Chapter 630: Rearing Gu

“Curse…” Meng Chao then remembered his sister. At that time, her hair burned with violet flames, making her look really avant-garde, arrogant, and cool. Her temperament had also changed drastically.

He shuddered.

“So, that means that only those who encounter life-threatening dangers in the ancient ruins and live through it get cursed?” Meng Chao asked anxiously. He wanted for his sister to avoid getting cursed.

A’Ji thought about it and shook his head. “Not necessarily. There were plenty of Blood Alliance’s core members who explored the ancient ruins multiple times. They ran into dangers that were as dangerous as ours, but not all of them got the X-shaped eye.

“Blood Alliance, of course, wanted to research the secrets of the X-shaped eye. After all, while this tattoo symbolized endless dangers, it also symbolized mysterious power.

“Those with the X-shaped eye would usually awaken to more supernatural abilities and get better comprehension, regenerative abilities, as well as experience other improvements. As long as they didn’t die, they even had the chance to break the limits of their lives.

“The problem is, no matter how much Blood Alliance researched the X-shaped eyes, they just couldn’t find a pattern to them.

“Sometimes, they would send an exploration group of more than one hundred people into the ancient ruins without caring about the costs. Those people would run into all sorts of horrifying dangers, and the group would be nearly entirely wiped out. Only one to two members would remain alive.

“These survivors might be people with both strength and wit, but they just wouldn’t get the X-shaped eye.

“Yet at other times, when normal people who had no power whatsoever were sent into the ancient ruins as cannon fodder or control groups, they managed to survive through sheer luck, and for some reason, the X-shaped eye appeared on them.

“It seemed like the curse didn’t appear depending on the explorers’ performance in the ancient ruins. It also depended on their physical constitution, cellular activity, strength of will, adaptability, and even luck. It’s related to all sorts of odd variables.

“Also, there’s something really strange. When the ancient ruins had just been opened to us, the chances of the curse appearing were much higher. At that time, three-four people in a group of ten who went through a high-risk exploration would get the X-shaped eye.

“But as more people gained the X-shaped eye, the number of new cursed people grew smaller.

“When Blood Alliance completely occupied the ancient ruins, they sent groups of one hundred explorers to explore the ancient ruins, just as I mentioned, but at times, not a single person would gain the X-shaped eye.

“The experts in Blood Alliance analyzed this phenomenon and came up with the conclusion that there might be a limit to the total number of X-shaped eyes. This thing is like the sign of the chosen heirs of the ancient civilization. When the ancient civilization discovered an explorer with a certain degree of potential to inherit its full legacy, it would place this sign on the explorer.

“And this ‘potential’ wasn’t just purely based on strength and intellect.

“The current strength and intellect Earthlings possess is nothing according to the standards of the ancient civilization. It’s just like how humans perceive the strongest ant and weakest ant. There’s no difference among them to us.

“If a human really found some suitable ants to inherit our civilization, we’d naturally use another set of standards and measurements.

“And when there is a sufficient number of heirs who have the sign and are slotted to go through whatever test it is they have in mind, the ancient civilization would not release anymore signs. It’s only when one of the X-shaped eye owners dies, which means that they didn’t pass the test, a new curse would appear.”

“I see.”

Meng Chao nodded. It was only at that moment that he understood how his sister had obtained the X-shaped eye. One of the owners must have died, and she inherited their curse. Thus, she became the heir of the ancient civilization, or rather, examinee.

Based on how his sister turned into the Dark Witch and ransacked the Other World, the ancient civilization was really terrifying!

“So, both Saber Jin Wanhao and Battle God Lei Zongchao got the X-shaped eye?” Meng Chao stared at A’Ji’s chest with great interest. “Which other supreme fighters in Dragon City also have this X-shaped eye?”

“Lei Zongchao does have it, but I don’t know about the others,” A’Ji answered honestly. “In the past, the comrades who explored the ruins with Jin Wanhao and Lei Zongchao either died during the battle against Blood Alliance or the perilous battles over the next few decades. If they were owners of the X-shaped eye, their curses would have transferred to a generation of new people.

“Also, this tattoo is really strange. It’s usually hidden deep within our blood and only appears when we’re angry, our spirit energy goes out of control, or when we make our vitality magnetic fields fluctuate at maximum capacity. If the X-shaped eye owners want to hide them, everyone would have a hard time discovering them.

“As for me, I couldn’t integrate Saber Jin Wanhao’s great power into this young, nine-year-old body after I regained my youth. My vitality magnetic field often went out of control, so the X-shaped eye has appeared on its own.

“After training for some time, I’ll be able to control this new body fully, and it should become hidden.”

“I see…” Meng Chao nodded pensively. He noticed A’ji’s underlying meaning. “What’s wrong? Do the X-shaped eye owners not want others to know about their identities?”

A’Ji hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he still nodded and explained. “Yes. First, it’s because the X-shaped eye means mysterious dangers and power. It represents the ancient civilization’s legacy, and it was also the core research subject of Blood Alliance, which is why it was even used as its emblem.

“In the past, Blood Alliance did all sorts of mad, evil acts under the X-shaped eye flag. They incited anger among all the people, which turned the X-shaped eye into the symbol of blood, murder, and evil.

