Chapter 1996

Zhang bro! Hurry and retreat back!

Zhang Tie! Come back!

Two urgent shouts in succession were directed at Zhang Tie.

At this very moment, Zhang Tie stood rooted like an iron tower, dazed. Obviously, he had not yet recovered from Gao Tian's death.

Although he knew he could be revived, Gao Tian's death—especially being just one step away from getting out—still dealt him a huge blow!

In a surge of hot-blooded fury, Xiong Hanzi instinctively let out a roar, preparing to charge alone while the headless ghosts were busy feasting on corpses!

I'll try once! I'll try again!

He swept the staff horizontally with his right hand while his left felt for his waist. Though rash, Zhang Tie also knew what to do!

The skull's appearance was too fast! So he would press a dagger to his own head—if the skull appeared, he would stab himself through the temple, scrambling his brains!

Now they still had to charge back once more, the risk was truly too great! The hope within reach was like poison, making him only want to gamble everything!

He carried others' flesh and blood on him; as long as he charged through the gate, Lin Dui wouldn't need to take any risks!

However, faced with Xiong Hanzi's idea of fighting to the death, at this very moment Lin An and Jiang Haochen and the others all turned pale!

They couldn't have failed to guess what Zhang Tie was thinking! But the problem is, nobody knows exactly what the double-head situation is! Cutting off one's own head versus someone else's makes a huge difference in cognition!

Moreover, the camera was still on Zhang Tie! If he failed again and lost the camera, their subsequent success rate would plummet by ninety percent!

Zhang bro! Camera!!

There was simply no time to analyze pros and cons and explain them to Zhang Tie.

Jiang Haochen was almost driven mad with anxiety, and he hurled the fireball in his hand straight at Zhang Tie's front.

Scorching flames shot up and exploded; fortunately the reminder worked—upon hearing the word 'camera,' Zhang Tie's heart jolted, and he realized he had almost made a grave mistake!

Yeah! The camera was with him, and they still had a bunch of logic untested. If he failed, only Jiang Haochen could see the ghosts, making the subsequent breakthrough extremely difficult! Breaking out in a cold sweat, Zhang Tie didn't have time to think further; he tumbled like a bear and sprinted back with all his might.

However, just as Lin An and the others let out a sigh of relief.

Behind them, at the top of the building, a clear bell rang out suddenly.

They saw a fishing line, strung from the street to the rooftop, suddenly twitch, and the demon guarding the rooftop froze for a moment before its face turned ashen!

This fishing line was set up per Gao Tian's suggestion; as long as something touched the line strung across the street, they could get an early warning from the bell's vibration!

Obviously, even though the street was empty and nothing could be seen, the rear-head ghost had already appeared!

Ghost!!!

Ghosts are coming!!

Guldan suppressed the great shock in his heart, poked his head out, and roared loudly at the people before the open space.

Almost at the same time as his warning, a sharp 'crack' sounded as the taut fishing line snapped instantly, and far down the street, an abandoned sedan shuddered violently, as if a horde of ghosts had slammed into it, overturning the car!

Damn it!

One mishap after another seemed intent on giving them no breathing room.

Lin An's heart sank; he instantly turned to look behind, while in the Qing Kai team, the Archer and the Golden Bull turned deathly pale and instinctively glanced at Qing Kai.

The rear-head ghost appeared much faster than they had anticipated!

Even with their toes they could figure it out: if they still wanted to take advantage, they'd all end up feeding the ghosts!

Moreover, Gao Tian's failure was shocking; being all smart, the Golden Bull had already rapidly simulated in his mind the scene of charging the gate.

Qing Kai, Archer, Hai Yao, Golden Robe..!

These are four people! Four people means there will definitely be one running last, and nobody can help!

(The camera is still in Lin An's hands! That Fourth Stage kid can also recover some spiritual energy! Everything Lin An said is true! Just now he was only one step away from breaking through; maybe I should...)

As Destroyers of Stars, for top-tier experts bearing the hopes of an entire civilization, to survive there is essentially no morality between them.

Only saw the Golden Bull's eyes flicker; the already wavering one instantly ran toward Lin An, waving his hand and shouting:

Lord Lin An! I'll charge the gate with you! Count me in!

