136: Chapter 136 Gene Bank Access and Titan-Level Biological Atlas
Temple's figure vanished into the ripples of the light gate, and the surroundings were once again enveloped in a dead silence.
Su Chen slowly unclenched his tightly balled fist.
That so-called fragment of the [key of origin] lay quietly in his palm, its edges sharp and its touch cold and hard. The red mark pierced into his skin was clearly visible, and a faint sting came through, yet it made his thoughts clearer than ever before.
Above True God.
The source of Infinite Gene Evolution.
Creator.
These words swirled in his mind, each kicking up a towering wave, only to be forcibly suppressed into the deepest depths of his heart in the next second.
He tucked the fragment away close to his body, feeling that homologous throb resonating with the talent within him. The existence of this fragment gave direction to all his previous doubts.
His System, his Zerg Swarm, the greatest secret of his Transmigration—their roots pointed toward a level far higher and more distant than that of "gods."
"The ultimate secret..."
Su Chen's breathing was long and deep, the last trace of ripple in his eyes completely settling, turning into a bottomless cold pool.
For this trip to the God Ascension Tower, the greatest harvest was no longer reaching the summit or those divine rewards, but this fragment, which pointed him toward the path to the final answer.
At this very moment, a grand, ancient, and emotionless will seemed to descend from the end of time and space, plunging directly into the sea of his consciousness.
It wasn't a voice, nor was it language, but a pure stream of information, like billions of stars exploding in his mind simultaneously, yet arranged in perfect order.
[Summiter, ID G-001, Su Chen.]
[Permissions confirmed.]
[You have touched upon the secret of the 'Source' and obtained one special permission selection.]
The information stream constructed two distinct options within Su Chen's consciousness.
On the left was an extremely luxurious, massive roulette wheel. The wheel was forged from an unknown divine metal and carved with countless complex runes, each representing a powerful weapon or piece of equipment. Amidst the flowing light, the phantom of a divine sword burning with flames, the phantom of a shield capable of freezing time and space, and the phantom of a set of armor exuding an aura of immortality... flashed in turn.
[Option One: lower divine artifact Roulette. A 100% probability of obtaining a random lower divine artifact.]
On the right was an unadorned door. It seemed to be composed of the purest light, and behind it was a deep, boundless darkness where nothing could be seen, yet it exuded an ancient and vast aura that made one's Soul tremble.
[Option Two: One-time outer layer access permission for the [High-Dimensional Biological Gene Bank].]
The vast will did not urge him, merely waiting quietly for his choice.
Su Chen's gaze lingered on the Divine Artifact roulette on the left for less than a second.
A lower divine artifact?
To a current demigod, or even a future True God, it was indeed a coveted treasure. A single Divine Artifact was enough to elevate the combat power of a divine pantheon by an entire level out of thin air.
Had it been before today, he might have hesitated.
But now...
His gaze was firmly locked onto the door to the unknown on the right.
High-Dimensional Biological Gene Bank.
These words, along with the [key of origin] fragment he had just obtained and his [Infinite Gene Evolution] talent, formed a perfect logical loop.
Divine Artifacts are external objects.
But genes are the foundation of his power! They are the most indispensable cornerstone on the evolution map of the Zerg Swarm!
"Only a fool would gamble."
Su Chen's thought did not hesitate for a moment, conveying firmly.
"I choose to enter the gene bank!"
Buzz—
As soon as his voice fell, the entire world seemed to have its delete key pressed.
The Temple, the light gate, and the stone pillars before him—everything turned into a disintegrating stream of data and vanished instantly. Su Chen's consciousness was violently pulled away by an irresistible force and cast into a tunnel composed of light and information.
When he regained perception, he found himself floating in a vast starry sky that defied description.
There were no physical entities here, no gravity, only the existence of consciousness.
Around him floated holographic projections of creatures so massive they were beyond imagination.
A Starry Sky Giant Serpent tens of thousands of miles long; its body was a winding galaxy, its scales were rotating nebulae, and every breath it took exhaled the solar flares of stars.
A Fire Giant that fed on stars; its body was composed of the purest plasma energy, and with a casual grab, it could stuff a blazing sun into its mouth like a fruit.
A Void Ray swimming on the edge of a black hole; its body seemed to be the very folds of space, ignoring the tearing of gravity as it fed on the Hawking radiation spewing from the singularity.
...
Countless bizarre and terrifying creatures that defied all physical Laws were quietly displayed here in the form of holographic atlases.
They were all dead.
Long ago, in some corner of the Universe or some forgotten timeline, they had gone completely extinct.
This was their graveyard.
The only proof that they had ever existed.
