Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 389 - 362 Error Evolution

Chapter 389: 362 Error Evolution

Burning is a physical phenomenon that emits light and heat, and these are the fundamental attributes of fire. The flame formed by my superpower is no exception.

Not only is the flame I summon composed of my spirit, but the light and heat emanating from it are also manifestations of my spirit. The application of thermal energy markers, and the past tactic of using light to invade Chen Long’s "Teleportation Door Armor," are all based on this principle.

And because I concentrated all my mana into a compressed form, the resulting "Eclipse" naturally became a creation that does not emit light or heat. Despite still possessing temperatures high enough to destroy even time and space, it seems to be moving away from the definition of "flame."

This qualitative change reminds me of a discussion I once saw online.

Compared to the sun, Earth is minuscule, so even using all the water on Earth to douse the sun would not cause significant damage. Then, if there was a mass of water in the universe with the same mass as the sun and we moved it to be thrown at the sun, could it extinguish the sun?

Anyone with even a little knowledge of astrophysics would realize that this is a question that is flawed from the premise; the universe cannot possibly have a mass of water equivalent to the sun. It’s not that it’s impossible to gather that much water; rather, if there really were so much water gathered together, the massive gravity formed by its enormous mass would compress it inward.

At a certain point of compression, nuclear fusion would occur, and this overly massive mass of water would "burn." It would become another sun before it could be thrown at the sun.

Just as the mere accumulation of massive amounts of mana would exhibit incredible, otherworldly properties, the simple accumulation of natural materials can also result in such incredible qualitative transformations. When anything is taken to its extreme, it presents an unimaginable aspect, and facing that transformed "water," even the Water Master Xuanwu would not be able to control it. Because it’s no longer his element of water, but closer to my fire.

Right now, the "Eclipse" I’ve summoned also exhibits this qualitative transformation.

In pursuit of high density, I excessively sought to compress power, turning it from "a flame that emits light and heat" into "darkness that does not emit light or heat." This is the attribute of the current "Miniature Eclipse"; if it were the "Eclipse" from my battle with Ming Zhuo, it would not only not emit light or heat, but if necessary, it would even absorb light and heat from the surrounding environment. This characteristic is more like the opposite pole of flame.

Although it still looks like a black flame, if I continue down this path, it will deviate further from the essence of flame. Just as the Water Master Xuanwu cannot control water that has become the sun, I, as a Flame Ability User, should not continue down this path. This black flame symbolizes a route of erroneous evolution.

Erroneous evolution... that sounds kind of cool. When I think about it, as a child I liked the Zombie Tyrannosaurus more than the Mechanical Tyrannosaurus... and black flames are also cool; in my adolescence, one of my fantasies was to fight enemies with black flames...

No, no, that’s not right. I need to rethink the direction of the evolution of my powers. After fully tapping into all my potential, the challenge I face is how to better control the existing power. Since an uncontrollable power awaits me on this evolutionary path, I must decisively change course.

The "Eclipse" is still a very powerful Killing Move, and I can continue to use it.

I dissipated the "Eclipse" and, watching the black flames disappear into the air, I remembered something Little Bowl once told me.

It is said that during the Doomsday Era, the image of the Catastrophe Demon was that of a monster enveloped in black flames.

Yet the flames I found in the bodies of Water Master Xuanwu and Ming Zhuo were not black flames, but rather the normal orange flames that I usually produce visually.

I have never heard of Xuanming having records of manipulating black flames either. In mythology, Xuanming is a legitimate Fire God, not an Evil God or Demon God who wields ominous black flames.

There are tales from the Doomsday Era that the precursor of the Catastrophe Demon was Xuanming, yet the black flames symbolizing the Catastrophe Demon have appeared on me. Could it be, as I have suspected in the past, that the precursor to the Catastrophe Demon is not Xuanming, but me?

Surely the Catastrophe Demon isn’t actually Ming Zhuo, enveloped in a continuously burning black flame because it was ignited by my "Eclipse" in the future and, being unable to die, it could only keep burning?

If the Catastrophe Demon is truly me, does that mean the future version of me has continued down the black flame evolutionary path? Is this actually the correct evolutionary route?

It’s perplexing. In order to relax my mind, I have to set this question aside for now and shift my focus elsewhere.

By tracking the thermal energy marker placed within Mazao’s body, I sensed her current state.

At the moment, Mazao was in the kitchen of a sanatorium, making something. It was a considerably large kitchen where others were also busy at work; Mazao found a corner for herself, vigorously stirring a viscous, egg-yolk-colored liquid in a stainless steel bowl with a stick. Some tried to cozy up and offer help, only to be repelled by her wary gaze.

For now, it’s unclear what she’s making; it doesn’t seem to be ordinary home cooking. I decided to treat it as an unknown surprise and wait until she presented the finished product, so I turned my perception in other directions.

