"Teacher Fufu seems to be very—very angry."
By the Changming Reservoir, Anna clasped her small hands tightly in front of her chest.
She gazed worriedly at the cross-shaped torch on the horizon that had ignited the night sky for a hundred miles around, feeling an urgent desire to rush to Fuli's side. But the girl knew her most important task right now was to stand her ground and prevent the mastermind from making a desperate move and detonating the Honkai source above the reservoir.
Like Squad Leader Ku, who had investigated the mission intel before arriving, the conscientious Anna had also done her own detailed background check. The information she found was largely the same as Fuli's group, and she had shared the only significant difference with her teammates after they rendezvoused.
Twenty years ago, a bizarre mass disappearance had occurred on Jigui Island. Overnight, tens of thousands of the island's native inhabitants vanished without a trace, leaving only a handful of people, including Kane Pepian.
At the time, there was an uproar on the Honkai side of public opinion. All sorts of speculations ran rampant, including extreme accusations that the Taixu Frontline had followed the example of Western colonialists and massacred the indigenous people.
Shenzhou had issued the strongest possible denial and sent a team of experts to fully investigate the mystery. Unfortunately, to this day, the case remains unsolved.
Undoubtedly, a power more adept at covering its tracks had acted in secret, completely erasing all related clues. People in the past were clueless, but thinking about it now, it was most likely the work of World Serpent again.
"I hope the tragedy from twenty years ago can be completely solved in this incident, and everyone gets the justice they deserve." Thinking of this, the naturally kind-hearted little angel Anna couldn't help but sigh. "Teacher Fufu, Miss Yunli, you have to do your best!"
---||---
Eighteen thousand meters underground, in the center of the bizarre ritual site.
BANG—!
A fist, condensed with endless fury, slammed squarely into Kane Pepian's face! The terrifying force erupted, sending him flying backwards as if he'd been hit head-on by a full-speed battering ram. He crashed into a distant totem pole, which seemed to be made from the bones of some creature, snapping it in half.
After doing this, Fuli looked down at the cluster of black flames clinging to his fist like a cancer.
"You made such a huge commotion, tunneling all the way from the surface. Did you really think I'd be unprepared?" A mocking sneer echoed through the empty, gloomy underground space.
Beneath the bisected totem pole, the man who should have been seriously injured and unconscious propped himself up with one hand and staggered to his feet. With his other hand, he grabbed his own neck, which had been twisted a full 180 degrees. With a sickening CRACK, he twisted his head back to its normal position.
"The Ring of Amaterasu. By consuming the wearer's life energy, it can release these black flames that burn the very source of life." He raised his left hand, which wore the obsidian ring, his tone tinged with a hint of showing off. "It has no usage threshold. Even an ordinary person like me can use it to threaten a Critical-class powerhouse."
"Moreover, these black flames cannot be extinguished by ordinary physical means. They can only be forcibly countered and annihilated with a large amount of supernatural energy... Heh, it seems you've already discovered that." Noticing that the black flames on Fuli's fist were dimming at a visible rate, a meaningful smile tugged at Kane's lips.
"Well, battles between Adepts are, in essence, a confrontation and consumption of Honkai energy... A battle-hardened barbarian like you must have already carved this iron rule into your very bones, right?"
"I'm just very curious," he changed the subject, his inquisitive gaze sizing Fuli up and down. "At the Light Cone press conference not long ago, you were so sunny and cheerful. How have you suddenly transformed into this irritable and irascible state?"
"Let me guess... Hmm, did the replication spell I set up accidentally touch upon some mental scars you're unwilling to face?" The man sighed theatrically, a look of shared sorrow on his face. "It seems you're someone with a tragic past, just like me."
Fuli, a wisp of black flame still clinging to his fist, suddenly blurred. An invisible storm enveloped him as he once again activated the Lan's Form learned from General Tianji and charged at Kane.
A sharp sword light flashed out of nowhere. A figure wearing a cerulean mask charged out from a corner, wielding a greatsword as wide as a door panel, precisely intercepting the boy's advance.
CLANG—!
The clash of fist and sword produced a piercing metallic roar and a turbulent surge of energy. Observing the destruction caused by their exchange, Kane shook his head nonchalantly. "The mid-tier organization 'Eight-Faced Deaths'. Eight people, eight faces, all Critical-class. They claim that for the right price, they'd even assassinate the Pope in the Vatican. Looking at them now, they certainly live up to their name."
