He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

Chapter 78 The Son of Darkness

Actually, not long ago, Ai discovered a truth—whether to call him slow-witted or perceptive—

In short: from the moment he was born, Nie has always been protected by the fox.

Otherwise, because of his cute and harmless appearance, Ai Yi wouldn't have been able to spend three months peacefully while running around everywhere. Without Nie's secret observation and care, he would have been put into a sack and taken away long ago.

So this strange little girl, Yinqiu, must be the one that Nie specially sent to take care of Dudu after I left.

—My family's mechanical girl is very meticulous.

While praising Nemecat's reliability in his heart, Ai also felt a little guilty. He hadn't fully digested the change in his identity yet. Without playing the role of "Grey," the fox was far from having the composure of that ruthless king in controlling everything—he clearly had so many resources at his disposal, but he just couldn't remember to use them.

Farming also requires skills, and it needs to be studied slowly like mysterious knowledge—but I've been too busy lately to spare the time to learn.

However, Ai is not worried about this. After the sprouting—he can also receive more memories from Gray. As an existence that is only one step away from reaching the magnificence, the Gray Mask is an inexhaustible treasure for him.

Previously, I couldn't equip certain items due to level restrictions, but now I can unlock some of them, which should be enough.

For example, right now.

Ai took a deep breath, swallowing down the gray throat branded in the vessel—the slightly protruding Adam's apple bobbed once, followed by a fleeting buzz.

The next moment, those pale blue eyes slowly narrowed, and an obscure and indescribable aura slowly rose, like snake venom swirling in a glass of red wine, seemingly sweet and delicious, yet also exuding a wet, sweet and fishy smell amidst its dangerous color.

"Good boy."

Her fair and slender fingers traced the long ears of the beast-like girl, her gentle tone almost suffocating.

Ai chuckled softly, "What's your name?"

"A07." A voice as cold as a machine said, "The seventh seat of the Son of Darkness, a blade that belongs only to you."

Hearing this puzzling answer, Ai tilted her head, while Dodo on the other side suddenly raised her hand.

"that----"

She looked at the fox with its squinting eyes, seemingly a little lost, but still said softly, "This girl—I often saw her hiding in the corner outside the convenience store, and after seeing her sexual characteristics, I felt that she must have been abandoned. I knew she was Inchu, a very pitiful child—so I took her in."

Looking at the eerie atmosphere in front of her, and then at the strange fox that gave her a creepy feeling, Dudu mustered up her courage and said, "She doesn't seem to have a name. She often says strange things, like 'Praise the Darkness,' or '07'—this child doesn't like to talk, but she's actually a very sensible child. In order to make her willing to communicate, I gave her a name myself."

Dudu took a deep breath: "Her name is Nanaqi."

"————" Ai choked for a moment, then recovered as usual in the next instant.

"I understand, Sister Dodo."

The familiar address clearly eased Dodo's unease considerably. Ai gave a gentle smile and moved closer to Qi.

"Nana Inori, Inori."

He patted the beast-like girl's head. "This will be your name from now on. Remember it?"

"I praise your grace," Qi whispered, making sure Dudu didn't hear.

Then the three of them sat down together and ate seafood.

Seeing that the awkward atmosphere had been successfully overcome, Ai Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

It was relatively easy to fool the stupid bird; luckily, this guy is thick-skinned.

Next, while Dodo entered his berserk drinking mode and started rambling on and on to himself, he responded while simultaneously questioning Ash within his soul, in a manner resembling "split personality"—

I asked myself, "What exactly is the Child of Darkness?"

The next moment, the red liquid was filled with first-person memories, so immersive that it felt as if he had experienced it himself—the echoes from the gray liquid flowed toward Ai, recounting the origins of the A07 before him.

"The creation of the prototype of the Mirror of Radiance was about a year ago. At that time, the Gray Court was not yet fully completed, and the Unrighteous King had not yet been born. I was wandering in the suburbs as a folk mystic scholar, accumulating the capital for the founding of the religion."

The fox recalled from its own perspective: "It was about a year ago, when I had just arrived in the suburbs. During my routine extortion of those factions, I found her in a den of iniquity."

A first-person perspective view comes into view:

a year ago.

In the far suburbs, at Valencia Cave.

A den of iniquity.

"Sir, it's only been a week since you last collected protection money—could you give us two more days?"

The director of the Night Cave spoke humbly, then carefully stayed beside the seemingly petite figure in front of him, not daring to even breathe loudly.

This madman, a mysterious man whose name no one even knows, only calling himself "Mr. Gray."

—A monster of unknown origin, upon arriving in the outskirts, wiped out the once-powerful leading faction, yet it did not proclaim its power. Instead, it roamed among the various forces in the outskirts, acting as a terrifying and invisible shadow.

Faced with his unpredictable visits, all the factions were miserable, but no one dared to challenge his authority.

"Don't be afraid, I'm just browsing around."

Accompanying Mr. Gray, the director toured the entire den of iniquity, showing him the darkness buried deep in the suburbs. At the lowest level of this place, the "reception center," Mr. Gray, who had been silent all along, finally became interested once again.