“Many Blood Alliance members were not cursed, but they liked to get a tattoo of the X-shaped eye. As time went by, all the people with the X-shaped eye tattoo were identified as evil, brutal people. Everyone condemned those with this tattoo during the late stages of the apocalypse decades ago.

“Second, and most importantly, the people with the X-shaped eye liked killing each other and hunting down other cursed people.”

“Killing each other?” Meng Chao was shocked. “What do you mean by that?”

“Didn’t I tell you just now? Blood Alliance’s experts believed that the X-shaped eye was a sign that the ancient civilization used to mark its examinees. As long as you completed the test, you would inherit all of the ancient civilization’s power,” A’Ji said with a strange expression. “But have you ever wondered what the test is?”

Meng Chao pondered over this for a while, then said, “Continue exploring the ancient ruins?”

“I don’t think so.” A’Ji shook his head slowly. “Plenty of people have explored the ancient ruins, but not all of the explorers got the X-shaped eye. Today, the Supernatural Tower even has a ruins research center underneath. Countless powerful warriors and an astronomical amount of resources are placed into the ruins exploration project, but you’ve never heard about more X-shaped eye owners who are stronger than the ones in the past, much less passing the test and obtaining the full ancient legacy.

“So, some of the X-shaped eye owners thought for a long time, and they gained a sudden, wild idea. Could this test be treating us as Gu [1] and wanting us to do something like a battle royale?”

Meng Chao was a little taken aback. “Treating you as Gu?”

“That’s right. You have quite a number of monster controllers in Agricultural University’s monster controller course that are skilled in rearing and controlling insect-type monsters, right? They also use a similar method as Gu venom practitioners to choose the strongest monster in the lair’s monster coliseums.

“They trap all the vermin or monsters in a small space, not give them enough food, and make them kill each other from hunger. They kill each other and rip each other’s guts out. Blood flows in rivers, and in the end, the only survivor is the strongest of them all!” A’Ji said.

“So, some of the X-shaped eye owners believe that if they kill all the other X-shaped eye owners and they’re the only ones left, they will be considered to have passed the test. Then, they will inherit the ancient ruins’ secrets and strength. After that, they will surpass human limits and literally become an ancient deity!”

“T-That’s ridiculous!” Meng Chao felt his skin crawl once he heard this. After thinking about it for a while, he said, “Wait, didn’t you just say that there is a fixed number of X-shaped eye owners, and when one of them dies, a new curse will fall on another person? If that’s the case, there’s no way they can finish all of them!”

“What I’m saying is that when an owner dies, a new curse MIGHT appear, not that it will DEFINITELY appear,” A’Ji said. “Besides, this was just Blood Alliance’s guess. Perhaps the number of X-shaped eye owners has been shrinking slowly over the past half a century and is now half or even onr-third of the original number.

“You must understand, there are plenty of X-shaped eye owners who experienced hell in the ancient ruins and saw countless unidentified things that humans cannot bear. Even if they left the ancient ruins with their bodies intact, their minds have long been distorted to the point that they’re no longer human. Their train of thought and moral limits are completely different from those of normal people.

“Even if there is a one in a trillion chance that they can obtain all the treasures in the ancient ruins, these people will do everything to get it, and they won’t care about the cost.”

Meng Chao gulped.

Now, he was even more reluctant to have his sister join this dangerous “Gu Rearing” project.

“Are all the X-shaped eye owners this crazy?” Meng Chao asked tentatively.

“Of course not. Only a handful of X-shaped eye owners believe in this Gu rearing theory. The problem is, as long as this small group of people launch a war, the other X-shaped eye owners will have no other choice but to fight,” A’Ji said. “Think about it. If two X-shaped eye owners discover each other’s identity, how would they know if the other isn’t a lunatic who believes in the Gu rearing theory and doesn’t want to kill them?

“You must understand that the X-shaped eye owners usually have stronger power and more mysterious skills compared to normal superhumans. If they don’t do something to kill the other first, they might die at any moment!”

Meng Chao found his words to be true after he thought about it.

The human mind was unpredictable.

And the battle between humans was usually much more brutal than the battles between humans and zombies or humans and monsters.

“Fortunately, that’s something that happened decades ago,” A’Ji said. “Over the past few years, either the number of X-shaped eye owners has really been dwindling, or everyone has learned their lesson and now knows how to hide their identities.

“In any case, the number of times this tattoo appeared in Dragon City has reduced. Most of the information related to the X-shaped eye has been covered up or monopolized by various forces of power. It has been a long time since I’ve heard of any shocking, secret battles between X-shaped eye owners.

“Of course, as people who are cursed by the ancient civilization, they have to be on guard at all times.

“Once Saber Jin Wanhao noticed that he was getting weaker, he immediately made the decision to flee underground. After I regained my youth, I cast aside my past self without hesitation. One of the reasons was for me to hide from the gangs and mega corporations. The other more important reason was for me to avoid the other X-shaped eye owners. If they find out that I’ve gained this form, they would jump out from their dark corners and kill me!”

Translator’s Note:

[1] Gu: A type of venomous insect that is the product of someone trapping multiple venomous insects in a container. These insects will eat each other, absorbing their poison, and in the end, only one will be left. This is the Gu. Don’t trust any of it. It’s bollocks.

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