A Night of Desperation-Chapter 263: Final Destination

“It’s all over now.”

In the great hall of the stone castle.

A person in a black mask, holding a cane, slowly sauntered out from the shadows, looking at the surveillance projection on the wall.

The projection seemed to be delayed;the screen kept flickering and blurring, clearly interfered with.

The screen had also frozen a minute prior, where a Sheepman charged towards Yiyi, with everyone else lying on the ground, bathed in blood—the situation had been settled.

“Let’s go, it’s time for the next step.”

The Eternal Life President moved forward, followed by three mysterious figures also clad in black robes, wearing black metal masks, slowly emerging.

“The fourth level of defense, making it this far isn’t too bad, but that’s all it is.” A short, fat old woman chuckled.

“No problems here, let’s see how the investigation team of the Free Alliance is doing,” another burly man said in a deep voice.

“The situation in Eastern River is set. As soon as Felica and the Free Alliance confirm the situation, it will be time for us to formally establish the new city. The surfacing of the Night Pool, having gathered most of the sacrifices, has already started to speed up;it should take a little over an hour,” explained the Eternal Life President.

He reached out and gestured in the air.

The projection flickered and changed to another underground passage.

The investigation team from Felica was led by a sturdy blonde woman with blue eyes, who at that moment had been impaled in the chest by a Sheepman, pinned against the wall, struggling feebly.

The rest of the team members lay scattered nearby, already lifeless.

“Let’s see how the Free Alliance is doing.”

The President said with a smile, continuing to switch the views.

Suddenly the screen flickered again.

In the same underground passageway, a slender figure with red short hair was pulling out a scimitar with one hand, with one of the Black Disaster fusion elites—Black Sheepman—impaled underneath the scimitar.

Seemingly aware of the surveillance.

The red-haired woman looked up, revealing a resolute expression filled with bloodshed towards the camera.

“How is this possible…!? Just an enhanced human with multiple modifications!? How did she manage to kill the Black Sheepman!?”

The members of the Association paused, stunned by the scene on the screen.

“Interesting…” The President laughed instead. “Doesn’t this make things even more interesting??” He seemed to be reminded of something amusing and couldn’t help but throw back his head, laughing even more heartily.

“Could it be Mesa’s people involved…!?” Suddenly, the eyes of the other five converged on a black-robed person who had been silent all along in the corner.

“It’s just a minor trouble. The President must think this adds a bit of fun to our plans, am I right, Mr. President?”

The black-robed person spoke out, his voice carrying an unusual calmness that was almost eerie.

“Indeed… after all, everything is progressing according to my predictions,” the President said, lowering his head and stepping down from the platform, taking the lead out of the great hall towards a dark underground passage.

*

*

*

Aurora City.

Chen Yaofeng tapped gently on the door, standing in a dark red corridor.

The surroundings were unusually quiet, with thick black carpets on the floor silencing any footsteps.

A row of stiff guards with guns stood evenly spaced along both sides of the corridor, wearing full-body black reinforcement suits and thick breathing valve helmets, rendering their expressions indecipherable, projecting an icy, solemn atmosphere.

“Come in,” the voice of his father, Chen Xiguang, came from inside.

Chen Yaofeng pushed open the door to find the room empty, save for the silver-haired Chen Xiguang sitting in a wheelchair by the window, gazing out at the simulated sunlight.

“There’s been an incident with the investigation team,” Chen Yaofeng said somberly.

Silence.

Chen Xiguang did not respond, not even turning his head.

He continued to watch the scenery outside, observing the buildings bathed in simulated sunlight.

After several seconds.

He turned to look at his son.

“I’ve just talked to the other members of Aurora City,” he said.

“All of them?” Chen Yaofeng blinked, quickly coming to grips with the situation.

“Yes,” nodded Chen Xiguang.

He slowly stood up, using the chair’s armrests for support as he straightened his back.

“In fact, from the beginning, our investigation team was merely a smokescreen to cover for the real investigation team’s entry.”

“I noticed,” Chen Yaofeng fell silent for a moment, then nodded.

“Yes, although it was just a smokescreen, we did every step as thoroughly as possible. Although we all knew that those efforts alone could not possibly deal with the mysterious Eternal Life Association,” Chen Xiguang continued. “But we still did it.”

“There are too many spies within the Eternal Life Association;I understand the reasoning,” Chen Yaofeng said.

“Exactly because of that, the real investigation team doesn’t belong to any Aurora City. Instead, it is independently infiltrated by an external team,” explained Chen Xiguang.

“What about our people?” Chen Yaofeng asked somberly. “Ill-prepared and even unaware, facing the Eternal Life Association head-on…” His fists gradually clenched, his voice slowly rising.

“We will do our best to preserve them… to save their lives,” Chen Xiguang stated gravely.

“They are elite! They are the best among our reinforced humans!” Chen Yaofeng said. “Even if they are to be sacrificed, they at least deserve the right to be informed and choose!!”

“To deceive the enemy, you must first deceive yourself. All the more so with an organization full of spies like the Eternal Life Association,” Chen Xiguang said calmly.

He looked at his son.

“From a father’s perspective, I can understand you. From a personal perspective, I can also understand how unfair this operation is to individuals. But…”

He paused.

