The Eldritch Files

Right now, it seemed like everything was under Bai Shi’s control. The monster was wary of Miss Ai’s power, so it had gone to great lengths to bring him before this Mother Divine Tree, ensuring that neither Miss Ai nor anyone else could interfere in this confrontation.

But was Miss Ai’s strength in her ability to roll up her sleeves and poke out his eyes?

No. Miss Ai’s strength had always been her calculations.

’So, it’s not time to take this guy out just yet. This is actually my chance...’

’Besides, this monster covets what’s inside my head, so it’s been hesitating to kill me...’

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, and Han Su actually calmed down. He allowed the corruption of the Mother Divine Tree to engulf him. Far from panicking and resisting, he instead released his Spiritual Tentacles to proactively connect with the mental fragments long hidden in the depths of his memory.

...

...

In a daze, he seemed to leave reality once more, arriving in a desolate and dilapidated world.

Here, he once again became that person struggling to survive in the apocalypse.

He saw more and more possessing ”ghosts” around him.

That was because more and more people were forced to leave the underground shelters, and more and more people were mutating due to the intense radiation.

His ”self” witnessed these bizarre lifeforms that theoretically shouldn’t exist. He watched as they were gradually accepted by the masses, worshiped, and provided for like gods. The scientific knowledge he had once accepted crumbled overnight, and he felt the world had gone mad.

At first, he couldn’t comprehend these lifeforms. The knowledge he’d once received had become a restraint.

Until one day, his ”self” also ventured to the surface, was killed by the intense radiation, and became one of those drifting, unattached ”surreal lifeforms”...

Han Su had seen all of this before from a third-person perspective. But this time was different. This time, Han Su used his Spiritual Activity to immerse himself in these fragments and experience it all firsthand.

In this hyper-realistic experience, he felt his own life evolving, felt a certain kind of change.

And because of this feeling, he even became aware of the reason for this change.

’This... is the Life Code?’

A stir went through Han Su’s heart. He let himself go even further, sinking deeper into this memory to continue the experience.

He saw the living turn into ”ghosts,” and he saw twisted machinery bonding with flesh and blood to become a new kind of vessel.

He saw countless Spiritual Bodies entangling together, taking root in reality, and becoming a colossal, tree-like giant.

He even saw that as these countless bizarre lifeforms began to appear, struggle, and develop, humanity’s adaptation to this cruel world was far faster than they themselves had imagined.

Across the land, the intense radiation caused all kinds of environments, creatures, and even their own cities, mountains, and rivers to undergo a twisted transformation, becoming something ordinary people could neither comprehend nor accept.

But when human mutation also began, it revealed another kind of madness.

Since the world was no longer what it once was, humanity evolved into various forms to deal with these dangers.

And so, the Banshee, the Giant, the Ghost, the Pseudo-human, the Sea Beast, the Mechanical Ghost, and the Knowledge Beast—all sorts of unimaginable creatures appeared in this world. Consequently, worship, religion, Priests, and domestication also naturally followed.

Everything began to change.

The Flare Age, the Radiation Age, or by their other name:

The Age of Gods!

...

Endless memories and experiences appeared and took root in Han Su’s mind. He was seeing a corner of distant history.

But no matter how immersive the dream, there always comes a time to wake up.

The moment Han Su finished reading those memory fragments, it was as if someone had pushed him, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

He looked down at his own hands in wonder, discovering he was still perfectly fine in the real world.

But he could already feel that many things were different. Many things that had always existed had now come to his attention.

Life will automatically find a way out when under immense pressure.

That was why the human race, facing the various oddities of that radiation age, underwent all sorts of transformations.

But where did the initial change come from?

What exactly was that ”fundamental substance” that determined all change?

”Mysterious Power is just a weapon; Spiritual Activity is the foundation!”

”The essence of life is a never-ending war. Only by forging ahead can one break through the forbidden zone!”

”...”

For some reason, the words Miss Ai had spoken when conveying the concept of the Life Code to him surfaced in his mind.

It was all actually so simple. For ordinary people in the real world, this was hard to understand, but for a Transcendent who had entered the Mysterious Circle, it was nothing more than an elementary school entrance exam.

As Han Su began to ponder where this change originated, the answer surfaced along with it.

His Spiritual Activity, as high as 71%, had long allowed him to perceive many things ordinary people could not.

Such as a certain dormant, dim substance deep within his Spirit World.

This substance had always existed in his body—or rather, in everyone’s body.

