Chapter 80: Carnivores and the Painter of Blood (1)

With a loud clang, the "paint bucket" was hurled to the ground with savage force. A rank, fishy stench began to permeate the air, revealing that the bucket did not contain paint, but blood.

After smashing the bucket, the man in the red suit abruptly regained his composure and said, "Baita, come with me to find new paint! Better paint!"

With that, he released the "brush" in his hand, letting it fall to the floor. As soon as it landed, the brush transformed rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, a rug made from human skulls and hair floated in midair. The man in the red suit turned and lay upon it.

Once he was settled atop the skull rug, it carried him away, vanishing from the orphanage. No trace of life remained nearby, only headless, child-sized corpses strewn across the grounds, as if testifying to the monstrous crimes of some demon.

This was the Ninth Elder of the Purification Society—Bloody Painter Jack Chen, a madman driven by a passion for bloody art. He should have been locked away in an asylum, but after becoming the Ninth Elder, no institution could contain him.

Beside him was the bizarre Baita, a four-star anomaly with an unhealthy obsession with collecting skulls.

Their purpose in coming to Coastal City was simple: Baita sought to expand his collection, while the Bloody Painter wished to find the perfect "paint" to resurrect his sister.

A purpose both straightforward and unspeakably evil.

Just two elders of the Purification Society could plunge Coastal City into chaos, taking advantage of the thick miasma of resentment and the proliferation of ghosts. Not to mention that the Society had also dispatched the mysterious Fifth Elder—Shadow Walker—whose appearance, gender, and even true name were unknown; only the code name was known.

Judging by the Society's strength-based rankings, this individual was likely even more formidable than Jack Chen or Barbaric Butcher, or perhaps even more twisted in mind.

Wu Zui, who had just returned from Yanjing and was preparing to deal with the ghost core left by the Whale anomaly, would surely be plagued by headaches once he learned the news.

Although the Purification Society's elders were slaughtering their way through Coastal City, all surveillance systems had been destroyed in the Whale anomaly's self-destruction, making it impossible to activate the Sky Eye system.

Moreover, the Society never left survivors, so for a time, not a single spiritual investigator or awakened one noticed the abnormal activity in East Harbor or the western suburbs. Thus, a seemingly peaceful week passed, and some of the city's main facilities began to take shape.

For most awakened ones across the country, these past few days had been exhilarating. Thanks to the researchers' tireless work, several methods for cultivating magnetic energy had begun to take shape. While these could only be practiced up to the three-star level for now, even those with four or five stars benefited greatly.

At the very least, their magnetic energy was no longer dependent on slow natural recovery. Once the safety of these methods was confirmed, they were immediately sent to all three-star and above spiritual investigators via their phones.

Meanwhile, the country used some of these cultivation methods to trade for vast resources from other nations. The Americans continued their own experiments, stubbornly refusing to change; their own spiritual investigators were thoroughly infuriated.

There were three methods for cultivating magnetic energy:

The first was the Internal Pill method, which involved condensing a magnetic energy seed within the body through meditation-like practices, rapidly recovering and enhancing magnetic energy. With long-term cultivation, the seed could even strengthen forthcoming attacks.

The second was the External Training method, where magnetic energy was absorbed to enhance physical constitution. According to the research institute, practitioners could eventually face anomalies renowned for their physical resilience head-on.

The third was the Artifact method, which involved repeatedly tempering a chosen item with magnetic energy, granting it unique abilities after absorption.

During research, magnetic energy equivalent to a three-star ghost was used to temper an ordinary phone, which then gained the ability to ignore the confinement spaces of three-star ghosts and communicate freely with other phones. Weapons and other items showed even more pronounced effects.

Confronted with these three choices, Wu Zui hesitated.

The Artifact method seemed most suitable for him; tempering his Heart-Seeking Sword with magnetic energy would not only allow him to wield it more effectively, but perhaps unlock unforeseen powers.

Yet Wu Zui held reservations about He Ping, and, by extension, about the Heart-Seeking Sword within his own body. In the end, he chose a path relying solely on himself—the Visualization method.

Inspired by novels from his youth, he used his spiritual power to visualize gods and demons, sketching their forms in his mind to borrow their strength.

But Wu Zui did not visualize gods or demons, nor did he possess the spiritual power to do so. In his moments of leisure, he simply used blue magnetic energy to continuously outline his own form in the darkness of his heart, striving for ever greater detail.

