Chapter 393: God? Demon? The Boy Who Gave Everything to Trade with the Dragon

"You can actually see me?"

A startled voice rang out abruptly, drawing from afar to near.

The towering evil dragon drew closer step by step, then half-crouched with curiosity before the wretched girl whose blood had dyed a patch of earth red.

He looked at the human girl before him, already on the brink of death yet seemingly able to truly see him, and felt a touch of surprise.

For she was the first living being on this Prison Star who could see him, and moreover an ordinary human with no power whatsoever.

She seemed rather special…

Driven by curiosity, Baichuan raised a single sharp claw and channeled a wisp of power through it, temporarily sustaining the life that was steadily slipping away from her.

The sharp claw tip inadvertently sliced through the hat covering her, and in an instant a head of white hair, dust-covered yet still strikingly bright, appeared before him.

In that instant, a flicker of understanding passed through Baichuan's eyes.

White hair, red eyes. Such peculiar features on this Prison Star existed only on those mutant humans despised by every faction.

They were ordinary humans contemptuously dubbed "mutants" by others. On this planet where radiation levels were excessive and the air itself was poisonous, without any means of protection, their bodies had spontaneously mutated these conspicuous features just to survive.

They had neither the special mutated limbs of the scavengers that granted them certain unique abilities, nor the overwhelming strength of the market-town folk who had been injected with enhancement serums. They possessed nothing at all—only the conspicuous features their bodies had mutated in order to stay alive.

Yet in the eyes of others, these very features marked them as ill-omened, despised, driven away.

To survive, they had no choice but to band together out here in this barren, unprotected wilderness, forming tribes to keep each other warm. But here stood a lone mutant—meaning either her tribe had been destroyed by those mutated creatures and she had nowhere to go, or she had been forced to venture out alone in search of supplies just to live.

"How pitiful…"

A long sigh rose.

"Hm?"

The voice that suddenly rang in her ears caused the girl's already darkening vision to clear once more.

She struggled to lift her head from the slightly damp ground, her small chin carving a wet furrow in the earth as she looked forward. The first thing to meet her eyes was a shadow, and on the ground swallowed by that shadow were enormous beast-like feet covered in sheets of deep, hard, dark-purple scales!

Those were the feet of a creature whose single toe-claw was nearly larger than her head!

She did not know what kind of creature those feet belonged to. Following the beast-feet upward, she then saw—

A pair of violent vertical beast-eyes, as if burning with deep purple flames!

That was a being whose single eyeball was nearly the size of her head. Staring into those eyes, her vision swam and blurred, and fragmented images began to surface before her. In that instant, it was as if she saw a terrifying being that had died once and crawled back up from the depths of hell…

But the sensation vanished in a flash, as if it had all been an illusion. The next moment, deep within those eyes, she clearly saw a scene reflected in them—a wretched figure sprawled on the dark-brown, damp earth, on the verge of death.

That figure was shrouded in a long robe so stained with all manner of filth that it looked a dull gray. A head of silver-white long hair clung in disarray to a face smudged black with grime, and a pair of crimson eyes stared blankly forward, as if gazing at something.

Is that me?

Looking at that familiar yet unfamiliar appearance, perhaps from the moment she was born until now, on the brink of death, the girl had never seen her own appearance so clearly for the first time.

"Say, are you a god who has come to take me away?"

"Could I beg you… let me see my, my little sister one more time before you take me…"

A faltering, feeble voice spoke. It sounded as though the girl had summoned every last bit of strength to utter it, and within that voice was a faint, desperate plea.

She had lived timidly for over a decade, fleeing again and again just to survive, never daring to hope for anything. Even now, on the verge of death, she felt little fear.

In her final moment, she did not know where she found the courage before this being that might be a god, might be a demon, and made the only brave request—and plea—of her entire life.

Perhaps because she knew she was about to die, perhaps because she could not let go of her young sister…

"A god?" Listening to the girl's plea, the evil dragon murmured to himself, lowering his gaze. Though she had not directly answered his question, she had implicitly confirmed it—she truly could see him.

And she was the first somewhat special existence he had encountered in all his travels across this planet.

