My Infinite Cultivation System-Chapter 41: Experiment

[Author note: There is violence in this Chapter]

Everyone’s gaze settled on the five of them. That was the fundamental problem with this place. Here, the son of an imperial household and a street-born delinquent were equals.

No one was permitted to remove their mask. That was the absolute rule of this underground battle arena, sanctioned directly by the Tower of Ascension itself.

Anyone who violated that rule would suffer punishment inflicted upon their soul.

It was yet another authority wielded by the Tower.

That was precisely why powerful families never allowed their heirs to wander without hidden protection. Anything could happen here. There was no law. And that absence of law was the only law that governed this place.

Alex calmly scanned the five individuals before him.

[Name: Marcus Vale

Talent: Physical Enhancement (A)

Rank: Martial Lord Level 5

Note: Can increase strength up to three times for ten minutes. Requires one hour of rest before reactivation.]

Alex only analyzed Marcus. There was no need to waste attention on the others. He was the strongest among them.

Darion stepped forward and positioned himself in front of his group.

"You have 30 seconds. Apologize and leave," he said evenly. There was not the slightest fluctuation in his tone.

"Huh? What did you say, punk? A silk-pant young master trying to intimidate me? Do you want to die? I’ve changed my mind. Now I want all ten of them. And I want you to watch what I am going to do with them," the man replied coldly.

Judging from Darion’s voice and the exposed portion of his face beneath the mask, they could tell he was just a teenager. They felt no fear. There was no visible guardian nearby, no intimidating aura protecting him.

But Darion did not even blink.

He was counting.

"20... 19... 18..."

"Now you’ve pissed me off. I only wanted to have some fun, but I’ll kill all of you today."

Boom!

With a deafening sonic crack, the man charged forward.

Darion’s face turned pale. The opponent was a Martial Lord.

Without a guardian present, he stood no chance against someone of that caliber.

He had never imagined that their first encounter here would be a team led by a Martial Lord.

He waited desperately for the hidden guardian his family had arranged.

But to his growing horror, no one came.

"Why..."

He roared and unleashed his mental force, raising seven flying knives into the air to form a defensive shield.

The surrounding spectators observed with keen interest. A gruesome spectacle was about to unfold. They could already tell. This small group of youths was far too weak to withstand a seasoned Martial Lord who had spent most of his life surviving in the wilderness.

"Huh? A Spirit Master? Hahaha! I get to crush a genius today. How entertaining," the man laughed as he punched the shield.

The impact scattered all seven flying swords instantly. Darion lacked the strength to contend with a Martial Lord.

"Die! Die! Die!" The man’s expression twisted with manic delight.

Alex observed silently from the side.

The man’s base strength was 0.7 megaton. With his talent activated, he could reach 2.1 megatons.

No wonder he was so arrogant. In this sector, he was indeed among the strongest.

But why did he crave killing so desperately?

Why did humans attempt to take another’s life and appear to enjoy it?

How exactly did their brains function?

Alex wanted to understand everything.

In his previous life, he had read countless reports about serial killers, rapists, psychopaths.

He had always feared them.

Yet a part of him had always wondered: if one had food, shelter, and security, why desire to end another person’s life?

And today, he had found a perfect subject.

More importantly, he was strong enough to conduct the examination.

He stepped forward, positioning himself between Darion and the charging man.

He raised his hand and flicked a finger against the man’s forehead.

The attacker was moving too quickly to react.

Boom!

The Martial Lord was sent flying like a discarded puppet.

An immeasurable anger swelled within Alex’s chest.

Some people dedicated themselves to protecting humanity.

Others found pleasure in destroying it.

Alex did not hesitate.

He stepped forward again and appeared before the fallen man.

The Martial Lord lay on the ground, stunned, struggling to comprehend what had just occurred.

How had this boy appeared here so effortlessly?

"Tell me, Marcus, why do you want to kill him so much?" Alex sat beside him and asked gently.

Yet a suffocating killing intent radiated from his body.

Marcus looked into the cold eyes beneath the mask.

A deep chill crept along his spine.

He attempted to activate his talent, but he could not sense it anymore.

And how did this youth know his name? His mask was still intact.

Alex did not wait for a response.

He extended his hand and enveloped Marcus in mental energy, lifting him into the air.

A flying blade emerged from his space ring.

With clinical precision, Alex opened the man’s skull.

The entire arena fell into horrified silence. They were accustomed to violence, yes. But this was different. The boy was dissecting a living man calmly, methodically, as if performing routine research.

Alex peeled away the scalp. The skull bone became visible. He began separating it carefully using refined mental force.

Marcus’s teammates finally regained their senses.

"Bastard! What do you think you’re doing?" they shouted as they charged forward.

But Alex was already consumed by cold fury.

He flicked his index finger.

Four blades streaked outward and reduced the four attackers into thousands of fragments.

He did not even glance at them.

After removing the skull, the brain was exposed.

With a slight telekinetic pull, it emerged from the cranial cavity.

Marcus was already dead.

Alex brought the brain closer.

"AI, generate a 100 percent precise human brain model. I want to compare them and understand why individuals like this exist," he commanded coldly.

What he did not realize was that, to the spectators, he had become the psychopath.

Darion approached cautiously.

"Alex, are you alright?" he asked.

The coldness faded from Alex’s eyes.

"Brother, did I do something wrong? I feel no guilt for killing them. To me, they are parasites. They contribute nothing but harm."

"No. You did what was necessary. If you hadn’t, he would have killed us. He might have done unspeakable things to the girls while the crowd watched. This is a world where humans devour humans. But... perhaps you went a little too far. That is all," Darion replied.

"Is that so? I still want to know why they are like this. I will conduct the research later. Let’s go," Alex said.

"Today I learned something about myself. Killing a criminal does not burden me like those self-righteous protagonists in fantasy novels. And I am glad I am not like that."

He wrapped the brain in a plastic sheet and stored it in his space ring.

Then he appeared before Anna.

"Are you afraid of me now?" Alex asked curiously.

A faint, almost sadistic smile surfaced on Anna’s face.

For reasons she could not fully explain, she felt immense satisfaction watching those men die so gruesomely.

She suppressed the smile with effort and shook her head.

"Why would I be? If I were as strong as you, I would have turned them into meat paste before you could have done anything," she replied softly.