America: The Cremator

Chapter 180 unlocks a new attribute: Domain!

Su Long's gaze swept across the system panel, where the countdown for [Innocent Heart] was relentlessly ticking: 18 seconds.

Time is running out; he must hurry and defeat the Nightmare Butterfly. After all, the longer it drags on, the greater the variables become when facing this B-level supernatural being that wields the rules of dimensional reduction.

Without further hesitation, Su Long poured his boundless spiritual power into the scorching hot anti-slip steel plate beneath his feet. Accompanied by a deafening metallic scraping sound, the domain of the billions of crematorium furnaces began to expand rapidly outward.

The purplish-gold sea of ​​fire forcefully sliced ​​through the thick, rusty blood-red paint in front of them, and the scorching steel walls, like bulldozers, forcibly pushed the boundary of the domain forward by dozens of meters.

As Su Long slowly raised his hands, the anti-slip steel wall behind him trembled violently. Then, the hard metal began to soften, recombine, and reassemble.

After a series of mechanical clicking noises, a towering steel wall rose from the ground behind, with a huge hatch embedded in its surface, its size comparable to the spillway gate of a large hydroelectric power station.

The hatch was covered with dark red, high-temperature patterns, and a deep, thunderous roar emanated from inside, as if imprisoning a ferocious beast about to devour the world.

Su Long's eyes turned cold, and he pressed his hands down sharply.

"Clang—!"

The massive metal latches snapped open instantly, and the heavy, enormous hatch roared open, pouring out pure, viscous, purplish-gold lava. The extreme heat completely distorted the air, causing even light to refract severely as it passed through the area.

The magma waves surged forward with overwhelming force, roaring like thunder and tsunamis, sweeping towards the bizarre, oil-painted space ahead, as if to wipe it out completely.

Lucia watched as the lava tsunami, towering over ten meters high, crashed down on her head, and was so frightened that she fell to the ground.

However, when the devastating wave of lava reached within ten meters of the three, it abruptly split in two, bypassing their area and continuing to surge forward from both sides.

The Dream Butterfly, suspended in mid-air, sensed the threat. Its body, pieced together from countless pale fingers, began to writhe wildly, and its enormous, colorful wings slammed downwards.

As it moved, the colorful space in front of it went completely berserk.

Countless chaotic brushstrokes appeared out of thin air, the lead white, cobalt blue, and scarlet inks intertwining and transforming into colorful vortexes several meters in diameter, carrying the power to distort the rules of three-dimensional space, and crashing fiercely towards the magma wave.

Two completely different forces collided violently at the boundary of the domain.

With a hiss, the ink vortexes that were trying to distort space were all evaporated into pungent white smoke by the extreme high temperature.

The power of rules contained within the pigments was utterly powerless against the world-destroying fire.

The magma wave, with its crushing force, instantly destroyed all resistance in its path, directly crossing the boundary between the anti-slip steel plate and the linen floor, and plunged into the Nightmare Butterfly's colorful and eerie domain.

Just as the towering magma was about to completely engulf it, this B-rank high-level monster let out a sharp screech, and the two huge, bloodshot eyes on its head spun wildly.

A colorful ripple shot out from its eyes, instantly sweeping away the oncoming giant wave of lava.

The lava wave, reaching heights of over ten meters, instantly reduced to zero thickness upon contact with the ripples. The boiling fluid and churning bubbles—everything—were abruptly flattened and collapsed into a vast expanse of intensely saturated purple-gold pigment in mid-air.

The pigments spread rapidly on the linen floor, leaving only a brief, glaring sliver in the air as the energy field was transformed, before dissipating completely.

The Nightmare Butterfly stopped flapping its wings, seemingly slowing its pace after successfully deflecting the attack, but a cold smile appeared on Su Long's lips.

The essence of the fire that destroys the world is absolute annihilation.

When thousands of tons of fluid magma are forcibly compressed into a two-dimensional color block of absolute flatness, the energy density inside has risen to a terrifying critical point that even rules cannot restrain.

On the ground, the patch of purplish-gold pigment that had just begun to spread suddenly stopped spreading, and a dazzling light immediately shone from the center of the patch.

