Chapter 559: Death Resolve

Dark Red Chains stopped before Sai Men's brow.

No omen.

No process.

It just stopped.

The chain's tip was less than two fingers away from the cracked rock mask.

Zhou Ping's arm still held the pressing posture, his seven-layer pupils fully open, blood flowing down from the corners of his eyes.

But his hand couldn't press down.

It wasn't lack of strength.

It was that the entire gray subspace was being pressed down by something.

Jiang Yuan half-kneeled on the ground, his chest still oozing blood.

He lifted his head to look upward.

In the rift of the gray sky canopy, something fell down.

No shape could be seen.

It also had no color.

But everyone lowered their heads in the same second.

It wasn't fear.

It was that their bodies' instincts forbade them from looking directly.

Jiang Yuan's teeth were clenched so hard his jaw ached, the veins on his neck bulging one by one.

"Don't look up."

He squeezed out a few words from his throat.

Liang Wen lay on the ground, half his face pressed to the gray ground, blood still bubbling from his mouth.

"Do you still need to remind me?"

"I'm now even forbidden the permission to lift my head."

No one laughed.

Qin Zhixia stood before Zhou Ning, her mechanical prosthesis emitting a high-frequency alarm.

She tried to raise her hand.

Her arm armor moved only half an inch before being pressed back by an invisible layer of pressure.

Sparks flew from the joints.

Zhou Ning was shielded behind, hands covering his mouth, tears still hanging on his face.

She looked at Zhou Ping.

She wanted to shout "brother."

But she didn't dare.

Qin Zhixia had just said that.

If she went over, Zhou Ping would go berserk.

She could only stand.

She could only watch.

Zhou Ping was also looking at Sai Men.

In those seven-layered eyes, the blood-red was pressed deep.

He didn't lift his head.

But he understood.

It has come.

The "Lord" spoken of by Sai Men has finally descended.

Far away, in Qiu Ce Yuan.

Inside the infirmary.

Chu Che sat behind the desk, his right hand hovering before the Weird Editor's light screen.

Data frames jumped densely on the lens.

Gray space coordinates.

Sai Men's loss.

Seven-Eyed Crown suppression level.

Zhou Ping's life burn rate.

Jiang Yuan's Dark Shadow Court residual value.

Qin Zhixia's Ignorance sync rate.

Su Ming's Time Marrow Worm backlash progress.

Every number was changing.

Chu Che watched very seriously.

This wasn't appreciation.

It was closer to confirming the operative field before a surgery.

The lesion location, bleeding points, nerve pathways—all needed to be seen clearly.

His goal had never been to save Sai Men.

Sai Men was merely an avatar.

It's broken, can be redone.

But the Seven-Eyed Crown is different.

This crown is the scalpel he invested into the human Exorcist system.

Zhou Ping picked up the knife.

Now the blade's edge has been tested.

It can suppress Exorcists.

It can sever Fierce Ghosts.

It can even reverse-judge high-dimensional blessings.

Good.

Great.

Chu Che raised his hand, pushed his gold-rimmed glasses.

"Insufficient anesthesia."

"The patient is visibly struggling."

"Add constraints."

On the light curtain, several lines of underlying rules were dragged out by him.

【Sai Men Temporary Authority Increase】

The confirm key fell.

Inside the seventeenth-floor ward of Magic City Hospital.

Gray Subspace emitted a low-frequency vibration.

That vibration wasn't heard through the ears.

It pressed directly into the bones.

Zhou Ping's chains began to tremble.

The crimson Blood Characters shattered one by one.

He wanted to retract it.

He couldn't pull it back.

He wanted to increase pressure.

He couldn't add more pressure.

Sai Men lowered his head, shoulders slightly trembling.

At first it was slight.

Then it became increasingly obvious.

He was laughing.

"Oh dear."

"Just a little off."

"Really, just a little off."

He lifted his face, after the Mask's crack, his scarlet eyes shone terrifyingly bright.

His originally bent right leg straightened.

The joints realigned segment by segment.

His left leg also stood straight.

The cracks in the limbs crushed by the dark-red shackles began to close.

Gray Mist crawled out from under his skin, filling the missing parts.

Zhou Ping let out a low growl from his throat.

The Seven-Eyed Crown pressed down harder.

The crown's edge had already sunk into the scalp, blood trickling down from the forehead.

Sai Men tidied his torn cuff.

"Mr. Zhou Ping, that segment was very compelling."

"Especially the part where you burned your life for your sister."

"To be honest, I almost wanted to vote for you."

Liang Wen gritted his teeth.

"Vote for your grandpa."

Sai Men glanced at him sideways.

"Yo, the Dark-Blooded King is still alive."

"Vitality not bad."

Liang Wen still wanted to curse.

Gray pressure pressed down, and he coughed up blood on the spot.

Jiang Yuan raised his hand, a Black Card flew from between his fingers.

The card's surface was covered in cracks.

This was the last fragment he could still mobilize.

The Black Card sliced toward Sai Men's nape.

Having flown three meters away, it stopped.

In midair, an invisible wall appeared.

The Black Card was stuck on the wall, crushed into fragments.

