Chapter 158

Chapter 158

The dark portal closed completely after Xi Xiang entered, with her and others' figures vanishing behind.

Mixue's face turned ashen. The mission to take down Ark's organization "Nightfall" was undoubtedly a failure. In the end, she couldn't even leave one person behind, realizing the operation was a total loss.

Mixue's gaze shifted to the creature before her. Wangchao had fully merged with the alien creature on his body, his physical form and consciousness lost within the translucent blue figure. What stood before Mixue was a massive octopus, occupying half the room.

Its tentacles were wildly spread out, entering a highly agitated state upon successful fusion.

As she anticipated, Ark seemed to have already known about their situation and knew Wangchao would come to help. Her sigh came through the other end, instructing them to leave first.

Once freed from the tentacle's control, Mixue's powers indeed returned. She didn't give up, still trying to prevent Xi Xiang from escaping but was blocked by the emerging strong tentacles.

Rui Pan attempted to use sensory deprivation on the creature, but after losing its senses, its movements became even more unrestrained. Her two accompanying officers were swept up in the air by the tentacles, and she too was caught by the legs.

This state of frenzy didn't last long for the creature. After a few seconds, it stopped moving, seemingly digesting something.

Rui Pan seized this moment to shoot and break the tentacle on her leg and the ones holding her officers. This attack provoked a reaction from the creature; all its tentacles flailed wildly before unexpectedly extending upwards, wrapping its head with all its limbs.

This made it resemble a translucent blue egg, and after doing so, it fell silent again.

Mixue took a deep breath and gestured for Rui Pan and the others to stop. She cautiously approached the large alien creature, slowly moving closer and reporting the situation to Agatha, "Colonel Agatha, all enemies have left. I'm sorry, I couldn't stop them."

She then reported the presence of Tark, "We've encountered the escaped experimental alien 0626 here. Its ability is 'Neutralization.' We can't let it escape. If Ark absorbs it, and gains its power, we will truly be unable to stop her..."

After a moment of silence, the other end responded, "I understand. I'll report this immediately and arrange for personnel to come."

After ending the communication, Mixue turned her attention back to the alien creature. Its regenerative ability was incredibly strong; tentacles pierced by bullets regenerated instantly. Now, it protected its vulnerable head with its limbs, making it difficult to harm with their weapons. Mixue and her team were at a standstill, waiting for Agatha's next move.

Agatha realized that killing Ark wouldn't be easy, especially now knowing Tark's ability. Her thoughts aligned with Mixue's.

—They absolutely couldn't let this Neutralization-capable alien fall into Ark's hands.

Commanding two teams to operate separately, and having Jacob compile and report the situation, Agatha felt exhausted, a sense of powerlessness overwhelming her.

This operation was a major defeat for them. Mu'er was dead, there were numerous casualties, and their original goal—to destroy Nightfall and kill Ark—remained unachieved.

Neither of their goals had been achieved.

They had been the hunters with information and preparation, yet they ended up utterly defeated.

The current situation was something Agatha had never considered before the operation. She even questioned why the top brass was so intent on killing Ark. Even without their intervention, Ark's old human body would eventually collapse. Why expend such effort?

Agatha looked up at the building where Ark had disappeared. Although she was arranging personnel for capture, she knew better than anyone that without the hindrance of Nightfall members, catching Ark was impossible.

Meanwhile, Ark, evading the pursuit of the subsequent forces, heard the loud sirens outside the building.

Shortly after Xi Xiang contacted her, she received news of the successful evacuation of the headquarters personnel. This eased Ark's mind. The alien creature she had placed with Wangchao also conveyed the news of Wangchao's fusion with Tark.

Wangchao's final fusion was inevitable, especially since he took responsibility for the last step of the evacuation. Ark was prepared for this eventuality, exhaling slowly, unavoidably feeling a bit melancholic.

Many officials gathered in the building Ark entered, searching for her. Without further concerns, escaping from these officers was easy for Ark. She used the Five-Colored Lizard's ability to evade their sight, watching the officers in uniform search like headless flies.

Simultaneously, Ark noticed Agatha arranging personnel towards Nightfall's headquarters. She knew their objective without guessing – they wanted to take Tark away.

Avoiding the searching officers, Ark observed the situation on the other side, taking out a device she carried.

She had placed enough explosives inside Nightfall to blow up all ten underground floors, initially for destruction after evacuation. Now, it served a different purpose.

Waiting for Agatha to enter as well, Ark mercilessly activated the pre-set timed explosives.

Seconds later, a thunderous boom echoed from the other end. The massive underground explosion caused tremors on the nearby ground, especially near the explosion's epicenter.

The surrounding officials felt a wave of heat from the collapsing mall below, then the aftershock hurled them outward. The already unstable ruins of the mall above collapsed violently at that moment.

At the same time, a notification message flashed before Ark's eyes.

[Alien Creature "Tark" willingly submits to you]

[Qualified to absorb alien creature "Tark." Do you choose to absorb?]

Seeing this message, Ark felt surprised but didn't hesitate to choose to absorb.

[Absorption successful]

[New entry added to the Codex: "Tark"]

[Number 80: Tark]

[Level: SS (Combined threat and intelligence assessment)]

[Primary Ability (Dissolution of Ice): Can actively neutralize target abilities through contact.]

