Chapter 77: Promotion (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
With a serious face, Angele held the bottle in one hand and the glass pliers in the other. He carefully removed the stopper from the bottle, barely escaping the onslaught of smoke coming out of it.
Slowly, the green smoke amassed itself in the air, forming into a hazy outline of a woman’s face. A pungent odor replaced the fleeting fragrance of flowers that pervaded the air. Angele had his brows furrowed as he pointed at the woman’s forehead with his finger.
The woman opened her mouth slowly as soon as Angele’s finger made contact with her forehead, and then a black beetle crawled out of it. On the back of the beetle was a white crying face about the size of a nail. Angele grabbed this insect and quickly threw it into the large beaker nearby.
*Waah*
Suddenly, Angele heard wailing sounds from the blue liquid, actually originating from the black beetle. Its screams sounded like an infant crying from agonizing pain. As this continued to occur, the beetle was melting inside the beaker while the blue liquid continually dissolved it.
Angele furrowed his brows. When he further increased the temperature, the light of the fire dyed his face red. The noise produced by the beetle gradually grew fainter and disappeared after several seconds.
The blue liquid inside the beaker finally started to boil. The green smoke slowly returned to the bottle and the outline of a woman’s face dissipated at the same time. Angele kept his sight on the beaker as he poured the rest of the potion into it. Upon contact, the green substance mixed the blue liquid that had become darker and turned completely black after several seconds.
Angele stirred the solution with a glass rod. He was satisfied with the result. He didn’t care if the beaker was still hot, taking it and drinking all of its contents. Angele put down the beaker, not feeling any change.
‘Your condition is currently unstable.’
‘Mentality is increasing... being influenced by radiation energy...’
‘Unknown radiation energy is damaging your body. Emergency plan activated, releasing energy particles for defense.’
‘Special radiation energy expelled, 45% of total energy particles consumed, attempting to extract discharged radiation energy... Attempt unsuccessful.’ Angele was reading the event log recorded by Zero after he drank the potion. He checked the hologram of his body to see the changes.
He could see the dark energy particles flowing through his body, damaging all the organs it passed. The emergency measure Angele set was enabled. The energy stored in his body forced the dark energy out, but the dark energy was fast, still leaving traces inside Angele’s body.
‘A portion of the dark energy is still inside my body. That is a problem,’ Angele thought.
‘Zero, show me my condition.’ Angele felt cold, and his body was aching.
‘Body tissues are 5% damaged. Leftover dark energy is influencing the growth of your Mentality. Your gene strands are unstable, some already breaking. Use more energy particles to force the remaining dark energy out?’
‘No!’ Angele’s face was stern as he looked at the growing Mentality value.
‘6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
6.8
6.9...’
Suddenly, the value rose from 6.9 to 10, and it was still increasing.
‘10.1
10.2
10.3...’
‘Warning! 14% of your body tissue is damaged. It will become fatal once it exceeds 30%. Please take action.’ Zero’s mechanical voice echoed within Angele’s mind.
‘20% damaged.’ As Angele focused on the percentage value, he began to sweat.
Angele wanted the number to rise again since it was his best chance. The first jump increased his Mentality from 7 to 10 units. It was probably the best result he could get from drinking the Black Lead Potion, but he wanted to wait for the second jump.
Theoretically speaking, the Black Lead Potion could increase one’s Mentality dramatically, but people who had taken one couldn’t handle the side effects.
‘Based on my calculations, the second jump has better results than the first one! I have to take this opportunity...’ Angele was nervous. He no longer felt any pain from his body that had gone paralyzed, and he could barely stay conscious.
‘25% damaged. Increased Mentality to 10.5.’
‘28% damaged. Increased Mentality to 10.8.’
‘29% damaged.’
At this point, Angele could no longer handle it, ‘Cleanse my body of the remaining dark energy!’
‘Releasing all the stored energy particles. Cleansing has begun.’ Right before Zero released the energy particles, the value of Angele’s Mentality jumped once again, from 10.8 to 15. Angele, who saw this change, felt relieved before he closed his eyes and fell to the ground.
Angele laid on the ground motionlessly. Suddenly, a horrifying scene ensued as his body began to spasm violently, his muscles started to cramp, and his skin turned red; his eyes had long rolled back into his head.
Looking closely, black specks of light covered by red and green light were coming out of Angele’s body. The light particles vanished in the air after leaving his skin.
‘Finally, I succeeded.’ Angele was still suffering, but he was feeling excited about the results.
All of a sudden, the temperature of the room dropped to the extent that Angele felt cold.
*Kata-kata*
Angele heard light footsteps coming toward him.
Only after exerting great effort did Angele somehow turned his head toward the source of the sound. He witnessed a group of zombified monsters approaching him. They surrounded Angele — some were enemies Angele had long slain before while some were bizarre creatures he had never seen before.
There was nothing Angele could do. After all, he was still in a paralyzed state. He could only lay there as he watched the zombies closing in. The one closest to him was already rotten in a way that Angele could barely recognize its face. It was releasing a disgusting stench, even dripping with a slimy fluid of some kind. Black beetles were crawling out of its right arm.
Angele exerted a lot of effort to move, but all he could do was turn his head. Ultimately, those creatures reached him. They bit Angele’s neck hard with their sharp teeth, and blood cascaded out of his wounds. Angele never felt any pain. He only observed them as they devoured him. With his body torn apart and his bones piled atop his head, Angele watched this entire process with unabating clarity.
Fear pressed against Angele like cushion over his mouth and nose, barely able to breathe. He couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
*Chi*
Everything disappeared after a slight noise sounded out. It was as though nothing had happened. The room became warm and peaceful again.
Only after half an hour did Angele recover finally from the fear he felt.
‘Finally... it’s over,’ Angele thought.
Everything had just been an illusion. Angele was still in one piece, and he started to feel his limbs again.
Angele remained still on the ground lying down. He tried to move his arms. After he successfully touched his face, he felt relieved. It meant the side effects of the potion was gone.
‘The Black Lead Potion must have some secrets to it. It can’t be as simple as what the book mentioned. This potion is cursed and filled with hatred. It may even contain souls.’ Angele still felt horrified upon thinking of what had just transpired.
‘Zero, search the database and get me all the information related to the concoction of Black Lead Potion,’ Angele asked.
‘Searching... finished. Data is incomplete.’ Zero finished its job immediately.
‘Black Lead Potion’s fake formula: Sivia Bird, Soul Eater Beetle, Heart of the Alice Tree, Lead Solution.’
‘Fake?’ Angele wasn’t surprised.
‘So, does it contain something strange? Show me the real formula.’
Zero started to show the data before Angele’s eyes:
‘Real formula: 18-year-old female, pregnant for five months. Soul Eater Beetles and various unknown materials.’
‘Possible concoction procedure: First, make the pregnant female die in fear and preserve her body. Second, inject the Black Lead solution into her womb and melt the fetus. Third, extract the melted fetus and turn it into a solution. The obtained solution can be used to concoct 5 Black Lead Potions. Actual procedure unknown but likely to be nearly identical.’
“What the...!” Angele started vomiting upon learning the truth.
When Angele realized he had drunk a solution concocted from a dead fetus, his abdominal wall muscles had begun to contract violently.
“I swear! I’ll make sure the formula is real... HUUUURGGEHH...” Angele kneeled on the ground and continued vomiting.