The Ancient God Who Wields the Soul Plague

Chen Xún's base data and other information appeared normal, only slightly stronger than that of an average person. Even his skills and talents seemed unremarkable.

Chen Xún had two C-rank skills and an A-rank shelter talent, "Prober".Prober: A-rank Shelter Talent. It allows the user to see the information of those whose talents are of a lower rank. It can also reveal partial information of those whose talents are ranked higher, though any talent rank more than two levels above cannot be seen.

Everything seemed within the normal range, a typical data template for talents with no irregularities.

But when Mike's gaze settled on Chen Xún's data panel, an unusual notification appeared.

[The current skill target contains hidden information. The revealed hidden information is at the bottom of the data panel.]

Hidden Information: Includes special statuses that cannot be seen or perceived normally, only discernible through special means.

As the notification flashed, a unique segment at the bottom of Chen Xún's data panel began to glow.

Hidden Information:[Soul Plague – Sub-body]: The current target has been successfully infected by the "Source of the Soul Plague" and meets the prerequisites to become the next "Source of the Plague."

"Soul Plague?" Mike blinked, his brow furrowing in confusion. "What is this? Source? Mother and sub-body?"What in the world is all of this?

From this simple line of information, Mike couldn't draw any conclusions.

"The one thing I can be sure of is that this must be related to Liu Wenbo!"

"Liu Wenbo is the source of the plague, and he must have infected Chen Xún with it."

"But... what does the Soul Plague actually do? Is this the shelter talent of the mastermind behind all this?"

Mike took a deep breath, growing more and more confused.

As the sub-body, Chen Xún's hidden information didn't offer more details. It only made Mike even more reluctant to investigate Liu Wenbo's secrets.He wasn't sure if using his skill on Liu Wenbo would lead to him being infected by the Soul Plague as well.Forget what the Soul Plague is—it certainly didn't sound like something harmless.

"Time to ask Xiào Cí!" Mike decided, feeling that if anyone could shed light on this, it would be her.

At this point, Mike had enough physical stamina to use multiple remote views simultaneously, roughly matching half of Chen Dàfēng's physical capacity. He quickly contacted Jiāng Xiào Cí and explained his findings.

"Soul Plague?" Jiāng Xiào Cí wasn't surprised. After hearing Mike's concerns, she smiled. "You're right to be cautious, sir. We still can't confirm the full effects of the Soul Plague, so we can't directly probe Liu Wenbo."

Mike, eager for guidance, asked, "So what should I do now?"

Jiāng Xiào Cí pointed out something Mike had overlooked. "Sir, your new skill doesn't seem to have any limit on using it on just one person, does it?"

"Hmm? That's right. There's no such restriction."

"Then why not try investigating Chen Xún more?" she suggested with a smile.

Mike's eyes widened. "You're right! Why didn't I think of that?"

His skill might only reveal partial hidden information, but that didn't mean the same piece of hidden information would always appear. If he kept using it, maybe he could unearth all the hidden details about Chen Xún.

Without hesitation, Mike used his skill on Chen Xún multiple times—seven or eight times in quick succession.

The S-rank skill consumed a significant amount of survival points—each activation cost 3,000 points. For most survivors, that would be unsustainable. But Mike, more concerned with his safety than the points, didn't hesitate.

As Jiāng Xiào Cí had predicted, after multiple uses of his skill, Mike uncovered two new pieces of hidden information.

[Soul Plague]: A terrifying plague originating from the deepest part of Hell, it is a nightmare for all soul-based beings. It currently has five special effects:

Randomly designates a living being as the source of the Soul Plague. Once the source's mind is fully corrupted, they will fall under the control of the Ancient God.Once the source of the plague is born, they will inherit part of the Ancient God's power and begin to subtly infect all nearby soul beings, turning them into "Sub-bodies." Any beings coming into remote contact with the source are also at risk, though with a lower chance of infection.There can only be one source of the plague. If the source dies, the creature that kills it, provided they possess the "Sub-body" infection, will become the next source. If the source dies naturally, or if the killer is not infected, a new source will emerge from the existing Sub-bodies.Both the source and the sub-body undergo "mental corrosion," tormenting their minds until they lose their souls and become puppets of the Ancient God. The source is particularly vulnerable to this corrosion and will inevitably be turned into a puppet.Neither the source nor the sub-body can escape the Ancient God's gaze, though only the source can be controlled by them.

[The Ancient God's Attention]: The current target has successfully resisted the "mental corrosion" of the Soul Plague. Their tenacity has caught the Ancient God's eye. If they become the next source, their version of the Soul Plague will be far stronger.

Mike's breath hitched. "What the hell! The Ancient God is involved in this?"

He murmured in disbelief, his mind racing. These two new pieces of hidden information were unlike anything he'd seen before—they were definitely not ordinary.

Suppressing his shock, Mike carefully examined the details.

"Damn! This is a high-level version of parasitism!"

Mike smacked his forehead, realizing the similarities between the Soul Plague's effects and his own parasitic skill. But this was far more advanced.

The randomness of the creation of a source meant there were almost no limits to it.The source could spread the plague effortlessly, and it was implied that the number of Sub-bodies infected was virtually limitless.Even if the source died, as long as there were Sub-bodies, a new source would rise. This was an unstoppable cycle—worse than any plague.The source itself could be fearless in the face of death. Even if the source feared death, it wouldn't matter—it was already fully controlled.

"So the 'Ancient God' in this hidden information must be the mastermind behind all of this..." Mike murmured. "But who the hell is this person? Do we have someone of this caliber in our country?"

The Soul Plague's effects were outrageous.

Although Mike still couldn't confirm some of the finer details, just from the effects alone, he was sure this was at least an SS-rank talent.It could even be SSS-rank.