Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Purification Society

The nine gene locks, each bearing an inscription, together form a total of nine inscriptions, corresponding to the nine ranks of the Warlord. To ignite the first inscription is to step into the realm of the Warlord, a stage where true transcendence begins, and even the very nature of life itself undergoes a transformation.

The distinction between this realm and that of the Warrior is striking. As a Warrior, one primarily relies on unlocking gene locks to enhance physical attributes, manifesting in evident improvements in strength, speed, and the like. However, the transformation at the Warlord stage is far more mysterious and profound. Beyond the doubling of physical prowess, one may also harness the power of the inscriptions to draw upon the forces of nature itself.

For instance, a Warlord can borrow the power of the wind to achieve brief flight, or even imbue their weapons with the energy of runes. Most strikingly, they can project their internal energy beyond their bodies—much like a fusion of the warrior and mage classes one finds in games.

It is a potent and enigmatic stage. Even in Gu Sha’s previous life, twenty years after the apocalypse’s arrival and through countless great upheavals, Warlords were still considered high-level combatants.

Yet in his previous life, after twenty years of struggle, Gu Sha himself had only managed to reach fifth-rank Warrior, still a distant cry from the Warlord. In this life, however, with just over a month since the onset of the apocalypse, he had already become a ninth-rank Warrior—just a single step away from breaking through to Warlord.

Gu Sha felt a wave of emotion at this, but it lasted only a moment before he opened his backpack and took out three mutant bones.

These three bones were of first, second, and third rank, each of high quality. Considering the apocalypse had only just begun, any beast capable of awakening powers was, without exception, among the most gifted of its kind. In the future, such creatures would be considered of kingly or imperial bloodline.

Without delay, Gu Sha began refining the bones. Activating the Energy Guiding Technique, the power within the bones surged, turning blood red and releasing streams of liquid energy that flowed toward and enveloped his body.

He drove the Energy Guiding Technique to its limits, channeling the energy into every part of his being. In an instant, a red sheen covered him, like a layer of liquid light undulating in waves. Gradually, as the energy from the bones poured into his body, it enveloped the third gene lock.

After a long while, Gu Sha opened his eyes—he had achieved third-rank supernatural power!

The advancement of supernatural abilities was the same as that of transcendent beings: nine ranks, divided into three heavens, with each set of three ranks marking a new heaven. Each new heaven meant a dramatic increase in the difficulty of further advancement.

Gu Sha glanced at the few remaining corpse cores in the box and began refining them as well. This time, however, it was not to advance in rank, but to store energy for activating his precognition ability.

Previously, at second rank, his precognition was limited to about two hours into the future.

Now, having reached the third rank, the duration would undoubtedly be much longer. Still, Gu Sha was uncertain just how much it would increase.

Before long, the white line on his wrist lit up once more. Immediately, Gu Sha focused his mind, activating the power of his genes to trigger precognition.

In a flash, a vision of the future appeared in his mind, lasting nearly six hours.

As he absorbed the vision, Gu Sha’s expression grew strange.

“My house… got blown up!”

…

In the vision, everything began as usual—Gu Sha was resting in his room. But around nine o’clock in the evening, a series of violent explosions erupted throughout the residential complex. Gu Sha rushed downstairs to investigate, only to witness the bag of vegetables that Zhang Shufen had bought for the kitchen explode. The entire villa was instantly engulfed in a firestorm, and Zhang Shufen, who’d been cleaning, was obliterated in an instant.

The explosion was catastrophic, turning the world upside down. For Gu Sha, the impact was not too severe; he was thrown more than a hundred meters and crashed into a pile of rubble, left only in disarray. In the brief moment he was airborne, he glimpsed explosions raging throughout the complex—hell on earth.

With that, the vision ended.

“This is ridiculously unlucky!” Gu Sha muttered, thoroughly exasperated.

Thankfully, the vision’s details revealed the explosion’s source: it was no accident, but a deliberate act. Had he been caught off guard in his sleep, he would have been utterly lost.

…

Gu Sha took a deep breath and carefully reviewed the vision.

First, he could confirm that the bomb was not meant solely for him, as the entire complex was being targeted.

Second, this complex housed the highest echelons of the current Bastion—many administrators, prominent families, and military officials lived here. The attackers had chosen nine o’clock, a time when most officials would have returned home, clearly intending to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

At once, Gu Sha took out his satellite phone and called the operator, Nie Qingqing, instructing, “No matter what Han Ze is doing, have him drop everything and answer this call.”

The operator dared not question his command.

About five minutes later, Han Ze’s voice came through the line: “Mr. Gu, is something wrong?”

Gu Sha replied, “This evening, around nine o’clock, there will be a massive explosion at the Tianhu Residential Complex where I live—enough to reduce the whole place to ruins. Don’t ask how I know; just send your people to verify.”

To Gu Sha’s surprise, Han Ze seemed unsurprised, cursing, “Damn it! It must be those lunatics!”

Gu Sha asked, “So, President Han, you know who’s behind this?”

“Please hold on a moment, Mr. Gu—I’ll dispatch a team to investigate right away and explain further in a moment.” Han Ze didn’t hang up; Gu Sha could hear him giving orders to check for bombs.

After a while, Han Ze’s voice returned: “Mr. Gu, are you still there?”

“I am.”

“Mr. Gu, have you heard of the Purification Society?”

At the mention of this name, Gu Sha’s heart skipped a beat—it was all too familiar.

This was an extremist group. In his past life, when it came to the organizations humanity hated most during the apocalypse, the Purification Society was always near the top of the list.

It was an anti-human group—a terrorist organization even before the apocalypse, and afterwards, it became an agent of destruction. Their slogan was worldwide annihilation and the rebirth of civilization, claiming the apocalypse was divine retribution for humanity's decadence. They believed the end times were meant to destroy human civilization and create a perfect new world.

Hence, they called themselves the Purification Society, signifying their intent to cleanse the world.

In his past life, as humanity struggled to survive the zombie and mutant beast crisis, this group ceaselessly stabbed them in the back. Many great battles ended in defeat for humanity due to their interference, and several small continents were wiped out by their schemes.

A truly deranged organization.

“But the Purification Society is appearing so soon?” In his previous life, Gu Sha had only heard of them three years after the apocalypse began, when they emerged backed by a powerful mutant beast horde.

For them to show up so early—what could they possibly be relying on?

Brothers, I’ve really done my best. There were originally two chapters, but some content went a bit too far and had to be deleted and rewritten. Just finished editing this chapter. There might be another one this afternoon or evening, but I’m not sure since I need to save up a few chapters for tomorrow.

By the way, if you like decisive and action-packed novels, check out my other books: “One Man Sweeps the Martial World” and “Peerless Ruthless Man, Conquers the World.” Judging by the titles, you know what kind of stories they are—if you’re in a reading slump, give them a try, satisfaction guaranteed!