The ground floor reception area was damp and filled with a lewd smell. The empty room had almost no decorations except for a bed. On the other side were several iron cages and a feeding trough that had been deliberately dug out in front of the cages, like a compartment for raising livestock.

"Do you have any members of the Yinqiu clan here?"

Mr. Gray pointed to the dark figure in the corner, his voice rising slightly, revealing a hint of surprise.

There was rotting flesh on the ground, mixed with black, filthy blood that had not yet fully congealed. In the darkness, it seemed as if some soft, living thing was hitting the iron bars, and then it quickly fell silent again.

A body, completely unrecognizable as human, was huddled tightly against the iron cage, crawling in a mixture of excrement and filth, twitching unconsciously.

Gray's eyes held no further emotion; he simply found it amusing.

(The will to survive is the most basic desire, and at that time, through that battered body, I glimpsed a soul that was about to disappear, yet was still incredibly bright, like a firefly in the deep darkness—she struggled and danced in a completely meaningless manner, so fragile that she seemed to shatter at the slightest touch, yet miraculously frozen life in the moment before death.)

"How much is this one?"

Gray pointed to the lump of rotten flesh locked in the cage and said softly.

"Here you go, sir! How could I possibly ask you for money for something like this?!" The director beamed with delight, as if he had finally discovered the master's hobby. He quickly instructed his subordinates to pack up the inhuman Inchu and give it to Hui.

"It's just that the previous customer—was a bit too intense during her actions, and her condition is probably not good. It's hard to say how much longer she can live. If you like this type, you can always come and find our manager, Inchu. We still have quite a lot of stock here."

Grey didn't listen to what was coming next; he was lost in his excitement—

(Regardless of what terrifying things this will to survive might evolve into—revenge or longing—it's all harmless to me. So, out of curiosity, I want to see the limits of the humble.)

Gray: So I took her with me.

The memory played has ended, and reality returns.

Gray continued, "Inqiu, the non-human race of Nest City, suffers widespread discrimination due to their completely bestial physical characteristics—not just in terms of low social status, but also because their mental structure is more fragile and prone to loss of control due to the influence of their mutated genes, and their intellectual development is less than 70% of the average."

"This means that unless human modification is carried out, the Qiu people are almost unable to engage in any work that requires intellectual participation, nor can they embark on the path of mystery on their own. Even if they are lucky enough to awaken their aptitude, they will soon die due to the nearly 100% probability of losing control."

"They are all born weak."

As I've said before, in Nest City, due to the disorder of life factors, the connection between clans and bloodlines has long been blurred, and giant interest groups are the mainstream here.

Everyone is eager to find their own kind to band together for warmth—and as the most inferior of all human races, the Judas are not even allowed the right to a stable life while being exploited.

"When I found her, she was completely dismembered and locked in a rusty iron cage. Most of her wounds had healed, but she was severely infected internally and had almost bled out of her body."

Gray's voice was gentle, yet cruel: "Limbs are cut off, teeth are smashed, to satisfy certain fetishes. Eyes are gouged out in moments of extreme fear, for profit—the eyeballs of the Incho race can be transformed into mystical materials under certain extreme circumstances, the principle of which is related to their abnormal mental structure. This is their characteristic, yet it becomes the Incho race's original sin because of their weakness."

"Besides the Foundation, only those fellow practitioners in the esoteric tradition know this. The Foundation's arrogance makes them disdain to participate in these evils—so only folk mystical factions remain, and they are the main organizations that hunt and even breed Inchus."

Dodo, of course, couldn't hear their unspoken conversation, but Gray lowered his voice, or perhaps Ai lowered hers, making it sound serious: "When I saw her, my thoughts were the same as yours, Ai. You don't understand why she's still alive." Gray, too, had shared the same confusion at the time—"To explore the limits of the will to survive, I decided to study it carefully."

"Anyway, I brought her back to Gray Court—at that time, the Mirror of Radiance was still in its infancy, and out of boredom, I did something that was probably unnecessary: ​​I tried to save her."

The skin beneath the girl's fur was as soft as a normal person's, yet it was imperceptible to the touch. Stroking Xiao Qi's fluffy head, the fox's eyes held a complex mix of emotions: the excitement and coldness of Gray, and the empathy and compassion of Ai Yi: "How to heal her is indeed a difficult problem, after all, I can't even understand how she lives. Fortunately—"

Although he used the word "fortunately," Gray's tone clearly conveyed no sense of relief, but rather arrogance stemming from his belief that he had made the right decision: "At that time, my alchemy had reached its pinnacle, the ultimate dissolution technique, which allowed me to see everything as an element in the transformation process. This perspective enabled me to successfully stabilize her vital signs. But then trouble arose. I examined her brain and soul and discovered that things were almost beyond repair."

"Of the more than 30 residual drug components, only four could be identified as the originals; the rest were experimental products. These drugs, which had not undergone safety assessments, almost destroyed her body. The activity in her cells had completely died out, 90% of her nerves had been burned, and she had lost all five senses."

