Just as Ling Chen (Lin Chen) meticulously planned to lure Zhuang Han into the pre-set graveyard of Blood Sacrifice Canyon, fate, or perhaps a deeper malice, cast an unexpected chess piece.
About twenty kilometers northwest of the Linghui Academy Ruins, there was a desolate area locals called "Crying Valley."
This was once a small settlement, overrun by mutated creatures at the beginning of the Great Cataclysm, now only ruins and lingering stench remained.
Few people approached here, except those with nowhere to go, or rather... those forgotten by the entire world.
Su Heng was here.
She was curled up in the basement of a half-collapsed building, her oversized, dirt-stained jacket vaguely showing it was once a school uniform.
Her hair was dry and matted, her face pale to the point of transparency, only her eyes were terrifyingly black, with a dark flame seemingly burning deep within, like two bottomless wells filled with suffering, numbness, and... a trace of suppressed, explosive madness utterly unsuited for her age.
She had been on the run from that so-called "home" for three months.
After her brother Su Heng's funeral, her parents quickly saw her as an ominous symbol of misfortune, eager to send her to some distant "sanatorium," but in reality, they wanted to completely get rid of her.
She overheard their conversation, and on a rainy night, she escaped through the window, taking the only relic her brother left behind—that faded guitar pick.
Life on the streets was harder than imagined.
Hunger, cold, and fear were constant companions.
But what tormented her more than these was the incessant roaring and wailing deep within her heart, day and night.
Her brother's final, relieved smile, her parents' cold eyes, the bizarre skeletal giant's eruption and dissipation at the funeral, which only she could see... all of it was like a nightmare, repeatedly tearing at her nerves.
Even more terrifying, she found herself becoming "abnormal."
Whenever her emotions fluctuated violently, especially when she was overwhelmed by despair, anger, or the humiliation of being bullied, a cold and violent power would surge from deep within her body.
Her vision would be tinged with blood, and the "crunching" sound of bones rubbing together would echo in her ears.
The first time was at an abandoned gas station; a few vagrants tried to snatch her only food, and as she was pushed to the ground, with a fist about to fall, the terrifying phantom of the skeletal giant, made of pale bones and dark red blood patterns, like an out-of-control beast, suddenly emerged halfway from behind her, striking with a claw!
Although it wasn't fully solidified, its terrifying might and power instantly scared those vagrants witless, one of them even suffering a mental breakdown.
Since then, she carefully concealed this "abnormality."
She didn't know what it was; was it her brother's spirit protecting her? Or had she herself become a monster?
She only vaguely felt that this power was closely related to her emotions.
The more angry, the more painful she was, the clearer and more violent the skeletal giant became.
She feared it, yet in desperation, she had to rely on its chilling destructive power.
As for the healing ability her brother's phantom once displayed? She had no clue; the amber light and gentle whispers that night seemed like nothing more than a dying hallucination.
Most of the time, she forced herself into numbness, like a walking corpse.
But today, something was different.
Since early morning, she had felt an inexplicable palpitation.
In the distant sky, muffled explosions and violent energy fluctuations faintly echoed.
The psionic energy permeating the air became extremely chaotic, carrying a nauseating scent of blood and brutality, as if some immense disaster was brewing.
"That direction... is Linghui Academy?" Su Heng curled up in a corner, gnawing on hardened breadcrumbs, instinctively clutching the guitar pick on her chest.
Her brother had once mentioned that place, saying it was a very famous school.
Now, it was clearly the center of a terrible conflict.
She should have stayed away from there, the farther the better.
But a strange feeling pulled her—not curiosity, but a kind of... resonance?
It was as if the monstrous malevolent aura from afar resonated subtly with the violent power slumbering within her body.
It was a resonance of destruction, a distant chorus of pain and anger.
"Destruction... just destroy everything..." A dark thought uncontrollably surfaced.
She shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel the idea, but the long-suppressed hatred for the unjust world deep in her heart quietly ignited, like dry tinder thrown into a spark.
Just then, the ground shook violently! Much stronger than any previous aftershocks!
Dust rained down from the basement ceiling.
Immediately following, an indescribable, terrifying pressure filled with hunger, devouring, and the desire for evolution, swept in like a tangible tsunami from the direction of Linghui Academy!
It was Zhuang Han!
It was finally driven by Ling Chen's guidance and its own desires, leaving its lair and moving towards Blood Sacrifice Canyon!
Its path happened to pass the outskirts of "Crying Valley"!
Su Heng instantly felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave!
