Chapter 815: Death Battle 1

Gudong

Gud-d

Like the ending of a movie.

In the dim ruins, a white figure crouched atop the head of the aberrant giant corpse, holding high the monster's heart, squeezing out its blood like pressing juice.

He raised his head and gulped it down.

Red, white, black; the colors are sweet, forming a frozen classical oil painting.

("The mission is about to end..")

At some point, Second Will walked up beside Lin An, his expression indifferent as he extended his right hand:

("Some things are indeed hard to accept.")

("Just like when I first woke up in the plan.")

("I thought I had saved that war and died honorably. But upon waking, I saw myself naked, curled like a maggot in the nutrient tank, tubes stuck all over my body...")

Like telling someone else's story, Second Will shrugged and showed a faint smile:

("So.. you should feel fortunate.")

("Here, at least, it's real.")

Silent stillness.

Lin An lowered his head, silent.

No one knows what he experienced inside after Second Will spoke the truth.

Some say the other shore of emotional collapse is a place humans cannot reach.

But he seems to have already crossed it.

After a long while, a hoarse voice sounded in the desolate darkness:

"I am Lin An."

"That's all."

Second Will was stunned for a moment, somewhat surprised.

He still thought Lin An would need a long time to get out.

After all, no one can accept that they are actually a monster, especially when they still bear the name of savior.

"Perfect-level trial completed, settlement rewards:"

"1. Obtain suit draw count *1, this draw is a random draw."

"2. Obtain B-level permit *1 (war zone)"

"3. Obtain Will stabilization effect, increase mental resistance."

"4. Perfect-level trial rewards:"

"Obtain S-level passive: Dual Casting."

The reward notifications scrolled out one by one; each, if placed in the outside world, would be enough to cause a huge stir.

But at this moment, Lin An, who had returned to human form, merely silently looked at the fragments in his palm.

Brain Marrow Hell..

He roughly understood why this trial was called that name.

Or rather, Second Will already knew.

In his memory, Brain Marrow Hell... is the name of a book.

The book says that in each evolutionary process, living beings engrave the greatest pain of life into their genes, into their instincts.

Just as humans naturally fear lightning on rainy days and dislike the screech of fingernails on a blackboard.

The former is prehistoric humans repeatedly dying in forest fires caused by lightning; the latter is the chewing of teeth scraping infant skulls.

Ancestors engraved the pain into memory, leaving it in the bones.

Interestingly, in a human lifetime, the embryo-stage infant will completely undergo the earliest evolution.

First like an egg, then like a fish, then like a beast..

Before birth, the infant, in each process, will experience, as its form changes, the most painful memories of the ancestors at different time periods.

That is a hellish suffering.

Only from the moment of birth can one escape hell and gain rebirth.

He gathered the fragments, Lin An subconsciously looked at the pile of minced meat on the ground.

In his aberrant state, he had almost eaten the entire monster's head.

Strangely, he felt nothing at all.

"Will I still be able to use the aberrant state in the future?"

Accepting reality, or rather, he saw more.

Lin An calmly asked Second Will, as if the previous events had never happened, just as he had said.

I am Lin An, that's all.

In his aberrant state, he was very strong; even, in his memory fragments, Lin An saw a stronger white shadow.

Just now, he was roughly at the peak of the third rank; otherwise he couldn't have massacred the monster beneath his feet.

One second later, Second Will gave a slightly weary shake of his head:

("Try not to use it, unless it's a matter of life and death.")

("The aberrant state, put bluntly, is using the fragments to stimulate the body's memory, awakening the most primal memory engraved in each of your cells.")

("If you don't mind eating Anxia, Zhang Tie, or all the humans on this continent... then you can use it as you please...")

Although it was somewhat unexpected that Lin An was so calm.

But the Second Will was not investigated further.

He had earlier shown pity, simply because he saw his former self in Lin An.

He knew that when reality was unveiled, it was a cruel truth.

But a monster is a monster.

At least there's still a layer of skin, right?

With a soft hum, Lin An didn't think any further.

For no reason, he thought of the rescue team.

Apart from Gao Tian, he had thought he was the only normal human, but it turned out he was the real monster.

"10 seconds later, close the will trial."

"9.."

"8.."

The countdown sounded, and Lin An subconsciously glanced at a corner of the ruins.

It was a patch of decaying blue hidden in the ruins, looking like the rough iron sheet of a safety house.

Withered, desolate.

He seemed to have seen...

In the city, lush weeds sprang from the hard concrete, the ground littered with white bones.

At the top of the trial tower, the soaring light pillar slowly faded.

With a tremor of the vortex, all will trial participants walked out in groups.

Compared to other trials, this trial's death toll was not too high.

Thanks to the mechanism allowing withdrawal each round and the wise leading the team, it appeared that more than half of the Awakened Ones survived.

"Lin Dui!"

Shouting loudly.

In the crowd, Zhang Tie excitedly waved his hands, pushing through the onlookers and rushing to Lin An's side.

Grinning foolishly.

"Lin Dui, what are you looking at? What good stuff did you get again?"

Bell-like big eyes glanced slyly at the necklace clutched in Lin An's hand.

The necklace was entirely silver-black, with a purple crystal set in the middle.

Intricate patterns were finely etched inside the crystal, clearly high-grade equipment.

"Nothing."

Lin An raised his head to look at Xiong Hanzi's ever-cheerful face; although his smile was a bit ugly, it inexplicably let him relax a lot.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth beneath the mask.

"Just a set component."

Xiong Hanzi froze at the sound, his money-loving narrowed eyes suddenly widening into an oval.

"Holy shit!"

If he weren't used to chatting in team voice chat, this shout would surely have drawn everyone's attention.

Of course, since the agility trial, many have started constantly watching Lin An.

Just as he was about to display his attributes, a mechanical prompt sounded instantly:

"30 minutes later, the death battle begins."

"This death battle will be divided by war zones; the highest-scoring war zone will receive the final reward."

"At the same time, the system will select the strongest Second Level Awakened One in this trial during the death battle."

"Strength-Agility-Constitution-Will."

"Any Awakened One who ranks first in any of the four systems can advance to Third Level without consuming points after the death battle ends! Moreover, the one with the highest points will receive the title reward of Third Level First!"

"The detailed rules of this death battle are as follows:"

"Capture the flag! Each war zone will receive an initial area; within that area, each war zone can defend its own flag or attack other war zones."

"1. Respawn points are provided within the initial area; each Awakened One has two respawn chances; after the respawn count reaches zero, they may choose to continue fighting or withdraw."

"2. Killing an Awakened One from an opposing war zone grants 30% of that opponent's points as a reward."

"3. Before the death battle, all point trading, transferring, and redeeming functions are restricted."

"4..."

The death battle rules scrolled down densely.

Outside the trial tower, the Awakened Ones stared fixedly at the white light screen above.

The whole venue was silent.

After the apocalypse, humanity's first "war" began...

In the silence, the leaders of the major war zones, who had previously made contact, exchanged silent glances.

Life and death, honor.

The storm is approaching.

Just like the calm before the storm.