Chapter 2659

The dark clouds gradually dispersed, and sunlight shone on the foundation of the castle. The withered grass around it began to spontaneously ignite as soon as it was touched by the sunlight.

Su Xiao took the hunter badge off his blade. This thing could be converted into 32 points of World Reputation; collecting relics had become even more important.

The current situation was something Su Xiao hadn't expected. When he saw the old hunter Adam before, the opponent's state was indeed bad, but not to an uncontrollable degree.

The old hunter Adam turning into this state wasn't because of losing control. After hunters lose control, at least part of their body would become Dark Demon-ized or ghost-ized, such as an arm turning into a spirit body. Whether it was Dark Demon-ization or ghost-ization depended on the hunter's characteristics.

Like the old hunter Adam, part of his body would become Dark Demon-ized after losing control. If the female hunter Tiffany lost control, part of her body would become ghost-ized.

There were no signs of losing control, yet the old hunter Adam had turned into this state. Thinking of this, Su Xiao took out a spray can and sprayed it onto the remaining remains of the old hunter Adam.

The spray scattered, not turning black, nor changing into ice crystals. This meant the old hunter Adam hadn't fought or come into contact with Dark Demons or ghosts in the last ten hours.

It wasn't done by either of those. Su Xiao took out a test tube; the liquid inside was green to the point of being black. This was a highly pure life-characteristic extraction liquid.

Pouring this dark green liquid around the remains, a change occurred. Black tentacles as thick as a little finger grew out from the remains. Seeing these black tentacles, the first thing Su Xiao thought of was an Ancient God.

Bringing the 【God Judgment】 ring on his hand close to these black tentacles, an unexpected situation occurred: the 【God Judgment】 ring had no reaction.

Seeing this, Su Xiao covered his right hand with a crystal layer and tried to touch the black tentacles. The moment his right hand touched one, it suddenly split into dozens of tentacles, firmly clinging to his right hand.

With a crack, the crystal layer covering his right hand split. Su Xiao took the opportunity to pull his right hand away. He was now certain that these black tentacles didn't come from an Ancient God; the aura, feeling, and energy fluctuations were completely different.

Su Xiao had fought many Ancient Gods and killed quite a few. He had also come into contact with ultra-high-tier Ancient Gods, such as the unknown Ancient God of Misfortune Town and the Underworld God of the Fallen Star.

At this moment, these black tentacles felt too singular. They only had one aura fluctuation: devouring, endless devouring, like a giant mouth surrounded by black tentacles, with nothing it couldn't eat.

Suddenly, Su Xiao thought of a possibility. He picked up a silver coin and tossed it into the black tentacles that had already split open.

The black tentacles instantly wrapped around the silver coin. 2 seconds later, the silver coin popped out and landed on the ground, covered in rust-like material.

Su Xiao opened the team email, checked the two photos Benny sent, and compared the photo of the large pile of rusted hunter badges with the silver coin on the ground. The corrosion marks and the color after corrosion were basically the same.

The matter was already very clear. The main body of these black tentacles was very likely the reason for the integration between the Dark Prison and this world. Hao Gui was using this thing to devour hunter relics, thereby seizing World Power and accelerating the integration speed between the Dark Prison and this world.

As for why the old hunter Adam was affected by this thing, Su Xiao felt it was highly likely an accidental event. The old hunter Adam's behavioral pattern was too fixed; he always stayed inside the castle. No matter who approached the castle, he would attack based on his hunting instincts from when he was alive.

【Prompt: The hunter has found the root of the integration.】

【After the hunter destroys the 'Root of Integration Main Body', the main quest will be completed.】

【The hunter must immediately collect a sample of the 'Root of Integration'. Reincarnation Paradise will construct an erosion protection mechanism based on this sample.】

……

Seeing these prompts, Su Xiao knew the main quest was on the right track, and the direction was clear: just destroy the main body of the Root of Integration.

Not only that, Su Xiao also figured out one problem: how those previous hunters and battle angels died.

They might not have been killed by Hao Gui or any Dark Demon or ghost. They might have just arrived in this world a few days ago, and after the main quest had a clear goal, they were suddenly eroded by the 'Root of Integration' and died miserably.

The appearance of the Root of Integration should be without any warning. Once it suddenly appeared in the body, especially in a position like the heart or brain, even Su Xiao wouldn't have the confidence to survive it.

"Good luck."

"Woof."

Bubu Wang looked at Su Xiao in confusion, not understanding why he said that. Su Xiao felt he was lucky because he encountered an accidental erosion by the 'Root of Integration', and the target was a hunter; otherwise, he might have ignored the subsequent handling.

Su Xiao's hand reached forward, the crystal layer spreading to wrap the 'Root of Integration' on the ground. This should only be a very small part of the 'Root of Integration Main Body'.

After doing all this, Su Xiao soaked the crystal in his hand in a solution and sold it to Reincarnation Paradise for 0 Paradise Coins. This thing needed to be analyzed, after which Reincarnation Paradise would provide a shelter mechanism for free to prevent Su Xiao from being suddenly attacked by the main body of the 'Root of Integration'.

……

Inside the Dark Prison, in the dim and dark sky, a huge vortex was slowly rotating, seemingly brewing something.

