Chapter 1328: Opening the Door and Sneak Attack

Blood flowed like a river.

The Aquarius Director, who had actively slashed off his own left hand, stepped back with a pale face, but his palm did not fall off; instead, it fit perfectly into the groove on the huge door.

Sure enough, even though the Star Palace had been sealed, my permissions could not be completely replaced before a new director appeared.

After glancing at his left hand stuck on the door, a look of relief appeared in the Aquarius Director's eyes. He did not rush to treat the wound, but whispered:

"Aquarius, flood, beautiful youth, cupbearer, eagle, seeking knowledge, golden grapevine..."

As each cryptic word with unknown meaning was spat out, beautiful patterns corresponding to the content appeared one after another on the huge, dark-colored door. The hand stuck on the door sank deeper and deeper, and one-third of the pitch-black door slowly lit up, revealing a bright gold like the sun.

Two more times.

After looking at the bright golden water bottle pattern on the door with nostalgia, the Aquarius Director took out another brand-new left hand, attached it to his blood-soaked wrist, and pressed it onto the huge door in front of him again.

"Sagittarius, polar night, immortal, teacher, poison arrow, sacrifice, centaur's longbow..."

Following the second set of secret words recited by Aquarius, the corresponding golden patterns appeared again, lighting up another third of the door. The door, which had previously felt more dead and silent than frozen earth, seemed to suddenly come alive, even faintly yearning for the arrival of the last palm.

"Pisces, love, reflection in water, mother and child, rope, jealousy, golden belt..."

The third, slightly aged left hand was accepted by the door amidst the chanting of secret words. The last third of the door lit up, then flickered like the sun for a moment before disappearing completely.

After the huge door vanished, what appeared before the Aquarius Director was a huge room with a golden lamp hanging from the ceiling, half-bright and half-dark, and a large, dense swarm of black ants.

About billions of tiny four-legged ants were moving in and out of eleven huge, spread-out ant nests according to an extremely strange rule. Those under the light were more active, while those in the dark were quieter.

In one of the ant nests in the dark, a golden ant missing its front left leg suddenly raised its head, looked at the Aquarius Director at the door, and gently waved the antennae on its head.

Is this ant me?

After making eye contact with the golden ant that had raised its head, the Aquarius Director picked up the left hand that had fallen to the ground and reattached it to his wrist. The golden four-legged ant actually grew back its left "hand" as well, then nodded slightly at him.

A country is like a nest, people are like ants... Although this thing is only anomalous object No. 004, in terms of danger, it's probably much higher than the Watchtower.

After shaking his head slightly, looking at the dense swarm of ants on the ground, the Aquarius Director did not step into the room. Instead, he stood at the door, waved at the golden ant representing himself, signaling it to walk toward him, and then looked up toward a higher place.

A golden female ant of the same small size was stepping on an invisible staircase, laboriously moving its two hind legs, constantly advancing toward the heights. Below it was a golden ant looking up at the "starry sky," seemingly waiting for something.

The ascension has already begun... This should be Andrew's plan. He really likes these underhanded schemes.

Subconsciously squinting his eyes to look at the golden ant gazing at the starry sky, the Aquarius Director snorted, then blew a breath at him from far away.

The golden ant gazing at the starry sky seemed to sense something, and its whole body suddenly shone with golden light, wanting to resist the danger from an unknown source.

But no matter how extraordinary it was, it was still just an ant. After resisting for less than a few seconds, it was blown away by the Aquarius Director's breath and fell somewhere unknown. However, even though it was just a breath, the Aquarius Director at the door felt his knees go weak, almost kneeling down directly. His complexion, already pale from blood loss, turned three shades whiter than paper.

This consumption is really... I imagine it would feel the same as having a head-on confrontation with Sagittarius.

It seems that compared to directly causing damage to the target, the correct way to use 【Eleven Ant Nests】 is to rely on the "symbolic" meaning of these ants and use them in conjunction with other anomalous objects that usually wouldn't take effect.

After holding onto the door frame and panting twice, the Aquarius Director at the door finally recovered a bit. He then bent down to pick up the golden ant that belonged to him, took out the golden knife, and slashed through the air toward the Taurus Director who was ascending, but...

"Woof!"

Accompanied by a milky dog bark, a familiar-looking mirror crown was flung out from the side of the golden knife. It not only blocked the slash in time but also flickered slightly before the Aquarius Director's eyes.

Immediately after, the empty room full of ants disappeared, replaced by a dark world countless times more empty. Everywhere—front, back, left, right, and even overhead—was pitch black, with only the nightmares flowing in the black river beneath his feet providing faint, ominous light.

This is?!

"This is a good dream."

Relying on 【Mirror Dog】 to complete a sneak attack and successfully dragging the Aquarius Director into the dream, Li Ang, wreathed in gray mist, stepped into the nightmare created by the crown and stood slowly before the surprised Aquarius Director.

"But for you, that might not be the case."

Has he... completely merged with the Nightmare King?

Looking at Li Ang, who stood in the boundless darkness with his feet on the river of nightmares, the Aquarius Director pondered for a moment, then smiled and said:

"So you chose to give up being human and actively embrace the nightmare. No wonder Thrush-Crow lost so quickly... But is this really good? After becoming the Nightmare Lord, you will also become one of those expelled by the Watchtower. It will probably be hard to return to this world again."

That's not something you need to worry about.

Naturally, he wouldn't explain to Aquarius that this "transformation" was only temporary and would expire once the Fallen Soul Black Abyss receded. Li Ang, who had triggered the "Evil Charm" buff in the darkness, said with an evil look:

"Aquarius, the Cleanup Bureau's support will arrive soon. Your plan has completely failed!"

"Mr. Li Ang, lying is not a good habit."

Hearing this, the Aquarius Director smiled, then raised his hand and squeezed lightly, directly destroying the crude and immature nightmare before him, and returned to the sixth floor of the Virgo Branch.

Then, without waiting for Li Ang to act, he directly activated 【Time Gap】, accelerating his movements by an unknown amount, and slashed at the golden ant that was ascending.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1329 =====