91. Chapter 91: Are You Sure You Want to Face My Desire?!
Jung Jae-heon didn't spell it out, but the implication was that the infected could no longer maintain their human will.
"I understand..." Cha Hyun-soo showed a bitter smile. It seemed the infected could never escape the fate of becoming monsters.
......
On the other side, due to the sudden power outage in the apartment, everyone discussed and decided to send Seo Yi-kyung to the electrical room to check the situation. Seo Yi-kyung didn't refuse. Holding a flashlight, she carefully made her way to the electrical room.
As soon as she entered the electrical room, Seo Yi-kyung felt as if something was watching her. However, after looking around, she didn't find anything unusual. "Was it just my imagination?"
She couldn't help but murmur to herself. However, it wasn't her imagination. At that moment, a spider-like monster was hanging from the electrical room's ceiling, staring intently at Seo Yi-kyung like prey.
"Something's wrong..." Seo Yi-kyung frowned, preparing to leave the electrical room temporarily.
Just as she was about to leave, a tentacle shot out instantly, wrapping around Seo Yi-kyung's ankle and pulling her back relentlessly. The sudden attack gave Seo Yi-kyung no time to react. Soon, she was entangled by several tentacles and finally hung upside down from the ceiling by the spider monster's spider silk.
The people downstairs were completely unaware of what was happening with Seo Yi-kyung. Because after Seo Yi-kyung left, the apartment's power was restored, and they were currently watching the news in front of the television.
On the screen, the South Korean President was speaking on a podium.
"Monsters are extremely dangerous. If you see one, stay away immediately. We will prioritize the safety of our citizens above all else..." Halfway through his speech, his expression turned strange. He seemed to be holding something back. Poof! The next moment, he spat out a large mouthful of blood, and nosebleed gushed out wildly. Blood vessels could be seen filling his pupils.
In a distorted state, he said, "You will all die! You're all doomed!"
Bang! A bullet instantly pierced his head.
The sudden gunshot startled everyone in front of the television. Unexpectedly, the President not only didn't die but instead stood up, holding onto the podium, and roared towards the camera, "You will all die."
Several soldiers were seen holding the man back, and one of them repeatedly pulled the trigger of a pistol aimed at his head.
Sizzle... At the same time, the image on the television screen abruptly cut off.
"The President... is he dead?"
"He said we're all doomed."
The people in front of the television were collapsing in despair. One man even threw away his glasses and cried out in despair, "What do we do? We can only wait to die. Let's just be doomed together, let's be doomed together."
Although the others weren't as broken down as him, they were all silent. Lee Eun-yu quietly returned to her room and repeatedly cut her ballet skirt with a utility knife. Looking at the ballet skirt before her, tears streamed down her face, as if she wasn't cutting the ballet skirt, but her dream of ballet.
Inside the Green Home Lobby.
Kim Seok-hyeon used a key to lock the door of the supermarket he ran. His wife tried to stop him but was yelled at fiercely. He told everyone that only he had enough food now, and to get food, they had to buy it with money.
The greed of human nature erupted at this moment! Even though Kim Seok-hyeon knew that money might have become worthless paper, he was still unwilling to easily distribute the food to everyone. He wasn't even willing to share the food that was nearing its expiry date or the food in the refrigerator.
Facing everyone's accusations, Kim Seok-hyeon remained indifferent. As long as he had food in his hands, these people would have to come begging him sooner or later.
"Eat this." Lee Eun-hyuk brought a box of food and placed it on the ground. Seo Yi-kyung hadn't returned, which gradually increased his unease. So, he went to the monitoring room with another man wearing a camouflage uniform.
He did see Seo Yi-kyung, but for the safety of everyone, he didn't announce it.
On the fourth floor of the apartment, Pyeon Sang-wook, who had just woken up in his room, went to the mirror and looked at the wound on his shoulder. Fortunately, the wound wasn't infected. He pulled open a drawer and took out a roll of tape. After covering the wound with tissue paper, he wrapped the tape around his shoulder layer by layer.
After treating the wound, he went to Cui Yongjae's room. Looking at Cui Yongjae, whose limbs were completely broken, he wasn't too surprised. After all, he had seen all sorts of Xia Shang's methods in the past week. He could only say that meeting Xia Shang was just Cui Yongjae's bad luck.
As night fell.
Outside the apartment, the roars of monsters filled the air. Countless twisted and deformed bodies walked across the scorched earth, which resembled an apocalypse.
Boom! Under the moonlight, a figure landed heavily on the ground, creating a large crater and kicking up dust.
The huge sound quickly attracted the attention of the nearby monsters. They rushed towards Xia Shang's location, a horrifying sight like a parade of ghosts.
