Chapter 553: Sound the Alarm

Sai Men's fingers pressed against Zhou Ning's throat.

That hand was condensed from Gray Mist; the fingertips had no warmth, no human touch.

Zhou Ning's throat was compressed; at first she just coughed twice, then her breathing was cut off, and her shoulders began to tremble.

She wanted to grab Sai Men's hand.

As soon as she lifted her hand, her wrist was pressed back onto the blanket by the Gray Mist.

"Don't move around."

Sai Men lowered his head to look at her, his tone light and cheerful.

"Your brother is now a big shot, a constant guest on global hot searches, the Seven-Eyed King, the top card of the Avengers. If you move around, it will affect his performance."

Zhou Ning's eye sockets reddened, her mouth opened, but she could only squeeze out a muffled sob.

Zhou Ping stood three steps away.

Three steps.

He fought his way out of the Black Pool Water Prison, slaughtered the detention center, forcing A Ji Oddity Practitioners to kneel and beg for mercy; even Jiang Yuan's Shadow Soldiers had to bow before the crown.

But now, three steps away.

He cannot get past.

Crimson rules covered the ward, walls pressed with fine cracks, the IV fluid flowed upward against gravity, and the monitor screen showed only garbled code.

The Seven-Eyed Crown hovered above Zhou Ping's head.

All seven eyes stared at Sai Men simultaneously.

It was urging.

Deprivation.

Domination.

Judgment.

Kill him.

Zhou Ping, however, did not move.

If Sai Men's fingertip pressed down another half-inch, Zhou Ning's throat bone would break.

What's worse, grayish marks had already appeared on Zhou Ning's neck.

Starting from where Sai Men's fingertip touched, the skin lost color, and the pattern crawled toward the collarbone.

It was slow.

Slow enough for Zhou Ping to see every change clearly.

Sai Men was good at playing.

He wasn't in a hurry to kill.

He wanted Zhou Ping to stand here and watch.

"Don't touch her."

Zhou Ping's throat was extremely dry.

He heard himself speak; the words were ground out from between his teeth.

"What do you want? Come at me."

"Hey."

Sai Men raised his other hand, lifted his index finger, and wagged it.

"Not high-class enough."

"The villain kidnaps the family, then the hero says 'come at me'—this plot is too old. Viewers will swipe past."

The crimson patterns beneath Zhou Ping's eyes spread outward.

He tried to compress the crown's deprivation rule to the finest point, avoiding Zhou Ning, and directly bite toward the hand Sai Men pressed on her throat.

As the crimson pattern just approached,

Sai Men's fingertip retracted half a point inward.

Zhou Ning's throat emitted a more painful gasp, and the gray marks on her neck expanded outward a circle.

Zhou Ping stopped.

His whole body stood in place, the prisoner garb on his back soaked through with sweat.

That sweat was not from fear of death.

It was his body forcibly suppressing killing intent.

The crown was dissatisfied.

The seven eyes rotated, emitting a shrill buzzing.

The ward's floor tiles lifted piece by piece, then were pressed back by the crimson rules.

The crown mark on Zhou Ping's forehead grew hot.

It was reminding the host.

Do not retreat.

Do not destroy yourself for an ordinary person.

Zhou Ping raised his hand and pressed his forehead.

"Shut up."

The crown's buzzing grew sharper.

Blood lines filled Zhou Ping's sclera.

"I said, shut up."

The dark red rules contracted inward, forcibly suppressing the crown's runaway reaction.

Sai Men watched with great interest.

He even switched his cane to his left hand, his right hand still gripping Zhou Ning, his posture relaxed to the point of begging for a beating.

"Interesting."

"The crown is advising you. It's clearer than you."

"It chose you, not to make you some kind of good older brother. What it wants is the spread of the lesion, the collapse of order, for the Gui-defying system to be peeled away layer by layer by you."

Sai Men lowered his head to look at Zhou Ning.

"And her?"

"She's just the old human identity you haven't been able to let go of."

Zhou Ning's pupils contracted.

She didn't understand all of it.

But she understood that her brother would die.

She shook her head desperately.

Her throat was gripped, making the head-shaking motion very small.

But Zhou Ping saw it.

Since childhood, whenever Zhou Ning fell ill, she did the same.

If she didn't want to take medicine, she would shake her head slightly.

If she didn't want him to spend extra money, she would do the same.

Later, she was beaten into the hospital by Zhao Xiao's people; before losing consciousness, her hand still clutched his sleeve, her fingertips stained with blood, unable to write, she could only shake her head.

"Don't mind me."

"Every time, it's these three words."

Zhou Ping hated these three words the most.

He didn't have much in this life.

