Chapter 115 VS Monster Maker 2
The creator of the monster who appeared before us seemed to be convinced of his victory.
Just like the images described by the Immortal Monster and the Shadow Monster, in such a strange environment, facing three enemies he had restrained, he acted arrogantly and calmly, speaking in a pretentious tone, subtly revealing an overbearing attitude.
However, all of this is likely just his acting. If you're fooled by this superficial performance and think he's all bark and no bite, you're likely to fall for his tricks. In reality, he's probably a calm and cautious person.
He seemed to have anticipated our attack and instead laid an ambush for us. He also made preparations specifically for me. As I made the initial movement to transform into my elemental form, he precisely controlled my right hand, preventing me from igniting myself with a fireball.
At this stage, not many people probably know that I can transform into elements. Neither Ma Zao nor Zhu Shi will reveal my information, and Lu Youxun also promised me he wouldn't disclose my true strength. The immortal monster and the shadow-shifting monster who witnessed my elemental transformation are both dead. How did the monster creator know I could transform into elements?
To put it another way, the only ones who should know we'd be lying in ambush here are probably those of us present. Lu Youxun could be considered half of one; although he didn't know we'd be able to track us down tonight, he at least knew there was a possibility we'd come looking for us.
So—is it possible that the intelligence was leaked from him?
He is probably the least likely among us to be secretly colluding with the creator of the monsters. However, since my elemental transformation and our ambush operation have been exposed, it is necessary to consider even the most extreme possibilities.
The monster creator seemed to have something more to say. Before he could finish, I reignited the flames with my gaze, instantly vaporizing his body from the head down.
His head fell to the ground again.
I didn't let my guard down immediately. Since the one who died last time wasn't the original body, it's quite possible that the one standing before us now isn't the original body either. Unless he's truly an arrogant and careless person who gets blinded by the situation when it's in his favor.
Clearly, he wasn't. Even as his head hit the ground, the surrounding black mist didn't dissipate; in fact, it underwent a new change. The black mist above his head suddenly contracted and then expanded, as if a mouth had spewed out a human figure out of thin air. It was the man in the white suit and silver mask.
Is this another clone? Or is his ability not "cloning" but "resurrection"?
"You're really in a hurry." The creator of the monster turned to me and laughed again. "I advise you not to waste your time. You can't kill me. But if you go too far, I'll just have to gouge your eyes out first. You are my precious experimental subjects, and I don't want to do something so wasteful."
So the reason he only restrained us was to turn us into experimental subjects, just like he did with Lu Youxun. Also, it seems he knew my fire attack was launched using my gaze as a medium. That's another suspicious point.
Although we only had a brief interaction, I was already absolutely certain that he was not the same person as the strange person who appeared in my dream four and a half years ago. Perhaps I was just worrying unnecessarily from the beginning, and the strange person from four and a half years ago might not even have actually existed.
I wasn't in a hurry to break free of the chains binding me. These chains were practically useless to me, but they had their purpose if the other side found them useful. Zhu Shi was currently observing the other side carefully. If she could use "Mount Buzhou" to unravel the secret of the other side's continuous resurrection, she would be able to point me in the right direction for solving the problem.
Or perhaps I could be like the Great Impermanence described by Zhu Shi, crushing the rules of the opponent's superpower simply by relying on my immense strength.
I had considered trying it, but the thought of the Shadow Man made me hold back. When I encountered the Shadow Man, it wasn't impossible for me to forcefully overwhelm his power with fire, but just as it's difficult for a person to control the force of stepping on an ant, I couldn't precisely determine which part to leave intact. Forcibly burning him with violence would simply mean that both my "trophies" and the enemy would be reduced to nothing.
Suddenly, Zhu Shi asked, "How did you do that?"
"Oh, what are you talking about?" The creator of the weirdo didn't seem to mind exchanging more information.
