Liguang’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly.
Her silver coiled bun remained utterly still in the wind.
Xiaoyue looped her arm through Fang Yi’s, those lazy, seductive eyes also narrowing.
The two beautiful women stood just a few steps apart, locked in a standoff, neither speaking first.
Exactly like that time in the movie theater.
Around them, the crowd continued to disperse.
The cursing voices of the older women faded into the distance.
Police were taking down the yellow tape, roadblocks dragged to the roadside.
Fang Qi, meanwhile, watched the man before him.
The man wore a dark, worn-out coat, standing just a few steps away.
He was gazing in the direction the ambulance had gone.
Over there, only the empty street remained, along with the lingering crowd that had yet to fully scatter.
“…Did you see that?”
The man’s voice was low.
“That was Chenxi.”
Fang Qi didn’t respond.
“…I know that girl,” the man said, turning his gaze back to Fang Qi.
“Big Brother and Big Sister-in-Law told me about her.”
Fang Qi’s fingers tightened slightly.
“Back then, they talked to her, tried to get her to leave Chenxi and join us. But…”
The man let out a soft sigh.
“She still refused.”
“She said she had to stay in Chenxi.”
“She said…”
The man looked at Fang Qi calmly, his eyes deep and peaceful.
“She still had people she needed to protect.”
Fang Qi just met his gaze in silence.
“I regret it,” the man’s voice grew heavier.
“But…”
“The dead can’t come back.”
“You still have to look forward.”
He stared at Fang Qi, his tone turning more serious:
“That thing I mentioned to you before… think it over again.”
He didn’t say it outright.
Out here in public, of course he couldn’t utter the words “join Bomo.”
But Fang Qi understood.
—Join Bomo, undergo body modification.
A flicker of silver hair!
Liguang instantly stepped forward half a pace, raising her hand to shield Fang Qi behind her!
Her heterochromatic eyes locked directly onto the two before her!
“Hm?”
Xiaoyue let out a soft sound, tilting her head lazily, glancing at Liguang with surprise:
“How strange, you were all for it before…”
She shot another look at Fang Qi:
“Could it be that your master convinced you? Tsk, it’s been three days, and still no answer. Truly…”
“Ungrateful.”
Her tone was lazy but laced with clear mockery.
“If he’d agreed earlier, maybe…”
The corner of her mouth curled.
“That Chenxi agent just now wouldn’t have died.”
Fang Qi: “…”
“What did you say?!”
Liguang lunged forward a step!
“Crack!”
The brick under her foot snapped with a sharp sound!
A flicker of crimson at her fingertips, barely visible!
Xiaoyue didn’t tense up.
Instead, she blinked, then…
Suddenly wore a look of surprise!
“Oh?”
She tilted her head, examining Liguang’s flickering red eye.
“Why do I feel…”
She murmured…
Then, a playful smirk curled at the corner of her lips!
“You’re so weak now? Feeling like…”
She let go of the man’s arm, stepped forward half a pace, and leaned in slightly…
Blinking as she studied the silver-haired girl protecting Fang Qi:
“Even if I held one hand behind my back, I could easily take you down.”
Liguang’s crimson eye locked on Xiaoyue, data streams surging faster!
She still stood in front of Fang Qi, her voice low and hoarse:
“You can try…!”
“Xiaoyue!”
The man barked in a low voice!
Xiaoyue stared at Liguang’s raging crimson eye, a flicker in her gaze…
Finally, she let out a soft “tsk.”
Stepped back half a pace, returning to the man’s side.
“…Heh.”
Fang Qi let out a soft laugh instead.
He looked at the two before him, and at the silver-haired girl guarding him.
He grabbed Liguang’s small hand and squeezed it gently.
The silver-haired girl glanced back at him, her eyes carrying a hint of…
Resentment?
—Master, Liguang has grown weak…
Oh…
So his Liguang had really gotten weaker, huh?
When she pinned him to the bed earlier, he still couldn’t fight back!
She was still that strong.
But…
Well.
She really had grown weaker, even Xiaoyue noticed.
Because…
Liguang’s crimson eye had been suppressed.
That was the last thing An Lian did for him and Liguang.
He glanced over at Xiaoyue, who was idly inspecting her own nails.
Still, Liguang was no pushover.
…Her original core was still there!
Though it was still asleep, not showing that faint blue in her amber eye…
If truly pushed to the edge, no one knew what might happen!
But…
That wasn’t why he had laughed just now.
He was thinking…
“The dead can’t come back, huh?”
He murmured the words under his breath.
Heh…!
…Good.
Very, very good!
The dead can’t come back!
Now that’s an undeniable truth that no one can refute!
“Uncle…!”
