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Translator's note: The Black Rose reminds me of the bar "the Gates of Hell" in the video game Bayonetta.
Ed note: I don't think it's healthy for the doggies to eat human meat
No wonder Lin Ziyang felt this way. Even though he was left with only one eye, this eye had undergone Specter transformation, turning it into an incomplete version of a Specter.
His intention was to use his Specter power to corrupt Fang Xiu's soul, thereby controlling Fang Xiu's body. But now, it seemed that it was Fang Xiu who was corrupting his.
Lin Ziyang suddenly felt that compared to Fang Xiu, he was the real human.
Just as he was about to retreat, he was horrified to find that he couldn't move.
It was like he was a small boat in a vast sea, with countless negative emotions forming huge waves, constantly crashing against him, overturning him.
At that moment, Fang Xiu's voice echoed in his mind.
Fang Xiu's voice had changed. It was no longer calm like still water but utterly terrifying and sinister, sounding like a demonic tune from hell.
It seemed as if everything outside was just his facade, and the real him was within his soul.
Fang Xiu smirked, "This is the pain you're feeling? Too weak! Let me show you what real pain is! Hehehe!"
With a terrifying laugh, the next moment, endless darkness surged toward Lin Ziyang.
It was Fang Xiu's dark Spiritual Energy, containing all the pain he had ever experienced.
"No!!!" Lin Ziyang let out his final scream, and then he was engulfed by boundless torment.
Outside, Fang Xiu, who had his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.
At that moment, both his eyes had fully recovered, and his vision was back to normal.
However, his right eye was blood-red, with a pitch-black pupil in the center, like a bottomless abyss.
The next second, as he focused his thoughts, the blood-red in his right eye slowly faded, revealing a clear black and white eye.
"Blood Pupil? Is this Lin Ziyang's ability?" Fang Xiu mumbled to himself.
After Lin Ziyang died from endless pain, Fang Xiu became the master of the Blood Pupil and understood its power.
The ability of the Blood Pupil is simple: a Spiritual Energy assault, similar to a psychic attack. Simply put, it was a deadly stare.
Making eye contact with the Blood Pupil would result in a Spiritual Energy assault that directly targeted the soul.
Ordinary people would collapse and die from just one glance, while typical psychics, when caught off guard, would at least be momentarily dazed or at worst fall into a coma. It was a perfect tool for surprise attacks.
This was the inherent ability of the Blood Pupil, but after undergoing a mutation due to uncontrolled Spiritual Energy, its power changed.
It gained the ability to create illusions, causing hallucinations through eye contact.
Fang Xiu speculated that during the mutation, Lin Ziyang's Spiritual Energy might have surpassed its limits, making this eye evolve into the realm of a second-tier psychic.
The manifestation of a first-tier psychic was the initial display of their abilities.
A second-tier psychic, on the other hand, had their abilities enhanced.
Clearly, the Blood Pupil's power had been strengthened, gaining the ability to create illusions.
This brought a long-awaited sense of joy to Fang Xiu.
Currently, only two things could stir his emotions: slaughtering Specters and gaining strength.
Of course, gaining strength was just a means to more effectively slaughter Specters.
Apart from acquiring the Blood Pupil and the candlestick, his own Spiritual Energy had grown to 5%. Fang Xiu speculated that this can be attributed to his absorption of Lin Ziyang's Spiritual Energy.
Although Lin Ziyang had died, his entire Spiritual Energy went out of control and surged into the mutated Blood Pupil, which meant that when Lin Ziyang died inside Fang Xiu's soul, all his Spiritual Energy was absorbed by him.
Lin Ziyang's death gave Fang Xiu a hint, a path of getting stronger by absorption.
Other psychics dared not absorb other psychics' Spiritual Energy, as it would deepen the soul's corruption and cause Spiritual Energy to lose control. However, Fang Xiu had no fear.
He could completely walk the path of absorption.
But now there was a problem: Fang Xiu doesn't know how to absorb Spiritual Energy.
This opportunity only came because Lin Ziyang had willingly abandoned his body to enter Fang Xiu's soul.
Such chances might not happen again.
Perhaps the Ace of Spades knows.
Fang Xiu had kept Lin Ziyang's word in mind. According to him, Ace of Spades played a significant role in his Specter transformation.
Otherwise, even if a psychic's Spiritual Energy went out of control, it wouldn't necessarily concentrate all its energy into the Blood Pupil, causing it to fully mutate.
As for who the Ace of Spades really was remained unknown to Fang Xiu, but whatever he had done had left Fang Xiu quite satisfied.
Fang Xiu began cleaning up the aftermath. He threw Lin Ziyang's corpse into a meat grinder, turning it into dog food.
With the dog food, he got in the car and drove away.
After feeding the stray dogs, Fang Xiu casually abandoned the car somewhere and left.
Lin Ziyang's car was nice, a luxury vehicle worth a million, but Fang Xiu couldn't afford to keep it, as it might attract the attention of the Bright Club.
The bronze candlestick was also the Specter Gadget of the Bright Club's leader and was lent to Lin Ziyang.
Fang Xiu could easily imagine that once the Bright Club found out, they'd send someone for revenge and to retrieve the bronze candlestick.
To nip potential threats in the bud, he should take the chance to eliminate the Bright Club.
That was the trouble with worldly affairs: killing one person often meant having to kill all related ones.
There was a saying Fang Xiu strongly agreed with: the underworld wasn't just about fighting and killing; it was about worldly affairs.
So, he should eliminate them all, cutting off his worldly ties.
However, the time wasn't right. The leader of the Bright Club was a second-tier psychic, and he had a significant number of subordinates. Among the various private organizations in Greenvine City, they were considered one of the most influential. Such power wasn't something Fang Xiu could contend with at the moment.
At the same time, at the Black Rose Bar…
From the outside, it appeared as a regular bar with average business and not many patrons.
But only those within the psychic circle knew of its prestigious reputation.
The Black Rose was the underground black market of Greenvine City and a crucial hub where most regular psychics traded Spiritual Energy materials and information.
Here, as long as you had money, you could buy many precious materials, like spiritual coins, spiritual incense, and even Specter Gadgets.
Beyond buying and selling, the place also facilitated various information trades, such as information on Specters, personal information on psychics, and even contract killings.
Fang Xiu pushed open the doors of the Black Rose Bar and slowly walked in. He had learned about this underground market from Lin Ziyang.
His arrival didn't draw much attention from the patrons, but he could feel a sense of scrutiny coming from all around.
At that moment, Fang Xiu was concealed under a large black hood, his head bowed, and his face obscured by shadows, making it impossible to discern his features.
He walked up to the counter, where a young man dressed as a bartender was intently polishing a glass.
"Welcome to the Black Rose. What can I get for you?" the bartender asked with a smile.