Lord of Prayer

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"How does it look?"

In the main hall of the Shengqiang Group’s office, the Ape, dressed in a plaid shirt, asked the Plague Doctor and the others.

The Plague Doctor studied the Ape, with its scarlet eyes, hairy, simian face, body covered in fine fur, and savage, violent aura. He couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement, "It’s a perfect resemblance. You look like a real creature from Hell. You haven’t actually been corrupted, have you?"

"No, this is controlled corruption. I can reverse it at any time."

Zhou Chen, now in his programmer-Ape form, snapped his fingers. The big boss of Shengqiang Group quickly presented him with an exclusive Shengqiang Group programmer ID badge. Zhou Chen hung it around his neck. This way, any Corrupters who still had their wits about them would see it and know he was a Shengqiang Group programmer, which should help him avoid a lot of trouble.

—After the Capital’s Abyssalization, the Shengqiang Group, relying on its boss’s "Forced Overtime" Ability, had taken over several surrounding blocks. It merged them into the company’s industrial chain and even absorbed a few nearby corrupted enterprises. It had become a significant power within this Abyss. Even now, its HR department was still out there forcibly recruiting new employees, dragging them back for unlimited overtime, striking terror into the hearts of countless Corrupters.

"What’s your plan? Even if you can blend in with the Corrupters, getting inside the Barrier will be extremely difficult. The government is likely using a Light-Burning Barrier. Anyone who touches it, whether Corrupter or human, will be burned to ash."

"Let’s play it by ear. We don’t know what the situation is like near the city center yet. We’ll split into two groups for now. Let’s not get too far apart, so we can support each other if something happens," Zhou Chen said.

...

Leaving the company, Zhou Chen climbed up a crystallized office building on all fours, just like a real Ape. He treated the crystalline skyscrapers as his jungle, leaping and weaving through them.

—With the Book of the Dead, which recorded countless pieces of Abyssal knowledge, Zhou Chen could change the appearance of his "Siegfried" Clone however he wished after its controlled corruption. He had actually considered creating a "Hellfire Minotaur" form, but Minotaurs draw too much aggro. Plus, faking an identity for one would be difficult, so he ultimately chose the "programmer-Ape."

He based it on a type of Demon called the "Violent Ape." People with violent and savage personalities had a chance of corrupting into this type of Hellish Demon. Its Innate Ability was called "Fiery," which made it stronger the angrier it got.

In the Abyss, this Demon was considered a mid-tier race. It wasn’t strong, but it wasn’t weak either. Like cannon fodder, it had little presence and didn’t attract much attention.

WHOOSH—

As if a gust of wind had picked up, a huge shadow passed over Zhou Chen’s head. Turbulent air howled from behind him as a large, grey bird with three heads landed in front of him. Its sharp talons struck the crystal, sending up a shower of sparks.

Zhou Chen braked hard to avoid crashing into it. Drawing on the records from the Book of the Dead, he mimicked the warning posture of a Violent Ape, baring his teeth at the three-headed bird.

"Shengqiang Group?"

The three-headed bird’s heads belonged to a man, a child, and a woman. The man’s head on the left spotted the employee badge hanging on Zhou Chen’s chest, and a look of hesitation and awe appeared on its face.

"Good. Now you know, so scram while you still can."

"Who cares what group he’s from! Let’s just eat him! Can’t you see my child is starving?!" the aristocratic woman’s head shrieked, her face twisted with malice.

"I’m hungry! I’m so hungry! I want to eat!" The child’s head in the middle, its skin a pallid green, began to wail and throw a tantrum. The sharp, ear-piercing cry was like a knife scraping across glass, agitating the listener and inexplicably stirring up a sense of anger.

"If you want to get killed, don’t drag me down with you!" The man struggled to control his half of the body, trying to flee as he roared, "That’s someone from Shengqiang Group! If we kill him, we’ll all be turned into money-making machines that work around the clock!"

The moment its voice fell, a loud BANG erupted. Zhou Chen shot forward, his hands like blades, carving two sharp afterimages in the air as he swept past the three-headed bird’s body.

Foul-smelling blood splattered. The bickering of the three heads came to an abrupt end as they were cleanly severed from the neck. They rolled across the rooftop like balls before bursting like balloons.

"Three heads sure means a lot of nonsense."

Just as Zhou Chen was about to leave, a thought struck him. He paused, turned his head, and looked at the headless bird corpse gushing blood on the ground.

An idea surfaced, eager and restless.

—’Abyssal Demons can evolve by devouring the bodies of other Demons. Doesn’t that mean I can do it too?’

’Besides, this is just a Clone. It doesn’t matter how much I mess around with it...’

’Should I give it a try?’

—’Might as well! Let’s do it!’

No sooner said than done.

Zhou Chen grabbed the wing of the bird’s corpse and, with a great heave, ripped it off. After blocking his sense of taste and other sensations, he controlled his Clone to tear into the wing, swallowing the flesh and blood, which was laden with malevolence and corruption.

After just a few bites, an itching sensation started on his back, and a pair of wings burst forth from his body.

’Evolving this fast...’ Zhou Chen was shocked. ’This rate of mutation is too strange. It’s unheard of, even in the Abyss. Maybe it’s a special property of this Crystal Abyss?’

’But what does "crystal" have to do with "evolution"? They’re clearly not the same type of Power.’

’Or could it be... that the environment of the Abyss itself has been altered?’

Zhou Chen tried to control the wings and learned how to use them after just a few flaps. With a beat of his new wings, he soared into the sky.

