Swallowed Star

by Alexander Buchanez

  "It's that kind of feeling"

  Luo Feng shut his eyes and tried to sense it again. He stabilized his breathing and calmed his heart. His consciousness focused on the soles of his feet, the palms of his hands, and the artery of his head. He tried to sense the energy he just felt.

  He felt like he sensed the energy, but at the same time he felt like he didn't.

  Slowly, the feeling was getting clearer and clearer.

  It's this!

  A very small thing like a breath floated slowly. When it neared Luo Feng's soles, it seeped in slowly.

  "This is the energy" Luo Feng focused on the 'Wu Xin' and he focused on absorbing the energies. Naturally, the speed of which his soles, palms, and his head's artery absorb energy increased; it instantly neared to a hundred times the speed.

  If we say that the energies seeped in like a few drops of water from a crack in a water pipe at the beginning..

  Then now, the crack is larger and, like a small river, the energies incessantly flowed into Luo Feng's body.

  "Ah~~~" The feeling made him shiver to the bone. The shapeless, colorless energy entered Luo Feng's body. The starving and thirsting cells crazily gobbled up the energy which came in from five different paths.

  Inside the cell.

  As the energies entered the cells, it was quickly absorbed by the mitochondria and at the same time, let out a strange energy. This energy was absorbed by the cell, which started causing earth shattering changes. The DNA blueprints were also beginning to change slightly, and the cell started dividing, one into two.

  Time passed slowly.....

  Luo Feng's body kept changing, whether it was the surface of the skin, the muscles, the bones, and even the layers of every single cell, every part of the body has changed. This change is life's evolution, an enhancement of life's genes!

  "According to the training guide, humans, starting from birth, were unable to absorb the energies. So in a state of starvation, when you absorb the energies for the first time, you absorb the highest amount. Which is also the time of the quickest strength boost!" Luo Feng felt his fitness level changing.

  On the earth and in the entire universe, there is an infinite amount of energy. The amount of which Luo Feng just absorbed is negligible.

  However, to Luo Feng, this is the biggest jump in strength he has ever had.

  The density of his bones increased, the cells reduced their volumes and split into two, the muscle fibers were enhancing themselves, and Luo Feng's body weight kept increasing.

  Life, is so peculiar!

  In the brain.

  In a place where Luo Feng couldn't sense, the energies flowed in the depths of his brain. Since birth until now, the three shocks to the depths of his brain caused three comas. And tonight, a huge amount of energies were flowing in.

  However, this change was different from the other three times, it was more faint..... Luo Feng, who was training, didn't notice it at all.

  ������������

  [DING~~DONG~~]

  Dawn, the sun just rose, around 5 or 6 AM. All the bells in the jail were ringing. Each prisoner began to wake up. Luo Feng, who sat cross legged for a while, finally opened his eyes and smiled: "Indeed, this is the most energy I'll be able to absorb in one duration. I absorbed for almost 2 hours until my body was full"

  Luo Feng could feel that he had much more power than before.

  "After last night, I feel like my fitness level has raised even more than what my coma during exams gave me" Luo Feng thought to himself, "My fist strength would probably be around 1500 kg now, maybe even higher" Only tests could tell how much his strength actually increased.

  "Time for breakfast, time for breakfast" Quite a few prisoners left their cells to eat.

  Luo Feng jumped off his bed, brushed his teeth, and washed his face in preparation for breakfast.

  At this time--

  In the hallway, three uniform wearing prisoners walked towards Luo Feng's cell. One of them yelled: "Baldie Huang, I heard a highly skilled person came into your cell, beating four elite members single handedly"

  "Brother Liu, he sure is tough" In Luo Feng's cell, the bald brute laughed and nodded.

  "Oh"

  The three prisoners exchanged glances, and one of them said in a low voice: "There's no mistake. The cell number, age, and strength are all correct. Brother Zhou was talking about him"

  Chapter 18: Gang Fight

  In the jail.

  After eating breakfast, the prisoners started returning to their cells one by one.

