Chapter 1584: Interception

As the Six-Faced Musk Deer spat out its last words full of sorrow and indignation and fell backward, no longer moving, the vast Death Realm seemed to receive some kind of signal and fell into an incomparably strange "stillness."

The gray fog permeating outside the Gate of the Dead stopped drifting, the crows flying up in the Death Crow's nest froze in the air, the Yellow Spring that rolled endlessly all year round stopped flowing completely, and on the Road of No Return winding toward the deepest part of the Death Realm, countless dead also froze.

And in Leon's perception, death, which was countless times more stubborn than time and had never stopped for anyone, actually stopped its footsteps extremely briefly at this moment, then condescended to lower its massive body and cast a scrutinizing gaze at him.

Is this the feeling of being chosen by the authority of death...

Involuntarily looking up at the sky and "making eye contact" with that non-existent, majestic figure, Leon vaguely had an incomparably wonderful illusion.

At this moment, his soul seemed to fall into the bottom of the Death Realm, becoming the eye of a giant "funnel," and the already frozen Death Realm, driven by some kind of will, began to "collapse" toward him entirely.

"Buzz..."

Accompanied by the familiar harsh noise, 【Materialism】, which had been lying quietly in the badge panel and firmly occupied the first slot, suddenly bloomed with an incomparably dazzling crimson luster.

【Current infection value has exceeded 60 points, gained the ability to contact and initially grasp rules, hidden trait of the heterochromatic badge "Materialist Soul" activated】

【Materialist Soul (Crimson): As a firm materialist, you firmly believe that matter is the basis of objective existence, and spiritual and conscious phenomena are products of matter. Things that cannot be understood all stem from one's own cognition of the world not being accurate and profound enough...】

【Wearing effect:...】

【Advancement route: Reached the highest level, cannot continue to advance】

【Hidden trait: Whenever your understanding of a world's core rules reaches a certain level, you will gain the ability to perform corresponding degrees of modification on it.

Current parsing progress (arranged by degree of understanding): Present World (15%), Death Realm (12%), Dream Realm (9%), Abyss (1.5%)... Astral Realm (0.1%), Old Earth (0.1%)】

"Buzz..."

【You passively accepted the injection from the authority of death, your understanding of the Death Realm has been improved...】

【You are gradually understanding death...】

"Buzz..."

【Due to the living being's understanding of death not reaching 50%, parsing progress paused, current parsing progress for the Death Realm is 49.9%】

【The authority of death is continuing to tilt toward you】

【Your "living being" part originating from the present world is being covered by the authority of death. After the coverage is completely finished, turning you completely into a dead person... abnormal situation occurred, the authority of death is being diverted, coverage speed is decreasing】

"?!"

Hearing the prompt that the coverage had stopped, Leon, who was closing his eyes and looking up to accept the "baptism," preparing to temporarily take over this mess of a Death Realm, couldn't help but be stunned, then as if thinking of something, he subconsciously turned his head sharply. In Leon's astonished gaze, a figure he was incomparably familiar with was currently standing beside the Gate of the Dead, actively taking on the gaze of that majestic "figure."

"Wait!!!"

Feeling the authority of death tilting toward Auntie Auntie Ai Ma, Leon's heart couldn't help but twitch violently, wanting to interrupt her act of actively stepping into death to avoid her being left in the Death Realm.

However, the Death Realm, which had no master of the Death Realm, had already entered a state of complete standstill. Before a new master of the Death Realm appeared, it was almost an incomparably huge piece of amber. As a mosquito frozen in it, even moving had become a luxury for Leon.

And what was even more fatal was that although Leon had swallowed almost all the masters of the Death Realm, as a living being who had never truly experienced death, his comprehension of the authority of death could not be considered very profound.

But Auntie Auntie Ai Ma not only had a bloodline that blurred life and death, but she herself was a dead person who had returned to the present world from the Road of No Return. As an existence who had successfully comprehended the authority of death while "alive," her distance from death was much, much closer than Leon's.

If she hadn't stood out, Leon, who had swallowed the "most" death, would have relied on the attraction of "quantity" to smoothly take over the authority of death. But now that she had stood out, the authority of death would naturally begin to instinctively tilt toward the true dead.

Damn it! If I had known, I would have sent her back first!

Discovering that he probably couldn't compete with Auntie Auntie Ai Ma, Leon's face couldn't help but turn pale, and a heavy regret surfaced in his heart.

Although he had appeared as if he didn't care at all when mocking the Six-Faced Musk Deer just now, boasting that he could just shoot himself, this didn't mean that the shot could be fired casually.

(Content omitted for brevity)

Not to mention that "executing" the dead requires consuming "ammunition" of the same level and cannot be resurrected casually, just looking at the chaotic situation in the Death Realm, the person who took over the authority of death would definitely be firmly tied to the Death Realm.

You must know that all the masters of the Death Realm had already been killed by him, and it was unknown how long it would take for the next existence capable of comprehending death to emerge. But the Death Realm must have someone to preside over the authority of death, so it wouldn't be at a complete standstill like it was now.

This meant that even if there were means to return to the present world, this first shot would likely have to wait a long, long time before it could be fired. If he was unlucky enough, waiting for hundreds or thousands of years in one go was not impossible.

If he took over this job, he might be able to rely on badges obtained later to think of ways to run back to the present world early. But if Auntie Auntie Ai Ma replaced him, she wouldn't know how long she would have to wait here.

"Auntie Auntie Ai Ma!"

After glaring hatefully at a certain old man who was shrinking his head, Leon, knowing that this must have been instigated by him, couldn't help but have a ferocious face, then gritted his teeth and shouted from afar:

"Don't listen to that old thing's nonsense! I have a way to return to the present world early, you don't need to replace me! Stop!"

Hearing Leon's call, Auntie Auntie Ai Ma's figure couldn't help but sway slightly, then she stopped "making eye contact" with death itself, lowered her head, and looked softly toward this side.

And after receiving that gentle gaze, Leon immediately understood what she meant. Auntie Auntie Ai Ma was telling him that taking over the authority of death and sitting in the Death Realm for him was a choice she made willingly. He didn't need to feel guilty, and even less need to stop her.

And Leon knew her personality too well. For Auntie Auntie Ai Ma, who was gentle and beautiful on the outside but extremely resilient on the inside, once she really made a choice, no matter how he tried to persuade her, it would probably be useless. She would definitely try to the end.

Damn it! Damn Third-Generation old man!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1585 =====