Whale Shark King's low words echoed in Huo Linfei's ears like a funeral bell.
"Herta—your intel isn't wrong, right?" Huo Linfei was already in a fighting stance, sweat sliding down from beneath his visor.
"What are you yelling for?!" The miniature Herta hopped out from near his shoulder, visibly irritated. "I already told you—it's the Simulated Universe. Whatever people inside say or do, how would I know? I'm not writing some ultra-detailed script! Figure it out yourself—collect data or just die your way out. Don't bother me!"
Almost at the same time, the system warning sounded again in Huo Linfei's head.
[Target: Whale Shark King]
[Estimated special-energy level: ~3.0 black holes (base state)]
[Recommendation: Avoid direct confrontation]
"Avoid direct confrontation?" Huo Linfei chuckled. "So that means on paper I'm not his match… but I've still got a shot."
He raised his head and looked straight at Whale Shark King, testing him with words first.
"Whale Shark King! You rule this place—enslaving these… Golden Elephant Tribe people. And even among them, there are your own kind. Why?"
Whale Shark King didn't seem surprised that Huo Linfei called him by name. Out of "respect for the strong," he answered with action.
His eyes drifted to the young Golden Elephant soldier—the one who'd been sent to "test" Huo Linfei and was still trembling with fear. Whale Shark King slowly lifted his hand.
There was no visible energy blast.
But an invisible, horrifying pressure dropped onto the soldier like a guillotine.
"Ugh—"
The young soldier let out a strangled, broken sound. The light in his eyes died fast as he collapsed to his knees. His golden armor disintegrated—not from damage, but from his will to fight being crushed into nothing.
The crude special-energy shackle device around his wrist snapped—
Crack.
It shattered into ash, dissolving into the sand.
"See?" Whale Shark King's voice was calm—icy, clinical. "Weaklings are born to be ruled. They can't even maintain the will to resist. Their only purpose is to serve as the foundation and tools of the strong."
He looked back at Huo Linfei, and there was even a hint of appreciation in his gaze.
"You have power. You don't need to stand with insects. Join me. Stand on the side of the strong—and rule this world together. How about it?"
Huo Linfei stared at the soldier who'd lost himself completely—more corpse than person—then at the countless numb faces around them.
A cold fury rose from deep in his chest.
What… is this guy even talking about?
He truly couldn't understand this worldview.
"Elder Yuan Zheng…" Huo Linfei's voice went dry. He swallowed. "How long has he been dead?"
Whale Shark King looked mildly surprised that the name came up again, but he still answered.
"From the moment he foolishly gave up his power… and was killed by the slaves he tried to 'save'…" He paused, as if doing the math without caring. "…almost a hundred thousand years."
A hundred thousand years—seven days of the seven parallel universes reconnecting.
But this time… would there still be super beast warriors to stop it?
Huo Linfei rolled that number around in his mind, and the sense of wrongness only deepened. The crimson Huanlin Armor flared again, scorching and violent.
"We walk different paths. There's nothing to say. Whale Shark King—what the super beast warriors failed to finish a hundred thousand years ago… I'll finish today."
A short crimson blade formed in his hand—then lengthened under the pressure of his special energy.
"Hah…" Whale Shark King murmured. "The thing that wasn't finished a hundred thousand years ago…"
Power surged from him—far more terrifying than before. Blue radiance spilled outward until it nearly swallowed the light around them.
"Ten thousand decades made me stronger. And it made one thing clearer and clearer to me—where Yuan Zheng's power truly came from…"
He slowly raised both hands.
Behind him, four massive black-hole phantoms began to emerge—like voids that could swallow everything. Their pressure was so heavy it felt as though the planet's sand itself was sinking.
"I have walked to the peak as well. I have seen the same scenery he saw."
His gaze sharpened into absolute dominance.
"The difference is this—he treated something as hollow as 'love' as the source of power."
"And I believe only one truth is eternal in this universe—the strong rule the weak."
