Chapter 310: The Crumbling City of Sigef

Long Kai took an involuntary half-step back, his face saying, "Don't come any closer!"

"Y-you—who the hell are you?!"

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Long Kai's temple—had he misjudged? Was the World Will not that little girl named Amber, but the man standing before him?

With four-tenths of his attributes unlocked, he could briefly stand against squads of SWAT and armed helicopters, yet he couldn't even break through this man's defense.

Of course—only a World Will unbound by the rules of this dungeon dimension could wield such abnormal combat power.

Wu Chang said casually, "Didn't I just say? I'm just an ordinary elementary school PE teacher."

His gaze swept over Long Kai, weighing how best to kill him.

Long Kai couldn't hurt him, but neither could he easily kill Long Kai.

I could easily kill Murphy because Murphy was locked inside the Blind Abyss—the Abyss was summoned, but drowning doesn't count as player damage.

In a prolonged battle, suffocation inflicted massive damage on Murphy.

Long Kai was nearly immune to control effects; neither the Blind Abyss nor Deep Water Devour could affect him.

My current energy is 154 points—beating Long Kai isn't hard; the problem is how to kill him while enduring 90% damage reduction.

Just by looking at that golden-gleaming armor, you know he's a tank build—he might exhaust all his energy and still fail to kill Long Kai.

Looks like I'll have to use the Chaos Power.

Wu Chang feared Long Kai would flee, so he didn't directly form the Chaos Rune—only released the Chaos Power at low power.

Long Kai's Golden Dragon Armor was strong, granting him near-immunity to control, but it wasn't a Perfect Golden Body; under this high-tier power of Authority—dimensional-level suppression—his immunity meant nothing.

Seeing the purple ripples seep into the golden armor, Wu Chang's lips curled.

If Chaos Power can't handle Joy, can't it handle you?

Long Kai couldn't see the Authority's ripples, but he felt the armor's aura weakening.

Trouble—this man is strange. I must leave immediately!

Long Kai didn't know Wu Chang was also a player; under 90% damage reduction, to him, fighting a deep-unfathomable native with only 40% health was pure suicide.

His confidence in defeating any humanoid boss assumed fair combat—right now, the opponent's stats utterly crushed him; retreating was correct, reasonable, not cowardice.

Wait—he said skills and stats were part of fairness?

Fine—when my skills and stats led, they were fair. But he never said being behind still counted as fair.

Iron Armor Gang's idea of fair combat worked like this.

With fairness shattered, Long Kai's resolve to flee solidified—he stomped hard, launched into the air, and using the flight ability granted by his Golden Dragon Armor, shot toward the edge of Huayuanjie.

The mysterious elbow-striker might be strong, but his strength was in stats—he couldn't fly. Maybe this was how I'd escape him.

As his body was still accelerating upward, he suddenly saw a flash of golden light—something had overtaken him from behind.

He looked up—there, hovering above him, was a girl with a pair of radiant wings on her back, gripping a massive warhammer, already winding up for a strike.

For an instant, Long Kai's mind went blank—thought: What a huge hammer.

The next moment, the massive hammer smashed into his face—a crushing slam that drove him back into the lawn.

Long Kai struggled out of the deep crater he'd made, his nose—just barely scabbed over—broke again.

He clutched his stinging nose, staring at Wu Chang and Ailin, flanking him front and back.

Wait—you two as a couple only know how to hit the same spot?

Beyond being stunned by the seamless chemistry of this native couple, he was more shocked that the girl with the hammer seemed even stronger than the mysterious elbow-striker he'd fought before.

Either one of them alone was boss-tier material.

One mountain cannot hold two tigers—in other dungeons, even with dual-boss setups, they'd be assigned separate main storylines or one kept in the background, overseeing side quests.

Why are these cursed dungeon bosses not stopping players, just hiding here living their lives?

Was it just to ambush me?

Long Kai shook his throbbing head—he wasn't sure if it was from panic or a concussion, only that his thoughts were growing chaotic.

