Like a nuclear fission that couldn’t be ignored, the eruption of shockingly dense Abyssal Contamination sent a visceral chill of horror through every Ascender.

Every cell in their bodies, even their very souls, screamed the same instinctual warning: Run!

’What a terrifying Abyssal aura. The Capital is almost certainly going to become a major source of contamination...’ Even from dozens of kilometers away, Zhou Chen could feel the horrifying, calamitous Dark Power—strong enough to drag an entire city into a hell of despair.

Two million people lived in the North Carolina Capital. Without adequate protection, all two million of them would be swiftly and completely corrupted by the Abyssal Contamination, turning into Corrupters within minutes. Furthermore, the city’s animals—cats, dogs, birds, and rats—would not escape the fate of corrupting mutation either.

Zhou Chen could already imagine the scene in the North Carolina Capital. It was surely a hellish den, teeming with Demon Fiends and monsters!

’Fallen Paradise is behind this. The Fear Matrix’s core is in the Former Royal Tower. Now that the Capital has become a major source of contamination, destroying the Matrix Core will be exponentially more difficult. Fallen Paradise wants to buy as much time as possible for their members to complete their Advancement...’

As Zhou Chen’s thoughts churned, he turned to watch the battle in the sky. Due to interference from multiple factors, the Merchant’s Advancement ritual had failed. One moment, he had been a single step away from becoming a Crowned King; the next, he was knocked back, unable to touch that supreme realm again.

The Merchant gritted his teeth, furious and frustrated but ultimately helpless. He unleashed all sorts of incredible Extraordinary Abilities, desperate to escape from Tang Ling.

’Where there’s life, there’s hope.’ As long as he escaped, there would always be another chance for Advancement.

As one of the strongest Uncrowned below Tier Five, the Merchant’s power was undeniable. Years of "trades" had allowed him to amass a vast collection of Rules, Forbidden Objects, and Extraordinary Abilities. With the help of those abilities and artifacts, he had escaped the Star Association’s crackdowns unscathed multiple times, but this time was different.

No matter how many Rules and Abilities the Merchant possessed, Tang Ling, equipped with the Adaptive Evolution Array, could perfectly adapt and evolve to match them. In just five seconds, she had already evolved over a dozen new Extraordinary Abilities. More than that, if she ever encountered those same abilities again, she would be completely immune.

This was a premeditated operation. It wasn’t just about killing the Merchant; it was about using him as a living database, allowing Tang Ling to continuously learn and evolve, forging her into a true Godslaying Weapon.

"Leave. I’ll handle things here. You’re needed elsewhere." Tang Ling’s cold, mechanical voice rang in the ears of Xing Wu and the Black-robed Man. They nodded slightly, then their figures vanished, reappearing in the command room.

Dozens of external modules detached from Tang Ling’s silver-white armor. While serving as part of her plating, these modules were also powerful remote cannons.

The dozens of remote cannons danced through the air, tracing silver-white arcs as they fired scorching plasma rays at the old man with the cane. The searing light shot through him like an arrow, instantly engulfing his body and burning it to ash.

Months ago, Tang Ling already possessed the power to kill a Tier Five Abyss Monarch. In the time since, she had been upgraded countless times. Killing an old Tier Four who was like a candle in the wind was effortless for her.

An icy dread washed over the Merchant, freezing him to the core. The bone-deep chill threatened to overwhelm his very soul. It was a death warning from his Extraordinary Abilities: Sixth Sense, Extraordinary Intuition, and Inspiration Burst. In that single instant, a thousand different ways to die flashed before his eyes, each one feeling as if it would come to pass in the next second.

Spurred by the frantic warnings of his premonition, the Merchant vanished into the void to teleport away, simultaneously throwing out a slew of Extraordinary Artifacts as if they were worthless—Alchemy Tools, Essence Armaments, and Forbidden Objects, one of which was even B-Level!

He threw out his entire arsenal, all just to halt the Godslaying Weapon’s advance.

And yet, it was useless.

