Chapter 436

"Stop blowing, you'll blow Tombstone-sis to death."

Li Cheng rolled his eyes and took the squealing suona from Hui Yu's hands.

That black-clad woman's strength is definitely above Lv33, on par with the headless reindeer we encountered during the battery escort mission. Even if she were inserted into a punitive slaughter mission as the final boss, it would feel perfectly natural.

Given the final calm tone of Bai Ma Mu Bei, perhaps—maybe, just maybe—she really had confidence she could hold her ground?

"Cough—cough—"

Blood Xue Shi Paoxiao crawled out from under the truck after repairing it for a long while, his face smeared with black grease and smoke. "The truck's too badly damaged. This is the best we can do."

He waved his hand, and the heavy truck sparked and crackled as it transformed into a Gundam, its legs completely destroyed and discarded outright.

In their place, Blood Xue Shi Paoxiao pulled from his spatial device a tank chassis with seven pairs of load-bearing wheels.

"For a Gundam, legs are just decorations. The big shots up top won't understand."

Although Blood Xue Shi Paoxiao said that, the Gundam's upper body sitting atop the tank floor still looked absurd, like a burly man driving a tiny go-kart. Its combat capability couldn't be guaranteed either.

Changsun Yao winced in headache and turned to Li Cheng. "How are Red Spider and Nicolas?"

"There's probably no chance of reviving them."

Li Cheng shook his head. Nicolas had clearly overdrawn his reserves releasing the Banishment Technique—he was unconscious, his spiritual energy and sanity points both depleted to zero.

Red Spider was better off; even if his head had become pointy, a few bottles of Soul-Replenishing Potion could fix him.

But once sanity drops below 30 points, the consequences range from madness to permanent brain death.

Li Cheng poured Moving Beverage into Nicolas's brain through a soy sauce funnel, but it didn't bring him back.

As for Red Spider—

Li Cheng pulled out the USB drive from behind Red Spider's neck. Red Spider immediately opened his eyes, voice hoarse: "Do you know who I am? I'm Johnny Silverhand, the one who blew up Arasaka Tower! Let me go!"

Not Johnny Silverhand, not Johnny Silverhand, not Johnny Silverhand?

Li Cheng rolled his eyes and reinserted the USB drive, letting Red Spider lie still again.

"Huh…"

Changsun Yao sighed heavily and tugged hard at her hair. The current situation was like converting a nun's convent into a KTV—very untemple.

Bai Ma Mu Bei's fate was unknown, Red Spider and Nicolas were both down.

Our current combat strength was only her, Master Pi Fu, Binary Tree, and Blood Xue Shi Paoxiao—maybe half of Hui Yu.

Forget the black-clad woman—even another Gray Giant would be unbeatable.

Trapped in utter despair, thinking of her unfinished ambitions, Changsun Yao actually felt a pang of envy toward Blood Xue Shi Paoxiao—he'd already backed up his consciousness and cloned his body in the real world, so even if he died in the slaughter ground, he could "rebirth" via his backup persona, live on with his family, as a part of himself.

Whether self-deception or carving marks on a boat to find a lost sword—so long as a person lives, there is still hope.

Changsun Yao was about to speak when Binary Tree suddenly raised a hand to cut her off, "Shh. Everyone stay quiet."

The scene fell silent. Binary Tree, like a hound catching the scent of prey, dragged his weary body into a quick trot.

This tunnel was lined with basalt stone pillars, resembling the natural landscape of Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland—formed by repeated lava flows crystallizing and then eroded by ocean waves into a forest of pillars.

The others, confused, followed Binary Tree in a sprint, passing through the stone pillar forest until they found at a low-lying area—

"Sanriyue?"

Changsun Yao gasped in surprise. Lying among the stone pillars was a twenty-five-level white-haired, purple-eyed girl belonging to the Navigator's Guild, ID: 【Sanriyue】.

She lay flat on the ground, showing no external wounds, long dead, her lips curled in a contented smile, beside her sat a glass wine goblet.

The cup still held a small amount of crimson liquid.

"WTF? How did she die here?"

Blood Xue Shi Paoxiao was baffled. The Navigator's Guild was famous for mysticism; its members practiced tarot reading, mediumship, and prophecy, and even ran a divination forum section.

They usually advised on auspiciousness and misfortune, occasionally doubling as online matchmakers, offering paid predictions of romantic fate.

