Chapter 239: Stuck
Deep within the Lime Men, in a small cluttered warehouse filled with various bottles and jars, the dim yellow light flickered intermittently.
A pale and weary-looking man, who seemed to have not slept well for several months, sat at an old dusty wooden table, focused on eating a steaming bowl of vegetarian noodles.
He ate very seriously and meticulously; at the moment he put down his bowl and chopsticks, not only were the noodles and greens wiped clean, but there wasn’t even a drop of soup or a sprig of scallions left behind.
Hunqiu Luxuming quietly watched the man finish his noodles and could no longer hold back his sarcasm, “The illustrious president of the Solar Eclipse Society is living in such misery; you’re truly one of a kind! Did you hear that? The former presidents are crying!”
The man looked at Hunqiu Luxuming and smiled bitterly, “Sorry to make you laugh. There have been too many trivial matters lately; I’ve been late to work several times and taken two days off. This month’s paycheck is barely under two thousand, and buying cat food has taken away a small chunk of it, so I can only save a bit on meals.”
“……” Hunqiu Luxuming fell silent for a moment after hearing this.
Who would have thought that the infamous president of the Solar Eclipse Society was such a peculiar office worker, so poor he couldn’t even afford meals and had to use half his salary to feed his cat?
If the former presidents of the Solar Eclipse Society found out, they would surely cry!
“Forget it, let’s get to the main point?” Hunqiu Luxuming said. “You showing up here isn’t just to complain to me, is it? Let me clarify first! I have no money to lend you since I’m stuck in this hellish place.”
“No need to borrow money; I just found a part-time job as a driver, starting tomorrow night, which should help with some expenses.” The man replied nonchalantly.
His tone was unusually flat, as if he were a humble office worker recounting to an old friend his struggles to make extra cash for his child’s formula after work, but then suddenly shifted to reveal that his part-time job was like a Syrian mercenary.
“I came to tell you that Lu Ming is about to advance to Calamity.” He paused and added, “This information just came from an informant planted by Phoenix in the Tethys Laboratory ten minutes ago.”
“According to that informant, the personnel at the Tethys Laboratory monitoring that wave detected an anomalous wave, and upon analysis, they found that the target of that wave is indeed Calamity.”
Upon hearing this from the man, Hunqiu Luxuming was somewhat taken aback.
Although he had known that the Tethys Laboratory, under the control of the Elders’ Council of the Solar Eclipse Society, had mastered the method of observing that mysterious wave, he hadn’t expected that in just a few short years, the Tethys Laboratory had achieved a new breakthrough and found a method to analyze that wave.
It is worth noting that the Siye Society, which shared origins with the Solar Eclipse Society, until the time he was confined deep within the Lime Men, needed a diviner of Zhang Hainan’s caliber to observe and analyze the waves from the source of the world, at a huge cost.
However, this was only natural.
Twin brothers, as they grow up, can have completely different life trajectories!
After all, the Siye Society could not be like the Solar Eclipse Society, using every possible means in developing various technologies without considering the consequences.
Seeing that Hunqiu Luxuming was silent, the man thought he still had doubts about what he said and added another comment.
“In addition, I also received news from Unik that more than half of the secondary destructive factors they were monitoring have shown varying degrees of agitation within the last half hour.”
Dolly Von Unik, like Adelaide Phoenix, was also an important member sent by the president of the Solar Eclipse Society, but Phoenix focused on research and making money, while Unik had long been engaged in intelligence work.
“Huh, destructive factors?” Lu Ming sneered, “I don’t like that term; it makes it seem like they are destined to bring destruction from birth.”
“Isn’t that the case?” the man asked, perplexed.
“Of course not!” Lu Ming firmly denied. “They still have the possibility to choose resistance or to be forced to defy the guidance of fate, right? Otherwise, the so-called Old Destructors wouldn’t have been born.”
“Aren’t you always following the so-called rules? The Old Destructors still existing to this day indicates that their existence conforms to certain rules. If so, then why can’t Xiao Bei follow that set of rules?”
“Rest assured! Xiao Bei won’t accept that mysterious gift, and if you ask why… it’s probably because her father taught her well since childhood!”
Of course, it was also because Xiao Bei had a pair of eyes that could see the truth… Lu Ming added silently in his heart.
“……” The man fell silent for a moment, quietly lit a cheap cigarette, took a deep puff, and expressionlessly said, “Is that what you think?”
He wanted to tell Lu Ming that it was precisely because of the repeated failures of those Old Destructors that the subsequent factors leading to world destruction became increasingly powerful and their abilities more unpredictable, but facts proved that there were always people or urban legends who could stop them.
Although, from the current perspective, the advances of human civilization made this round of destructive factors even more terrifying than those from over three hundred years ago, yet if someone could prevent the end back then, he also wouldn’t dare say there was definitely no chance this time.
After all, that also conformed to the rules.
A certain negative rule that would attract severe punishment if defied.
“What do you think he will choose?” the man asked.
“How would I know?” Hunqiu Luxuming’s form flickered a few times, seeming to shrug, as if he completely did not care about the result. “No matter how Xiao Bei chooses, she is still my child, and I will support her.”