"That guy won't last long," a clear voice shouted from the entrance of the eighteen-thousand-meter vertical tunnel that Fuli had punched through.
A slender figure plummeted down like a meteor, landing on the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust. The beautiful girl, landing a moment later, pulled her greatsword from the ground and pointed it at the sinner before her.
"Miss Baiye of the Zhuming." Faced with Yunli's glare, Kane still wore that irritating smile. "In my script, it should have been you, with your straightforward to the point of boorish personality, who played the role of the one charging straight in."
"There's an old saying in Shenzhou: diplomacy before force," the girl said, gripping the hilt of her greatsword, her eyes as sharp as blades. "As General Huaiyan's granddaughter, I do occasionally learn a thing or two from my grandfather." Her gaze swept over the gloomy and bizarre ritual site, finally settling on the man not far away, her attitude filled with confusion and anger. "Kane Pepian, the Taixu Frontline has not treated you poorly. Why would you do something like this, putting the millions of people in this entire city in such danger?!"
"Not treated me poorly? Not treated me poorly? Hehe, hahaha, hahahahaha!" Hearing this, Kane was first stunned, then, as if he had heard the world's greatest joke, he threw his head back and burst into laughter. The hysterical laughter echoed through the empty underground space, filled with madness and irony.
Disgusted, Yunli raised her hand and swung her bladeless greatsword, but it only passed through an illusion of black flames. Kane's figure distorted and dissipated in the flames, only to reform a short distance away.
He composed himself, the mockery on his face even thicker. "In the past, I found it hard to understand why the villains in stories always liked to give long speeches to the heroes at critical moments. But now that I'm actually in this position, facing you self-proclaimed champions of justice, the overwhelming desire to speak my mind is truly intoxicating."
The man said playfully, "Gray Serpent should have already told you, right? My true purpose for doing this."
Yunli recited the contents of the note in a low voice. "Activate multiple large-scale spatial matrices spread across the island to re-isolate Jigui City, which has already connected with the proper world, and turn it back into a bubble-world. By doing so, you can escape the control of the Taixu Frontline, then use Jigui as an ark and the millions of Zombies on the island as slaves to sail through the Sea of Quanta and Imaginary Space."
"Precisely!" Kane snapped his fingers. "So why would I spend so much time and take such a huge risk to do something so seemingly insane?"
"It's simple! I'm resisting an invasion!" The man's expression suddenly turned savage. "Resisting the gradual encroachment on my homeland by the mega-faction known as the Taixu Frontline!"
The First Eruption in 1955 had loosened Earth's spatial barrier, causing numerous small bubble-worlds to rise from the depths of the Sea of Quanta and make contact with the proper world.
"I will never forget that day," Kane closed his eyes, his face a mixture of reminiscence and pain. "Originally, we lived a peaceful life on this land of Jigui, working from sunrise to sunset. Everyone had their own land and wheat fields. We lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the people were simple and honest."
"We should have continued to multiply for generations, living out our lives in peace and stability, just like countless ancestors who lived here before us."
"However, with a tremor that seemed to come from the very foundation of the world, the salty smell of the ocean invaded my nostrils." He said in a low voice, "I was too young then. I didn't know that the bubble-world had landed in the South China Sea... Just a few days later, everything we knew began to change."
"Strangers in strange uniforms broke into the small world that was once only inhabited by our people, bringing many new and strange things we had never seen before."
"That's right. They were the first advance troops of the Taixu Frontline to land on the island for reconnaissance and security."
"And then, everything changed."
Yunli frowned and couldn't help but ask, "Did they... did they harm you?"
"No," Kane shook his head, his expression complex. "Even I have to admit, the discipline of that unit was impeccable. Even though we were full of hostility due to fear at the time, even trying to drive them away with pitchforks and clubs, those wounded soldiers still held their guns tightly, afraid that an accidental discharge would harm us and escalate the conflict."
"Later, the strongest among them spoke with us. In today's terms, when one's combat power reaches A-rank, language is universal even across dimensions." The strong always have privileges.
"After a series of discussions, our village chief reached an agreement with them, and Jigui became a special administrative region of Shenzhou." Kane's tone gradually became agitated. "I thought that would be the end of it... But who would have thought that countless skyscrapers would spring up in our homeland like mushrooms after the rain! Countless factories were built, and their sewage and exhaust occupied and polluted the farmland and water sources passed down from our ancestors!"
