Count Valerian Raven's footsteps were not merely movements across the stone floor; they were pulses of raw, unadulterated power that physically displaced the air molecules in his path. He entered Sector Four flanked by elite guards, his presence broadcasting a singular, absolute message: "I am the only truth here, and you are but specks of dust." To Ether, standing with his habitual hunched back, Valerian was not a man; he was a (Rank 2 Peak Energy Mass) moving with dangerous, volatile randomness.
"Where is this 'Surgeon' who made Miral believe that slaves have suddenly become valuable assets?" Valerian roared, his voice possessing a metallic resonance that shattered the eerie silence of the dark cavern.
Ether stepped forward, practically crawling on his knees to prostrate himself at the Count's feet. "The lowly servant Ether welcomes your arrival, Your Grace." Ether's tone was flawless—a perfect blend of terror and absolute submission that nobles craved. But behind the slave's mask, his mind was executing a (Environmental Diagnostic Scan).
Valerian gave Ether no chance to speak. Without warning, a kick imbued with (Rank 2 Peak) energy exploded outward. It wasn't just a fast movement; it was a focused kinetic detonation. In those micro-seconds, Ether realized his frail Rank 1 body would not survive a direct impact. He activated the instinct of (Surgical Displacement). He didn't attempt to block or resist; instead, he consciously relaxed his chest muscles and allowed his body to "fly" in the direction of the force, minimizing the direct hydraulic pressure on his vital organs.
Nevertheless, biological reality was brutal. Three ribs shattered instantly, a dry "crack" echoing through the tunnel. Ether's body was hurled against the jagged cave wall, and his left lung partially collapsed under the sheer atmospheric pressure of the blow. He crumpled to the ground like a discarded rag, golden-tinged blood—heavily contaminated with the "Rust Phantom"—erupting from his mouth and splattering across Valerian's exquisite dragon-hide boots.
"Stand," Valerian commanded with utter disdain, staring at the bloodstain on his boot. "You have defiled my attire with your filthy existence."
Ether crawled back toward Valerian's feet, gasping for air, the whistling sound of his punctured lung filling the corridor. "Forgive... Your Grace... let me... wipe away this desecration..."
Valerian did not allow Ether to touch his boot with his hands. Instead, he slammed his heavy foot onto Ether's head, grinding his face into the bloody mine muck. "Yes, you defiled it. Wipe it with your face, you insect."
In that moment, under the crushing pressure of the Count's boot, Ether initiated the (Gaseous Contagion Protocol). He didn't need to touch Valerian's pulse; the Count's lethal arrogance provided the perfect delivery system. Ether utilized the intense heat of the "Sovereign Aura" radiating from Valerian's foot to deliberately accelerate the "decomposition" of his own infected blood trapped beneath the boot.
Under the combined influence of heat and pressure, the blood droplets sublimated into an invisible, microscopic mist. Since the skin pores of high-level cultivators naturally expand to absorb ambient energy, Valerian's foot subconsciously "inhaled" the particles of the Rust Phantom. The infection was transmitted via (Gaseous Sublimation)—a microscopic spiritual virus that infiltrated the Count's bloodstream, settling into his energy pathways like silent seeds that would only pulse at Ether's command.
While Ether was being humiliated in the dirt, the Spectral Reactor hidden behind the illusory wall began to vibrate. The sovereign energy Valerian discharged in his kick hadn't gone to waste; the "reinforced" cavern walls absorbed the shockwaves, and the reactor converted this "Environmental Disturbance" into raw energy reserves.
Valerian finally lifted his foot, leaving Ether drenched in filth and blood. "You are not even worth the effort of killing. Miral said you were useful, so I will leave you to rot in this hole. If I do not see the production doubled within a month, I will return to ensure that every single cell in your body is eroded into nothingness."
The convoy departed, and a deathly chill returned to Sector Four. Kai rushed forward in a panic toward Ether's broken form. "Ether! Your lung... you're dying!"
Ether opened one eye, and despite the agonizing pain that would have rendered any ordinary human unconscious, it glowed with a terrifying coldness. "Death... is merely a temporary biological state... for an incompetent engineer." Ether coughed up a piece of necrotic lung tissue, then whispered: "It is... done. The contagion now... flows in Valerian's veins. He used the very weight of his foot to drive the nails of his own coffin."
Ether observed his shattered body with surgical detachment. "Kai... bring 'Slave No. 3'... the one I implanted with the Spectral Raven Liver. I require (Biological Reconstruction) immediately. I will take his lung... and graft it onto myself. The pain I feel now is the fuel that will incinerate the Raven family."
Ether didn't smile, but his gaze said everything. He was a physical wreck, but he was a wreck that now held the invisible strings controlling the life of a Rank 2 Count. The "Silent Contagion" had officially begun, and time was now his greatest weapon.