Life Ladder and Anti-Life Ladder (3K Subscription Request)

The crimson radiance shattered with a crack, then transformed into countless specks of light.

Bai Cangshu was enveloped by that radiance, and it seemed as though the song of that red-haired girl rang in his ears once more.

It was a song that contained everything—whether the hope of life or the despair of destruction, it embraced them all.

The kind of powerful inclusiveness Bai Cangshu called weakness, and which mixed-bloods, Hunters, and ordinary people alike in D45 World called sacred.

Like a girl’s embrace, it wrapped around Bai Cangshu.

Roar!

The pitch-black Symbiote Dragon within Bai Cangshu revived once more. It would not be killed by lightning and sound waves of this level, only weakened.

Yet as long as it was given time, even if Bai Cangshu did not consume it and it was shattered instead, it would revive again.

For the first time, a sense of unease appeared in Grendel’s mind, which was filled with destruction and the desire to wreak havoc.

This blazing vitality seemed intent on transforming it into something else.

Bai Cangshu did not know what was required to complete the Life Ladder. It was probably something along Lawrence’s path.

Turning vast amounts of life and flesh into a Life Furnace, forging a ladder from pure vitality, and transforming oneself into an unimaginable higher life-form.

A biological rank that utterly surpassed every naturally existing life-form.

Beyond beastmen, beyond elves, beyond demons, beyond angels, then beyond Titans, beyond dragonkind, beyond gods, beyond Star Spirits!

Stepping onto the pinnacle of life.

However, Bai Cangshu himself possessed the Stairway of Spirit and Flesh. This ladder likewise held authority over flesh, but placed greater emphasis on the unity of spirit and flesh.

It was a form of evolution on multiple levels.

After prying information about the Symbiote Dragon Grendel from White Face, Bai Cangshu keenly realized something.

The Anti-Life concept corresponding to this thing would very likely become another form of completion, because Bai Cangshu had already realized that he had become something exceedingly difficult to kill.

Moreover, the existence of the Ten Phoenix Nirvana Art tempted Bai Cangshu almost every moment to touch death, then be reborn through Nirvana and gain new power.

He was more than willing to try such things.

Not to mention a Symbiote Dragon Grendel that had been sealed for millions of years and lost contact with Nal—even if Grendel were in perfect condition, Bai Cangshu would still be willing to try merging with it.

This was a new kind of "Life Furnace," a union of life and Anti-Life energy entities.

The power of the Crimson Hymn soon manifested. Bai Cangshu watched crimson flames begin to burn across the surface of his body. The flames were not particularly hot and would not scorch flesh.

Yet the black symbiote tissue covering his body curled up as if it had been roasted.

Roar!

Grendel’s roar made Bai Cangshu’s head ring. Bai Cangshu violently swung his arm, accompanied by a hum.

A Vacuum Wave stretching several thousand meters swept out with a boom, instantly gouging a massive curved depression into the sea where the ice had just shattered.

Bai Cangshu’s total attributes were now approaching three thousand points, and his biological rank was terrifyingly high. He slowly descended onto the ocean’s surface, while the sea beneath him began to foam and emit white mist as if it were boiling.

An exceptionally warm force wrapped around Bai Cangshu’s entire body.

You used Special Creation: Origin Substance: Crimson Hymn.

Detected that you possess the information source particle of the incomplete ladder: Life Ladder (9th Tier). Would you like to integrate Origin Substance: Crimson Hymn into the incomplete ladder: Life Ladder?

Detected that Special Creation: Symbiote Dragon Grendel (Living Abyss) exists within Reincarnator Ex051.

You have come into contact with the ladder: Anti-Life Ladder (10th Tier).

Anti-Life Ladder — Rebellion against the Creator's sacred creation, the spiral that defies life.

Warning, Reincarnator Ex051. The information source particles of the two ladders you possess, Life Ladder and Anti-Life Ladder, conflict. Forced fusion will produce unknown changes, including but not limited to ladder collapse (34%), ladder devouring (17%), ladder regression (15%), ladder sublimation (11%), existential damage to the physical body (10%)... and other consequences.

The scarlet light was like a furnace, completely enveloping Bai Cangshu. His mind was wrapped in scorching heat, and he completely lost all perception of his unimaginably powerful body.

Bai Cangshu felt his consciousness being cast into an indescribable world. On one side was a world of blazing heat, vitality, and flesh; on the other was a world of darkness, chaos, and disorder.

Flesh needed to grow according to specific rules, while chaos could only expand beyond order.

The boundaries between the two forces were distinct. Or rather, rules themselves had been carved out from chaos.

Bai Cangshu attempted to find the point that could support both, and his consciousness gradually sank into them.

In reality, in Antarctica, Bai Cangshu’s body, over three meters tall, gradually sank into the boiling seawater. The enormous iceberg that had been shattered earlier had completely melted, and bubbles continued to rise from the icy lake.

A strange magnetic field began to turn. In a world of utter Silence, waves actually began to form, rolling outward one after another.

Bai Cangshu sank into the Antarctic sea, continuously descending.

He showed no reaction. Only the Symbiote Dragon Grendel on the surface of his body, wrapped in the power of the Crimson Hymn, transformed into countless tentacles, seemingly trying to break free from this body.