Seeing the Golden Bull directly 'betray' him, Qing Kai flared with anger, looking at Hai Yao and the Archer, whose nostrils were somewhat flustered, Qing Kai quickly lowered his voice and barked:

Do you still want to rely on that kid!? Aren't you afraid he'll deliberately kill us!? Think of the reward!

Let's go! We'll wait on the flank; once they lure the ghosts away, we'll act immediately! I'll have the Golden Robe bring up the rear!

Riding a tiger is hard to dismount; he had originally planned to reap the benefits of the fisherman, but the sudden appearance of the rear-head ghost threw off his scheme.

Although the situation changed, he was unwilling to turn back and seek Lin An. Qing Kai noticed a detail: when the skull appears, it gnaws another head; thus, theoretically, whichever head hurts is the real one!

From start to finish, despite suspecting Lin An had issues, Qing Kai still only trusted himself!

There was no dispute or hesitation to speak of.

As everyone could already hear the huge sound coming from behind, Lin An directly arranged the team, intending to immediately attempt a second charge through the gate!

This round we'll charge together, but keep a little distance between the two teams!

Jiang Haochen, you take Zhang Tie and the Golden Bull and try again; I'll bring Andre along behind!

Ignoring the Golden Bull's grim expression, Lin An swiftly calculated the timing of the rear-head ghost's charge, his gaze turning fierce.

He brought Andre up last not out of greed for life or fear of death, but because there remains one biggest untested issue: the cognition problem!

In theory, realizing there are two heads and chopping off the skull is the minimum cognition, but Lin An knows clearly that only he has full cognition; the others merely heard the information from the previous round! To be safe, he is the final safeguard!

Nobody objected; as Lin An turned his head and gave a firm nod to Gusman on the rooftop.

The demon tribe serving as bait also gave a wry laugh, one after another opening their protective suits to expose their wounds.

In an instant, blood poured forth, slowly trickling down beneath Guldan's feet.

The rich smell of blood, like bait, even though Guldan could see nothing, he could also feel an extreme chill suddenly surging wildly toward him!

The rear-head ghost, coming to eat him!

Soon, the entire exit area distinctly split into three teams.

One side is Lin An and company preparing to charge again; another side is Qing Kai's team, openly revealing their intentions and flanking to the side; while the demon tribe standing on the rooftop began continuously slicing open their own flesh to attract the rear-head ghost as much as possible.

Charge!

No nonsense—just hearing Lin An let out a low shout, the whole team immediately launched the second round of the door‑charging test!

"Qing Kai, when do we start the charge!!"

Hearing the screams and roars from the building's top, the archer's face turned deathly pale as he stared at Gordian, who seemed wrapped in an invisible ant swarm, his scalp going numb.

Just a few seconds ago, a rear‑head ghost suddenly sprang up onto the roof and lunged at Gordian. Unable to resist, this War Star Level troll was like a lamb to the slaughter, able only to watch helplessly as it was devoured down to bare bone.

And with the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground, Gordian, who was supposed to last about forty seconds in the plan, held on for less than half a minute!

They had seen and endured many gruesome scenes, but this ever‑present threat of death made it hard to breathe. The Star‑Slayers aren't afraid of battle, but they also dread dying in such a pathetic way!

"Wait a bit longer! First see if beheading works! That kid said the minimum cognition is just beheading—who knows if he's hiding something?"

Seeing Lin An and the others already halfway through the charge, Qing Kai also grew nervous.

Although they had noticed that Lin An and the others had slowed down, a large number of headless ghosts had already been drawn over—this was now their best chance.

But without seeing for himself whether Lin An was telling the truth, he didn't dare act rashly.

But with evil ghosts pursuing from behind and no knowing how many headless ghosts lay ahead, the whole team grew restless.

For a moment, the archer even thought of dragging the Hai Yao away and fleeing!

But fortunately, as Jiang Haochen regained his strength again, taking advantage of the opening created on the field, the Bull instantly seized the gap among the headless ghosts, closed his eyes, let out a loud roar, and lunged toward the light gate.

