Chapter 184: Chaotic Authority

Late at night, the storm showed no sign of letting up, instead growing ever more violent.

Dark clouds completely covered the moon, the sky like a sheet of pure black cloth, able to illuminate the deck only with the help of the lights on the Star Leap's hull.

But the curtain of pouring rain further narrowed what was already a cramped field of vision.

In this kind of foul weather, without skills related to vision and eyesight, forget fighting — even just figuring out which direction was which, short of walking into the sea, would take some effort.

But for Wu Chang, who had already completed the Mystic Origin transformation, moving in this kind of weather was no great difficulty.

The eyes of the Mystic Origin had sharpened his vision, and at the same time the mystic arrays spread across the entire Star Leap were, in his eyes, natural sources of light that could help illuminate the scene.

He carried no umbrella, nor was anyone else at his side, and he appeared on the fifth deck in the rain, then vaulted directly down to the fourth deck.

In the center of the deck where the Xinyuzhou Sect normally held its prayers stood a figure in a black long dress, with a curvy figure.

From that silhouette alone, Wu Chang knew the one standing on the deck was Zheng Ruiyuan.

"President Li, you've come."

Zheng Ruiyuan turned around, smiling as she looked toward Wu Chang, her face full of anticipation and delight — anyone who didn't know would have thought the two were a pair of lovers meeting at night.

But when Wu Chang met Zheng Ruiyuan's gaze, he felt no joy at all; instead his heart gave a sudden lurch.

No wonder this woman had been hiding in the innermost room on the fourth deck, refusing to come out and meet anyone — in Zheng Ruiyuan's pupils stood a curved crescent moon in each.

This woman had the power of Leiman within her, and quite a lot of it.

"Ms. Zheng, you called me here in the middle of the night — is there something you wish to discuss?"

Zheng Ruiyuan's feet moved lightly; her steps were slow, like an afternoon stroll, yet her actual speed was startlingly fast — in two or three steps she was in front of Wu Chang, close enough that their faces were nearly touching.

"Of course it's to discuss cooperation with President Li."

Wu Chang wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he always felt that the stress Zheng Ruiyuan placed on the word 'cooperate' fell a beat too late.

He sucked in a sharp breath — she couldn't be trying to seduce him with a honey trap, could she?

No, if he remembered correctly, Zheng Ruiyuan was only four years younger than the President, so she had to be over sixty this year.

Although an old Bentley is still a Bentley, and Zheng Ruiyuan had taken good enough care of herself, for Wu Chang this sort of behavior was still a bit too outrageous.

A Gao Mu–version Granny Liu?

He stepped back a few paces, putting distance between himself and Zheng Ruiyuan.

"Ms. Zheng, haven't we been cooperating all along?"

Zheng Ruiyuan: "I mean a deeper kind of cooperation."

"How deep?"

"The two of us, our two sides, merged into one."

"You mean letting me join the Xinyuzhou Sect?"

"It could also go beyond merely joining the Xinyuzhou Sect."

Holy shit, does it ever end?

Once the conversation reached this point, Wu Chang found he couldn't really continue it.

If he were facing Li Yubin, he could have spent the whole evening hashing things out with him, but facing a sixty-something granny — possibly an evil god Leiman in a granny's skin — he only felt deflated.

"Then allow me to ask one question first: am I speaking with Ms. Zheng Ruiyuan, or with the deity the Xinyuzhou Sect worships?"

The moment those words left his mouth, the scene instantly fell silent.

The so-called silence wasn't just the atmosphere between Wu Chang and Zheng Ruiyuan — even the rain and the waves between heaven and earth dropped in volume.

"President Li, you come right out asking such an intimate question — that's a little unromantic."

Wu Chang said with a smile: "I'm a businessman. When I talk business with someone, of course I have to understand my partner first."

Zheng Ruiyuan spread her arms, bathing in the downpour, drew in a deep breath, and then said;

"I am both Zheng Ruiyuan and the supreme god Leiman."

"What do you mean?" Wu Chang stepped back half a pace; before his heels were steady, his back touched two soft mounds, and a gentle voice came from behind him.

Zheng Ruiyuan: "After the Star Leap entered the Shipwreck Belt, President Li should have already investigated the ships that vanished here. Things have reached this point, so there's no need for me to hide it from you."

"Just as your investigation found, every cruise ship that enters the Shipwreck Belt — the passengers who vanished from them were all taken as ritual offerings, sacrificed to the deity."

"We offer offerings to the deity, and the deity grants us His great power. A small portion of it is within me; the larger portion is in your hands, President Li."

Wu Chang frowned after hearing this — what kind of nonsense was that, when had evil god Leiman stuffed whatever into his hands?

After a moment, he realized what Zheng Ruiyuan must be referring to: the Eye of Leiman that Cui Chengze had given him. Back then, he had snatched Cui Chengze from the Ritualist and the Blood Wolves, and the upper echelons of the Xinyuzhou Sect had no reason not to know this intelligence.

