NOVPUBJulia wore a look of arrogance: "Being able to join the Investigation Bureau is an honor for all Evolvers."
"For you, it’s an important opportunity to transform from an ordinary human to an Evolver, and I hope you seize it."
"So, going forward, you’ll answer what I ask."
Daniel spoke calmly, asking, "What is the door to destiny?"
Julia frowned: "It’s my turn to ask you, not the other way around."
Daniel’s expression turned cold as he stared at Julia.
At that moment, Mike quickly interjected, "Go ahead and ask; we’ll cooperate with you, and we hope you’ll do the same for us later."
Julia slightly nodded, thinking Mike’s words might be reasonable.
Then she proudly continued, "The door to destiny is the most mysterious part of the human body, only discovered in recent years."
"It’s located near our brain’s central region and stays hidden under normal circumstances, leaving no trace."
"Only under special conditions can it be activated. Once opened, it signifies the beginning of transformation into an Evolver. Generally, those at this stage or who have unlocked the first genetic chain are referred to as Level One Evolvers."
Upon hearing this, Daniel, intrigued, asked, "So, there’s a specific level division among Evolvers?"
Julia responded, "Naturally. Those who unlock the second genetic chain are called Level Two Evolvers, demonstrating increased strength. As for Level Three Evolvers, I haven’t reached that stage, and the specific details are highly classified, so I’m unaware."
Daniel then asked, "How many genetic chains are there in total?"
Julia shook her head: "I don’t know. To my knowledge, no person or organization in this world knows how many genetic chains a human body can unlock."
"Moreover, unlocking genetic chains comes with great risks, dangers that the human body might not withstand. The further along the chain you go, the greater the risk and mortality rate."
"So far, the most powerful Evolver has only unlocked four genetic chains, and among the thousands of Evolvers worldwide, only a few have managed that."
Daniel calmly nodded his head, opening his mouth to continue asking, "How to open the door to destiny, how to unlock..."
Before he could finish, Julia impatiently interrupted: "I have no obligation to answer your questions here. There are Evolver forums on the dark web, and you can directly search for them yourself. Go read."
Mike helplessly smiled and then said, "I’ll send the method to access the dark web to your phone, so you can look it up yourself after we leave."
Daniel nodded.
It was not surprising that the Investigation Bureau knew his contact information.
Julia then asked, "Can you answer my questions now?"
"First, have you opened the door to destiny, and what special abilities have you gained since opening it?"
"Also, in the pyramid, you clearly had the ability to kill the Ghoul, so why did you wait until Hols and Taylor were eaten before taking action?"
"I advise you to answer honestly. I have ways to know if your answers are correct, and if I find any deception, you’ll bear the consequences!"
Julia’s tone was full of warning.
Daniel raised an eyebrow and calmly asked, "I have one last question."
Julia’s brow furrowed, displaying a look of disgust: "Are you done yet? I’m the one asking the questions here!"
Ignoring Julia, Daniel looked up at the ceiling, where three bats were hanging upside down from a beam, their eyes flashing an eerie light.
"Can you see those bats?"
Following Daniel’s pointing finger, Julia and Mike looked over.
The ceiling was spotless, without even a speck of dust.
There were no bats.
Mike chuckled, "Mr. Dan, this is a high-end hotel, very clean. How could there possibly be bats?"
Daniel’s brow furrowed, murmuring, "Can they really not see? Or are they pretending not to?"
Suddenly, the room fell into an eerie silence.
Mike looked at Daniel with hair-raising horror, his eyes fleetingly darting upward, trying to see the bats Daniel mentioned.
He blinked hard, but damn, not even a speck of bat dung was visible.
Mike’s heart skipped a beat.
Could this guy be insane?!
It had to be!
Many ordinary people had gone mad after encountering Cthulhu-like monsters!
This fellow must have been scared out of his wits by the creature, and although he might have opened the door to destiny, his mind seemed inevitably disturbed!
Julia, however, didn’t think so. She angrily slammed the table and retorted: "Daniel! Are you playing games with me?"
Daniel, looking at the furious Julia, realized they weren’t pretending.
