Under the blood-red moonlight, the crimson curtain slowly descended.
Upon the shattered earth, the evil dragon and giants had vanished.
Only a youth, wielding a long saber, remained, his expression grave as he gazed at the wilted armored monster before him.
Through the recent questioning, Chen Luo had learned some insider information about the game.
As a powerful entity that had descended in the first chapter of the game, Theodore did not know much.
According to its words, it had merely used its own strength, under the arrangement of the higher-ups, to arrive in the world where the game had descended.
Its orders were to annihilate all resistance in this world, turning the entire world into a pasture for the higher-ups.
The livestock in the pasture were humans deemed players by the game.
And the resource produced by the entire pasture was something called Yuan.
"What is Yuan?"
Theodore, somewhat weakened by the true transformation and its current predicament, shook its head and replied in a hoarse voice:
"Yuan is Yuan, the miracle of life, a treasure that transcends class."
"All spirits possess it, but to master it is nearly impossible."
"What you players call experience points is a manifestation of Yuan."
"Within the game's rules, our mutual slaughter, under the might of the system, allows for the plunder of Yuan."
"According to the will of the higher-ups, in the coming years, we will transform this entire planet into a pasture until the game departs..."
Hearing the monster's words, inexplicable images flashed through Chen Luo's mind.
Invincible enemies descending from another realm, destroying all resistance on the planet in an extremely short period.
Following this, the surviving humans would be driven into the so-called pastures.
Civilization would no longer be needed,
Language would no longer be needed,
Names would no longer be needed.
Through ages longer than civilization, the beings once called humans,
Stripped of all their former glory, would be transformed into mere livestock.
There would be no concept of parents, no concept of children.
Such livestock would not even live past fifteen years old.
The invaders, in the guise of feeders, would manipulate the bodies of the livestock at will.
And what awaited the livestock,
Was only endless reproduction and slaughter.
The grotesque monsters would ravage the livestock that could provide them with Yuan at their leisure.
To obtain Yuan, slaughter was an inevitable outcome,
And before the slaughter, the race once known as humanity would endure calamities until the very end of their extinction.
The images flashing in his mind were so vivid, as if he had personally experienced them.
A cold sweat suddenly broke out on Chen Luo's back.
...
The seemingly weakened Theodore noticed Chen Luo's abnormality.
Although it didn't understand what was wrong with this human, it seemed to be distracted by its own words?
However, Theodore would not let this opportunity pass.
With a sudden leap of its legs, the armored monster was about to turn and rush towards the imperial capital.
The only way to break the current deadlock was to capture hostages.
The human before him, in order to protect his compatriots, even at the core of the planet, before his true transformation, was willing to use his physical body to withstand a true transformation attack.
Therefore, as long as hostages could be captured, there was still a chance of survival!
As for seizing the opportunity while Chen Luo seemed distracted to launch a surprise attack?
Theodore's mind did not even entertain such a thought.
Don't be ridiculous, this youth was a monster!
Gazing at the pure white shield in the distance, Theodore only wished to rush past it quickly!
*Thump...*
But, the world before its eyes suddenly turned into the ground.
Theodore, in mid-run, crashed heavily to the ground.
It looked back in confusion.
A pair of dried corpse legs, encased in armor, stood upon the earth.
From the fiery edges of the severed limbs, golden flames spread, instantly burning the two broken legs to ashes.
The youth, who seemed to be in a daze, slowly retracted his horizontally swung saber, his expression incomparably cold as he looked at the monster before him.
*Clack...*
*Clack...*
The battle boots, temporarily formed by his qi and blood, lightly trod upon the broken earth.
Chen Luo walked before the utterly horrified monster, his eyes as cold as eons of ice.
Theodore desperately clutched the severed leg stumps, but the searing heat at the wounds prevented it from regenerating its limbs, even requiring a significant amount of energy to resist the flames' erosion.
But none of this mattered.
As Chen Luo's shadow fell upon it, a thought suddenly arose in Theodore's mind:
"Am I... going to die?"
Gazing at the youth's increasingly cold eyes, Theodore hurriedly shouted:
"Don't kill me!! I am willing to become your slave!!!"
"I am far stronger than those fragile humans!!!"
*Clang!*
The fiery saber at its waist flashed like a streak of light.
The dried corpse head, encased in armor, flew high into the sky.
Black, foul blood spurted out like a fountain.
*Boom!!!*
Crimson-gold flames erupted from the severed neck.
The splashing foul blood, before it could even hit the ground, along with the burning head and remains, began to burn fiercely within the flames...
The helmet melted under the intense heat, and the falling head revealed a dried-corpse-like face.
Destined for oblivion, Theodore, who sought to survive, was consumed by endless malice and hatred.
As its head fell before its body, Theodore's eyes were fixed on the calm Chen Luo, roaring:
"I curse you! I curse your race! I curse your world!!!"
"Killing me is not the end! Just wait!!!"
Theodore's voice was filled with venom.
Chen Luo merely glanced at it calmly before stepping past, as if ignoring the monster before him.
"Look at me!! Don't go!!! You killed me!! Don't you even want to witness my demise?!"
Eternal death, coupled with the humiliation of being ignored, drove Theodore to the brink of madness.
Its body had already turned to ash, leaving only the broken head, clinging to existence in the faint glow of the embers.
But the disparity in power had already sealed its fate.
As death drew closer, the monster, born from a corpse, felt an all-encompassing fear.
"Aaaah!!! I don't want to die!!! Why?!! Why did you kill me?!"
Hearing the monster's wail, Chen Luo, who was walking out of the battlefield, paused his step.
Under the blood-red moonlight, the youth's voice was colder than the moonlight itself:
"Those who offend my Great Yan!"
"Shall only meet death!"
The crying monster froze upon hearing this. The flames had already consumed more than half of its head, and death seemed to whisper in its ear.
Gazing at the youth's receding back, the monster's eyes were filled with hatred and malice that seemed to solidify:
"For those livestock-like beings! You actually killed me?!"
"What does it matter if more weaklings die?! They are born to be food for us strong ones!!!"
Chen Luo said no more. All he wanted now was to return to his city and drink with his companions.
As for the inhuman monster, it was enough to be incinerated.
Seeing Chen Luo's figure grow distant, Theodore, on the verge of complete incineration, cursed with a soul-deep voice:
"Go ahead and protect the weak! In this feeble world! Drown in your foolish sense of responsibility!!!"
"When the second act begins! When the world's restrictions are further lifted!!!"
"Monsters drawn by the scent of Great Yuan will send you to hell to accompany me!!!"
Chen Luo's figure vanished into the moonlight.
As the monster was completely consumed by flames, Chen Luo gazed at the pure white barrier within reach, and the familiar faces within it.
A promise, audible only to himself, was carried away by the wind:
"At that time..."
"I will strike again..."