Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 57 The Death Knell of Evolution

Jiang Jin held a gray worm in his hand. It was given to him by Liu Yan, so that if the two were separated, he could use this worm to locate her.

"Reincarnator Jiang Jin, you have obtained a [Gray Threadworm]."

Description: The adult gray nematode is about 0.5-1 cm long. Its body is octagonal, resembling an arachnid. The whole body is covered with a light gray, translucent cuticle, and a silver-gray "linear central axis" running through the head and tail can be vaguely seen inside the body.

The head resembles a spider's, oval in shape, with eight black dot-like compound eyes. Below the eyes are serrated, piercing-sucking mouthparts, which, when closed, resemble a thin gray thread. When feeding, they extend long, thin siphons like a nematode's "proboscis," capable of biting both spirits and living creatures. The abdomen is swollen and oval, covered with gray-black markings, making it look extremely similar to ash. It has eight legs; the first two pairs are thicker, ending in hook-like claws (used for climbing and securing the host), with gray rings at the joints; the latter two pairs are slender and vibrate frequently when walking.

They can parasitize both spirits and living beings, but their survival time in spirits is very short. Once they enter a living person (non-reincarnated person), the person will never be free from the gray worms' parasitism as long as they don't die. Reincarnated people can only get rid of the gray worms by asking a professional reincarnator or by paying a cleaner to remove them.

Through the translucent keratinized layer of the abdomen, a silvery-gray thread-like organ can be seen extending from below the compound eyes on the head to the end of the abdomen—this is a complex central axis integrating the digestive tract and nerve cords, running unsegmented throughout the entire body. No matter how the body is bent, this "thread" always maintains a continuous and slender shape, and this thread is the life core of the gray nematode. After the gray nematode dies, this "thread" gradually changes from silvery-gray to a rusty iron-red color, and finally disappears completely.

If a witchcraft profession does not pursue the mutation branch, during the Gu-raising stage, their natal Gu is usually composed of gray threadworms.

This gray nematode is not hostile to you; please do not attack it or even attempt to capture it.

It seems that Liu Yan can easily control such Gu worms.

No wonder she could easily escape even while being pursued by the reincarnators. No reincarnator wants to get involved with the gray threadworms! It's just that this dungeon is incredibly difficult; otherwise, Liu Yan wouldn't have looked so disheveled.

Currently, we can only roughly determine Liu Yan's location based on this gray nematode.

Jiang Jin had just tried to contact the ghost tamers for help, but as soon as they heard that something had happened at the library, even ghost tamers like Zhang Han, who, like Liu Yan, belonged to the Xiaoqiang Club, dared not come to the rescue.

It is better to ask for yourself than for others.

Jiang Jin decides: He will save Liu Yan himself!
Jiang Jin threw three resentment crystals at Deathstroke.

"Deathstroke, haven't you always wanted to eat this?"

Deathstroke was overjoyed and swallowed the three crystals of resentment into his mouth without hesitation, and began to chew them frantically!
For Jiang Jin now, the Resentment Crystal is no longer a rare item, but enhancing Deathstroke's combat power is a more important matter!
According to the rules previously distributed at the camp, the most direct use of Resentment Crystals is that Reincarnators can absorb the resentment of ghosts within them over a long period, thereby enhancing their Reincarnator abilities. However, this is a rather slow process; no one knows how long it will take to completely absorb and dissipate the resentment within a single crystal. What is certain, however, is that this substance is absolutely inedible for humans, but Deathstroke can consume it directly!

So, could it be that direct enhancement is possible?

Jiang Jin had no choice but to take a gamble. Fortunately, the number of resentment crystals was not small, so he could take the risk.

however……

As the three resentments crystallized, the death knell remained unchanged.

Ugh?
Could it be that this enhancement is invisible to the naked eye?
But when I stroked the death knell, the reincarnation system didn't give any text prompts.

Deathstroke rubbed against Jiang Jin's trouser leg, raising his head, hoping to be fed again, the more the better!
Jiang Jin thought to himself: Could it be... that's not enough?

Jiang Jin gritted his teeth.

For Liu Yan...

Fight!

He took out three more crystals of resentment, preparing to throw them directly into the mouth of the Deathstroke...

"Wait a moment……"

Jiang Jin suddenly remembered something, so he carefully put away the resentment crystal, and then took one out of the Reincarnator's Watch...

A shard of resentment! This is the shard of resentment that Jiang Jin just obtained.

As soon as the resentment crystal was taken out, Deathstroke's eyes immediately shone brightly!

Its desire for resentment crystals and resentment fragments is completely different!

The appearance of the Resentment Crystal Shard is completely different from that of the Resentment Crystal. The Resentment Crystal is a dark red polyhedron, while the Resentment Crystal Shard is an irregularly shaped blue flake with blood-like patterns on it.

Unlike the crystallized resentment, which feels warm, this thin blue sheet feels icy cold to the touch.

So, Jiang Jin turned his hand over.

Blue shards of resentment and crystal fragments fell into the mouth of the death knell!
At that moment, something amazing happened!

Deathstroke's once empty eyes now flickered with eerie blue flames!
On its red fascia surface, numerous bronze-colored runes began to appear!

The body began to swell to twice its original size, and rotting muscle tissue grew outside the fascia!
The mandible was broken open, revealing three layers of serrated fangs!
Jiang Jin received a text message notification about the Reincarnation System:

"Reincarnator Jiang Jin, your undead skeleton hound Deathstroke has evolved by consuming a [Shard of Resentment]:"
Deathstroke gains the following four new abilities:
First: [Ghost Domain Mark] ability

Deathstroke can designate a territory of no more than 100 square meters for itself, which will become its ghost domain. Within the ghost domain, Deathstroke's attack and defense power will be three times greater than before.

Second: [Resentment Mark Curse Membrane] Ability

The runes that emerge from the fascia of Deathstroke will have extremely high spiritual defense, and can penetrate deep enough to reach the gap between the Lost Layer and the Annihilation Layer. As long as one does not enter the Annihilation Layer, one can survive there for about 10 minutes.

Third: [Undead Awakening] ability

Once activated, the body will swell to twice its size, covered in rotting muscle tissue and a sharper blade with a stronger bite. This allows it to forcefully bite evil spirits on the surface of the Lost Layer into the Mysterious Layer, and even remain deep within the Lost Layer for extended periods. The resentment of spirits bitten by it can be absorbed and transformed into its own power. This state can only last for thirty minutes, after which there will be a five-hour cooldown period.

Fourth: [Underworld Scavenging] ability

It will appear carrying things that shouldn't exist in this plane or even this dimension. This ability involves rules and cannot be traced back to cause and effect. Occasionally, it might bring back some excellent supernatural items for the reincarnator, but it might also bring back things that bring disaster.

A mark of the ghost realm? An awakening of the undead?
It's clear that Deathstroke is now in a vengeful state!
"Alright, Deathstroke! Let's go rescue Liu Yan now!"

Jiang Jin forcibly activated Hunter's Vision, causing his SAN value to slowly decrease. Until... he entered the Lost Layer!

"coming!"

A dark, gloomy atmosphere descended, and the next moment, Deathstroke also slipped into the Lost Layer.

A thick, dark blue haze filled the library, reducing visibility.

The gray nematode gave Jiang Jin his location, and Liu Yan is now... on the fourth floor!

Upon arriving here, the runes on the Mourning Shotgun lit up rapidly!
Jiang Jin realized...

He has already entered the realm of ghosts!

"Deathstroke! You too, immediately... open your Ghost Domain!"

(End of this chapter)