The pure malice and destructive desire contained within that pressure instinctively agitated and boiled her skeletal power!
She felt an unprecedented fear, but deep within this fear, there was even a trace of twisted excitement!
"It's coming... something terrible..." Her teeth chattered as she cowered.
But fate did not give her a chance to hide.
Rumble—!
Accompanied by earth-shattering roars and the mad shrieks of mutated creatures, Zhuang Han's massive figure, covered in dark golden bone armor, like an out-of-control heavy battle tank, crashed through the dilapidated perimeter wall of Crying Valley and charged in!
It seemed to be taking a shortcut, or perhaps simply attracted by the faint residual death aura within the valley.
Behind it was a tidal wave of mutated creatures!
They trampled the ruins, destroying everything in their path!
Zhuang Han's crimson pupils swept across the desolate valley, instantly locking onto the faint life aura at the basement entrance, which was strikingly out of place with the surrounding dead silence!
A tiny, fragile, yet strangely energetic... food source!
"Roar—!" It let out a greedy roar, casually swinging a blade-arm, and a fierce blood-colored energy blade slashed towards the basement where Su Heng was hiding!
"No—!" Su Heng screamed in despair!
Survival instinct overrode everything!
Stimulated by the threat of death, all the fear, grievances, anger at fate's injustice, and pain of losing her brother that had accumulated in her heart... completely erupted at this moment!
"Why are you all forcing me?! Why won't you let me live?!" she shrieked, her eyes instantly filled with blood red!
Buzz—!!!
A violent power, far more immense and colder than any previous time, burst forth from her delicate body!
Dark red blood light shot into the sky!
The ground cracked beneath her feet!
The next second, the terrifying, three-meter-tall skeletal giant, fully and solidified, appeared behind her!
At this moment, the skeletal giant was different from the one at the funeral.
Its bones were thicker, its bone spurs sharper, and the dark red blood patterns entwined around it writhed violently like living things, exuding a suffocating aura of resentment and destruction.
Its chest cavity was empty; the half-bottle of malt liquor was gone, replaced by a fiercely burning, ink-black flame of resentment!
At the center of the flame, a twisted, painful, silently roaring face was faintly visible—that was the projection of Su Heng's extreme emotional agony!
"De... stroy...!" The skeletal giant let out an indistinct roar, its enormous bone claw, with an aura of tearing everything apart, fiercely met the energy blade slashed by Zhuang Han!
Boom—!!!
Two equally violent and destructive forces collided fiercely!
The shockwave instantly overturned the ruins and debris within a dozen meters!
Su Heng was thrown against the wall by the recoil, a sweetness in her throat, but she stared intently at the monster showdown ahead.
The skeletal giant actually managed to block Zhuang Han's casual blow!
Although cracks appeared on its bone claw, it roared, its resentful flames burning even brighter, frantically absorbing the endless negative emotional energy provided by Su Heng!
Zhuang Han was visibly stunned, a flicker of surprise and... even deeper interest in its crimson pupils!
The thing summoned by this tiny creature actually contained such pure power of death and resentment!
This was simply... an unexpected feast!
"Interesting... toy... I'll devour you!" Zhuang Han abandoned the idea of crushing its opponent directly, and its massive body, with playful cruelty, lunged at the skeletal giant!
It wanted to capture this "host" alive and devour this delicious creation of resentment!
A crazy and tragic battle, completely outside Ling Chen's plan, suddenly erupted in Crying Valley!
Su Heng, relying on a desperate ferocity and the skeletal giant's utterly emotion-driven violent combat power, actually managed to entangle with Zhuang Han for a short time!
The skeletal giant had no technique, only the most primitive, most insane tearing and pouncing!
Its attacks could even corrode Zhuang Han's bone armor to some extent!
But the strength gap between them was immense; Zhuang Han, like a cat playing with a mouse, dealt with it with ease, each counterattack leaving deep scars on the skeletal giant's body.
Su Heng's face grew paler and paler, and more and more blood spilled from the corners of her mouth.
The excessive overdraft of power and spirit caused her consciousness to begin to blur.
The skeletal giant's figure also began to become unstable, flickering between clear and dim.
"Am I... going to die...?" She looked at Zhuang Han's playful and greedy crimson pupils, an endless sorrow welling up in her heart, "Brother... I'm sorry... I'm still... too useless..."
