Why is his holy light red?

Chapter 98 The Power of Time

Mercury didn't glance at Vans on the ground again, turned around, and walked towards the end of the cold storage, stepping over the broken ice and blood.

Mercury has been to both underground levels before, so going down now is a piece of cake for him.

They soon arrived at the place where the drug addicts had been imprisoned, but under Mercury's orders, all those imprisoned there had been released.

The empty basement still retained the stench of blood and the intense cold.

Following Vance's instructions, Mercury knocked inside the vent and found what looked like a hidden door, which turned out to be empty.

But the hidden door was very sturdy, and it looked like it could only be opened from the inside.

Mercury didn't bother looking for the control panel or the switch to the hidden door. Enveloped in a dark red glow, Mercury forcefully plunged his hands into the steel plate.

"Crunch—!" A piercing metallic scraping sound exploded instantly. Amidst the flying sparks, his arm muscles bulged, and he forcefully uprooted the steel plate, which was over ten centimeters thick, before tossing it aside like trash.

A secret passage was exposed, the smell of highly concentrated disinfectant mixed with a nauseating sweet and fishy odor, and there seemed to be an alarm sounding from deep underground.

"We've already alerted them; let's act quickly."

Mercury and Bran entered the secret passage one after the other. After taking only a few steps, Mercury felt his footing loosen.

It felt like I'd stepped on something.

Immediately afterwards, a violent explosion erupted from beneath Mercury's feet, instantly tearing his specially made thick-soled sneakers to shreds.

But the flames and shrapnel from the explosion were all contained by Mercury's foot, with only a small amount leaking out.

Mercury cursed, "So, you're going to lay landmines too?!"

Helplessly, he tore apart the half of the shoe, which had already become tattered. Mercury's red holy light could only protect his skin and flesh for the time being. Next time, he would have to order a pair of shoes that could protect against landmines.

Continuing forward, this passage contains more than just one landmine; there are also many other traps.

Like a gun barrel suddenly appearing, or smoke of unknown purpose.

Mercury blocked all physical attacks in front of him. As for smoke and other things, Mercury simply tore off a piece of the wall and filled the passage, then pushed the constantly twisting and deforming metal plate forward.

The heavy metal plate left large sparks on the cracks in the wall, and the ear-piercing scraping sound made Bran involuntarily cover his ears.

This solution is really simple and brutal. Bran now just wants to know how strong Mercury is. He probably could tear an aircraft carrier apart with his bare hands.

Mercury was like an unstoppable bulldozer, sweeping through the tunnel of death with devastation.

We walked downhill for who knows how far, and finally arrived at another large gate.

Mercury made Bran take a few steps back, then raised his fist and slammed it into the steel door with all his might.

A deafening roar echoed underground. One punch, two punches, three punches, until the steel gate was completely twisted beyond recognition, finally creating a gap large enough for a person to pass through.

Mercury charged in first.

The atmosphere here is completely different from the industrial and bloody slaughterhouse on the surface.

The sterile, pure white walls, the glaring cold lights, and the scarlet alarm flashing frantically on the ceiling in response to the intrusion.

Everything indicated that they had officially entered that secret laboratory.

Bran nervously raised his hands, orange flames leaping from his palms. The oxygen underground seemed to be more plentiful than above ground, and the flames on his hands shot up much higher than usual. However, Bran was so focused on finding his sister that he didn't notice this change.

Before they could take more than a few steps, a heavy, airtight door at the end of the corridor slid open, and two tall, dark figures squeezed into the secret room.

What emerged was not human at all; on the left was a nearly three-meter-tall fleshy war machine. Hydraulic rods were brutally embedded in its pale muscle tissue, its right arm had been completely sawed off and a huge cannon barrel was welded to it, and its left arm was a sharp circular saw, which was humming and spinning.

On the right is a multi-legged monster perched on the ceiling. Its human torso has been forcibly twisted into a spider-like form, its limbs have all been replaced with barbed alloy scythes, its mechanical compound eyes are flashing red, and murky synthetic nutrient solution is dripping from the corner of its mouth.

Mercury could barely make out the "human tissue" of the two monsters, and couldn't help but curse, "Those people who use immortality technology are beasts, utterly inhuman!"

Without a word, the two monsters unleashed a whirring electronic roar from their flesh-and-blood chariot. The hydraulic rods on its thighs contracted wildly, and it charged forward like a runaway heavy truck, its weight rumbling across the corridor floor.

Bran was seething with anger, flames surging in his palms, just about to raise his hand and shoot out the flames.

A blur of dark red holy light moved even faster than her.

Mercury, without any intention of dodging, met the oncoming behemoth head-on.

The cannon barrel spewed out sparks, and countless bullets were fired from the barrel, each accompanied by a firework-like flame.

