Chapter 868

"This is my second ability."

Looking at the stunned Leon, the female journalist softly explained:

"I call this ability 【Long Time No See】. When I greet someone, I can use that greeting to directly intrude into their memories, becoming their acquaintance, friend, or even relative—the more unfamiliar the person, the stronger the effect."

"After intruding into their memories, I can also glimpse fragments of their recollections, learning scattered pieces of information so I can respond appropriately when they bring up those memories, without… uh…"

Here, the female journalist's voice paused slightly, her gaze toward Leon once again filled with deep guilt.

"I'm sorry…"

Watching the scattered memory fragments—each one showing Leon desperately struggling—she lowered her head, eyes heavy with remorse, and said:

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have…"

"Stop!"

Seeing her about to spiral into self-reproach, Leon quickly raised a hand in a "stop" gesture, halting her confession, then frowned and said:

"Your two abilities are powerful, but they seem useless against this dead dog, right?"

"Hmm…"

The female journalist nodded and said:

"If my physical body and other anomalies were present, I could fight the Dog God for a while using 【No Touch】—if it doesn't use its divine authority, I might even avoid defeat."

"But now I can't. I'm only a soul, and my soul strength isn't high. Facing Angxi, a true god of the Death Realm, I have no chance to fight back."

"…"

Indeed, you really can't help much…

After hearing the journalist's two trump cards, Leon sighed and began flipping through his badges.

He hadn't brought any of his anomalies; 【Scream Hand】—the only one capable of harming a true god—wasn't with him; 【Unfair Snake Pact】 and the god-tier ashes weren't here either. Only the badge might work.

【Immortal in Wine】… Invincibility is useful, but there's no wine right now.

【Prince of the Migratory Thrush】… The Death Realm isn't within the Thrush Kingdom's domain; this won't activate.

【Master of Performance】、【Sharpshooter】… Hmm, maybe this one could work?

Gazing at the golden 【Unfortunately Not】, Leon's eyes narrowed slightly, then he asked:

"I have a question for you… Is this dead dog male or female?"

"Huh?"

Caught off guard by Leon's question, the female journalist hesitated, then said uncertainly:

"Probably male? At least, from its voice, it sounded like a man's…"

"Can you be more certain?"

"…"

How could she confirm that? She was a woman—did he expect her to spread its two dog legs and check if it had two bells hanging behind its butt?

"Alright, forget I asked."

Seeing the journalist's embarrassed expression, Leon realized his question was inappropriate and moved past it. With a "might as well try" mindset, he switched out the 【Egg Beater】 badge.

"I still have something I can try, though I don't know if it'll work."

As he spoke, Leon staggered forward a few steps inside the Dog God's relatively empty belly, reached out, and touched what was likely the stomach wall, then raised his fist.

According to 【Unfortunately Not】's effect, when attacking any "egg-bearing creature," the impact would equal a "fatal egg strike." If the Dog God was male, even if he couldn't hurt it, he could at least make it scream in agony!

Let you eat me!

With the mindset that if he died, he'd make sure it suffered too, Leon took a deep breath and, under the journalist's bewildered gaze, slammed his fist into the Dog God's stomach wall!

"Squelch."

Leon's punch, which looked forceful enough, struck the thick stomach wall with no damage—only producing a wet, sticky sound.

But the thick, viscous fluid clinging to the stomach wall suddenly splattered everywhere, drenching Leon. Like water droplets hitting a red-hot iron plate, it hissed sharply.

Damn. Looks like it's not male.

Watching his body rapidly become more transparent where the "stomach fluid" had splashed him, Leon sighed, then, unwilling to give up, threw another punch.

Why was he so unlucky? Even his final act of defiance couldn't…

"AHHHH!!!"

In the stunned expressions of Leon and the journalist, an agonizing scream erupted violently inside the three-headed Dog God's body.

Immediately after, the stomach wall that had been slowly writhing and secreting strange fluids suddenly shuddered violently—then froze completely, motionless.

As the Dog God's stomach ceased its movement, thick streams of death energy surged from every part of its body, wildly spreading and turning everything around into an utterly silent, pitch-black void.

"???"

"!!!"

What the hell? How is this possible?!

Disbelieving, the female journalist ran over and touched the Dog God's stomach wall—then, in utter shock, realized that Leon's simple, even clumsy punch had truly drained all life from the Dog God's flesh, turning it into dead, lifeless meat.

It really died… completely dead…

"…"

"…"

After staring at each other in stunned silence, the journalist recovered first. Looking at Leon's nearly transparent hand, she exclaimed with two parts joy and ninety-eight parts awe:

"Leon! You… you punched a true god to death!!"

"…"

Looking at the now-motionless stomach wall and feeling the intensifying death energy around him, Leon was also stunned.

Wait… does the Dog God's weakness lie in its testicles? If it gets egg pain, it just drops dead instantly? So I punched it and… no!

After waiting a moment and seeing no badge pop out—no 【Godslayer】 or 【Canine Killer】—Leon regained his composure and shook his head:

"It wasn't me. Someone outside must have killed it—just happened to coincide. By the way, could the Director have come?"

"…"

Indeed…

Seeing how much of Leon's soul had already been "digested" by merely punching the Dog God's stomach wall, the journalist, still wide-eyed, also calmed down.

Leon's punch had looked impressive, but it was mostly bravado. They'd been inside the Dog God's belly for so long—though their souls remained intact, their soul strength had dropped by at least forty percent.

Now, even walking normally was difficult for her; Leon's condition was worse. There was no way he could kill a true god with one punch. The most likely explanation was that the Blood-Haired Lady had tracked them down…

"Stop guessing."

After rechecking the three-headed Dog God's stomach wall and confirming it was truly dead, Leon, barely escaped from death, let out a long breath, eyes filled with relief:

"We really owe the Director thanks—thankfully she arrived just in time. Let's get out of here."