Days passed in this manner, and awakened ones and spiritual investigators who had obtained the cultivation methods showed varying degrees of improvement.

Take Xiao Ke'ai, for example—she had been enjoying herself immensely these past few days. She chose the Artifact method, but unlike others, she selected her magnetic energy life-form, the Cat Commander, rather than an ordinary item.

The concept of magnetic energy life-forms was a recent innovation from the institute. At the three-star stage, awakened ones sometimes gained special abilities, such as Wu Zui's defective Karma Fire, Xiao Ke'ai's Cat Commander, and Ma Liang's Illusory Paintbrush.

Among these, life-forms resembling living creatures but incapable of dying were the rarest—they were powerful and virtually indestructible.

Under Xiao Ke'ai's cultivation, the Cat Commander could now materialize its claws and easily tear through the bodies of three-star anomalies. This delighted her to no end; she took the Cat Commander out every day to parade and play.

By contrast, Wu Zui had only managed to visualize his own silhouette over these days; aside from quicker magnetic energy recovery, he had gained little else. Still, the method's efficacy had been proven—a good start, with room for improvement.

Among the three Purification Society elders in Coastal City, Barbaric Butcher was the most active. The recent surge in disappearances of awakened ones near East Harbor had caught the attention of the city's Detective Bureau.

Yet, with so many fishing villages and the loss of the Sky Eye system, pinpointing the culprit's exact location proved impossible.

Meanwhile, in a private villa, days had passed, and the blue-eyed anomaly—like a wolfhound by Barbaric Butcher's side—had grown ever stronger, nourished by the flesh and blood of countless awakened ones.

Its sharp teeth and claws, and a body over two meters long, gave it an imposing, battle-ready appearance.

The ghostly figure of the woman in a cheongsam became more alluring still; her mere fragrance could cause those of weak will to succumb. Even the red glow in her eyes and the resentment aura around her had faded. With sunglasses and careful control, she could easily be mistaken for a living person.

On the villa's king-size bed, Barbaric Butcher pulled the cheongsam ghost into his arms, inhaling her scent with a look of intoxicated delight. "Spirit Concubine, darling, tomorrow we'll go into the city. There will be even more delicacies for you to enjoy, and you'll become even more beautiful."

The cheongsam ghost said nothing, simply allowing herself to be held.

Suddenly, Barbaric Butcher lashed out with his right foot, sending the blue-eyed anomaly at his feet flying into the wall, cracking it upon impact.

"If you drool on my foot again, I'll eat you alive. Get out!"

His vicious gaze bore into the blue-eyed anomaly, while his tongue unconsciously licked his greasy lips, as if recalling a tasty treat.

A whimper.

The blue-eyed anomaly dared not protest, quietly crawling out the door.

Barbaric Butcher, savoring the ghost's fragrance, slipped back into intoxication.

"Spirit Concubine, darling, it's time for dinner."

He picked her up and carried her to the villa's dining room.

On the floor lay a group of awakened ones, bound by iron chains, their expressions vacant, eyes lifeless. If one looked closely, a mass of black vapor flickered blue on each of their brows, siphoning away their newly recovered magnetic energy and converting it into resentment.

The male awakened ones wore lascivious grins, lost in unknown illusions. The only lucid female had curled herself into a ball, praying she would not draw Barbaric Butcher's attention.

But her worst fear came true—he strode directly to her, ignoring the dirt on her arms, and ran his thick tongue from her wrist upward.

The sticky sensation traveled from her arm to her brain, making her shudder violently. Without the protection of magnetic energy and with hands and feet shackled, she was now nothing more than a helpless woman.

"Slurp~ Not much quality, but it'll do," he remarked, a little disappointed, as his tongue slid from her arm to her cheek.

He stood up, and in the terrified gaze of the female awakened one, a mass of writhing black vapor appeared in his hand. The black vapor at the brows of those on the floor drew a thread of white light from within them, which flowed into the black mass.

The black filaments relentlessly pulled the white light from the bodies of the awakened ones, their faces growing pallid. The female's eyes bulged painfully from their sockets.

The males suffered the same fate, but instead wore twisted smiles, seemingly oblivious to pain.

The female's features contorted, agony radiating from her soul; she felt as though her body were being torn apart.

She could only gape like a fish gasping for water, unable to make a sound—for her tongue had already been severed and served as a dish on Barbaric Butcher's table.

Soon, the black mass was covered in white light.

All those bound by chains went limp, collapsing to the floor, lifeless.