Chapter 1898: Andre's Secret

He walked over, sword in hand.

Recalling Tang Wan's earlier abnormality, Lin An simply channeled a stream of spiritual energy into her body.

Soon, as a barely-there trace of his spiritual energy slipped into Tang Wan's lower body, the merely ordinary Tang Wan's flesh and blood instantly exploded, utterly unable to bear his power.

Boom boom! Boom! Boom!

Her lower half was blown to pieces; after the influx of spiritual energy, Tang Wan suddenly had only her upper half left.

In an earsplitting shriek, Tang Wan's eyes rolled back, and she was in so much pain she nearly fainted.

Although Lin An had intended to keep her alive, the violent influx of spiritual energy made things even worse than before.

Lin An raised his eyebrows at the sight, but didn't think much of it.

If she can't bear it, so be it; for him, he only needs Tang Wan to stay alive. Even if only her head remains, that's enough.

""What did you 'see'?""

He leaned forward and asked.

Looking at Tang Wan twitching like maggots beneath his feet, Lin An's voice was cold, showing extreme ruthlessness.

Hah... hah...

Under the forced prolongation of life by spiritual energy, Tang Wan spat out mouthfuls of blood, the pain so unbearable it nearly drove her mad.

Though her mind was foggy, she seemed to have truly seen something unimaginable; Tang Wan strained to lift her head, her face breaking into a gleeful, spiteful smile.

""Hah... hah... I saw... it turns out...!""

Her voice cut off abruptly.

Like a machine that suddenly jammed, before Tang Wan could finish speaking, the light instantly vanished from her spiteful eyes.

Damn it!

How swift the reaction!

Realizing something was wrong, Lin An suddenly thrust out his right hand, pressing it without hesitation onto Tang Wan's head; a mass of mental power, like a precise scalpel, attempted to 'protect' Tang Wan's brain.

However, less than half a second later, Lin An's face darkened, and he had no choice but to slowly withdraw his mental power.

Before his eyes, Tang Wan had already lost consciousness, lying still like a corpse.

""Scorched""

Tang Wan's brain, as if suddenly overloaded, underwent partial carbonization right before his eyes.

It happened so fast he couldn't even react.

Looking at Tang Wan, now as good as dead—or a vegetative state—Lin An's heart sank, feeling that things were growing ever stranger.

""Is it memory? Or a massive influx of information striking the brain?""

""Just what on earth is happening...!?""

One minute later,

Lin An silently closed the transmission channel, his eyes flickering.

He sent Tang Wan back to Long An, assigning a group of Third Rank to maintain her most basic vital signs, essentially keeping her like a piece of meat within Long An.

He hadn't considered simply killing her, but it was obvious that Tang Wan must have 'known' something.

The sacrificial effect might not be able to draw out these things.

Moreover, after repeated contemplation, Lin An faintly formed a certain speculation.

""If Chu An meant to convey some information, planning to activate a backup he left at some point, then he certainly would have considered variables.""

""Tang Wan's problem shouldn't be related to my killing Tang Tian in front of her, nor to what I said.""

""After all, I could have just killed them directly.""

""Then the only relevant necessary condition could only be Cain's Blade. Even the memory's content isn't important!""

""Seeing Chu An in the memory actually doesn't affect me, and Chu An wouldn't mind my knowing this.""

""Thus, by working backward, eliminating all necessary conditions...""

""That means nothing matters except that Cain's Blade draws out memory—that's what's important!""

""But what does that even mean?""

""Meaning...?""

Lin An suddenly froze; for no reason, a somewhat bizarre idea flashed through his mind in an instant.

""A backup? A vessel?!""

In an instant, Lin An's pupils contracted sharply; countless clues, like links in a chain, connected in his thoughts into a single line!

But this speculation was too unbelievable, even bordering on absurd, mad!

After a long while, Lin An let out a long breath, forcibly suppressing that speculation.

He lacked the crucial clue.

Rather than waste more time on this, he'd better finish what's at hand.

Without further thought, Lin An simply flew toward Andre to find out the Creator's situation.

Soon, under the tense gaze of everyone, Lin An flew to hover above Andre's head.

Andre also seemed to realize his death was imminent; he slowly lifted his head and silently looked at Lin An.

The scene seemed to freeze at that moment.

One looked down, the other looked up.

One was like a god, suppressing the whole field; the other, like a loser, could only look up.

Such a scene left everyone present somewhat dazed, their hearts filled with mixed feelings.

Half an hour earlier, everyone had thought the returning Andre would shatter Lin An's myth, sweeping the globe with unstoppable force—like the dawn of a new era, the fall of the old gods.

But no one expected that Lin An would be like a nightmare, forever looming over their heads.

With just one foot, he shattered all their fantasies.

You came... to kill me...?

They stared at each other in silence.

Andre seemed to have regained his sanity; he gave a self‑mocking smile, his voice hoarse as he looked at Lin An.

It's blinding.

Lin An stood in midair, his back to the sun, like a demon god walking out of the abyss, swallowing the blazing sun.

The wind howled fiercely.

Lin An nodded slightly, then spoke calmly:

"The Creator's information."

"And... did you kill Fiona?"

As his words fell, Andre was not surprised by Lin An's question.

All we saw was him suddenly staggering to his feet, his face showing no fear, instead staring straight at Lin An.

"The Creator's information? You want to know when they'll reach Earth, right.."

"Looks like you, Lin An, aren't fearless of everything."

"But... I didn't expect you to still care about that girl..."

His words carried a hint of mockery; Lin An heard them without anger, merely speaking calmly.

"Three seconds."

"Either you tell me yourself, or I'll kill you and then ask."

He didn't intend to explain to Andre that he didn't care about those Creators at all; he just planned to kill them ahead of time.

Listening to Lin An's threat.

Andre's smile faded, and he shook his head for no apparent reason:

"What difference would telling you make?"

"Lin An, you can't kill me. You also don't dare to kill me."

"You think I unified the world for myself? Power, in my view, is nothing but useless trash."

"I only want to save everyone; I only want to survive."

As he spoke, Andre slowly straightened his body, his eyes intensely serious as he looked at Lin An:

"You have no idea how terrifying those true Fifth‑Stage civilizations are; kill me, and Earth will truly be doomed."

"There's no need to look at me like that, Lin An."

"Do you think I'm a frog in a well, or are you still wondering... wondering if I'm so arrogant as to believe only I can earn the Creators' approval?"

"Even if you, Lin An, aren't Fifth Stage, you're practically the same; my position, you could completely replace."

Lin An raised his eyebrows, somewhat surprised to hear Andre directly say what he had been thinking.

He had never thought of seeking the so‑called Creators' help the way Andre did.

But he truly did not think killing Andre carried any risk.

The Creator Alliance would never avenge Andre; in fact, their coming back once already surprised him greatly.

"What exactly do you want to say?"

"I don't want to say anything. I just want to tell you, Lin An, that the Creators came because I survived a Fifth‑Stage mission. And that mission is exactly what they are about to face!"

"Kill me, and they will never accept defeat!"

He spoke each word with a pause.

After Andre finished speaking, a smile appeared on his face, as if he had not lost at all!