His parents passed away early, the wages from the transport shop were low, the walls of his rented place peeled, and he often got by with just enough to eat.

But he had a sister.

As long as Zhou Ning was still around, no matter how low he bowed, he still counted as a person.

Now Sai Men wants him to choose.

The crown.

Or Zhou Ning.

This question doesn't even need thinking.

The hard part is, he can't let Sai Men succeed.

Zhou Ping looked up.

"You want the crown?"

Sai Men lightly tapped his cane.

"Finally we're getting to the point."

Zhou Ping stared at him.

"You can't take it."

"Who said I want to take it?"

Sai Men leaned close to Zhou Ning's ear, lowered his voice, but deliberately let Zhou Ping hear clearly.

"I want you to pull it out yourself."

Zhou Ping didn't answer.

Sai Men continued: "Pull that beautiful crown out from your head by the roots, and give me all your power."

"Or."

His fingers tightened a little more.

Zhou Ning's whole body shrank back, a broken whimper squeezed from her throat, her face began to turn bluish, the corners of her eyes wet.

Sai Men looked at Zhou Ping.

"Just watch her turn to ashes right here."

The ward was very quiet.

It wasn't that there was no movement.

But all movement was suppressed by Zhou Ping's breathing.

Zhou Ping's right hand hung at his side.

His palm split open.

Dark red blood lines seeped from the wound, crawling toward his wrist, but he forcibly pressed them back.

He knew very well.

The Seven-Eyed Crown is not a hat.

It is not a tool.

It has already sunk its roots into his soul, flesh, bones, and even every breath.

Forcible removal leads to only one outcome.

Death.

Perhaps not death in the ordinary sense.

It might be sucked dry into an empty shell, be counterattacked by the crown into nourishment, or become something that doesn't even leave a name behind.

But these don't matter.

What matters is that Zhou Ning cannot die before his eyes.

Zhou Ping looked at his sister.

Zhou Ning shook her head desperately.

Tears slid down her cheeks and fell onto the collar of the patient gown.

Her lips moved.

Brother.

Don't.

Zhou Ping read it out.

He suddenly wanted to laugh.

This girl has been timid since childhood; when watching horror movies she covers her eyes, only peeking through the gaps between her fingers.

Now she's learned to tell him not to save her.

"Zhou Ning."

Zhou Ping spoke.

His voice was hoarse—no, it sounded like his throat had been rubbed with sandpaper.

Even he found it unpleasant.

"Close your eyes."

Zhou Ning shook her head while crying.

"Be obedient."

Zhou Ping raised his left hand and pressed it against the crown mark on his forehead.

The crown raged.

Seven red eyes turned toward Zhou Ping at once.

The dark-red rules stopped suppressing Sai Men outward and instead began to surge inside Zhou Ping's body.

It does not allow the host to self-destruct.

Those chosen by the crown can die on the battlefield, can fight to the last, can be crushed by stronger rules.

But they cannot voluntarily surrender it.

This is betrayal.

The crown mark drilled into flesh and blood, trying to bury itself deeper.

Zhou Ping's fingers pressed on his forehead; the pads were cut by the dark-red patterns.

Blood flowed down, trickling into the corner of his eye.

He did not blink.

The crown buzzed to a piercing degree.

The fluorescent tube on the ward ceiling couldn't withstand the pressure and snapped off with a pop.

Inside the room only the erratic green remnants of the monitor remained.

Sai Men's gray mist domain was also torn open by Zhou Ping's recent pressure.

Very fine.

So fine that ordinary people cannot see it.

But the outside world has equipment.

At the end of the corridor, beside the nurse station.

A woman in a white nurse uniform pushed a medicine cart, her head lowered as she checked the medical records.

Her name is Feng Xiaoya.

Federal Investigation Bureau Magic City branch field covert post.

Her public identity is a rotating hospital nurse; her real duty is to watch over Zhou Ning's ward, not interfere, only report.

She had thought tonight would be very boring.

At most, Zhou Ping would come to see his sister, cry a bit, and say some brother‑sister affectionate words.

Before, someone had joked that she was lucky, able to slack off on the night shift.

Feng Xiaoya also thought so.

Until the miniature high‑dimensional energy detector behind her ear began to heat up.

The first time, she still thought the equipment was broken.

The second time, the detector vibrated her ear bones to numbness.

She lowered her head to look at the wristwatch terminal.

The reading kept climbing.

D.

C.

A.

S.

Finally the screen turned all red, and a line of text popped up.

High‑dimensional pollution source in close contact.

Evacuation recommended.

Feng Xiaoya's hand stopped on the medicine cart handle; she bit her tongue tip to stay awake.

"Don't panic."

She muttered a curse at herself.

"You're a hidden sentry, not a random passerby."

