Apocalypse Chapter 18: Crystal Core

Chapter 18: Crystal Core

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Thanks to Jiang Rong digging a ditch and pouring gasoline on it, the burning gasoline formed a thick wall of flames. On one hand, it prevented the mutated ants from escaping, and on the other hand, it prevented the flames from spreading. With the weather dry like today, if a spark flew into the nearby woods, it would surely cause a wildfire.

After emptying a box of something, Jiang Rong stood panting outside the ring of fire. The scorching flames made him feel half-baked, and his skin tingled with pain. But seeing the mutated ants burning within the circle of fire, he felt immensely satisfied.

He took off his night vision goggles and stared directly at the struggling ants within the flames.

The mutated ants were rich in oil. With the help of gasoline, their bellies burst open with a crackling sound. When the fire first ignited, there were still groups of ants trying to roll through the ring of fire. However, soon enough, they couldn’t hold their formation. Under the intense heat, many ants fell and their tiny legs twitched before losing vitality in no time.

The fire spread from the surroundings towards the center, and the flames soared into the sky with sparks flying. When the fire consumed all the ants, Jiang Rong, who had been busy for most of the night, felt dizzy. He took two steps back and sat down on the ground.

He succeeded. Alone, he managed to kill a large group of mutated ants. In his past life, he wouldn’t have dared to even think about such a thing, yet in this life, he actually did it. Staring at the flames, Jiang Rong smirked and lowered his head, hiding the glimmer in his eyes.

The fire burned for several hours. During this time, Jiang Rong dared not leave. He sat on the steps under the jujube tree, with two bottles of energy drinks beside him. By the time the flames completely died down, the eastern sky had begun to brighten.

Yesterday’s ant ball had now turned into a pile of smoky ashes, and the layer of soil beneath the ashes had turned black from the burning. At this point, Jiang Rong could finally stand up and carefully examine the ash pile.

Although the flames had extinguished, the residual heat was still high. Jiang Rong stood outside the ditch and carefully used a shovel to remove the top layer of ashes. The ants had been completely incinerated, and their previous appearance was no longer recognizable.

Underneath the ashes, there were remnants of combustion and the remains of bottles. These glass shards left in the soil could easily injure someone, so Jiang Rong carefully picked them up with tweezers and placed them in a prepared dustpan.

The burned glass pieces appeared gray-black, hard in texture, and could easily be picked out from the ashes. Suddenly, a flash of bright color appeared in the ashes, causing Jiang Rong to pause. He then carefully used the shovel to uncover that patch of ashes.

A pink crystal the size of a soybean sparkled in the ashes. Jiang Rong carefully picked it up and could still feel its warmth in his palm. This was a crystal nucleus, something found on mutated animals and plants. The higher the level, the more powerful the abilities it contained, and the larger the nucleus, the more power it held.

This wasn’t the first time he had seen a crystal nucleus. In his past life, he had followed behind espers on missions, mainly tasked with cleaning up the battlefield. Once, he found a pale blue crystal nucleus in the ruins, about the size of a thumb, which they said was a second-level nucleus.

As an ordinary person, he couldn’t use the nucleus for himself. Later, the nucleus was taken by the team’s esper. However, the texture and appearance of that nucleus were deeply imprinted in his mind. He had never seen anything so beautiful, better looking than any jewelry in the world. It was said that crystal nuclei came in various colors, representing the diverse abilities of their owners. Espers couldn’t upgrade without crystal nuclei. However, how to use the nuclei was something he couldn’t figure out at that time.

Jiang Rong pinched the small nucleus and examined it carefully. The small crystal, shining like a gem, was difficult to imagine coming from inside the bodies of mutated ants. With this in mind, he had a question: where was the crystal nucleus inside his body? And what color was it?

After carefully collecting the crystal nucleus, he continued to search the ash pile. With diligence, he found several more nuclei in the ashes. However, the later nuclei were only as small as grains of rice and transparent in color, nowhere near as beautiful as the first one he found.

After finding and dealing with the remaining residues, Jiang Rong leaned on the long handle of the shovel and breathed a sigh of relief. The first test after the Great Crisis was finally over. Hopefully, he wouldn’t encounter mutated ants again in the future.

