Lin Xian didn’t know what had gotten into Monica, whether she was possessed by something or it was just that the surging hormones from her advanced evolution had nowhere to go, while his own pile of worries had been suppressed for too long. So he simply closed his eyes and gladly buried himself into that gentle abyss.

Cold air filled the Hibernation Pod, yet the two blazing bodies were like a meteor slamming into a planet—unrestrained, wild, passion burning like fire.

All the pain and oppression that had built up over this period on Sea Rock Island, in the deep-sea vortex, and in the tropical storm was fully unleashed at this moment. Low, hoarse growls and dull, rhythmic impacts echoed again and again. In this instant, there was no Sword Holder, no Queen Mo, no end of the world, no eerie anomalies, only the tender, pleasurable drowning and release.

After it was over, Lin Xian took a new model of Nanometer Inner Liner Suit from the Black Star Forge and handed it to Monica. Monica smiled as she took it, draped it over that perfectly evolved naked body of hers, and the tech-saturated Nanometer Soft Skin instantly wrapped up all the spring scenery. Then she looked at Lin Xian.

"Little man, not bad. I like it."

Lin Xian chuckled lightly. "I always thought you joined us just to seek survival, but I didn’t expect you’d actually follow us into the oceanic orbit."

Monica’s lips curled slightly. She leaned back against a Hibernation Pod, arms folded across her chest, and said,

"Didn’t I tell you last time? I like you, this all-powerful Doomsday Captain. I’m not someone who likes taking risks, but knowing I don’t have long to live, I might as well live brilliantly. Besides, the room you gave me and the red wine both satisfied me very much. That’s enough, isn’t it?"

Lin Xian nodded. "Pretty convincing."

Monica looked at him, eyes meaningful as she said lightly, "Do you also think that the reason I, Monica, have been able to survive till now in this bizarre apocalyptic Dark World, with my resources never running dry, is all because I’m good at manipulating men and using my looks to trade for benefits in the apocalypse?"

Lin Xian shook his head and smiled frankly. "I did think that back in Xilan City, but... later on, not so much."

"Oh? Why?" Monica asked with interest.

"You can’t live this decently on looks and a body alone," Lin Xian replied.

Heh heh heh~

Monica laughed softly at that, then looked at Lin Xian and said, "Why not? Didn’t you also fall at my feet? Doesn’t that already prove how effective my methods are?"

Lin Xian stood up and clapped his hands. "I didn’t bring you onboard just to sleep with you."

Monica’s eyes flickered. She walked over, slipped an arm around Lin Xian’s neck, pressed her red lips to his in a deep kiss, then looked into his eyes from close range and said with a bright smile, "That’s true. For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve always been... passive. It actually makes me, this queen, look like some ravenous beast in heat."

Ahem. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Lin Xian felt awkward. "Let’s talk business. How do you feel?"

"Pretty much like what that guy from the Falcon Organization said. I feel my spiritual power has strengthened quite a bit. The detection range of my Sound Wave Superpower has increased by at least three times. My body should be enhanced as well. And I can feel an even stronger Energy that hasn’t been released yet. I suppose that must be the Crystal Grid at work."

After Monica finished seriously, she looked at Lin Xian and said, "If I have to pick the most interesting part, it’s that I seem to be able to sense the existence of the dark invasion now."

Lin Xian frowned slightly. "Sense it?"

Monica nodded. "Yeah. Before this, the dark invasion—or Dark Energy, to be more precise—was, to me, more like a painful presence of icy, bone-piercing terror drilling into me. Without the protection of a Dark Energy Synchronization Device or your Heterogeneous Rubik’s Cube, it was an extremely uncomfortable experience. Ever since Apocalypse Day, everyone could only tacitly accept it. I could only rely on alcohol to numb myself. But the problem is, I can’t actually get drunk. Once I lose consciousness, my body gets invaded even more severely."

"But now..." Monica raised her hand and stared at the air in front of her, as if she could actually see something, then said, "Those cold things seem to have become harmless, like I suddenly learned how to breathe underwater. And all that stuff... is flowing into the Crystal Grid along with my breathing and my body’s metabolism."

Lin Xian fell silent at her words.

Seeing him quiet, Monica immediately saw through what he was thinking. "Like I’ve really turned into an Abnormal Body. That’s what you’re worried about, right?"

Lin Xian frowned and let out a long sigh. "I can’t say for sure. When we crossed the high-altitude corridor, I told my teammates that maybe by evolving our Superpowers we’d find a chance to survive, that humanity could find a way to turn the tables. Now it seems this path might not work."

"Everyone thought that way. The Phoenix Society started from that premise too. But what else can we do?" Monica sighed faintly, then said calmly, "Zombies can’t choose whether to mutate into Zombies. Superpower Users can’t choose whether to awaken their Superpowers. Genetic Evolvers can’t stop their evolution. These aren’t things we get to choose. Since that’s the case, what’s the point of complaining?"

"Yeah. Nothing has changed," Lin Xian said quietly. "The deterrence didn’t work. Star Abyss hasn’t stopped expanding. Nothing has changed."

"You’ve got that wrong." Monica looked at Lin Xian with a calm gaze. "The Dark Mark has, at the very least, saved tens of millions of survivors around the world who would otherwise have died in the night or mutated under terror. The Cold Dark Reagent, the Dark Energy Synchronization Device, and the battle of Dawn City have given people like us, wandering and on the run, a sense of confidence and belief. Stop stuffing your head with those calculations about balancing the future. If destruction really can’t be stopped, then we’ve already done everything we could, haven’t we?"