Chapter 325: To be able to die for the sake of the entire Western Wasteland is also my honor

"Let's go."

Su Chen glanced at the others and took the lead to spearhead the way.

The two followed closely behind.

This corridor was not long, and they soon saw the full view of the entire room.

Ahead, there was a faint, pale candlelight; Su Chen released his Blue Quenching Spirit Fire to illuminate the entire room.

Almost in an instant, everyone's expression went blank for a moment.

Natasha even covered her mouth, tears streaming from her eyes, her body seemingly losing all strength as she fell backward.

Su Chen quickly and nimbly caught Natasha in his arms, his eyes staring fixedly at the scene before him.

They saw a withered mermaid fixed and pierced by countless steel bars, the whole body pinned to it in a spread-eagled position.

In front of him was a rotating Dharma Treasure, which was operating continuously, with an endless amount of Spiritual Power surging into the mermaid.

Almost in an instant, they recognized that this person was the Great Elder of the Mermaid Race.

At this moment, he had grown so thin that he was unrecognizable, with only skin left, barely clinging to his skeleton; the whole person looked like a dried corpse.

Seeing the few arrive, the Great Elder lifted his eyelids, pulled a very stiff smile, and said with his mouth shape: "You have come."

"Great Elder, don't be afraid, we are here to save you."

Natasha was incredibly anxious and hurriedly stepped forward to take him down, but she was immediately repelled.

She vomited a mouthful of fresh blood, but refusing to give up, she continued to rush forward, determined to take the Great Elder down.

Yet the result was being repelled time and time again.

Finally, Su Chen could no longer bear to watch; he pulled Natasha into his arms and said gently: "Calm down first. I know you are in great pain, but doing this might also make the Great Elder uncomfortable."

Nestled in Su Chen's arms, Natasha could no longer hold on and began to cry in agony.

She sobbed in a low voice, seemingly trying her best to endure it; it was heart-breaking to hear.

Yi Zhuyue frowned tightly; seeing this scene, she also could not bear it, her pearly teeth biting her lip until it turned white.

Yi Zhuyue stepped forward two paces and fed him some Healing Sacred Medicine.

Only then could the Great Elder barely speak; his voice was extremely hoarse and unpleasant, like an old saw cutting through wood.

"You have come; it is good that you are safe."

The Great Elder smiled with a look of relief, "I believed that you would definitely be able to defeat Lanbo."

Although he was imprisoned here, he had not felt Lanbo's aura for a long time, and since they had entered so openly, they must have defeated Lanbo.

His face carried a sense of relief and liberation.

"You have suffered, Great Elder. What exactly is going on here? How should we help you..."

By the time Su Chen finished speaking, he could no longer bear it.

There were at least dozens of those steel bars, all inserted into the Great Elder's body, corresponding to different locations and acupoints; the wounds on them had already scarred over.

Necrotic flesh grew new flesh, adhering to the steel bars; any slight movement resulted in torn skin and flesh, and intense pain.

"Lanbo brought me here to make me a vessel for containing Spiritual Power. The thing in front of me is what has absorbed the vitality of the entire Western Wasteland. He wants me to act as a vessel to contain and store it, to completely turn the wasteland into a desolate land of death for his survival."

The Great Elder was already gasping for air; he took a long time to say these few words, using up almost all his strength.

Put this way, everything was explained. This device in front of them was used to absorb the Spiritual Power of the entire Western Wasteland, and the Great Elder had presumably been temporarily used by Lanbo as a vessel.

"Why doesn't Lanbo absorb this Spiritual Power for his own use?"

Yi Zhuyue frowned, unable to bear looking at the Great Elder's miserable state, and turned her head slightly away.

The Great Elder seemed to sneer: "This Spiritual Power is vast and all-encompassing. Even though Lanbo's current realm is already a Half-step Great Emperor, if he were to forcibly accept so much Spiritual Power, he would only explode and die. This is why he let me temporarily act as the container; the others have already died."

It was hard to imagine what kind of torture the Great Elder had endured here.

Although his body contained very abundant Spiritual Power, he could not move, as his key acupoints were all sealed by the steel bars.

Not only that, there must have been many innocent victims before the Great Elder.

"This conversion is a very complex process. The fact that the Western Wasteland has reached this point is actually because the conversion has reached this stage. Fortunately, you came early; there is still room for a turnaround."

The Great Elder coughed twice, but because it tugged at the wounds on his body, his features twisted in pain, and fresh blood gushed out continuously.

That was new blood flowing out after the original scabs were torn open.

"What should we do?"

Su Chen felt a pang of sympathy and fed the Great Elder more Healing Sacred Medicine, hoping he would feel a little better.

Looking at the steel bars in front of him, he dared not act rashly; there were simply too many, and he was afraid that if he were not careful, the Great Elder would bleed to death.

"Just destroy this container. As for the Spiritual Power stored in my body..."

The Great Elder paused rarely when he reached this point, and then the expression on his face gradually turned firm.

"Kill me."

Everyone's heart trembled heavily; although they had anticipated this result, hearing it from the Great Elder's mouth made it feel exceptionally painful.

Natasha could not help but burst into tears, shaking her head desperately.

"You are my last family member; how could I bear to kill you?"

"There must be another way, Great Elder. We will definitely find a way to keep you alive."

Su Chen also spoke, his brow carrying a hint of hatred.

That Lanbo was let off too easily by just dying; to have done such a heartless thing.

The Great Elder revealed a pale smile.

"Killing me is the simplest method. You cannot be willful; only by killing me can the peace of the entire Western Wasteland be restored. I cannot be so selfish."

By the end, the Great Elder coughed forcefully twice, and fresh blood gushed out along the corners of his mouth.

"To be able to die for the sake of the entire Western Wasteland is also my honor."

Hearing this, all three were moved.

If one were to ask who in this world could be so selfless, willing to sacrifice their own life for the sake of others.

Su Chen asked himself, if it were this situation, he absolutely could not do it—to sacrifice himself to save others.

Thinking of this, Su Chen turned his head away, unable to bear it, and immediately said: "The Spiritual Power stored within your body is, after all, a small amount; the key is this device before us. If it can be destroyed, the entire ecology of the Western Wasteland will surely be able to return to normal."

He deliberately changed the subject, yet the Great Elder could still sense it.

But perhaps wanting to spend a little more time with his people and the world, he also followed the conversation.

(End of this chapter)