12: Chapter 12 Chaos and Gluttony: A Terrifying Anomaly That Caused the World to Crystallize?!

Hum—

An invisible wave diffused.

A powerful strength converged within his body.

Zhao Jinlong slowly opened his eyes, feeling the surging strength within his body, his face showing unspeakable surprise.

"Extraordinary... strength..."

"Just like that, I've obtained it?!"

If not for the strength in his body being real and true, he would have even felt like he was dreaming.

Just as he felt somewhat as if he were falling into a dream, stepping on cotton.

A cold, clear voice suddenly rang beside his ear, forcing him to snap back to reality.

"Tsk— You're awake?"

"Newcomer, remember your moniker, Taotie."

002's face, half-hidden by a black veil, carried a somewhat mysterious aura.

However, Zhao Jinlong had no time to dwell on these things.

He quickly caught the key point in her words.

"Me?"

"The moniker Taotie?"

Zhao Jinlong pointed at himself, somewhat caught off guard by this divine development.

002's face remained calm and composed, saying matter-of-factly,

"Since you were unwilling to remain ignorant and enjoy the bliss of knowing nothing... and had the Lord activate your extraordinary strength, you naturally must return under the Association's banner."

"However, with your strength, you are at most a peripheral member. If not for the thing inside your body, you wouldn't even deserve to hold a moniker. Hopefully, one day, you can truly inherit these two characters!"

002's cold, clear voice sounded.

It couldn't be called contemptuous; it was simply her consistent personality.

Zhao Jinlong didn't mind her attitude.

He cared more about other matters.

He?

Enrolled as a peripheral member by the Association?

And even given 'Taotie' as a codename?

Judging from this mysterious female's words, it was very likely inherited. In other words, among his bloodline ancestors, someone had once won this name through sheer strength?

The heaviness of history and the indescribable, unclear things in his bloodline caused his heart to churn.

But then doubts naturally arose as well.

His strength was weak, and on his own, he didn't deserve to possess a moniker. Then this powerhouse who blasted an anomaly to pieces with a single shot shouldn't still be a peripheral member, right?

His moniker was Taotie, so what about this mysterious female?

The confusion in his heart was asked out loud through his words.

"Me?"

"Of course it's 'Chaos', you can also call me Commander!"

The girl spoke decisively, and the confidence revealed in her voice made Zhao Jinlong's heart tremble.

This was different from him; it was a moniker obtained solidly through strength.

However... Chaos? Taotie?

Why did he always have a sense of deja vu?

"In the Association, could the monikers of others be Qiongqi and Taowu?"

Zhao Jinlong, who had a slight understanding of myths and legends, wore a somewhat strange expression.

Aren't these the legendary Four Perils?!

No wonder they sounded so familiar!

But 002's response left him somewhat startled.

"Qiongqi? Taowu?"

002 spoke noncommittally, "Why not Gonggong, Zhurong?"

"Uh..."

Zhao Jinlong's tone stiffened.

He originally thought he had glimpsed the truth within the fog.

As a result, 002's lukewarm attitude threw his self-doubt right back at him.

Not knowing how to react, Zhao Jinlong could only endure the awkwardness, sweeping his gaze around to find Su Xiu, the man who had personally granted him the ladder to extraordinariness.

Compared to the cold-tempered 002, Su Xiu obviously seemed much easier to talk to.

It also gave him an inexplicable sense of closeness.

However, looking up and glancing around, he was surprised to find that Su Xiu's figure had already disappeared.

"Th-That Lord has left?"

Zhao Jinlong suddenly realized.

"Of course, the Lord merely came here on a whim to take a walk. Now that the interest has ended and he has turned to leave, is there anything surprising about that?" 002 said with a matter-of-fact face.

"Uh..."

Zhao Jinlong's expression was a bit stiff.

He always felt somewhat out of place in the world of these extraordinary big shots.

He had thought this big shot took a fancy to the bloodline inside his body and thus came specially; turns out he was just a casual accompanying boredom-relieving tool?

But soon he noticed 002 beside him.

The big shot left casually, but what about this girl who called herself 'Chaos'? She was still staying here; it must be for him, right?

Was he really valued this much by the Association?

To be able to make this powerful extraordinary being personally stay here and explain?

"..."

As if capable of seeing through his heart.

002 glanced at Zhao Jinlong through the half-hidden black veil on her face.

Although she said nothing, her indifferent gaze seemed to say everything.

It was practically pointing at his nose and saying, You bastard are being self-righteous, you're really thinking too much.

That unmasked gaze made Zhao Jinlong's face instantly flush, his toes curling in embarrassment so hard they could dig out a three-bedroom apartment.

However, he was a battle-hardened veteran king after all, and quickly adjusted his mindset.

Biting the bullet, he raised his head and looked at 002 beside him, only to find her cold gaze as if staring at something.

This direction? The ground?!

He looked over in the direction 002 was gazing.

But he could only see a layer of pitch-black earth; the empty ground had nothing at all.

If she stayed here not for him.

Could it be because an anomaly erupted?

Through the experience when he last saw 002, he naturally associated it with this.

But on the empty ground, absolutely nothing existed.

Not even ubiquitous green grass or moss; it was exceptionally clean.

Just when Zhao Jinlong was filled with doubt.

Hum—

An invisible wave flashed past.

He suddenly felt the phone in his pocket vibrate, and instinctively picked it up to look.

On the familiar lock screen wallpaper, however, a spinning Gear appeared.

Super Class-A Incident!

Codename 'Gear' has triggered a reaction again?!

Before Zhao Jinlong could think much, the spinning Gear projected new content.

Almost at the same time.

Countless electronic products infected by 001 with the livestream meme were all forcibly powered on to display, bringing forth brand-new content.

The projected screen was a dim environment; judging from the surrounding stone stalactites, it was very likely underground.

At the center of the perspective.

A crystal-clear ice sculpture was extremely eye-catching.

"She's here for this?"

Zhao Jinlong keenly perceived that right when the ice sculpture appeared, 002's indifferent expression visibly became a bit more serious.

That's right, this was the sequence anomaly newly compiled by Su Xiu following 003.

The Seed of Taotie on Zhao Jinlong's body could not really be considered compiled; at best, it was merely wreckage reconstruction.

Their essence was both devouring traits, but this time's 004 was brand-new content.

[004 Crystal Disaster]

Investing the [Cold Whale Tail Bone], the only thing from the previous round of loot that caught his eye, as the main material, supplemented with [Gu Insect Essence Blood], plus some odds and ends as the carrier.

And after consuming massive points, a special anomaly was barely compiled.

The points that broke through the 100,000 mark hadn't even warmed up yet before they were completely gone, leaving only a few pitiful numbers.

[Emotion Points: 2934]

The consumption was huge, but the matching effect was also quite terrifying!

Not only did it inherit the extreme cold trait of the [Cold Whale Tail Bone], but because this extraordinary material had been used by the Longwhale Gang for countless years to cultivate Gu insects and was eroded by insect traits, it possessed strong infectivity.

Which was also integrated into 004.

Extreme cold, infection—these two traits jointly constructed this time's special anomaly—Crystal Disaster!!

But as the content of Gear Science.

It obviously obeyed Su Xiu's wishes and made quite a few cuts and shields.

At least, onlookers couldn't see the sequence anomaly's serial number.

The Gear projection rotated and turned into massive data flowing out, interweaving into text that all of them could understand.

[Crystal Disaster]

[Category: Anomalous Phenomenon]

[...]