsters are all first-generation genetic mutants right now, and they've only just mutated, so they won't have many abilities. Mutant humans are also mentally confused at this stage, unlike the cunning mutants of later times. Besides, most monsters are still evolving. They've lost their thoughts and intelligence, driven only by their hunger for flesh and blood. As long as I conceal my scent, I should be able to hide from them."

Mu Xiao found a side room, locked its door, and piled furniture against it. He then entered the bathroom, filled the bathtub with water, stripped naked, and lay down in it, using the water's lack of scent to mask his own. Next, he took out the small metal tube hidden in the sole of his shoe and put away the metal shard's optical computer. Neither item had been damaged.

"Success or failure depends on this!" Mu Xiao viciously stabbed the small metal tube into the artery in his neck, tipped back his head, and drank Water Bailan's blood in one gulp. The fusion and evolution were that simple.

The icy, bloody taste filled Mu Xiao's mouth, and his entire body began to chill. The serum in his artery felt like a blazing brand, as though it had ignited his blood and begun resisting Water Bailan's frigid blood. Soon, the two temperatures gradually merged. An unknown transformation had finally begun...

No one in the future had ever successfully completed this kind of serum fusion. It had only been a theory among ability users, so Mu Xiao had no idea what would happen next.

Just as the sensation of ice and fire gradually faded, and Mu Xiao thought the evolution had failed, his entire head suddenly roared. It was like a thunderclap exploding beside his ears, as though his eardrums had ruptured. His head felt as if it were about to burst apart.

"Ah!"

Mu Xiao clutched his agonized head and let out a beast-like growl, filled with unbearable pain.

Struck by the sudden agony, Mu Xiao desperately wished he could pass out at once. His head felt ready to explode, while faint golden patterns emerged across his face. If someone had dissected his brain, they would have discovered that his entire head was filled with pale golden blood vessels, rapidly spreading from his head to every part of his body.

The agony spread from his head into his body, tormenting every inch of him. He slammed his head against the edge of the bathtub. His body felt like meat being seared in a red-hot iron pan, as scorching pain like flayed skin and shaved bones erupted from the outside in.

Mu Xiao suffered pain that extinguished all life from him, yet he could neither faint nor die. His brain, internal organs, muscles, flesh, skin, tendons, and bones seemed to shatter and reform all at once. This torture was no longer something a human could endure. Mu Xiao's voice and throat had broken, leaving him unable to scream. His entire body lost all strength, paralyzed in the bathtub as he endured supreme agony. His pupils dilated, and he was nearing the limit—so overwhelmed by pain that death was close.

"I refuse to accept this! I won't die so easily! Since I was able to be reborn, I can surely shatter every fate of death!"

Mu Xiao clenched his teeth so hard that pale golden blood seeped from between them. His face twisted into a ferocious, horrifying expression, yet the light in his once-dull eyes slowly brightened with resolve.

Suddenly, an icy, bone-piercing chill swept through his sea of consciousness. In an instant, it passed through his shattered body. His wounds felt as though salt and chili had been poured over them, and every injury and agony erupted at once. Excruciating pain surged straight into his mind. The unbearable torment shattered his sea of consciousness, and darkness fell over his vision as he completely lost consciousness.

More and more threads of golden blood spread through Mu Xiao's broken body, soon covering him from head to toe. They began optimizing every cell, while Water Bailan's blood merged into his genes. Combined with the Miracle Serum's "impossible-to-exist effect," his body gradually began undergoing an unknown transformation.

His shattered sea of consciousness was repaired by the golden threads of blood, seeming to become sturdier and more expansive. It even radiated an immense pressure of consciousness, as vast as that of a god.

The "S-rank Physique Enhancement Serum" Mu Xiao had taken earlier also performed beyond its normal limits during the optimization of his body, accelerating the improvement of his S-rank physique. Even after the enhancement serum's effects had been completely exhausted, his physical strength continued to rise.

Before long, his physique broke through S-rank and reached SS-rank.

His physical strength continued increasing, only slowing after it broke through to SSS-rank.

Mu Xiao's genes evolved in an unknown direction, as though they had pushed open a mysterious door...