Chapter 971: Return

Su Xiao’s condition for helping Sha break out was releasing all the tenants—was this Su Xiao having a change of heart? Of course not; the tenants’ lives or deaths meant nothing to him.

Ask yourself: if all these tenants escaped, who would be the most furious? The answer is Alice.

Alice had spent countless years imprisoning numerous powerful beings on the first floor; some were captured only with the help of the castle itself. This was her life’s work, her passion—watching once-mighty Void conquerors locked in tiny rooms, some even begging her for mercy.

Having once been imprisoned herself, Alice reveled in this feeling. She treated these powerful ones as her collection. As for tenants gradually breaking their seals through deals with players—that was impossible.

Once a powerful one broke their seal via a player’s deal, their fate was the Forest of the Strong on the fourth floor: daily injections of life-sustaining fluid, their generated energy immediately siphoned off by the castle to maintain its operations—truly neither life nor death allowed.

For those who had broken their seals, Alice had grown weary of their “performances.” Once bored, she dumped them on the fourth floor—freedom was out of the question.

These tenants had been imprisoned for years, entirely at Alice’s mercy. Their rage, even if she were rubbed into the ground ten thousand times, could never be quenched.

What if all of them escaped? The answer: they would revel in freedom, use every means to grow stronger, and when powerful enough, return to the castle to exact revenge on Alice.

That was Su Xiao’s goal. In previous games, Alice had tried to kill Su Xiao multiple times. After failing, she exposed his identity to everyone: Su Xiao was the Shadow of Law Annihilation.

In the Cycle Paradise, the identity of Shadow of Law Annihilation meant nothing—no one would hunt him over a profession’s legacy. But in the Void, it was different: Su Xiao had many enemies.

This was Alice’s open stratagem. Within the castle, she couldn’t kill Su Xiao by means beyond the rules, so she began planting enemies for him in the Void.

Clearly, Alice succeeded.

Due to the vast power gap, Su Xiao hadn’t planned immediate revenge—he had neither opportunity nor favorable timing.

Now, it was different. Releasing all tenants from the first floor meant giving Alice dozens of enemies sworn to her destruction. Once free, their sole goal: grow stronger, then return to avenge Alice.

If Alice truly fell into their hands…

Boom. Boom…

Thuds and crashes echoed as Sha assisted a tenant in smashing a wooden door—two of them, one inside, one outside, the cracks spreading rapidly, efficiency hundreds of times greater than breaking from within.

CRASH—the wooden door shattered, and a massive, dark-red bat burst from the room.

“Ahh~ This is the feeling of freedom.”

The bat shuddered, raising its fleshy wings—it was the Blood Marquis.

Sha ignored the Blood Marquis and moved to smash the next wooden door. Was she doing this out of honor? Of course not. The first floor had an exit, but it too was sealed—she alone could never break that seal.

The Blood Marquis scanned the surroundings, searching for the exit. As for the promised reward to Sha, it mentioned not a word.

“Congratulations on regaining partial freedom.”

As Su Xiao spoke, he walked toward the Blood Marquis.

“Huh? Who are you?”

The Blood Marquis’s tone was unfriendly.

“First, you’ve only broken the wooden door. You’re still far from true freedom—you face a barrier you cannot breach.”

Su Xiao pointed to a metal door on the east side of the first floor. Its surface shimmered with glowing runes, each as thick as an arm—unlike the hair-thin runes on the wooden doors.

“If I were you, I’d immediately help other tenants smash their doors, then unite to destroy that thing. Break it, and you’re free.”

Su Xiao’s suggestion was instantly accepted. The Blood Marquis wasn’t stupid—it turned and charged at another wooden door, gathering bloodlight in its mouth and blasting it. The tenant inside rejoiced.

Soon, seven tenants of different races burst from their doors. Su Xiao immediately approached them, explaining the situation simply.

What these tenants craved most was freedom. They displayed astonishing “unity” and “friendship”—after all, they shared the same goal.

All tenants who broke free helped others escape. Even Anliya held a wooden plank, smashing it against an intact door. Anliya was the little girl who had once asked Su Xiao for candy; under his “friendly” exchange, she’d given him many letters of introduction.

Five minutes later, all tenants had broken free—dozens gathered, unleashing every method they had against the metal door.

Su Xiao, meanwhile, had been mixing something. Soon, he produced a black liquid, its foul stench spreading.

Carefully filling the liquid into test tubes, Su Xiao walked toward the metal door.

