Chapter 375: The Sponsor of the Steam Council

Wu Chang approached the Executioner with a look of certainty, but internally he carefully analyzed the Executioner's condition, pulled out the Omniscient Crystal, and formulated a battle plan.

Such caution was not because he lacked confidence or thought defeating the Executioner would be difficult.

What he cared about was how to win—and how to win elegantly.

Now, behind him stood three spectators, all watching his every move.

He must win elegantly.

On the surface, controlling his power and fighting the Executioner to a stalemate could conceal his true strength.

But the truth was the opposite: Leng Shan was a top player of the Wasteland Realm; Xiang Jianxing was slightly weaker but possessed the Sword Heart talent, granting him extraordinary instinct.

Deliberately hiding his strength would require revealing even more high-level abilities, potentially exposing something to them.

If he struck decisively and swiftly defeated the Executioner, Leng Shan and Xiang Jianxing would be unable to gauge his true depth.

Powers that can be perceived only inspire surprise, not fear.

Even if Wu Chang revealed his attribute panel, showing his total attributes already reaching four digits without any bonuses, displaying the six hidden colorful titles above his head, revealing all his talents…

Well, if he revealed everything, it would indeed inspire fear.

But such fear is limited—it can be imagined, understood.

If he displayed power like an abyss, leaving Leng Shan and others utterly baffled and unable to fathom it, he could better conceal his true strength.

Establishing an aura of immeasurable power would aid him in completing the upcoming dungeon.

Wu Chang turned his attention back to the Executioner before him; entering Erin's divine realm, stripped of the Steam Rule's enhancement, the Executioner was now merely a Wasteland Realm creature with exceptionally strong numerical values and root force.

Compared to the scenes within the Multihander and Gun God's resentment, the Executioner had now become entirely a product of the Steam Rule.

Born from the Steam Rule, his internal Steam Root Force was naturally dense, far surpassing that of Leng Shan and other Wasteland Realm players.

The numerical values accumulated from the Superb Steam Engine and the First Law of Mysticism were also formidable; the fact that a single Mamba Iron Elbow sent his entire body flying, not just his head, proved his physical strength.

Even without the advantage of the Steam Rule, in raw combat power, the Executioner was extremely difficult to handle.

According to the Omniscient Crystal's analysis, if Wu Chang relied solely on his Strength attribute to brawl with the Executioner, it would take him a full minute to dismantle him.

Brawling with the Executioner for a minute—even if he dominated the entire time—his physical attributes would likely be exposed, something he could not accept.

Beyond physical attributes, his Chaotic Authority could also affect the Executioner.

But according to the Omniscient Crystal's analysis, when the Executioner transformed into a mechanical lifeform, something went wrong, causing him to retain many memories of the Multihander and Gun God, leaving him in an abnormal state of schizophrenia.

This state aligned perfectly with Chaotic Authority; to push him from chaos into greater chaos required sustained release of the Authority for over two minutes, and using the Authority alone would take even longer to kill the Executioner.

Like the special drug patients at the Moonlight Sanatorium used to combat madness—by first plunging themselves into madness.

Yet everything has two sides; just as heaven opens a door for you, it also opens a window—for a burglar seeking entry, this operation was perfectly comfortable.

The Executioner's chaotic mental state granted him temporary immunity to Chaotic Authority, but it also exposed his mental instability.

Fortunately, Wu Chang possessed numerous abilities; going mad before him could temporarily resist Chaotic Authority, yet would invite even more devastating attacks.

Wu Chang stepped before the Executioner, facing the Executioner who had risen from the ground, raising his gun to aim at him, and offered a friendly greeting first.

He snapped his fingers; the button on his chest glowed, activating the item skill "Mind Resonance."

"Item Skill: Mind Control"

"Skill Description: Launch a mental attack against the target; its intensity depends on the user's Inspiration. If the mental attack breaches the target's will barrier, the target is fully controlled."

As dungeon difficulty increased, the Mind Control effect of Mind Resonance was drastically weakened, often failing against high-ranking or powerful targets.

But now, he wanted it to fail.

