444: Yamata Arahun (3)

The black figure was astonishingly fast. Without a word, it delivered a flying kick, its foot striking the chest of the yellow-haired youth.

"Bang!"

A dull thud exploded.

The yellow-haired youth was struck as if by a heavy hammer, flying backward and slamming hard against the alley wall. He spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with Crumbs, his voice a muffled roar: "Who the hell are you?"

"How dare you meddle in my business?"

The iron rod in his hand clattered to the ground.

He clutched his chest, struggling to get up, but pain wracked his body.

Matsumoto Kenichi shivered in fear, instinctively stopping. Before his mind could react, the black figure rolled after landing, and a wooden club as thick as an arm appeared in its hand.

The club was densely studded with rusty iron nails, and dark red bloodstains hung from its tip. It was a self-made Spiked Club, exuding a fierce brutality.

"A First-Order Transcendent?"

Matsumoto Kenichi's pupils constricted, his legs immediately turned to jelly, and he tried to run in the opposite direction, shouting, "Spare me, big brother! I'm not with him; he was the one who wanted to rob me!"

But the Transcendent's movements were more than twice as fast as his. The moment he rolled to his feet, he had already rushed to the fallen yellow-haired youth.

Before the youth could struggle to get up, the Spiked Club descended with a whistling sound. With a crisp 'crack,' the iron nails plunged deep into the youth's skull, and red and white matter instantly splattered the wall.

The yellow-haired man didn't even let out a whimper, his head flopping to one side, completely lifeless.

Matsumoto Kenichi was scared out of his wits.

He scrambled forward on all fours, babbling incoherently, "It's not my fault, it's really not my fault. He was the one who tried to steal my supplies first, that's why I tricked him into robbing others."

"Tricked him into robbing others?"

The Transcendent sneered, his footsteps crunching on the gravel as he quickly caught up to the weak-legged Matsumoto Kenichi. "Why didn't you say that when you pointed at your wife and told him to rob her?"

Matsumoto Kenichi turned back, kowtowing like pounding garlic: "I had no choice!"

"If I didn't say that, I would have died. She's my wife, isn't it right for her to sacrifice herself to save me?"

The disdain in the Transcendent's eyes grew stronger. "Sacrifice your wife for a way to live? A waste like you, even living, only pollutes the air."

Matsumoto Kenichi tried to turn back to beg for mercy, but the Transcendent gave him no chance. The Spiked Club swept across and then slammed down hard... This blow landed squarely on Matsumoto Kenichi's back of the head, the iron nails piercing his skull. A dull cracking sound echoed in the alley.

His body stumbled forward two steps, then fell heavily to the ground, twitching twice before becoming still.

His wide-open eyes still held traces of greed and fear, clutching half a small biscuit tightly in his hand.

The Transcendent shook off the bloodstains from the Spiked Club, glanced at the two corpses, and spat: "Two wastes who only fight among themselves. Living is just a waste of food."

He bent down to pick up Matsumoto Kenichi's hiking bag, rummaged through the supplies inside, a hint of greed appearing on his face, and muttered, "Still some harvest, enough to last two days."

Just as he was about to turn and leave, his peripheral vision caught the direction of the dense black fog not far away. He frowned, "This ghostly fog is getting thicker and thicker. I need to find a safe place to hide quickly, or I'll be swallowed by those dirty things sooner or later."

With that, he carried the Spiked Club and hiking bag, quickly disappearing into the depths of the alley.

Soon, two ragged survivors rushed into the alley entrance. Seeing the corpses on the ground and the scattered bloodstains, their eyes immediately lit up.

"There are bodies! Where are their supplies?"

"That guy must have taken them. Chase him, he can't guard all that stuff alone."

"Why do you get to snatch it? If you get it, you have to give me half."

"Half my ass, whoever snatches it gets it."

The two argued and cursed as they chased in the direction the Transcendent had disappeared, completely unaware that the black fog was secretly creeping onto the corpses on the ground.

Not long after, the spreading black fog enveloped the two corpses. Wisps of black threads seeped out from the bodies, flowing along the ground towards Mount Fuji.

Inside Jiaotai Palace, Shang Wan Ning stared at the image of Matsumoto Kenichi kowtowing and begging for mercy on the light screen. Her fingertips, tapping the virtual keyboard, paused. She said in a deep voice, "Indeed, cold and indifferent human nature is the best sacrificial nourishment."

"Even Transcendent cannot escape the shackles of greed. This remnant soul has truly found a good bargain."

"great host is so right!" System Little Four's cheerful electronic voice immediately sounded, with a clear hint of complaint.

"This R Country is too ruthless to its own people!"

"Selling their own wives, abandoning their own fathers, without a shred of human decency."

"No wonder it's a hotbed for all kinds of perverts, it truly hits a new low!"

A hint of coldness flashed in Shang Wan Ning's eyes as her fingertips continued to slide across the keyboard. She responded faintly, "The evil of human nature already exists. The people here have simply ingrained selfishness into their bones, and when disaster strikes, it is completely exposed."

"Exactly!" Little Four indignantly echoed, "Look at those two who chased the Transcendent just now. They're both in distress, yet they were already arguing over dividing the spoils before even catching up, fearing that others would get a little more. It's ridiculous."

"This kind of mutual sabotage makes them the best nutrient pool for evil gods."

"Stop sighing."

Shang Wan Ning looked up at the rapidly increasing energy data on the light screen, her tone sinking a few shades. "Increase the absorption power of the Netherworld Bone-Corroding Vine spore matrix, prioritize converting the dark energy generated by these negative human emotions, and fully replenish the shield energy."

"Additionally, activate the secondary reinforcement program for the Nine Netherworld Prison Suppressing Nails, precisely locking onto the Pacific Plate nodes. The planar barrier must not be torn apart."

"Received, great host!"

Little Four immediately switched back to work mode, its electronic voice still cheerful. "Negative dark energy core locked, Nine Netherworld Prison Suppressing Nails calibrating plate nodes~ Honestly, these people's evil thoughts are too rampant. The absorption efficiency is even higher than estimated, it's practically giving us energy."

She looked up and instructed the void: "Little Four, increase the absorption power of the Netherworld Bone-Corroding Vine spore matrix, prioritize converting the dark energy generated by negative human emotions, and fully replenish the shield energy."

"Additionally, activate the secondary reinforcement program for the Nine Netherworld Prison Suppressing Nails, precisely locking onto the Pacific Plate nodes. The planar barrier must not be torn apart."

"Received, great host!"

Little Four's response came with a cheerful electronic voice, "Negative dark energy core locked, Nine Netherworld Prison Suppressing Nails calibrating plate nodes~"

"Ding, command executing, estimated incense value consumption: 30 billion."

"Netherworld Bone-Corroding Vine energy absorption efficiency increased to 45%."

"Ding, Eight-Headed Serpent's Wild Soul awakening progress: 95%, consciousness cohesion: 50% (initial recovery of sanity)"

The system prompt echoed in the hall, while the disaster in R Country continued to intensify.