Chapter 130: Twilight Has Passed

It is said that facing this unprecedented terrifying threat, the Governor was angry, then angry again, and then angry several more times.

In short, he was angry.

Very, very angry.

But before he could be uselessly furious, the power armor was gone.

After pinching to death several Heaven-Chosen under Lei Yaoxing, before he could run away, he was sent away by the quick-reaction force urgently dispatched by the military.

No survivors, no communication, no surrender process.

The order from the Haizhou Garrison Command was only one—【Kill】.

With one order, a combat squad equipped with four Hurricane-class power armors descended from the sky from the airship that broke through the clouds, directly tearing the resister and his fashionable mix-and-match suit into pieces no larger than a palm, and evenly sprinkled them within a range of three hundred meters.

Only one head was left, placed in the center of the ruins.

Showing the consequences of crossing the line to all those with ulterior motives.

It is said that Tong Shan's face was unprecedentedly ugly after returning from the Governor's Mansion, and although Lu Shenzhou, the supervisor of the Anquan Bureau in the South Foothill District where the incident occurred, said nothing, someone in his team just posted a Moments.

The background is the gym known as the largest in Yacheng, and the main body of the photo is the barbell weight iron plates piled up like a mountain.

Each twenty kilograms, piled together, a full two meters high. All of them were torn apart, and were pinched into rotten mud in anger!

The palm print is clear.

One can imagine who Supervisor Lu was thinking of when he pinched this pile of things to vent his anger.

Facing this dark war that was about to get out of control, all parties were about to lose all patience...

【Sister Wen asked me to tell you, stay safe, don't show off, don't make trouble. It will be over in two days.】

【Okay.】

Ji Jue replied, matching it with a GIF of a rose blooming and pink light halo spreading to show obedience.

After closing the screen, looking at his own solemn reflection on it, he couldn't help but sigh.

Heart tired.

Looking back at Chen Yubo who was holding the cat and 'mia~mia~' calling in the living room, he couldn't help but feel nameless anger, very much wanting to go over and kick him, shouting:

Dog thing, I am your father!

Even if it were a biological father, it would be like this, right?

After you jump out of this mess, remember to be filial! If there is one less stick of incense on your longevity tablet during festivals, Ji Jue will rush over and give him two big slaps.

"What's wrong, Old Ji?"

Sensing his complex gaze, Chen Yubo turned back in confusion. Ji Jue tried to squeeze out a kind smile and shook his head: Dad is fine, you play.

Only after growing up do you understand that a father's bitterness and tears can only be shed alone.

"Speaking of which, Brother Ji Jue, why don't you take the money?"

In the temporary workshop in the garage, Xiao An, who was playing with his phone behind Ji Jue, suddenly asked: "Brother Ji Jue, you are obviously very short of money, right? Dad told me before that you must never give money to Ember Heaven-Chosen, no matter how much money you give, it's not enough, like a bottomless pit, except for thank you, there's not even a sound."

"Huh?"

Ji Jue turned back in confusion, for a while not knowing whether to correct Xiao An's 'wrong' impression of Ember Heaven-Chosen, or answer the question first.

Even from the most demanding moral perspective, at this juncture, Ji Jue's saving Chen Yubo's life regardless of his own safety, taking money is reasonable and should be taken.

No amount is too much.

As long as he opens his mouth, he can even split half. Even if he wants it all... according to his understanding of Chen Yubo's character, as long as he exerts appropriate pressure, uses trust, and makes good use of rhetoric, it is not impossible to achieve the goal with a little effort.

Such a huge inheritance, at first glance, the quantity is shocking, enough for a person to squander for a lifetime and maybe not spend it all.

But in fact, if you really want to use it to do things, it is simply a drop in the bucket, just enough to pay the deposit for the workshop construction order to Professor Ye.

These days, building a highway in the city costs more than this.

If Ji Jue really wants money, he doesn't have to be so troublesome. He can just sell a part of the materials he brought back that are basically priceless, or simply set a course for the basics of fluid alchemy for tens of millions or hundreds of millions, and a large group of Ember Heaven-Chosen in the market will fight to pay for it.

But it's a pity that the former is related to Ji Jue's future alchemy development, and the latter is related to Ji Jue's future academic topics and papers, and even the stepping stone to the Master's Gate. He is absolutely not willing to leak even a little bit.

And this money is related to Chen Yubo's life.

"Do you know, Xiao An, trust is sometimes a very fragile thing, but suspicion is very powerful."

Ji Jue sighed lightly.

It is very simple to make people believe that a child who is so poor that he wears holes in his shoes steals things, but it is too difficult to make people believe in the child's innocence.

Even if you put the truth in front of those people, they will only sneer.

Then, continue to put the thief's hat on the child's head.

Until the child climbs to a height they cannot reach and looks back contemptuously, those people shrouded in shadows will lose the courage to doubt.