The next second, he gazed at the girl whose face was filled with hopeful pleading, and under her watchful eyes he chuckled lightly and shook his head, denying it: "I'm no god, you've got the wrong person. However—"

Then he drew out his words, and just as disappointment was about to show on her face, he said: "But helping you see your sister once more is nothing more than a trivial matter for me."

"R-really?"

The girl, on the verge of showing disappointment, raised a sliver of hope once more at the evil dragon's words. "Could you… please help me… I beg you…"

"Sure!"

The evil dragon's voice rang out, decisive and absolute. But the next instant, just as the girl struggled to show a joyful smile, he said with mischief once more: "Just kidding!"

"Tha—"

"Y-you're lying…"

In an instant, as if unable to believe it, the words she had not yet finished, the joy and gratitude that had just risen, the smile that had not yet spread across her face, the faint ember of hope that had just been kindled in her heart—all of it was utterly extinguished and frozen by that cold, heavily teasing voice, like a bucket of ice water, leaving her like a puppet drained of all life.

At this moment, the storm in the heavens above paused for a time, and the clouds ceased to drift, as if they too were sighing in pity for the girl about to pass.

A large gray rat happened to pass by, sensed the danger, and fled in terror.

Crimson eyes inadvertently welled with a thin mist, and she simply stared blankly at the monster wreathed in eerie purple flames before her.

Wh-why…

She wanted to speak those words aloud, but she was as if she had lost her voice. Those three short syllables lodged deep in her throat, and she could not move, like a puppet drained of life.

Yes, she was a monster despised and loathed by everyone. Who would ever come to help her? Just as now, even though she had offended no one, she had suddenly been crushed like a bug by someone…

In the end, she could only lower her eyes weakly, as if in flight, and quietly await the arrival of death.

I'm sorry… little sister… without your big sister, you have to live on well…

Yet the evil dragon did not stop there. He gently raised a single claw and carefully hooked the chin of the puppet-like girl before him, lifting her upright as if picking up a doll, so that they gazed directly at each other.

Eyes as if burning with purple flames met crimson eyes drained of all life.

The evil dragon revealed a wicked smile.

"Giving up just like that?"

"Why should I help you?"

"How pitiful. You're almost dead, yet still worrying about your little sister. I just wonder if your sister, without your protection, can survive in this world full of malice…"

"Let me think. Hmm, a powerless little girl who has lost her big sister's protection and everything she relied on, and is being eyed by others—the best thing that could happen to her would be to be broken and sold into a brothel, and then…"

Staring blankly into those beast-eyes brimming with cruelty and malice, she heard his endless chatter in her ears. The girl did not want to listen, but his voice was so grating, like blades that ignored her resistance and kept stabbing into her heart. With his words, it was as if she could already see those scenes unfold—

Having lost the sister she had been protecting, she was about to be...

"... Perhaps, by then, the little girl still won't know that the sister she loved most and relied on for survival is already gone! She can only face all kinds of injustice, biting her lip, powerless to resist, crying out for her sister, sister..."

"Stop... talking!"

A low voice rang out, and the frozen eyes stirred for the first time,

"... But, the sister who protected her will never come back again... And all of this, is because of you..."

"I told you to stop talking!!!"

"Rumble rumble..."

A furious voice suddenly echoed forth, mingled with a thunderous peal of thunder.

The crimson eyes were no longer frozen, but had once again come alive, now burning like raging flames, like an enraged lioness glaring at the evil dragon before her, as if at the next moment she would stake everything to launch an attack—even though that attack would be no different than a mantis trying to stop a chariot, yet that courage could not be faked in the slightest.

Baichuan gazed at those flame-like eyes, as if seeing through the other's heart; in that moment, those eyes held not a trace of timidity, only anger, anger, and anger!

After a long while, he lowered his gaze, looking at the small hands that were tightly gripping the scales between his claws,

A hint of admiration surfacing in his eyes, the Moon Dream power that had been weaving all manner of dreams through words slowly withdrew, and the crushing True Immortal might that could make ordinary people unable to summon even a shred of resistance vanished without a trace along with it.

He slowly turned his head to look at the oppressive heavens; within his gaze, the dark, heavy clouds unseen by ordinary people were now ceaselessly churning, as if brewing something.

