Chapter 63: Darkness · Symbiosis
Su Xiao walked into the alchemy laboratory and stopped before a glass column nearly three meters thick. Viscous darkness surged within, and the inner walls of the glass column were coated with a substance resembling crude oil.
Su Xiao truly hadn't expected that after implanting the "Darkness Eye," the Devourer's aura would swell so much. Although it was stronger now, this thing had no sense of ally or foe, so it had to be used with caution.
Bang.
A muffled sound came from ahead. The Devourer, in its black semi-fluid form, churned and actually took on a humanoid shape similar to Su Xiao's build. A crack split open where the mouth would be, and rows of stark white, razor-sharp fangs emerged. It actually grinned.
Bang!
Another muffled sound rang out as the Darkness Eye on the Devourer's chest opened wide. That single eye held nothing but greed and hunger. From the look of it, it wanted to devour Su Xiao in one gulp.
Su Xiao pulled down an operating lever. A mixture of inert gas and electric arcs appeared inside the glass column.
"Hiss!"
The Devourer let out a screech and scattered throughout the glass column. Seeing this, Su Xiao checked the Devourer's current data.
Name: Devourer
Type: Dark Matter Creature/Semi-Being
Storable Duration: 175 Natural Days
Health: 100% (Semi-Being type health, no vital points)
Dark Special Energy: 12,700 Points (Will rapidly increase upon entering growth phase.)
Strength: 175 Points (True Attribute, will rapidly increase upon entering growth phase.)
Agility: 175 Points (True Attribute, will rapidly increase upon entering growth phase.)
Endurance: 200 Points (True Attribute, will rapidly increase upon entering growth phase. This is boosted by the 'Darkness Eye.')
Intelligence: 1 Point
Charm: 0 Points
Initial Form 1, Darkness · Hunger (Passive, X): This individual possesses a powerful devouring ability. After devouring enemies, it will rapidly grow. While its Strength, Agility, and Endurance attributes increase quickly, it will also awaken new abilities within a short period (awakening 8 to 12 new abilities), depending on the characteristics of the devoured enemy.
Note: After this ability is triggered, this unit will enter a growth phase, causing its existence cycle to be drastically shortened. The existence cycle is 1 to 5 hours, depending on the user's Intelligence attribute.
Note: During the devouring process, this unit's size will increase rapidly, and it will be indiscriminate between friend and foe.
Initial Form 2, Darkness · Symbiosis (Passive, X): Due to the implantation of the 'Darkness Eye,' this Devourer has acquired a parasitic characteristic. It can reduce its initial size and parasitize a host. While coexisting with the host, it will grant the host powerful vitality and recovery. 20% of the Devourer's true Endurance attribute will be shared with the host (i.e., increasing the host's true Endurance attribute by 40 points), and it will increase the host's health by 5,300 points and body defense by 35 points.
Note: After the Devourer completes parasitization, it will merge with the host to develop the 'Cooperative Devouring' ability, allowing them to devour enemies. Each time an enemy is devoured, the Devourer's and the host's Strength, Agility, and Endurance attributes will increase together, granting a maximum of 8 to 12 abilities (if the host has potential in the Intelligence attribute, the host's Intelligence attribute will also increase, but the Devourer's Intelligence attribute is a constant 1 point).
Note: Due to the parasitic state, the Devourer's existence duration is greatly extended, being a base of 97 natural days + the host's lifespan × 0.12.
Note: In this state, the Devourer can assimilate the host's memories during the early parasitic stage, thereby evolving into an intelligent being, communicating and cooperating with the host. After detaching from the parasitic state, the Devourer's Intelligence will rapidly decrease over time, eventually reverting to a non-intelligent creature.
Note: While in the parasitic state, the Devourer is still afraid of 'Mixed Inert Gas.' Upon contact with 'Mixed Inert Gas,' the Devourer will be anaesthetized and weakened, its comprehensive attributes greatly reduced, and it may even be temporarily stripped of the parasitic state.
Note: In its initial state, the Devourer will choose a host it recognizes based on instinct for parasitization.
