True Potential

Wang Yong was dead, his closest confidants slaughtered alongside him. The camp, now devoid of any strength to resist, quickly fell under Chen Feng's iron grip.

The factory was vast, housing over 600 people, yet it didn't feel crowded. But the ordinary people within were gaunt, their faces hollow and pale. It was clear that Wang Yong had deliberately kept them undernourished, using their weakness as a means of control. Among them, a group of beautiful women stood naked, trembling in a row, their fear almost tangible.

Human nature is a dark and unpredictable force.

Once some gain power, they unleash the darkness buried deep within their hearts. Women, especially those graced with beauty, have become the primary victims of this era, their suffering magnified many times over.

Yet, this was mild compared to the atrocities Chen Feng had witnessed. In far darker corners of the world, men had fallen so deep into depravity that they raised young girls into twisted beings, forcing them to crawl on all fours, stripping them of their humanity until they were nothing more than beasts.

Compared to those horrors, what lay before Chen Feng was a mere flicker of evil.

Wang Yong had three top lieutenants. The first, known as the Rat, had been devoured by the Dretch; the second, a professional who attempted to flee, was strangled by the same monster. The last of Wang Yong's enforcers was an Elementalist who could control electricity. Hundreds of volts coursing through his enemies would turn them into dried husks, with no chance to resist.

This Elementalist had once been a mere worker in the factory, gaining his powers through an extraordinary awakening during a moment of crisis.

But faced with Chen Feng's overwhelming presence, the Elementalist knew better than to resist. He quickly opened the door and surrendered, narrowly escaping death. With this, Chen Feng had added another professional to his ranks—a small but valuable acquisition.

In the silence of the room.

The crowd outside was left in Wei Xun's capable hands, while Chen Feng brought the Infernal Butterfly into the confines of this room.

The Infernal Butterfly was an exquisite creature, its body like delicate, translucent glass, glowing with an almost ethereal brilliance. Unlike other insects, it lacked the repulsive, greasy texture of a typical bug, feeling instead as solid and smooth as polished stone.

Chen Feng's gaze flickered as he studied the butterfly in his hand.

It showed submission.

The Infernal Butterfly looked up at him pitifully, its demeanor reminiscent of the Cerberus he had once subdued rather than killed. It was almost too pathetic to crush, compelling him to consider taming it, bending it to his will.

A rarity among rarities.

The Infernal Butterfly possessed strange and formidable abilities that, if wielded properly, could yield unexpected and devastating results. In many ways, it had even more potential than the Cerberus.

But there was one problem...

Chen Feng was no beastmaster. Even if he could subdue the creature, he relied on brute force rather than the spiritual control Wang Yong had wielded, making true communication between them impossible.

"Summoners have a forbidden technique—they sacrifice parts of their bodies to summon entities from the Abyss, like the Devil's Horns, the Bone Demon's Tail, or even an arm to summon a Sarcoma's Limb. To gain power, they are willing to become true monsters."

Of course, summoning a demon's body part is a perilous endeavor. If the summoner miscalculates and calls forth something like a Dretch, the consequences are irreversible. Thus, some summoners prefer to find a subject themselves, trap the creature, and then conduct the sacrifice, transplanting the monster's body onto their own.

This way, they gain the monster's abilities.

No pain, no gain.

Summoners are inherently fragile, physically weak. Summoned beasts are external entities; only by strengthening their own bodies can they hope to survive the dangers and unexpected horrors of this world.

Chen Feng didn't shy away from using such forbidden techniques. In the past, he hadn't encountered a monster worth the sacrifice; even if he had, the resulting power boost would have been minimal.

But the Infernal Butterfly was different...

Its ability to create illusionary spaces, to instill boundless fear—though intangible, its powers were nearly impossible to defend against. In many ways, it was the perfect subject...

A deadly intent darkened Chen Feng's expression.

Sensing the shift, the Infernal Butterfly began to tremble violently, emitting a pitiful, desperate hiss. It was an instinctual response; the creature sensed the malevolent thoughts brewing within Chen Feng, thoughts so dark and twisted that they drove even this fear-devouring entity into madness.

Terror!

It tried to plead for its life...

Holding the Infernal Butterfly in his grasp, watching its frantic struggle, Chen Feng let out a cold, mirthless laugh. The world is a cruel place, and in the pursuit of power, nothing is too sacred to sacrifice.

To survive, he had been ruthless to others—there was no shame in that.

For power, he could be just as merciless to himself.

If he couldn't endure a little pain, how could he hope to face the future—battles against Zerg invasion, seas of the undead, and wars with the abominations from twisted dimensions?

J City was nothing more than a fragile boat adrift in a vast and unforgiving Apocalypse. In the future, countless monsters and unimaginable threats would emerge. How could mere summoned beasts withstand such impending cataclysms?

He'd realized the truth.

Chen Feng extended his left hand, curling three fingers, and with wide, unflinching eyes, he plunged his fingers into his own eye socket.

In an instant.

His left eyeball was wrenched from its socket, and blood poured freely from the gaping wound.

At first, there was only a numbing sensation, a fleeting disbelief. Then the pain struck—a tidal wave of excruciating agony that nearly consumed him.

He stood there, his left eye now a hollow void, a ghostly figure from the depths of hell. His face was as pale as death, and cold sweat dripped from his brow, pooling at his feet in dark, crimson puddles.

Agony!

Unbearable, mind-shattering agony!

This pain consumed Chen Feng's mind. To willingly destroy his own eye—what kind of monstrous resolve did it take to go this far?

A will forged in the fires of torment.

There was nothing he wouldn't sacrifice for power, not even his own flesh.

Blood dripped onto the Infernal Butterfly, the once-beautiful creature now utterly broken, driven to madness by the sheer force of Chen Feng's will. It could feel the overwhelming storm of negative emotions emanating from him—an aura so intense it defied comprehension.

A Madman.

For the sake of power, he didn't hesitate to destroy his own eye. Even the Infernal Butterfly, a creature born from the darkest nightmares, quivered with an unprecedented fear of the man who held it captive.

Chen Feng grinned at the trembling butterfly, his white teeth stark against the bloodstains on his face, creating an image of pure, malevolent insanity.

"You wanted to serve me, didn't you? Then merge with me! Let your power and consciousness become one with my flesh and blood. From this moment on, you and I will be inseparable!"

Splat!

With a brutal grip, Chen Feng crushed Senra's Butterfly in his hand.

At that moment, he looked skyward, like a cultist making a pact with the devil himself. Summoning every ounce of strength, he roared into the void, "Merge with me! Let your flesh and blood become my new eye, and together, we shall transcend all who dare oppose us—reveal your truest potential!"

In an instant.

Chen Feng clasped his hands together, fusing the remnants of the eyeball with the shattered remains of the Inferal Butterfly. Then, with a savage force, he slammed his palms against his eye socket.

A Sacrifice.

A dark energy surged forth, shredding the remains of the butterfly and the eye alike. In that moment, the fused flesh and blood were absorbed into Chen Feng's body.

After what felt like an eternity...

A strange, malevolent eye began to form, slowly emerging from the hollow socket where his own eye had once been...