  In the third cell from the left in the southern hallway, four prisoners lay quietly on their beds. One fatty said in a low voice: "Big Brother, I talked to Boss Li during breakfast and he nodded in agreement. We'll send three of our professionals. With two of Boss Li's 'gorillas', we'll have five men. With that, that Luo Feng shouldn't be a problem"

  "Fatty, I heard that Luo Feng could beat four elite members all by himself. He's quite a tough one" A brawny man with tattoos in the shape of a black dog said quietly.

  "Black dog, fatty, other than us, Brother Zhou is sending out cobra. Even if we don't succeed, cobra definitely will!" A one-eyed middle aged man said quietly.

  "Cobra?"

  Fatty and the brawny Black Dog were all shocked.

  "Yea. In pure coincidence, cobra is also locked up here" The one-eyed man nodded.

  "With cobra, there's no way we can fail" Fatty got excited, "However, what does cobra look like? We've never even seen him before"

  "We'll move together. After lunch I'll negotiate with Boss Li" The one-eyed man said quietly, "Without error, we'll move together and take action at dinner time! Remember, bring your weapons" However, the weapons this prisoner was talking about were just small blades formed from sharpening a tooth brush.....

  Even though there were some strict checks in this jail, it can't compare at all to a large scale prison.

  However, even in a large scale prison, crafty men are almost always able to smuggle guns and ammunition in. No matter how secure the place is, as long as people run it, there'll be loopholes! Of course, the people in this jail were just some small fry. They were armed with mere blades and glass pieces.

  ������������

  Evening.

  "Brother Luo"

  "Brother Luo"

  As he walked out of his cell, every prisoner he met obediently greeted Luo Feng. Luo Feng's story of his battle between four elite members has spread around last night. Virtually everybody in the jail knew of this young man's strength.

  In the cafeteria. It's called a cafeteria, but it's just a sealed lobby.

  Long, stabilized, silver tables, around a couple dozen of them.

  "Everything in this jail is pretty good, except the food" Since Luo Feng succeeded in his genetic energy training last night, he has been in a good mood for the entire day. He walked to the counter and received a plastic lunch box from the guards, but only some food like mud was inside it.

  As he lowered his head and looked inside, there was only some food like gray mud. When he smelled it, there was the scent of potatoes.

  "So this is the legendary raw meal" Luo Feng shaked his head.

  It is quite famous. But though it's called raw meal, it's actually the undisputed absolute worst food of society. If you eat this raw meal, you only need five cents a day. Just knowing that should tell you enough about the quality of the things inside it.

  A silver lobby, a silver table, and a silver lunch box.

  A large amount of uniform wearing people came one by one and received their lunch boxes.

  Luo Feng sat on the side of the table and lowered his head as he started to eat this raw meal. At this time, a skinny, glasses wearing teenager started cursing, "Even pigs and dogs eat better food than this!" as he ate two bites of the contents of the lunch box next to Luo Feng.

  "Hurry, you lost, give me two smokes"

  "Whatta ya sayin'"

  In the large silver lo
bby, over a hundred prisoners were talking to each other. It was very messy and chaotic. Two guards stood outside the railing, both holding an assault rifle. They lazily glanced inside and then started laughing and talking with each other. The security camera at the top continuously recorded all of the events of the silver lobby.

  [PENG] A one-eyed brute sat at a table three meters to the right of Luo Feng's. He glanced at Luo Feng and laughed, "You're Luo Feng?"

  Luo Feng looked at the one-eyed brute in the eye: "You are?"

  "I'm Long" The one-eyed brute grinned as he laughed.

  "One-eyed dragon" A low voice said. A short fat man sat in front of the one-eyed brute. At this time, two brutes sat next to him like steel towers. The two brutes coldly looked into the one-eyed brute. Then, the short fat man laughed coldly, "When we went outside to relax yesterday, your men hit my brother right? Tell us, how are we going to resolve this issue?"

  "Fuck off" The one-eyed brute rolled his eye and lectured, "Fatty Li, you better get away from me this instant. If you mess with me, don't blame me for not holding back"

  The short fat man stared coldly and laughed: "One-eyed dragon, it seems like you don't wanna talk?"

