Chapter 18: Stabbing in the Dark

"Thud..."

That massive body crashed heavily onto the ground, shattering the buildings and streets beneath it. The earth within a radius of several thousand meters was covered in dense, intricate cracks.

Jin felt his entire body aching all over, and his mind was left dizzy and muddled from the fall. Seven X barely managed to struggle to his feet, shook his head, and locked his eyes onto the huge and ferocious Peginela right before him.

"Whoosh..."

Before his thoughts had fully cleared, Peginela had already taken massive strides forward. Accompanied by the roaring vibrations of the earth, it lunged straight toward Seven X.

Seven X sluggishly assumed a combat stance. Facing the oncoming Peginela, he threw a punch that broke the sound barrier, yet that very punch was caught dead in Peginela's massive palm.

The giant claw gripped tightly. Seven X tried to extend his arm, but he was completely unable to resist such immense strength.

In the midst of this crisis, Peginela's huge jaws opened wide, and its sharp teeth bit down toward Seven X's arm. With a muffled, shattering sound, the light of energy overflowed from the wounds on Seven X's body, only to be frantically absorbed by Peginela.

Energy... was being drained...

"Are we... are we going to lose...?"

Jin felt a blur before his eyes. He could clearly feel the draining of his own strength. The massive loss of light energy drastically weakened its stimulating effect on his human cells, causing parts of Seven X's body to grow stiff and numb, while the energy indicator on top of his head flickered with a red light.

Amidst his fading consciousness, his mind seemed to grind to a halt.

It felt as though he had returned to that inescapable nightmare.

He seemed to be drifting in an ocean—a deep and mysterious sea.

Everything before his eyes seemed to spin and spin, blurring the boundary between heaven and earth, leaving only a streak of brightness and deep blue.

Seawater rushed into his ears, eyes, and nose, bringing with it a suffocating sensation as if his chest were about to burst.

Yet, he sensed a brand-new force washing over him. This power felt omnipresent, wrapping around him, trying to reach out to him and wake him up.

Immediately following that, before he could even react, a crisp electronic voice rang out.

"System, at your service..."

"The system is currently in a state of stagnation. This is a special circumstance where it has been forcibly awakened by the Alaya consciousness, hence the provided functions are incomplete..."

"The system has received its third update provided by the Fire-Stealer race, removing the shop system... and adding special modes and mission modes..."

"Appraisal: The host has fallen to the edge of death... The system will automatically execute to protect the host..."

"New function: Deus mode is about to activate... Detecting energy source..."

"Energy provided by the Gaia consciousness and the Alaya consciousness... Energy source is sufficient... Mode activating..."

Following closely after, endless energy continuously flooded into Jin's body. Every single cell within his frame brimmed with light energy, and Jin's consciousness abruptly snapped awake.

Everything before him floated clearly into his view. Seven X's aura surged violently, and a pillar of red light enveloped his body, shooting straight up into the heavens.

In the night sky, a red energy vortex suddenly swept outward. The aura emanating from the energy vortex was filled with dominance, ferocity, and boundless power. The moment the energy vortex appeared, it expanded across the entire sky. Then, as if drawing breath, the vortex began to gradually shrink, channeling its energy surging toward the red pillar of light.

And as the red pillar of energy enveloped Seven X's body, the intense energy fluctuations blasted Peginela backward through the air.

Peginela stared warily at the red pillar of light. The Alaya consciousness of the Peginela race echoed within its mind: Seven X must absolute not be allowed to emerge from that light. Otherwise, the Peginela race's decades-long plan to gradually occupy the Earth and replace humanity—and even the very survival of their entire species—would be completely destroyed.

Resisting the apprehension in its heart, Peginela let out an angry roar, planting its thick legs firmly on the ground. Immediately afterward, its ferocious giant maw spewed a green pillar of energy, which surged aggressively toward the red pillar of light.

As the green pillar of energy burst forth, Peginela finally felt a sliver of relief at the bottom of its heart.

However, just as the green energy pillar, carrying the hopes of the Peginela race, was about to strike the red pillar of light, the latter was suddenly shattered from within by a powerful force.