It normally remained latent. In times of prosperity, it would only slumber deep within one’s genes. But whenever humanity faced a harsh environment or even the threat of extinction, this substance would be activated.

And because of this substance’s activation, humanity would undergo various mutations to face powerful disasters and harsh environments, as if unlocking a ”code” for a certain evolutionary process.

The Life Code.

Han Su’s eyes snapped open.

This mysterious substance was the source of everything, and also the threshold to truly entering a higher echelon.

The moment he discovered this substance, Han Su activated it.

At this moment, he could clearly and distinctly feel this substance awakening within his body.

His spirit felt as if it had undergone a Baptism. With the mysterious substance activated, his perception changed once again.

He once again sensed the ”copper.” It was on the back of his hand, all around him, some of it hidden in a deep dimension, shaking a massive cart, and some was right here in Qinggang... The mysterious substance inside him resonated with the power of ”copper.”

With a single thought, this substance in his body could turn into ”copper.”

A certain high-echelon power would proactively submit and gather around him.

Right now, Han Su could even feel a great, copper-colored hand appearing before him.

If he were willing to reach out, he could Master a powerful force.

But he hesitated to reach out.

...

...

In reality, beside the Mother Divine Tree, Bai Shi sensed the changes in Han Su’s body. He felt Han Su’s spirit entering a peculiar state, and the aura of ”copper” that he craved most was emerging from within him. Endless greed filled his eyes.

Soon. It was as if everything was within his grasp.

He didn’t mind one bit that Han Su had come to an Understanding of the Life Code. After all, the distance between their levels was a hundred thousand miles.

Even with an Understanding of the Life Code, he was still a hundred thousand miles away.

But once he Understood the Life Code, the Copper’s Will would truly manifest, and then he could ”devour” him.

Devour him, along with the Copper’s Will!

Thinking that all his hard work would finally pay off, he could hardly stop himself from drooling.

...

...

It was a giant, copper-colored hand, but it was also a step.

Han Su had already activated the mysterious substance in his body, gaining the right to choose to possess the power of ”copper.”

But as he faced this choice, a difficult thought surfaced in his mind. He recalled what Wei Lan had told him.

Once one becomes an Heir, they gain the opportunity to ascend to the supreme position, possessing endless followers and power.

However, an Heir, by their very nature, has no choice.

The Heir belongs to the Mysterious Organization, and in essence, also belongs to the believers!

These weren’t just empty words. At this moment, Han Su could sense the Copper’s Will more clearly than ever before.

This power truly possessed its own independent will, and it could even transmit information.

It was speaking to him. It was welcoming him, craving him, receiving him.

As long as he was willing to kowtow to it piously, he would possess its power. He would have more freedom to control the copper, control Bai Shi’s blood, and even control the Living Copper Puppet from Dingxiang Mansion, summoning it to serve him.

But...

Han Su couldn’t bring himself to bow.

If this pious kowtow only required a single bow of his head, Han Su would bow until it went bankrupt.

But as it happened, this will demanded a pious kowtow from Han Su—a kowtow of complete and total surrender, one that required him to fully open his spirit and will in acceptance.

Han Su couldn’t do it. He really couldn’t...

’Are those things really Gods?’

A sense of absurdity rose in Han Su’s heart. ’To me, they’ve always just been monsters...’

...

...

Meanwhile, in Qinggang, unaware of the chaos outside, all was still and tranquil. A cool breeze swept by, and in that breeze, a figure holding a suitcase could be faintly seen standing silently on a hill.

He looked at the tall Mother Divine Tree in the distance and spoke softly to someone. ”Miss Ai went to such great lengths, even exposing her hidden Computation Power, to get him into this position. But in the end, she left the final choice entirely up to him...”

”What do you think he’ll choose?”

”Faced with such a terrifying monster, and encountering the essence of this high-echelon power for the first time, will he choose to step onto the path of copper?”

”...”

In response to his question, a woman with a cool, clear voice answered, ”He won’t!”

The silhouette with the suitcase chuckled. ”Why are you so confident?”

”Of course I’m confident.”

That voice also laughed, but her tone was exceptionally firm. ”Because he belongs to the Emperor!”

”And the Emperor does not deign to walk anyone else’s path!”

”No matter what bizarre, powerful, or flourishing lifeforms have ever appeared in this world, no matter how much territory they ruled or for how long, in the end, none of them could escape a single fate!”

”They were defeated by the Emperor!”