She raised her hand to adjust the chest ID badge, then took it off.

The back of the ID badge has a button device that can project to view the situation inside the ward.

She pressed the button, checked the recent scene occurring in Zhou Ning's ward.

First act.

Zhou Ning lay on the bed.

Zhou Ping stood at the foot of the bed.

No third person.

Second frame.

The picture blurred out.

Third frame.

A man wearing a gray stone mask stood at the bedside, hand pressing Zhou Ning's throat.

Black suit.

Dark red shirt.

Eyeball staff.

Feng Xiaoya's scalp went numb.

She had seen this face; no, this mask.

In the global bulletin file, the leader of the Gospel Church, Sai Men.

It has been confirmed that Lin Fan, Jiang Yuan, Su Ming, Liang Wen, Chen Shao, etc. jointly killed him.

The corpse turned to ash.

Rules residue dissipated.

The conclusion was written beautifully.

Now the beautiful conclusion stands in the ward, choking a hostage.

"Damn it."

Feng Xiaoya blurted out, almost losing her soul.

"You wrote the report early, huh?"

Inside the ward.

Sai Men seemed to sense the outside surveillance, turned his head toward the door.

Zhou Ping seized this half-beat.

Dark red rules sprang from the ground, bypassing the area where Zhou Ning was, directly aiming for Sai Men's wrist.

Sai Men didn't turn back.

He only used his index finger to tap Zhou Ning's throat once.

Gray markings immediately crawled up to the jaw.

Zhou Ning's whole body tensed, even his sob weakened in his throat.

Zhou Ping's rules halted.

Off by two inches.

Only two inches off.

Sai Men turned his head back, his tone full of regret.

"Oh, almost succeeded in a sneak attack."

"Mr. Zhou Ping, that move just now was dangerous. I'll give you a poor review."

Zhou Ping gritted his teeth until they bled.

"Come at me."

"I'm coming at you."

Sai Men spread his hands.

"But you're not cooperating."

"Pull out the crown, or watch her die. Two choices, this simple question, don't make it as hard as a final calculus problem."

Having said that, Sai Men admired this scene.

Now that's right.

Not mere slaughter.

Slaughter is too lowly.

The truly fascinating part is that a person obtains world-destroying power, yet is dragged back by the most ordinary concern.

Will he hate?

Will he hate his sister?

Will he discover before death that all his revenge, all his judgments, ultimately lost to a hospital bed?

Sai Men wants to see that answer.

He places a piece on behalf of the gods.

And also seeks amusement for himself.

Outside the ward.

Feng Xiaoya had already retreated to the corridor corner.

Not fleeing.

She wanted to leave the position with the strongest interference.

The terminal screen jumped wildly, the encrypted channel connection failed three times.

The fourth time, it connected for half a second.

She suppressed her voice, speaking so fast it was deadly.

"Magic City covert outpost No. 27, Zhou Ning's ward discovered Sai Men."

The channel was full of static.

She couldn't see the receipt.

Feng Xiaoya cursed, switched to manual mode.

Highest-level black alert, requires triple verification.

First, identity key.

She pressed her thumb against the terminal's side.

Beep.

Second, living blood sample.

The terminal popped up a tiny blood-draw port; she pressed her fingertip onto it.

Beep.

Third, on-site high-dimensional contamination image.

She dragged the captured screen into the alert field.

In the image, the gray stone mask was clearly visible, eye‑stinging.

The system lagged for half a second.

Then a confirmation box popped up.

Send black alert?

After sending, it will go directly to the Magic City Supreme Command Center and simultaneously to the Federation Headquarters duty station.

Feng Xiaoya stared at the confirmation box, her finger hovering above.

What she hesitated over was not whether to send.

But after sending, her line would be exposed.

Would Sai Men come after her?

Most likely.

Could she survive?

The odds were low.

She recalled the Technology Department training, when L lectured in a flat tone.

"The core of a covert outpost mission is not to survive, but to get effective intelligence out. Surviving is extra profit."

At the time the whole class laughed.

Someone even said this training was too hellish, suggesting they add a drumstick.

Feng Xiaoya couldn't laugh now.

She pressed confirm.

The terminal screen went black for half a second.

Then black symbols filled the entire interface.

The encrypted signal pierced the hospital's broken surveillance network, pierced the Gray Mist barrier rupture, pierced the Magic City nighttime communications array, and straight to the Investigation Bureau Magic City Supreme Command Center.

At the same time.

Magic City Supreme Command Center.

The big screen in the duty hall suddenly went completely black.

The next second, a glaring black alert symbol popped up.

The duty commander's coffee spilled directly onto his pants.

Yet he didn't even wipe it.

All the communication lights in the hall turned red at that moment.