Chapter 558: Now it's my turn to write

Gray Mist claws hover before Jiang Yuan's chest.

Only half an inch away.

Jiang Yuan half-kneels on the ground, gripping the half Ace of Spades in his hand.

The card's edge is already cracked; dark shadow seeps out from the crack, and upon hitting the ground it is gradually worn away by the Gray Mist.

He tries to raise his hand.

His arm won't obey.

The Shadow Ghost churns inside him, as if shoved back into a cage, and all the soldiers' connections snap one by one.

Jiang Yuan stares at Sai Men.

The Gray Mist claws fall downward.

Outside the window, Su Ming presses against the outer wall, his palm against the glass edge.

The Time Marrow Worm gnaws wildly at his spine.

That pain does not come from the wound, but from inside the bones turning outward.

He bites his tongue, forcing his gaze to stay locked on Jiang Yuan.

Pause time once more.

Just zero point three seconds.

Then Jiang Yuan can dodge.

Then Zhou Ping can reseal.

Then Qin Zhixia can pull Zhou Ning back two more steps.

The math is simple.

The cost is also clear.

Su Ming raises his hand, fingertips about to press down, when his body suddenly goes limp and he slides halfway down the wall.

The Time Marrow Worm backlashes.

His vision fills with large black patches, and his throat is full of the taste of blood.

"Damn it."

Su Ming curses low.

He isn't unwilling to save.

It's that his body gave him a system notification.

Insufficient balance.

Forced payment, and the account is banned directly.

Inside, Qin Zhixia shields Zhou Ning behind her.

The alarm on her mechanical prosthetic flashes red wildly inside the arm armor.

Overload at two hundred thirty percent.

Risk of joint lockup.

Risk of neural interface burnout.

The Wu Ming synchronization rate drops.

Rows of alerts flash past; Qin Zhixia glances at them once and turns them all off.

Zhou Ning grabs the hem of her combat uniform, his hand shaking badly.

"...... Will we die?"

Qin Zhixia does not turn back.

She cannot guarantee the child's safety.

In this place, guarantees are too cheap.

She only places her mechanical arm in front to block the Gray Mist's pressure, her knees scraping blood on the ground.

"Don't look."

Zhou Ning's eyes redden, yet he can't help looking at Zhou Ping.

Zhou Ping stands in the center of the Gray Mist.

The Dark Red Chains surge out repeatedly, only to be wiped away each time.

The Seven-Eyed Crown rotates above his head, all seven pupils fully open, able to align with the gray pattern behind Sai Men, yet it is still pressed back.

The Crown is agitated.

It is not fear.

It is anger.

It has not encountered anything it cannot gnaw through for a long time.

Sai Men walks up to Jiang Yuan, lowers his head to look at him.

"Final interview."

"Mr. Jiang Yuan, may I ask what you feel now?"

Jiang Yuan lifts the half Ace of Spades.

"The impression is, you talk too much."

Sai Men lets out a laughing breath.

"That comment is quite fair."

The claw falls.

Jiang Yuan flips his wrist, the half Ace of Spades flies out, slicing toward Sai Men's throat.

But the gray mist is faster.

The card broke midway.

The claws continued to press down.

Liang Wen lay prone in the distance, fingers digging into the ground, reaching for the Black Flame Knife.

But he couldn't reach it.

Liang Wen spat out blood foam.

This round was too ugly to watch.

Just now he had the upper hand, but turning his head, someone dragged him into the Gray Subspace.

The version update had no announcement.

The planner deserves to be scolded.

Sai Men's claws finally pressed close to Jiang Yuan's chest.

The next second.

Zhou Ping's throat squeezed out a beast-like howl.

That was not how a normal person shouts.

It was squeezing out all the strength from the lungs, blood, and bones, forcing it outward.

Blood spurted from every pore on his body.

Dark red patterns burst from under the skin, crawling up the neck to the cheeks.

The Seven-Eyed Crown pressed down.

It was not hanging above his head.

But rather like it wanted to embed into his skull.