Can't win, can't run—what now?

In a daze, Long Kai recalled his real world—the day the Iron Armor Gang collapsed.

He watched as FBL kicked open the gang's base, as Bai Ta slaughtered the members mid-meeting, while he himself fled like a stray dog.

In the days after, he barely smuggled himself into Xia Country through Bai Ta, found Lin Jiang—and was reduced to groveling, treated like a subordinate.

Inhale. Exhale.

He drew a deep breath, then exhaled heavily.

The cold air flooding his lungs cooled him, bringing back memories of his time in the Iron Armor Gang.

He remembered the first lesson every new member learned: You live by the sword, you die by the sword.

As toxic players, they could bully solo players at will, enjoy the fear of small factions, the wariness of equal rivals—nothing was off-limits.

Just name-drop Iron Armor Gang in a dispute, and unless the opponent was a top-tier faction or one of the Big Four, they'd immediately lose three-tenths of their nerve.

But while reaping the benefits of Iron Armor Gang, you must understand: every time you're alone, an enemy of the gang might appear before you.

At that time, life and death are your own responsibility; whatever the outcome, don't blame the Iron Armor Gang.

Recalling the gang's entry rules, Long Kai's confused mind suddenly cleared.

Right—so what if I die? When I helped build Iron Armor Gang into the Wasteland Realm's greatest toxic organization, I never expected a peaceful end.

Not dying at a player's hands, but at the hands of two dungeon natives? Not letting those bastards get revenge? I actually won.

Run?

I've run enough—run back to help Lin Jiang, follow him into the Rational Realm, and keep being a dog?

I don't want to run anymore.

Long Kai's gaze shifted from panic to sharpness—he turned to face the mysterious elbow-striker, the suspected World Will.

I, Long Kai, have never feared fighting anyone—today, I'll fight this bastard to the death!

The instant Wu Chang noticed Long Kai's gaze, his heart skipped a beat.

Shit, Long Kai's willpower was even lower than he thought—how could he have fallen completely insane after just a few exchanges?

But Long Kai's vitality was strong, and the ability's annihilation hadn't triggered yet.

You really want to ask Long Kai: don't you ever put points into willpower?

Too bad Long Kai wouldn't answer him.

The dragon head on Long Kai's chest came alive, lunging violently out of the armor with a roar.

In the roar, Long Kai's body was swallowed by the armor; his frame thickened, scales sprouted across his skin, and his human head was bitten off by the dragon head and swallowed whole.

In the blink of an eye, Long Kai transformed from a human knight clad in plate armor into a genuine Western flying dragon, its body covered in armor.

The dragon was over five meters long, with a wingspan of ten meters—if Wu Chang's front yard hadn't been so large, it wouldn't have fit.

Roar!

The fully transformed golden dragon's pupils were filled with madness.

Wu Chang dug at his ear and sneered, "Little lizard, small body, loud voice."

The golden dragon, perhaps hearing Wu Chang's provocation, lunged at him; Ailin smashed her hammer against its back, but since the Abyss Game classified her as a player, she was subject to the 90% damage reduction between players—her blow only shattered a piece of the dragon's armor and failed to stop it.

The golden dragon, carrying its momentum, crashed into Wu Chang.

Facing the dragon's jaws snapping at him, Wu Chang had no time to dodge—and no need to.

A five-meter lizard couldn't break his Titan's defense.

But as he was knocked off his feet by the dragon's charge, he remembered something.

Behind him was Huayuanjie No. 26—he had the Titan, but the house didn't.

Ailin summoned a Light Barrier to restrain the dragon, but the dragon's magic resistance was high; it smashed straight through the barrier, dragging Wu Chang with it.

Using the brief moment Ailin bought him, Wu Chang switched his form to the Abyssal Leviathan—just before the dragon could crash through the house, it stopped.

He prevented the dragon from collapsing the house, but its thrashing wings and claws shattered the first-floor windows, drawing Amber out to investigate.