Ark wasn't surprised by Tark's ability; Wangchao had informed her about it before the transfer. No wonder Agatha didn't pursue her but went underground to capture Tark. If she gained this power, killing her would be nearly impossible, making it harder to stop her invasion.

Ark was more surprised that Tark willingly submitted to her. According to her plan, the explosion would have severely injured Tark, allowing her to capture it logically. For a double S-ranked alien creature with both intelligence and ability at S-level, willingly submitting was not an easy feat.

But the message appearing before her indicated Tark's voluntary submission, suggesting it chose to submit to her before being severely injured, overriding the information about its injury.

With some confusion, Ark moved towards the explosion's epicenter amidst the chaos, separating Chameleon to observe as it burrowed underground.

Shortly after, a small octopus head with newly grown tentacles was brought out from the corner by Chameleon.

Tark possessed a strong regenerative ability, able to instantly heal its limbs even when severely damaged. In such an explosion, as long as it protected its head and continuously used its tentacles to fend off the blast, it could survive.

Of course, the cost was an inevitable sacrifice of some power, entering a state of injury.

Ark merged it into her body, moving away from the area, while simultaneously hacking into the surveillance cameras around the mall.

Ark wanted to confirm whether Agatha and the others were affected by the explosion. To her disappointment, both Mixue and Agatha, whom she hoped to kill in passing, survived and emerged from the ruins.

Agatha must have acted promptly in the critical moment, leading Ark to withdraw from the surveillance intrusion.

This move completed the most challenging part of the evacuation. Ark planned to contact Xi Xiang and return to the transit station, but Tark inside her was sending signals to come out, seemingly having something to say to her but unwilling to communicate directly while inside.

With the matter resolved, Ark was not in a hurry. Curious about how an S-level intelligent alien would communicate, she found a safe location, hacked nearby surveillance cameras, and released Tark.

The translucent blue octopus separated from her body. It quickly recovered from its explosion-induced injuries inside her body and was half-human height when it came out.

While Ark was still wondering what it wanted, the alien creature before her suddenly spoke, raising a tentacle and saying, "Hello, Ark."

Tark spoke in human language, a voice Ark found familiar - unmistakably Wangchao's voice.

"Wangchao...?" Ark was taken aback.

Alien creatures don't speak human language, except for those like Vine Creatures that can mimic humans and utter a few words. No alien could speak while maintaining its original form.

Was Wangchao alive? This overloaded Ark's already burdened mind, and she didn't bother to think much, waiting for the alien creature to provide answers.

"No, I am Tark," the translucent blue creature raised a tentacle, its two eyes on Ark, speaking gently, "But you can call me Wangchao. I have absorbed his memories and experienced everything he has. Memories can be a vessel for the soul; from your human perspective, I can also be Wangchao."

"Moreover, 'Wangchao' itself means 'octopus,' doesn't it?"

Tark, an S-level intelligent alien, with profound intelligence, modeled its thinking and learning after Wangchao's memories, leading it to speak like him.

Yet, compared to Wangchao, it appeared more lively and curious about the new world.

"I understand, Tark," Ark quickly accepted this fact. She chose not to call it Wangchao, as it only possessed Wangchao's memories and was not him in essence.

Ark asked her question, "Why did you choose to let me absorb you? After consuming Wangchao, you could have easily avoided fulfilling his agreement."

Deciding to become Ark's alien creature meant it had to obey her commands fully. If Ark had to choose, she would never surrender her freedom to another.

The tentacle Tark raised bent slightly, touching its round head, "I did consider that. We creatures don't have your human notions of honor or integrity, and breaking a promise is quite normal... But after receiving Wangchao's memories, I changed my mind."

Ark's curiosity was piqued, and she asked, "Does every alien creature merging with a devourer receive the devourer's memories?"

Tark replied, "No, I am an exception. Wangchao could communicate with alien creatures, understanding my needs. He voluntarily gave me his memories during our fusion."

"Many alien creatures willingly accept humans' invitations to lend them power because it's an instinct for lower intelligence beings to gravitate towards higher intelligence beings. They want to learn from humans, but they can't communicate or even understand their own needs."

"That's somewhat beyond my expectation," Ark admitted.

Tark was so human-like that Ark found it hard to see him as just another alien creature like Vine Creatures. Many A-level intelligent aliens were still more animalistic, lacking human environments and cognition. Even though Ark could communicate with them, they couldn't express themselves as clearly as Tark.

Tark's existence made Ark feel as if she had gained an equal partner for communication, which was quite novel.

"Wait a moment," Tark suddenly said. After talking about unrelated things with Ark, it finally remembered why it had come out, "Wangchao left a message for you."

Ark tilted her head slightly, indicating she was listening. She hadn't expected Wangchao to have a final message for her.

"Let me think..."

"He said, 'Thank you, it's all up to you now.'"

"He also said, 'It's a pity I didn't meet you earlier, couldn't see the final world.'"

……

"And, 'Believe in the path you choose, thank you for giving me freedom.'"

"Are these all his final words for me?" Ark asked. She understood the first part, but the last statement made her curious. She and Wangchao were merely partners, their acquaintance not long. In his view, at most, his striving business had a reliable successor. How did she grant him freedom?

"He had many final thoughts, which made it hard for me to summarize, so I just told you everything," Tark paused after speaking, its tentacles and eyes motionless as if pondering whether Wangchao truly wanted to convey these messages to Ark. Finally, it answered her question firmly.

"—I think they all are."