The Almighty Ring

“What the hell…”

Jiang Fei could not tell whether he was dreaming or he was awake. Everything felt hazy for a second and he blacked out. What he remembered was carrying Kaa’lna and wanting to run but in the next instant, as if he had lost a portion of his memory, a scene of hell was laid in front of him.

“Didn’t you do this?” Kaa’lna asked, reserved. She was mildly spellbound by the seductive smile from before. For a second there, she was definitely infatuated with him but the current Jiang Fei, the frightened Jiang Fei, was… unattractive.

“Huh? What? Are you saying I did this?” Jiang Fei barked. He turned to 0541 immediately.

“What happened?”

“I can’t explain… I think it’s best for you to see it yourself.”

0541 might have evolved to a certain extent but even he, with his superior quantum computing technology, was unable to process and understand what had taken place. He retrieved the last footage and replayed it in Jiang Fei’s mind.

It happened in less than a second. An Umbral version of Jiang Fei was powered with so much destructive force that with only a single wave of his hands, a powerful ripple of Death energy was shot out.

Anything that was in contact with the Death energy, be it 200,000 combat level fodders, or 300,000 combat level team captains, were terminated with extreme prejudice; spontaneous explosion. Those that were already running away, enemies of Jiang Fei then, were also killed. The Death energy spread out fast, almost or even equal to the speed of light. Those that were already far away were hit by the wave almost in the same instant as the ones closest to Jiang Fei. They saw what the wave did to their allies and when the wave was coming for them, but they were not even fast enough to open their mouths to scream. The only thing Jiang Fei could see from the footage that 0541 showed him was intense fear reflected in the soldiers’ eyes.

It was quiet now except for the eerie, morbid sound of dead bodies, blood, and ruptured innards splashing onto each other as they fell. 0541 was recording sound as well as video footage. But since the blast of death happened in literally an instant, no one could shriek or shout before death claimed their lives. Even Kaa’lna, who was conscious the entire time, did not hear a single scream.

“I did this…” Jiang Fei muttered.

“I’m afraid so… captain.”

“Wait! Hold it! 0541, show me the footage again. Give me manual control of the viewing angle.”

Jiang Fei had a thought and he needed to ascertain something.

“Aye, captain.”

The footage was set up and with manual control of the viewing angle, he zoomed in back to the center of it all to where he was. As he turned the viewing angle to face himself, he gasped in horror.

He was completely dyed in black and he was smiling, as if he was incredibly lustful for the death of others. Jiang Fei zoomed in closer and had another shock. There was a third eye on his forehead.

“What the hell is this?”

Jiang Fei could not believe what he saw. He was familiar with the footage as he fought Bargh in his Umbral form! How was it possible for him to have the same characteristic as a Bjolnian?!

“Captain, I am curious as well. I would suggest an emergency full physical scan to determine the cause!” 0541 said.

He knew that the situation was dire, not because Jiang Fei had just acquired an unexplainable power, but because Bargh might have applied some odd method to amalgamate himself into Jiang Fei. Jiang Fei might be fine now but it might just be a ticking time bomb.

“Do it!”

With Jiang Fei granting permission, 0541 began a comprehensive check on Jiang Fei’s entire physique.

“My lord? What is going on?” Kaa’lna asked.

She could feel the presence of another and the communication between Jiang Fei and him. However, she did not probe into their conversation. Firstly, she was Jiang Fei’s underling and naturally, probing into another person’s conversation, especially her own boss, was rude. Secondly, of reasons she could not explain, she was deeply infatuated with Jiang Fei. She had no powers to dive into his mind to eavesdrop and even if she had, she wouldn’t.

“Don’t mind me. Concentrate on healing yourself first.”

Jiang Fei brushed it off. He was desperate to know what had happened to him and at the same time, too lazy to explain what was happening to Kaa’lna.

“Captain, I have finished with the scans. Processing the results…”

0541 was so efficient that it took him merely minutes, unlike what doctors on Earth took, to fully analyse a human’s body.

“What’s wrong with me?” Jiang Fei asked.

“I’m sorry, Captain. According to my scans, your body is functioning normally. There aren’t any signs of foreign presence, particles, or anything abnormal.”

0541 was intrigued. Something was clearly different about Jiang Fei but he could not pinpoint anything wrong with him! Jiang Fei’s body readings were completely normal.

“Impossible,” Jiang Fei hummed.

He replayed the same footage again and again and confirmed that he had entered a phase similar to Bargh. His entire body reeked of malice and power.

“Captain, might I suggest paying a visit to Master Theon? Perhaps he has seen this phenomenon before and has a way to treat it.”

0541 might have evolved but he was not all-knowing. Nevertheless, his suggestion postulated that Theon might know a thing or two about the entire known universe. Theon was, after all, a superbeing that had transcended to a level that 0541 once thought was impossible.

“True.”

Jiang Fei nodded. He had no other options left. If 0541 could not identify the problem, only Theon could then.

“Kaa’lna, come. It is time for us to return,” Jiang Fei said dejectedly.

Kaa’lna hummed. She could not keep her eyes off Jiang Fei. She was behaving similarly to the girls he once knew back on Earth, especially those who witnessed him having a sudden breakthrough, be it pills or stages of his Metahuman level strength. She was behaving as if she was infatuated with him. Such a gentle, mildly abashed behavior was normal if it was Sarila, but on Kaa’lna, a woman that was tall and mature-looking… She felt like a fish out of water; unnatural.

“Are you alright?” Jiang Fei had to ask.

“I’m fine. Thank you for asking.”

Kaa’lna answered and quickly averted her gaze. He could have sworn he saw a blush of pink hue on her fair white cheek.

“What the f*ck is that? 0541, is something wrong with her?”

Jiang Fei had checked himself but not Kaa’lna. She had, after all, taken a hit more deadly and fatal then he did.

“I’ve check Kaa’lna as well and found no abnormalities in her body.”

“So what the hell is happening?”

Jiang Fei frowned. A lot of things had never been understood and more was piling up before he knew it. He was, in short, frustrated.

“F*ck this. Let’s return to Bison and the others. We still need to fight Ultralisks and scram.”

He had a million questions in his head and the only person who, he hoped, could provide an answer was Theon. Though desperate, there was still a plan he needed to follow; to kill Ultralisks, get their flesh, and leave this godforsaken outpost!

…

Jiang Fei hastily returned to the main group with Kaa’lna sticking close to him like an overly attached girlfriend.

“Good to see you well, sir,” Bison greeted.

“All is well. For now. What do you have for me?” Jiang Fei asked.