Wu Chang ignored the dragon's jaws gnawing at his right shoulder and waved at Amber:

"This is the neighbor's new golden retriever—go finish your homework, then we'll play together."

He gave Ailin a look; Ailin retracted her wings and returned inside, taking Amber back to the study.

Wu Chang switched his form back to the Abyssal Leviathan, and with his right hand still in the golden dragon's mouth, unleashed a Heaven's Thunder.

The thunder exploded inside the dragon's mouth; without armor or scales to weaken the damage, the 154-point energy of the Heaven's Thunder was absorbed raw by the dragon's flesh—even with 90% damage reduction between players, the damage inflicted was substantial.

More importantly, the explosion occurred too close to the brain, causing the already chaotic dragon's mind to go completely blank; it could only bite Wu Chang's right arm on instinct.

As long as Wu Chang's right arm kept unleashing Heaven's Thunder, the dragon kept biting.

Those unaware of the Titan's effect thought the dragon was fiercely tearing at its opponent; those who knew about the Titan thought it was just the neighbor's golden retriever playing.

After serving as a chew toy for a minute, the golden dragon was fully saturated by the Chaos Ability and triggered annihilation.

No matter how much blood the golden dragon had, how high its defense, or how much damage reduction it enjoyed between players—in the instant annihilation triggered, its eyes lost all luster, it collapsed onto the lawn, and reverted to Long Kai's corpse.

Annihilation is annihilation—this is the power of the Ability.

Wu Chang pulled out a towel and wiped the dragon's saliva soaking his right arm, then turned to look at Huayuanjie No. 26.

Only two windows and the front door were damaged; the building remained intact overall—thankfully, his quick reaction meant Amber's psyche wouldn't be affected.

Just as he was relieved, he saw an unknown energy seeping from Long Kai's corpse, dissolving into the air.

The next instant, thick black smoke rose from nowhere.

!

Wu Chang waved his hand to disperse the surging smoke. Who the hell drove a tractor here?

The black smoke spread outward; when his vision cleared slightly, Wu Chang saw a massive thorn ring encircling the entire house.

Wu Chang:?

What does this mean?

The next moment, he felt a tremendous danger descending from above—he looked up and saw a meteor streaking with a glowing tail, hurtling straight toward the ground.

If he wasn't mistaken, the target was Huayuanjie No. 26.

Wu Chang's mouth opened wide, and slowly, he uttered one word.

"Shit!"

He thought Long Kai had come to attack—he never expected this bastard was a self-destruct bomb.

He assumed a guarding stance, staring up at the falling meteor; after just a few seconds, he knew he couldn't stop it.

This meteor's power could kill him outright, even in Titan form.

The meteor carried more than simple physical force—it carried planetary rules; it was itself a special dimensional monster.

If Ailin used her Divine True Form and gave her all, she might withstand it.

But if she failed, she wouldn't die—she'd be critically injured.

It was like choosing between saving the child or the mother—he couldn't risk Ailin's life just to spare Amber's emotions.

Without hesitation, he grabbed Ailin and Amber and left Huayuanjie No. 26.

The moment he led them onto the road, the meteor struck—the ground erupted in a deafening boom, and Huayuanjie No. 26 vanished entirely, replaced by a deep crater.

"Amber, the house is gone—that's fine, we can rebuild. Don't take it to heart."

"Amber? Amber!"

Wu Chang turned around and realized Amber had vanished along with Huayuanjie No. 26.

Was Amber's true form Huayuanjie No. 26?

On the other side of Sigef City, Lin Jiang stared at the lotus in his hand, now half-dead—its petals withered by 95%—and his face lit up with excitement.

"I was right—I knew Lord Mercury wouldn't be wrong."

As he had predicted, Long Kai went to confront the World Will and did not survive the encounter.

With Long Kai's death, the poison hidden within his body spread out, and the World Will immediately lost control, teetering on total withering.

My lord Mercury truly planned without a single oversight!