The earth was a barren, withered yellow. In a secret place, chains were intertwined, and a black irregular sphere with a diameter of over ten meters hung in mid-air. All the surrounding chains pierced through this black sphere, seemingly binding it here.

"Hao Gui."

Numerous overlapping voices came from inside the black sphere—men and women, old and young. The voices, which should have been extremely chaotic, were forcibly aggregated together.

"Hao Gui."

After another call, a rift appeared, and Hao Gui walked out from the rift, standing above the black sphere.

"I'm busy, what is it?"

"God Hunter Kukulin has found us."

"Found you?"

Hao Gui sat on the black sphere and casually tossed a hunter badge into the giant mouth that had split open on the black sphere.

"I'm not good at things that require using my brain. 'Awaken' Douglas; let him join forces with that person from the Watcher Guild. The two of them should at least be able to stall Kukulin."

Hao Gui admitted quite frankly that he wasn't good at using his brain. As for the other Dark Demons and ghosts in the Dark Prison who were only weaker than Hao Gui, they were all busy preparing for the appearance of the 'Dark Realm'.

As for what the 'Dark Realm' was, it was the brand-new world that would appear after the Dark Prison merged with the world—the name Douglas gave it before sealing himself.

"No, Douglas has completely integrated into human society. Before the final moment arrives, he cannot be awakened. Moreover, the Watcher Guild rejected us; they would rather be destroyed than allow the 'Dark Realm' controlled by Dark Demons and ghosts to appear. Only that person accepted us."

The consciousness inside the black sphere spoke. It was called Soul, responsible for maintaining the stability of the black sphere and trying to avoid accidental attacks as much as possible. After all, the black sphere could ignore the barrier between the Dark Prison and the outside world and appear directly in the outside world, although it was only a small part.

Hao Gui began to think hard. Whenever this happened, he missed Douglas. When Douglas was in the Dark Prison, Hao Gui only needed to fight and kill enemies.

"Soul, if we don't awaken Douglas now, we might not make it to the final moment. If the 'Root of Integration' is destroyed, everything will be over."

Hao Gui's hand pressed onto the black sphere beneath him. This was the main body of the 'Root of Integration'. When it wasn't bound, it was a giant black mouth with tentacles along its edges, devouring everything it saw.

"Hao Gui, you don't have the confidence to defeat Kukulin? This isn't you."

Soul's voice began to flicker, changing from female to male.

"I am destruction."

Hao Gui clenched his right fist; his arms represented destruction.

"Bai Ye is sharpness. He can sever my destruction before I can blast him to pieces. This is a restraint of combat styles."

Outer armor manifested on Hao Gui's arms. He had already tested it; this outer armor couldn't block Su Xiao's blade.

"Bai Ye?"

"Yes, Bai Ye. Very few people know this title of his. It's recorded in the Watcher Guild's classified files; that person told me."

After a full few minutes of silence, Hao Gui stood up and said: "Awaken Douglas; let him remember his true name."

Just as Hao Gui finished speaking, a cyan-blue smoke ball floated in front of him. Soul was letting Hao Gui decide for himself.

Hao Gui hesitated for a moment before raising his hand to grasp the cyan-blue smoke ball.

"Douglas, wake up, remember your true name."

With a snap, like glass breaking, Hao Gui crushed the smoke ball in his hand.

At the same time, in Sodo City, at a murder scene, the smell of blood permeated the air, making this originally cozy apartment feel dead and gloomy.

"Officer, look, I found a fragment of clothing left by the murderer."

High heels clicked on the floor as Police Officer Vina ran out of the bedroom, immediately seeing Detective Douglas sitting on the sofa, smoking and looking troubled.

Detective Douglas had a unique way of smoking: he always lit two cigarettes at once. When others asked him why he did this, he didn't know himself; it just seemed normal to do so. If he only lit one, he would feel like he was sharing it with someone else, which felt very awkward.

"Clothing fragment?! Well done, Vina."

Detective Douglas's face lit up with joy. He extinguished the two cigarettes in his hand and was just about to reach out to take the clothing fragment Vina was handing him when his body suddenly stiffened.

"Ah!!"

Detective Douglas's mouth opened to its widest, letting out a miserable wail. His eyes widened until the corners were about to split, his teeth clenched tightly, and saliva oozed from between his teeth, trailing as it dripped from the corner of his mouth.

"Do, Douglas sir, what's wrong? Are you okay? Don't scare me."

Vina was badly frightened. Douglas was not only her superior but also an elder who had watched her grow up.

"Huff! Huff! Huff……"

Detective Douglas's breathing was as heavy as a cow's. He pressed one hand to his face, and a moment later, his expression calmed down, and the hint of cyan in the center of his pupils faded.

"Don't be nervous, Vina. This is the price of coming into contact with too much of the supernatural. I scared you."

"……"

Vina took a very small step back. For some reason, she felt that the person in front of her was no longer the Uncle Douglas she knew. This was her sixth sense—a very strong sixth sense.

The apartment suddenly became quiet; you could hear a pin drop. A moment later, a voice broke the silence.

"Little Vina, are you afraid of me?"