Tang Ling also possessed the ability of Instant Movement and pursued the Merchant relentlessly. Meanwhile, her Adaptive Evolution Array quickly adapted to every artifact he threw, either nullifying their effects with a suitable ability or breaking through them entirely.

In a flash, the two of them blinked and weaved across the sky for dozens of kilometers before vanishing over the horizon.

Zhou Chen tore his gaze away and walked into the command room. On the large screen, a satellite surveillance feed was displayed.

A monstrous black miasma surged like the tide.

Jagged crystals, some blood-red and others ink-black, had almost completely covered the city, erasing any trace of the advanced metropolis it once was. Shrouded in black fog, it now resembled a malevolent, abyssal city that had stood for eons, suffused with an ancient and foreboding aura.

The terrifying, calamitous black fog looked as if it might seep out through the screen. The faint wails of countless humans could be heard. On one side of the screen, all the readings from the observation program had shot past their limits, the numbers displayed in a glaring, suffocating crimson.

Abyssalization!

And a complete Abyssalization at that!

"Is this a mass contamination event caused by the Crystal Disease?" Zhou Chen asked, frowning at the bizarre red and black crystals.

’Crystals again.’

"No."

Liu Tingnan said grimly, "They brought an entire layer of the Abyss here."

"What?"

Zhou Chen stared, completely baffled.

’Brought an entire layer of the Abyss here?’

’You have to be kidding me!’

"To be precise, a fragment of an Abyssal layer."

Liu Tingnan looked at the classified documents on her tablet and explained rapidly, "A long time ago, before the Poison Master turned traitor, he encountered a spatial storm during an expedition into the Abyss. He was swept into one of the middle layers, where he and his teammates encountered a peculiar race.

—The Crystal People.

"They live in a world of crystal. Trees, clouds, the ground... their entire world is made of various kinds of crystal. But the most incredible thing is their extraordinary resistance to Abyssal Contamination. They could spend days in a mire of contamination and emerge completely unharmed."

"So..." Zhou Chen was taken aback. "Is that where the Crystal Disease came from?"

"Yes. After that, the Poison Master became obsessed with the idea of transforming everyone into crystal to resist the Abyssal Contamination. He conducted numerous experiments, both sanctioned and unsanctioned... and clashed repeatedly with the ’Physician’. He’s an extremely paranoid and self-centered man who believed only his research could save humanity. His stubborn insistence led to his alienation, isolation, and suppression. So, he betrayed the Star Association and joined Fallen Paradise to continue his work.

"Half an hour after he defected to Fallen Paradise, the Crystal Abyss layer was destroyed by an unknown power. Looking back, it was clearly Fallen Paradise’s doing. They even managed to capture fragments of the Crystal Abyss.

"And just now, they dropped one of those Crystal Abyss fragments on the North Carolina Capital, causing the entire city to instantly undergo Abyssalization.

"And that... is the bad news I had to tell you."

Liu Tingnan’s expression turned grim. "In an estimated one hour and thirty-nine minutes, Enoch is expected to reach the halfway point of the Ascension Ladder. Four hours from now, the Abyssal Contamination will have completely eroded northern North Carolina. Nine hours from now, the entirety of North Carolina, as well as surrounding countries and seas, will be severely contaminated. The property damage will be incalculable, and the death toll could reach the hundreds of millions.

"There is only one way to stop this: enter the Abyssalized Capital, establish an anchor point for the ’Any Door,’ and bring a Crowned King through."

"Can’t we just open the Any Door directly?" Zhou Chen asked, confused.

Liu Tingnan shook her head. "Fallen Paradise was prepared. The Capital is filled with strong, chaotic interference. We’ve tried many times, but the Any Door won’t open correctly. It has to be targeted manually.

"Moreover, Fallen Paradise is actively obstructing our efforts, making it difficult for High-level Ascenders to get close. We just dispatched the ’King of Swords,’ but as soon as he stepped out of the Any Door, he was dragged into a Secret battlefield by one of Fallen Paradise’s Tier Five members. Your leader, Mr. Roster, as well as several Tier Fours from the Star Association, have also been intercepted.

"Now, it’s all up to you."