The dust cleared.
Under Su Ming’an’s watchful gaze, the figure in the dust gradually climbed up.
Lin Guang staggered to his feet, standing amidst a swath of machinery crushed into tallic discs, his body sared with blood, staring at Su Ming’an in disbelief.
Blood "drip-dropped" down his arm, landing on the ground, and his bones were bent unnaturally; Lin Guang’s hand was broken.
"Lewis, I just wanted to be your friend," he said. "Why do you always hate the mont we et?"
Su Ming’an didn’t bother with small talk. The wheelchair appeared behind him, and he leaped backward onto it, stepping on the seat with the Glory of the Hunt shotgun appearing in his hands.
This modified Purple Grade shotgun glowed with an extrely dazzling light, and he aid it at Lin Guang, who had just stood up. The barrel gathered a blue-purple glow, followed by a thunderous roar!
...
[Special Skill (Piercing Shot): Instantly fires all bullets, inflicting High Level Piercing AOE effect on enemies in front. If the enemy’s physical defense is below 40 points, a bodily explosion effect will occur. Cooldown ti one minute.]
...
"Boom—!"
A violent explosion sounded.
A total of 20 modified high-explosive bullets fired at once, with a fla-burn-like high saturation special effect, like a light dragon rushing towards the other side. The effects in the World ga were quite effective on light pollution; the attacks were blindingly bright.
Flas and shockwaves spread out, and the explosion was deafening.
Though it was a bullet shot, it sounded as enormous as a missile launch; the fierce hot wind lifted his black hair, and the incoming dust was like shattered stars.
"Hiss..." Lu, who was behind, squinted his eyes at the scene.
He thought to himself that it seed the United Group would have to reevaluate the Number One Player’s strength again.
...Wouldn’t the United Group leaders, who erect imaginary enemies for themselves every day, put Su Ming’an on their opposing side and live in fear?
Even though Su Ming’an’s increase in strength was beneficial for all humanity, there were still people afraid of too much power in the top players, as if they wished everyone were equally weak and preferred relying on the previous class system.
Lu lifted his head, feeling a burning sensation on his cheek. Su Ming’an’s attack was so amazing that the surrounding temperature was rising sharply.
In front of him, the extrely high brightness exploded like a flare going off, lighting up the foggy dawn. The Beacon mbers had no ti to admire their Lord’s strength before being shocked by this nuclear-like attack.
... Did he really need Beacon?
Alone, he was enough to face an entire legion on the battlefield, so why bother dragging along a bunch of the old and infirm...
The barrage took on a rare stillness, even the spectators were awed by this cinematic mont.
"Hoo—" The wheelchair activated, charging forward with a deep blue Defensive Barrier. In the almost still crowd, Su Ming’an gripped the wheelchair’s backrest, the Sword of Yarman pointing forward, guarding his chest with the most defensive posture as he rushed towards the explosion. The wheelchair beca his simple ans of flight.
He wouldn’t give Lin Guang any chance to counterattack, though he had 4000 Mana points spent on Spatial Vibration, the remaining 340 Mana points ant the wheelchair’s Defensive Barrier had a Defense Value of 340*10, enough ti for him to react.
He had never heard the prompt for the boss battle to start, couldn’t see Lin Gaung’s health bar or odds of victory, and was uncertain if his attacks were effective.
Considering how ragged Lin Guang had looked, they must have been effective. Although Judgnt couldn’t be used, he still had Noah’s Chain for Damage Transfer, and if it ca to it, the new Spatial Domain Skill "Spatial Concealnt" he hadn’t used yet. He didn’t have many direct attack thods, but each was like a trump card, hard for the enemy to resist.
"Lin Guang!" To prevent the enemy from escaping, Su Ming’an shouted into the dust, "I issue you a High Tower Invitation!"
He fixed his gaze on the direction from which the bullet had co. With the Sword of Yarman in one hand and the sniper rifle Wandering Night Walk in the other, he was prepared for any crafty moves Lin Guang might have up his sleeve.
Having dealt with Holy Initiation, Xia Luoyang, the Cloud City God, and the tentacled Jiu Shen, he was very familiar with the cunning tactics of these bosses. Until the very end, they would use all sorts of unpredictable thods to force him to restart.
"Huff..."
Dust blew past, and his vision cleared from blur to clarity. He dove into the yellow smoke without hearing any noise.
Even the azure glow, the signature of a High Tower Invitation, didn’t light up.
