Chapter 696: Suicide

Lei Kedun remained slouched on the stone chair without speaking; his spirit line was being controlled by Cha La Tu, and although the process was relatively slow, his body and mind inevitably became sluggish.

He also forged normal information, transmitting it to Cha La Tu along the spirit line, creating chaos and weakening its condition.

After a brief stalemate, an extremely complex and mysterious three‑dimensional sigil slowly formed in midair, everything around it grew mottled, even the extraordinary traits faded point by point, stepping into a true end.

The corpses that Cha La Tu had re‑transformed into secret idols fell again; their flesh rotted and withered swiftly, leaving only pale‑yellow bones that gradually turned to dust and vanished in the air, as if they had endured thousands of years in an instant.

Cha La Tu's body seemed unable to bear the pressure; slick tentacles sprouted from beneath the black robe, its form collapsed rapidly into a pool of writhing, transparent, twisted worms, which together formed numerous tentacles that beat wildly outward, emitting hoarse, grating babble.

The three‑dimensional sigil hovering in midair seemed to gain substance under Cha La Tu's tentacle strikes, was oddly pounded away and dissolved, reverting to a silver‑white mask adorned with feathers that fell to the ground.

Deprived of the pallid death's suppression, the countless slick tentacles extending from the deep, dim worm vortex attacked the surroundings even more frantically.

The moment Cha La Tu's tentacles touched him, Lei Kedun's body lagged in dematerialization, breaking into massive streams of information that surged into each spirit‑worm's mind, attempting to burst them.

Cha La Tu contracted its body, becoming a swirling mass of writhing worms, extending countless slick tentacles to try to block the surrounding surge of information.

Boom! Boom! The spirit‑worm‑formed tentacles extending from the worm vortex stiffened bizarrely for an instant, then burst apart, scattering a layer of transparent, sticky liquid across the floor.

The remaining spirit worms quickly thinned and became brittle, turning into a crudely cut paper figure that shattered in midair, scattering sheets of paper.

Cha La Tu's silhouette appeared from the opposite side of the cathedral hall; its complexion was overly pallid, transparent worms constantly burrowed in and out of its eye sockets, nostrils, ears, and mouth, while beneath the black robe, translucent, sticky tentacles swayed.

"The contamination originating from the 'Knowledge Wilderness' makes your spirit line abnormal as well."

Cha La Tu's voice sounded low and hoarse, as if enduring bodily pain while suppressing the madness within.

"Having mastered so much knowledge about the 'Mysterious Servant', isn't it normal to disguise a spirit line with information?"

"To be honest, An Ti Ge Nu Si's performance on the informational level is clearly far stronger than yours; if it were Him, my forged spirit line would never slip past."

Lei Kedun answered Cha La Tu's question in a very calm tone, and as he spoke, brilliant starlight continuously fell from his body, wandering around, forming a hazy wilderness of light and shadow.

Transparent worms kept burrowing in and out of Cha La Tu's face, its expression turning restrained yet frantic; it could clearly feel itself being eroded, an erosion from the informational layer, and no matter how it "altered" concepts pointing to itself, it could not escape this corrosion.

Taking a deep breath, it spoke calmly:

"There is no irreconcilable conflict between us; you have taken many traits and spirit worms from me, and they are already sufficient to accomplish a relatively large‑scale 'miracle', which is not difficult for you, who has mastered abundant 'knowledge'."

"If you wish to resurrect Luo Sai Er, I can offer some assistance; after all, I actually have a decent relationship with him, and that Antigonus family notebook was originally helped out of the Steam Church by him."

"I still have four chances to be reborn; you can't truly kill me, so why not cooperate, what do you think?"

Lei Kedun, expressionless and aloof, said, "Before we discuss cooperation, first fulfill the last wish you owe me."

Then he fell silent, quietly observing Cha La Tu, waiting for its response while intensifying the erosion.

Cha La Tu exhaled a long breath, reached out and snapped off one of its extending slick tentacles, casually crumpled it into a ball that became a black‑gray square talisman, and threw it at Lei Kedun.

Receiving the talisman Cha La Tu tossed, Lei Kedun gave it a quick glance, confirmed it was fine, and caused the illusory high tower enclosing the area to vanish, lifting the isolation of this region.

Cha La Tu's expression barely changed as it nodded, its face swarming with constantly writhing transparent insects, matching the cathedral's gloomy atmosphere, giving a rather eerie feeling.