Fate is ordained by heaven; happiness is your own. Send a text: "Your name + desired partner's name," like "Guo Jing + Huang Rong," to the Navigator's Guild to learn your compatibility score.

Sanriyue was among the Guild's top diviners. It was because of her prediction—"Inside the inverted pyramid, danger is minimal, survival probability is high"—that players formed teams and entered the secret realm.

"She killed herself."

Binary Tree picked up the glass goblet with a solemn expression. His VR glasses scanned and projected the liquid's information.

【Item Name: Drunk with Life, Dreaming of Death】【Type: Consumable】

【Quality: Rare】

【Effect: Sweet Death. After voluntarily consuming, the user experiences intense happiness and fulfillment for five seconds, then dies peacefully at the fifth second】

【Consumption: None】

【Cooldown: None】

【Usage Condition: Perception ≥ 3】

【Note: "Life, like the brilliant bloom of summer flowers; death, like the quiet beauty of autumn leaves." — Florian Willet】

This liquor was a specialty of Japan's Special Incidents Investigation Bureau. Many lower- and mid-tier players bought a bottle, storing it in their inventory.

At the brink of despair, they drank it in one gulp—even if it meant suicide on the spot—because it was better than being devoured by zombies, tormented by ghosts, or brainwashed by evil gods. At least it wasn't painful.

"Mmm…"

Hui Yu rubbed his chin and suddenly remembered a literary short video he'd scrolled past on TikTok. He raised his hand. "Wait a minute—'Life, like the brilliant bloom of summer flowers; death, like the quiet beauty of autumn leaves'—isn't that a quote from the Indian poet Tagore? Who the hell is Florian Willet?"

"The CEO of a Swiss company called 【Last Resort】 in the real world."

Li Cheng examined Sanriyue's corpse, speaking casually: "The company ostensibly used high-tech capsule chambers to fill customers with nitrogen, letting them slowly suffocate and die peacefully.

In reality, halfway through the nitrogen infusion, the CEO himself would step in and strangle the customer to death with a rope.

In a way, it still counted as euthanasia.

Family: At ease.

CEO: Happy.

Customer: Dead."

Putting this already-arrested Florian Wieland in the arena's briefing is, more or less, a sick joke straight from hell.

Judging from the traces at the scene and the degree of rigor mortis on Mikazuki's body, she should have voluntarily taken 【Drunk as Death】 and died about three hours ago.

And in her already-stiffened palm, a portable action camera sat brazenly on display.

Just now, it was the ticking sound from the action camera that drew Binary Tree's attention.

The players present exchanged a glance. Binary Tree took out the action camera, connected it to the VR goggles with a data cable, and cast the playback.

Bzzt—

Mikazuki's projection appeared in midair. She stood among the stone pillars here, took a deep breath as if she had made up her mind, and said to the camera: "Changsun Yao, Master Pi Fu, Binary Tree, Blood Xue Shi Paoxiao—by the time you see this video, I am already dead.

Between the inverted Jin Zita and the surface, there exists some kind of reality-warping barrier that interfered with my divination results. It caused me to give a false prophecy when entering the secret realm, dragging so many people to their deaths. For that, I am very sorry."

Mikazuki bit her lip painfully and said bitterly: "But after entering the inverted Jin Zita, my prophetic ability recovered in part.

I know that at this moment, after your successive fierce battles, Red Spider's brain is damaged, Nikola is in a deep slumber, and the one in the best condition is the demon pet by Master Pi Fu's side,

and I also know its next line will be: 'Who's a demon pet? Who are you calling a demon pet? Who are you calling a demon pet!'"

"Who's a demon pet? Who are you calling a demon pet? Who are you calling a demon pet!"

Grey Rain swung his hammer in furious exasperation, his voice overlapping with Mikazuki's, inadvertently corroborating the latter's prophetic ability.

"I am very sorry—I didn't have the courage to hold on until you arrived. No matter how I divined, I couldn't find a way out for myself, nor could I see clearly how your story ends—at the very bottom of the inverted Jin Zita, some abnormal entity is hidden, interfering with my Word Spirit."

Mikazuki's expression went vacant, and in an ethereal voice she said: "The only clue I can sense that might be useful to you—Red Star Orphanage, in the city of Yin in the real world."

After saying this, Mikazuki's face changed abruptly, and she said hurriedly: "Get ready—an abnormal entity is coming,

his name is F, and his ability is Infinite Fear."