Note: During parasitization, the host's mind will be influenced by the Devourer, becoming more aggressive.
Note: When the Devourer is stripped from the host's body, the physical attributes and abilities the host gained during the parasitic period will rapidly degrade over time, with some being partially retained.
Note: While the Devourer is in a parasitic state, it cannot resist the 'Absolute Command' of its creator. The creator can issue three 'Absolute Commands.' If the Devourer sacrifices its mobility or resists the 'Absolute Command' in any way, the Devourer and the host will enter a 'Berserk State.' Once in the 'Berserk State,' the creator can 100% control the Devourer's actions.
Note: After the Devourer chooses one of its two initial forms, 'Darkness · Hunger' or 'Darkness · Symbiosis,' it will lose the other ability. Only when the Devourer dies or dissolves and is recreated can a new round of initial form selection occur.
Darkness · Hunger Form: Full non-intelligent form.
Darkness · Symbiosis Form: Intelligent form.
Initial Skill, Persistent Memory (Passive, X): Due to the Devourer's unique body structure, after its death, the remaining fragments of its body will retain partial memories. If these fragments are added to the cultivation of a new Devourer, the newly born Devourer will inherit some memory fragments from the previous generation Devourer.
Seeing the Devourer's data, Su Xiao understood that the current Devourer had evolved from a large-scale destructive weapon into a growable large-scale destructive weapon.
The Devourer had two forms, 'Hunger' and 'Symbiosis.' The Hunger form was the form the Devourer had taken in the dream world, which Su Xiao had already seen.
The Symbiosis form was quite interesting. The Devourer would choose a host based on its instinct. During the early stages of parasitization, the host's true Endurance attribute would increase significantly. During this period, the host would find it difficult to detect the Devourer's presence within their body.
At that time, the host might believe they were the legendary child of destiny, but that was far from the truth. During this period, the Devourer would read the host's memories and use them to evolve into an intelligent being.
After that, things were simple. The Devourer and the host would defeat various powerful enemies, and after defeating them, they would devour them.
The hosts the Devourer chose were likely to have weak, submissive personalities. The Devourer itself was very domineering. Choosing a domineering host would be detrimental to early development. Once the host got cocky, the Devourer would be close to death. The Devourer in its early parasitic stage was not very powerful.
The Devourer wouldn't seek out overly strong individuals to parasitize. In the early parasitic stage, it could be stripped away. In that form, if stripped, the Devourer had very few means to fight.
Su Xiao didn't care how the Devourer and the host cooperated and grew stronger. What he cared about were the three Absolute Commands. As long as the Devourer didn't resist to the death, he could forcibly issue three commands, making the Devourer do three things. If it resisted to the death, he could then fully control it.
There was another point. Each time the Devourer died, if its fragments were recovered and added to the cultivation of a new generation Devourer, the initial form Devourer would have a certain degree of intelligence.
If Su Xiao transformed the Devourer into the 'Hunger Form,' this meager intelligence would be suppressed. The Devourer would enter a non-intelligent state, first devouring quickly, then rampaging and destroying wantonly.
In principle, symbiosis with the Devourer wasn't entirely a bad thing. If one could ultimately survive, they would not only become much stronger than before but also gain 1 to 2 biological-type supernatural abilities.
Fundamentally, the Devourer actually couldn't parasitize those who psychologically rejected it, meaning it couldn't parasitize kind-hearted people. Those who didn't harbor hidden, intense hatred, darkness, and strong resentment, along with a deep-seated thirst for bloodshed, couldn't achieve 'Adaptability Matching' with the Devourer.
The Devourer's change to the host's personality was merely amplifying these things hidden within the host's heart.
Su Xiao opened the glass column and loaded the Devourer inside into a glass column about 30 centimeters thick and half a meter tall. In the future, when he first entered a world, he would need to release the Devourer first.
Su Xiao glanced at the Alchemy Codex on the test bench but didn't immediately upgrade his Alchemy skill. His current strength was already sufficient. It was time to explore how to use the first-generation Law Annihilator's finger bone. He wanted to try what kind of enhancement this finger bone would bring to his own Azure Steel Shadow ability.