As expected, the instant Mind Control touched the Executioner, a prompt flashed before his eyes.

"Target consciousness possesses special properties; full control impossible. Mind Control converted to Mental Strike."

The failed Mind Control transformed into a Mental Strike, directly piercing the Executioner's mind.

The Executioner froze for a moment, then clutched his head and let out a piercing scream.

As a mechanical lifeform, his body was indeed strong enough, but no matter how hard the metal, it could not reinforce the fragile inner spirit and soul.

Hearing the Executioner's inhuman scream, Leng Shan and the other three in the distance involuntarily shuddered.

In their memories, the Executioner was always eerily silent.

When he slaughtered a crowd of transcendent beings along Bai She Street, he made not a single sound, his expression utterly unchanging.

That coldness led Leng Shan and others to believe he was truly a robot—a silent robot.

They never imagined that the Executioner, as cold as Death itself, could not only make sounds, but scream in agony with a face twisted in pain.

The three watched Wu Chang's back, feeling fear—and curiosity about what he had just done.

Wu Chang gazed at the writhing Executioner on the ground and ordered the Omniscient Crystal to analyze his mental state in real time.

According to the Omniscient Crystal's analysis, the previous Mental Strike had shattered one-quarter of the Executioner's soul.

For a mechanical lifeform, spiritual damage was far more severe than physical injury.

Converted into HP loss, that single Mental Strike had drained at least one-third of the Executioner's health bar.

This was not because Mind Resonance was too powerful, but because Wu Chang's Inspiration of nearly two hundred points generated an extraordinarily high Mental Strike value.

Only because the Executioner, as a boss, had a thick health bar; any other player who took this Mental Strike head-on would instantly have their will shattered and become a fool.

A single Mental Strike had revealed the Executioner's weakness: his spirit.

But as a creation of Root Force, the Executioner would not be so easily defeated.

His spirit had suffered heavy damage, but under the rapid repair of his internal Steam Root Force, his spirit was healing quickly and would fully recover soon.

Ordinary players with mental attack skills—even if they could bypass the Steam Rule's interference—would likely not inflict damage faster than the Executioner could heal.

Fortunately, Wu Chang was no ordinary player; the previous Mental Strike was merely a greeting—the real attack was still coming.

He clapped his hands lightly; the Executioner's body vanished into thin air, and Wu Chang's body vanished with him, reappearing in a city shrouded in thick fog.

He had not used a realm ability like the Golden Kingdom, but his talent: Misfortune.

"Talent Effect: Space of Misfortune"

"Ming: If the target's combined inspiration and will is lower than the user's, the target is forcibly pulled into the Space of Misfortune and enters the Special State: Echo of Mental Image, an effect that cannot be resisted. Cooldown: Seven days."

The upgraded Curse Skill has an effect that cannot be resisted; once triggered, even Hercules with divinity cannot resist it, let alone an Executioner who wields only the Steam Origin.

Amid thick fog, several secret police officers carrying bull-eye lamps were inspecting the alley.

Four robed figures hid inside a dilapidated hut, watching the external light sources through the window, judging whether the secret police had moved far away.

Inside the hut were four robed figures—but all four were actually a single Executioner.

The largest in physique, occupying the most mental state, was the Executioner's primary consciousness, his own self-awareness.

The two robed figures behind him were the Multitasker and the Gun God, fused into the Executioner; they retained their pre-death states, their faces filled with terror and resentment toward the Executioner's core.

Before the Executioner stood the avatar he reverenced—a figure Wu Chang had personally seen before: Xavier, appearing in the resentments of Baron Philippe and Editor Henry.

The Omniscient Crystal told Wu Chang that this Xavier originated from an imprint within the Executioner's mind.

This imprint was planted by Xavier upon the Executioner; it fused with a portion of the Executioner's soul and split into a separate personality.

Thanks to this imprint, even when the Executioner fell into chaos, he still obeyed Xavier.

Inside the room, as the external lights faded, the Executioner worried:

"Mr. Xavier, how much longer must we hide? It's all that damned detective's fault—if not for him, our plan would have been on the verge of success. Now everyone has fallen into the hands of the secret police; our experimental records and the prototype steam engine have been seized entirely. What do we do next?"