“We have no choice… Is it to respect the individual and fail overall, or to potentially sacrifice a few for the greater good? If you were to choose, what would you do?”

“I…!” Chen Yaofeng clenched his fists, having felt this way once before. That time, he lost his best friend.

And this time…

Snap.

Chen Xiguang gently placed his hand on his son’s shoulder.

“It’s all right… every decision was made by me. It’s all right…”

His voice was laden with heavy weariness.

In the pitch-black night, a piercing cold wind howled.

Heavy snow covered everything.

Yu Hong’s figure darted forward across the snowy ground like a streak of white lightning.

The snowflakes beside him all turned into slanted rain of knives. The sheer speed made it so that when the snowflakes hit, the impact was enough to slash gaping wounds on ordinary people.

At this moment, the snowflakes truly resembled knives.

Behind him,

Streams of blue mist emanated from his back, reacting with the surrounding Black Fog, canceling each other out.

Light and dark, they seemed like natural archenemies.

Inside Yu Hong at this time, the endless True Origin Divine Light within him was frantically trying to burst through the surface of his body, countering the encroachment of the surrounding Black Fog.

This antagonistic neutralization even affected Yu Hong’s original absorption of Red Value, converting it into Inner Qi.

The Red Value radiation had just reached him and had yet to be absorbed when it was canceled out by the blue light.

‘The effects of the Cosmic Divine Light have started to take hold…’ He looked back in the direction of the encampment.

There, a faint blue light had already started illuminating a small patch of the sky.

In stark contrast to the everywhere-pervasive pitch-black mist, this small illuminated area seemed particularly glaring.

He did not know whether what he was doing was right or wrong, but as long as he had the Black Mark, he believed that his own growth would definitely be able to control the development of the situation.

Turning back, he continued to check the direction of the marks, hastening toward Yiyi.

And behind him,

In the far distance, within the encampment, silhouettes of blue were lining up, emerging one by one from the crack of the Ultimate Gate.

They were figures in blue robes, ethereal and semi-transparent.

They wore hoods, heads bowed, hands crossed and hidden within the wide sleeves.

No distinction of gender, if one looked at their hooded faces, they would see nothing but blue robes within.

Only a faint blue light circulated ceaselessly.

Thump!

Thump!

Suddenly, the gate’s doors were struck open further.

A floating crystal mass flew out from inside.

The thing looked like it was cobbled together from countless blue crystals. Through the crystals, one could see that at the center was a pale, round eyeball, constantly looking around.

The moment this thing appeared,

The Black Fog within a hundred meters around it instantly faded in unison.

All Black Disasters below level seven felt an inexplicable sense of oppression at this moment.

This signified that high-level entities with a concentration of power at eight levels or above had formally entered this world…

In the underground tunnels,

The elite of the Freedom Alliance’s investigation department was advancing rapidly through the passageways.

The red-haired woman in the lead had a short blade that flitted about like butterfly wings, working in perfect harmony with her rapid movements, making short work of any adversary she faced.

Within the tunnel, immense swarms of Black Disasters, beings shrouded in black smoke and twisted in shape like rats in numbers, sprinted forth, attacking any individual that neared.

“Be careful, Leiya, your strength, physique, and speed have all been enhanced to the limit, except for toxin resistance, which is still lacking. The Eternal Life Association is likely to target this weakness.”

A deep voice from a hazy black shadow reminded from behind the woman.

“You should say that, aside from this one aspect, everything else about me has been enhanced to the limit.” Leiya sheathed her blade, landed, and shook off the black ash from her sleeves.

“How are the arrangements?” she asked in a low voice, awaiting her team to catch up.

“Everyone has arrived.” The black shadow halted beside her and replied.

Under the bright white illumination of lights, the person’s face was revealed.

He was a grotesquely disfigured, tall and thin man with burned features. He wore a black top hat, his attire all in black, but his eyes sparkled like stars, as if glowing.

“Having come this far, I have to ask you again,” the disfigured man spoke. “Are you really willing to continue?”

“It’s my fate,” replied Leiya calmly, “Even if I do not seek them out, they are destined to come after me. Inescapable, unavoidable.”

“I’m glad I found you,” the man said.

“Indeed… without you, perhaps I would be like Lin Yiyi by now, powerless, being manipulated without any awareness.” Leiya sighed slightly.

“You truly are one of a kind, Leiya. From the first moment I found you, I made that judgment. In some ways, I am lucky, and you are too… We were fortunate to find each other.” The man expressed his sentiment as well.

“So, as long as we take down the Night Pool, we can interrupt the Black Disaster from worsening further, and then by resolving the original source, the Black Well, we can cut off the root source of the Black Disaster, right?” Leiya asked.

“Yes, the Night Pool has always been hidden, untouchable. Only at the moment of its emergence, when it can be truly touched, can it be completely destroyed. This is our only chance.”

“This is also what he hopes for… so ultimately, it still comes down to who has the stronger fist.” Leiya stepped forward, continuing deeper into the tunnel.

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Soon, a massive black metal door loomed ahead.

The door was exceedingly heavy. At its surface center, there was a carving of a ferocious goat’s head.