"boom--!!!"

An extremely devastating explosion erupted beneath the Nightmare Butterfly's feet.

The violent purple-gold light instantly engulfed the entire bizarre space, and the terrifying shockwave, mixed with a temperature high enough to melt steel, swept wildly in all directions.

The dark yellow linen ground was blasted to pieces, and large chunks of canvas burned to ashes in mid-air. The thick, blood-rust-colored oil paint around it was torn apart by the shockwave, turning into a shower of colorful raindrops that were completely vaporized by the intense heat before they even hit the ground.

The Nightmare Butterfly's massive body was the first to be hit. The moment it came into contact with the explosive light, its colorful wings on its back quickly curled and melted under the licking of the flames. Its torso, pieced together from pale fingers, struggled wildly in the heat wave, its finger bones cracking and shattering one by one.

"grumble--!"

It let out a piercing scream, and its two huge eyeballs on its head burst open under the scorching heat, spraying out large amounts of viscous, colorful liquid.

A thick barrier of flames rose before Sulong and his companions, effectively blocking the aftershocks of the explosion. Lucia's eyes were tightly shut, her body trembling violently from the shockwave. Elena held her sword in one hand, her entire body tense, her gaze fixed intently on the sea of ​​fire ahead.

The explosion lasted for more than ten seconds before gradually subsiding. The raging purple-gold flames slowly dissipated, leaving behind a pungent smell of burning and the strange odor of burning turpentine.

The once boundless, colorful, and bizarre space was now blasted open, creating a terrifying crater over a hundred meters in diameter. Through the crater, whose edges were still burning and littered with paint ash, everyone could clearly see the underground chambers in the real world outside.

This strange, high-level B-rank domain was blasted apart.

Su Long flicked his wrist, his gaze piercing through the thinning smoke and dust, locking onto a charred, twisted mass of wreckage lying on the ground, twitching slightly.

He turned his head to look at Elena beside him, pointed to Lucia who had fallen to the ground, and instructed, "Please take care of Lucia. Her mental state is very unstable right now. Don't let her run around."

Elena nodded: "Be careful."

Su Long turned around and strode toward the ruined, colorful area.

The crown of flames atop his head burned ever brighter, and the purple-gold flames of destruction flowed down his body, gathering at his feet.

With each step, the tattered linen floor was scorched through, revealing scorching hot, non-slip steel plates. Accompanied by the booming sound of metal components meshing, the boundary of the domain of billions of crematoriums continued to advance outward as Sulong moved.

Su Long stopped at the edge of the hole, examining the Nightmare Butterfly's current miserable state.

Sensing Su Long's approach, the Nightmare Butterfly's remains suddenly convulsed violently.

Its remaining whiskers suddenly shot up, and the surrounding paint ribbons that had not yet been burned quickly liquefied. A large number of ink strokes interwoven with lead white and scarlet rose from the ground, transforming into dozens of sharp, colorful spears that stabbed towards Sulong's position from different angles.

With a casual wave of his hand, a violent purple-gold flame shot up from his arm, instantly forming a thick wall of flames around him.

The ink spear struck the wall of flames, making a piercing hissing sound. The highly saturated pigment was completely vaporized the moment it came into contact with the world-destroying fire, turning into pungent white smoke that drifted into the air.

Surong stepped over the ashes and walked up to the Nightmare Butterfly.

His domain extended all the way to the monster's body, bringing it completely under his control.

He looked down at the monster, slowly raised his right hand, and a cluster of pure purple-gold flame ignited at his fingertips, reaching towards the deformed head of the Nightmare Butterfly.

Just as Su Long's fingertips were about to touch the monster, an extremely dazzling colored light suddenly shone from deep within the two eye sockets of the Nightmare Butterfly, which were oozing fluid.

A burst of intensely colored ink splattered from its eye, instantly staining Su Long's outstretched arm.

Su Long's right arm instantly lost its thickness and three-dimensionality. Muscles, bones, and blood were forcibly erased, collapsing into a chaotic and distorted mess of colored ink.

