Chapter 46: A Sacrifice? Then You Should Take the Lead

“All right, I’m in a hurry.”
Zhou Yan flexed his neck and strode toward the door.
Behind him, the man in the white lab coat asked in alarm, “Huh? We’re leaving now? Can’t we wait until daylight?”
His voice trembled with urgency. “Those mutated insects are far more active at night—no human can withstand them!”
Zhou Yan turned back, a smile flickering in his eyes. “I told you, I’m pressed for time.”
With that, he twisted the door handle and stepped out.
Whoosh!
A violent gust of wind swept through.
Zhou Yan’s eyes turned cold. He swung the steel pipe in his hand to the right, knocking away the club of a burly man lurking by the door, who had tried to ambush him.
In the next instant, Zhou Yan’s arm followed through, bringing the pipe down hard on the man’s forehead.
Thud!
He granted him the sleep of an infant right then and there.
Immediately, Zhou Yan spun left, the steel pipe sweeping sideways, knocking the blade from another unlucky attacker’s hand, who had been a moment late in his assault.
The blow also broke several of the man’s fingers gripping the knife.
“Tsk—”
Zhou Yan listened to the anguished cries of the burly man as he staggered back, clutching his broken fingers, and clicked his tongue.
His gaze pierced through the ring of people at the doorway, locking eyes with the “oracle” standing outside the circle, his stare profound.
He withdrew his gaze, surveying those gathered around him, and spoke in a deep voice, “What did that old woman feed you—some potion for muddled minds? All of you following her like fools?”
“Blasphemer! Villain doomed to hell!” The old woman glared at Zhou Yan from behind the crowd, hate blazing in her eyes. “I am the divine messenger, the mouthpiece of the gods. Everything I’ve spoken has come to pass, and not even the apocalypse-bringing insects sent by the gods have harmed me!”
“And now—” She wore a look of utter certainty, sneering at Zhou Yan. “The gods have told me that tonight, you will be the sacrifice!”
“Seize the offering!” she shouted.
In the next second, under the spellbinding force of her cry, nearly ten people surged toward Zhou Yan, shouting and brandishing brooms and wooden clubs, scissors and knives.
The three researchers behind Zhou Yan shrank back, retreating into the room, shouting for him to come inside.
“How utterly ignorant...”
Seeing the mob advancing under the oracle’s command, Zhou Yan’s left eye narrowed.
He did not retreat; instead, he laughed aloud, a strange radiance bursting forth from his body.
[Activating Talent: Ultra Fusion]
[Fusion Material: Nemesis Lotus Calamity Sword]
The phantom of the Nemesis Lotus Calamity Sword appeared, merging with Zhou Yan in a blaze of light.
A pitch-black robe draped his frame, pale long hair whipped wildly.
On his pure black mask, his left eye shone clear and icy, while his right eye bloomed with a mesmerizing black lotus.
In his hand, he gripped a long, curved sword with a black lotus-shaped guard.

Fusion Form—Nemesis Lotus Ravager!
Transformed, Zhou Yan faced the stunned crowd. The voice that came from beneath his mask echoed strangely, as if layered with some supernatural resonance.
“If this old woman is a divine messenger... then—”
“Who am I?”
No one answered Zhou Yan.
Seeing him instantly morph into such a terrifying, uncanny figure, the crowd screamed and fled in panic.
Zhou Yan paid them no mind, striding forward step by step until he stood before the oracle.
She stared at Zhou Yan’s monstrous form, trembling uncontrollably.
“Kneel,” Zhou Yan said calmly.
It was a simple command, but with his mind several times stronger than that of ordinary people, his terrifying will acted as the most potent hypnotic force—irresistible, absolute.
No normal human could muster the slightest rebellious thought.
The oracle, shivering, sank helplessly to her knees.
She gazed up at Zhou Yan, tears streaming down her cheeks, lips moving as if to speak.
Yet under Zhou Yan’s oppressive aura, no words escaped her.
Zhou Yan looked down, raising the Nemesis Lotus Calamity Sword in his right hand.
He chuckled softly, speaking with a chill, “Since you claim to be the mouthpiece of the gods, I’ll send you to meet the deity you’re always invoking.”
“No...” At last, the oracle awakened from her exalted role as ‘command-giver.’
“No, you can’t...”
Her voice quaked with tears and despair.
Yet she had forgotten how just last night, she had gleefully ordered her followers to ‘sacrifice’ an innocent woman from the supermarket, tossing her outside to be devoured by a monstrous insect.
Zhou Yan’s face was hidden behind his mask, his expression unreadable.
All that could be seen was the coldness in his gaze, and in his right eye, the sudden bloom of a scarlet lotus.
“A divine messenger should always lead by example.”
Swish!
Amid terrified screams, the black sword fell without hesitation.
No spray of blood followed as the crowd had imagined.
Instead, a far more horrifying sight unfolded.
The oracle shrieked in agony as Zhou Yan slashed open her chest, leaving a massive wound that bled not a drop but spewed forth billowing black-red miasma.
The fierce flames consumed her in an instant.
Within seconds, she was reduced to a shriveled blackened corpse curled on the ground.

Zhou Yan gazed indifferently at the so-called messenger, now sent to meet her god. He lowered the calamity sword and looked around.
Within the supermarket, more than twenty people met his eyes, and all shrank back instinctively; several ducked behind the shelves at once.
To them, Zhou Yan was nothing short of a demon.
He could not be bothered to waste words. He found the flashlight section on the shelves, grabbed several batteries, and prepared to leave.
Before going, he beckoned to the three researchers who had hidden in the storeroom after the attack.
The trio, faces pale, hurried out and stood obediently before Zhou Yan, trembling.
“Mr. Zhong...” The man in the lab coat stammered, terrified Zhou Yan might turn him into a charred corpse too.
With all their years of elite education, they could not comprehend Zhou Yan’s transformation.
Just minutes ago, he’d been no different from them—at most, a bit fiercer, and crippled besides.
Now, he had become a figure like the very devil.
“The oracle has gone to meet her god,” Zhou Yan said coldly, glancing at them. “Take care of yourselves here.”
He turned to leave.
The lab coat saw Zhou Yan about to depart and couldn’t help but call out, “Mr. Zhong! Please wait a moment!”
“Hm?” Zhou Yan turned back.
The researcher hesitated, pulling a metal card from his pocket and handing it over. “Mr. Zhong, this is my ID card. The clearance isn’t high, but it should let you get around the research facility.”
Zhou Yan regarded him for a moment, then took the card.
Without another word, he strode toward the supermarket entrance.
Everyone watched him in terror, praying he would vanish quickly.
Yet as Zhou Yan reached the door, he paused and turned around.
Looking at the crowd avoiding his gaze, he grinned.
“If any among you still believe in your so-called ‘god,’ still planning sacrifices or using ‘divine authority’ to form factions...
“Then, as the ‘devil,’ I’ll return here at any moment, seek out your devout followers one by one, and let them savor the taste of being reduced to ash by hell’s black flames.
“Understood?”
No one dared answer.
Zhou Yan raised his brow, turned, and left the supermarket, disappearing into the thick fog.
As his figure vanished, many felt their legs give way and collapsed to the ground.
These were the fanatics who had once followed the oracle in oppressing others.
***