Later, seeing Cui Chengze frequently appearing at his side, they could naturally guess that the Eye of Leiman had most likely fallen into his hands.

Tch, all because Zheng Ruiyuan kept saying this and that, his train of thought had been led astray.

"So?"

Zheng Ruiyuan said: "Being able to obtain the Lord's flesh and blood proves you are also a chosen one favored by the Lord. You should become a vessel for the Lord's descent together with me, and merge with the Lord into one."

Wu Chang hadn't expected that the fusion Zheng Ruiyuan spoke of was actual, literal fusion.

"I have no plans to join the faith for now." Wu Chang narrowed his eyes, tracking Zheng Ruiyuan's movements.

Zheng Ruiyuan: "Then I can only use force."

That line had appeared in many of the works in Lao Si's collection; Wu Chang had heard it many times, and never in his wildest dreams imagined that one day he would be the protagonist of that line.

Seeing that Zheng Ruiyuan was about to stage a "forcing oneself on the old bow," he certainly couldn't just sit and wait for death. At that moment the thunderclouds above flickered with lightning; he channeled his thunder spiritual energy and, using the Thousand Thunder Summoning method, drew the lightning overhead down onto the deck.

The thunderbolt struck the fourth deck. Heavenly thunder already had a suppressive effect on evil, and combined with the evil-breaking nature of Wu Chang's thunder spiritual energy, it made Zheng Ruiyuan freeze for an instant.

Wu Chang used that brief opening to quickly step back and shouted: "Move!"

At Wu Chang's command, the shadows at the edge of the fourth deck peeled open, and Shadow, Sword Star, Negotiation Master, True Self, and the Fisherman burst out from within, attacking Zheng Ruiyuan from all sides.

Zheng Ruiyuan's side was also prepared: a massive magic array lit up on the fourth deck, and the Ritualist's figure dropped from the sky.

The Ritualist swung the baton in his hand, and a circular dome of light rose around the deck, trapping everyone inside it.

"Since you've come, none of you are leaving!"

Although the Ritualist made a great commotion, he failed to notice that on the edge of the fourth deck's floor, a red gap had appeared in the circular light barrier.

Immediately after, the gap in the light barrier spread like toilet paper soaking through water, expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The Ritualist looked down and discovered that what was gnawing at the magic light barrier was a mass of flesh and blood that kept multiplying and expanding. The one who had released this flesh, Ma Jia, was pulling his hand away from the light barrier and looking up at the Ritualist with a smile.

Since the light barrier had already been breached, keeping it served no purpose. The Ritualist swung his conductor's baton and simply caused the light barrier to shatter directly. The shattered fragments of the light barrier contracted and condensed, transforming into seventeen or eighteen energy arrows, their tips pointed directly at Ma Jia.

However, before the energy arrows could fire a volley, a giant black wolf leaped from the deck into the air and tackled the Ritualist down into the sixth level of the Star Leap.

"Don't get distracted, our battle isn't over yet!"

With the battle having reached this point, none of the several factions had any room left to sit on the fence or hold back their strength. Park Changmin, who didn't want to oppose Wu Chang, could now only gather the remaining players from the Midi Country faction and the military faction to join the fight.

On the other side, under Wu Chang's command, the players borrowed from Li Yubin also joined this battle, going up against players like the cowboys and stone giants.

The faction players aboard the Star Leap had almost all appeared on the fourth deck by now, participating in this melee.

On Wu Chang's side were Sword Star and his own people, the Apocalypse, and Li Yubin—three factions. The Xinyuzhou Sect side, meanwhile, had allied with the Navy and the Midi Country faction.

The two sides formed a three-versus-three situation, and every faction played its trump card, going all-in on this free-for-all.

A tacit understanding arose in every player's heart: the matter of victory and defeat between the factions had to be settled tonight.

This was exactly what Wu Chang wanted—to thoroughly conclude the faction struggles on the ship before the Star Leap left the shipwreck zone.

For him, leaving the shipwreck zone and entering the sea area at the end of the route was the most important boss battle. To prevent small fries from affecting him at the critical moment, he could only ask them to exit the stage first.

!

The fourth deck was a raging battlefield. The combatants fought from the deck into the sea, then from the sea into the sky. All manner of abilities and energy light effects flew everywhere, like a popcorn blockbuster with the special effects maxed out.

The players were so invested in their battle that, for a moment, they were stealing the spotlight.

They forgot that the original instigators of this fight were Zheng Ruiyuan and Wu Chang in his Li Zaishi disguise.

As if to reclaim the stage for the deity, and to make the players realize who the true master of this Star Leap was, the moon symbols in Zheng Ruiyuan's eyes flickered, and she unleashed the power belonging to Leiman.

Alarm bells rang wildly in Wu Chang's mind. His Inspiration was almost frantically warning him that some danger was about to descend.