Looking at his right arm, now completely blackened with ink, Su Long sneered, "A final stand, is this?"

The next moment, at the severed point on Su Long's right shoulder, the granulation tissue began to writhe wildly.

Bones extend rapidly, muscle fibers intertwine and reorganize at a visible speed, and blood vessels and nerves spread rapidly like the roots of an old tree.

In just a few seconds, a brand new right arm grew back.

Su Long casually moved his newly grown right arm, looked at the charred remains on the ground that had completely collapsed after exhausting its last bit of strength, and snapped his fingers crisply.

The anti-slip steel plates surrounding the Nightmare Butterfly vibrated violently.

The four thick metal walls rose from the ground and quickly closed in mid-air to form a huge crematorium, completely enveloping the eerie creature inside.

"Boom—!"

Blinding flames shot from the ventilation vents at the bottom of the crematorium. Inside the furnace, the world-destroying fire operated at full power, and the purplish-gold flames shone through the observation windows of the heavy hatch, illuminating the surrounding steel walls in a crimson glow.

The agonizing howls of the Nightmare Butterfly echoed from within the furnace, piercing the eardrums, but Su Long remained expressionless, simply watching quietly.

As the temperature inside the furnace continued to rise, the screams gradually became weaker and hoarse, until they were completely drowned out by the roar of the flames.

Moments later, the Nightmare Butterfly's body turned to ashes.

However, this bizarre and eerie realm, composed of highly saturated pigments, did not immediately collapse and disappear.

Su Long looked around in confusion, only to see that after losing the support of the Nightmare Butterfly's power, the Ghost Realm was completely unable to suppress the World-Destroying Flame. The flames expanded from thin lines of fire into a raging inferno in an instant.

Some of the small holes that had been burned through expanded outwards at a visible speed. The ink on the edges dried and peeled off rapidly under the high temperature, turning into pieces of charred debris that scattered in the sea of ​​fire, emitting a pungent, burnt smell.

Within a few seconds, hundreds and thousands of burning holes intersected and merged into one, and the raging purple-gold sea of ​​fire completely burned away the remaining abstract space.

Seeing this, Su Long stomped his right foot on the ground, and his own Domain of the Myriad Corpse Incinerator began to dissipate.

The towering steel walls, the massive morgue, and the anti-slip steel plates scattered across the floor vanished as quickly as the tide receded. The three returned to the underground compartment.

Just then, several semi-transparent system notification boxes popped up in front of Su Long's eyes.

[Burning the corpse of the B-grade eerie Nightmare Butterfly grants 50 experience points and the attribute "Flame Mist Realm"]

[Completely annihilate the B-rank anomaly, Nightmare Butterfly, and obtain 2 Soul Crystals]

[Burn down a ghostly realm to unlock a fragmented attribute dimension: Domain Attribute.]

He glanced at it casually, then put away the system panel, turned to look at Elena, and saw her bending down to help Lucia, who was slumped on the ground, up.

This usually decisive and efficient FBI female agent was still trembling uncontrollably.

Watching her four teammates being turned into a pool of paint right before her eyes was a huge psychological shock for her.

If it weren't for Surong's last-minute intervention, she would probably be in the same situation as Marcus and the others.

"It's all over." Su Long walked up to the two of them, his tone calm.

Elena patted Lucia on the back to help her catch her breath, then looked up at Suron: "That monster—"

"Burned to ashes," Su Long replied casually, his gaze sweeping over the empty underground cabins around him.

The original joint investigation team of seven people has now been reduced to only three.

"This place has been cleaned up. However, the commotion we caused was too great, and I'm not sure if these people have any other backup plans lying in ambush outside."

Surong looked at Elena and continued, "We need to evacuate as soon as possible and notify headquarters so they can send a professional team to pick us up and clean up this mess."

Elena nodded: "Let's go, let's go back the way we came."

She then looked at Lucia and asked with concern, "Lucia, can you still hold on?"

Lucia took a few deep breaths, hastily wiped away the tears and sweat from her face, forced herself to stand up straight, and nodded in response, "I—I'm alright. Thank you, Advisor Suron."