Ten meters, twenty meters, fifty meters, one hundred meters...

Zhou Chen reached the dim, murky heights and gazed into the distance. Amidst the swirling black Demonic Qi, he could faintly make out a piercing golden glint, completely out of place in the dark and desperate Abyss. That had to be the Light-Burning Barrier activated by the government.

Suddenly, a ball of scorching magma shot up from the ground. Zhou Chen dodged it with a flash of movement and looked down. A dark red toad with magma flowing over its skin was perched on the roof of a skyscraper, clearly treating him as prey.

’Can I eat this thing...’ Zhou Chen ground his teeth, steeled himself for a few seconds, and then, clenching his jaw, dove downward at high speed.

"CROAK!"

The magma toad shot out its tongue, which was covered in flowing flames and molten rock. It lashed toward Zhou Chen like a whip, moving so fast it was almost invisible to the naked eye.

Zhou Chen flipped his body, narrowly brushing past the long tongue. He extended his claws and slashed fiercely at it. With a beat of his wings, he accelerated sharply, plowing five gruesome wounds along its length and sending blood flying.

The toad cried out in pain and quickly retracted its tongue, spitting a volley of magma balls at Zhou Chen. But Zhou Chen was already upon it, his descent accelerated by gravity into a terrifying force that came crashing down with a roar.

The Violent Ape and the toad shot past each other. Immediately after, dozens of horrifying gashes appeared on the magma toad’s body, dripping with blood.

The toad flew into a rage and leaped violently, hurtling toward Zhou Chen. But with his new wings, Zhou Chen’s mobility was maxed out. With a single flap, he charged toward the airborne toad, clasped his hands over his head, and transformed into a sharp arrow, piercing straight through.

PSHHH!

A huge, gaping hole was torn straight through the magma toad’s torso. Blood gushed down like a waterfall. Zhou Chen, now dyed blood-red, hovered high in the air with a freshly torn piece of organ in his mouth. He opened his jaw and swallowed it whole.

A searing heat rose from within him, as if his entire body was about to ignite and burn to nothing. Sizzling magma began to seep from the Violent Ape’s body, and even its wings turned a dark red.

’Another evolution. This fire is all coalesced from malice and negative emotions...’ Zhou Chen looked at the dark red, malevolent liquid fire in his hand and nodded in satisfaction.

Below, the magma toad collapsed with a final, mournful cry. Zhou Chen paid it no more mind and flew toward the city center.

However, an airborne target was extremely good at attracting aggro.

Zhou Chen hadn’t flown far when a crystallized car was hurled at him from below. He dodged it nimbly. Looking closely, he saw a humanoid Corrupter whose entire body reflected the cold glint of steel. To be precise, it was a man made of steel.

"Is this... Gallod Steel Number Four?" As a seasoned Blacksmith and Alchemist, Zhou Chen could identify the type of metal by sight alone, even from such a great distance.

This metal had been extremely valuable over twenty years ago, often used in aerospace for its toughness and impressive heat resistance. But better materials were later developed, and this metal was gradually phased out of the aerospace field. Nowadays, it would only appear on the desks of some Alchemists; even Blacksmiths couldn’t be bothered to use it.

’Could this steel man be a corrupted Alchemist?’

Zhou Chen gathered a ball of magma in his hand and hurled it downward. The steel man swatted the magma apart with a punch, completely unscathed. Then, he bent his legs, coiling like a spring.

BANG!

The crystallized ground shattered as the steel man leaped high into the air, charging straight for Zhou Chen.

’He’s even faster than the magma toad’s tongue strike!’

Knowing he couldn’t dodge, Zhou Chen clenched his fist and slammed it violently toward the steel face.

BOOM!

A tremendous sound wave spread out, followed by a howling shockwave. A sharp crack of breaking bone came from the Violent Ape’s arm. At the same time, a sunken fist print appeared on the steel man’s face, webbed with fine cracks.

Immediately after, a dark red fiery light erupted from within.

—This was the Inner Force! A technique he learned from Li Xiye that completely crushed his own My Style Secret Technique: Rock-Breaking Force in every aspect!

Once mastered, one could land without a sound, shatter steel with a light tap—silent, traceless, and all-penetrating.

BOOM!

The dark red, malevolent flames traveled along the path of the Inner Force and struck the steel man’s head. Terrifying destructive power rippled out, and the steel head instantly exploded. The steel man lost all power, like a toy that had run out of batteries.

Its heavy steel body plummeted from the sky. With a loud crash, it slammed into the crystalline ground, creating a crater and a web of cracks.

Zhou Chen landed, picked up a few fragments of "Gallod Steel Number Four" from the ground, and tossed them into his mouth. He bit down on the metal, chewing it like candy with a loud CRUNCH, CRUNCH, and swallowed.

The Violent Ape’s body evolved instantly. Its teeth fell out, replaced by a set of sharp, hard iron fangs. All the bones in its body turned into solid iron. A fine layer of steel, as thin as a cicada’s wing but with astonishing Defense Power, appeared on its skin. The feathers on its wings shed rapidly, replaced by sharp, blade-like dark red Steel Wings.

Once again marveling at the evolutionary speed of Abyssal Demons, Zhou Chen ascended and looked toward a district several hundred meters away, which was teeming with all sorts of Demon Fiends.

His thoughts grew bolder and bolder.

’Start as a monkey, evolve by devouring.’

’If I keep eating, just how far can I evolve?’