This is a specially made dragon's breath bullet. It not only has impact force but also high temperature, which can easily ignite the human body.

But it had no effect on Mercury, like fireworks hitting steel, only turning into scattered sparks.

He was even more ferocious than the physical tank; the two collided, sending the mass of flesh and machine flying against the wall.

Flesh and steel shattered in the same instant.

The massive, three-meter-tall body resembled a tattered sack stuffed with spare parts. Its metal spine exploded instantly, disintegrating into a pile of scrap mixed with bearings and rotten flesh.

Mercury used his most violent power to give this poor monster the fastest possible release.

Upon seeing this, the scythe-like monster on the ceiling suddenly compressed its alloy joints and shot down like a cannonball, its two sharp blades slashing straight at the back of Mercury's head.

Mercury didn't even turn his head.

He casually reached his left hand upwards. His five fingers, like iron-cast vises, precisely gripped the alloy sickle that was chopping down.

"Crunch—" A chilling metallic creaking sound rang out.

Mercury squeezed the scythe to pieces with his fingers, then grabbed the monster by the neck and slammed it, scythe and monster together, against the sterile wall beside him.

"boom!"

The wall caved in violently. The scythe monster's mechanical skeleton and flesh were smashed into a flat, meaty pancake. Sparks crackled as dark red synthetic blood splattered radially across the pure white wall.

The two expensive killing machines lasted less than three seconds in Mercury's hands.

Bran held the flame in mid-air, unsure where to throw it, his murderous intent frozen on his face.

She had expected the underground defense line to be a tough battle, but she never imagined that she would become a mere spectator.

Mercury expressionlessly flicked the synthetic oil and blood off the back of his hand. "Let's go, the real culprit should be inside."

After passing through the airtight door, the two arrived at a huge circular underground space. It was truly astonishing how many resources Eternal Life Technology had spent to excavate such a large and deep basement.

Dozens of cylindrical reinforced glass jars were arranged densely, with thick neural connectors like blood-sucking vines, tightly connecting the experimental subjects inside the jars to the central control console.

Lucas stood in front of the control panel.

But now he seems to no longer be considered a human being.

Hard, silvery-white scales pierced his pale skin, covering his neck and cheeks. His mouth was split open to his ears, revealing two rows of sharp teeth. His pupils had turned into narrow, vertical pupils, and a thick, barbed tail was swaying behind him, demonstrating his current excitement.

The monster had a finely crafted metal belt around its waist, and a blinding crimson energy was flowing from the energy storage slot embedded in it.

Bran's gaze passed over the monster and suddenly froze.

In the third glass jar from the left, a emaciated girl was submerged. A brutal metal probe had mercilessly pierced her spine. Her once golden hair floated like withered grass in the murky nutrient solution, her eyes tightly closed, her fate unknown.

That was her biological younger sister.

"brute-!!"

Bran went completely mad. The pent-up anger, fear, and heartache she had suppressed all night transformed into pure killing intent in that instant. She let out a piercing roar, and the orange-red flames in her palms instantly surged, enveloping her entire body like a raging sun.

She kicked off the alloy floor with both legs, dragging a pillar of fire hot enough to melt through steel plates, and charged toward Lucas recklessly.

Faced with this devastating charge, Lucas didn't even lift an eyelid.

He simply extended a finger and lightly touched the air.

"Buzz—"

A gray, semi-transparent force field expanded outward from him in an instant.

The moment Bran, carrying a raging pillar of fire, crashed into the force field, an extremely bizarre scene unfolded. The intensely hot flames, enough to instantly vaporize a person, seemed to freeze in mid-air.

Bran, charging forward, along with the raging pillars of fire surging around her, was abruptly stopped the moment she collided with the gray light.

It froze in mid-air.

Time stood still completely.

Sparks hovered near Bran's cheek, the orange-red tail of flame remaining in its most violent tearing posture. Even the raging anger in Bran's eyes and the short hair fluttering in the wind were locked in this moment.

The whole scene resembles a giant, three-dimensional piece of amber that perfectly preserves the flying insects along with the flames.

"What a beautiful masterpiece."

Lucas let out a satisfied sigh. He slowly circled Bran, who was frozen in mid-air, his fingertips even lightly brushing against the high-temperature flames suspended in mid-air.

"See that, little kid?"

Lucas flicked his forked tongue, his voice hoarse with a metallic grating. He spread his arms, covered in thick scales, and displayed the grotesque body to Mercury with utter fascination: "This is the ultimate evolution brought about by the energy of time! I have not only mastered the power of time, but I have also used it to transcend the frail human body! I am immortal, I am an eternal god. Child, as the first fortunate one to meet a god, I give you a chance: kneel down and become my first believer."