Chapter 254: Near-Latent Phantom

"Beast, you deserve to die!"

Zhou You gripped the bone hammer in his sleeve, kicked aside the shriveled corpse of a Void Phantom, and continued walking forward.

Along the way, Phantoms could be seen everywhere, but they were all small fry that didn't amount to much, such as Void Phantoms that had just fused with their physical bodies.

"Trial Project (Two-Star Level): Kill 100 Void Phantoms in a row, Experience Points +2000."

Having killed over 200 Void Phantoms in one go, his handling of the Tiger Head Hammer became increasingly skillful, and there were faint signs of it upgrading to lv3.

What followed was...

That waist tag of the City Gate Guard absorbed the aura of the slaughtered Phantoms, and the layer of warm, jade-like patina on its surface grew even thicker.

At this moment, the panel prompted, "Trial Project (Three-Star Level): Kill 10 Incarnate Phantoms, progress 9/10."

"Target count > 3 detected, activating Battlefield Perspective."

More than 3, and it even activates Battlefield Perspective.

Zhou You was slightly surprised; there were more than 3 Incarnate Phantoms nearby.

Thinking about it, it was normal; there were so many Void Phantoms scattered everywhere, so those that gathered would surely be more numerous and stronger! He was now at the late stage of Qi and Blood; let alone 3 Incarnate Phantoms, he was confident he could wipe out even 30 of them.

The red dots on the panel gathered in a small area, numbering about 8 or 9.

Although they were all Void Phantoms, their strength varied, and among them, the largest red dot had a volume equal to the sum of all the remaining red dots.

This was even stronger than the elite Incarnate Phantoms Zhou You had killed, just not quite at the level of a Near-Latent Phantom, so it could be considered 'Near-Latent'.

For example, the previous Near-Latent one was equivalent to Qi and Blood 7th Stage, while this one was Qi and Blood 9th Stage; although both were in the late stage, there was a huge gap, almost a situation of instant death.

At the level of Incarnate Phantoms, their intelligence increased, and they had begun to form spontaneous organizations.

Lone Phantoms were easy to kill; by comparison, Phantoms in groups were more troublesome.

Zhou You did not act rashly, because in previous cases, Phantoms would set traps to hunt living people like prey.

This was a theater stage in the city, surrounded by spacious flat ground that could accommodate a thousand people.

Once upon a time, the city residents would come here on summer nights to cool off and watch plays, which was very lively. Zhou You still remembered being squeezed in the crowd under the stage with his parents as a child, his ears full of noise so he couldn't hear the singing clearly, yet it was a novel experience he would never forget for the rest of his life.

The area around the stage was silent and devoid of human voices; unconscious human bodies were piled up haphazardly, filling the square ground.

These residents were now reserve meat, stored here for the Phantoms to use daily.

The establishment of the Plague zone had fueled the ambition and evolution of the Phantoms.

In such a short time, the Phantoms had already begun to spontaneously create order and, in turn, raise living people as food.

If he waited another half a year, wouldn't they establish a city within a city and create a small, Phantom-autonomous Gongliang City? "They're here, they're here, catch them!"

A few more Void Phantoms transported a large batch of unconscious living people and sent them into the square for storage.

Some Phantoms were so greedy they couldn't wait, secretly biting into fleshy parts and then smearing a piece of mud to stop the bleeding.

Zhou You crouched in the dense shade of a large tree beside the square, scanning everywhere; these Void Phantoms were all small fry.

On the stage, 2 Incarnate Phantoms patrolled back and forth, guarding against birds pecking at the stored 'food'.

There was another one standing guard under the stage, scolding a few Void Phantoms that were stealing food, "Behave yourselves lately. The meat-people delivered are missing arms and legs, and the wounds are fresh. Do you think we don't see that?"

"Those are all fierce warriors who fight and kill often; it's normal for them to be disabled."

The Void Phantom's eyeballs rolled as it tried to quibble.

The Incarnate Phantom's eyes bulged, and its eyeballs stretched directly into two cylinders, easily piercing through the Void Phantom's body.

Amidst the screams, the Void Phantom was melted and absorbed by its eyeballs, leaving only an empty human skin hanging on the ground.

