Epoch of Twilight

Chapter 152: Failed Evolution
Chapter 152: Failed Evolution

Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“What happened to him? Luo Yuan, hurry! Come and see!” Huang Jiahui’s voice had a tinge of fear, interrupting Luo Yuan who was slicing a hardboiled egg.

His heartbeat became a little erratic. Luo Yuan kept his knife back into its sheath and hastened there. Looking at Chen Xianfeng’s body, he had a bad feeling.

Chen Xianfeng’s condition did not seem right. He was having uncontrollable muscle spasms. His hair was falling off bunch by bunch. Even his nails were growing unnaturally fast and did not resemble those of a human’s anymore. The tips were pointed and glowing in black with a metallic lustre, looking extremely sharp. What was more horrifying was that his flesh started to grow a rough, horned layer, that covered his whole body like an armor.

“It’s dangerous here. Everybody, back off!” Luo Yuan did not hesitate with his command.

Even if he had not commanded so, everyone had already moved four or five meters away.

“Didn’t he evolve? How could this happen?” Zhao Yali carefully took a look at Chen Xianfeng and asked.

“I’m not so sure. It seems that evolving has a certain fail rate. Chen Xianfeng probably failed to evolve.” Luo Yuan said. He realized this abnormal phenomenon resembled the corpse of Wang Xiaguang’s father that he saw in the laboratory previously.

The crowd was amazed, but did not look too amused. Looking at Chen Xianfeng’s condition, they suddenly did not know if they were lucky enough to not have to experience becoming an evolved human.

“What happens if an evolutions fail?” Cao Lin suddenly asked.

Luo Yuan glanced at her and said, “If the condition is severe, it may cause death because of the genetic breakdown. Else, he may be stuck being neither human nor beast. The final outcome of whether he is able to keep his human nature and form is all dependent on his Will now.”

Wang Xiaguang’s father was like that. At first, everything was still normal. He still continued living with his wife. Nobody noticed anything strange. However, as time passed, the nature of the beast within him started affected him more and more. He eventually started devouring humans but throughout the entire ordeal, he has never harmed his wife and daughter proving once and for all that with strong Will, the beastly instincts could be overcome.

But, Chen Xianfeng’s evolution was more aggressive compared to Wang Xiaguang’s father. All changes were completed rapidly in a short period of time unlike her father whose condition worsened over time. What would become of her was something he was unable to determine.

“Is there nothing we can do?” Huang Jiahui eyes teared up.

The rest harboured a heavy feeling in their hearts as well. Although Chen Xianfeng was a man of a few words and his presence was insignificant to others, having spent so much time together made them feel a certain connection to him.

“This is a fight on the genetic level. No treatment would be of help. He can only depend on himself.” Luo Yuan understood her feeling, but there is no way he can stop a change on the genetic level.

Then, his bones started exploding like firecrackers. Muscles all over his body were also expanding rapidly, bulging beneath his shirt. It seemed as if he has broken the barriers of human growth as his body grew taller by more than twenty centimeters within a few minutes, showing no signs of slowing down.

Luo Yuan’s expression changed. He will perish if this continues. The human body is only capable of so much and would not be able to cope with growth at such an intense level. It this does not stop, his body could break down anytime soon.

Ordinary food no longer had the ability to keep him nourished as his body depleted it faster than it could be replenished. The only way for him to stay alive would be to continue eating highly nutritious food.

Luo Yuan hesitated for a few seconds before rushing towards the huge egg. This may aggravate his condition and possibly even cause him to lose his mind when he awakes. However, as long as there was a glimmer of hope that he would be alright, Luo Yuan refused to give up.

He took out his knife and dug up a big piece of egg white, opened his mouth and fed it to him. Then, he took a pack of tree sap and fed it to him as well.

The piece of egg was much bigger than the one Luo Yuan ate earlier. The nourishment from that piece of egg white was no joke, even Luo Yuan would be worried of getting a nosebleed from that big a piece. If an ordinary person were to eat it, it would certainly end up with them burning to death. However, at the rate Chen Xianfeng is growing, this did not apply to him.

As the egg white was put into his mouth, his originally pale white face became a glowing bright red, but faded just as it appeared. At the same time, his body growth sped up even more.

His shirt was clinging tightly against his body, akin to an adult wearing children’s clothing. It restricted his movements uncomfortably. Luo Yuan was prepared to cut his clothes with a knife, “Shi-lakk!” the clothes came undone and revealed frightening, abnormal muscles.

Luo Yuan sighed. Although the level of his clothes were not high, it was still of blue level. Even with his thirteen points of strength, all his efforts to tear it off was all in vain as it would require more than fifteen points to get the job done.

The growth due to his evolution is just amazing!

Chen Xianfeng’s skin had totally changed. It was covered with a thick, horned layer, just like a suit of armor. His chest expanded and contracted while his nostrils shot out streams of steam. Due to the cells in his body that were furiously breaking down and regenerating at the same time, his body temperature had already gone up to 70 degrees Celsius. Luo Yuan could feel the heat blowing towards his direction, even though he was standing a few meters away.