Sensing sothing, he had Xike maneuver the wheelchair, lowering its altitude, and headed toward the ground—
A figure lay there.
The black robe was torn savagely, leaving only fragnts scattered on the ground. Su Ming’an brushed aside the yellow sand obstructing his view and saw a hand exerting a slight effort on the ground, its palm clutching the harder earth and dragging the rest of the body forward.
That hand was missing two fingers, showing stark white bones, and the back of the hand was covered in marks from high-explosive bullet burns. The originally pale skin was scorched black.
Upon seeing the descending Su Ming’an, Lin Guang raised his head to reveal a pale cheek, from which one eye had bulged out of its socket. He was slowly dragging himself across the ground, leaving behind a long trail of blood—the source of the blood was a large hole blasted in his abdon. The blood, like raindrops, clung to the ground and flowed into a small stream.
...
[High Tower Invitation initiative failed, the opponent has no combat power.]
...
Su Ming’an, who had been bracing for a major battle, instead found Lin Guang on the verge of death.
He had underestimated the destructive power of the Glory Hunter. This gun, modified by Level 10 [chanics], and equipped with modified bullets, had firepower far exceeding the current Player standards, even comparable to the previous Spatial Vibration.
Twenty bullets emptied in an instant; if converted to Points, that would be nearly 200. These were not just bullets firing; they were full Points being shot. Lucky for him, they were made in the central laboratory, so he didn’t feel heartache using them.
"Why..." Lin Guang’s voice was barely audible.
He fixed Su Ming’an with his remaining pale eye, which was like a mirror, almost reflecting Su Ming’an’s entire figure.
"Why do you hate so much? Why... won’t you be friends with ..." Lin Guang said.
Looking at Lin Guang’s struggling crawl, Su Ming’an suddenly and inappropriately thought of a [Dark Crawling.jpg].
The corners of his mouth rose slightly, but he quickly suppressed it.
However, Lin Guang saw it.
Watching Su Ming’an every mont, he caught that brief hint of a smile.
"Do you find it funny to see like this?" Lin Guang said, "You were also happy walking with at night. I wanted to invite you to the City of Gods. If you like the scenery before the Century Catastrophe, you don’t need that Qiu Li to paint it. I can show you as much as you like. I’ve realized why I’ve been almost madly searching for people with black hair and gray eyes—it’s because I was ant to et you. Although I don’t rember much, you must be a good person. I want you to beco my light..."
Confusion filled his eyes, as if he could not comprehend.
Despite possessing the power to dominate ten human settlents and control the fate of the remaining humans, he was still like a child whose values had yet to be ford, not knowing what sort of person he should be.
As long as he liked sothing, he would collect all the people with black hair and gray eyes and turn them into dolls in his villa, regardless of whether they were willing.
Simply feeling close to soone, he would continually approach Lewis, even secretly coming at night to invite him for a stroll, lowering his pose to make friends.
He was like a blank sheet tainted with all shades of darkness, acting in the wrong ways, his thinking entirely different from ordinary people. Even to the end, he didn’t understand why Lewis disliked him.
"I will never be friends with anyone who enjoys watching their own kind die. You are with the Deity faction," Su Ming’an said.
He didn’t have the habit of talking to those who were about to die; he just felt that this boss battle was too eerie and that he needed information, or he would have already crushed the crawling figure in the shadows on the ground.
The audience expressed regret for the death of the high-attraction Lin Guang, and many of them begged Su Ming’an to spare Lin Guang, whom they called "White Hair." These people valued facial features over morality, a foolishness that would likely disappear if they themselves faced the slaughter of the chanical Army.
"Is that so? Just because I am part of the Deity faction?" Lin Guang said.
"That’s right."
"Isn’t it because..." Lin Guang lifted his head.
His blood flowed more and more, and his voice grew weaker and weaker.
"Isn’t it because..." Lin Guang whispered faintly, "This is... a Player task..."
His voice trailed off.
His pale fingers slowly loosened, and Lin Guang’s body, with white hair like scattered weeds, fell forward onto the scorched earth, a stream of blood rging into the uneven ground, strikingly crimson.
He was dead.
"..."
Su Ming’an landed.
"What did you say?" he asked.
Lin Guang could no longer answer him.
A white light rose from the ground, like dancing fireflies. Amidst this beautiful scene, Lin Guang’s body dispersed, becoming specks like stars, turning into "Source" before vanishing.