So were these bats circling him like Atelarxus in the pyramid, not yet triggered to attack?
Daniel thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up.
His eyes fixed on the three bats, he spat out a curse: "Damn you all."
Julia thought Daniel was cursing at her and immediately flared up in anger, slamming the table as she stood up.
"Daniel, you must have eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard!" she exclaimed, an English equivalent to say that he was incredibly audacious.
She was about to take a swing at Daniel when her face suddenly turned pale.
Mike also sprang from the sofa, standing next to Julia, both staring at Daniel’s head with a very strange look.
There, three pure black bats had materialized out of thin air above Daniel’s head.
They seemed no different from ordinary bats, but their teeth were unusually large and sharp, even rapidly growing longer.
Under the light, the sharp teeth looked like exquisite long swords, reflecting a dazzling glare.
Mike was suddenly alarmed: "Monster!"
Julia, with a watchful eye on Daniel, demanded: "Daniel, who the hell are you?"
"Why can you summon Cthulhu-like creatures!"
The reason Julia hadn’t considered that Daniel’s ability was to summon monsters was twofold.
First, such an ability had never been seen before.
Second, Cthulhu-like monsters existed to consume people, or rather, to consume the darkness in the human heart.
So, it was utterly impossible for an Evolver to have the ability to summon Cthulhu-like creatures.
She stared at Daniel, a bolt of lightning suddenly appearing in her hand, ready to launch an attack.
But then something happened that she and Mike never expected.
The sword-like teeth of the bat penetrated Daniel’s throat directly.
Blood sprayed like a fountain, staining the sky, and the entire space was tinted red.
Julia and Mike exchanged a glance, but before they had time to wonder, the teeth of the other two bats had also penetrated their throats.
...
[Obsession leads to echoes.]
[Number of echoes remaining within 24 hours: 9.]
...
Daniel awoke in bed, the window still shrouded in the darkness of night.
It seemed that this time, the resurrection point had been set at midnight.
He got up and, following Mike’s instructions, accessed the dark web.
Unlike what Mike had said, he didn’t even have to search; the Evolver forum appeared on the homepage, as if it had paid for advertising.
Daniel clicked on it and saw a plethora of posts.
[What kind of forum is this, a joke?]
[Does Evolver mean Superman?]
[How can I become the captain of Libertopia?]
All were unreliable posts.
It seemed that due to the appearance of the pyramid monsters, many ordinary people had begun to pay attention to this information.
He continued to browse the forum and found that, in addition to the new posts on the homepage, there were also many informative old posts.
Some shared experiences of opening the door of destiny, some explained the challenges of unlocking gene chains, and some offered sales of weapons and equipment claimed to be monster-killers.
What surprised Daniel even more was that there was even an Evolver auction.
The auction had only one requirement: all participants had to be Evolvers.
As for what would be at the auction, the post didn’t go into detail.
But the comments below were lively.
Person A: "This auction will have a Spiritual Artifact!" 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
Person B: "Really? Spiritual Artifacts are rare treasures. They say if you have a Spiritual Artifact, ordinary monsters won’t even dare approach you!"
Person C: "Holy cow, is it that awesome? I must attend this auction! If I’m lucky and can get this Spiritual Artifact, that would be fantastic!"
Person A: "Dream on, buddy. The appearance of a Spiritual Artifact will attract Evolvers from all over the world. Even those level-four Evolvers might show up. The value of the Spiritual Artifact will surely be driven up like crazy. Maybe even ten tons of gold won’t be enough to buy it!"
Person D: "Sigh, I thought becoming an Evolver would shake off the label of being dirt poor, but it seems the world of Evolvers values money, no, gold, even more damn highly."
Person E: "Can’t help it, who knew that gold could seal Cthulhu-like monsters?"
...
The discussion in the thread was all about the expectations for the auction.
Daniel glanced at the address for the auction and then exited the post.
For the rest of the night, he didn’t sleep, reading all the useful posts on the forum.
As the darkness retreated and the early sun rose, Daniel got up, washed up quickly, and sat on the sofa in the sitting area.
By now, he had a full understanding of the Evolver world.