Now, all the Void Phantoms stopped talking.

"Listen well, these meat-people are for the Boss to replenish consumption. Whoever dares to steal a bite is an enemy of the Boss—die!"

The Incarnate Phantom said coldly, "After the Boss reincarnates into a Plague Ghost, he will manipulate the natural disaster of the Plague to shroud the entire city. We can eat whoever we want, and even those noble families can be eaten as side dishes. Before that, all living people belong to the Boss. Dare to steal a bite, and you die."

Zhou You heard this news and looked again at the largest red dot on the panel.

This red dot remained fixed and motionless; combined with the news just now, it was certain.

That Near-Latent Incarnate Phantom was indeed reincarnating into a Plague Ghost and had to eat a large number of living people to replenish itself in order to complete the transformation.

There were 8 Incarnate Phantoms, 3 were here collecting living people as food, and the remaining 5 were guarding by its side.

Such a meticulous arrangement—how could a beast do this? The intelligence of these Phantoms was no different from that of ordinary people.

Zhou You's mind raced, and he had already thought of a countermeasure.

He gripped the bone hammer, ready to strike, infused his legs with Qi and Blood, and driven by his lv6 Lightness Skill, he darted out from the tree canopy.

At first, the Phantoms thought it was just a Su bird that had been startled.

"Tiger Head Hammer's Sky-Breaking Flying Hammer!"

A white shadow flickered, instantly turning into a trail, crossing a hundred meters in the air to strike the Incarnate Phantom under the stage.

This Incarnate Phantom reacted quickly, grabbing a few Void Phantoms in front of it to use as meat shields.

The Tiger Head Hammer had a thicker baleful aura, and from the start, it was imbued with a large amount of Tiger Baleful Aura, the Copper Tiger Baleful Aura of the late Qi and Blood stage.

A few Void Phantoms were cleanly scattered, and the bone hammer sank into the Incarnate Phantom's chest, smashing its shell inward.

Red light, unique to the Copper Tiger Baleful Aura, erupted from its mouth and nose, and in an instant, its torso and limbs weathered into an aged, ancient copper-green color.

Plop, the decayed corpse fell to the ground, covered in a layer of green rust.

The power of the Copper Tiger Baleful Aura was actually this terrifying! The two Incarnate Phantoms on the stage had just jumped down, and seeing their companion dead beyond repair, they quickly attacked in Zhou You's direction.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Zhou You's speed was as fast as lightning; he leisurely made a turn and calmly avoided their joint attack.

He retrieved the bone hammer, infused it with baleful aura, and threw it again.

The Incarnate Phantom on the left had a terrified expression and retreated repeatedly, "Quickly go report to the leader, a Qi and Blood warrior has broken in."

"It's the late stage of Qi and Blood, a great tonic!"

The evaluation of Zhou You wasn't low, but what was a 'great tonic'? Just as it finished speaking, a hammer strike hit its shoulder, shattering it completely from the inside out.

Hahaha!

Amidst Zhou You's loud laughter, he leaped, landing in a crouching posture like a tiger about to pounce, pinning the half-shattered Transformation Charm under his claws.

The other Transformation Charm leaped into mid-air, thin membranes stretching from under its armpits, tearing through the air as it ascended, clearly about to make its escape and vanish into the sky above.

It was actually a rare variant capable of brief gliding flight.

Just as it was about to get away, a murderous crane cry rang out by its ears.

The next moment, a sharp, slender "crane beak" pierced through its chest, pinning it from mid-air down to the ground.

"?"

Yet just a moment ago in mid-air, it had clearly seen Zhou You transform into a tiger to capture its companion; how had a second "person" appeared, transforming into a flying crane to strike it down from the sky?

Neither of the two Transformation Charms understood how Zhou You had managed to use one person as two.

Zhou You delivered a hammer blow, smashing both Transformation Charms into fine dregs, then exhaled a long, steady breath.

Next, it was time to cause a commotion and attract the remaining Transformation Charms over.

As long as they mistakenly believed Zhou You was here to "save people" and split their forces to attack, he would have the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

(End of chapter)