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow; from the Executioner's words, the current timeline must be after Raven and Zhu Li destroyed the Steam Council.

The Executioner and Xavier, it seemed, were both survivors from that time.

Xavier remained calm: "Relax. Don't be so tense. Our research is correct, valuable—many people see that."

"Last night, a high-ranking figure approached me. He is willing to join us, to help rebuild the Steam Council."

"He has promised to protect us from the secret police's pursuit, allow us to copy the original experimental records, and even find a way to recover the prototype."

The Executioner grew excited, but his excitement quickly dimmed as he whispered:

"Mr. Xavier, does he truly have such power? I believe only in you—I believe only under your leadership can the Steam Council be restored to greatness."

Xavier comforted him: "The Steam Council now has only you and me. The only one I can trust is you."

"But that high-ranking figure—his status exceeds your imagination. I believe he will fulfill his promise."

High-ranking figure... interesting.

From the God's-eye perspective, Wu Chang shifted his gaze from inside the room to outside. He mentally simulated Raven's appearance and summoned all the patrolling secret police.

They turned off their bull-eye lamps and, hidden by the thick fog, crept silently to the door of the Executioner's room.

As he gave the command, the tallest secret police officer kicked open the door and shouted:

"Grimlan Secret Police Bureau—open up!"

The secret police stormed into the room, beating the four robed figures. The Executioner's core, relying on his height, tried to resist—but after two blows from batons, he instantly submitted, curling up on the ground, arms over his head.

The secret police inside the room were no ordinary illusions generated by Wu Chang—they were the mental demons born from the Executioner's Echo of Mental Image.

"Special State: Echo of Mental Image"

"Probe the target's mental vulnerabilities and manifest them as mental demons. If the target is attacked by these demons, they suffer soul damage directly targeting their origin. While the mental demons persist, the target's all attributes decrease by 20%, willpower drops sharply, and skill failure probability increases by 30%."

The unique nature of mental demons made the damage they inflicted within the Space of Misfortune nearly equivalent to real damage.

Even Hercules, whose mind had vulnerabilities, was helpless as a child when surrounded by mental demons.

How much more so for the Executioner, whose soul was already shattered and whose mind was split?

To deal with the Executioner, Wu Chang could skip the weakening performance phase and enter the battle round directly.

Under the batons of the mental demons, the personalities of the Multitasker and the Gun God shattered first and vanished.

Then came Xavier's personality; under concentrated assault, Xavier collapsed. Wu Chang fired a final shot—he vanished instantly.

The disappearance of Xavier's personality not only left the Executioner with only his primary self as the dominant ego, but also freed him from Xavier's mental imprint, restoring his consciousness to his own control.

The confusion and fear in the primary ego's eyes began to fade; clarity emerged in his gaze.

Even Wu Chang himself, seeing such a clear transformation in the Executioner, admired his own therapeutic technique. If he opened a psychological clinic later, using this method to cure schizophrenic patients, wouldn't he need an entire wall covered in banners reading "Miraculous Healing"?

Even Wu Chang himself, seeing such an obvious change in the Executioner, admired his own superb therapeutic technique—if he ever opened a psychology clinic and used this method to specialize in rescuing schizophrenic patients, wouldn't the "miraculous healing" banners have to cover an entire wall?

The Executioner's eyes were clear now, but his spiritual form had become faint and flickering, as if it might shatter at any moment.

Wu Chang knelt down, looking down at the curled-up Executioner, and asked:

"I'm curious—who was the high-ranking figure you just mentioned? Tell me."

The Executioner stared blankly at Wu Chang and said: "I don't know what you're talking about."

Wu Chang frowned and waved to the secret police beside him—uncooperative? Use the Great Memory Recovery Technique!

The mental demons' attacks weren't just blows to the flesh—they struck the soul directly. The pain inflicted on the Executioner was worse than his previous mental assaults.