Jiang Yuan clenched his fingers.

His Dark Shadow Court was torn open, the Shadow Ghost was pressed back into his body, and only remnants remained usable.

But he still wanted to try.

Even if it only let Sai Men be distracted for half a second.

Qin Zhixia also moved.

The mechanical prosthesis's outer shell opened, and its internal dark circuit lit up.

The searing pain of burning lifespan spread from his shoulder throughout his body.

She didn't care.

She only needed to rush past those three meters.

Three meters.

Normally she wouldn't need to take a single step.

Now it had become a heavenly chasm.

Qin Zhixia took a step forward.

Her knee bent directly downward.

The ground was cracked under her foot.

The front of the mechanical arm ejected a short blade, its edge scraping the invisible wall, sending out sparks.

Get out of the way.

She stared at Sai Men.

Sai Men spread his hands.

Now it's surgery time.

Family members, don't barge into the operating room.

Qin Zhixia didn't reply.

The mechanical prosthesis overloaded to three hundred percent.

Blood seeped from the skin interface.

The short blade advanced half an inch forward.

Only half an inch.

Liang Wen dragged the Black Flame Knife forward as he crawled.

His gloves were burnt to shreds, blood filling the gaps between his fingers.

This lord does not accept it.

A mere air wall, and you dare to block me?

You plotted this just to get scolded.

The Black Flame Knife struck the wall.

Flames flared up, then were pressed back into the blade.

Liang Wen's whole body was flung back, his back scraping the ground as he slid far away.

He lay on the ground, gasping two breaths.

Outside the window.

Su Ming half-hung on the outer wall, his fingers digging into the glass frame.

The Time Marrow Worm rebelled inside him, his vision alternating between black and red.

Su Ming cursed under his breath.

Damn it.

Even disgusting people have a limit.

In the center of the ward.

Sai Men walked up to Zhou Ping.

The Dark Red Chains still wrapped around his wrist, but had loosened considerably.

He raised his right hand.

Gray Mist gathered in his palm, forming several claws covered in barbs.

Each one was very slender.

Their tips were aimed at Zhou Ping's skull.

Zhou Ning finally couldn't hold back.

Don't!

She rushed forward.

Qin Zhixia backhanded and pressed her down.

Zhou Ning struggled, her nails digging into Qin Zhixia's combat uniform.

That's my brother!

Let me pass!

Qin Zhixia's jaw was clenched tight.

Even if you go, it won't help.

Zhou Ning cried, trembling.

He will die.

Qin Zhixia did not answer.

Because she also had no answer.

Zhou Ping looked at Zhou Ning.

His vision was blurred by blood, and he could only see a blurry figure.

But that was enough.

Alive.

Zhou Ning was alive.

This debt was not a loss.

As for the crown,

it could not be given to Sai Men.

No matter the price, it could not be given.

Zhou Ping wanted to act.

His body was pressed down by a higher-dimensional gaze.

He wanted to activate the crown.

But he simply could not.

Sai Men lowered his head and leaned in.

"Mr. Zhou Ping."

"Look, your sister is crying."

"If you had behaved just a bit earlier, you wouldn't have to look so bad."

Zhou Ping grinned, revealing his blood-stained teeth.

"You talk too much."

"Thanks for the suggestion."

Sai Men raised his hand.

The Gray Mist claw fell.

The first claw pierced the edge of Zhou Ping's skull.

Zhou Ping's whole body tensed.

He did not shout.

The second.

The third.

The claw, along the position where the crown was embedded, pried open the connection between flesh and rules.

This was not an ordinary wound.

The crown had already been bound to Zhou Ping's soul.

Each bit peeled away was tearing his self from within.

Zhou Ping finally could not hold on.

A miserable scream was squeezed out from his throat.

It did not sound human.

Zhou Ning cried until she lost her voice.

Qin Zhixia held her, and her own mechanical arm also trembled.

It was not fear.

It was hatred that she could not get past herself.

Sai Men's movements were very slow.

Intentionally slow.

As he peeled, he observed Zhou Ping's reactions.

"Does it hurt?"

"Don't rush."

"My skill is still decent."

"I can be considered a professional doctor."

Qiu Ce Yuan Infirmary.

Chu Che watched the peeling progress bar.

Seventeen percent.

Twenty-one percent.

Twenty-nine percent.

Zhou Ping's life value was dropping.

The crown's resistance intensity was rising.

Chu Che moved his fingers, adding a rule.

【Maintain the host's minimum vital activity】

He, Zhou Ping, cannot die now.

Chu Che whispered, "Let me see, your obsession, little lab rat."

Magic Capital Hospital.

Zhou Ping's seven orifices spewed black-red blood.

His body was hung in place by the Gray Mist's talons, his feet half an inch off the ground.

The crown was being pulled out bit by bit.

Dark red markings were ripped from his forehead, attached to flesh and blood, attached to a rift deep in his soul.

The sound of that adhesion being forcibly torn apart made Liang Wen's scalp go numb.

He gritted his teeth and pushed himself up.

"Zhou Ping!"

"Don't sleep!"

Zhou Ping heard it.

But his mouth was full of blood.