"Following that were people we had never seen before, many, many people." The man closed his eyes. "They brazenly arrived on our land in great steel ships and occupied our home! They used cold excavators to tear down the houses our ancestors built brick by brick! They forced their so-called five-thousand-year-old culture to take root in this soil that belongs to us!"
Although Yunli had anticipated this kind of situation, hearing these accusations firsthand still made her frown tightly. The phenomenon Kane described was actually quite common among the bubble-worlds that had surfaced and connected with the proper world. The root cause was that the natives generally believed that these outsiders from the proper world had stolen their living space and development resources.
It wasn't hard to understand. Look at Hong Kong, another special administrative region. The differential treatment some people gave to mainland tourists was, at its core, rooted in the resentment that they had crowded their land, driven up housing and commodity prices, and forced them to live in cramped spaces.
To put it simply: filthy outsiders coming to our city to beg! And this was when both sides shared the same cultural and ancestral roots. For bubble-world natives with completely different cultures and ethnicities, this conflict and rejection would only be more intense.
At the time, the major world powers did indeed have different ways of handling this.
The methods in North America and Europe were often simple and brutal, perfectly replicating their historical treatment of Native Americans and Africans. After all, bubble-world natives were generally not recognized as having full citizenship, and it was difficult for powerful external forces to seek justice for them.
Under the meticulous cultivation of the Star-like People, many resistance organizations, including the Galaxy Rangers, came into being. Coupled with the changing times, after 2010, such incidents basically no longer happened on the surface.
Shenzhou, on the other hand, had always been consistent, preferring to introduce various appeasement and integration policies, hoping to achieve a silent and seamless fusion over time through cultural exchange, economic mutual assistance, and personnel flow.
However, in Kane Pepian's eyes—
"This is just death by a thousand cuts!" he roared, the muscles on his face twisting with anger. It was like the suona, an instrument introduced to the Central Plains from the Silk Road around the third century AD. But how many people in the world today would think of it as a purely foreign instrument? This power of cultural fusion was sometimes even more terrifying to the natives.
"If it were only that, it would be one thing," the man laughed bitterly. "For the past seventy years, because of the joint technological blockade and market squeeze from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, Shenzhou, unable to expand outwards, turned its sights to the vast Sea of Quanta. Subsequently, it formed the Taixu Frontline together with bubble-worlds like the Yaoqing and the Luofu."
"But why?" His voice suddenly rose, becoming sharp and full of unwillingness. "Why can you Xianzhou people sit on equal footing with Shenzhou and discuss important matters? Why can we small bubble-worlds only watch as our homes are gradually eroded and assimilated? Just because we are weaker than you?"
"That's why I formulated and executed this plan!" Fury churned and swelled in Kane's heart. The black flames emanating from him surged violently, causing the temperature of the entire underground space to skyrocket, the air distorting from the heat.
"I will make my homeland break free from the control of the Taixu Frontline, as it was in the past, and turn it into Noah's Ark, soaring freely in the Sea of Quanta!"
"I will take back everything that belongs to us natives!" And on this path, no matter who stood in his way, the man would tear them to shreds! Because this was a war! A just war of natives resisting foreign invaders!
"FUCK YOUR WAR!!!" A deafening roar erupted, and a huge cloud of dust and smoke filled the air. A sharp, cold glint cut through the smoke like lightning, revealing a tall figure holding a blade within.
It was Fuli. One of his feet was planted on the head of the Critical-class powerhouse from the Eight-Faced Deaths, stomping his entire head into the incredibly hard ground. Spiderweb-like cracks spread out in all directions from the unlucky bastard's head, and his life force was rapidly fading, on the verge of breathing his last.
"Resisting encroachment? Launching a resistance? Hah, you say it so righteously." Fuli lifted his hand, which was wreathed in black flames, and stared at the sole survivor Kane with eyes so cold they held no emotion.
A virtual light screen unfolded before him and Yunli. It was the third rated output of Jizo Mitama: Information Manifestation. By analyzing the black flame in his palm, it clearly listed the key information about the Ring of Amaterasu that had been deliberately concealed.
"The specific power of the black flames released by this ring depends on how much life energy the user is willing to sacrifice." The boy read the text on the screen word for word. "Sacrificing the entire life force of an ordinary A-rank is enough to burn out the life source of a Critical-class powerhouse in a few minutes. At its peak, by sacrificing the life force of a Critical-class, it can create terrifying black flames capable of incinerating and killing a top-tier Critical-class powerhouse."