Within a minute, his mental defenses were utterly shattered. He grabbed Wu Chang's ankle and cried:

In just one short minute, he had completely destroyed the Executioner's mental defenses. He grabbed Wu Chang's ankle and said:

Wu Chang repeated the question: "Who was the high-ranking figure Xavier mentioned to you?"

After a brief silence, the Executioner asked, confused: "Who is Xavier?"

After a brief silence, the Executioner asked in confusion, "Who is Xavier?"

He took a deep breath, forced a stiff smile, then gave the Executioner a thumbs-up.

He took a deep breath, forced a stiff smile, and then gave the Executioner a thumbs-up.

Under these circumstances, still daring to mock him—Wu Chang couldn't help but applaud this fearless sense of humor.

To reward the Executioner, he waved to the secret police: "Keep beating."

Three minutes later, watching the Executioner's spiritual form slowly dissolve, Wu Chang scratched his head awkwardly.

Xavier, to prevent betrayal, had apparently bound the Executioner's memories of the Steam Council to the mental imprint.

By shattering Xavier's imprint, Wu Chang had freed the Executioner's mind—but also scattered his memories.

He shattered Xavier's spiritual imprint, freeing the Executioner's spirit, but also scattering his memories.

He genuinely didn't know.

Forget it, anyway he was going to kill the Executioner to begin with; let the misunderstanding stand.

The Executioner's spirit shattered, and the Misfortune Space dissolved; Wu Chang and the Executioner's corpse appeared in place.

Seeing the Iron Life curled on the ground, its face filled with pleading and terror, lifeless, Leng Shan, Xiang Jianxing, and the Priest widened their eyes and instinctively stepped back.

In their eyes, Wu Chang and the Executioner vanished into thin air, leaving not a trace.

Even Xiang Jianxing, using his Sword Heart to observe, and Leng Shan, sensing with his Origin Power, could not detect what ability Wu Chang had used.

Wu Chang and the Executioner spent nearly twenty minutes in the Misfortune Space, but less than one minute passed in the real world.

Before Leng Shan and the others could figure out what had happened, they saw Wu Chang and the Executioner reappear—and this time, the Executioner was already a corpse.

From the corpse's condition, the Executioner did not die peacefully.

They could not imagine what terrifying ability the Executioner had witnessed, or what degree of despair he had felt, to wear such an expression on his face.

If Wu Chang had intervened right after entering the slum zone, they might have deluded themselves into thinking the Executioner, stripped of Steam Rules, was nothing, easily dispatched.

But after entering the slums, Leng Shan and Xiang Jianxing had both fought the Executioner directly, confirming he did not rely on Steam Rules—his raw physical strength alone reached S-rank dungeon boss levels.

They had even felt the threat of death from the Executioner's attacks, and prepared to forcibly exit the dungeon.

Yet that seemingly invincible monster had not survived a minute before Wu Chang.

How strong was Wu Chang?

Even though they knew Wu Chang was insane, they had never imagined he could be this insane.

Leng Shan forcibly suppressed the cold energy radiating from his body and asked Wu Chang:

"Mr. He Ping, what just happened?"

Wu Chang waved his hand dismissively and said:

"This guy had extreme adaptability and thick skin; to deal with him, I had to use a little trick—nothing worth mentioning."

Leng Shan's lips twitched slightly—if that's a little trick, then what should I call my Origin Power? An air conditioner?

Wu Chang paid no attention to Leng Shan's reaction; he turned his back to him, seized the Executioner's vital energy, and swallowed it.

Strength +60.

After weakening through the dimensional barrier, his Strength attribute reached 381 points.

Sixty points of Strength meant the Executioner's raw power, based solely on Origin Power, approached that of a native god of the Wasteland Realm—many low-level players in the Abyss Layer Two struggled to reach this number.

Combined with the vast amounts of coal essence and steam explosives he had consumed, Leng Shan and Xiang Jianxing truly could not have handled him.

Wait—vast amounts of coal essence and steam explosives…

Just as he was about to accept two blood-red last words and the anti-magic steam pressure core embedded in the Executioner's head, he suddenly noticed red glowing runes appearing on the Executioner's corpse, its body emitting a faint glow.

Damn, his corpse is about to self-destruct!

(End of Chapter)