After landing, Xia Shang slowly got up and retracted the flesh wings on his back. Given his current weight, unless he expanded his flesh wings to seven or eight times the length of his body, they couldn't support normal flight. After all, unlike birds, his bones weren't hollow, and his body wasn't structured solely for flight.
Although Xia Shang could modify his body to be like that, it was ultimately too troublesome and would require a large consumption of his energy. It was simply too much effort for too little gain. If he wanted to fly, he still had to set his sights on Homelander.
"Since you're already here, why leave?" Some monsters turned and left after seeing Xia Shang. After all, not all monsters liked to devour their kindred. The vast majority of monsters only had humans on their menu.
Over the next hour.
The monsters faced a true nightmare. Faced with Xia Shang's predation, their strong survival instincts urged them to stay away from Xia Shang.
Yet, even so, the fusion degree on Xia Shang's Panel still soared from 14% all the way to 35%. If his digestion ability hadn't been lagging, the fusion progress could have been even faster.
Of course, everything comes with a price. The drastic increase in desire had begun to gradually affect Xia Shang's sanity.
Fortunately, the fusion degree wasn't too high at this point, and Xia Shang believed everything was under his control. However, he didn't realize that the way he looked at the monsters had changed from his usual calmness to a terrifying greed.
It was as if a voice in his mind kept telling him that as long as he continued to devour, he would constantly grow stronger.
And that was indeed the case. As the fusion progress increased, the strength Xia Shang could wield became more terrifying.
And so... Xia Shang didn't stop hunting until the sky began to slightly brighten.
He had already noticed his abnormal changes. Indeed, desire was something that could never be satisfied; it was like an abyss, constantly dragging people down into depravity. Even his will found it difficult to resist this temptation.
Because he kept thinking he hadn't reached his limit yet, that he could still swallow more, and that he couldn't waste this rare opportunity.
Xia Shang's heart was in immense turmoil... like a ship sailing through a storm, constantly battered by waves, yet still not choosing to abandon ship and escape. The desire in his heart was like a demon whispering, continuously tempting him.
It was as if it was telling him that the ship wouldn't break so easily, and continuing forward would bring greater and greater rewards.
At this moment, the monsters around the apartment were almost completely devoured by him. He sat on a piece of cement ground, the eyeballs on the surface of his body constantly opening and closing. And almost all of the eyeballs were stained black.
[Gluttony Talent Fusing, Current Progress 99%]
"I told you we'd meet again. How is it? Aren't you enjoying this feeling of rapidly increasing Strength?" The Xia Shang with black eyes appeared beside Xia Shang. A wild smile played on his lips, seemingly mocking Xia Shang's ridiculous attempt to resist desire.
"Hoo..." Xia Shang was expressionless, letting out a long breath from his chest. This indicated that he had made his choice.
"You only devoured that many monsters, and the Progress is already 99%. You're really a piece of trash."
"What?" The Mirror Image couldn't understand what Xia Shang was saying at all.
In his opinion, Xia Shang had already fallen into the swamp of desire, sinking deeper and deeper, unable to pull himself out.
"I said you're a piece of trash," Xia Shang sneered.
"Your willpower is quite good, but what does that matter? You'll eventually submit to me..."
"Has anyone ever told you that you're really annoying!" Xia Shang's body swelled rapidly. His five fingers, like fans, grabbed the Mirror Image's head. Rip! He actually ripped the Mirror Image's head out, along with its neck bone.
But the Mirror Image was different now. Even after that, it still didn't die.
It grinned maliciously at Xia Shang and laughed wildly, "As long as you still have the desire to become stronger in your heart, you can't kill me! Go on, try it, hahahaha! After all, I am the deepest desire in your heart!"
"No, you're not," Xia Shang said, a smile identical to the Mirror Image's appearing on his lips. "Are you sure you want to face my desire?!"
"In front of my true desire, you're just a clown."
As soon as Xia Shang finished speaking, the entire Mirror Space was like the arrival of the apocalypse. It was as if the space couldn't bear the terrifying existence that was about to appear. Crack! Crack!!! Countless cracks spread throughout the entire space, like a shattered mirror. Soon, an extremely deep black light pierced through the gaps in the mirror, enveloping everything in endless darkness.
The blackened Mirror Image seemed to sense something was wrong. He looked up blankly.
What was happening? Was he not the true master of this space? "Prepare to welcome my true desire." Xia Shang spread his arms and murmured to himself, "Undying and Immortal! Omniscient and Omnipotent! Ubiquitous! Existing Above Dimensions!"
Every time Xia Shang spoke a word, terrifying shadows, like towering mountains, appeared behind him. The shadows blotted out the sky and covered the earth, their forms vast and boundless. Just a corner of their immense form was enough to crush the Mirror Space formed by Gluttony Desire.
(end of chapter)