At the same time, having learned from the last lesson, Zhang Tie threw his flying dagger straight out, determined to smash the ghostly head that had appeared on the Bull's body even if it meant just striking it.

Feeling the howling blade wind behind him, the Bull desperately tried to brainwash himself, hoping only to settle the opponent the moment the ghost skull appeared.

"I won't die! What's being cut off isn't my head—it's the ghost skull!!"

"I won't die! I can make it out alive!"

In an instant, all that was heard was a bang, accompanied by an explosion of invisible blood mist; the Bull saw only darkness before his eyes, a blackness deeper than closing his eyes.

Perhaps one second, perhaps two, after a burst of intense, dizzying buzzing, the Bull suddenly felt something explode!

All they saw was his whole body shudder, then he became excited, almost jumping up!

"His" head was blown apart! The ghost skull was blown apart!

"I'm not dead!! I'm not dead!!!"

Overwhelmed with joy, the Bull could already make out the light gate through his tightly shut eyelids. Just thinking that he had so easily disposed of the ghost skull and was about to complete the mission, he was so excited he could barely keep his eyes closed.

Without the slightest hesitation, after suppressing the excitement in his heart, the Bull's legs trembled as he charged toward the light gate.

Although everything seemed too smooth, the ghost skull's defeat too easy, but no matter what, he had succeeded!

Final step! As soon as he touches the light gate, all the answers will be revealed!

No further accidents occurred.

One second later, the Bull's arm directly touched the light gate; under the intensely tense gazes of everyone, his body first stiffened, then he froze, as if hearing some system prompt.

Seeing the Bull stand there like a statue, Jiang Haochen couldn't help but shout loudly:

"Have you completed it!? Has the mission been completed!?"

"Bull!?"

Everyone's hearts were in their throats; no one knew what the Bull had heard or seen.

Unlike what everyone imagined—that touching the light gate would instantly complete the task and let him leave—now, after the Bull came to his senses, he felt a mix of shock, anger, sorrow, and joy.

"Completed!"

"But opening the door takes time! The system prompt says three minutes are needed to open the door!!!"

Damn!!

It felt like an instant fall from heaven to hell; he had thought himself the luckiest guy, completing the mission first by the courage of a gamble.

But the Bull never expected the system to have such a nasty setting!

Three minutes may seem extremely short, but they are in the midst of a ghost horde, and the headless ghosts from behind are about to charge! Surviving these three minutes is no less than ascending to heaven!

Like the Bull, everyone's excited feelings instantly plummeted to rock bottom.

But fortunately, the logic is indeed correct: as long as they hold out for three minutes, they all count as having completed the mission. In that moment, the two Lin Ans locked eyes across the space, simultaneously realizing what to do.

Without a doubt, Lin An needs a reward; being taken out to resurrect and "walking out alive" are certainly not the same!

So the only way now is to let Jiang Haochen and the ghost Lin stall for time, allowing Lin An to last three minutes, then walk out alive!

Although they clearly knew that the other self was already dead and could not leave, at this moment both Lin An and the ghost Lin gazed at each other with complex expressions.

Lin An didn't know whether the other self was willing to be trapped here forever; for the other Lin An, watching his counterpart go out while he himself had to fight desperately…

Such a choice is undoubtedly immensely heavy.

"I will fight alongside you until the very last moment!"

"The door is open! You cut off the ghost skull again, then I'll leave! I will definitely find a way to come back and save you!"

Their gazes seemed to see each other's other self; Lin An took a deep breath and solemnly made his promise.

And the already‑dead Lin An silently nodded, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Perhaps this is the secret of the faith system…"

"Ghost skull… fears neither life nor death; even if dead, it still fights, and even if dead, it still helps the other self fight to the end…"

"No distinction between self and other, no distinction between you and me."

"We… are both Lin An…"

"Bang! Bang‑bang! Bang!"

The successive sounds of heavy objects hitting the ground rang like death omens; aware that they must reach the light gate within three minutes, Qing Kai and the others dared not turn their heads, desperately charging toward the light gate.

But Qing Kai and the others realized they had vastly underestimated the difficulty of the headless ghosts.