"Remember the anger you feel right now. Don't forget it—it is your only reliance."

After a long while, Baichuan's voice returned to its calm tone.

"Huh?"

"All the misfortune in the world comes from the parties' lack of strength."

"Rather than praying for others' pity and help at the last moment, it is better to strive on your own..."

Baichuan paid no heed to the other's confusion, continuing on his own: "If you want to protect your sister well, you must become stronger! Stronger! Until no one dares to bully you both."

"Otherwise, the innocent being implicated today, and even greater misfortune, will once again befall you."

"Then, I'll ask you once more—do you want power? The power to protect yourself and your sister in this world full of malice?"

"..."

The girl stared blankly at the towering "demon" before her; at this moment she finally came to her senses—the other party didn't seem as bad as she had imagined, and everything before seemed to be...

At the same time, her body seemed to have unknowingly recovered; the weakness and frailty of impending death had already unknowingly departed.

And all of this, naturally, could not have been accomplished by her, who possessed no power whatsoever.

Then, the truth was already clear.

"Yes!"

The anger within Chitong's eyes unknowingly softened; she stared intently at this somewhat strange being, and nodded heavily—she did not want to experience that helplessness again.

"Even if it costs you everything?"

The evil dragon spoke thus.

"Yes, everything."

At this moment, she no longer cared what the other party was—whether a deity, or a demon demanding her soul.

In this world full of malice, she only wanted the power to protect herself and her sister.

"Very good." Baichuan nodded in satisfaction, a beast's head with horns soaring skyward, the narrow snout lined with sharp teeth flanked by dragon whiskers that swayed along with it—a terrifying and ferocious sight in the eyes of ordinary people.

Yet in the girl's eyes at this moment, it carried a strange kind of beauty.

"From this moment forth, bear this power, and spread my glory across the entire Xingkong!"

As his words fell, Baichuan opened his massive left claw that could nearly cover the girl; within it, a Core flickering with black storm floated above, and with each flicker of an electric arc, the oppressive storm in the heavens seemed to flicker along with it, as if resonating with one another.

This was the true purpose behind Baichuan going through such great lengths, bullying the pitiful girl like a scummy dragon.

This Core, resembling a black storm in his palm, was precisely the true Core of the terrifying power shrouding this planet. It was a creation of 【Bane Star】, a terrifying technological civilization that had condensed enough strength to contend on equal footing with the Player Civilization!

Don't underestimate this civilization—Baichuan guessed that behind the Player Civilization there was extremely likely a terrifying civilization with True Immortal-level beings, and the fact that Bane Star could remain safe in the hands of True Immortal-level beings absolutely held its own secrets!

Therefore, Yuxing—the failed product that condensed most of Bane Star civilization's technological crystallization, its endless derivatives, all manner of radiation and mutation, an aggregate of all living beings' power on the entire planet—its potential was absolutely extraordinary!

If it were in a world with Xingkong deities and the like, it would represent a divine spark—a divine spark with boundless potential, one that would birth at the very least an Earth Immortal-level deity!

And such a powerful object naturally could not be casually given to just any target; at the very least, a nail of his own had to be left in this stretch of Xingkong.

Therefore, the girl from before, whose heart held only timidity, who fled from everything and, unable to flee, could only beg for others' pity, was unqualified in his eyes.

Otherwise, if powerful strength were held by someone with a fragile heart, perhaps no mishap would occur against the weak, but once facing an enemy beyond oneself, fear might cause mistakes.

After all, bearing this power would inherently bring her into conflict with the Bane Star civilization, and even the Player Civilization.

Of course, this was only one of his purposes.

Beyond that, he had long been considering: how exactly could he maximize the spread of his legend in this past spacetime?

If he relied solely on himself, the Xingkong was so vast, and even if he spread his legend from place to place, taking on more and more karmic ties of living beings, he still had too few hands—how long would it take to forge a legend-power that made him invincible?

Perhaps he would not complete this grand feat even by the end of his lifespan.

Therefore, he thought of another method, one that could fully utilize his standing at this special point in the past...

(End of Chapter)