Or, starving to death in the winter snow would also work; it's faster and simpler.

Suspicion is absolute.

Suspicion requires no evidence, nor does it require clues, especially when even this ethereal trust is built upon the foundation of rumors.

This is the reason he had Chen Yubo donate all his inheritance.

By having the Chongguang Society publicize the donation list, he makes everyone believe that he already has nothing left.

The number on that donation list—the bigger, the better; the more, the better.

But it absolutely cannot be less.

If the money Chen Yubo donated was even a tiny bit less than the full amount, it would make people suspect he had secretly hidden away more.

For someone like him, who lacks ambition, is unarmed, and has no ability to handle pressure, that would be a catastrophic disaster.

For the rest of his life, the aftermath would be endless.

"Hmm... I don't really get it."

Xiao An blinked blankly, "It doesn't really matter if he dies, right? I've only met him once or twice anyway."

"Although I really don't want to admit it, I think he should count as my friend... I guess?"

By the time he finished speaking, Ji Jue wasn't even sure himself, and he was amused by his own words: "I don't really care about his money, but he treated me and my family to a meal, and even took the youngest to watch a cartoon. Now, the youngest still occasionally asks why the big brother who likes the blue-haired young lady hasn't come by lately.

If a friend has trouble and asks for my help, and I end up getting him killed because of my own reasons... Xiao An, you would look down on me too, right?"

"I don't know."

Xiao An shook his head decisively, neither saying yes nor no.

Just like always, he doesn't understand hypotheses, nor does he think about 'what if.' His likes and dislikes are very obvious: if he likes someone, he gets close; if he rejects them, he stays away; if he hates them, he warns them; if they are trouble, he kills them.

That is why he cannot understand.

"In any case, if a friend needs help, I'll do my best!"

Ji Jue laughed and patted his shoulder: "If you ever need anything from me, Xiao An, I will definitely try even harder, giving it my all!

When I become powerful in the future, I'll help you pull out that nail first, and as for life goals or whatever, we can spend ten, twenty, or thirty years slowly finding them.

If your sister doesn't agree when the time comes, then I'll help you beat up your sister!"

As he spoke, he gave a thumbs up:

"Guaranteed win, boss!"

Xiao An didn't speak.

He just stared at him blankly, as if stunned.

Soon, however, he lowered his head and looked away.

He only said, "Thank you, Brother Ji Jue."

"..."

Ji Jue's expression twitched.

What is going on?

This ambiguous atmosphere is getting more and more wrong! It's even making me feel strangely flushed!

He also looked away.

He continued to bury his head in his work, but he felt as if he were being pricked by needles in his back, as if someone behind him were still staring at him, so he dared not look back even more.

He focused on operating his own spiritual quality.

Under the interference of Non-Attack, the bullets on the operating table were faintly plated with a layer of gold—after simple alchemical processing, using purification to strip away impurities and enhance physical properties, and using ascension to bestow spiritual quality for easier manipulation.

Finally, he inscribed a simple spiritual quality circuit inside, surrounding the entropy emblem, ensuring that after it hits the target's body, it can detonate the heat carried by the warhead to form maximum destructive power.

The struggle of contradictions is endless.

Facing harder and thicker defenses, what Ji Jue needs now is a bigger and fiercer cannon!

Actually, if one wanted to increase the lethality of a bullet, the simplest way would be to craft the entire bullet into a blessed creation, combine it with a specific blessing, and after firing, completely trigger the destructive power of the blessing in one go... Unfortunately, such a bankrupting and extravagant act is something Ji Jue wouldn't even dare to dream of.

Striving for perfection within national-level supplies, selecting the best from identical blessings, and finally having a master artisan of the Embers personally preside over the entire process—ascension, purification, extraction, and harmonization—to ultimately forge a lethal weapon capable of leaving an eternal scar on a Heavenly Human body.

Not to mention that bullets of this caliber are beyond his current level and financial means to produce, even if he did make them, none of the small fries in the Wilderness Collection right now would be qualified to use them.

Counting across the entire Outside Yacheng, the only one worthy of being headshot by it might be the Yacheng Viceroy appointed by the Central City Council.

But thinking about it, it's actually quite exciting.

Anyway, that Viceroy has only been lining his pockets since he arrived and hasn't done a single good thing; if there's a chance in the future, I'll send him on his way to practice my skills.

But for now, let's be a bit more grounded.

"Xiao An."

He tossed the bullet behind him, and the boy caught it, but Xiao An was stunned for a moment; after reacting, he hesitated to speak.

"What's wrong?" Ji Jue asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, it's just that recently, during the sword Qi extraction stage, my spiritual quality can barely be emitted, so I can't help out," Xiao An replied, clutching the bullet, feeling dejected.

Ji Jue was slightly startled, then smiled: "It's fine, small problem."

