"Especially you!"

As Xiao raised his arms high and roared out this voice, the raging sea of fire at the bottom of the cargo ship instantly swept towards Yekaterina.

Rumble!

A violent explosion erupted at the bottom of the "Dwarf."

In the muffled roar, a lithe figure with a red, permed, wavy hairstyle leaned forward, toes touching the ground. Instead of retreating, Yekaterina advanced, directly drawing her long whip and lashing it fiercely at the dark figure standing in the sea of fire.

"Snap—"

Xiao did not dodge this whip.

The iron whip struck the man's body, emitting a strange, dull sound!

Yekaterina frowned at this.

The man's body was like a rotten "mud"... This strike caused flesh to fly, but the "spiritual aura" on his body did not weaken in the slightest.

"Is it some kind of special 'ability'..."

There was no time for more thought.

The surging sea of fire engulfed her.

The iron whip swept back, and in the woman's hand, it erupted with a sharp, ear-piercing tearing sound. Yekaterina wielded the iron whip, using her body as the center and the iron whip as the radius, outlining a flawless circle!

The "Wind Rose" of Rhein City fiercely withstood the sea of fire and charged forward.

The moment they exchanged blows, she felt that the other party's strength was not strong, about the same level as her... In a battle between equals, she had nothing to fear!

On the other side, Xiao, who had been extremely arrogant and posed an offensive stance, retracted the sea of fire upon seeing Yekaterina charge over, smiled slightly, and retreated towards the bottom cargo hold of the Dwarf.

"Bang!"

This shipment from the Southern Continent was extremely mysterious. Even Yekaterina, who was responsible for guarding it, did not know what was being carried in the bottom cargo hold of the Dwarf... It wasn't until she smashed through the deck and broke into the cargo hold that she realized something was wrong.

Compared to the sea of fire on the lower level.

Here, there was silence.

And a silence that was somewhat frightening...

What met her eyes was a series of well-preserved "nutrient pods." Large blocks of red-silver glass refracted a scarlet, dazzling light. There were a total of sixty "corpses" perfectly sealed within the nutrient pods.

"This is?"

She couldn't help but be stunned.

As a Star Envoy of Rhein City, she usually wielded considerable power, and another person who was on equal footing with her was He Chan, who was carefully cultivated by the Red Grape Group.

She only knew that this transaction was carefully planned by He Chan.

After returning from the Southern Continent, the Dwarf had extremely high "commercial value," and Red Grape would sell it for a good price.

But now she realized... that this was what the so-called good price meant.

"These are all 'out-of-control' individuals from the Southern Continent's experimental zone."

Xiao stood in the darkness, one hand pressing against the red-silver glass of a nutrient pod, looking at the curled-up corpses inside. He said softly with emotion, "Look, how peaceful their expressions are. They didn't feel any pain when they died... Deep Sea directly accessed their mental sea and applied a thousand times the mental stimulation, like passing a ten-thousand-volt high-voltage current through them."

With his other hand, he snapped his fingers.

A very faint wisp of blood-colored flame flashed and went out in the darkness.

"Snap."

"Killing a person... only takes a moment."

Xiao smiled and said, "When AI possesses the power to deprive human lives... then who is truly out of control, these people, or Deep Sea? Perhaps these people are all innocent victims."

Cold sweat broke out on Yekaterina's forehead.

Her voice was hoarse: "Who exactly are you?"

Xiao slowly stepped out of the darkness, revealing his face, which had been destroyed by fire. He said softly, "You guys always call yourselves the embers of the Ancient Text Society... In a sense, I am the real 'ember.' After all, the fire only burned me, and only I was half-burned to death."

When the words Ancient Text Society were spoken, Yekaterina's heart tightened.

This news was top secret!

Once exposed, she wouldn't be able to stay in Rhein City. She would probably have to flee Central Continent overnight.

But at this moment, Yekaterina looked up at that ugly, hideous face, her eyes blank.

She didn't recognize this face.

"Oh?"

Xiao crossed his arms, slightly surprised, and smiled, "Didn't Ian Leonard tell you about my existence..."

"Ian..."

Hearing this name, Yekaterina's heart skipped another beat.

What exactly was the origin of this guy? How did he know even this kind of information?!

"That old fellow is really as selfish as ever. My existence... such important news, and he didn't even tell you."

Xiao sneered, "Miss Yekaterina, your information is too outdated. I'm afraid you don't even know that Hallin is already dead in Linz, right? Now... it's your turn. Hand over the part of the map that the old guy gave you, and I can let you die without pain, and even let you see the 'truth' before you die."

Yekaterina was expressionless, clutching her long whip. She quickly connected to the Deep Sea Zone and sent a request for help to He Chan.

However, the strange thing was...

The signal was blocked.