Su Chen's conscious form was as tiny as a speck of dust before these giant beast projections, each comparable to a god.
A thought surfaced in his mind.
This place is the Creator's discarded draft box!
These extremely terrifying creatures were perhaps just drafts casually drawn by that unspeakable existence when creating the world. Whether because they were too powerful, had flaws, or simply because the Creator lost interest, they were discarded here at will.
"Even if it's just the outer layer, it has already exceeded the limits of imagination."
Su Chen forcibly suppressed the ripples rising from the depths of his consciousness, knowing his time was definitely limited.
An invisible pressure was approaching, and his conscious form was slowly thinning in this space—a sign that his access time was about to end.
He had to make a choice quickly.
A clear directory unfolded before him, with countless atlas entries flowing past like a waterfall.
Su Chen's thoughts raced at an unprecedented speed.
What did he need?
Regarding the air force, the appearance of the leviathan had already equipped his Zerg Swarm with the capability for interstellar travel and large-scale space combat, which was sufficient for now.
What was truly lacking were ground forces.
Although his Zerg Swarm's ground units were vast in number and fearless of death, they still relied on "quantity" to win when facing demigod-level warfare. Whether it was the Ultralisk or the Nydus Worm, they lacked a ultimate breakthrough unit capable of delivering a decisive blow, forcibly tearing through divine kingdom barriers, and flattening divine battle lines.
While the Ultralisk was powerful, its size and destructive power still seemed insufficient on a demigod battlefield where worlds were easily destroyed.
He needed a true... giant beast.
A war beast whose mere existence would make enemies feel despair!
His gaze searched through the rapidly scrolling atlas directory as countless bizarre creatures flashed by.
[Abyssal Worm]... No, too dependent on geological environments.
[Crystal Cluster Titan]... Amazing defense, but too slow, a sitting duck.
[Chaos Hydra]... Good potential, but the gene structure is too unstable.
Suddenly.
Su Chen's gaze suddenly froze.
His consciousness locked onto an atlas entry that had just scrolled past.
It was a giant beast crouching on the earth, its body like a continuous mountain range, its limbs as thick as stone pillars supporting the heavens. Its spine was not flesh but covered in a layer of incredibly heavy, hideous armor resembling tectonic plates. In the gaps and at the peaks of the armor grew massive, blue crystal-like organs, flashing with lightning and filled with destructive energy.
Just by looking at the atlas, Su Chen could almost feel that world-shattering sense of weight.
[Atlas Name]: Star-Crushing Behemoth · Behemoth (Behemoth)
[Race]: Ancient Titan Creature
[Description]: An adult stands five hundred meters tall at the shoulder, carrying biological plasma organs that can accumulate billions of volts. It feeds on planetary crusts and high-energy mineral veins; every movement triggers tectonic tremors of magnitude nine or higher on the surface. It is a walking natural disaster, the undisputed bulldozer of a planet's surface.
This is it!
A strong craving erupted in Su Chen's consciousness.
This giant beast perfectly matched all his imaginations for the ultimate ground breakthrough unit!
Five hundred meters tall at the shoulder! And that's just the base data for an adult!
With the evolutionary potential of the Zerg Swarm, it wasn't impossible to double or even increase this data by dozens of times!
"Exchange!"
He made his choice without the slightest hesitation.
With a buzz, the atlas named [Behemoth] turned into a stream of light and merged into the depths of his consciousness.
Su Chen immediately felt that this atlas was incomplete, with a large number of gene sequences appearing broken and fragmented.
But that didn't matter.
As long as he had this core "design blueprint," with his [Infinite Gene Evolution] talent, he had absolute confidence that he could use massive resources and time to complete the fragmented gene chains one by one, and even optimize them to be more perfect.
One day, this ancient Titan, which only existed in the Creator's discarded drafts, would reappear in the world within his Zerg Swarm!
When Su Chen's consciousness was ejected from the gene bank and returned to the Temple, he heard bursts of exclamations and clamor from the surroundings.
Not far away, a group of newly ascended Lower Gods were gathered, looking at one of the lucky ones with faces full of ecstasy and envy.
In that deity's hand was a long spear emitting a sharp, cold light that had just been drawn from the roulette. Although it was only a Semi-Divine Artifact, it was enough to make him wild with joy.
They were complacent and showing off to each other over a Semi-Divine Artifact or an ordinary lower divine artifact.
Su Chen withdrew his gaze and shook his head.
A faint curve lifted at the corner of his mouth.
How can a swallow or sparrow know the ambitions of a grand swan?
What you hold is the glory of the past.
But I have already grasped the key to opening a brand-new "Era of Giant Beasts."