He dispersed the flames, the mockery in his crimson eyes almost overflowing. "Kane Pepian, just as you smugly introduced yourself earlier, you are just an ordinary person with some ability."
"In that case, where did you get the life force to release black flames powerful enough to threaten a Critical-class?"
Yunli was stunned. As a Baiye, she was somewhat surprised by the convenience of Information Manifestation, but was soon drawn in by the information contained in his words. That's right, where did he get all that extra lifespan?
"..." The man's righteous expression suddenly froze. His impassioned face turned visibly gloomy and ugly, and a flicker of panic even flashed across it.
"Not talking? It's fine, I'll say it for you," Fuli said coldly. "Murasame, repeat the effects of the Shugenmu ritual for our native friend here."
"Y-yes!" The little figurine, who had been trembling in his collar, didn't expect to have a role to play. She quickly poked her head out and repeated the spell's effect in a loud voice:
"Shugenmu, an extremely evil and cruel life-extending ritual!"
"First, you must use over a thousand of your own kinsmen as sacrifices!"
"Then, on a specific altar, you must inflict various tortures on these sacrifices to absorb the negative emotions they produce in extreme pain!"
"When the sacrifices' blood has thoroughly drenched the entire ritual site, the caster needs to devour all the sacrifices' bodies alive!"
"As long as you can eat all one thousand sacrifices within the seven-day ritual period, you can gain ten years of life..." As she spoke, Murasame, realizing something, gradually slowed down, his gaze towards Kane filled with uncontrollable fear and loathing.
"As an ordinary person, you must pay with life energy to activate the Ring of Amaterasu, and the most direct form of life energy is lifespan," Fuli's narration was like the tolling of the final judgment bell in the silent underground space.
"Shugenmu can grant unlimited lifespan, a high-quality energy that can even extend the life of an Grand Sequend. But the prerequisite is that you must use over a thousand of your own kinsmen as sacrifices."
"Shut up..." Kane squeezed out a hoarse growl from between his teeth, his body beginning to tremble slightly.
A terrible thought flashed through Yunli's mind like lightning. "The Jigui people are natives of a bubble-world. Their only kinsmen are themselves!" She gritted her teeth, her expression a mixture of shock and anger. "In other words, if you want to extend your life through Shugenmu, you must devour your own people?!"
"Shut up...!" Kane's voice suddenly became shrill, but it couldn't hide its pallor.
"Did your kinsmen taste good, Kane Pepian? Was the taste of revenge even sweeter, Kane Pepian?" Like a devil's whisper, a vicious smile appeared on the boy's handsome face. "No wonder we didn't meet a single local in this city. No wonder such a tragedy happened twenty years ago. So you've been all alone for a long time, and you brought it upon yourself."
"To be able to deceive the expert team sent by Shenzhou to investigate, Gray Serpent helped you, right?" he tilted his head, his expression innocent. "You were already cooperating with him back then? How does it feel to have your twenty-year-long wish on the verge of being ruined by us?"
"I told you to shut up!" Kane let out a bestial roar, the black flames around him surging wildly.
"Shut up? No, I'm going to say it." Adhering to the principle of "If you're going to kill someone, you might as well destroy their spirit, otherwise what's the point?", Fuli turned his words into the sharpest of blades, continuously cutting at the enemy's last line of mental defense.
"You think you're getting revenge? Fighting for your people? You don't know that you've done Shenzhou a huge favor!"
"Who knows how much effort and resources it would have taken to settle you restless natives—hey! Perfect! You ate them all yourself! Saved us the trouble!"
"And think about it, maybe twenty years ago you planned to incite your people to resist Shenzhou, but your kinsmen thought the benefits offered by Shenzhou were too good, and they all became landlords with several buildings, not wanting to work hard anymore. Even your wife hooked up with some young hotshot who came to work here. So it triggered you, and you killed and ate them all?"
"And you have the gall to talk about doing it for your people? Taking back your land?" Fuli sneered, the contempt in his words reaching its peak. "Don't make your Bro Li laugh, okay? Kane Pepian—no, Ghoul."
He took a step forward, his gaze like a torch, delivering the final judgment word by word. "So what if you wear so many fancy hats? From beginning to end, you've only ever done it for your own selfish desires~"
"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!!" The man's mental defenses were completely shattered by these soul-crushing words!
"I'll kill you!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!!" He recklessly activated the Ring of Amaterasu, roaring as he transformed into a monstrous of black flames and lunged at the two of them!