Lei Kedun, while observing Cha La Tu, sneered softly:

"You indeed never intended to keep the contract from the start; someone like you, adept at deception and fleeing, surely has a way to evade agreements, even if it costs something, but at most it's just dying once."

After a moment of silence, Cha La Tu defended itself:

"As a 'Diviner', I can sense your covert malice toward me; under these circumstances, maintaining a certain vigilance toward you is quite normal."

Lei Kedun gave a nonchalant smile, brushed past the topic, and said, "Can you guess why the True Creator exerted so much effort to have me stall you?"

"A Meng is also in Beckland; did He take the 'ancient scholar' linked to the Source Fortress?"

Cha La Tu quickly guessed the reason, or perhaps had thought of it from the start, only to be blocked here; "Obviously," Lei Kedun nodded, then added:

"Your time is short; before A Meng successfully steals the Source Fortress, He will inevitably go to the Divine Abandoned Land. This is your final chance; you can prepare well, and I hope you can cause some trouble for them."

As the words fell, Lei Kedun's body dematerialized, breaking into massive pure information torrents that surged away from the spire‑topped cathedral.

In the cathedral's main hall, only Cha La Tu and its swaying slick tentacles remained, transparent worms crawling over its face.

After a while, its body suddenly lost vitality, and all spirit worms died in an instant.

It freed itself from Lei Kedun's lingering contamination by suicide!

Deep in the spirit realm, the reappearing Lei Kedun glanced back toward the spire‑topped cathedral and whispered, "So decisive to commit suicide—truly worthy of a Mysterious Servant; the highest‑level conspiratorial scheme is to gamble with one's life."

In the ocean that evolved from the Divine War ruins at the easternmost edge of the Suniya Sea, A Meng and Ke Lai En's silhouettes silently appeared on an island in the outer region.

Ke Lai En looked at the familiar yet strange surroundings and asked curiously:

"You want to take me to the Divine Abandoned Land? Why?"

He asked casually without expecting A Meng to answer, mainly hoping to buy time until someone noticed his disappearance, sensed the issue, then found and rescued him.

A Meng lifted the monocle over his right eye and said with a half‑smile:

"It's quieter there; we won't be disturbed, making it suitable for the upcoming game. Originally the 'Hanged Man' could intervene in the Divine Abandoned Land, but He has left, so interference here is limited."

"Honestly, your taste in allies is poor. When George III was promoted, 'Black Night' briefly made a divine descent; He knew that after my promotion was interrupted I would go looking for you, yet He gave you no hint and offered no help."

"And that guy disguised as source essence—He discovered my duplicate when you pretended to be me to scare Pareses, yet He didn't choose to warn you."

"But that's interesting; next time we meet, I'll also take your form, wear the monocle again before Pareses, and I'm eager to see how He reacts."

Ke Lai En remained silent, and A Meng's words successfully breached his mental defenses.

The goddess has already made a divine descent—to stop A Meng's ascension ritual? The guy disguised as source essence refers to Al? He really isn't the 'Hidden Sage', I…

A Meng's conduct fits the 'God of Pranks' archetype; both his words and actions are casual, doing whatever comes to mind, capricious, malicious, and quite hateful, thoughts flashing through Ke Lai En's mind before vanishing.

A Meng smiled indifferently, walked to Ke Lai En's side, patted his shoulder and said, "Everyone has their own goals, but what they truly seek is the emergence of a Lord of the Mysteries; it could be me, it could be you, even Cha La Tu, An Ti Ge Nu Si, Bo Te Li, or any of them, yet only yours and mine have the loudest voice and the most supporters."

After a moment of silence, Ke Lai En casually asked:

"'Bo Te Li' is Mr. Men's name? Why are yours and mine the most numerous supporters?"

"Bo Te Li Abraham."

A Meng lifted the monocle, uttered Mr. Men's name without giving Ke Lai En much time to think, and continued:

"Whether they are a righteous god, an evil god, or those angels, most of them are fence‑sitters, swaying with the wind..."

"Only Black Night, the mad paranoid, and that fragment of source essence that slipped out from the western continent, each for their own reasons..."

"But I can probably guess the reasons behind their different choices."

"What is the reason?" Ke Lai En asked again.

A Meng gave an inscrutable low chuckle and said, "You guess?"

Afterwards, they raised their head to look at the sky of golden brilliance, pinched the monocle they wore, and the surroundings instantly darkened; they stole the noon of this sea!

(End of chapter)