He looked at Zheng Ruiyuan, and from her he saw the phantom image of a heart. With every beat, the heart released a wave of profound, ominous energy.

He could be certain that the ability forming that heart came from Leiman.

Just one glance, and his Wall of Will felt crushing pressure; his Inspiration was also urging him to look away.

Only Wu Chang noticed Zheng Ruiyuan's action. The other players on the deck were completely unaware.

But they should count themselves lucky. If they could truly see the heart behind Zheng Ruiyuan the way Wu Chang did, the violent impact would instantly shatter their wills and drive them mad.

Because that phantom heart, like the true form of Leiman that Wu Chang had once seen, was not some actual existence, but an aggregate of emotions.

When one's level of life—or one's Inspiration and Will—had not reached a certain threshold, seeing this heart was the same as seeing Leiman's true form.

After Wu Chang saw Leiman's true form, he gained the ability to externalize and interpret emotions. From this heart, what he saw was not some single emotion, but something indescribable.

Chaos.

The emotion contained within that heart was precisely chaos.

Facing energy that came directly from an evil god, Wu Chang dared not slacken in the slightest. He abandoned his plan to swing the bat and ambush players, focusing all his energy on Zheng Ruiyuan.

The profound light released by the phantom heart began to rapidly gather on the surface of the players' bodies, forming a shell like a halo.

Once the halo formed, it would begin to flicker at the frequency of the heart's beating, dyeing the players' bodies with the color of chaotic emotion.

Combat and slaughter were already stimulating the players' rationality. Now, under the influence of chaos, the players unknowingly began to slip into madness.

What had been restrained fighting began to become a fight to the death.

Defense?

What is defense?

If you kill the enemy before their attack reaches you, then you don't need defense, right!

The players' desire to kill and destroy surged rapidly. They began to break free from the constraints of reason, abandon thought, and pursue the pure thrill of slaughter.

Even the two ultimate goals—completing the instance and the faction victory—were cast out of their minds. Chaos began to dominate their consciousness, making them want to destroy everything that appeared within their line of sight.

The bigger problem was that this was only the beginning, not the end.

The more the players were affected by chaos, the thicker the shell of chaotic halo on their bodies became, and the more intensely the shell pulsed.

The pulsing of the shell resonated with the beating of the heart behind Zheng Ruiyuan, amplifying each other and making each other stronger.

Wu Chang could foresee that before long, the players would shift from being merely influenced by Zheng Ruiyuan to becoming small "hearts" themselves—mobile sources spreading chaos.

If the situation continued, Zheng Ruiyuan wouldn't even need to lift a finger; she could let all the players wear themselves out in mutual slaughter.

He had to find a way to stop all of this.

He controlled his True Self, took out the Resounding Horn, and blew it with all his might.

"Item Skill: Sound of Inspiration"

"Skill Description: Blow the horn to make the selected target break free from mental control states, forcibly sober up, and enter an inspired state. The sobering effect depends on the user's Inspiration."

"Note: If the target's mental control level is greater than or equal to Grade B, there is a chance they will fall into a chaotic state after being forcibly sobered, attacking friend and foe alike. Please use with caution."

Under the effect of the horn's blast, the chaotic halos on the players' bodies shattered, and they briefly broke free from the ability's control and sobered up.

Ignoring the few unlucky ones who had fallen into another kind of chaos, Wu Chang's true body swung the bat in his hand, the tip of the bat pointing at Zheng Ruiyuan, and shouted:

"She's using an evil god's power to throw everyone into chaos. We have to take her out first!"

Most of the players who could appear on the Silent Route were max-level players with a certain standard of insight and experience.

The instant they sobered up from the chaos, they noticed their own abnormality moments ago. Following Wu Chang's shouted reminder, they smoothly identified the originator of this change—Zheng Ruiyuan.

She had to be eliminated, or everyone would die!

It wasn't just the players from Wu Chang's side who thought this; even the players who had originally joined the Gao Mu Navy and the Midi Country faction had this thought surface in their minds.

Because Zheng Ruiyuan's ability had affected them too.

Fighting players from other factions was only for the sake of faction victory and extra instance completion—not a life-or-death grudge.

But Zheng Ruiyuan genuinely wanted all the players dead.

In that instant, apart from the players who had originally come from the Tranquil Sect, every player unified their target and charged toward Zheng Ruiyuan.

Zheng Ruiyuan refused no one. She pressed her palms together, conjuring a wall of light to separate the believers of the Xinyuzhou Sect from the other players.

In the earlier incident where the Chaos Authority had affected the players, by stirring up chaos in their hearts, she had absorbed enough energy to swell the heart-shaped phantom behind her that represented the Chaos Authority.

Her current ability was already enough to end the battle alone.

She only needed to block the crowd's attacks and use the Authority once more; before long, the players would fall completely into chaos.

Only she had not noticed that a certain troublemaker had also been assigned to the side where the Xinyuzhou Sect was.

(End of this chapter)