Yet enveloped by the power of Origin Substance, it could not escape at all. Together with Bai Cangshu’s body, it sank bit by bit toward the ocean floor.

Several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who witnessed everything from the helicopter looked at one another.

"Was that… a god from Asgard?!"

They had come across some relevant files, but they still could not determine what exactly had just happened.

It seemed that there really was some enormous, extraordinary creature beneath the sea they had been monitoring, but it had been subdued by something even more powerful.

And that being had now fallen into the sea as well, its fate unknown.

One of them immediately activated the life-detection equipment aboard the aircraft. The next moment, the enormous signal on the radar made all three gasp.

Within the freezing Antarctic ice lake below, the reaction of a massive life-form resembling a furnace appeared clearly on the radar.

And that life signal grew stronger and stronger…

"Aah!"

Amid screams, heavily armed special forces soldiers hid behind cover, only to be ignited by turning azure Fox Fire. They soon wailed as they rolled across the ground, and before long, they stopped moving.

This was probably the last remaining group of people in this ruined research base. Satoru Gojo stood with both hands behind his head, showing no reaction to White Face’s slaughter.

The moment those soldiers saw them, they had opened fire without hesitation. Clearly, they were no good people. Besides… Satoru Gojo himself was hardly some benevolent saint.

He had merely always used Suguru Geto’s philosophy—that the strong should protect the weak—to restrain himself. In truth, he had never felt there was any absolute reason these weak yet brutal humans could not be killed.

Especially after coming into contact with his current host, Satoru Gojo had come to understand another philosophy of survival.

The strong had to protect the weak?!

Not necessarily.

Rather, such behavior was merely a form of charity that those who defined themselves as strong could afford when everyone else was simply too weak.

Just like his former self. Hah~

The corners of Satoru Gojo’s mouth split into a grin, and his Six Eyes were filled with mockery toward his former self.

He had regarded himself as the strongest in the world, yet he had been utterly incapable of resisting White Face’s Curse Kill. Wasn’t that why he had ended up like this?

So, since he was no longer that invincible powerhouse, wasn’t it perfectly reasonable to watch these even weaker people die…

At least…

Satoru Gojo’s smile deepened. At least he had not, like that host, actively begun slaughtering others in an attempt to gain power.

"Hey, hey, miss. If you kill everyone like this, we won’t be able to find that Sentinel Program…"

White Face curled her lips into a smile. With a wave of her hand, an azure fox emerged from a corner, carrying a vial of medicine that shimmered with golden light in its mouth.

She believed that if she were still alive, still a Reincarnator, she would have been able to see the Space’s prompt through her panel at this moment.

You obtained the item: Golden Sentinel Serum (World's Rare Treasure).

White Face condensed those words before her with blue flames, and only then did the Greed in her eyes slowly fade.

She then turned around and handed the serum to Satoru Gojo.

"Let’s go, Mr. Gojo. We completed our intended objective perfectly. This chance at resurrection is ours~"

Her bangs were so long that her face was hidden in shadow most of the time. Satoru Gojo noticed the ingratiating meaning behind her actions and smiled even more brightly.

He theatrically accepted the serum, grabbed White Face, and with a bang, used the Limitless Cursed Technique for another long-distance teleportation.

Bang!

The two appeared at the foot of the mountain, where Satoru Gojo suddenly saw that Millennium Worm had somehow been waiting there.

Millennium Worm wore a black trench coat. Though he was clearly a Yin Spirit, he carried an air of desolation.

"Satoru Gojo, you want to be resurrected too, don’t you? I know. After I told you about the original course of events in your world, you developed the urge to come back to life…"

"But now, even if you really obtain that vial of serum together with White Face, you most likely won’t be the one with the greatest contribution."

White Face’s expression changed bit by bit. It was as though she were seeing this mercenary Reincarnator, whom she had never thought much of, for the first time.

Millennium Worm ignored White Face and continued speaking to Satoru Gojo.

"The Golden Sentinel Serum will most likely not truly grant Mercenary Tao any great power. Power of that level definitely cannot be bestowed by a single vial of serum."

"And… given Mercenary Tao’s personality, the goal he personally went after is what he wants most. And that information was given by White Face from the start, so…"

Satoru Gojo understood what Millennium Worm meant as well. He tossed White Face aside and finished the thought.

"So Miss White Face only needs to make sure none of us contributes anything else, and keep us busy fighting over these insignificant tasks. Then in the end, she’ll be the one resurrected… is that it?"

Millennium Worm nodded at White Face’s darkened expression.

Then Millennium Worm said,

"I have a proposal."

"Mercenary Tao is the one who signed the contract. We never signed one, and we are not acting under Mercenary Tao’s will either…"

"Why don’t we go kill that guy in New York, Mr. Gojo?"

White Face unconsciously revealed the fang at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes locked onto Millennium Worm. This guy was far smarter than she had imagined.

Millennium Worm and Satoru Gojo both possessed Domain Expansions especially suited for killing at first encounter. For the two of them, murder was actually an easier task.

The corners of Satoru Gojo’s mouth rose, and his smile gradually became more pronounced.