The Ultimate Evolution

“The Protoss town of Kerdak” was actually nothing more than a figment of Sheyan’s imagination, but the name Kerdak was not something he pulled out of thin air. While he was staying in the Lost Temple, he would sometimes hear the Dark Templars sing when they were bored, and among the songs, he had heard lines such as “the splendid Kerdak, wandering in eternity”.

The reason Sheyan said what he did to the dozens of Marines around him was naturally to put up a confident front so as to boost their morale. No one could expose his lies anyway. If his words could increase the group’s fighting capacity by even a little, then it would be worth it.

Pontin had experienced a bad landing and had obtained a wicked gash on his arm, but he was much stronger now that he was a heroic unit. In terms of survivability, he could probably rival an Ultralisk, so even though the wound was deep, it did not affect him much. He had sprayed some medical spray on it, and it was currently being bandaged by Kyrgyzna.

“Those f*cking Zerg and Protoss,” cursed Pontin, “when I get out of this place, I’m gonna kick their ass!”

Sheyan was about to reply when the sounds of bandage tearing apart came from beside them.

“You’ve completely recovered, Ronnie?” asked Sheyan with joy.

All the plaster on Ronnie’s body cracked open, and the bandages also came apart. Ronnie soon sat up looking at this hands. There appeared to be tears in his eyes.

“Yeah, I’ve finally recovered. I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long.”

When Sheyan saw this, he instantly pushed Ronnie down and tore open the shirt on Ronnie’s chest without saying anything. Ronnie was completely overpowered by Sheyan’s abnormal strength and could not resist at all. It seemed like a scene straight out of an R-rated movie.

A bright and shiny object appeared on Sheyan’s palm. A closer look at the object would reveal that it was actually a globe of flesh and blood that was waving flesh-red tentacles about. It was the seed of Noah Realm C’s Nightmare Imprint.

Sheyan slapped it down on Ronnie’s chest. Ronnie instantly screamed in pain. He felt as if his chest was being burned by red-hot branding iron. The Nightmare Imprint seed grew rapidly and dug into Ronnie’s flesh, taking root there. Finally, it successfully imprinted itself in Ronnie’s body and became a brand new Nightmare Imprint.

Sheyan received some notifications during the process:

[ Emergency Rescue Mission 28ACD1 is in progress… ]

[ Mission Description: Bring the high potential Awakener, Awakener ZB419, back to the Nightmare Realm. ]

[ The seed of Noah Realm C’s Nightmare Imprint has been planted in Awakener ZB419. Noah Realm C’s Nightmare Imprint successfully generated.

[ Awakener 1018, as previously agreed upon, you can now obtain half the rewards for this mission. Please choose two out of the following options: ]

[ Reward A: 20 achievement points ]

[ Reward B: 10 base attribute points ]

[ Reward C: 100,000 utility points ]

[ Reward D: Multipurpose Honorary Dosage x 1 – This medicine can be used anytime to recover 1000 HP. ]

[ Reward E: Corrosive Agent x 1 – When the agent is used, you will get a corrosive effect on your body. Any attack inflicted on you using a metallic medium (including, but not limited to, bullets, swords and blades) will be affected by the corrosive effect, reducing the damage done by 33%. The effect lasts for an hour. ]

[ Reward F: Dimensional Door x 1 – You can only use this tool in non-combat state. When the tool is used, it will create a portal that is only visible to you. You can return to the Nightmare Realm through this portal and stay there for a maximum of one hour, then return to the world you were originally in through the portal. ]

[ Reward G: Dragon Roar x 1 – When the tool is used, all enemies within three meters of you will be knocked 10 to 20 meters back (if they can be knocked back). They will also be stunned upon landing. However, if an enemy cannot be knocked back, you will be blown 20 meters back instead, and your movement speed will increase by 30% for 5 seconds. ]

***

Sheyan carefully scrutinised all the rewards and finally decided on 20 achievement points and the Dimensional Door. In truth, the reward of 10 base attribute points was also very tempting, but Sheyan went with the Dimensional Door in the end. Yes, it could not be used as a life-saving measure in a pinch, but if it was used well, it had very high tactical value and could bring major changes to a situation. That was what Sheyan was after.