"Ding-dong!"
[Defeat (Lin Guang?), Exp 6000!]
...
"Ding-dong!"
[You have been elevated to (Fourth Rank, Level Four) Player.]
...
[Faction Contribution Points: 4000 points]
[Because you demonstrated extrely powerful Strength, the whole beacon of Beacon Shelter has increased by one level. Current level: Public Sentint 4.5.]
[Comprehensive Score: 3019 378]
...
—It was only then that Su Ming’an realized.
Lin Guang’s crawling was not an attempt to escape. The direction he was heading towards in his last mont was not a safe area, but towards Su Ming’an.
Lin Guang didn’t think about escaping; he was trying, with all his might, to get close to him until the very end.
A long trail of blood followed his crawling on the muddy earth.
Behind them, as the dust settled, people cautiously approached, looking at Su Ming’an, who stood amid the ascension of white specks.
The "Source" from defeating Lin Guang didn’t enter Su Ming’an’s body but instead sank into the back of his right hand, resonating subtly with the six Pattern Marks of Perfect Passes, emitting a faint white luminescence.
Previously, the Dawn System had stated that the Source in Caius Tower was called "Source of Civilization," and the primary task for all contestants was to acquire this "Source of Civilization" that could prolong the World’s lifespan. What was on the back of Su Ming’an’s hand, however, was called "World Origin," a Pattern Mark obtained after each Perfect Pass.
The thods of acquiring "Source of Civilization" and "World Origin" were entirely different, but at this mont, they blended together.
Su Ming’an raised his hand, the white glow on the back of his right hand had cald, and the six Pattern Marks of Perfect Passes lay quietly side by side, resembling a half-blood white flower that seed unchanged.
"Lord."
The voice of Sita Xi ca, "Did you... kill Lin Guang?"
They didn’t see Lin Guang in the yellow earth, only a torn piece of black cloth and the "Source" that rose like a wave—signifying one inevitable conclusion.
The being whom they had carefully longed to look up at in hatred, that devilish Lin Guang, had been killed by their Lord.
Their eyes on Su Ming’an had changed.
Before, they might have been superstitious, seeing those who could control the Source as incarnations of the World’s will, hoping Lewis would co to save them. Now, they were utterly convinced, even the eyes of Sen Kylstia looked different—it was the gaze one reserves for a deity.
"The World Forum’s information needs updating," Lu said, coming over with a laugh, "Those spectators are probably scared silly. You haven’t made a move for so long, but when you did, it was like a bolt from the blue. I’ve completely beco a bystander."
He had originally thought that teaming up with Su Ming’an would allow for mutual exchange and assistance, and the collaboration between the mbers of Peak Alliance would beco a beautiful tale. Instead, he had been utterly superfluous as Su Ming’an cleared the instance alone.
He, a top-ten Peak Player, had been reduced to just an onlooker, no different from the other weaker Players.
With that thought, Lu suddenly realized sothing.
—The gap between the Number One Player and them had grown too large.
It had reached a point where... anyone before Su Ming’an was just an "ordinary Player." His perspective was always looking down, for there was no longer anyone worthy of standing on the sa platform with him.
This was an ominous sign.
Those who depart from humanity for too long will eventually be viewed as outcasts. Humans are inherently xenophobic, and they always hold fear and vigilance towards beings vastly different from themselves.
He had beco aware of this sign early on. So, could he... act as a bridge to connect this Number One Player, who was nearing godhood, with the people who could only look up to him?
Lu fell into contemplation.
"That’s great, with Lewis here, we have nothing to fear from the chanical Army," Joslin said, clapping and smiling, "When Lu Sa and Xia Sheng return, let’s think of a way to expand our Domain. The current Beacon is still too small in scale. If we can keep taking in new mbers, we might... truly be able to defeat the Deity faction."
"With Lewis here, there’s definitely no problem," said Sen, looking at Su Ming’an with trustful eyes.
"Lewis..." Anjie’s eyes shone, simply repeating his na, she completely turned into a fangirl.
Tretiya stood quietly by the side, smiling.
To the ordinary mbers, a Lord with the power to protect them with his formidable Strength was no different from an unfathomable deity. Survival, resources, weapons, technology—Lewis could ensure everything, he was too reassuring.
Su Ming’an did not respond.
He stared at the blood-stained ground, still pondering Lin Guang’s last words before death.
[Isn’t it because...]
[This is... a Player task...]
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