Alien: Silicon-Based Symbiote

Tonight's fight had made no noise at all. It had been utterly silent.

Yet Sefni and Emma had found it immensely satisfying.

Normally terrified of leaving traces, they never dared use the powerful skills they were so proud of.

Sefni had almost forgotten the thrill of energy coursing through her fingertips and supernatural power surging through her body.

Watching the human candle standing in the darkness nearby, Su Yi was quietly astonished.

In his previous life, Sefni had been driven to her death so early that even Winter and the others had never met her, much less learned what she could do.

Now that he had seen her in action, Su Yi realized she was using Soul Abyss Flame, an S-rank skill that would not be introduced until version 2.1.

[Name: Soul Abyss Flame]

[Category: Skill]

[Quality: S-rank]

[Type: Active.]

[Overall destructive power: 2,000 entropy]

[Cost: 50 flow.]

[Requirement: Void Abyss Projection LV3 or higher.]

[Effect: Draws on desire to ignite Soul Abyss Flame, burning continuously with the spirit as fuel. Deals sustained soul damage that ignores defense and can instantly kill ordinary people below level 10.]

"No wonder she didn't dare use it. This kind of attack is practically the hallmark of an Ecstasy Sacrifice Build."

As Su Yi pondered this, muffled gunshots suddenly sounded in the distance.

They were accompanied by terrified curses.

"Damn it! What's happening!?"

"Squad Two! Squad Four! Where are you?"

"Backup! We need backup!"

"Fire! Fire! Fire!"

"Aaah!"

After a brief commotion, everything fell quiet again.

Su Yi raced toward the sound. Of the twenty-one people who had been there, only their middle-aged leader remained.

Sefni and Emma had regrouped, but neither had attacked.

"What's going on?" Su Yi asked.

"There's something wrong with him," Emma said quietly. "He's clearly an ordinary person, but he can interfere with our abilities."

Sefni gave a more precise assessment. "His soul is wrapped in some kind of special force field."

"The source... is inside his body."

The middle-aged man glared coldly at the three of them. "Two Ecstasy Witches. You scourges have some nerve."

"You even dare come out and prey on people again."

Emma's face flushed with anger. She was about to retort when Su Yi spoke.

"To a scourge, everyone else looks like one too."

"These witches have done less harm than your mother."

After a pause, Su Yi smiled. "After all, she gave birth to a piece of shit like you and let you go around making everyone sick."

Furious, the man opened his mouth to reply...

Su Yi raised his gun and fired.

The Kedi Star, fitted with the Dark Star Suppressor, made two faint sounds. Both shots struck the man in the chest.

Sefni and Emma stood dazed for a moment, then turned together toward Su Yi between them.

Under the moonlight, the sight of him in his mechanical mask suddenly felt comforting to them.

After so many years of humiliation, this was the first time anyone had stood up for them.

It was also the first time anyone had taken the side of the Ecstasy Witches and spoken in their defense.

As gratitude welled up in them, the man who had taken two bullets sneered. "Think being supernatural makes you so special?"

"Good. Then you can test the true power I've never had a chance to use!"

"After all, I'm the protagonist of this world!"

The next instant, the man threw his arms wide. He shot up to seven feet tall, his body swelling with muscle.

His metallic muscles gleamed coldly in the moonlight.

Sefni and Emma hurried forward, shielding Su Yi behind them. "Careful! There's something strange about him!"

"Our powers can't get through that strange skin of his."

Su Yi, meanwhile, blinked repeatedly, his eyes full of surprise and excitement.

"A Silicon-Based Symbiote!!!"

Silicon-Based Symbiotes belonged to a powerful nonhuman race: the Wildfolk.

Every member of that race was a silicon-based life-form, and they possessed formidable technology.

Players would first encounter them as powerful enemies after the launch of version 4.0, "The Bright Empire's First Revival Expedition."

They felt an innate craving and greed for carbon-based life.

They craved the flesh of carbon-based creatures the way humans instinctively craved sugar.

Silicon-Based Symbiotes were the probes they had scattered throughout the universe.

These things resembled the creature in the movie Venom: viscous, gelatinous matter filled with tiny angular structures.

They were a "cheat" capable of living in perfect symbiosis with humans.

Once inside a human body, a symbiote could consume excess fat and energy to strengthen itself.

Normally, it hid in the bones and beneath the skin, much like the microbes in the human gut.

Not only could it let someone eat anything without gaining weight, it could also manifest when needed, granting its host immense physical strength and defenses as hard as steel.

No ordinary human could turn down something so perfect.

But by winning a human's affection, it could pinpoint the location of human populations and send their coordinates to nearby roaming Wildfolk fleets.

Back then, these things had fetched an astronomical 500,000 Void Abyss Coins at player auctions. They were priceless SSS-rank treasures.

Then, after version 3.5, the wealthy players who had bought them found themselves hunted relentlessly by Wildfolk fleets. They became walking harbingers of disaster: wherever they went, the apocalypse followed.

It was not until version 3.9 that, with the help of Kilman—by then the Light Empire's second Divine Emperor—players discovered what the things truly were.

Right now, the entire Wildfolk Alliance is trapped in the Dark Universe's infinite labyrinth by the Dark Universe surge.

According to the records, version 3.5 is the earliest they can break out.

In other words, I can use this thing safely until version 3.5!

Today is April 9, 4100, in the Rhode Calendar. Version 3.5 begins in 4141.

Forty-one years of safe use... that's enough.

At the thought, Su Yi's eyes burned with anticipation.

While Su Yi's thoughts raced, the hulking man leaped at least fifteen feet into the air and came crashing down toward them with crushing force.

Su Yi watched his silhouette. "From this angle, he looks a bit like the Monkey God."

Sefni grabbed Su Yi. "It's dangerous! Run!"

Su Yi merely smiled as he looked at the massive figure.

"Your body has become far too metallic."

Thud!

A muffled impact left Sefni and Emma staring in stunned horror.

Less than two inches from Su Yi's face, the enormous metal fist had been stopped cold by an invisible force.

It was as though the punch had struck a wall of steel.

"What!?"

All three of them, ally and enemy alike, cried out in surprise.

As the man faltered, Su Yi stepped forward and threw a punch.

Clang!

It sounded like a fist striking an iron barrel.

The man burst out laughing. "I thought you had something up your sleeve, but all you've got is a turtle shell!"

"Watch me smash it!"

He raised both fists and brought them down in a terrifying hammer blow.

Bzz...

Electricity flashed. Once again, his attack struck an invisible wall that felt like quicksand.

Su Yi stubbornly threw another punch.

The man did not even bother to dodge.

Then...

The instant Su Yi's palm touched his skin, an indescribable wave of heat swept through him!

The blazing Thornfire erupted from Su Yi's palm.

A Silicon-Based Symbiote could indeed absorb different special materials to gain different resistances.

Resistance to void-spirit power, cold, corrosion...

But it could not withstand the searing Thornfire.

Extreme heat was a Silicon-Based Symbiote's greatest weakness!

And this was the Goddess of Black Cinders' Thornfire!

Su Yi grinned fiercely. "I was waiting for an opening. What were you waiting for?"