Li Zi, standing nearby, joined in praise: "First believe, then believe again—proof has shown that my lord Mercury is never wrong!"

Central Park in Sigef City, the final stop of the campaign, would host the temporary vote-counting hall where the mayoral election results would be tallied.

Most of Sigef City's council members had arrived on-site, except for two.

Councilor Henderson and Councilor Kate Lin.

Central Park No. 2, Sigef City's tallest and most expensive luxury apartment building.

It neighbors Central Park, with one side overlooking Sigef City's downtown and the other offering a view of Central Park.

The top-floor unit here belongs to Councilor Henderson, yet as the building's owner, Henderson now knelt on both knees, hands pressed to the ground, back straight, serving as a human stool.

The only one who used to ride him like a horse was his beloved youngest son—but now, that person had become Yu Siyi.

Yu Siyi sat atop his back, holding a can of cola, her gaze fixed on the distant vote-counting site.

Although the mayoral election was being broadcast live on the television behind her, she still wished to watch it firsthand from the floor-to-ceiling window.

She leaned back, her head resting on Councilor Kate Lin's chest, while Kate Lin's hand gently massaged her temples.

To have two councilors serve her alone like this—that is the magic of love.

Yet this cheap affection, she used only for convenience and did not value it.

Yu Siyi shook her head slightly; the mayoral election was boring.

Her shake made Kate Lin tense. "Did I press too hard?"

Yu Siyi replied offhandedly: "Not your fault. Keep going."

Kate Lin: "Yes."

Yu Siyi's gaze drifted—from the vote-counting hall to the bronze statue of the president, which stood at the very center of Sigef City. It was said that only after this statue was erected was the place officially declared Sigef City.

When she saw the president's statue, her eyes suddenly widened in surprise.

She rubbed her eyes and confirmed again: on the statue's pedestal, she seemed to detect the aura of the Origin.

She stood up from Councilor Henderson's back and said: "I've seen enough. I'm going out for a walk. You two go back to work."

Without waiting for the two behind her to respond, she made her way to the president's statue.

Her earlier observation was correct—there was indeed the aura of the Origin here, and within it, a thin orange thread protruded.

The thread of kinship.

She reached out and touched the orange thread. The next instant, the world fell utterly silent.

She turned to look at the nearby vote-counting hall and found the crowds of citizens surrounding it had vanished entirely. Sigef City now seemed to contain only her.

What's going on?

Yu Siyi tilted her head slightly; she had apparently entered a hidden space.

She tried several times but could not leave through the president's statue.

If she couldn't leave, she could only explore this hidden space. Though no one else was here, clues remained.

The orange thread in her hand had not vanished—it extended deep into the city.

While others were gone, buildings and vehicles remained perfectly intact. She found an unlocked bicycle and rode along the orange thread.

As she traveled and observed, she quickly realized this unfamiliar Sigef City differed from the real one not only in its silence.

Upon closer inspection, she saw fine cracks in the roads, buildings, air, even the moon in the sky—as if everything here might shatter at any moment.

This was a world on the verge of collapse.

After riding for about half an hour, she followed the orange thread to a neighborhood. A sign at the intersection read Huayuanjie.

The other end of the thread was here.

Soon after entering Huayuanjie, she stopped, assumed a defensive posture, and carefully scanned her surroundings.

She heard growling—something else was here.

Yu Siyi set the bicycle aside, drew two long needles, gripped them like daggers backward, and slowly approached House No. 26 on Huayuanjie.

Sneaking up to the shrubs surrounding the house, she peered inside and saw a monstrous creature over two meters long, shaped like a wolf, peering through the window glass into the room.

Its eyes glowed with cruelty and delight, as if deliberately tormenting its prey.

Every so often, it would bite into the wall, crunching and swallowing chunks of reinforced concrete.

Each time it bit, faint whimpers echoed from within the house.

The person connected to the other end of the orange thread seemed trapped inside.

(End of Chapter)