Chapter 357
At that moment, Shaer stood gazing at the city before him, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart.
The Anworm seemed to be progressing smoothly ahead, but it wasn’t the Anworm that troubled Shaer.
It was Princess Vitalis, standing just behind him.
From their earlier conversation, Shaer had gathered that this Princess Vitalis cared deeply about human life.
Now, the Anworm was clearly engaged in a massacre, and the black mist enveloping the West District was about to spread outward. Yet, Vitalis remained calm and unhurried, even attempting to draw more information from him.
As if she knew that the black mist would not continue to spread.
What was going on?
The Church of the Savior, the Church of the God of Order, the Ansu Royal Family, the Russell Family, the Dedton Group—most of the extraordinary powers he was familiar with were clustered in the West District... This was also the most prosperous area of Ansu City, and logically, the defensive forces should be at their strongest.
“You don’t seem worried about the black mist spreading further,” Shaer said, turning to Vitalis, his voice direct. “You seem quite confident?”
“I’m not confident,” Vitalis shook her head and replied, “I just want to know if you really have the ability to stop him.”
Just as her words fell, a violent explosion erupted in the West District of the city.
Flames pierced through the blood-red light and black mist; even from nearly ten kilometers away, Shaer could feel a slight tremor beneath his feet.
Are there still people alive in the West District?
The sound of the explosion and the tremor drew Shaer’s gaze, and at the same time, a strong, familiar hum resonated in his mind.
That was...
The hum of the “Uniqueness.”
“Stop who?” Shaer quickly turned to Princess Vitalis, asking.
Vitalis had something to say; she clearly knew more than she let on, but for some reason, she held back.
“I can’t say,” she shook her head. “He controls Ansu; he knows everything... like a god.”
“But at least, he can stop this slaughter.”
He.
A man.
The one who controls Ansu? The puppet master behind the royal family?
Vitalis seemed to say nothing, yet she had revealed everything to Shaer.
“Who is he? You can just tell me directly.”
Shaer frowned; she didn’t like this roundabout guessing game.
Just as she was about to cooperate with Tara to forcefully brainwash Vitalis, the princess spoke first.
“You all treat human lives as if they were nothing…”
Vitalis shook her head, letting out a soft sigh.
“You and he seem to be no different in essence.”
“Is it Qiangyin?” Shaer asked tentatively.
This time, Vitalis offered no response, seemingly acknowledging the answer.
Qiangyin... hadn’t he died?
Or perhaps, among the three or four who just died... there was no Qiangyin?
A strong and familiar hum echoed again, and Shaer looked in shock toward the direction of the city.
In the West District, a beam of silver light broke through the black clouds in the sky, shimmering with an intense brilliance.
At the same time, in the underground collection room of Windsor Palace.
This had originally been Windsor’s underground collection room, where she often sat at the table, staring blankly at the corpses laid out before her.
But now, sitting at the table was a white-haired man, his hand exploring the surface of a bone saw, which still seemed to retain Windsor’s warmth.
“My daughter…”
He caressed the bone saw, and it was evident that his left hand bore distinct stitches, the colors of his fingers mismatched—seemingly sewn on by someone like a coroner.
Qiangyin spoke slowly, then picked up the bone saw and aimed it at his unstitched index finger, sawing down directly.
Creak, creak—
The sound of bone and flesh being torn apart echoed throughout the quiet underground collection room, while cries of anguish and explosions continued to resonate, yet none of it seemed to distract him from his focused task of sawing off his own finger.
Soon, a whole piece of his finger was completely severed.
He pinched the severed index finger with the middle and thumb of his left hand, his gaze fixed on the black box on the table.
This was a high-level sealed object...
The “Box of Greed,” a completely useless sealed item.
It could only store small items, and to open it, one had to place their own flesh and blood inside.
This was the kind of thing that might not even sell at the Dedton auction house.
Unless.
It contained something extremely valuable... something so precious that even a fourth-tier being would think nothing of sawing off a finger for it.
Qiangyin slowly held out his finger, presenting it to the black box.
The previously motionless black box seemed to come alive, cracking open a gap to reveal sharp teeth and flesh, vibrating as it lunged forward to bite down, like a black shell quickly devouring the severed finger.
Before long, the finger filled the interior of the black box, and to swallow the entire digit, the box had to spit out a string of items.
Thud—
A blood-stained silver chain was ejected onto the table.
This was a blood-stained silver chain, which, once on the table, coiled around itself, resembling a Möbius strip.
The head of the chain was intricately carved into the shape of a snake, and this delicate little snake head now lay in a pool of blood, seemingly devoid of any remarkable features.
“I will make them pay the price…”
Qiangyin slowly reached out, grasping the chain.
The small snake head instantly activated, its original pupil position flashing with a crimson glow. Its mouth opened slightly, revealing sharp, hooked fangs inside.
It seemed to come alive, crawling along the blood toward Qiangyin’s left hand, where the finger had been severed, then lifting its head to gaze into Qiangyin’s eyes.
Hiss—
In an instant, the chain shot forth, piercing through Qiangyin’s eyeball and drilling inside, penetrating bone and burrowing into his brain.
Intense pain and frenzied murmurs enveloped Qiangyin, leaving him utterly devoid of any capacity for thought beyond the agony.
Meanwhile, the chain snake spiraled rapidly within his brain, its speed increasing until it nearly turned Qiangyin’s mind into a mush. Then, it opened its silver mouth inside his skull, biting down on its own tail.
The sharp fangs and the lock at its tail tightly interlocked, forming a closed loop.
A burst of silver light erupted, completely consuming everything in front of Qiangyin.
At that moment, Shaer, standing on the high platform, was equally enveloped by the silver light, her expression one of astonishment.
The simulation... ended?
In the next instant, Shaer’s senses returned, and she quickly opened her eyes to find a familiar scene unfolding before her.
Windsor, clad in nothing but her skin, sat in a chair before the bed, a blush on her face as she looked at Shaer, engaged in some handiwork.
Shaer trembled slightly as she scanned her surroundings, her face a mask of disbelief.
The simulation... restarted?
Was there a system bug?
Had she just been dreaming? Had she merely just arrived at the simulation?
No... that wasn’t right...
That silver light...
It was a new Uniqueness...
And it was likely related to the “Overlimit Gear,” specifically the Uniqueness that paired with the pocket watch!
“System!”
Shaer quickly called out to the system in her mind, and a familiar screen appeared before her.
【Future】
【Year 741 of the Holy Calendar, October 25, 12:00】
【Countdown -18:00:17】
The countdown was still running! No reset!
Someone had used a rewind! But it hadn’t affected the system!
Who was it?
Qiangyin?!
Shaer had considered many possibilities, speculating about various trump cards that could potentially probe the royal family’s expensive assets and unique sealed items, even possibly testing the Church of the God of Order’s similar summons—after all, they were the most obsessed with research on the other realm.
But she had never imagined that she would uncover a “Uniqueness”...
Especially one related to the pocket watch!
In an instant, Shaer felt her bound hands growing cold.
Having been in the simulation for so long, she had never considered how to respond if the enemy could rewind time...
The opponent certainly didn’t have the system’s simulation, but just the combination of being a fourth-tier and having the ability to rewind time was enough to leave one nearly defenseless.
Shaer could also rewind, but only by using the pocket watch to return to fifteen seconds prior, and it came with the unknown negative effect of “Temporal Distortion.”
Shaer understood just how terrifying this ability was, as she had continuously benefited from it.
Table of Contents
