The illusion vanished...

  Only pitch-black darkness remained, so dark one couldn't see their hand in front of their face.

  Xia Li began searching through his phase ring for anything useful. He'd previously killed a Snake Eye member at close range.

  The man didn't have a phase ring, but Xia Li had swiped his gun.

  He remembered the gun had an illumination module.

  Taking out the gun...

  Xia Li activated the illumination tool, discovering that the light it emitted was surprisingly harsh ultraviolet light.

  Fortunately, the light mode was adjustable. Besides UV, there were also blue light mode and normal light mode.

  Detaching just the illumination tool to use as a flashlight, the light immediately made Xia Li feel much more at ease.

  And in those dim corners...

  He could see some strange, short humanoid creatures crawling toward the shadows, avoiding the light.

  Those humanoid creatures looked like oversized infant monsters, giving off an indescribably nauseating feeling.

  "So this is what Infant Wails look like."

  Xia Li approached one Infant Wail and crouched down to observe it carefully. Upon noticing Xia Li's approach, the Infant Wail immediately let out a sharp wailing sound.

  Like an infant's scream, even more like an infant's agonized crying.

  Xia Li swept it with his divine thought...

  The Infant Wail's body structure was instantly revealed to him.

  It had a spine but no ribs. Its organs were different from humans. Its limb bones were roughly similar, and inside that oversized head was a bloated mass of brain tissue.

  "Could these be mutated humans? Or... failed products of infant experiments?"

  Xia Li was no longer as shocked by demon modification experiments as before.

  At the dawn of Spirit Qi Resurgence, humans couldn't cultivate, and hot weapons were useless against demons that grew stronger day by day.

  Later, they could only rely on nukes to flatten the land.

  At that time, various nations and factions surely sought solutions desperately. During that period, anything humans did to survive wouldn't be surprising.

  Human experimentation...

  Demon hybridization...

  No matter how cruel, disgusting, or inhumane—anything could happen.

  Therefore, Xia Li believed the Infant Wails were most likely products of human experimentation—artificial demons.

  Who knew how many innocent, unknowing infants were sacrificed in those experiments back then...

  And the crowning achievement of this series of experiments...

  Was perhaps Antares itself.

  The most powerful artificial demon. It had indeed "ascended," becoming a space-dwelling creature in an entirely different life form.

  The Antares he'd seen in the illusion was beautiful.

  Those brilliant colors were dreamlike and surreal.

  Rising and walking away from the Infant Wail, Xia Li continued forward. Now some terrifying illusions began flickering before his eyes.

  That should be the Infant Wails' offensive instinct. The illusion he'd seen earlier was projected by another existence.

  As for who that was...

  Xia Li had largely guessed already. After all, the illusion had shown the perspective after Xia Shu's death, which could only be Yan Qing.

  Also known as Antares now.

  Had it returned to Earth? Was it nearby? What was it trying to convey to him?

  Walking quickly through the darkness.

  About an hour later, Xia Li discovered what might have caused the illusion to be interrupted.

  Two corpses being gnawed by Infant Wails appeared before him. Xia Li walked up to observe them—they'd definitely died recently, as their blood hadn't even cooled yet.

  "Silver Star Group people?"

  Xia Li frowned. These two had their skulls gnawed open from behind, their brains already empty.

  Two Infant Wails were chomping on something with crunching sounds.

  Xia Li stepped forward to snatch it, but the moment he reached out, the Infant Wails began shrieking piercingly. The sound made Xia Li feel like his brain was about to explode from the discomfort.

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  "Stop wailing! Eat this instead—it's tasty."

  Xia Li took out a pill and offered it to the Infant Wail. Seeing this, the Infant Wail actually accepted it with blood-stained little hands, then spat out what was in its mouth.

  A Heaven Chip.

  Just as Xia Li expected—the Heaven Chip had nearly been chewed up as food by the Infant Wail.

  Afterward...

  Xia Li repeated the process, trading another pill to get the Heaven Chip from the other Infant Wail's mouth.

  He could have just killed these monster demons directly, but for some reason, Xia Li suddenly felt these demons weren't so repugnant after all.

  This was a group of demons huddled in darkness with little ability to fight back.

  Was their offense really an attack? Perhaps it was more about self-preservation—wanting to drive intruders from their territory.

  And after Xia Li made a gesture of goodwill...

  The terrifying illusions that had appeared from time to time vanished, and these Infant Wails even began frolicking as they ate.

  They really were like a group of children playing.

  But rolling in blood, with blood and brain matter still on their lips.

  "Ah... sins of the past..."

  The Democratic Government also had its unknown darkness—he'd encountered it firsthand, though he didn't know what secrets were involved.

  But Corporate Union's past sins were right before his eyes.

  In this new era, there were no longer distinctions between nations, and one shouldn't judge by old views, but still...

  Some people from certain civilizational systems really never changed their nature.

  Suddenly...

  An Infant Wail grabbed Xia Li's pants leg, somewhat boldly reaching out toward him.

  Xia Li smiled helplessly. Counting the Infant Wails present, he took out an equal number of pills and distributed one to each.

  He still had many Qi Refining stage pills unused—after all, they were far less effective than Foundation Establishment pills.

  After receiving the pills, those Infant Wails let out cries that weren't so piercing, echoing through the darkness...

  And echoes returned from the darkness.

  In that instant.

  Many images flickered before Xia Li's eyes—views of different locations in this underground tunnel, including people secretly hiding in the darkness with unknown intentions.

  "Thanks, children."

  Xia Li nodded at this. The humans above ground were more evil than demons, while the demons underground were easier to get along with.

  Then...

  Xia Li activated a thought.

  【Neural connection restored】

  【Restarting all prosthetics】

  Xia Li restored Heaven Chip's functions. He felt this group of Infant Wails probably wouldn't attack him anymore.

  He was happy to pay this protection fee—how many spirit stones were Qi Refining pills worth?

  "Help me keep watch on those people's movements."

  Xia Li took out a pill bottle and placed it directly on the ground. The surrounding Infant Wails nodded simultaneously at the sight!

  They could understand human speech!

  And they seemed to share a collective consciousness.

  Otherwise, the nodding wouldn't have been so synchronized.

  "You... never mind..."

  Xia Li had wanted to ask more questions.

  But what good would asking do? Could he change any of this? If anyone learned the Infant Wails had evolved communication abilities, these pitiful creatures would probably be exploited again.

  They were practically biological weapons against Heaven Chips.

  Once corporations found out, war might break out again.

  "Children, try not to communicate with anyone except me, understand?"

  After giving this warning, Xia Li departed.