Chapter 421: The Black Core Is Forged by Gods

Zhao Jingyi's body trembled instinctively, as if merely recalling that name caused her soul to shudder involuntarily.

Zheng Hang's hands rested gently on her shoulders, ten fingers applying slight pressure; a cold chill transmitted through his fingertips, slowly pulling her out of the mire of fear.

He lowered his head, the pair of eyes behind his lenses deep and dim, gazing into Zhao Jingyi's eyes.

Zhao Jingyi stiffly raised her neck, staring at those eyes, as if gazing into another bottomless abyss.

Zheng Hang's breath exhaled lightly onto her face, carrying a reassuring allure, yet also faintly exuding an indescribable eeriness:

"Zhao Jingyi, do not fear your past, and do not flee from your future."

His voice was low and slow, carrying a hardness emanating from his bones, giving one strength:

"Fear is but a trap set for you by bad people. Only by facing it can you crush it.

And when you crush fear, you will discover that an unprecedented brand-new destiny lies paved beneath your feet."

Zhao Jingyi's mouth and tongue went dry; she lowered her head to look at her shoe tips — there was no road there, only a pool of turbid sewage, and a shadow swaying in the sewage, that shadow twisted and blurred.

Zheng Hang's voice rang out again, firm and forceful:

"Zhao Jingyi, tell me, I will help you crush the fate binding you together."

Zhao Jingyi swallowed a mouthful of saliva, two lines of clear tears flowing from the corners of her eyes, her voice trembling as she asked:

"Why? Why do you want to help me? My classmates, my teachers, my family couldn't help me, why are you willing to help me?"

Zheng Hang's pupils contracted slightly; no smile appeared on his face — on the contrary, his expression was somewhat twisted and ferocious.

He raised one arm, his fingertips popping out a ferocious bone finger with a "crack" — that bone finger did not resemble a human's, more like some monster's hook claw.

He spoke in a fierce voice, his tone carrying a heart-palpitating madness:

"Because I, too, live in the Shen Yuan neither human nor ghost. Does one person in the Shen Yuan extending a hand to another person in the Shen Yuan still need a reason?"

Zhao Jingyi finally broke down, like a breached flood, letting out a howling cry.

Her crying carried a heart-rending catharsis; she had not cried like this for a very, very long time.

"The laboratory I went to is Eternal Life Technology's secret laboratory, used for researching E Corpses! Specifically, E Corpse activation research!

My Mentor believes that E Corpses hide the secret to humanity's eternal life!"

Zhao Jingyi's hands tightly gripped the bone finger Zheng Hang extended, utterly disregarding the ferocious bone spur slicing open her palm.

Warm blood dripped onto the white bone; half was silently sucked away by the bone, the other half "drip, drip" splashing into the sewage, splashing the pitch-black shadow into ripples like breathing.

This scene actually possessed a bizarre yet sacred beauty.

Zheng Hang's pupils contracted slightly; his five fingers subconsciously pinched, the ferocious bone finger piercing Zhao Jingyi's palm wound deeper, fresh blood flowing along the white bone, dyeing that snowy-white surface red, appearing increasingly bewitching.

Yet Zhao Jingyi felt the pain in her palm strangely intoxicating; the more it hurt, the more at ease she felt.

Pain was like a vivid bond, tightly connecting her with the man before her.

The more it hurt, the more she felt at ease, as if this pain became her courage in struggling free of the Shen Yuan.

Obviously,

the foolish girl in the laboratory did not understand a principle — when someone also trapped in the Shen Yuan extends a helping hand to you, it may not be to climb out of the Shen Yuan hand in hand with you; he perhaps only wants to drag you from your Shen Yuan into his Shen Yuan.

Fate's capriciousness lies in: the road out of the Shen Yuan often leads to another Shen Yuan!

Zhao Jingyi trembled as she spoke that name:

"Zuo Bai, my Mentor is Zuo Bai, Eternal Life Technology's Chief Scientist, Sixth District's preeminent scientific star, a terrifying scientific madman."

Zheng Hang's eyes narrowed slightly into slits, asking word by word:

"E Corpse activation?"

Zhao Jingyi nodded vigorously, fear lingering in her eyes:

"My Mentor believes that E Corpses are not humanity's mutation products; on the contrary, humans are the failed products left behind after E Corpses' evolution failed."

"Just like the Gene Lock Theory in Martial Dao Theory, the human shell is the gods' punishment upon E Corpses."

Zhao Jingyi repeated the words her Mentor Zuo Bai often kept on his lips, even though she herself had never been able to grasp their deep meaning, only sensing the bone-chilling madness seeping from them.

Now, she poured all these words out to Zheng Hang.

"Living is life's transition; death is eternity, and E Corpses... are living death."

Her voice trembled; merely the memory made her feel a chill rise from her tailbone.

"E Corpses are eternal life; this is the gods' forbidden zone. So E Corpses are locked inside human shells, dying completely along with the human's death."

Zheng Hang's pupils flickered slightly; Zuo Bai's theory deeply shocked him, even inspiring him.

Zhao Jingyi could not understand Zuo Bai's madness, but Zheng Hang could.

Because he now also increasingly believed — death should absolutely not be life's endpoint; death should be life's starting point.

Humans carry a fetus for ten months to give birth to life; is there not a possibility that the hundred years of human life are also another form of "embryo," and death is the final delivery?

To give birth to....

Zheng Hang licked his lips, following along with Zhao Jingyi's words, viciously denouncing:

"What you say is not wrong; the person who proposed this absurd idea is indeed a terrifying madman, all sheer nonsense!"

Zhao Jingyi's complexion at this moment appeared exceptionally complex; she seemed to have words stuck in her throat, yet found it hard to speak.

Finally, she still spoke, her voice carrying a hint of struggle:

"I also think my Mentor is a madman, but my Mentor's theory is not sheer nonsense; the laboratory, under my Mentor's leadership, researched Black Cores day and night..."

Zhao Jingyi paused, fearing Zheng Hang would not understand, so she supplemented with an explanation:

"Black Cores are the crystalline bodies left behind after E Corpse shells are incinerated."

Zheng Hang took a deep breath; he had finally heard the content he most wanted to hear.

Since there was no coercion, every word Zhao Jingyi uttered had extremely high credibility.

As expected, helping others, opening one's heart, confessing leniently — that is the highest-end "interrogation" technique.

Zheng Hang: "Hmm, what about the Black Core?"

Zhao Jingyi gritted her teeth and said:

"Although it's inconceivable, the Laboratory's various studies on the Black Core all seem to point to the same conclusion — the Black Core is neither human nor a substance naturally bred within E Corpses, but rather some kind of higher-dimensional force that forcibly stuffed the Black Core into the bodies of humans and E Corpses, as if the Black Core is…."

Zheng Hang pressed his tongue against his palate, held his breath; in his heart he already had a guess.

Sure enough, the next second he heard Zhao Jingyi say in a trembling voice:

"The Black Core is a… iron lock forged by a god!!!"

(End of Chapter)