The changes to his body stopped. The general summoned all his subordinates before him.

He described the changes to his body without reservation, even explaining the details with perfect clarity.

"Now, I will show you my power." As he spoke, he casually broke out of the prison and stepped outside.

Witnessing this, the subordinates, who harbored ulterior motives, were terrified.

But the general seemed to have no intention of attacking them. Instead, he led them to a hidden clearing, knelt down, and plunged his four palms into the ground.

A world-shaking tremor followed, causing the rocks above the cavern to collapse.

Then, countless thick pillars of Turquoise grew out of the ground, reaching for the sky like great trees.

These Turquoise pillars had strange, strip-like patterns on them, like the cracks in tree bark, possessing a vibrant, lively beauty.

After the Turquoise pillars grew tall, their tops began to swell. Branch-like forks spread out rapidly, covering the entire clearing in an instant.

And just like that, a bluish-green Turquoise forest appeared before the general’s subordinates.

The general pulled out his hands and asked coldly, "Do you see? This is power."

By now, the subordinates were dumbfounded. Any rebellious thoughts in their minds were completely devoured by fear.

The general looked at the Turquoise on his body and said, a little strangely, "I don’t know how to describe this power. In all my conscious life, I have seen many things."

"Plants, animals, minerals, the sky, white clouds..."

"I can describe all of those, but I can’t use any of them to describe the power in me. If I had to find a metaphor for it, it would be like..."

"Blood?"

The general walked slowly toward his subordinates, speaking thoughtfully. "You know what blood is, don’t you? You should."

The subordinates didn’t know what the general intended to do. They only retreated stiffly, not daring to make any sudden moves that might draw his attention.

The general paid no mind to their small movements. He knew they feared him.

He came to a stop before them.

He opened his hands, staring at his palms in confusion. He frowned, then crossed his four arms over his chest, as if sensing something.

"Beyond fear... I seem to feel something else."

Then, he pressed his four arms into his chest, and his entire body dissolved into dust that scattered on the ground.

Behind him, the Turquoise forest also began to dissipate with its master’s death.

The Turquoise dust drifted down, falling slowly from the canopies.

A faint light flickered, like a green rain.

When the dust settled, the ground was covered in gravel that shimmered with a bluish-green light.

’Is this... suicide?’

Standing in the rain of dust, the subordinates couldn’t believe what had just happened.

In the entire history of the Mineral Race, not a single member had ever committed suicide. They were beings driven by fear.

They only waged war because they were afraid of dying, afraid of others killing them.

This also led to a very high rate of desertion; driven by fear, they would do anything to survive.

Their innate wisdom and long lifespans allowed them to learn many things from other lifeforms, such as companionship, sacrifice, honor, righteousness...

However, none of that mattered to them. Their own lives were what was most important.

No member of the Mineral Race would commit suicide.

They stared in disbelief at the fragments the general had left behind.

Something had overcome fear.

They had expected that after displaying his power, the general would kill them without hesitation to keep his secret, then flee like that strange newborn.

But they never expected an outcome like this.

They simply couldn’t understand.

However, this made them realize the terror of this contagious power, and they hurriedly spread the news.

Gradually, this infectious power was given a fitting name—

Abnormal Vein Disease.

The symptom of the disease was the appearance of another, completely unrelated mineral vein’s power on one’s body, which would then begin to replace the infected individual’s original power.

Furthermore, this power was extremely contagious and could be transmitted to others through mere touch.

The most crucial aspect was the ability to feel emotions other than fear.

The Mineral Race feared this ability. They didn’t want to die for no reason like the general had.

To the completely self-serving Mineral Race, such a way of death was utterly incomprehensible.

Thus, they developed an extreme fear of Abnormal Vein Disease.

However, after the incident with the general, Abnormal Vein Disease began to appear frequently, and many of the Mineral Race inexplicably contracted it.

Emeralds appeared on the bodies of the Copper Race.

Spinel appeared on the bodies of the Marble Race.

Gold appeared on the bodies of the Quartz Race.

...

Abnormal Vein Disease could appear at any time. Both newly formed members of the Mineral Race and old ones who had lived for a long time were susceptible.

There was no pattern to it whatsoever.

The entire Mineral Race was thus shrouded in the shadow of Abnormal Vein Disease.

Panic spread among them.

Any member of the Mineral Race discovered to have Abnormal Vein Disease would be executed on the spot, but this also provoked resistance from the Abnormal Vein Patients.

Since even harming them could lead to infection, the self-serving Mineral Race began to adopt a policy of isolation. They created special sealed caverns and drove all the Abnormal Vein Patients into them.

The Mineral Race began to spontaneously expel these Abnormal Vein Patients, and in the process, their fear of Abnormal Vein Disease only deepened.

These expulsions even led to the artificial creation of "Anomalous Vein Caves." These sealed caverns were cut off from the rest of the world, and no one dared to approach them.

Abnormal Vein Disease even affected the war. Large-scale battles and frontal assaults became increasingly rare.

Caverns and surface tunnels were deliberately sealed off, dividing the battlefield into smaller regions.

This gave the rarer mineral races, who were already at a disadvantage, a chance to breathe, and the war fell into a rhythm they were more familiar with.

The exit of the Thorn Stone Forest was sealed around this time.

After explaining all this, Shibeng’s emotions stabilized once more.

While recounting the history of Abnormal Vein Disease, his mood had fluctuated wildly, jumping back and forth between terror and composure.

This caused him to sometimes tremble and stutter while speaking, and at other times, be as fluent and articulate as a robot.

Having observed Shibeng’s strange shifts and listened to his account of Abnormal Vein Disease, Li Luo asked another question: "Why do you think *it* is Abnormal Vein Disease?"

She pointed at the Block in the sky, her face full of confusion.

The symptoms of Abnormal Vein Disease were not present on the Block.

Mo Ling also didn’t understand why Shibeng was so adamant that he had Abnormal Vein Disease and kept trying to flee.

And he was still this afraid even after Li Luo had explained that it was just a relic.

But Shibeng’s answer only confused him further.

Shibeng stared at the Block and said with conviction, "Your material... it’s been replaced! I can feel it!"

"Huh?"