Cut off my way home? You'll sacrifice the entire other world in return!

Five thousand meters underground.

The elevator numbers were jumping wildly, and the air grew colder and colder, carrying an indescribable stale smell.

Archbishop Salon huddled in the corner of the elevator, his magnificent bishop's robes soaked with cold sweat.

Li Fan stood next to him, holding a handrail that had been removed from the elevator wall, tapping it absentmindedly against his palm.

"Aren't we there yet?"

Li Fan glanced at the metal armrest in his hand, then casually popped it into his mouth and took a bite.

"Why is this lousy elevator so slow?"

"Almost...almost there..." Saron answered, trembling. "The restricted area is located at the deepest point underground. To prevent radiation leakage, thirty layers of lead plates were built as a barrier."

"radiation?"

Li Fan chewed up the metal in his mouth.

"That's the best seasoning for me."

Ding.

The elevator doors opened.

A green glow rushed towards me.

This is a huge underground laboratory.

Or it could be described as a mausoleum.

The surrounding area was filled with huge culture tanks, containing all sorts of deformed biological specimens.

There are rats with three heads, human babies covered in scales, and mutated beasts completely modified by machines.

This is the darkest secret of the Mechanicus, their testing ground for attempting to create super weapons by studying the power of the Destroyer.

Li Fan ignored the disgusting specimens.

His gaze was drawn to the largest container in the center of the hall.

It was a cylindrical glass jar, hundreds of meters tall, filled with a murky yellow liquid.

Something is suspended in the liquid.

That was a finger.

To be precise, it was a jet-black finger, shaped like a mountain peak.

Even a severed finger can be tens of meters long.

The broken ends were jagged, revealing the black bones and congealed blood vessels inside.

Even through the thick special glass and insulating liquid, Li Fan could still feel the terrifying aura emanating from that severed finger.

It was an aura filled with resentment, unwillingness, despair, and... endless hunger.

"similar..……"

Li Fan muttered to himself.

He walked up to the glass jar and reached out to touch the glass.

Every cell in the body is cheering and yearning.

That was the flesh and blood of a plane devourer of the same origin as him.

[Sizzle... sizzle...]

The system, which had been dormant, suddenly started responding.

Moreover, the reaction was extremely violent.

[WARNING! Extremely high-risk source of psychological pollution detected!]

[WARNING! This object contains a large amount of uncontrollable chaotic energy!]

[WARNING! Approaching this object will cause the host's consciousness to collapse!]

[It is recommended that the destruction process be initiated immediately to destroy the laboratory! Completely eliminate the source of contamination!]

The system's voice became urgent, carrying an unprecedented sense of panic.

"destroy?"

Li Fan looked at the warning and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"What are you afraid of?"

"Are you afraid I'll eat it?"

"Are you still afraid that I... know something?"

[The system replied that this was only for the host's safety. The object was a remnant of a failed evolver, filled with negative emotions, which would cause irreversible damage to the host's mind...]

"Shut up."

Li Fan interrupted the system's explanation.

"loser?"

Li Fan looked at the severed finger.

"I don't think he's necessarily a loser."

"Maybe he's just a pathetic wretch who discovered the truth."

Li Fan turned his head to look at Salong, who was huddled to one side.

"Open it."

"Wh...what?" Salon thought he had misheard.

"Open this jar."

Li Fan pointed to the glass container.

"You're insane! You're insane!" Saron screamed. "The radiation concentration in there is ten thousand times that of the outside! If we open even the slightest crack, we'll all melt instantly! The entire Iron Fortress will become a ghost town!"

"Not opening?"

Li Fan walked up to Salong and grabbed the remaining half of his head with one hand.

"Then I'll crush you first and then smash myself open."

"No! No! I'll drive! I'll drive!"

Saron collapsed.

Compared to being melted by radiation, having one's head crushed by this man is obviously more direct and painful.

He climbed to the control panel and, with trembling robotic hands, typed in a long, complex password.

"The isolation layer is being activated."

"Warning: Radiation levels exceed safe limits."

Click click click...

The glass jar made a sound as if the airtight valve was loosening.

The heavy glass slowly rose.

Yellow isolation fluid poured out, instantly filling the entire laboratory with a highly toxic odor.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

Saron let out a scream.

His organic brain began to rot the moment it came into contact with air, and his mechanical body also began to rust and peel off.

"Help... Help..."

A few seconds later, the archbishop turned into a puddle of pus and scrap metal.

Li Fan stood amidst the surging torrent of venom as if nothing had happened.

He took a deep breath of the radiation-filled air.

"It burns my throat a little."

Li Fan coughed twice.

He walked step by step toward the black severed finger that was now completely exposed to the air.

The severed finger seemed to sense the approach of its kind, and the black blood vessels on its surface began to wriggle, emitting a low humming sound.

[Warning! The host is engaging in dangerous behavior! The system will forcibly take control of the body!]

The system is in a panic.

They tried to paralyze Li Fan's nerves to control his limbs and make him retreat.

"Get out!"

Li Fan's eyes instantly turned into heterochromatic eyes, one black and one white.

The demonic phantom in his mind roared and forcefully pushed back control of the system.