"That is why I still stand here… and why he has long since become dust."
"Take this, Huo Linfei—let you feel the power that has ruled for a hundred thousand years!"
Meanwhile, aboard the Express…
"Hmm-hmm~♪"
Pompom was wiping down the tables in the observation car with a little cloth, humming an off-key tune—
BANG!!!
A heavy thud erupted from the bathroom direction, like something massive slamming into the door. Right after came an unpleasant electrical zzzt-zzzt.
Pompom nearly jumped out of their fur. Ears straight up, they tossed the cloth and sprinted over on short legs, pounding the door with tiny fists.
"Passenger Huo Linfei! Passenger Huo Linfei! Are you okay, pom?! You've been in there for over a whole system-hour, pom! What was that noise?! Answer me, pom!"
Inside: silence.
Only the faint sound of harsh, restrained breathing.
Pompom got more frantic, almost ready to punch a hole through the door.
"Passenger Huo Linfei! If you don't respond, Pompom is initiating emergency forced entry, pom!"
A few seconds passed.
Just as Pompom was about to look for tools—
Click.
The lock released softly. The bathroom door opened a narrow crack.
Huo Linfei appeared in the gap.
His face was pale. His forehead was beaded with fine sweat. Red hair clung wetly to his cheeks. He looked like he'd been hauled out of water—utterly drained, wearing a miserable, hollow "bitter-melon" expression.
"I… I'm fine, Conductor." His voice was tired. "Just… slipped. Hit the door."
Even he didn't believe that excuse.
Pompom stood on tiptoe, trying to peer through the crack. "Really, pom? But that sound was huge, and there was a weird noise, pom."
"Really." Huo Linfei hurriedly blocked the gap with his body and forced a smile. "It's my new portable game device—unstable power supply. It sparked once. It's fine now. Sorry for scaring you, Conductor."
Behind his back, he clenched the eye-mask device in his palm, hiding it.
Pompom still looked suspicious, but seeing no obvious injuries, they relaxed a little.
"Okay… but be careful next time, pom! Don't play dangerous games on the Express, pom!"
"Absolutely. Definitely…" Huo Linfei nodded repeatedly, then quickly shut the door, leaning against it as he let out a long breath.
"How did Herta tune these numbers? That Whale Shark King's data is shady beyond reason!"
He shut his eyes—and his mind involuntarily replayed the moment he'd been "killed" inside the simulation.
It wasn't a normal energy blast.
It was like the weight and darkness of the entire universe crushed down.
A black-sea abyss—a destruction domain formed from multiple black holes—tore, compressed, and devoured his body. The moment he entered the gravitational circle, escape became impossible. Even at maximum output, his Flame-Cloud Art—powerful enough to topple the Ambrosial Arbor—was twisted effortlessly by the black holes.
But what truly made his heart seize wasn't the gravity.
It was the burning.
A bizarre, unnatural scorching sensation that shouldn't have existed inside that endless darkness.
It didn't feel external.
It felt like it ignited from inside him—at the source of his special energy… maybe even from the depths of his consciousness—like red-hot iron branding his soul. The awareness he could normally stabilize even under black-hole tearing was instantly shattered by that soul-deep pain.
Heat beyond his limit severed the neural link and forcibly kicked him out of the Simulated Universe.
Huo Linfei frowned, comparing it to the Whale Shark King he remembered.
When he'd been crushed by the Black Sea Abyss before, there had only ever been cold and pressure—never this burning.
"So… did Herta's simulation drift off? Did Polka's data have a flaw?"
"Or… did Whale Shark King undergo some unknown mutation over these hundred thousand years?"
He looked down at the silent eye-mask device in his hand. He hesitated, wondering if he should reconnect and investigate further—
But that scorching sensation made him shiver despite himself.
"…Forget it. I'll think this through first."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 119)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter79)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter125)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 73
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 55
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 66
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 63
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 55
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 31
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 31
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 31
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