24: Chapter 24 The Miracle of Gene Fusion and the Birth of a Legendary Toxin
At the other end of the temple, that face twisted by greed and fury, that desperate roar, still seemed to echo in his ears.
Su Chen's command had been issued.
The entire Zerg Swarm divine realm, this vast and precise war machine, after a moment of silence, began operating with terrifying efficiency. Beneath the Creep, energy conduits emitted a low hum; the walls of countless incubation chambers began to contract and expand; massive amounts of biomass energy were being converted into the purest potential for war.
But Su Chen's gaze did not linger on those offspring about to head to the battlefield.
His consciousness sank into the core of the divine realm, calling up that newly notarized, irrevocable, amended divine war contract from the War Temple.
The fanaticism and agitation of the gods, the God of Corrupt Corpses's desperate gamble—he saw it all.
But what truly held his attention was only one line among the additional wagers.
[Tier 6 Divine Artifact: Death Withering Totem]
This was the source of the God of Corrupt Corpses's confidence in daring to stake everything on the table.
A terrifying weapon specifically designed to counter the Zerg Swarm and all flesh-and-blood life.
Su Chen's divine sense touched the name of the totem, and lines of cold data streamed before his eyes. Its effect was simple, brutal, and lethal—widespread sowing of a withering curse, forcibly stripping the life essence from living organisms, causing their flesh and tissues to wither, decay, and disintegrate within a short time.
For the Zerg Swarm, whose foundation is fleshly bodies and vast numbers, this thing was a calamity.
Once deployed on the battlefield, a single divine spell would cause the Zerg Swarm's casualty numbers to instantly skyrocket to an unbearable peak.
Su Chen did not underestimate this threat because of his opponent's arrogance.
Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit.
Especially since this prey, though foolish, carried venomous fangs.
"Originally, I planned to save it for a higher rank, but it seems I have to use it ahead of schedule."
Su Chen's figure vanished from the divine throne.
In the next instant, he appeared in the deepest part of the divine realm, that absolute forbidden zone—the Central Evolution Altar.
This was the heart of the entire Zerg Swarm divine realm.
A massive circular platform woven from living biological tissue and dark blue crystal, with countless thick energy conduits converging from all directions. Each pulse made the entire altar emit a dull, heartbeat-like sound.
Su Chen walked to the center of the altar.
He opened his palm. A pearl, emerald green throughout, with what seemed like a flowing liquid galaxy inside, hovered quietly upon it.
"poisonous water essence pearl."
A trophy seized from the Tyrant Leech, a treasure containing immense water and poison elemental power.
This was originally the core material he had prepared for the Zerg Swarm's next leap in evolution.
But now, the plan needed to change.
"System."
Su Chen's voice rang out in the empty altar, carrying an unquestionable resolve.
"Activate the core program of [Infinite Gene Evolution]!"
*Hum—!*
A tremendous roar, not from the outside world, but exploding within the depths of Su Chen's soul!
He unleashed without reservation his supreme talent as the Swarm Overlord!
Instantly, the entire living altar was fully activated.
Above the altar, billions of complex gene chains materialized out of thin air. They were like cascading waterfalls of light-constructed code, constantly decomposing, recombining, colliding, releasing dazzling yet dangerous radiance.
Su Chen's gaze was focused. With a thought from his divine sense,
all the materials he treasured from the divine realm's warehouse were instantly extracted, appearing out of thin air upon the altar.
Crystalline containers holding tubes of highly concentrated neurotoxin.
Clumps of strongly corrosive biomass emitting a pungent, acidic odor, constantly writhing.
Even a dark-red flesh core, sealed layer upon layer, still exuding a violent aura—the most essential part obtained from slaying the Tier 7 overlord, the 'Tyrant Leech'!
"Input."
At Su Chen's command,
all materials, whether liquid or solid, were drawn by an invisible force towards the 'poisonous water essence pearl' at the altar's center.
Using this Tier 6 water essence pearl as the crucible, and Su Chen's supreme talent as the flame!
An unprecedented, frenzied fusion began!
*Boom!*
The moment all substances contacted the water essence pearl, they were violently torn apart by a terrifying force, decomposed into the most primitive gene fragments, and then brutally infused into the pearl's internal structure.
The emerald-green pearl began to tremble violently, its surface light flickering.
A bead of sweat trickled from Su Chen's temple.
His divine power reserves were being drained at an astonishing, frenzied rate, transformed into fuel driving the gene simulation.
Lines of crimson prompts flashed wildly across his retinas.
[Gene sequence conflict, simulation failed...]
[Structural model collapse, simulation failed...]
[Energy ratio imbalance, simulation failed...]
[Detected unknown contamination, simulation failed...]
[... Simulation success rate: 0.g%]
Failure.
Failure.
Endless failure prompts surged forth like a tide.
Each failure meant vast amounts of divine power evaporated, meant countless precious materials utterly consumed.
But not a trace of wavering showed in Su Chen's eyes.
His will was like a fixed coordinate, firmly locked onto that one, ultimate goal.
What he wanted was not a simple enhancement, but a qualitative leap.
He wanted to create a 'poison' capable of transcending the very concept of 'curse'!
Time passed.
The genetic rain of light above the altar had grown frenzied to the extreme, like a nebula on the verge of losing control.
Su Chen's divine power consumption had crossed the warning line, causing a slight wave of dizziness.
Ten thousand simulations... failure.
Thirty thousand simulations... failure.
Fifty thousand... seventy thousand...
Just as his reserve divine power was about to hit rock bottom,
the madly flashing red warnings abruptly ceased.
A new line of prompt, emitting a golden light, replaced them.
[Gene recombination successful!]
[Perfect toxic source structure detected, commencing final fusion!]
Success!
Su Chen's taut nerves suddenly relaxed.
And at this very moment,
a crisp *crack* sound echoed across the altar.
That violently trembling poisonous water essence pearl had finally reached its limit.
Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on its emerald-green shell, disintegrating inch by inch into crystalline powder that scattered.
Freed from its shell's confinement, the core substance within—compressed and fused to the limit over countless iterations—finally revealed its true form.
It was not light, nor a solid entity.
It was a droplet.
A droplet of liquid, suspended in mid-air, pitch-black throughout, as if capable of devouring all light.
It emitted no energy fluctuations, leaked no aura.
It simply existed there quietly, yet the surrounding space silently warped and collapsed, corroded into faint, sizzling black fissures.
A new item information panel slowly unfolded before Su Chen.
[Item]: origin of myriad poisons (Tier 8 · Legendary Rank)
[Attribute]: The ultimate origin perfectly fusing billions of toxic concepts, including neurotoxins, strong acid corrosion, and soul withering.
[Effect]: Grants the user a 'Legendary Rank Toxic Constitution'.
[Effect]: Grants the user 'Immunity to Instant-Death Type Curses'!
Su Chen's gaze locked onto that final line.
He smiled.
It was a cold smile, carrying absolute control.
"Curse immunity."
His voice was soft, yet it stirred layers of echoes in the empty altar.
"God of Corrupt Corpses, your divine artifact is useless."