Chapter 422: Absolute Control
She immediately realized there was no need to rush to Shou’an.
By spending a single crystal core, she could acquire a 100-square-meter controlled area within or near Shou’an, establish a teleportation gate, and instantly arrive at the battlefield.
Excited by the idea, she eagerly wanted to try it out, but then noticed a new feature button added to the top-left corner of the map—Absolute Control.
This was the third feature unlocked after upgrading to level 8, and just by its name, it sounded incredible.
However, Su Tao couldn’t imagine what more could be controlled in her managed areas. Taoyang already had comprehensive oversight—monitoring threats, restricting ability usage, autonomous utilities, property access, blacklists, and more.
Curiosity led her to click on it. A guide pop-up appeared, prompting her to select an already-controlled area.
She casually chose Taoyang’s main region, and the next notification nearly made her choke:
[Would you like to spend 20,000 crystal cores to implement Absolute Control over this area for one day?]
Su Tao couldn’t believe her eyes. She double-checked the number on the screen multiple times.
It was correct—20,000 crystal cores!
This was daylight robbery!
She immediately closed the system window, took a deep breath to calm herself, and reopened it after mentally preparing herself. The system repeated the message:
[Once implemented, the area will be fully controlled by the host’s consciousness, allowing the regulation of all activities within the zone. Please confirm.]
Su Tao hastily dismissed the prompt. Confirm? No way!
Twenty thousand crystal cores… The system might as well have robbed her outright.
However, after calming down, a thought occurred to her—perhaps the exorbitant price was due to the large size of the area she had selected.
After all, features like protective shields and greenhouse zones also calculated costs based on square meters. It made sense that “Absolute Control” would follow a similar formula.
The sheer cost left her brain buzzing. She had just earned 8,000 crystal cores from the coastal convoy and was feeling proud of her newfound wealth—only for this feature to bankrupt her instantly.
To verify her theory, Su Tao begrudgingly spent one crystal core. She zoomed in on Shou’an Base, targeting a small area at the entrance of the warlord’s residential zone.
The system detected the new area and prompted her to name it. Feeling lazy, she skipped the naming process entirely.
When she activated Absolute Control over the smaller region, a new, more reasonable prompt appeared:
[Would you like to spend 100 crystal cores to implement Absolute Control over this area for one day?]
A hundred crystal cores were still expensive—but far more manageable. It seemed that the cost scaled with the area’s size, at one crystal core per square meter per day.
[Activated. Timer started: 24:00:00]
Su Tao thought, If this feature isn’t worth the price, I’m definitely—
Before she could finish the thought, an odd sensation swept over her. It was as though a part of her consciousness had shifted to the 100-square-meter zone in Shou’an Base.
She no longer needed to rely on surveillance cameras or the system’s map—she could see everything happening in that area as if she were there.
And what she saw made her heart pound violently—Shou’an City had fallen.
Thank goodness she had urged Lei Xing and the others to evacuate early!
Judging by the situation, the attack had started from within rather than from outside—otherwise, nearby bases would’ve noticed.
Like an omniscient observer, Su Tao viewed the scene from an overhead perspective.
At the entrance to the warlord’s residential district, a blood-soaked mother and daughter huddled together, trembling in fear. Around them lay dismembered corpses—some still twitching, dragging half-severed bodies in a futile attempt to survive.
Every single victim had been cut in half, their spines gleaming white.
A man, drenched in blood, with an emaciated lower body, slowly approached them.
His physical proportions were grotesque—like the upper body of a healthy adult male fused onto the withered legs of a malnourished patient. His spine split open to reveal writhing, tendril-like appendages.
A mutated zombie.
And one she had never encountered before—clearly one of the “allies” brought by the Sirens.
The mutant didn’t kill the mother and daughter immediately. Instead, it toyed with them, coldly watching their fear as it casually dismembered other fleeing humans with its tendrils—effortlessly, as if swatting flies.
The mother clung protectively to her unconscious daughter, begging through tears:
“Please… Please spare us…”
The mutant grinned hideously.
“I love watching you privileged, pampered women beg for mercy,” he sneered. “When I was in a wheelchair, you wouldn’t even look at me. You mocked me, spat on me—kicked me aside. Now you kneel before me, begging for my kindness. Hah!”
The mother frantically shook her head. “No—we never—”
His face twisted with rage.
“You’re all the same. Selfish, arrogant, and dismissive of anyone who’s different. I swore I’d kill every woman I came across. And you… You’re dead—”
Blood-red tendrils lashed toward the mother and daughter.
Just as they were about to be shredded, an invisible barrier flared to life—blocking the attack.
The mutant froze, disbelief etched across his face. He tried again, but the tendrils bounced off the unseen shield.
Alarmed, he stepped back—only to find impenetrable walls rising around him, sealing him in absolute darkness.
Su Tao’s heart raced. For the first time, she realized the true power of Absolute Control—and it was worth every crystal core.
