Stronger with Crimson Modifier-Chapter 54: Earth Core

Reading this, Hu Qi couldn’t help but recall the conversation he’d overheard between King’s Power’s group and Helinta.

The two he had killed, according to them, were merely the lowest-level Blood Slaves, not even considered true Black Blood Species.

And those two Blood Slaves, which had killed over a hundred people, were transformed by some Lower-Rank Black Blood Species hiding in an unknown location.

The thought that such monsters existed right here in Qirong City filled Hu Qi with a sense of urgency and lingering fear.

These last few fights had shown him the benefits of his own power.

He had originally thought his strength was enough for self-preservation.

But now.

After learning the truth about the Black Blood Species, he suddenly felt his strength was completely insignificant.

If he were to encounter one, he would likely be completely powerless to resist.

He shook his head.

He pushed aside these useless thoughts for now and continued to read.

’If a Lower-Rank Black Blood Species is that powerful, what about an even stronger Middle-Rank one?’

Hu Qi didn’t have to wonder for long. As his finger swiped across the screen, he found his answer.

"In the thirty-fifth year since the founding of the Xia Federation, a Middle-Rank Black Blood Species named Tai Le appeared in Chenxi City. It caused half the city’s buildings to collapse and hundreds of thousands of people to perish. Ultimately, the Federation deployed several powerful Secret Martial Artists, who, in coordination with missile strikes, managed to eliminate it completely."

Hu Qi’s eyelid twitched as he read this.

He had heard of Chenxi City. It was a prefecture-level city in the eastern part of the Xia Federation, with a current permanent population of around two to three million.

According to the records.

A massive, unprecedented earthquake had struck seventy or eighty years ago, causing innumerable casualties.

The incident was recorded in Federation textbooks. It seemed now that while the number of casualties might be accurate, the reason for it all was not what the books claimed.

It was caused by a Black Blood Species.

’At that level, what’s the difference between it and a monster from a movie?’

The only difference was that in reality, there was no Superhuman to save the world.

’No, that’s not right. I guess there are.’

Thinking of this, he looked at an unfamiliar term in the text—Secret Martial Artist.

’Could this be the name for those Transcendents?’

With this question in mind, Hu Qi continued to read.

Soon, he found the information he was looking for.

"Secret Martial Artists are a group of individuals who practice Secret Martial Arts, unlocking the hidden potential of the human body, breaking past its limits, and continuously elevating their Life Level.

They first originated in Longyuan Country and have a history of several thousand years.

Before this, the strongest of the Martial Arts Families were only as powerful as a Lower-Rank Black Blood Species. But after the Black Blood Species emerged, some kind of mutation seems to have occurred in the world. This, combined with the excavation of ancient ruins, allowed the Martial Arts Families to find a new path forward.

If not for them, relying solely on current technology, it would be difficult to effectively harm a Middle-Rank Black Blood Species without resorting to nuclear weapons."

As he continued to read, he found there wasn’t much else of note.

The text only briefly mentioned matters concerning Secret Martial Artists, without going into great detail.

The rest was all just some intelligence briefings on the Black Blood Species.

As for whether there were even more powerful Black Blood Species above the Upper-Rank, there was no record here. The last sentence only stated:

After investigation, it has been confirmed that the source of these human-eating Black Blood Species is the Inner Earth World, located at an unknown depth beneath the earth’s surface.

"Black Blood Species, Inner Earth World, Secret Martial Artists..."

Hu Qi put down his phone and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

The amount of information he had just absorbed was enormous. He got up, walked to the window, and pulled open the curtains.

In the sky, the inky-blue curtain of night had not yet completely dissipated.

A few scattered stars twinkled with faint light, like jewels embedded in the deep firmament.

Below, the dim streets were exceptionally quiet and completely empty.

Only the streetlights cast a dim yellow halo, like a winding golden ribbon connecting the streets and alleys.

The roads were deserted. Occasionally, a car would speed by, its passing raising a faint whisper of wind that broke the temporary tranquility.

In the distance, the steel skyscrapers stood like silent giants in the darkness.

The windows, some lit and some dark, were like their eyes, silently observing the creatures living within.

Everything seemed normal, but who could have imagined that at some unknown depth beneath the ground,

lived a group of monsters that fed on humans?

And this Pandora’s box holding the monsters had been opened a hundred years ago.

’This balance has been maintained until now, but will it be broken one day in the future?’

Gazing at his own somewhat blurry reflection in the glass, he seemed to be cut off from the world below.

Hu Qi’s expression grew pensive as his mind worked hard to digest the information he’d received.

There wasn’t a lot of information, but its content was too shocking.

In his previous life, there had been many theories about an Inner Earth World.

For example, the discovery six or seven hundred kilometers underground of vast, rugged mountain ranges instead of the expected magma or flat rock. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

There were also the variations in the propagation speed of seismic waves. These signs all indicated that the subterranean world wasn’t entirely made of the expected Earth Core and rock. Instead, a vast space likely existed down there, with an ecosystem completely different from the surface.

But in the end, these were all just theories. Up until Hu Qi transmigrated, there had never been any evidence to prove them.

He never expected that in this world, the Inner Earth World actually existed. And not only that, but it concealed human-eating Black Blood Species.

This made Hu Qi feel as if he were standing on a powder keg that could explode at any moment.

Although the document didn’t record the existence of Upper-Rank Black Blood Species,

the mere mention of them proved the Federation had information on the matter.

"In the end, I’m still too weak."

Hu Qi murmured to himself.

Originally, after hacking those two Black Blood Species to death, he had thought they were nothing special.

Only now did he realize he had only faced one or two grunts, which couldn’t be considered true Black Blood Species at all.

According to the document’s records, if he had encountered a Lower-Level Black Blood Species, his corpse would most likely be cold by now.

’No, wait. Black Blood Species eat people. I might have already been eaten and excreted as feces.’

Strength. Only with enough strength could he feel secure.

...

The night passed uneventfully.

「The next morning, in the hotel.」

When Hu Qi woke up, it was already close to noon.

It was no wonder, as he had barely rested at all the previous night.

Shortly after he finished practicing the Mad Axe Fighting Technique, he had fought a desperate battle against those two Black Blood Species.

By the time everything was taken care of, it was already four or five in the morning.

Although his body was full of energy, his spirit was quite exhausted.

He had only slept for five or six hours.

He grabbed the phone from his bedside table, intending to check the time.

He pressed the button twice, but there was no response. A closer look revealed that it was out of battery.

He plugged in the charger, and after it had charged for a moment, the phone started vibrating and ringing nonstop as soon as it turned on.

Taking a closer look, he saw he had more than a dozen missed phone and video calls.