Just as her consciousness was about to dissipate and the skeletal giant was about to collapse—
Perhaps the extreme despair touched some deep connection in her soul, or perhaps her brother Su Heng's lingering protective will was activated at the brink of death... a faint energy fluctuation, completely different from when she usually activated the skeletal giant, suddenly emanated from her chest (where the guitar pick hung).
At the same time, Zhuang Han, who had already raised its blade-arm, ready to deliver the final blow, suddenly froze!
Its crimson pupils contracted sharply, staring intently at the imperceptible fluctuation at Su Heng's chest, its face showing an unbelievable horror for the first time!
It wasn't fear of the power itself, but fear of a certain... attribute contained within that energy fluctuation!
It was an extremely faint, yet incredibly pure... aura of purification and tranquility!
Although pitifully weak, its essence actually had a common origin of restraint with the Holy Light purification power of the Knights Templar!
And this aura actually emanated from this little girl full of resentment?!
This sudden, completely contradictory discovery caused a momentary confusion and hesitation in Zhuang Han's mind.
And it was in this critical juncture—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several precise and deadly azure armor-piercing rounds, like the sigh of the Grim Reaper, shot from the distant high ground, fiercely striking Zhuang Han's joints and bone armor gaps exposed by its astonishment!
It was the 7th Brigade's snipers, who had been lurking on the flank, waiting for their chance!
They had received Ling Chen's order: if Zhuang Han was unexpectedly delayed, immediately launch the strongest sniper attack!
Pfft! Pfft!
Zhuang Han let out a painful roar, its attention completely diverted!
Immediately after, a dark red figure, like a meteor, surged out from the side ruins!
Li Fan's dragon-transformed body carried raging flames, his dragon claws aiming directly for Zhuang Han's head!
"Beast! Die!"
Ling Chen (Lin Chen)'s figure also appeared on a broken wall not far away, holding a "tuned" Gauss rifle, he continuously fired with a "solemn" expression, blocking Zhuang Han's retreat, but his eyes coldly swept over Su Heng, who was slumped on the ground, her breath weak.
(An unexpected... interesting surprise.
To be able to awaken a dual ability at this time, in this place, possessing both extreme destructiveness and... a hint of hidden healing potential?
And that healing aura could even trigger Zhuang Han's instinctive fear?
This girl... Su Heng... interesting.
Her appearance disrupted my steps, but also... provided new possibilities.)
His brain worked rapidly, instantly adjusting his plan.
"Chief Gao! A survivor girl has been found! Suspected of awakening a special ability, currently fighting Zhuang Han!
The situation is critical! Request immediate support! Prioritize saving her!" Ling Chen shouted into the communicator, his tone filled with "urgency" and "sense of responsibility."
Then, he looked at Li Fan and loudly said, "Captain Li! Hold Zhuang Han! I'm going to save her!"
With that, he flashed, avoiding the chaotic battle, and quickly rushed towards the dying Su Heng.
Zhuang Han was fiercely entangled by Li Fan and the snipers, furious, but unable to break free for a while.
Ling Chen came to Su Heng's side and quickly checked her condition (severely injured, power overdrawn, ability extremely unstable).
He unhesitatingly took out the last high-efficiency healing potion and injected it into her body, while at the same time, a trace of imperceptible Soul Jade Physique's primal energy quietly condensed at his fingertips, and he secretly tapped her neck, leaving an extremely faint mental imprint.
(The seed has been planted.
Whether you become a useful chess piece or a meaningless consumable depends on your fortune.
Perhaps your uncontrolled destruction and hidden healing can play an unexpected role in my future plans... for example, against the annoying 'Holy Light' of the Temple Knights?)
After doing all this, he picked up the unconscious Su Heng and shouted into the communicator, "Person rescued! Retreat immediately! According to the original plan, lure Zhuang Han to Blood Sacrifice Canyon!"
He looked down at the pale and tender face of the girl in his arms, her eyebrows still tightly furrowed even in unconsciousness, as if carrying endless suffering.
(A vessel of hatred, an embodiment of sorrow... welcome to this feast, Su Heng.
Your pain, perhaps, can become one of my best weapons.)
Ling Chen, with this unexpected "trophy," quickly disappeared into the shadows of the ruins.
Behind him in Crying Valley, the deadly fight between Li Fan and Zhuang Han had just entered its climax.
Zhuang Han, distracted and injured by the momentary flash of "healing" aura from Su Heng, had its ferocity completely ignited, pursuing even more frantically.
Although the trajectory of the plan had shifted, the ultimate direction still pointed to Ling Chen's preset destination.
However, on the chessboard, there was now an additional, variable... sorrowful chess piece.