20 achievement points, plus all the miscellaneous achievement points Sheyan obtained before, was already enough for him to activate SARS on the ‘Pestilence Monarch’ skill tree!!!

With lingering fear, Ronnie caressed the new Nightmare Imprint on his chest.

“Godammit, that hurt so much!” he could not help cursing.

Sheyan smiled and replied, “Pain comes with gain. You should check and see if you’ve lost anything.”

“I already did. My base abilities have been downgraded by two levels. I’ve also lost 5 points of Agility and 200 points of HP. And because I no longer have the party bonus, my explosive hit rate and dodge rate have also gone down by 5%. Damn, my survivability is now even lower than before. God damn Noah Realm C. It made so many beautiful promises when it was luring me over, but it seems like they were all lies,” fumed Ronnie.

Sheyan laughed happily. “No, no, no, Ronnie, you’re mistaken about the Realm. Do you know why it gave priority to me to carry out the mission of saving you?”

“Isn’t it because you’re strong, or because you know me personally?” asked Ronnie, perplexed.

Sheyan shrugged. “I’m no stronger than an entire party. And it’s obviously ridiculous that someone would have priority on a mission just because they know the mission target.”

“…So what’s the reason?” Ronnie could not help asking.

Sheyan sighed. “First, tell me what promises the Realm made when it tried to lure you over.”

“The usual – achievement points, utility points. But more importantly, it promised that I’ll get a huge boost to my ability to survive, a HUGE boost! But now, there’s nothing!”

Sheyan laughed. “There’s no mistake, then. The reason the Realm entasked me with rescuing you is because I’m the simplest, most convenient method for it to fulfil its promise – and also the cheapest, without question.”

“I still don’t get it,” Ronnie shook his head in confusion.

Sheyan stared at Ronnie with a look that said “you got lucky, you bastard”, then sighed again.

“Fine.”

Ronnie immediately received some notifications.

[ The silver party, Party Ace, has extended an invitation to you. Eligibility check in progress… ]

[ The silver party, Party Ace, is not full. Requirement met. ]

[ You belong to Noah Realm C and is not currently in any party. Requirement met. ]

[ Do you wish to join the silver party, Party Ace? ]

“S-Silver…party??” Ronnie’s eyes widened in shock. He had previously came into contact with a black-grade party before, and that party already felt strong beyond belief. And he was quite reluctant to leave even his old party because the party provided a 5% explosive hit rate and dodge rate bonus.

Ronnie never would have expected a silver party to appear in front of him one day, and the party was actually inviting him to join! He chose “yes” with as much hesitation as a man would hesitate to look when a beautiful woman’s skirt was blown up by the wind.

Only after Ronnie chose “yes” did he realise something. There were only two contestants here, Sheyan and himself, and normally, only a party leader had the authority to invite someone to the party. And since Ronnie was certainly not the party leader, that could only mean… Sheyan was the leader of this silver party!

“Wow, what a surprise, Boss,” said Ronnie, “but how come I don’t see any increase in my attributes?”

Sheyan sighed. “Take a look at your HP and MP.”

Ronnie uttered doubtfully, “There’s nothi….!!!! This is absolute madness!!!”

Sheyan was very calm. “You should see an additional active ability too. Take a good look at its properties, make sure you use it at the most suitable time… Huh?”

There was suddenly a loud bang on the metallic gate. It sounded like something extremely sharp had slammed into it hard. Then came a string of continuous crashing sounds. The middle of the gate was bent inwards!

“GO GO GO!! Prepare for battle!” screamed Kyrgyzna as she took up her weapon. The Marines immediately stood up. Several of them thumped on the conspicuous red button on their heavy metal armour, and the built-in syringe immediately injected a dose of StimPack into them. Low growls rose among them one after another. Red threads filled their eyes.

Two Medics in special white armour started getting busy behind them. They used their psionic powers to direct vapour-like medicine into the Marines to help them quickly recover.