Chapter 972

How did I cross the boundary between human and god?

Upon hearing Prince Andre’s question, Li Ang’s lips twitched involuntarily, and he instinctively reached down to pat his belly.

Explaining this in detail is a hassle, but if I put it simply… all members of the Scorpio Branch who participated in this mission—except for the absent Senior Alje—are now holding a meeting inside my belly.

Previously, under the “heavy feeding” of the three seniors, I temporarily gained 59 points of contamination value, just a hair’s breadth away from meeting the minimum requirement to split the world’s plane.

The Scorpio Director’s soul was far too “resilient” for me to digest or absorb, but with the power of “Guardian of the Death Hound,” I could still suck out a tiny bit of energy from his soul to bridge that final gap.

In short, I relied on my teammates.

…

＿co

“Don’t want to say?”

Watching Li Ang fall silent, Prince Andre nodded casually and said:

“Then I won’t ask. After all, you’ve already destroyed my painting—knowing how you did it won’t change anything… Hmm… Let’s move on to the real matter.”

Under Li Ang’s wary gaze, Prince Andre lifted his head, his expression calm:

“I must admit—you were right about me. I am a coward, always lacking the courage to face my own mistakes… Li Ang, would you like to know what I think of you?”

To be honest, I’m not particularly curious—but judging by your expression, you’re going to say it whether I want to hear it or not…

Seeing Prince Andre, eyes fixed on him, his emerald irises now devoid of hatred or rage, filled only with resolve, Li Ang sighed inwardly and replied:

“Go ahead. What do you think of me?”

“Greedy. In my eyes, you are an extremely, extremely, extremely greedy person.”

With Li Ang’s surprised expression, Prince Andre, having said “extremely” three times, explained calmly:

“I had Atifi control six royal direct legions to besiege the Wang Gong. Facing entire elite formations, you, unaware of my remaining cards, still chose to expend extra power to knock out every soldier—without killing a single one.”

Later, when attacking Research Zone One and destroying the AI core, you knew you might face the Scorpio Director, yet you still chose to infiltrate the Cooling Lake alone, leaving Senior Cleaner Alje—your key combat asset—to act independently, giving him the chance to rescue people in Research Zone One.

From these two responses, it’s clear you are extremely, extremely, extremely greedy—you’d rather take unnecessary risks to achieve perfection, refusing almost any “loss” or “trade-off”…”

“Hmm… or you could say this: you’re a soft-hearted good person.”

“…”

After rambling on at length and handing Li Ang a “good person card,” Prince Andre continued his analysis leisurely:

“You deeply dislike involving the innocent, habitually respect life—I suspect you hold a peculiar set of beliefs, unlike those of other Cleaners—or even most people.”

“Finally, you cling to your beliefs with the fanaticism of a true believer. Once you deem something right and judge you can bear the consequences, you act immediately.”

“I even have a faint feeling that if the ‘correctness’ of an action is high enough, even if you judge you cannot bear the consequences, as long as it’s worth it, you’ll still try to complete it.”

“To you, your own life matters—but sometimes, it doesn’t matter much. You aren’t afraid to place your life on the scales and weigh it… Li Ang, is my judgment accurate?”

“…”

Well… it’s not entirely right, but it’s not entirely wrong either…

After hearing Prince Andre’s long-winded analysis, Li Ang coughed lightly, slightly embarrassed by the “compliment.”

Not fearing death is true—after all, I now occupy the spot left by the “Guardian of the Death Hound” and hold its remaining powers. If I die, I’ll surely be dragged to the Death Realm to replace it as gatekeeper.

So for me, even if all three forms of immortality were broken, the worst-case scenario is merely dying early and becoming a grumpy gatekeeper of the Death Realm. It’s not a good ending, but it’s not unbearable either.

“It seems my judgment was accurate.”

After waiting a moment and receiving no rebuttal from Li Ang, Prince Andre let out a light laugh, then spoke coldly, eyes indifferent:

“Someone like you, if killed outright, would feel little pain—you’d only regret not having done your best. Death, for someone like you, isn’t even punishment.”

“So if I wish to revenge you, I must destroy the beliefs you hold sacred—make you watch as the very thing you’ve chased is cruelly, utterly torn apart before your eyes. Only then can I truly hurt you, make you feel the same depth of agony I’ve suffered!”

“…”

“Li Ang, listen well.”

After delivering his overly dramatic revenge declaration, Prince Andre sat cross-legged in the blood-orange world, staring at Li Ang with a cold voice:

“What you face now is my most satisfying work, aside from ‘The Royal Night Banquet.’ Its name is ‘The Sunset Over Krok.’ This painting has absorbed fragments from ‘The Royal Night Banquet’ and completed its corruption of the entire Krok Kingdom.”

“Now, the sunset already painted within this work will rise again from the horizon, inching closer and closer to the Krok Kingdom until it merges with it—and burns everything to ash.”

As if to prove his words, Prince Andre waved his hand behind him—and the last sliver of the sun still above the horizon actually rose a fraction higher.

As the sun reappeared, the gentle orange glow around them suddenly brightened, shifting into a vivid yellow. A wave of searing heat rolled in from the distant horizon, instantly curling and browning the emerald grass.

“Li Ang, it’s time for you to choose.”

With his back to the increasingly blazing crimson-gold sun, Prince Andre raised his hand, pointing first at the sun behind him, then at Filia behind Li Ang, and explained:

“I am already dead. Filia is now the last living member of the Krok royal family. If she dies, the Watch Palace, which protects all humanity, will suffer a massive weakening.”

“So if you still wish to fulfill your duty to protect humanity, you must save her. But if you want to stop the sun and prevent the one hundred thirty thousand people in this painting from being roasted alive, you must hand me her corpse.”

After laying out the “rules of the game,” Prince Andre watched Li Ang, who stood frozen, and smiled with grim satisfaction:

“Li Ang, it will take me about an hour to finish painting this massive sun. You have one hour to think carefully… which will you choose…?”

“Here.”

“?!!!”

Watching Filia, tossed directly in front of him and landing with a thump on her rear, Prince Andre’s smile froze.

Wait… didn’t you even hesitate? That was way too fast.