Facing the Transcendent (Part 1)

When something beyond comprehension happened once, it might have been a coincidence, an accident.

But when the same thing happened again and again, "coincidence" and "accident" could no longer serve as excuses.

What science couldn't explain, the transcendent could.

"Everyone, spread out!"

"Secure the scene and preserve the evidence!"

"Confirm the deceased's identity!"

"Everyone, stay alert!"

"Load live ammunition!"

"..."

The scene was noisy, with gasps of alarm ringing out.

Chu Ning narrowed her eyes and gazed up at the heights, her expression calm. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

Qingxue's little face was deathly pale, probably from fright.

Though she possessed power ordinary people could scarcely imagine, she was still a child, with a limited ability to handle such things. The visual impact of what she had just seen was hard to put into words.

Su Bai kept his head lowered, searching carefully through the remains scattered all around.

The moment the figure hit the ground, he had smelled a pungent odor. It supported his earlier conclusion: the human combustion had indeed been caused by white phosphorus.

But as the flames weakened, the smell of white phosphorus suddenly vanished without a trace, as though it had never existed. Even the curling white smoke inexplicably blended into the air.

Only Divine Oracle Sequence 107 could change the properties of microscopic particles at will, like a magic trick, or even alter their unique molecular structures.

There really was a transcendent creature in this dormitory building.

Soon, Su Bai found a spider the size of a fingernail among the remains.

The spider's eight legs were dark red, and its rear was patterned in black and white. Eight slightly smaller compound eyes surrounded the two protruding main eyes on its head, and all ten eyes had a faint bloody tint.

Whoosh!

Sensing Su Bai's gaze, the spider leaped to the height of his shoulder in an instant, a faint red glow swirling around the tufts of hair on its eight legs.

Su Bai's right hand darted toward his right pocket. He took a sharp step back, drew his gun, and fired.

Bang!

Under Chu Ning's instruction, Su Bai's marksmanship had improved significantly. The spurt of muzzle flame struck true, instantly tearing the spider to pieces.

The sudden turn of events stunned everyone present.

Chu Ning pulled Officer Chen aside and said a few words in a low voice.

Officer Chen's expression turned grave. He walked to the center of the crowd and said heavily, "Everyone, back up twenty meters. No one is allowed in or out without orders!"

Su Bai crouched down, picked up a strand of spider silk, and placed it in his palm for a close examination.

The strand of silk was a Bloodline Mark that had seeped out of the spider's body after its death.

Qingxue leaned her little head over and asked tentatively, "Is it... over?"

Su Bai tucked the silk into his pocket and shook his head slightly. "That person just fell from the rooftop. Let's go take a look first."

In the stairwell.

Su Bai took out his phone and quickly sent Li Ming a text. Then he put it away and said, "The thing I just killed was a spider."

Chu Ning nodded. "And?"

Su Bai continued, "Its species looks a lot like a kind of redback spider found in Australia, but it's a little bigger than an ordinary redback."

"And?"

"It was a spiderling."

"And?"

"If there are spiderlings, naturally there's a mother spider. An adult redback can produce up to thirteen egg sacs, and each sac can hold at least a hundred spiderlings."

Chu Ning suddenly stopped, her expression stunned.

Su Bai stopped too and said softly:

"After spiderlings are born, they need to eat a lot, so they burrow into their prey and frantically tear at its organs and flesh. Once they've eaten their fill, the prey is no longer of any use to them, so they change the basic properties of microscopic particles to alter the molecular structure of elements in the air, laying a thick coating of white phosphorus over the prey's body and burning it alive. That's Divine Oracle Sequence 107-Dustless.

"By my judgment... the previous two victims couldn't bear the pain of being eaten, so they chose to jump from the building. The instant they hit the ground, the spiderlings pierced through their bodies with terrifying force, producing a tremendous explosive effect from the inside out. That's why their severed limbs were scattered everywhere."

By the time Chu Ning heard this, her hands and feet had gone cold.

Su Bai sighed softly. "My final conclusion is that there's a giant transcendent creature on the roof of this building. It's a female spider in the process of laying eggs. Its species is somewhat similar to a redback, and I estimate it can produce 800 to 2,000 spiderlings this time.