Fang Qi laughed, shaking his head, “Don’t look at you being a…”
He raised his hand, pointing at the man’s chest.
That chest hidden under the old coat, half-mechanized.
“Don’t look at you being that, but…”
He laughed so easily:
“You’re truly the most…”
“Reassuring ordinary person I’ve met in a while!”
Fang Yi stared at him, brow furrowed, confusion flickering in his eyes.
Clearly, he didn’t grasp the real meaning of those words.
Fang Qi just laughed even more happily.
Ah.
He really did feel a bit reassured.
Ordinary person…
That word, used for a half-mechanical man, certainly didn’t fit.
But he wasn’t talking about the body!
Lately, he had met far too many unordinary people!
Lin Xiaoyou—
That genius girl.
She alone had figured out the secrets of rewind and dreams, then used poison gas to gamble her life on verification.
Gu Xi—
That policewoman.
Not only did she know about rewind, but she also knew about his “sacrifice play” from before his memory loss, and she still had plenty of secrets she wouldn’t share.
Even An Lian, the most ordinary sister…
Through those looping dreams, she, too, had guessed the truth of the rewind.
They… all knew something about the secrets of this world.
He’d been dealing with these key NPCs so much lately that he almost thought…
All the factions around him—Chenxi, Bomo, the police, the informants—
All of them knew he could rewind!
He even felt like the whole world was keeping him in the dark!
Leaving him the only clown grinning smugly!
But now it seemed…
Not at all!
At least, the man before him, Fang Yi, didn’t know!
He said “the dead can’t come back”!
He comforted him with the most ordinary logic!
He told him to move forward, and urged him to think about joining Bomo!
Sure, he had his own motives, wanted to use him and Liguang, but…
Ah.
Compared to those others, he really was a relief!
If this uncle didn’t know, maybe it meant…
Fang Qi stared at the frowning man.
Bomo itself knew nothing about this.
This organization, Bomo…
They hadn’t transcended the rules of this world…!
They were just like all the other ordinary NPCs, all of them…!
“Are you Fang Qi?”
A lazy, questioning voice cut through Fang Qi’s thoughts.
…?
He glanced to the side.
Two figures had suddenly appeared behind the middle-aged man.
A man and a woman, both dressed in ordinary street clothes.
They looked no different from the lingering onlookers still scattered around.
But Liguang’s scarlet pupils immediately stirred. Then—
She quickly leaned close to Fang Qi’s ear and lowered her voice:
“Master, these two people…”
“They’re a modded human and an AI companion!”
“The man is the master, the woman is the AI!”
…Tch.
Again?
Fang Qi squinted.
Two more people from Bohai had shown up.
And he didn’t even know them.
He looked at the middle-aged man and Xiaoyue.
Well, their attitude was a bit strange.
Xiaoyue had clearly furrowed her brows. A flicker of obvious displeasure passed through her languid eyes.
As for the middle-aged man, the faint smile that had been lingering at the corner of his mouth had also faded significantly.
These two were clearly at odds with the middle-aged man and Xiaoyue.
And the man had already begun sizing up Fang Qi without restraint!
His gaze slid from Fang Qi’s face to Liguang, then back again.
Beside him, his female AI companion clung to his arm and gave Liguang a once-over as well. Then—
“Well, well, well.”
“So this is the person you’ve taken a liking to, and…”
The woman hugged her master’s arm, resting her head on his shoulder as she smiled at Liguang:
“This silver-haired little girl? She looks way too weak, doesn’t she? That scarlet eye of hers isn’t…”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk…”
She curled her lip.
“There’s still technology this outdated?”
…Huh?
Fang Qi’s eyebrow twitched.
…What did they mean?
Did they not know that Liguang was…?
Liguang narrowed her eyes at them too.
The middle-aged man frowned and snapped in a low voice:
“There are too many people here. Don’t spout that nonsense!”
…Right.
It seemed Bohai really was a loose organization internally.
The man seemed completely indifferent to the middle-aged man’s rebuke. Instead, he laughed and lowered his voice:
“That maintenance worker they just carried off—what was her name… An Lian?”
He chuckled.
“Right, she was a maintenance worker for Chenxi.”
Fang Qi: “…”
He stared at the man before him, his eyes darkening.
This guy…
What was he trying to say now?!
“People like that, they’re better off dead,” the man shrugged.
“They’re just ordinary humans, after all.”
Beside him, the woman let out a low laugh:
“Humans are just too fragile. They break with the slightest touch.”
She lifted her gaze to Fang Qi and offered him a gentle smile:
“Mr. Fang, you’re human too. Surely you understand, right?”
Fang Qi: “…”
The middle-aged man frowned further and barked:
“You two, have you had enough?!”