Zhou Ning screamed.

"Brother!"

Zhou Ping did not turn back.

He feared that if he turned back, he would be unwilling to keep moving forward.

His sister was alive.

That was enough.

The remaining debt, he would bear.

The crown roared inside his mind.

It wanted more.

More blood.

More lives.

More hatred for this world.

Zhou Ping gave it.

He poured all his vitality into the crown.

Black Pool Water Prison.

Zhao Xiao's laugh.

His sister lay unresponsive in the treatment cabin.

Lao Liang pressed a cigarette butt against his wound.

Those people ruined by the privileged oddity controllers.

Twenty-seven avengers stood in the shipyard, looking at his eyes.

Besides, there was Zhou Ning's deathly pale face when Sai Men grabbed him earlier.

He stuffed them all into the crown.

"Aren't you here to play a game?"

Zhou Ping lifted his head; in the seven-fold pupils there was no retreat.

"Come."

"I'll accompany you to the end."

Sai Men finally stopped his hand.

The claws were only a knuckle's width from Jiang Yuan's chest.

"Oh?"

He turned to look at Zhou Ping.

"Excellent."

"Very excellent."

Zhou Ping did not scold him.

Dark Red Chains surged out simultaneously from the ground, walls, and depths of the Gray Mist.

This time, the chains were not worn away.

Jiang Yuan's pupils contracted.

The crown changed.

Before, the crown suppressed the Fierce Ghost inside the oddity controller's body.

Now, it is not suppressing the Fierce Ghost.

It is the source of the Weird.

At the top of the gray subspace, seven layers of blood eyes opened.

No whites of the eyes.

No eyelids.

Only dark red pupil rings, layered one over another, looking down on Sai Men.

The gray sky curtain began to split.

One.

Ten.

Over a hundred.

Gray mist surged out of the rift, then was yanked back by the dark red rule.

Su Ming lay prone outside the window, struggling to lift his head.

Only one thought remained in his mind.

Zhou Ping, this guy, was not simply a counter of the weird.

What he counters is the Strange Rule itself.

This is deadly.

Once this thing loses control, the entire human counter-weird system will be judged into autism.

But now, it first judged Sai Men.

Jiang Yuan also understood.

He pushed off the ground and rose halfway up.

"Zhou Ping!"

"Don't just press his body, press his blessing!"

Zhou Ping grinned, revealing blood-stained teeth.

"Using your teaching?"

Jiang Yuan coughed up blood.

"Professional habit."

Liang Wen lay on the ground, raising his hand.

"I request to add a sentence."

"Brother Zhou is awesome."

"This wave is truly the bane of villains."

Qin Zhixia didn't speak.

She pressed Zhou Ning behind her, but a brief relaxation appeared in her eyes.

Zhou Ping was burning his life.

This way of burning is more ruthless than Wu Ming.

Wu Ming at least still has a rule loop.

Zhou Ping directly used himself as firewood.

Zhou Ning also saw that.

She struggled to run forward, but Qin Zhixia grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't go over."

"My brother will die!"

Qin Zhixia increased the force in her hand.

"If you go over, he'll become chaotic right now."

Zhou Ning froze in place, tears falling, but dared not shout again.

Sai Men lowered his head, looking at the dark red shackles wrapped around his limbs.

The shackles were thick, their surface covered entirely in blood characters.

With each tightening, a layer of gray mist was drawn from his body.

His shoulders began to deform.

The joints of his arms emitted a series of cracking sounds.

His suit was crushed by the rule, revealing chaotic gray patterns beneath his pale skin.

Those gray patterns tried to reassemble.

The dark red shackles directly bit them and pulled them outward.

Sai Men's body sank downward.

Not kneeling.

But being hard-pulled by the rules in the ground.

His short staff was also entwined by the chains.

The gray patterns on the staff dimmed section by section.

The high-dimensional blessing was being stripped away.

Sai Men lifted his head; the mask's cracks grew more numerous.

"Interesting."

"Too interesting."

