The door was opened, and countless Zerg Beasts swarmed into the arena. StarNet perfectly simulated all the characteristics of Zerg Beasts—the stench of blood, the roars turning the battlefield into a hell on earth.
Chu Ran infused her unending Spiritual Power into the Special Artifact. The rod emitted a golden light, gradually devouring the black on its surface. She stood still, the rod becoming an extension of her body, swinging, dropping, sweeping, and striking heavily according to her combat instincts. Far away, blood splattered everywhere. The corpses of Zerg Beasts accumulated continuously, forming small mountains on the ground. After a certain number, the corpses began to dissipate, but the dissipation couldn't keep up with the rate of new piles. The mountain of corpses rose, obscuring Chu Ran's figure; only streaks of golden light could be seen flashing through the air.
Chu Ran moved faster and faster, swinging the golden rod to leave afterimages in the air. Within just a minute, it was impossible to distinguish between her real body and the Phantom.
"Amazing, truly amazing!"
Jian, sitting in the virtual Audience Seats, murmured in awe.
The researchers behind the screens had their eyes shining, constantly recording data.
"The damage to Zerg Beasts increases with each strike! If I hadn't personally entered the data for Basic Creations, I would have thought she was using a master-crafted special high-level Creation!"
"Not only that, but the divine power she channels has an exceptionally strong base damage against Zerg Beasts!"
"This deity's base lethality against Zerg Beasts is even stronger than the Mother of Death."
Among the three major divine systems, the necromancy system of the same rank dealt the most damage to Zerg Beasts, and this unknown deity was even more powerful than the Mother of Death!
"Perhaps with this deity's power, Chu Ran has the ability to kill an SS-rank Zerg!"
"So, has she learned the deity's true name?" one researcher stood up excitedly. "I can't wait to enter His name into the StarNet Encyclopedia."
"Battle Victory Buddha, Sun Wukong," Charlie An answered blandly. Unlike the other researchers' excitement, his expression was grave, and his attention wasn't on Chu Ran. He was staring fixedly at the other side of the battlefield.
He Qishen hadn't moved a single step. He held his sword in his right hand, the blade covered in frost. He swung it to reap the lives of Zerg Beasts, then quickly retracted it. Repeating countless times, the movements showed no difference at all. Although his lethality wasn't as strong as Chu Ran's, one particular piece of data on his screen was exceptionally startling: Spiritual Power was only 10!
Wang Facai looked at that number with a calm expression.
Charlie An suddenly turned his head and glared at the few people hidden in the shadows. "His Spiritual Power is weak, yet he can use divine power, and the Creation in his hand isn't a Special Artifact!"
The people in the shadows remained still.
But Charlie An grew even more agitated because of their silence, almost roaring: "So back then, the God Summoning Society really conducted that experiment! Using the Black Divine Stone to combine a person's Spiritual Power with Zerg blood to fake divine power!"
The researchers beside him paused their movements and couldn't help but look at Charlie An. The last time the Dean had been this furious was during the Zerg invasion.
"This has nothing to do with you," one of them in the shadows finally spoke in a deep voice.
"Nothing to do with me?" Charlie An's expression was enraged as he bellowed, "Right, he has nothing to do with me. I don't even know his real name now. I don't even know if he was really imprisoned because of that attack!"
"But I do know one thing: according to the experimental data seized back then, using this kind of fake divine power consumes the user's life force! You know this, yet you're still letting him use that power!"
Dean, do you have to be so fierce?
Those are the special squad!
His subordinate researchers, trembling with fear, glanced at the people in the shadows and nervously tried to dissuade Charlie An: "Although this is somewhat inhumane, after all, he's from the God Summoning Society..."
"You shut up!" Charlie An vented his anger on his subordinate for the first time. "God Summoning Society?! Anyone who could survive such an experiment must have had extremely high innate Spiritual Power! How could someone like that willingly join the God Summoning Society and become an experimental subject?!"
Everyone around fell silent.