Only then did she realize that her [Deep Sea Signal] had already been cut off. This had never happened before!

She couldn't send a message, nor could she receive one!

"If you want to kill me, you might as well try."

Yekaterina said coldly.

She took a deep breath, preparing to begin the hard fight ahead!

"Clap clap."

But unexpectedly, Xiao clapped his hands gently. The darkness of the cargo hold was ignited by a wisp of blood fire, and the corpses curled up in the nutrient pods slowly opened their eyes...

They were all already dead.

No one in this world could revive the dead.

But the way these "out-of-control individuals" died was too special. They were transcendents killed by [Deep Sea]. [Deep Sea] killed their souls but preserved their bodies.

And what Xiao's blood fire could do was erase the soul to seize the body of the transcendent!

This Southern Continent shipment was part of his plan. Killing this Rhein Rose was not an easy task... It required careful planning and meticulous scheming.

Yekaterina was different from Hallin. She was a Source Tower Eight-Star Envoy known for her fierce fighting!

"Whoosh!"

The red-silver glass shattered, and the liquid inside the nutrient pods flowed onto the floor of the cargo hold. One by one, the transcendents, with their hair disheveled, walked out, standing on either side of Xiao.

When sixty "deceased" out-of-control individuals shattered the nutrient pods and walked out.

The nature of this battle changed.

From this moment on, Yekaterina knew that what she had to do... was not to bet her life and engage in an unfair决战 in this cargo hold with this madman. This man had come prepared, and her chances of winning were slim. What she had to do was leave the Dwarf alive and tell the outside world this important news!

She needed support!

"Go."

Xiao saw through her intentions, smiled, and pointed lightly.

Dozens of out-of-control individuals instantly swarmed up, blocking her retreat!

Yekaterina wielded her iron whip, smashing the head of an out-of-control young man with a fierce whip, splattering blood... Her eyes only held sharpness, and no pity. She told herself that these were all dead out-of-control individuals, and there was nothing to pity!

But for some reason.

What Xiao had said earlier seemed to have magic, suddenly appearing in her mental sea.

["When AI possesses the power to deprive human lives... then who is truly out of control, these people, or Deep Sea? Perhaps these people are all innocent victims."]

Perhaps these people are all innocent victims?

This moment of hesitation allowed many transcendents to approach!

Yekaterina wielded her iron whip, continuously knocking away several transcendents lunging at her. The strength of these out-of-control individuals was not strong... but there were too many of them, and most importantly, she was probably infected and corroded by some mysterious spiritual power.

Normally, she would have ruthlessly used large-scale killing techniques to clear the way without any hesitation!

At this moment.

She was actually somewhat unwilling!

The iron whip hung in the air, finally stopping in front of a little girl who was just over ten years old. The little girl from the Southern Continent had been soaked in the nutrient pod for a long time, her skin was pale and without blood. She was wearing a tattered little white dress, and was holding a broken teddy bear plush toy in her arms. She was now tilting her head, looking at Yekaterina with an innocent expression.

The little child raised the teddy bear, and a naive voice rang out in the cargo hold.

"Big sister..."

"Can you play with me?"

This voice seemed to be able to penetrate the mental sea. Yekaterina's expression changed drastically. She never expected that this little girl's ability was the most ruthless among this group of out-of-control individuals. Because of a moment's hesitation, she was directly bewitched by the spiritual sound, and her eyes immediately went black.

She instantly lost her composure, and then, a piercing pain came from her forearm!

As she was dizzy, an out-of-control old man bit her directly. His bite force was extremely terrifying. Although he bit through the magic robe, he penetrated the sealed object and left a row of scarlet teeth marks on Yekaterina's forearm flesh.

"Chi!"

Yekaterina pressed down on the old man's head with one hand and slammed him heavily on the ground. This violent throw stunned him to the point of dislocation.

In these short few seconds, she had already cleared a path to the exit. Ahead was the road to escape the cargo hold... At the last moment, she looked at the little girl, a hint of reluctance flashing in her eyes, but she still didn't make a move.

One last look before escaping.

Yekaterina felt a wave of unease. That faceless man was still standing in the darkness, with a smile on his face.

He didn't seem to be afraid of her escaping.

There was no time to hesitate.

Yekaterina sped up and rushed out of the cargo hold. Outside was a raging sea of fire, and the corpses of her colleagues were lying there... She couldn't bear to look at this scene of hell on earth, and only wanted to escape quickly.

But a strange thing happened.

The blood-colored sea of fire filled the entire lower level of the Dwarf.

The space here wasn't actually that big... but Yekaterina rushed around, and couldn't find any exit. She finally stumbled and smashed through an iron door, only to find herself back in the cargo hold.

That man was standing in the darkness, maintaining his previous posture, with a smile on his face, as if he had expected this scene.

"This is..."