"You dare to even eat the lord's blessing."

Zhou Ping stepped forward.

Every step he took left a bloody print beneath his feet.

"It's not eating."

"It is judging."

Sai Men's applause failed.

His hands were cuffed in shackles, he could only tilt his head.

"Mr. Zhou Ping, your lines finally have a hint of kingly aura."

"Much cooler than when you were anxiously trying to save your sister just now."

Zhou Ping was not provoked.

This time, he was very clear-headed.

Sai Men wanted him to lose control.

Wanted him to forget his purpose.

He refused to.

Zhou Ping's purpose had only two.

Protect Zhou Ning.

Kill Sai Men.

Besides that, any god, the Federation, any order—all were put aside.

The crimson shackles suddenly tightened.

Sai Men's knee was forced to bend.

Crack.

His right leg knelt first.

Gray blood welled from beneath the mask, dripped onto the ground, then was swallowed by the crimson rule.

Liang Wen saw this and almost crawled up from the ground.

"He knelt!"

"He knelt!"

"Brothers, take a screenshot!"

Jiang Yuan pressed his chest, couldn't help but whisper a reminder.

"Don't suck up."

Liang Wen immediately shut his mouth.

Sai Men's other leg was also forced down.

Thud.

He knelt on the gray ground.

That stone mask was scorched by the crimson, heating up, cracks spreading across its whole surface.

Sai Men spat a mouthful of gray blood, his shoulders slumped, his posture wretched to the extreme.

Yet he was still laughing.

Not the previous ostentatious performance.

This time it carried surprise, as well as satisfaction.

"Beautiful."

"Really beautiful."

"Mr. Zhou Ping, I now kind of like you."

Zhou Ping raised his hand.

The Seven-Eyed Crown pressed down.

Chains hung down from above, their tips aimed at Sai Men's head.

"I don't need your liking."

Sai Men lifted his face.

"Don't be so heartless."

"We are all people placed at the table by fate."

Zhou Ping's fingers clenched.

The chains fell.

Jiang Yuan, Qin Zhixia, Liang Wen, Su Ming—all stared at that chain.

As long as it pierces through.

Even if Sai Men doesn't die, the crown will strip away most of his origin.

This is an opportunity.

It is also the only real chance they have to win after being dragged into subspace.

Zhou Ning covered his mouth, daring not to make a sound.

Zhou Ping's seven-layered pupils in his eyes were pressed to the limit.

His skin was cracking.

Blood dripped down from his chin.

He didn't care.

Kill Sai Men.

Take his sister and leave.

He is not a fool.

Sai Men came too conveniently.

Behind these coincidences, someone might be pushing.

That person hid deeply.

But it's okay.

One by one, settle accounts.

Starting from Sai Men.

The Dark Red Chains have already come close to Sai Men's brow.

Sai Men did not dodge.

He simply raised his head and looked outward beyond the gray canopy.

"Lord."

"If you don't come again."

"I really will take a bow."

Far away in Qiu Ce Yuan.

The infirmary didn't have its main light turned on.

Chu Che sat behind the desk, with a cup of red tea placed on it.

The screen split into dozens of monitoring windows.

The abnormal energy-level curve of Magic City Hospital is surging.

The boundary of the Gray Subspace was cut by dark red rules; Sai Men knelt on the ground, his mask covered in cracks.

Chu Che looked for a few seconds.

Then he set down the tea cup.

The cup's base touched the desktop, producing a slight sound.

He raised his hand to adjust his gold-rimmed glasses; the lenses reflected the editor's interface.

Chu Che's finger halted before the light screen.

Slender, fair, clean.

Like a doctor who has just washed his hands and is about to enter the operating room.

He watched the screen where the chain was about to pierce Sai Men's skull, his tone gentle.

"The experimental data is enough."

"Zhou Ping, you are sharper than I expected."

"As a key part of the plan, I am satisfied."

The editor popped up a new permission box.

Chu Che clicked confirm.

"Next, it's my turn to personally take up the pen."