Wang Facai seemed unaffected by Charlie An's anger, calmly watching He Qishen on the screen.
"There's only one possibility: he was born on a garbage star without a household registration, an experimental subject captured by the God Summoning Society!" Charlie An's eyes were bloodshot. "You clearly know he's a victim, yet you've kept him in the Third Prison for so many years, and now you're even using his life as bait!"
"Just for that..." Charlie An didn't finish his sentence before he was struck to the ground by an unknown force. The intense pain in his abdomen rendered him speechless.
"Charlie An, all you need to do is cooperate with us," one person in the shadows said blandly. "This person means nothing to you. For the ultimate goal of this mission, even you would be sacrificed if necessary, let alone an experimental subject."
The door of the observation room burst open, and Lei Jianguo strode in with a heavy expression. "Huang Tianying, don't go too far."
"Hey, hey, Lei Jianguo, what's with the tone?" Gao Yuan followed closely behind, smiling. "Captain Huang, don't mind him. He's just worried about Charlie An. Restoring the energy tower took a lot out of him, and Charlie An hasn't had a good rest either."
"You attended Commander Huang and the others' memorial service, so you should understand."
Wang Facai stepped forward to help Charlie An up while lowering his head to hide his smirk. That remark was too cutting.
Huang Tianying had watched his cousin sacrifice herself. Even if it was for the Federation, it was too inhumane. Many members of the Huang family had cursed loudly after learning of this, severely damaging Huang Tianying's image.
The people in the shadows said nothing more.
Lei Jianguo snorted coldly and looked at the screen. By now, Chu Ran and He Qishen had killed nearly equal numbers of Zerg Beasts.
"Stop generating Zerg Beasts. Generate B-rank Zerg directly," Lei Jianguo said. "Otherwise, if this drags on, the first match will never end."
Looking at the excited and hateful expressions of the audience on other split screens, Lei Jianguo frowned deeply. "Don't go too far. No matter how important that thing is, it must not cause another disturbance on the Seventh Sub-Star, let alone endanger Chu Ran."
At that moment, many in the audience were still shouting: "Chu Ran, kill him!"
"Chu Ran, kill him!"
"Chu Ran, kill him!"
These people were hoarse with genuine hatred. The more powerful He Qishen appeared, the angrier and more hateful they became. Even though they knew what stood on the battlefield was only He Qishen's virtual spiritual body, they still longed to see He Qishen die.
Back then, even after careful selection and concealment, the remaining sets of photos from the God Summoning Society's laboratory still triggered a tidal wave of public opinion. That year, the God Summoning Society became a rat in the gutter, hunted by everyone.
Some were initially experimental subjects themselves, but after they turned on ordinary people, they became equally unforgivable.
Being locked up in prison signaled to the public that He Qishen was not innocent.
That such a sinner could be released from prison and even set foot on the Spiritist Tournament preliminaries was a provocation.
A provocation against the value of human life.
"That item might be in Chu Ran's hands," one of the people in the shadows spoke again.
"Bullshit!" Lei Jianguo cursed bluntly. "He Yi died on that mission. Even if she found something, she wouldn't have given it to Chu Ran. Besides, He Yi's legacy was already donated by that old man Chu Dao. That thing isn't there!"
"The God Summoning Society wouldn't set up such a big scheme against an ordinary person for no reason."
"An ordinary person wouldn't be poisoned at birth for no reason either."
Just as Lei Jianguo couldn't hold back and was about to throw a punch, another person in the shadows said, "We won't sacrifice Chu Ran. She's now tied to the Federation's interests."
Gao Yuan pressed down on Lei Jianguo's shoulder. "Calm down, too."
Even if they could fight, the Central Star would make them pay dearly. If that bastard Huang Tianying ever suffered Spiritual Power Destruction, he'd definitely get someone to beat him up.
"No!" a researcher suddenly shouted in panic. "This isn't the set B-rank Zerg data!"
Everyone turned sharply to look at the screen.
An S-rank Zerg Soul Butterfly appeared on the screen.