Following right behind, Seven X's powerful physique stepped slowly out from the pillar of light. His arms locked into a V-shaped defensive posture, effortlessly blocking the green energy pillar. As the endless red radiance behind him gradually faded away, Seven X in Deus mode revealed his incomparably tyrannical form for the very first time in this parallel world.

"To think... it was blocked..."

Regarding the Peginela ultimate form, which gathered all their forces, the Alaya consciousness of the Peginela race had been full of confidence. Yet reality was constantly reminding it that even the power of an entire tribe was not this formidable.

Suddenly, it seemed to understand something, and it quickly linked to the Alaya consciousness of the Gulacies race.

In an intangible space, a dialogue had already unfolded between the two racial consciousnesses.

Seven X's current mutation definitely did not come out of nowhere. Since existence implied rationality, where did this rationality stem from?

The first thing the Alaya consciousness of the Peginela race thought of was that the energy provided by the human Alaya consciousness had endowed Seven X with this enhancement.

Yet the human Alaya consciousness was supposedly being suppressed by the Alaya consciousness of the Gulacies race.

Then there was only one remaining possibility... The Gulacies race had secretly undermined them, stabbing the Peginela race in the back.

Just as they were about to eliminate their opponent, only to face a total collapse because of their ally's treasonous behavior, how could anyone not be furious?

"You... did not abide by the agreement between our two races!"

Within the space of consciousness, the Alaya consciousness of the Peginela race roared in anger.

Yet, in response to its fury, within that distorted constructed garden of consciousness, the middle-aged man spoke:

"You were the ones who violated the pact between the two races first..."

Another woman stepped forward and said coldly, "Then do not blame us..."

"How did I violate the pact?!"

"According to the pact between the Peginela race and the Gulacies race, you were supposed to live in human society as humans and gradually replace all of humanity, step-by-step causing the disappearance of individuals to threaten the human Alaya consciousness. But you secretly plotted to build new bodies of your own. This already constitutes a violation of the pact."

Following that, a bizarre smile crossed the woman's face as she said, "Then... under the premise that you broke the pact, our race doing the same is merely an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

What was the pact between the two races? It was, in truth, an invasion pact against the Earth and humanity.

The Gulacies race would secretly invade and control, while the cellular-form Peginela race would openly replace humanity.

Through such dual manipulation, the human Alaya consciousness could be gradually weakened, ultimately fulfilling the two races' plan to annihilate humanity.

However, the Peginela race was clearly not satisfied with this. While promoting Shiner-5, they were also secretly researching and manufacturing new bodies for Peginela.

They attempted to rival the Gulacies race on equal footing, but after being exposed, they suffered a knife in the back from their supposed allies.

The Gulacies race had relaxed its suppression of the human Alaya consciousness, allowing it to awaken the system and provide an energy source for Deus mode.

If they did not strike, so be it; but once they struck, they would sever the root.

It was equivalent to two armies facing off on the battlefield, only for one's ally to set fire to their own food supplies while the battle was at its fiercest.

This kind of blow was nearly devastating.

Meanwhile, within the distorted garden of consciousness, the second personality watched coldly. Looking at the middle-aged man and woman—manifestations of the Gulacies race's Alaya consciousness—he spoke:

"You two... have grown very quickly..."

The Gulacies race had actually appeared on Earth later than the Peginela race.

The reason this race was able to give birth to an Alaya consciousness actually stemmed from Cote's second personality, which in turn catalyzed the Alaya consciousness of the Gulacies race.

Yet he had not expected this student's growth to far exceed his expectations, causing him to feel a great sense of crisis himself. In the early stages, the second personality had always controlled and dominated, but in the later stages—especially after most of his consciousness was destroyed by Ultraman King—the second personality gradually transitioned from a leader into a mere bystander.

If the Alaya consciousness of the Gulacies race grew strong enough, or if it believed it had learned enough... would he himself... be devoured by them?

The middle-aged man and woman looked toward the second personality, bowed slightly, and said:

"Thanks to your teachings..."