“The two who were killed earlier were your clones, weren’t they?” Zhu Shi said. “But if they were clones…”
"Are you saying that if the clone is summoned with supernatural power, it can't be hidden from your 'Mount Buzhou'?" The monster creator laughed dismissively. "That's your flaw, Zhu Shi. You rely too much on your eyes."
Hearing that the other person's tone didn't sound like a stranger, Zhu Shi was taken aback: "You..."
"I'll tell you the truth. The two who were just killed, while they were my clones, weren't clones formed using supernatural powers, but rather clones I remotely controlled," the monster creator said. "Your 'Mount Buzhou' is a supernatural power born for combat, possessing the ability to find the enemy's weaknesses. The stronger the enemy, the more likely you are to find their weaknesses. If the enemy is so strong that they have no weaknesses, you can even forcibly observe weaknesses that shouldn't exist."
"Conversely, if your enemy is weak, even so weak that they have no special abilities whatsoever, and they don't radiate any malice or hostility towards you, your eyes will become dull... or perhaps it's not so much dullness, since if the enemy is so weak that you could kill them with a single touch of your finger, then they are full of weaknesses. As the saying goes, 'hiding among the leaves in the forest,' you will find it difficult to detect any discord."
"Of course, in a combat situation, your eyes can certainly overcome even that kind of obstacle. After all, it's the eye that reveals divinity. But I know that in a non-combat situation, your eyes cannot reveal divinity, right?"
The Eye of Divinity... This is the first time I've heard of the freak creator's nickname for "Mount Buzhou." It sounds pretty cool. Although it's a bit inappropriate to have such thoughts now, I feel that Zhu Shi's superpower is much more stylish than my simple manipulation of flames.
Moreover, this way, I was able to understand some of the issues.
When Zhu Shi uses her supernatural abilities, sometimes her eyes simply become very insightful, and sometimes not only do her eyes turn lake blue, but her temperament also changes drastically. I've wondered why these two differences occur. It wouldn't be quite right to say that she's deliberately holding back; she doesn't seem like the type to unnecessarily hold back when using her abilities. Now it seems that it's due to the different situations.
Her eyes only change color during battle.
"They actually have such a grasp of my abilities..." Zhu Shi said, her expression turning angry. "Did Lu Chan betray us? Or... are you Lu Chan?"
The creator of the freak said nonchalantly, "Who knows?"
"Then I'll tear off your mask now." Zhu Shi struggled to raise his sword amidst the black mist, the blade radiating a lake-blue light.
It seemed that some powerful force was about to be released from this sword.
"Awaken, Yama, the forged one—"
"It's useless." The freak creator waved his hand in the direction of the sword.
More black mist swirled around Zhu Shi's sword, causing the lake-blue light to suddenly extinguish, and the powerful force that was about to roar also receded completely.
"What?" Zhu Shi exclaimed in disbelief, while simultaneously seemingly seeing through the nature of the black mist. "This black mist... can seal off supernatural abilities themselves!?"
"You haven't completed your communication with the Yama Sword yet. I can't seal the power of this divine sword itself, but I can sever the fragile connection between you and it," the Monster Creator said casually. "It's truly pathetic. If you were a child who was hailed as a genius, you would have already gained the Yama Sword's recognition, but now you can only remain at the level of a resident."
Forging the Yama Sword? No wonder Zhu Shi couldn't hide it like he would the Impermanence Sword, but had to carry it in his guitar case. So that sword wasn't the Impermanence Sword from the beginning?
Presumably, the Yama Sword is Zhu Shi's true trump card, but she hasn't been seen using its special power in battle before. Could it be that some special condition needs to be met, or that using it comes with a heavy price?
There must be some special reason behind this. But that's not what I'm most concerned about right now; what I'm really interested in is the black fog in front of me.
The instant the black mist extinguished the sword's gleam, I felt a strange sense of familiarity. It seemed I had encountered a similar power somewhere not long ago. Without even thinking, I immediately recalled the gray mist of the Misty Dream.
