Chapter 35: True Ancestor Transformation |
One hour later, the car had long since left Rong City and was parked in a remote wilderness area.
The nearest national highway was twenty kilometers away, and the closest village was five kilometers distant.
"Will you go deal with that tail, or should I?" Luo Yi lit another cigarette.
Xia Heng said calmly, "I'll go. You take this opportunity to convert Xiao Wu into the Mad Blood Clan."
Luo Yi said meaningfully, "Then that matter we discussed is settled..."
"It's settled." Xia Heng got out of the car and surveyed the terrain.
He spotted the refrigerated truck that hadn't dared approach this area, staying only on the county road two kilometers away, and couldn't help shaking his head.
Xia Heng descended the dirt slope, the purple symbiote armor covering his entire body except for his right arm.
As he passed behind a large boulder, his figure concealed for a moment, he suddenly accelerated, dashing forward as fast as lightning.
In an instant, he disappeared into the mountain forest, vanishing without a trace.
Luo Yi lit a cigarette, leaning against the car and waving, "Come on, come on, Xiao Wu, let me bite you."
Wu Zhong approached both excited and nervous, while Yang Chunsha watched him with envy.
"Imagine there's a taut line in your mind, making you extremely irritable, unable to sleep, with intense inner excitement."
"Your mind feels like driving a speeding car with broken brakes that won't respond."
As Luo Yi described this, his words carried a subtle hypnotic quality.
Wu Zhong tried his best to imagine that feeling, following instructions completely.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Luo Yi grabbed Wu Zhong and bit down on his neck artery.
Wu Zhong had prepared himself to endure pain, but unexpectedly it wasn't bad—Luo Yi only slightly broke the skin on his neck.
The teeth tips took a little of his blood, and with a light breath, Wu Zhong immediately felt a strange pleasure.
All his cells were boiling, blood rushing through his veins, heartbeat strong and powerful, with an indescribable comfort throughout his internal organs and entire body.
Luo Yi released him, frowning slightly and spitting.
Wu Zhong felt his hearing had become exceptionally sharp, and his vision could now see the veins on leaves dozens of meters away.
Sensation-wise, it was as if the entire world had changed filters, and something that had been muffling sound had been removed, making everything feel brand new.
"I... I've become stronger just like that?"
"Don't I need to feed on a mental illness once?"
Wu Zhong felt light as a swallow, jumping up and down on the spot, reaching over a meter high with each leap.
Not the kind where you curl your legs up, but a basketball-style jump with legs straight, lifting off one and a half meters from the ground.
Wu Zhong stood one meter eighty tall, and this sudden vertical leap created a visually absurd effect, like an unexpected mountain peak emerging, startling Yang Chunsha.
Luo Yi spat again, "You absorbed mine. To be precise, I injected one of my severe mental disorders into you."
"This is the Embrace—after forcibly accepting the Mad Blood Clan's mental illness effect, you'll become one of the Mad Blood Clan too."
"However, the Mad Blood Clan's price isn't so easily resolved. The first person who discovered the Embrace method originally intended to transfer their own mental illness cost to others."
"The result not only created the second generation of Mad Blood Clan, but also made one of their own mental illnesses randomly transform into something even more troublesome."
Wu Zhong understood—the Mad Blood Clan's mental illness was a disaster artifact effect.
Trying to transfer it to others again to reduce your own cost? Wishful thinking.
Instead, it backfired, with another random mental illness instantly replacing it—that random element is literally gambling with your life, and with bad luck it becomes even more troublesome.
"Lord Luo, what illness did you transfer to me?" Wu Zhong pressed.
Luo Yi wiped drool from the corner of his mouth, "Insomnia. I already told you about my insomnia feelings to help you receive my sleep disorder and create resonance for the Embrace."
"Such an Embrace might trigger True Ancestor transformation."
"True Ancestor transformation?" Wu Zhong was astonished.
Luo Yi lit another cigarette, "Becoming an original Mad Blood Clan member, fundamentally different from ordinary ones, somewhat similar to vampire lore."
"There are exactly thirteen original Mad Blood Clan members—this is a fixed number. If all slots are currently filled, then you definitely won't trigger True Ancestor transformation."
"Conversely, once you become an original, your dietary range will broaden. For example, you can absorb characteristic mental illnesses owned by ordinary Mad Blood Clan members, and you can even absorb mind-warping effects as illnesses."
"In short, your dietary range expands from ordinary disease territory to the realm of disaster artifacts."
"Absorb mind-warping?" Wu Zhong was shocked.
Luo Yi explained, "Things like 'money phobia,' 'infinite emotional sensitivity,' 'absolute guilt complex,' and some other strange ones like 'must attend banquets daily,' 'couples must be burned alive,' and other disaster memes."
"Damn, none of them are any good."
Wu Zhong scratched his head, "I understand the first part, but what are memes?"
Luo Yi exhaled smoke, "Genes are factors that self-replicate and spread at the biological level, memes are factors that self-replicate and spread at the thought level."
"For example, when it's your birthday, don't you eat cake?"
Wu Zhong shook his head, "I've never eaten cake."
"..." Luo Yi froze awkwardly, blinking before asking, "Ah, anyway, most people celebrate birthdays..."
Wu Zhong sighed sadly, "I don't celebrate birthdays either."
Luo Yi's mouth twitched, "Don't interrupt me! Anyway, most people think you should celebrate when it's your birthday—that's a meme."