The battle with the mutated ants gave Jiang Rong a break for two days. Two days later, he covered up the traps in the ground.

As the sun gradually rose, the grass and trees in the mountains wilted under the heat. Jiang Rong sat in his cool study, staring at the crystal nucleus he had found from the ashes. In front of him were one large and seven small crystal nuclei, with seven tiny ones clustered around the central pink one. The colors matched quite well, resembling a flower.

Although the crystal nuclei were arranged like a flower, upon closer inspection, nothing extraordinary could be seen. Since in his past life they had been talking about espers upgrading with crystal nuclei, he decided to give it a try.

The crystal nuclei were hard in texture, making it impractical to crush and swallow them. After some thought, Jiang Rong reached out towards one of the smallest crystal nuclei.

A hint of wood-based ability emanated from his fingertips, enveloping the crystal nucleus like a thin film.

After waiting for a moment, there was still no change in the crystal nucleus. Just as Jiang Rong was about to retract his ability, he suddenly remembered the scene of the withered grass from yesterday. His ability could be controlled according to his will. Right now, he was only thinking about enveloping the crystal nucleus with his ability, without any other intentions.

With a thought, the green aura membrane began to change. It slowly tightened towards the direction of the crystal nucleus. In the next moment, fine cracks appeared on the transparent nucleus. A small force overflowed from the nucleus and merged into Jiang Rong’s ability.

Jiang Rong didn’t know how to describe this feeling in words; he only knew that the power inside this crystal nucleus had been completely absorbed by it. Sure enough, when he withdrew his ability, the originally smooth and round crystal nucleus turned into a grayish-white powder.

Realizing that this trick worked, he mustered up the courage to absorb the remaining six small crystal nuclei together. Perhaps because the nuclei were too small, Jiang Rong didn’t feel much enhancement in his ability.

How about… trying to absorb the largest one?

Without further ado, Jiang Rong placed the largest crystal nucleus directly in the palm of his right hand. As the wood-based ability circulated, a powerful pink force emanated from the nucleus. Unlike the previous force, this one wasn’t obedient. Once it entered Jiang Rong’s body, it rampaged wildly, causing him to turn pale with sweat streaming down his face.

The ant ability was extremely violent; where it flowed felt like being burned and bitten by insects. Despite Jiang Rong’s tolerance for pain, he couldn’t move and curled up on the ground. His body became the playground for the ant ability, with every vein and nerve being swept by the pink power. Jiang Rong heard the sound of blood vessels bursting, and large patches of bruising appeared under his skin where the pink ability had passed.

If this continued, he would be killed by the power within the crystal nucleus before he could absorb it. He was too careless. He never imagined that the power contained within such a small crystal nucleus would be so immense. It was too late to regret now; all he could do was summon all his strength to intercept the pink ability.

It was an extremely painful process. He had to endure the pain while precisely controlling his ability. Jiang Rong felt like his entire being was being torn apart by the two forces. When the pain became unbearable, he would whimper softly.

Strangely enough, as his own ability circulated within his body, the pain caused by the pink ability rapidly dissipated. Realizing this, Jiang Rong divided the wood-based ability in half, using one half to contain the pink ability and the other half to repair the damage caused by the pink ability to his body.

As time passed, the pink ability, deprived of support, gradually weakened and merged with the wood-based ability. Under the repeated cleansing and repair of the wood-based ability, the intense pain in his body slowly disappeared, replaced by an indescribable lightness and comfort.

When the last trace of the pink ability in his body finally subsided, Jiang Rong felt as if he had been pulled out of water. He lay on the floor with vacant eyes, feeling as if he had experienced death. He didn’t know how long had passed when there was a light knock on the door. Jiang Xiaoheng’s voice came from outside, “Dad, do you smell something poopy?”

Jiang Rong slowly got up from the floor. “Poopy? No, I don’t.” However, as he stood up, his face turned dark. “Oh no…”

His entire body was covered in black-gray grime, with every pore oozing out a foul-smelling dirt. The grime stained his shirt, and droplets of ink-like stains were dripping down the hem of his shirt. The whole study reeked, and Jiang Rong’s stomach churned, nearly making him vomit.

 

 

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