Within that dreamscape shrouded in gray mist, I was unable to unleash my superpowers; even Xuanming No. 4 seemed unable to manifest his power as the Great Impermanence. And the black mist before me, which Zhu Shi identified as possessing the power to seal away supernatural abilities, sent a chill down my spine.
Judging from the tone of the monster's creator, this sealing power seems to have limited effect, and may not be effective against excessively powerful forces.
My thermal senses haven't disappeared yet; I can still feel the changes around me. The black mist is slowly contracting around us, and I also sense that space itself is undergoing strange changes.
Through the "fireflies" scattered within the black mist, I felt as if I could burn away the black mist.
The eccentric creator stopped paying attention to Zhu Shi and instead turned to look with interest at Ma Zao, who remained silent. Ma Zao remained expressionless, observing him intently.
Finally, he looked at me.
"Thank you for being so well-behaved earlier. As a reward, you can ask me any questions now," he said, as if bestowing a favor.
“He’s trying to distract us.” Zhu Shi seemed to have calmed down. “This black mist is building an ultra-long-range spatial teleportation program from scratch. In three minutes, the space we’re in will be completely packed up and teleported away.”
"Three minutes..." I thought for a moment, then decided to ask the monster creator one last question, "Why did you tie my right hand?"
"Are you asking why I know the conditions for your elementalization?" The monster creator seemed to have misunderstood something. "It's simple, I can connect to their vision through the heart seed inside their bodies."
"Last time, that weirdo who could use 'damage transfer' used the labyrinth space I gave him. I received the signal and, out of curiosity, checked out his side. That's when I saw you and Zhu Shi breaking through the labyrinth space. To be honest, I was absolutely stunned by you. I never expected that a super fire ability user capable of elemental transformation would appear in Saltwater City."
"So I paid extra attention to your fight with that weirdo who was obsessed with class mobility. Although the fight was short, you still revealed a lot of information about your abilities. Combined with your performance in the labyrinth space last time, it's not hard to conclude that the condition for you to enter elemental form was the action of using your right hand to ignite yourself with a fireball."
"This action is completely unnecessary, yet you in your normal form would perform it even in the midst of a rapidly changing battle, risking being killed by the enemy before you can transform into your elemental form. This demonstrates its necessity. It is undoubtedly an indispensable ritualistic action, just like the spells and hand gestures that a Witcher must use to cast certain spells."
"And your performance just now has confirmed my judgment—after I stopped this action, you were indeed unable to successfully enter elementalization."
"It's too late for you to change anything now."
After listening to his lengthy analysis, Zhu Shi seemed to be recalling the various times I had used elementalization in front of him in the past, and then looked at me in shock: "Is that so, Zhuang Cheng?"
Of course not.
I decided to answer with my actions.
With a single thought, my body burst into flames. My flesh and blood transformed into a body formed from solidified flames. The black mist chains binding me vanished instantly, like spiderwebs burned by a lighter.
The creator of the monster reacted violently, immediately manipulating the black mist as if reflexively trying to stop my elementalization, just as he would extinguish the brilliance of the Zhu Shi sword.
But it was no use. I could sense that the black mist seemed to show a slight restraint when it came into contact with my body. However, it was like trying to extinguish a forest fire with a bucket of water; the black mist that had gathered was instead burned away.
The monster creator stopped his futile actions, silently watching the scene unfold, and then asked, "...So, your action of summoning a fireball and setting yourself ablaze wasn't necessary?"
“It’s not necessary,” I replied.
"Then why do you do that every time, as if that action is absolutely necessary?" he asked.
"Because I wanted a cool transformation move that wouldn't be too embarrassing to do," I said.
Upon hearing this, he paused for a moment, then took a long breath and shouted, "Are you crazy?!"
I waved my arms forward, and as the blazing flames lit up, a sea of fire appeared out of nowhere and engulfed the entire street.
(End of this chapter)
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