"Based on my experience fighting the spiderling, I can tell that it had strength close to the ninth tier. According to the Law of Conservation of Transcendence, we can conclude that the transcendent power in all these spiderlings comes from their mother. And the bloodline tier of a mother capable of producing so many ninth-tier spiderlings at once... has to be at least the fourth tier, and may even reach the third."

"At least the fourth tier!?"

Qingxue's eyes went wide. She hadn't understood what Su Bai said before, but she had heard that last sentence loud and clear.

What did a fourth-tier transcendent creature mean?

Extremely high intelligence, terrifying strength, a formidable bloodline, and an Oracle that could even cover several dozen meters in every direction.

Even a powerhouse like Gu Jiuge, with an S+ combat rating, would be at a disadvantage against a fourth-tier transcendent creature, let alone them.

A sixth-tier, a seventh-tier, and a ninth-tier, charging upstairs like reckless greenhorns-wasn't that courting death?

Chu Ning frowned deeply. "What should we do?"

Su Bai was silent for a moment before answering truthfully:

"The first option is to contact Section Seven immediately and have them send a fighter jet to fire a missile here and blow up the entire building.

"The second option is for us to climb to the rooftop now and kill it.

"Based on the Law of Transcendent Dependents, since its children inherited its transcendent power, they can't be considered independent individuals. The spiderlings would exist as dependents, so as long as the mother dies, the spiderlings will all die with it."

Qingxue immediately raised her hand. "The first one! I choose the first one!"

Chu Ning looked into Qingxue's eyes and said heavily:

"Section Seven can deploy a fighter jet, but it has to go through official procedures. Even if they move quickly, it'll take about an hour to get a missile here. Can you guarantee that the spiderlings won't all hatch within an hour?"

Two hours ago, the first spiderling had crawled out.

Ten minutes ago, the second spiderling had crawled out.

That meant more and more spiderlings would crawl out as time passed. Perhaps before daybreak, all several thousand of them would have emerged.

Several thousand spiderlings would crawl down through the building floor by floor, searching everywhere for prey. Thousands of lives would vanish in an instant.

The whole of Suzhou University would be transformed into a sea of fire in the blink of an eye.

And it wouldn't stop at Suzhou University. The spiderlings would crawl out from here and hide in the city. When they grew hungry, they would hunt again, and then half the city would be engulfed in flames.

It would be a terrifying disaster.

And that disaster could very well happen the next second.

Hearing Chu Ning's answer, Qingxue immediately pouted. "But if we choose the second option, we'll definitely be torn to pieces! Brother Su Bai, what do you say?"

Su Bai pondered briefly, then explained:

"We won't necessarily be torn to pieces. It just laid eggs and lost too much transcendent power, so its bloodline tier must have fallen.

"Even if it was once a third- or fourth-tier transcendent creature, it has fifth- or sixth-tier strength at most now.

"So if the three of us humble cobblers join forces, we still have a fighting chance. I think the best approach is to contact Section Seven first and have them send a fighter jet over, then go upstairs and try to kill the mother spider.

"If we win, we can have the fighter jet pull back. If we lose, at least the missile will avenge us."

Chu Ning let out a long breath. "By your S+ judgment, what are our chances of winning?"

Su Bai held up three fingers. "About this much."

Chu Ning nodded slightly, mounted the stairs, and strode forward.

Su Bai followed close behind.

Qingxue gritted her teeth and ultimately followed them.

Though the three of them had made the same choice, their reasons were very different.

Su Bai was terrified of death, but just as he had said, if the ending was already set and death could not be avoided, he could accept it calmly. There was a thirty percent chance of saving the people in half a city-hundreds of thousands of people-and he was willing to take a gamble for them.

Chu Ning was a Grave Keeper through and through. To maintain order in Great Xia, she could disregard her own life. Strictly speaking, she was not a gambler like Su Bai, but a true desperado.

Qingxue was neither a gambler nor a desperado, but she was kind by nature and could not stand by and watch her teammates fall into danger. So she could give up everything and do something crazy alongside them.

Perhaps these were the unknown, great stories Gu Jiuge had spoken of?