“Parents who excessively interfere with their children’s choices aren’t good parents.”
The man frowned, “Aren’t you worried she might suffer the world’s malice for refusing that gift?”
“Why worry?” Lu Ming was puzzled. “It’s just the world’s malice… at most, life will be a bit difficult in the future; it won’t k*ll anyone.”
“I might even be happy for her! At least under the influence of the world’s malice, she gains an extra lifeline and won’t d*e so easily.”
“Every parent hopes their child lives a long life, don’t they?”
Upon hearing this, the man briefly fell into silence, and after a long time spoke, diverting the topic, “I want to stay here a little longer, until the results come out; you don’t mind, do you?”
“Hah! Why be so formal?” Lu Ming said nonchalantly, “Just treat this place like your own home; stay as long as you want.”
The man, “……”
But from a certain perspective, the Lime Men seemed like my own home?
Why do I have to be so humble before him?
It’s just like facing the manager at the company.
————
Driven by a seemingly irresistible force, Lu Bei moved closer and closer to the figure shrouded in flames.
The surging spirit energy within her was like a tsunami, crashing violently. Under the onslaught of this sudden terrifying force, she vaguely felt her internal organs cry out in anguish, on the verge of bursting.
d*mn! This is a major mess… Lu Bei thought, horrified.
It was just like being driven by curiosity to follow an older brother home, wanting to see interesting things, only to discover that not only was she forced to view some disturbing scenes, but she was also compelled to do some distressing things.
She instinctively opened her mouth to let out a painful wail, but just at that moment she opened her mouth, a terrifying spirit energy from the flame-shrouded figure surged toward her.
In an instant, it felt as if she had swallowed boiling molten iron; a strong burning sensation rushed into her body through her lips, incinerating her throat in a fiery blaze, locking her painful moans within her throat.
“There are those of Zhongshan, there is a woman dressed in green…”
“It is the mist that blinds the eyes and the star that leads the storm…”
“Born as a god, proclaiming its name, all ink in praise, singing ‘Nine Shao’…”
“Dispelling the figure of steel…”
“d*ath, rebirth, redemption, cruelty, heroism, disaster…”
“……”
The voices lowly chanting the descriptions of different powers and those sounds previously heard in the hearts of tribal warriors and Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers echoed from deep within Lu Bei’s soul, growing stronger.
In the next moment, her consciousness seemed to be thrust into heights unimaginable by human measurements by an irresistible force; countless phantoms overlapped, and in an instant, all the whispers “shattered.”
As if someone had thrown her into a blender, she became a jumble of broken syllables.
Forced to listen to those chaotic syllables, it was as if she was hallucinating, perceiving a multitude of complex and incomprehensible images.
It was a very strange experience, as if seeing pictures or words would involuntarily evoke sounds in her mind, hearing specific music and visualizing it like a hallucination, yet even more subtle and indescribable.
What she saw were flames, wastelands, bl**d, destruction wrought by extreme power, and abstract concepts symbolizing various things, radiating a terrifying force.
Those “syllables” imbued with peculiar rhythms continuously rearranged, merged, and split… seemingly coalescing into a message, vague but symbolizing some image in Lu Bei’s mind, flickering in and out.
Suddenly, her intuition told her that when she understood that vague message and saw the flickering images clearly, it would be the moment she gained her unique power and advanced to Calamity!
But…
Once advancing to Calamity under such conditions, there would likely be no turning back, right?
d*mn! Is there no way to resist this?
What is this, a forced malicious bundled sale? Lu Bei thought.
At the moment this thought occurred, a low chant of power description suddenly crystallized from the chaotic “syllables.”
Although that chant was still vague, she could roughly discern some content.
“Surpassing the disaster of calamity, transforming into chaotic misfortunes…”
It’s over! Has it already begun?
The moment she heard that power description, Lu Bei’s heart sank; a sense of helplessness quietly rose within her.
However, just then, she suddenly felt a force behind her, pulling at her consciousness, drawing her back, away from that flame-shrouded figure.
That force was very weak, like a gentle breeze passing by, yet it gave her great encouragement as she was on the brink of despair.
It was as if a drowning person had grasped the last straw of hope.
As that force came, she vaguely heard a murmur.
Weak, fragmented, muddled, as if someone was whispering behind her.
That murmur said, “Calamity, calamity, seek disaster, avoid misfortune!”
The moment she understood that voice, a warmth spread through Lu Bei’s heart.
It was the slogan the little urban legends from the “Messengers of Love and Peace · Models of Morality and Conscience · Cute Magical Warrior Team” had once shouted.
Indeed, regarding “disaster,” there was not only the understanding of fear and destruction from the hearts of tribal warriors and Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers on the battlefield before Yumen Pass, but long ago, she had already left a trace of beauty in countless urban legends and human hearts…
Lu Bei was delighted that the strength provided by those little urban legends had stopped her from continuing to approach that flame-shrouded figure, but in the next moment, her mood took a sharp downturn.
She realized that although the momentum of her continued approach had temporarily stopped, the power of the little urban legends was too weak; viewed individually, they were even weaker than an adult and simply insufficient to help her escape her predicament.
In simple terms, she was stuck.
Lu Bei, “……”