Perhaps the opening of the light gate activated even more headless ghosts; after this round of restarting, even Qing Kai, who had never fought a ghost before, gave a bitter laugh and despaired to find they simply could not break through.

He regretted not giving his own flesh and blood to Lin An, or not charging the gate together with Lin An.

Helplessly, perhaps still clinging to the last hope, Qing Kai chopped off his own palm with one blade, letting the headless ghost drag him to death, then he mustered all his strength to throw his palm out.

Lin An! Please take my body out! As long as we complete the mission, I'll give you any reward! We, the Savior Alliance, will repay... you!

The gnawing sounds quickly overwhelmed Qing Kai and the others; inside the light gate, Zhang Tie, Golden Bull and the others, who had already chopped off ghost skulls, all anxiously rushed toward Lin An, shouting.

Captain Lin! The gate's about to open! Hurry and come in!

The back-headed ghost had already rushed into the ghost horde, and it was about to entangle Lin An.

Time could no longer be delayed; even Jiang Haochen understood that Lin An should leave. Whether he had a reward or not didn't matter; as the current strongest combat force, he intended to hold out until the end together with ghost Lin.

Lin An! Let's go! Let another you chop off the ghost skull!

Without any hesitation, Lin An took a deep breath and gave one last look at the invisible ghost Lin.

With a puff, as Lin An rushed past the boundary where the ghost skull appeared, he also dispelled the ghost skull on himself and charged into the light gate.

In the final ten seconds, the system's countdown began to sound.

10..

9...

At this moment, the only one still fighting side by side with Lin An, Jiang Haochen, looked at the other Lin An with mixed feelings—half sentiment, half complexity.

Although he knew this Lin An was ghost Lin, seeing Lin An's silent profile, as if Lin An treated battle as everything, Jiang Haochen couldn't help but feel his heart grow heavy.

Lin An, to be honest, I really admire you. If it were me, I definitely couldn't stay as calm as you; that's truly regrettable... two versions of myself, why must it be me who dies...

Waiting to die with eyes wide open... even worse than death.

As he spoke, Jiang Haochen felt his words were eerily strange. However, the mission had also ended; perhaps it's a misfortune within fortune. Maybe one day Lin An will truly return to save his other self?

6...

4...

However, before Jiang Haochen had given up fighting, planning to wait to go out and revive, inside the light gate Lin An suddenly seemed to think of something and roared at him:

Jiang Haochen! Chop off his head! Bring his head in with you!

The mission reward will benefit you too!

Lin An! Perhaps the secret of the faith system is for me to take your head and leave! I represent the flesh! You represent the spirit! We two are indivisible; perhaps that is the secret to resisting the split of thought!

"Bringing the head out, perhaps you can also revive outside!"

As the words fell, Lin An's body shuddered; he instantly understood the meaning of his true self, as if seeing hope to survive, and he abruptly turned.

Jiang Haochen also jerked upright, his heart pounding with shock.

Taking ghost Lin's head out!? Although it sounds crazy, it might actually be possible!?

Lin An can't touch ghost Lin, but he can! Moreover, according to that camera theory, if ghost Lin's head falls, perhaps it can really be taken out!

Lin An!?

Jiang Haochen subconsciously glanced at the ghost Lin beside him, his heart jolting.

At the same time, ghost Lin seemed willing to give it a try, eagerly looking at Lin An.

Then.

With a sharp whistle, Lin An blasted his true body's head with a gun.

Inside the light gate, Lin An's corpse thudded to the ground; the bursting brain matter and blood instantly stunned everyone.

In such a shock, both Zhang Tie and Jiang Haochen were left dazed, their minds blank, stiff in place.

Lin... Captain Lin!!?

Ignoring the crowd's extreme shock, and also ignoring the ghost horde that had lunged from behind to tear and bite him,

Facing his own corpse, ghost Lin gave a light chuckle and nodded slightly:

You're right.

Lin An turned his head to look at the figure inside the light gate, his eyes full of emotion:

To be honest, if you had been a bit more patient, you would have won. Only just now did I dare to confirm what all this actually was.

Long time no see.

Andre.