  Luo Feng ate two more bites on the sidelines and glanced. He couldn't help but to be interested. In his point of view..... it was clearly two major powers in the jail about to fight.

  "Talk shit. If you still wanna talk, fuck off" The one-eyed dragon's only eye rolled as he lectured.

  "Screw it, attack!"

  The short fat man's face was hideous as he shouted.

  Instantly, the two steel tower-like brutes next to him started moving. One of them lifted the long, silver table and slammed it against the one-eyed brute, while the other brute launched a kick like lightning.

  "Dare hit our boss!"

  "Brothers, let's go!"

  The entire lobby instantly became chaotic.

  [PENG!] One of the prisoners lifted the bench and ferociously slammed it on the security camera in the corner. Every time there's a large scale gang fight in the jail, the first thing you do is break the camera. WIthout concrete evidence, the police naturally can just randomly select prisoners to blame.

  In the silver lobby.

  "AH!" The one-eyed dragon threw out his right arm and blocked the brute's kick. However, it was a really powerful kick, so the one-eyed dragon stepped a few steps back, all the way to Luo Feng's side.

  The two steel tower-like brutes quickly pursued.

  The men under the one-eyed dragon also rushed towards this direction. Suddenly, Luo Feng was at the center of the gang fight.

  "Can't believe I got messed up in this" Luo Feng could only stand up. He was too lazy to get involved in this. It was at this time that the fatty under the one-eyed dragon's command rushed towards Luo Feng. He suddenly revealed a blade sharpened from a screw and pointed it at Luo Feng's waist.

  Before that, the one-eyed dragon revealed a small blade in his hand and was getting ready to thrust it at Luo Feng.

  "Hm?" Luo Feng suddenly sensed danger. At the same time, he could feel a slight pain in his waist, as if something sharp has pierced his body. However, as Luo Feng tensed his muscles, he leapt up like a leopard and jumped past the table in front. But at this time.....

  [HE] [HE]

  The two steel tower-like brutes launched their legs like battle axes towards Luo Feng.

  "You're asking for death!" Luo Feng, who understood what was going on in an instant, howled in a loud voice and slammed his two fists against the two legs. The two steel-like tower brutes nicknamed 'gorillas' laughed coldly in their hearts. The explosive energy of the legs are way more powerful than the arm's. Would they even fear Luo Feng?

  [PENG] [PENG]

  A low striking sound, followed by the sounds of bones breaking. The two ferocious steel tower-like brutes howled in pain. The two of them flew away from Luo Feng's fists and slammed against a far away table. On the bench and floor, there were bloodstains that could shock you.

  "Ahhhh" The two brutes held their legs in pain as they rolled around on the ground.

  "What!" The one-eyed dragon along with fatty and black dog who were beside him were all shocked.

  At this time.--

  [WENG WENG] An ear piercing alarm rang. All the guardsmen in the jail rapidly rushed out of their resting areas to group up as they headed towards the cafeteria.

  Luo Feng touched his waist and saw that the blood has stained his uniform. The legends were right, fighters that are capable of genetic energy trainings have fist strengths of three to four thousand kg. A regular, small bullet are incapable of piercing through their muscles. The fatty's knife only went through Luo Feng's skin and was stopped by his muscles.

  "So you guys were putting on a play"

  Luo Feng glanced at the one-eyed dragon and the short fat man, his eyes filled with ferocity, which caused the both of them to go pale from shock.

  "Everyone at him, he's injured!" The one-eyed dragon shouted in rage.

  "Everyone together!" The short fat man also howled loudly. As they shouted, they lifted benches to slam Luo Feng with. Following their bosses actions, the other men naturally started to rush together with their own benches.

  Luo Feng's movements were like a phantom's, his two legs were like cannon shots, kicking every prisoner into the air. For the regular prisoners, Luo Feng wasn't too cruel, since they were just following orders. However, Luo Feng would not show any mercy to the two leaders and the fatty who stabbed him.

  [PU!] Luo Feng's chop broke the bench in half and his arm slammed on the one-eyed dragon's, causing him to fly up in the air. His arm made a counter clockwise 90 degree turn.