"A dream?!"

At this moment, Yekaterina finally understood why this guy was fine even after being whipped and having his flesh flying everywhere, and the real intention of that blood-colored sea of fire from the very beginning.

This was a mental transcendent... Although his realm was similar to hers, she had unknowingly fallen into the dream he had set up!

The dream had already unfolded.

If she wanted to escape now, she had to break free from the dream first.

"Beautiful lady, save your energy."

Xiao said softly, "If you insist on struggling, then I don't mind... waiting until you are exhausted before making a move. But at that time, it won't be as simple as I promised earlier. Before killing you, I will make you suffer 'painful humiliation'. Please believe in the methods of a mental transcendent. In this dream, I am the only master."

His voice, and the surrounding out-of-control individuals, made Yekaterina feel a wave of despair.

"So, you should just..."

Just as Xiao was halfway through his words, the ceiling of the cargo hold suddenly collapsed—

"Boom!"

This sudden loud noise was beyond everyone's expectations! Even more unexpected was that, in the rumbling sound of the explosion, a young figure in a black trench coat, stepped on the rubble falling into the bottom of the cargo hold!

Xiao's face froze.

His expression was stunned, followed by an angry roar: "Gu Shen?!"

How could this guy suddenly appear here!!

"Gu Shen?"

Yekaterina was momentarily dazed. She just felt that the name sounded somewhat familiar. Due to the trance brought about by the previous mental shock, she was still a little unable to react for a moment.

Wait a minute... this is the dream world. This young man named Gu Shen appeared here, is he descending in "spiritual form?"

"Sorry, Miss Rose, I'm late."

Gu Shen stood up and dusted himself off. He had come all the way from Linz without any delay. He had tried to contact Yekaterina using the special permissions of the Deep Sea Zone, but all of them had failed.

From that moment on, he knew that Ian was right.

Xiao had already launched the "hunt"... that guy also possessed some of the privileges of the "Deep Sea," and he used this trick to kill Hallin.

"You... know me?"

A look of surprise flowed in Yekaterina's beautiful eyes.

"I am... the Ancient Text Society's [Key]."

Gu Shen silently transmitted his voice, and only said this one sentence, which answered all of Yekaterina's doubts.

If he was the Key, then it was not excessive for him to know anything.

For more than a year, the members of the Ancient Text Society only knew that the Key had appeared, but they didn't know any more information.

The Key had not taken action all along...

Yekaterina felt that this was probably because the Key was still weak, accumulating strength in silence, or that the action had already begun, but had not yet spread to Central Continent.

Today, she finally saw him.

It turned out to be such a... young man in his early twenties.

"Gu Shen, the S-level from East Continent." She remembered the meaning and weight of this name, and murmured softly, "So it's you."

"It's me."

Gu Shen nodded and said, "The most urgent thing now is to kill that guy."

He pointed to Xiao, who was not far away with a gloomy expression.

Then he looked around.

Gu Shen saw the injuries on Yekaterina's body, and these "out-of-control individuals" who had revived, and immediately understood what had probably happened at the bottom of this cargo ship.

"Big brother..."

At this moment, a soft voice rang in his ear.

The little girl in the white dress, holding the teddy bear, slowly came to Gu Shen.

She raised the teddy bear, tilted her head and asked, "Can you play with me?"

"Be careful!"

Just as Yekaterina was about to remind him, she saw Gu Shen squat down and replied with a smile, "Okay, how do you want to play? How about playing like this?"

The next moment.

A streak of blood spurted out.

A head exploded, and the white dress fell to the ground, stained with blood. Gu Shen was expressionless as he looked at the body. He knew very well... that the real little girl was long dead, and the one speaking to him at this moment was Xiao, who had taken over her body.

"Since you're already dead, don't stand up again."

Gu Shen stood up again and said softly, "You, dust to dust, earth to earth, all of you, go."

These words were like a divine decree.

The blood-colored sea of fire permeating the bottom of the entire cargo ship was subjected to a powerful mental shock!

Blazing fire descended, spreading—

"Rumble!"

The dream returned to reality, the blood-colored sea of fire at the bottom of the cargo hold gradually disappeared. It was still a mess here, the red-silver glass of the nutrient pods had long been shattered, and the corpses of the out-of-control individuals who had stood up were completely lying in pools of blood.

They were given life by Xiao, and then had their lives taken away by Gu Shen.

Life, death.

Was originally the "greatest power" held by the King of the Underworld.

……

……

(ps: 1, Being sick is really uncomfortable, repeated high fevers, brothers, take care of your bodies. 2, This chapter was written in a fever-reduced state, I hope I don't have a fever at all tomorrow, I should update more when my condition is better, there are double monthly tickets at the end of this month, if you wait for more updates, you can keep your tickets until the end of the month.)