CHAPTER 431: CHAPTER 251 DARK GAMMA ILLUSION (TWO-IN-ONE)_2

"Boom boom boom..."

The violent tremors from beneath his feet snapped Qin Shou back to reality. A vast army of Dark Kaiju was already looming close.

The stench of foul winds assaulted him head-on, as menacing claws and gargantuan horns lashed out ferociously.

In an instant, the ground beneath a hundred Dark Giants erupted, sending a hundred black beams of light straight upward toward the volcano’s mouth.

"Buzz..."

Qin Shou wasted no time. Both hands clasped at his waist as purple-black Dark Energy converged at the energy light on his chest. Then, with his hands crossed, the Dark Energy transformed into linear streams.

His hands formed an L-shape, and the hundred Dark Energy Beams reverberated through the void. The once-cleared skies were instantly shrouded by dense clouds, cutting off all sunlight.

Black lightning streaked across the heavens, blending with the barrage of Dark Rays before crashing into the volcano’s mouth below.

Dark Zaipei Light Beam!

At the edge of the Dark Passage, Leng Xinlan and the others felt the overwhelming force raining down from above and their faces turned pale.

"Brother Qin, run!!!"

Qin Quan, who was entangled with a Dark Bat, felt his heart tremble with unease. His limbs quivered as he dropped the bat without hesitation and rode the Red-headed Flying Winged Centipede straight into the Dark Passage.

"Move!"

Without stopping for a moment, Qin Quan rushed into the passage. With a wave of his hand, purple lightning transformed into chains, pulling Leng Xinlan and the others onto the centipede’s back. Crashing through the rock walls, he sped into the depths of the passage.

The silence in the darkness was frightening; the group, fleeing desperately, was gripped by intense dread.

"Boom Rumble!!"

A deafening explosion echoed, violently shaking the Dark Passage. Debris rained down as a monstrous Dark Energy shockwave surged rapidly down the tunnel, catching up with the fleeing group in mere moments.

"This is bad, it’s here..." Leng Xinlan gasped in horror.

Qin Quan’s face turned pale. "Get down, lie flat on Xiao Hong’s back, don’t let go..."

Before he could finish, the group was engulfed by the endless tide of Dark Energy.

They were like a tiny, wrecked ship caught in a raging storm, utterly helpless, tossed deeper into the passage by the sweeping darkness.

...

Who knows how much time had passed before, in the pitch-black, silent cavern...

The unconscious Leng Xinlan’s fingers twitched slightly. The blue crystal on her wrist faintly shimmered, strands of Light Energy flowing into her body, prolonging her resistance against the Dark Energy threatening to transform her into a dark creature.

"Tap tap..."

In the darkness, a glimmer of light broke through.

Qin Shou, his face pallid, slowly approached Leng Xinlan. The light he carried hovered midair.

Kneeling down, Qin Shou’s gaze swept over Leng Xinlan’s shattered Battle Armor and the visible expanse of pale skin.

He rubbed his hands together, chuckled sinisterly, and his face lit with malicious intent.

"Haha, dear auntie, sorry about this. Even though you’re Xiao Bai’s auntie, you’re entirely at my mercy since you can’t move right now."

Qin Shou swallowed hard, his eyes glinting with greed, as his demon-like hand slowly extended toward the unconscious Leng Xinlan.

"Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle and careful. It’ll be over quickly, and there won’t be any pain. I’m the gentle type—it’s been my style since childhood.

Besides, I won’t tell anyone about this—your reputation’s safe with me. I doubt you’d want this to get out either, right?

You may detest me, but I, Qin Shou, am not petty. Once this is all over, I’ll cross your name off my little list. Next time we meet, you’re still my dear auntie, the one closest to me.

Oh, this must be your first time encountering something like this. When you wake up, you’ll definitely feel overwhelmed, but you must stay strong. There’s no hurdle in life you can’t overcome. It’s just gone—it’s no big deal. As long as you survive, you’ll always have a future, right? Nobody will mock you."

"Haha, how thrilling! Even though it’s not my first time doing something like this, it still makes my blood race."

"Ready? It’s happening."

"Gently now, raise your hand... right, I’ll help you take this off... Uh-huh, cooperating nicely."

"Oh? Why’s your brow furrowing so tightly? Is it painful? Okay, I’ll be gentler. It’ll stop hurting very soon..."

Qin Shou carefully removed Leng Xinlan’s Space Wristwatch, then pulled out a golden Divine Light Stick and placed it against her forehead.

"Buzz..."

Instantly, a vast surge of Light Energy poured into Leng Xinlan’s body, rapidly banishing the Dark Energy and preventing her from blackening.