  People were all being launched into the air, benches and tables were being twisted and shattered one by one.

  The difference!

  This is the difference between a fighter who has trained in the genetic energy techniques and regular aggressive convicts.

  As Luo Feng scanned the group of prisoners, the skinny glasses wearing teenager who was silently watching suddenly waved his hand.

  "Lay off!"

  As a cold light passed through the sky, he was already in front of Luo Feng.

  Chapter 19: Awaken

  The skinny teenager was Zhi-An region's famous 'Cobra'*. His rise to fame is his one handed throwing knife technique. When the other prisoners started mobbing Luo Feng, the cobra teenager searched for the best opportunity to strike. Right when Luo Feng was getting out of hand, he attacked!

  The thrown knife was very sinister. As it flew, it was blocked by a prisoner's body, so Luo Feng didn't even realize what was coming for him.

  TL Note: Cobra in chinese is literally "Glasses snake".

  [XIU!] The knife flew between the gap of a prisoner's pants who was thrown up by Luo Feng. When Luo Feng saw the knife, it was only 2 meters away!

  "Not good!"

  "I can't make it" Luo Feng's reaction speed was fast, but he didn't have enough time to move his body out of the way.

  The knife wasn't aiming for any vital organs, but for Luo Feng's right shoulder.

  "NO!" Luo Feng glanced. For a fighter, his arms are extremely important. Luo Feng uses blades and is right handed. If the knife breaks through the joint and splits the bone, then he wouldn't be able to use his techniques against the beasts for a few months.

  In other words, if he gets hit, he wouldn't be able to participate in the August 1st fighter combat exam; he would have to wait until next year's February 1st.

  "NO! Get out of the way!!!"

  With the knife's speed and the three meter distance, Luo Feng's thoughts weren't thinking about the consequences at all. At this exact second, at this crucial moment, Luo Feng's spirit tightened and all of his muscles were pushed to the extreme. He stared at the knife with only one goal in mind--

  Dodge this knife, don't let this knife hit my shoulder!

  [PU!]

  The knife, which was right about to hit Luo Feng, strangely and mysteriously slight
ly changed direction. It was about to make a direct hit with Luo Feng's shoulder, but now it only grazed it and damaged Luo Feng's first layer of skin. The blood slowly dyed Luo Feng's uniform at the shoulder area.

  "Everybody down on their knees, everybody down on their knees!"

  "Hurry and get down"

  At this time, a large amount of assault rifle wielding guardsmen rushed into the lobby. All the prisoners, who were previously out of control, obediently kneeled. Even that skinny 'cobra' teenager kneeled. He looked at Luo Feng with a shocked face: "How could this happen, how did my knife miss?"

  Seeing the police rush in, even Luo Feng immediately kneeled.

  "How did the knife change direction just now?" Luo Feng, who was kneeling, was confused. However, a horrible headache without any prior warnings manifested. The pain was as if someone was pounding a spike into Luo Feng's brain. The pain caused Luo Feng's entire body to cramp and he fell on the ground.

  "What happened?"

  "You guys come look with me"

  The police, who already had the situation under control, were astonished at Luo Feng's look. Luo Feng was completely red and was sweating a lot. Some blood even came out instead of sweat, which caused Luo Feng's uniform to turn almost completely red. His veins were bursting like a blue snake coiling around Luo Feng, which made him look unprecedentedly hideous.

  "Not good, he's already out"

  "Hurry, hurry and send him to the medical room"

  Even though Luo Feng lost consciousness, his body was still completely red.

  In Luo Feng's mind.

  A huge, mysterious power continuously surged from Luo Feng's mind and instantly merged with every spot in Luo Feng's body. Under the baptism of this mysterious power, Luo Feng's bones, organs, blood, muscles, and skin were undergoing drastic changes. Even every cell was changing rapidly. This rate of change was hundreds to thousands of times faster compared to Luo Feng's genetic energy training. In theory, such drastic change should tear apart the body.

  However, as the mysterious power merged, Luo Feng's insides were completely unharmed, despite his cramps, loss of blood, etc.