He could only squeeze out a broken gasp from his throat.

Jiang Yuan pressed his hand to the ground.

Shadow crawled out from his palm, only to be pressed back by the Gray Mist.

He tried again and again.

Each time he failed.

But he didn't stop.

Jiang Yuan knew this very well.

That higher-dimensional existence is using Sai Men to reclaim the crown.

Once successful, the Seven-Eyed Crown will shift from being Zhou Ping's uncontrollable variable to becoming an official tool in the hands of the gods.

At that point, the Defiers' system will be crushed by the other side.

All forces of the Investigation Bureau, Jiang Yuan, Su Ming, Qin Zhixia, and even Lin Fan this Symbiosis, must be reevaluated.

This isn't just losing a fight.

This is handing the knife to the enemy.

Jiang Yuan's fingers dug into the ground.

"Again."

He said softly.

A black shadow rose halfway up from behind him.

As soon as it touched the invisible wall, it was crushed.

Qin Zhixia didn't stop either.

Her mechanical prosthetic was already smoking.

Wu Ming's red circuit flickered on and off.

Every time she pressed forward half an inch, the shoulder interface cracked open a ring.

Blood flowed down along her combat uniform.

Zhou Ning knelt behind her, crying without strength.

"Sister......"

"Save him......"

Qin Zhixia didn't turn back.

"I'm saving him."

Just three short words.

Harder than a promise.

Sai Men heard it, laughing until his shoulders trembled.

"Moving."

"Really moving."

"How about I start a livestream?"

"The title would be, 'Watching her brother being taken apart, the entire Federation anxiously waits outside the air wall.'"

At the same time, Su Ming stared at the Gray Mist talon in Sai Men's hand, his mind racing.

Separation conduit.

Higher-dimensional gaze.

Subspace lock.

Invisible wall.

These layers of rules stacked together, their brute force charge has no chance.

The only variable that can move is Zhou Ping himself.

Because the crown hasn't fully left his body.

As long as Zhou Ping is willing......

Su Ming's eyelid twitched.

He thought of a method so bad it couldn't be worse.

But that method would amount to letting Zhou Ping ignite himself.

Su Ming opened his mouth.

He didn't speak.

Someone like Zhou Ping doesn't need others to teach him to die for a cause.

Saying it out loud, however, feels disgusting.

The detachment progress is over half.

The Seven-Eyed Crown has already been pulled out more than half from Zhou Ping's head.

Below the crown, a large amount of dark red threads are attached.

Each time a thread breaks, Zhou Ping twitches once.

The scarlet in Sai Men's eyes grows brighter and brighter.

"Look."

"Such authority will eventually be reclaimed by the Master!"

He threw his head back and laughed loudly.

Above the Gray Subspace, that unfathomable higher-dimensional gaze presses down even deeper.

The crown emits a sharp tremor.

Qiu Ce Yuan infirmary.

Chu Che watches the progress bar.

Sixty-three percent.

Sixty-eight percent.

Seventy percent.

His fingertip pauses on the light screen.

"Very good."

"Maintain."

Magic City Hospital.

Zhou Ping lowers his head.

Blood drips down along his chin.

Zhou Ning cries out his name.

Qin Zhixia slams into the wall.

Jiang Yuan desperately activates his afterimage.

Liang Wen curses until his voice goes hoarse.

But beyond three meters, no one can pass.

Zhou Ping hears a lot of commotion.

Very far.

Yet very near.

He hears his sister crying.

He hears Liang Wen cursing.

He hears Jiang Yuan telling him not to sleep.

He hears the crackling sound of Qin Zhixia's mechanical arm burning out.

Zhou Ping suddenly wants to laugh.

He used to be just a mechanic.

The thing he pondered most each day was how to save money.

He knows nothing of gods, higher dimensions, or the Counter-Anomaly System.

But these things inexplicably come knocking at his door.

And they drag his sister into it as well.

Alright.

Then let's not talk about reason.

Zhou Ping's head is lowered.

Sai Men did not see it.

In those seven-layered pupils covered by blood, a fire-like will to die is igniting.

Not Hellfire.

Nor is it the dark red Rules of the crown.

It is Zhou Ping's own choice.

The crown wants more.

Sai Men wants to put on a show.

The Federation wants to maintain order.

Everyone wants something.

But no one has asked him what Zhou Ping actually wants to give.

Now, he has an answer.

He gives his life.

But not to the crown.

Zhou Ping's broken finger twitches.

Very lightly.

So lightly that Sai Men is still laughing.

But Jiang Yuan saw it.

His pupils constrict.

"Zhou Ping!"

Zhou Ping lifted his head.

Gray Mist claws were still embedded in the edge of the skull, the crown had been torn off more than half, and blood flowed down his face.

But those seven-layered eyes stared fixedly at Sai Men.

Sai Men's smile paused for a beat.

Zhou Ping spoke.

His voice was shattered beyond recognition.

"Do you want to take it?"

"Okay."

"I'll give it to you."

The Seven-Eyed Crown suddenly sank downward.

It did not return to Zhou Ping's head.

Instead, it pressed hard back into the depths of his skull.