“Move aside.”

Su Xiao sidestepped and hurled the test tube at the metal door.

Several tenants dodged instantly—the test tube shattered on impact, releasing a pungent stench. The glowing runes on the door dimmed noticeably.

“You’re lucky—I’m an alchemist.”

Su Xiao continued mixing the black liquid. The tenants, seeing the runes dim, rejoiced and attacked the door with renewed vigor.

Half an hour later, Su Xiao had prepared five vials of black liquid. Each time it splashed on the door, the runes dimmed for seconds—the door was most vulnerable then.

The tenants realized this. They stopped their chaotic assaults, conserving strength. Each time Su Xiao threw a test tube, they unleashed terrifying attacks simultaneously—efficiency increased at least tenfold.

Su Xiao shook the test tube in his hand, intensely focused on mixing. Around him, over a dozen terrifying tenants stood in a circle, backs to him. Anyone who dared attack Su Xiao would be torn apart instantly.

“Hurry. Hurry, hurry…”

One tenant muttered incessantly. Su Xiao frowned.

“Shut up.”

The moment Su Xiao spoke, dozens of eyes locked onto the muttering tenant—filled with murder, fury, savagery. The former outlaw instantly fell silent.

“Done. Let’s break this seal in one go.”

Su Xiao scanned the dozens of tenants. They nodded, signaling they were ready to attack the metal door.

Su Xiao hurled the test tube. The Blood Marquis, Sha, and others braced themselves.

CRACK—the test tube shattered, black liquid splattering. The runes dimmed. This was an alchemical array. Though Su Xiao couldn’t decipher it, he could temporarily weaken it—his alchemy wasn’t for show.

“Crimson Scorpion Tail Strike!”

“Blood—Destruction!”

“Soul Storm!”

“Flash Cannon!”

…

THUD!

A muffled boom erupted, the shockwave hurling Su Xiao backward. He instinctively raised his arm to shield his face.

Moments later, the shock faded. All tenants on the first floor were gone. Outside the shattered metal door, laughter and roars echoed.

Two seconds later, the sounds vanished. All tenants had escaped. The first floor looked as if a typhoon had swept through.

Su Xiao sat cross-legged, waiting quietly.

Five hours later, a spatial ripple appeared. A woman wearing a crown and golden gown materialized.

She smiled gently, weary and dust-stained. The intense spatial distortion revealed she had traveled a great distance via teleportation.

But as she saw the state of the first floor, her gentle smile faded.

“You seem to have returned late, Alice.”

Su Xiao sat cross-legged, a cigarette pinched between his fingers, smiling.

“….”

Alice’s face twisted with rage.

“If I were those tenants, imprisoned for so long, I’d do everything to grow stronger, then return to punish someone. Hanging would be a fine choice. I hear there’s a place in the Void called the Void Platform—hang yourself there.”

The Void Platform—Su Xiao had learned of it from Guozu. The three Guozu brothers had paid 50,000 Paradise Coins for this intel: Alice had nearly been hanged on the Void Platform.

A medal flew from Alice’s sleeve. She instantly reached for it—CRACK—a flash of lightning struck, forcing her to recoil.

The medal was the “Game Winner’s Badge.” By the castle’s rules, Alice had to award it to any player who completed the game. Just now, she’d tried to forcibly withhold it—the Cycle Paradise had intervened.

Su Xiao snatched the medal. A prompt appeared: he could return to the Cycle Paradise at any time.

“I’ll peel your skin off someday. I’ll turn your flesh into cutlets—what a delicious, satisfying meal.”

Alice spoke through gritted teeth. She’d been forced to leave the castle, but upon rushing back, she found all tenants gone. Even if they bore her marks, the distance was too great—she could no longer sense them. Soon, they’d recognize the marks, break their power seals, grow stronger, and return to avenge her.

The thought made Alice want to devour Su Xiao alive. Though she still didn’t know if he was behind the escape.

“You’ll return to the Void eventually. Then, countless hunters will chase you.”

Alice desperately wanted to kill Su Xiao now—but she couldn’t.

“The whining of a defeated dog.”

Su Xiao flicked his cigarette away and chose to return to the Cycle Paradise.

THUD!

A heavy blow struck the back of Su Xiao’s head. Darkness swallowed his vision—he lost consciousness. This was the Cycle Paradise’s teleportation.

ps: (A bit of a cold, feeling off—only two updates today.)