Su Long nodded without saying anything more.

The three of them retreated back to the abandoned factory area on the ground through the corridor they had come from.

The rain outside was pouring down harder, the icy raindrops pounding against the dilapidated concrete walls around them, and the water flowing down the rusted wire mesh.

Elena took out her equipment and sent a signal. Less than ten minutes later, the roar of propellers came from the night sky. Three helicopters, two in black and one in white, broke through the rain. Their powerful searchlights swept across the abandoned factory buildings before they landed steadily on the open ground outside the factory area.

The doors of two helicopters bearing the logo of the Weird Support Bureau slid open, and two tactical teams filed out, carrying equipment out of the cabins.

At the same time, several squads wearing biohazard suits and armed with assault rifles stormed in from the outside, quickly bypassing Su Long and his men, and taking over the heavily contaminated area.

Subsequent evidence collection, pollutant cleanup, and follow-up procedures will proceed in sequence.

The three were picked up by medical personnel who disembarked from the medical helicopter in the middle. The helicopter quickly took off again and sped towards downtown Seattle.

Twenty minutes later, the helicopter landed smoothly on the helipad on the top floor of Harbourview Medical Centre.

A well-prepared medical team rushed over with a stretcher.

Based on the initial symptoms reported by the three individuals on the helicopter, they were quickly transferred to different departments.

Lucia's situation is the worst.

She suffered an extreme psychological shock, accompanied by severe symptoms of dissociative identity disorder. Several medical staff took her directly to a special psychological ward on the third basement floor to prepare for in-depth screening for bizarre powers and psychological intervention treatment.

Elena, on the other hand, didn't have many problems.

After undergoing a basic medical examination, she borrowed Stella's office to begin writing a detailed report on the operation.

As for Surong, his situation is somewhere in between.

Although his mind was completely clear, his eyes were filled with alarming bloodshot veins, and there was a faint bluish tinge around his eyes—a typical aftereffect of intense mental exertion and overexertion of mental energy.

He was half-invited, half-pushed into a VIP ward by several nurses.

The ward was lit by a soft overhead light.

Su Long leaned back in the large leather recliner, looking at Stella, who was wearing a white coat and standing in front of a metal cart, checking the data on the medical record board.

He looked up at the IV bag hanging overhead, the clear liquid flowing steadily into the dropper, and couldn't help but ask curiously, "What did you put on me?"

"Lactated Ringer's solution and sugary electrolyte water are used to replenish your over-consumed energy and maintain osmotic balance."

Stella turned around and joked, "To be honest, I was quite surprised that you were able to walk in by yourself this time, instead of being carried in."

"This is one of the few times you weren't brought here unconscious."

Su Long leaned back in his chair, finding a comfortable position, and chuckled, "Doesn't this prove that my strength has increased? I can't possibly lie in a hospital bed for days after every mission."

Stella walked to the recliner, checking the flow rate of the IV drip as she spoke, "The FBI agent who came back with you said your joint investigation team suffered heavy losses. She was extremely traumatized and is currently receiving sedation treatment in the psychiatric ward."

"Looks like you're not dealing with some little guy this time."

Su Long nodded, saying helplessly, "Yes, although I am capable, I can't protect everyone. This opponent has indeed exceeded our expectations."

He paused, recalling the bizarre scene in the underground cabin, and continued, "I actually made preparations in advance for facing a B-level high-ranking monster."

"The original tactical arrangement was to have them stay in the backfield to provide peripheral support, avoiding direct involvement in the core battle."

"But its bizarre behavior pattern exceeded expectations. I really didn't expect it to take the initiative and drag everyone into the battlefield right after our last major battle ended."

Stella listened with a furrowed brow. As a medical expert specializing in the study of bizarre injuries, she knew very well how terrifying the abilities of a high-ranking B-level bizarre being could be.

"What kind of monster possesses such powerful abilities to govern rules?"

Surong turned his head and looked directly into Stella's eyes: "He's an old acquaintance of yours too."

Stella paused for a moment: "An old acquaintance?"

Su Long nodded, a hint of coldness in his voice: "That damned butterfly."