Even without sword Qi enchantment, there are other methods.

When the time was about right, after confirming through the camera that Xiao An had gone to watch a TV series, Ji Jue finally opened the box in the corner and unsealed the layers upon layers of locks on top.

Then, he revealed the pitch-black substance at the very bottom, looking like lumps of charcoal.

The final remains left behind by that sin-tainted chosen one from before.

After extracting the blessing, according to the procedure, Professor Ye would have thrown it into the high-risk item destruction furnace to be completely burned to ash; the ash would be added to a treatment solution, and after the reaction was complete, thrown into the trash bin, and after accumulating a certain amount, sent to a professional institution for complete annihilation.

But Ji Jue had proactively asked for it.

Professor Ye gave him a deep look, as if he understood what kind of devious plan he was hatching, and only said that he was responsible for his own things, then ignored him.

What else could this ghostly thing, tainted with the aura of the Nine Sins after its distortion, be used for besides harming people? Protecting world peace?

Doing such an unscrupulous thing must not be seen by a child, otherwise, what if it affects Brother Ji Jue's 'glorious and magnificent' image? Even if it doesn't affect it, what if he writes in that notebook, 'Brother Ji Jue is very frugal and never wastes anything; he even uses the corpses of his enemies to make bullets'—wouldn't that be a disaster?

"Now, it's time for you to exert your final remaining heat, brother."

Ji Jue rubbed his little hands, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

Next, let me show you the true strength of the genius artisan Ji Jue—

His right hand pressed into the air toward that pile of remains, and immediately after:

"—Cousin, come on out!"

As the saying goes, the most precious materials often only require the simplest processing methods. Master Ji, who had been busy preparing all day, began to make bullets for his enemies.

What he intended to utilize were the remains left behind by the sin-tainted chosen one.

To be precise, it was the sin-tainted remnant soul sealed within the remains. Amidst the attraction and distortion of the Nine Sins, the chosen one's soul and body would irreversibly undergo changes, becoming tainted by the completely out-of-control blessing and evil, foolish madness; what remained in the end was this broken remnant soul saturated with the aura of the Nine Sins.

It had no consciousness, no ability to think, and no room for redemption; if left alone and touched by an ordinary person, who knows what kind of monster might be spawned by its pollution as time goes by.

Such a dangerous thing... if it isn't utilized, it would be a terrible waste.

Snap!

The moment his palm touched the remains, a crisp cracking sound appeared in the air, the strange noise of spiritual quality bursting.

At the moment of contact, the eerie aura dormant within the remains seemed to come alive, rapidly trying to follow the spiritual quality injected by Ji Jue, flowing upstream to invade his soul, yet it struggled to break through the barrier and could not break free from the spiritual quality cage woven by Ji Jue. The spiritual quality operation of Non-Attack was like a check valve between the two, only allowing Ji Jue's one-sided output and infusion of spiritual quality.

And the moment the seal was opened, Cousin's long-lost pop-up window immediately began to flash incessantly.

【Warning, warning, external distorted spiritual quality detected】

And just as Ji Jue's spiritual quality fully activated the dormant sin-tainted aura, a brand-new pop-up window appeared:

【Extract?】

Following the movement of Ji Jue's mind, a terrifying attraction beyond Ji Jue's imagination emerged from the wristwatch; layers upon layers of complex spiritual quality circuits expanded, connecting into the matrix of Non-Attack without any obstruction, as if the two had originally been one!

The sound of cracking rang out continuously.

At a speed visible to the naked eye, the carbonized fragments rapidly crumbled, and in the end, they turned into a pile of snow-white ash.

Thousands of strands of pitch-black aura appeared from the rising spiritual quality, gathered, and fell between his five fingers.

Only this time, Ji Jue did not let Cousin extract all the sin-tainted spiritual quality; instead, he conversely used Non-Attack to forcibly intercept them, injecting them all into the pre-prepared mercury carrier.

Whether it was because Ji Jue's authority increased after becoming a chosen one, or because of the influence brought by Non-Attack, this time, under Ji Jue's interference, the wristwatch actually took the initiative to stop operating and did not compete for this portion of spiritual quality again.

All the sin-tainted spiritual quality was introduced by Ji Jue into the dormant mercury using the 'ascension' processing method. Instantly, ripples appeared on the mercury, wriggling like a living creature, as if it wanted to break free from this empty shell devoid of blood and soul and escape.

But then, it was mercilessly shoved by Ji Jue into the furnace that had been preheated for a long time.

—Purification, begin!

Bang!

The moment the purification stage of fluid alchemy began, the suddenly erupting spiritual quality fluctuations stirred up a gale in the narrow room; the lightbulb overhead shattered in response, and the light flickered.

Immediately after, a friction sound like a shrill scream rose suddenly from the flames, so sharp, just like the wailing of ghosts and the mournful cries of the dead.

