The Rise of Power

"Zhang, are you okay?"

Pietro cautiously approached Zhang Ye. Although Zhang Ye had returned to human form, his mutated, beastlike appearance just now had truly frightened Pietro.

Zhang Ye took a deep breath and slowly let it out, then ran his tongue over his teeth as if savoring the sensation of having fangs. Hearing Pietro’s words, he turned around and smiled.

"Of course I’m fine. On the contrary, I feel fantastic right now. This power is under my control. My body has become tougher, and my reactions sharper. It’s a feeling I’ve never experienced before—like lying in bed after a hot spring bath. It feels incredibly comfortable."

Clenching his fist, Zhang Ye could clearly sense the increase in his physical strength. Like leveling up and assigning stat points, the tangible sensation of becoming stronger was intoxicating.

At the same time, he seemed to have gained some transformative abilities. Perhaps it was because the target he had absorbed and devoured had been a Rat-Man. Zhang Ye discovered that as long as he willed it, his body would respond accordingly.

For instance, his teeth could become sharp, his bloodshot pupils could turn crimson, and the nails on both hands could visibly lengthen into blade-like claws capable of tearing enemies apart.

It was an extraordinarily strange experience, one Zhang Ye had never gone through before.

In his previous life, Zhang Ye had once imagined what it would feel like if three bone claws could extend from his hands like Wolverine’s. Would it hurt terribly?

Now, he had experienced it once himself.

All he could say was that it wasn’t bad.

"Are you sure?" Pietro forced a smile uglier than a cry.

"Of course I’m sure." Zhang Ye blinked, then noticed Kara’s worried expression and immediately slapped his forehead. "I get it. You’re worried about my mental state, aren’t you?"

"Zhang Ye, I don’t know what kind of energy magic is. I’ve never encountered anything so strange in my life, but believe me—on any planet, stealing energy from other people is never a good thing," Kara said slowly.

"I know what you’re worried about, and I understand. Believe me, I know better than either of you what dangers this sort of thing can bring, because I have plenty of examples in my memories."

Zhang Ye smiled and tapped his temple before continuing.

"The consequence of forcibly taking someone else’s energy is that their hidden dangers become part of you as well. In severe cases, you can even be affected by the absorbed soul, lose your sanity, and fall into extreme madness and chaos."

"The reason I used this witchcraft is because I went through something similar before. The energy Mephisto and the Eye Demon transmitted to me wasn’t ‘pure.’ Do you understand? Those two black-hearted bastards mixed countless demon souls into that energy."

At that, Zhang Ye could not help but laugh. Thinking back, even though he had been extremely cautious, he had still nearly been tricked.

Fortunately, his energy conversion had been carried out through the Time Twister. It was like installing a transformer into an electrical circuit. Before those souls filled with chaos, distortion, and darkness could reach him, the Time Twister had filtered them into fragments of information.

Although those fragments were also filled with all kinds of negative energy, they had been nothing to worry about for him at the time.

Zhang Ye could not imagine what kind of impact his mind would have suffered if he had been influenced by so many demon souls from the Hell Dimension.

By then, he probably would no longer have been himself. That entire timeline, along with all the energy in his body, would have become nourishment for the Hell Dimension, feeding back into the domains of Mephisto and the Eye Demon.

Sure enough, he could not underestimate anyone, especially powerful beings who had lived for who knew how many years. Once one reached that level, what Zhang Ye faced would no longer be childish tricks like "verbal traps."

Those in power who truly understood scheming disdained using conspiracies. To them, they were too simple and too boring. Once they understood the shifts in people’s hearts, the only thing they used was open strategy.

The goal was to leave you with no other choice, forcing you to pick one of the outcomes they offered.

When the rules favored them, they manipulated the rules. When reality favored them, they manipulated reality. If neither rules nor reality favored them, then they manipulated you.

Still, that experience had given Zhang Ye valuable inspiration. He could now skillfully wield the wonders of devouring magic. While he could not yet reach the level of devouring Ancient Gods, swallowing a genetically modified creature was easy enough.

Moreover, he would not be affected by the other party’s soul or sanity. This was practically the Bei Ming Divine Art of the magical world, though Zhang Ye digested it more slowly than a professional Black Wizard.

From the very beginning, Zhang Ye had never regarded the harmful beast as a threat. A monster that only dared to hunt ordinary people could not possibly provide much charge to the Time Twister. It probably would not even reach one percent.

So rather than waste that energy on the Time Twister, he might as well devour and digest it himself to become stronger. Zhang Ye’s goal was not lofty. He only wanted to become strong enough to protect Pietro and Kara. That was all.

The harmful beast’s energy could strengthen Zhang Ye’s body. Though the improvement would not be great, it was still a genuine enhancement. At the very least, when facing Old Hawkeye now, he would no longer be suppressed in close combat.

"That’s the situation. I won’t be affected by those I devour, and naturally, I won’t turn into some inhuman monster or become a criminal who slaughters innocents and forcibly steals the energy of other superhumans."

Zhang Ye was utterly candid as he spread his hands and smiled at Pietro and Kara.

"It had better be. I can tell you aren’t lying or hiding anything." Kara stepped forward and spoke seriously. "But if you truly become like that, believe me, I’ll stop you."

"But it seems I won’t give you that chance."

Zhang Ye and Kara smiled at each other. The next moment, Zhang Ye spread his arms and draped one around Pietro and the other around Kara. "Time to go. We’ve already delayed long enough."

As the three figures vanished into the night, the cliff fell back into dead silence. The harmful beast’s shriveled corpse lay quietly atop a small hill of bones, utterly devoid of life.

It was foreseeable that one day, this place would be thick with trees and lush with grasses.