—The body is decaying, the spirit is dying, and even the soul is about to shatter.

Silently, Ai used her rudimentary alchemy knowledge to take Xiao Qi's hand and carefully examine the movement of the ball joints, repeatedly confirming that the body could still function normally.

Gray continued, "That's how it was. It took me half a month to pull her back from the brink of death and create new limbs and a nervous system for her. I used the rough form of Philosopher's Stone—the only material that can perfectly fit the human body. There's no need to worry about secondary infection, and she can move around very well. These are excellent experimental data that laid the foundation for my future creation of Ne and the like."

"but--

—"

Hui changed the subject.

"It's a pity that, although I had tried my best at the time, alchemy still couldn't reach the realm of creating life," and the wounds in her soul could never be fully healed. She still couldn't see, couldn't hear, and her sense of touch was intermittent and unexpected. She was an incomprehensible child, yet she survived.

"And I became even more interested. For the sake of further research, I taught her some mysterious knowledge. Through the medium of the red liquid, I directly injected unfiltered secret knowledge into her soul. Apart from uncontrolled death and the awakening of aptitude, I did not give her a third choice."

"She's here now," Ai said.

"That's right, so the result is already obvious," Gray confirmed. "She successfully awakened as a qualified individual, survived, and regained basic mobility."

"She learned about the mystical very quickly. Perhaps the intelligence of the Qiu tribe is not a problem, or perhaps she is an exception. In any case, after coming into contact with the medium of the red liquid and absorbing the criterion, she was able to touch the outside world by relying on the flowing secret essence. Although this perception is very weak, it is already enough."

"This is the birth of the first Child of Darkness. The girl before you is the instrument to offer everything to the Lord of Darkness."

That concludes our recollection.

"I thought you had become gentler, that you had regained a little bit of humanity."

After a long silence, Ai finally said to herself, "Grey, so—all of this was for the sake of the current return on investment?"

"You ask me if there was any element of compassion in this process?"

Gray: "If it were just to make you happy, I might say 'yes,' but actually—you probably don't understand how hard it is to find such a useful tool—the Inchu tribe, who are capable of awakening and surviving, all you need to do is pull them out of despair, and you'll reap the sharpest blade."

"Moreover—they are all still very young. After all, the average lifespan of Inchu is barely over twenty years. So, if it weren't for the excessively high rate of loss of control, which prevents them from facing the threat of 'taboo loss of control,' they would also be protected under the 'Nest City Minor Protection Law.' You should already know about the threats to children in the mystical realm."

"Therefore, every surviving Inchu is a potentially high-risk weapon of mass destruction. You only need to keep them under your control, which can sometimes serve as a deterrent. This is the dark dagger I have prepared for you. As for any actions you are afraid of getting your hands dirty, just leave them to them. The children of darkness will not let you down."

"You bastard—"

Ai commented: "Completely not a poet."

The Super Lantern Man is all that's left; there's no one else around.

"Thanks anyway, I'll make good use of them—"

Xiao Bai suddenly interjected, "Wait, you actually accepted it? I thought your empathy and moral compass would prevent you from making the choice to use others as tools, especially a group of children."

"This isn't a question of whether to use it or not—and don't treat me like some kind of scumbag."

Ai smiled bitterly, "Using that word is indeed too cold, but Gray didn't give me any options—a child of darkness already exists here, that's an established fact, and it won't change because of my will—if I were to reject them because of ridiculous morality, that would be truly foolish."

—Responsibility is a weight I must bear.

"That's the kind of guy Grey is. Everything is just a cog in his machine. This ruthless king has no expectations of me. In fact, he did save a group of children. He did nothing wrong, and those who were saved did nothing wrong either. It's actually a good thing. I'm actually quite happy."

—As for me, who is not yet ready to shoulder all this, I will try a little harder.

Ai chuckled softly, "I am destined to be above all things, and I am also destined to bear responsibility—I will adapt to this weight, which is much lighter than what Gray carried before—but for me now, perhaps all I can do is let those children of darkness live a little longer and live a little better."

1

—This is the path I am walking.

He said slowly and deliberately, "I will definitely pay the price for it."

"As for those who are truly wrong, they are the scum who trample on the glory of human reason."

With a deep blue glint in its eyes, the fox pondered silently: "If we leave rampant, bad plants to grow unchecked, they will only destroy the environment of a place. They may be really hard to deal with, but if we are willing to spend some time clearing the roots, turning the soil, setting a fire, and sweeping away the thorns, then even the most complex and massive structures will be completely cleared away."

To eradicate a rotten tree, you have to set it on fire, turn over the soil thoroughly, and find and burn every single root.

The bad news is that this goal involves an enormous amount of work.

The good news is————

Actions that simultaneously satisfy his desires for "control" and "transformation" are presented to him.

The madness flickered wildly within the azure hue.

Ai Yi was so happy she was trembling.

"The good news is: the young and ruthless king has the same intention."

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