After a minute, his growth slowed down and his breaths were staggered due to his depleted energy. Luo Yuan hesitated for a while and walked in front of the huge egg.

“Luo Yuan……!” Huang Jiahui couldn’t help but to shout, looking very pale.

Luo Yuan turned back and looked at the crowd. He notice the unease on everyone’s face. He remained silent for a moment and slowly said, “This is the last time. All of you, back off further away”

Of course he knew it was very dangerous. He noticed that the breath of Chen Xianfeng is close to that of a blue level mutated beast’s. If he swallowed the egg white again, he could very well reach a dark blue level immediately. If that happens, it would be a burden even to Luo Yuan.

At the very least however, if he did not even attempt but immediately gave up, Chen Xianfeng would have no chance of ever waking up. Besides, Luo Yuan was curious to see the extent of Chen Xianfeng’s evolution.

As he was fed the egg white, his growth sped up once again. Two point five meters, two point seven meters, three meters. As he reached three meters, his growth stopped once more but this time his breathing was steady while his body temperature decreased slowly.

Luo Yuan knew he would eventually regain consciousness, his hand pressing silently against the handle of his zhanmadao.

As everyone stood at the doorway watching from afar, the atmosphere in the hall became tense.

Slightly more than ten seconds later, Chen Xianfeng’s heavy eyelids twitched and opened to reveal his now green eyes. Looking at the ceiling, his pupils contracted and dilated several times until he could focus clearly.

As he slowly sat up, he had a confused look on his face. Zhao Yali covered her mouth, trying her level best not to scream as she saw him. At over three meters high, he looked like a giant. Even sitting down he was the same height as an upright Luo Yuan.

Chen Xianfeng suddenly noticed Luo Yuan, who was nearby. He was clearly stunned as his vision was made inaccurate by his staggering height. He tried opening his mouth to speak but what came out was a husky, deep voice.

He looked at his body before trembling in fear. “Ahhhhhhh!” he roared in pain and stood up furiously.

Clearly, he has not adapted to his new body. His newfound power made him collapse just as soon as he stood up. His body fell clumsily onto a burnt office table nearby, breaking it down to mere dust and smoke flying in all directions.

He attempted to stand once again, but fell down nonetheless.

After repeatedly trying several times, he finally showed just how strong his new body could be. Unleashing all his strength he roared continuously and punched the ground with all his might. Innumerable rocks flew everywhere as his fists landed on the ground one after the other, smashing the land beneath him. Even the defensive camp started quivering.

“Honggg, honggg, hongg….”

After several seconds passed, the ground near the defensive camp site had a half meter deep hole dug out by his fist. A few exposed concrete iron bars that were as thick as two fingers were also twisted by his amazing strength.

He suddenly stopped hammering and turned his gaze to Luo Yuan. His eyes giving off a brutal, violent glimmer. He stood up shakily and roared like the beast he seemed to be.

“Chen Xianfeng, do you want me to wake you up?” Luo Yuan suddenly rebuked.

The cold voice was laced with an intent to kill. It made Chen Xianfeng come to his senses, leaving behind the beastly, animalistic emotions that took over just a few seconds ago. Luo Yuan had made a lasting impression on him that reduced him to shivers. Instinctively, he backed off and his eyes turned back to normal.

“I……I……What happened to me?” stammered Chen Xianfeng in an apprehensive voice.

As he opened his mouth, Luo Yuan immediately noticed his tongue had branched into two. His canine teeth also grew much bigger. One way or the other, he was no longer human.

Seeing as he has somewhat come to his senses, Luo Yuan heaved a sigh of relief. However, he kept his grip tightly on his knife as he answered him, “You’ve failed to evolve but your body had already undergone some changes. You were lucky to survive but can you hold on to your senses?

“I…..don’t……don’t know” He shook his head in agony, and said “very……frustrated, but …I … can……hold on.”

Watching at Chen Xianfeng trying to take control of his senses, the rest had finally dared to come closer. Chen Xianfeng nervously looked at the crowd in an aggressive manner. His vision was slightly blurred and he was clenching his fist subconsciously.

Luo Yuan was shocked when he saw how the changes in his genetics due to the evolution had adversely influenced his temper.

“Chen Xianfeng, can you still recognize us?” Huo Dong asked in fear.

“I……can……recognize… all…”Chen Xianfeng said in a suppressed voice. His eyes casting violent glances every now and then. His face was very agitated as well. Nevertheless, he kept it well under control.

“It’s great that you were able to recover. Although you had only semi-evolved, your abilities have become much stronger. As long as you’ve managed to survive, there is nothing more to ask for. You have to keep going, you must be strong.” Cao Lin encouraged him.

“Yeah, your strength was amazing. I thought the building was going to collapse.” Wang Shishi added on. She was not afraid. Instead, she was only staring at him out of curiousity.

Everyone hastened to comfort him until Luo Yuan stepped in to stop them.

He noticed that Chen Xianfeng’s fidgeting became more and more apparent. He was obviously irritated with everyone preaching at him, almost unable to control his emotions.

“He needs a quiet environment. Leave him be for awhile.” Luo Yuan said.