"Mm..."

At that moment, Leng Xinlan let out a soft moan. Qin Shou flinched, hastily withdrawing the Divine Light Stick before disappearing into the shadows in a flash.

"Cough cough..."

A moment later, Leng Xinlan slowly opened her eyes. With her Unbreakable Realm Five-star vision, she easily discerned her dark surroundings.

"I... my body... hasn’t been blackened?"

She wiped the black dust off her face, relief spreading as a smile formed.

As long as she hadn’t been transformed into a Dark Creature, that meant... Wait, where’s my Space Wristwatch?

Frantically, she searched around, finding no trace of the wristwatch—only the unconscious Abra and others in the vicinity.

"Brother Qin!" She abruptly recalled something and quickly stood up, searching everywhere for Qin Quan.

Soon enough, Leng Xinlan found Qin Quan pinned beneath the Red-headed Centipede in a corner.

Seeing that Qin Quan’s breathing was steady and free of Dark Energy corruption, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness."

Moving the enormous centipede aside, she helped awaken the injured Qin Quan.

"Xiao Lan, I’m so glad you’re okay." Qin Quan exclaimed with delight, "Quick, go check on the Giant God Race and Drue Star People."

Leng Xinlan scoffed, "You’re in this state and still worrying about them."

Qin Quan grew serious, "Father always taught us brothers to be cautious and responsible when traveling. If they die here while we live, it’s hard to explain when we get back..."

"Fine, fine, I’ll look already. Stop nagging."

Reluctantly, Leng Xinlan found Abra and the others, waking them up.

It was strange—all of them had avoided being blackened by the Dark Energy.

Logically, with the dense Dark Energy in this place and their unconscious state leaving them defenseless, it was impossible for them not to transform into Dark Creatures.

With lingering doubts, the group wobbled onto the revived Red-headed Centipede and left the area.

"Xiao Lan, did you find your Space Wristwatch?"

"No, maybe it got... knocked off accidentally."

"Would you believe it—my Space Wristwatch got knocked off too. My hand still hurts!"

"You all as well?"

"Yeah, our Space Equipment went missing too."

"Forget it, let’s get out first. This place is far too dangerous..."

Chatting as they went, the Red-headed Centipede crashed through rubble, bursting out of the collapsed Dark Passage.

In an instant, the group stared in shock at a pitch-black abyss nearly ten kilometers wide spreading out before them.

"This... was caused by the Dark Giants?"

"Terrifying beyond compare!"

"Unbeatable!"

"Unmatched!"

"Invincible!"

"Overwhelming!"

"Thank goodness we ran fast."

The group turned sharply to glare at Xiong Er.

Xiong Er scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly.

"Haha, uh... I’m not good with idioms."

...

Deep within the Dark Volcano, at the Pioneer Base.

"Wa-haha, I’ve hit the jackpot!"

Qin Shou sorted through the contents of several Space Equipment items, his grin exaggerated.

From Leng Xinlan: fifty Constant Star Energy Crystals, five hundred pounds of Cosmic Meteorite Gold, one Cosmic Creature Mecha.

From Qin Quan: eighty Constant Star Energy Crystals...

Hmm, this guy seems to be the principal’s youngest son. Taking his Space Wristwatch leaves me feeling a bit guilty.

But no help for it—that’s just my character.

Everything can be plundered!

I’ll just consider it borrowed. I’ll repay it with interest later.

I’m not exactly a morally upright protagonist anyway.

Moving on.

From Abra: ninety-one Constant Star Energy Crystals...

From Xiong Da: fifty-three Constant Star Energy Crystals...

From Xiong Er...

Counting it all up, including the assets of the Pioneers and Drue Traitors, Qin Shou had amassed nearly six hundred Constant Star Energy Crystals!

This was more than enough for Qin Shou’s cultivation to Unbreakable Realm Second Star.

Stashing everything away, Qin Shou took out a Dark Energy Crystal.

It had been extracted from the dead Dark Bat he had annihilated earlier.

Clearly, the bat wasn’t the same one that had appeared in South America.

The South American bat was likely something the Pioneers had sent there.

Although their exact motives were unclear.

Qin Shou tossed the Dark Energy Crystal to Jiatan Jie’er for upgrades.

Anyway, one Dark Energy Crystal wouldn’t significantly raise the efficiency of the Dark Converter.

"Beep beep..."

Just then, a mechanical synthesized voice sounded.

"Beep... Honored master, the Pioneers’ Dark Technology for controlling 300 Kaiju has been successfully cracked!"

Cracked?

Qin Shou’s eyes lit up.