"Don't know who invented it, but people who don't know to do this see others doing it and learn, imitating others' birthday practices, eventually causing everyone to have similar birthday rituals, becoming popular culture."
"You don't celebrate birthdays, fine—this shows it's a normal meme. Because it's not forced transmission, not absolute thought infection."
"Conversely, some memories and cognitions forcibly implant into human minds, prompting behavioral imitation, becoming absolute common sense—thought branding!"
"No matter how strange or discordant it is, infected people will consider it the most natural thing."
Wu Zhong understood, then widened his eyes, "Eh? So 'must attend banquets daily' means literally? But what if there are no banquets to attend?"
Luo Yi spat, "This is just like you needing to eat every day. What if you have no food?"
Wu Zhong answered, "If there's none, then there's none. Just stay hungry until you have money to eat."
Luo Yi rolled his eyes, "Don't be difficult. Anyway, this kind of absolute common sense drives people crazy. Not letting them attend banquets is like not letting them breathe."
"As the day approaches its end without attending a banquet, that craving and obsession becomes like a person dying of thirst in the desert searching for water—eyes turning red, adrenaline surging, trying every possible means to attend a banquet."
"If they really don't get to attend, then they don't—they'll collapse for a while, like social death, feeling as if they've been defiled, with extremely low mood."
"But that's about it—not attending doesn't have substantial consequences because it's only at the cognitive level. The next day they carry on as usual, and of course, continue wanting to attend banquets."
Wu Zhong stroked his chin, "If original Mad Blood Clan members can even absorb mind-warping effects, wouldn't that be equivalent to purification?"
Luo Yi spat on the ground, "Purification my ass! It's still transferring to yourself!"
"Plus, many terrifying mind-warping effects can't be absorbed—the Mad Blood Clan has very low priority."
"Including memes like 'must attend banquets daily'—the Mad Blood Clan can't completely absorb them either, only treating symptoms without curing the root cause. The infected will still inexplicably relapse the next day, getting infected out of nowhere."
Wu Zhong nodded understandingly—Xia Heng had also told him about priority matters.
For example, some mind-warping effects come with 'absolutely cannot be transferred' attributes, making them potentially unabsorbable.
With disaster artifacts, there's no strongest, only stronger.
"So Lord Luo, do you think I'm an original Mad Blood Clan member now?"
Luo Yi sucked in saliva, "How would I know? This depends on luck. It's Old Xia who insisted I help you become an original."
"Otherwise I would have bitten you back when you were blackout drunk—why wait until now?"
"It's only because I know that two original Mad Blood Clan members recently died at Gödel Mental Hospital, leaving the thirteen clans incomplete."
"That's why I'm letting you try your luck—otherwise we wouldn't even attempt it."
Wu Zhong tilted his head, "Ordinary Mad Blood Clan members can't absorb illnesses from their own kind. If I try to absorb your mental illness, wouldn't that verify it?"
Luo Yi rolled his eyes, "Are you kidding? You think I'm not an original?"
"Only originals can trigger True Ancestor transformation to create new originals. Even if you succeed, you still can't absorb from me."
"You'll know when you find an ordinary Mad Blood Clan member to test later."
"By the way, when you absorb mental illnesses in the future, make sure they're severe ones. Try not to absorb mild ones unless it's a disease you absolutely cannot accept."
Wu Zhong blinked, "What do you mean? Aren't mild ones better?"
Luo Yi explained, "Only severe ones double normal human physical attributes. Otherwise you only get 0.8x, 0.5x, etc."
"Think about it—you can only absorb the same mental illness once. So an acceptable mental illness category is like a safe quota—you definitely want to maximize the benefits."
"It's like card slots—getting a mild one would just waste a slot, right?"
"The insomnia I just gave you is severe. Although this means I need massive alcohol intake plus anesthetic injections every time I want to sleep."
"Even because my physical attributes are too good, ordinary anesthetics don't work anymore, making me somewhat addicted to anesthetics..."
"But don't panic—insomnia doesn't necessarily mean you can't sleep, you just need to use some methods. In Mad Blood Clan circles, this is universally considered an acceptable mental illness."
"You can follow my path, starting with psychological dependence on tobacco and alcohol, then expanding to obsessive-compulsive disorder, fetishism, etc."
"If you don't mind, sexual disorders are 'very profitable' mental illnesses—many Mad Blood Clan members are sexually frigid. While not affecting life and combat, it's even beneficial to health."
Seeing him seriously teaching 'Mad Blood path' selection tips, Wu Zhong thought to himself that Brother Xia indeed hadn't told Luo Yi about his mind fortress.
"Insomnia... understood. Thank you, Lord Luo, for bestowing the Mad Blood upon me."
"Um, after you transferred insomnia to me, you randomly contracted another mental illness to replace it—what is it?"
Wu Zhong looked at him concerned, noticing Luo Yi kept drooling—he hadn't done this before. Could this be a symptom of his new illness?
He saw drool flowing from Luo Yi's mouth again, who then slurped it back.
Luo Yi frowned, "How would I know what illness I got?"
"But obviously it doesn't affect my mentality—this is already the best outcome. Don't worry about it."
Wu Zhong nodded. For the Mad Blood Clan, mental illnesses that don't seriously affect mentality are all good illnesses! Huge profit!
Luo Yi took significant risks converting him to the Mad Blood Clan—frankly speaking, it was a gamble.
Looking at it now, the gamble seems successful—he can still communicate and speak normally, with no mental issues.