"It's my body, and I'm in charge of it."

Li Fan walked up to the severed finger.

This thing is huge! Even a small piece of a fingernail is as big as a truck.

"It's so big, we can't swallow it in one bite."

Li Fan was somewhat troubled.

He reached out and pressed his hand against the surface of the severed finger.

"Demon God Devouring - Assimilation".

Black demonic energy surged from Li Fan's palm and instantly enveloped the entire severed finger.

The severed finger began to tremble violently, as if resisting yet also cheering.

It is decomposing.

The black substance transformed into countless streams of black energy that surged wildly into Li Fan's body through his arm.

boom!!!

Li Fan's body swelled up.

His skin turned pitch black, and countless ancient and eerie runes appeared on it.

A massive stream of memories, accompanied by energy, surged into Li Fan's mind.

"Aaaaaaah!!!"

Li Fan clutched his head, knelt on the ground, and let out a painful roar.

That wasn't his memory.

That belongs to someone else.

…… ...

The image is shattered and then reassembled.

Li Fan saw a man.

The man was dressed in modern clothes and had a stubble beard, looking very tired.

His name is Wang Qiang.

Earthlings.

"System, how many more people do I need to kill before I can go home?"

Wang Qiang sat amidst a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, holding a broken knife, and asked the voice that only existed in his mind.

[Insufficient energy, please continue collecting.]

The scene changes.

Wang Qiang is becoming stronger and more insane.

He devoured one world after another.

From the world of martial arts to the world of cultivation, from the world of magic to the world of science fiction.

His body became less and less human, transforming into a monster built from countless laws.

But he still remembers going home.

He always held a family photo in his hand.

until one day.

He came into this world.

X-799 plane.

Back then, this place wasn't a wasteland; it was a beautiful, high-tech civilization.

He prepared to launch the sacrifice again.

But this time he discovered a secret.

While devouring the Heavenly Dao of this world, he unexpectedly intercepted an encrypted signal from the system's underlying layers.

[Experimental subject No. 107, maturity level 99%.]

[Coordinates have been locked.]

[Preparing for recall.]

[The experiment is guiding the subjects to undergo a self-destructive sacrifice in order to open a portal to the main god's realm.]

"What?!"

Wang Qiang, who remembered it, was shocked.

"Recycling? Experimental subjects?"

"Aren't we going home?"

"System! You lied to me!!"

Wang Qiang was furious.

He tried to resist and dig the system out of his body.

However, the system initiated a forced procedure.

[The experimental subject has gone out of control and initiated a self-destruct sequence.]

boom!!!

Wang Qiang's body exploded in mid-air.

Instead of completing the sacrifice, he transformed himself into nourishment for this world.

His blood and flesh fell to the earth, giving birth to the energy veins.

His bones turned into a metal mountain.

His resentment transformed into a cloud of radiation.

And that severed finger is his last vestige of resentment, which has remained to this day.

....

"Huff... Huff..."

Li Fan opened his eyes and gasped for breath.

He awoke from his reverie.

A large portion of the severed finger has disappeared.

He ate a lot of it.

The laboratory was deathly silent except for the sound of venom dripping.

Li Fan slowly stood up.

His eyes changed.

If he was only suspicious before, now he is certain.

This is hardly a homecoming system.

This is a pig farming system.

They fattened him up and then slaughtered him for meat.

"system."

Li Fan shouted in his heart.

This time, his tone was eerily calm.

The system did not respond.

It seems to know that the memory it just had revealed is either that it's playing dead or that it's frantically modifying data in the background to try and cover up the truth.

Stop pretending.

Li Fan patted his chest.

I know you're listening.

"Wang Qiang was your previous host, wasn't he?"

"You want me to follow in his footsteps?"

Still no response.

"OK."

Li Fan smiled.

It's okay if you don't say anything.

"Anyway, I've already figured out the way."

"You want me to open the door, right?"

"I will drive."

Li Fan clenched his fist, black demonic energy swirling around his fingertips—new energy fused with the power of the previous Devourer.

"It's just that this time the door is open."

"The recovery force that comes in may not be the one you're looking for."

"But it's the King of Hell who will take your lives."

Li Fan turned and walked towards the laboratory exit.

He has gotten what he wanted.

Immense energy and... the truth.

He needs to go out for some fresh air.

Let's build a big one while we're at it.

After all, you can't walk long distances on foot alone.

He needs a car.

A war machine capable of crushing all obstacles.

Let's use this headquarters of the Mechanicus as materials.

…… ...

on the ground.

The residents of Ironburg were astonished to find that the Mechanicus Cathedral, a symbol of power and mystery, was shaking violently.

Followed by.

Rumble!

The entire building collapsed.

Countless metal plates and steel beams of the reactor came together as if they were alive, twisting and deforming wildly.

Amidst the swirling dust.

A black chariot slowly took shape.

It has the tracks of a tank, the streamlined shape of a sports car, and countless gun barrels like a hedgehog.

And in the driver's seat.

Li Fan was inserting the half-broken finger bone he hadn't finished eating into the core activation slot.

"Buzz!!!"

The engine roared.

"Demon King, start operating."