Many "voices" were flooding into my consciousness from all around.

Impermanence could sense it when others mentioned his name. Strictly speaking, Impermanence doesn’t have the specific ability to detect the mention of his name; his perception is so strong that he could "sense even the discussions of his name," essentially the same way sharks’ acute sense of smell can track prey bleeding miles away.

Even if someone on the other side of the earth whispered my name, I could hear it as if we’re in the same room. That said, if many people were talking about me at once, I might not be very inclined to listen attentively. Just like in junior and senior high school, I could occasionally hear whispers behind my back from different corners of the classroom. Though I could hear everything clearly, it was just background noise to me.

For the past three days, I had become Luoshan’s superstar; voices discussing me were everywhere. Mainly, they debated how I defeated Ming Zhuo, how Ming Zhuo would retaliate against me, and who was stronger between Xuanming and me. I thoroughly enjoyed the praises from others, yet over time such adulation became tiring and even disrupted my normal rest.

If someone wanted to stand out from this background noise, they might need to employ some ritualistic methods to amplify their voice. Perhaps, this is one of the main purposes of rituals designed to worship the gods.

Alternatively, if someone possessed great power, even harboring hostility or malevolence towards me and wished to probe my whereabouts, then even without uttering my name aloud, they could instinctively draw my attention—Ming Zhuo might have noticed me in this way before.

Lately, I’ve also been observing the operations of Luoshan as a whole. Observing Luoshan Headquarters with my current level of perception was like overseeing a chessboard from a high and lofty God’s-eye-view. While opting for a broad perspective, I could also delve into the minutiae and view every individual’s working state in microscopic detail. Even though some areas had anti-investigation barriers set up, and there were many specialized tasks that I didn’t understand, I still captured some general information from the atmosphere.

Luoshan Headquarters could largely be considered an open-air, magnified version of the Fufeng Base that I had previously visited. It’s a comprehensive fortress integrating functions like command, training, medical care, and living. However, unlike the Governance Ideology-oriented Fufeng Base, here a multitude of various demon hunters gathered, leading to frequent friction and internal scheming; collaboration issues and functional conflicts hampered work with efficiency varying greatly.

Setting aside the great number of demon hunters, there were also many agents at work. It was apparent that most agents were newly assigned to the headquarters. In the face of the formidable demon hunter community, the agents seemed subdued. Many tasks handled by agents could be performed better by demon hunters who could employ spells during their work, making the presence of ordinary people here seem somewhat redundant.

Still, it seemed that Luoshan Headquarters was exploring ways to foster harmony between ordinary people and demon hunters—more precisely, it was probably just the Governance Ideology actively seeking such an approach.

The absorption of a large number of ordinary people to work at Luoshan Headquarters likely stemmed from the Governance Ideology’s initiative. Yet, at this stage, not only did this not lead to amicable relations between the two, but it also exacerbated the disparities.

The agent community took on some jobs from the demon hunters but couldn’t finish them with the same effectiveness. Even for less physically demanding electronic tasks, some demon hunters could operate dozens of devices simultaneously, while others could speed up their consciousness to use a single second as if it were a hundred.

Thus, some agents who possessed advanced professional skills and qualifications to work at Luoshan Headquarters ended up relegated to menial cleaning tasks like sweeping and mopping. And yet, certain demon hunters employed spells that could instantly make rooms and hallways spotless.

Furthermore, in some areas of the headquarters, there existed automata capable of performing physical labor for long durations and even handling simple intellectual tasks. According to some demon hunters’ discussions, such automata seemed to be producible at a low cost but widespread adoption had yet to be authorized by the higher-ups.

Some automata seemed capable of complex intellectual work too; all it took was the extraction and imprisonment of an ordinary person’s soul inside the automata, just like a chip. These automata didn’t require rest or sleep, food or excretion, obeyed commands unconditionally, and even cooperated collectively like a swarm of bees, capable of working continuously until breakdown, and then they’d be replaced.

However, the production of such tools was currently prohibited by the Governance Ideology; it was unknown whether clandestine production continued

Previously, I couldn’t quite envision what a civilization led by a group of demon hunters might look like, but now I seemed to be gradually glimpsing that future scenario.

I sat in the "audience seat," invisible to these demon hunters and agents, quietly observing all this unfold like watching a movie screen. Gradually, I sensed something else. It felt like another person had walked into this intangible "audience." He silently took a seat beside me, watching the distant happenings in silence along with me.

I turned to glance at the newcomer—an expression of speech since, in reality, I was simply sitting in the sanatorium bed. But in that imaginative "audience seat," I seemed to truly see the newcomer’s face.

"Having seen all this, what are your thoughts?" Fa Zheng asked.

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