The sin-tainted spiritual quality was completely triggered!

The core of fluid alchemy is to make the appearance close to the essence; when the mercury gradually moved toward the sin-tainted spiritual quality, violent disturbances and eruptions appeared one after another from within the liquid.

Even the entire second-hand furnace was shaking violently, struggling to bear the load.

If it weren't for the isolated spiritual quality circuit set up by Ji Jue on the outer layer, I'm afraid the noise at this moment would have already alarmed everyone.

He pressed both hands on the furnace's operating panel, Non-Attack operating at full capacity. To avoid the sin-tainted spiritual quality from eroding himself along his perception, he didn't even dare to use Mechanical Deification.

Sin-tainted alchemy is an extremely dangerous and complex discipline; even masters who have studied this path for years find it difficult to predict what will happen during the refining process.

Ji Jue only felt as if he had opened the entrance to hell; endless wailing and mournful cries emerged from the flames, and the furnace shook constantly, as if someone were slapping the scorching furnace door from the inside, wanting to crawl out of hell.

But soon, the wailing turned into fragmented whispers, as if someone were calling Ji Jue's name, strange yet familiar, carrying a temptation that made one's scalp tingle, sweet yet hoarse.

And then, in the dead silence, it seemed to echo with faint weeping, hard to hear clearly.

In the end, the weeping also disappeared.

Only a shrill scream that sounded like a dying wail burst forth suddenly, rising endlessly, and then dissipated into the ringing of the metal.

The spiritual quality burned out, and the flames extinguished.

Only now did Ji Jue finally let out a sigh of relief, sitting down on the floor, sweating like rain.

If it weren't for Non-Attack's absolute operation of spiritual quality, he felt he had already completely lost control and messed up several times in the middle. Once out of control, either the furnace would explode, he would explode, or he would send the furnace, himself, and half the villa to the sky.

This is alchemy; it's all about the thrill.

Now, even the furnace had completely extinguished.

After a simple inspection, Ji Jue discovered that all the internal spiritual quality circuits were completely destroyed in the overload, leaving only the shell; it could be said that it was no different from scrap.

The only result was the eerie scarlet that slowly flowed out from the container at this moment.

One drop, and then another.

The mercury, which had completely merged with the sin-tainted spiritual quality, turned into the color of fresh blood. It rolled on the operating table like a living creature, and on each drop, it seemed as if faces of wailing or furious madness faintly appeared.

Even the occasional contact between two drops emitted a high-pitched hissing sound, as if they were devouring each other, until they finally merged completely.

"Is this 【Mad Slaughter】?"

Through the thick mask, Ji Jue whispered in a daze.

Like the Stagnant Corruption Furnace, it is an eerie existence ranked among the Nine Sins, a behemoth manifested from countless massacres, ravages, enslavements, exterminations, and deaths.

What Ji Jue had before him at this moment was, at best, a tiny remnant left by a negligible strand of infection among the millions of projections of the Sin of Mad Slaughter.

Yet it still made his soul tremble, unable to control himself.

The pressure and fear felt when injecting them drop by drop into the warheads and applying the seals were simply more exaggerated than operating the synthesis and extraction of phlogiston explosives.

The latter would only blow himself up, but the former would make his life worse than death.

Likewise, it would also make his enemies even more miserable!

"Hehe, hehehehe, hehehehe..."

When Xiao An came to knock on the door to call Ji Jue for dinner, he only saw the eerie figure laughing incessantly under the flickering, gloomy lights, and even those strange bullets on the table in front of him.

They looked plain and unremarkable, having only undergone basic alchemical operations, but the moment one got close and wanted to touch them... one couldn't help but feel a chill all over!

"What is this?" He leaned in, examining them with confusion.

"A gift."

Ji Jue smiled, full of joy: "Some gifts prepared for visitors."

Just like every host who has made full preparations, from the moment he tied the packaging for the gift, he couldn't help but start imagining the look of surprise when the packaging was unwrapped.

I really hope they will like it.

Beep—beep—

In the hospital room filled with the scent of disinfectant, it was filled with dead silence, with only the monotonous noise emitted by the instruments echoing.

And in this long, dull echo, the rhythm of the noise seemed to have a subtle, imperceptible change for a moment.

On the hospital bed, Chen Xingzhou's fingers suddenly trembled a little.

Then, another bit...

Over a long period of time, it slowly and persistently clenched.

As if trying with all his might to grab that invisible thread.

Climbing upward endlessly.

From within hell...

Ding—

At the end of the corridor, the elevator door slowly opened.

The nurse pushing the cart walked out of it and slowly headed toward the hospital room.

The wheels of the cart creaked as they turned, leaving a broken, scarlet trail on the floor...

Outside the window, neon lights flickered, and the night was deep.