“Tch.”
Xiaoyue clicked her tongue, squinting at the woman with undisguised disgust!
But she didn’t move.
This was a public street.
The police were still packing things up a few dozen meters away.
And there were plenty of passersby.
Fang Qi’s face remained expressionless.
He could feel Liguang’s fingers trembling slightly in his palm.
The man tilted his head and took half a step closer.
Liguang’s scarlet pupils flared with red light again!
The man just shrugged without coming any nearer. Then he grinned:
“Fang Yi might think highly of you, but we don’t. If you want to join us, you’d better prove you’re not just some useless guy hiding behind…”
He glanced at Liguang, the corner of his mouth curling.
“…your girlfriend’s skirt.”
The woman beside him giggled, nuzzling her head into her master’s arm, her eyes fixed on Fang Qi the whole time.
Liguang’s small hand trembled even harder!
At her right fingertips, a flash of crimson light flickered—then vanished!
The hand he was holding clenched tighter and tighter in his palm!
Her fingertips dug into his skin!
She was holding back.
Because An Lian had suppressed Liguang’s scarlet eye power to the minimum.
So…
She wasn’t impulsive now.
She could control herself.
And also…
Fang Qi hadn’t said anything yet!
So she didn’t move.
As for Fang Qi…
He was still holding Liguang’s hand, continuing to stare expressionlessly at the man before him.
The man saw the fleeting crimson at Liguang’s fingertips and was briefly surprised.
But instead of backing off, he exaggeratedly opened his mouth wide:
“Whoa! What a low-grade weapon! But…”
He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow:
“What are you planning to do?”
“Are you going to do something irreversible here?”
He spread his hands, his tone full of smug confidence!
“I mean, you don’t want your master to end up in prison, do you?”
“Or even… sentenced to death?”
He even stepped forward, thrusting his neck right in front of Liguang’s fingers!
Arrogant!
Reckless without fear!
Fang Qi still stared at him, face blank.
“Hold back! You have to hold back!” the man said with a grin, his neck exposed vulnerably before her fingertips.
“Or…”
He bared his teeth, lowering his voice further:
“Kill me? Go ahead.”
“Then ruin your master’s whole life.”
For a split second, the woman beside him showed a flash of obvious worry on her face.
She cast a helpless glance at her master, but in the end, she said nothing.
She just hugged his arm tighter and looked away.
Fang Yi and Xiaoyue both had grim expressions!
“Fang Qi, don’t listen to his bullshit!” the middle-aged man said through gritted teeth, his voice urgent.
Xiaoyue’s eyes stayed fixed on the man sticking out his neck.
The curve of her mouth had completely vanished.
Liguang’s hand trembled violently!
She clenched her jaw, the crimson data streams in her scarlet pupils flickering faintly.
She was waiting for his command.
If he shook his head, she could keep holding on.
But Fang Qi looked at the man stretching out his neck and looking so cocky—
And suddenly, he laughed.
“Ha…!”
He shook his head.
A somewhat rueful laugh.
Honestly… how could someone like this exist…?
But the moment the middle-aged man saw that laugh, his pupils sharply constricted!
“Fang Qi, don’t do anything rash, you—!”
His tone was tense!
Then he whipped his head toward the man:
“Take your people and get out!”
The man, however, just kept his neck extended, shrugging.
“Fang Yi, are you ordering me…?”
Xiaoyue stared hard at Fang Qi and Liguang, her body already tensing up.
Fang Qi didn’t look at them.
In his mind, the words An Lian had written on that sticky note surfaced:
“I want to go find Mom and Dad,” “Go meet my brother,” “Go see Aunt Su and Uncle Fang,” “I used my life to protect Xiao Qi, just like my brother protected me back then.”
She really had been so tired…
She had carried the pressure of Chenxi alone, the weight of being a maintenance worker alone, the burden of her promise to Aunt Su, walking through this city on her own for so many years.
And now, this man in front of him, sticking out his neck, was saying in that flippant tone…
“People like that, they’re better off dead.”
They even…
insulted his Liguang.
He had only just had that kind of relationship with Liguang.
How could he let his own wife be wronged?
He could take wrongs himself.
But not his wife.
He smiled at the man before him.
This was truly…
a gift from heaven for him and Liguang.
“Liguang,” said Fang Qi softly.
"Do what you want."
The silver-haired girl’s body trembled slightly.
And in the blink of the man’s eyes—
A flash of crimson light burst!
A head suddenly flew into the air!
Shards of machinery, along with blood, sprayed everywhere!!
The scene fell silent for a few seconds, then…
“AAAAAHHH——!!!”
“MURDER!!!”
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
