hotmtlnovel Page 31
Page 31
"Yes, I understand." Zhang Su nodded slightly, adopting the tone and manner of a superior.
After all, he's now the director of the bureau, the one with the highest authority, so his demeanor naturally has to be authoritative! Although he appointed himself to that position...
Then he focused his mind and tentatively asked the cornerstone in his consciousness: (II) 厁0事jiu 起鏾思:
"Foundation Stone, tell me, what abilities do you currently possess that can help me escape the Blood Ancestor's illusionary prison and return to reality?"
The thought had barely formed when a sudden "light" appeared deep within his mind!
It is neither text nor sound, but a vivid and powerful dynamic image:
Against a backdrop of chaos and nothingness, an endless giant hand made of cold, rough, and heavy concrete, with the absolute power to crush stars and reshape the laws, crashed down from infinite height!
Below it, a dark red sphere, churning with foul blood and radiating a terrifying aura, was like a fragile mud ball. The moment the giant hand touched it, the earth trembled, space collapsed, and everything crumbled! The sphere of foul blood didn't even have time to struggle before it was completely pressed into the abyss of annihilation by the overwhelming power!
Positional dominance! Absolute positional crushing!
The information conveyed by the image reached the core of Zhang Su's soul—the position of the foundation stone, which was far beyond what the so-called "Blood Ancestor" could achieve! It did not need fancy skills; it could forcefully break through the prison of the Blood Sea Illusion just like a giant crushing ants, simply by virtue of its own "height"!
"Hiss..." A huge surprise surged through Zhang Su's consciousness like an electric current, and he even subconsciously straightened his back in the director's chair.
This power is so domineering that it sends shivers down your spine!
Amidst his excitement, a deeper question inevitably welled up in his mind. He pondered again, and asked with a touch of awe, "Foundation Stone... what exactly are you? Can you tell me your origins?"
The response came instantly, but it made Zhang Su's heart sink slightly.
The image in my mind suddenly shifted: a huge, bright red, and roughly drawn "?" symbol filled my entire field of vision.
It undoubtedly means no, at least not now.
"Still not working..." Zhang Su smiled helplessly, a trace of regret passing through his heart.
It seems that, like Yuan Shu, until his own strength reaches a certain "threshold," these beings closely connected to his fate will not reveal the truth about their core essence.
The secret remains shrouded in layers of mystery.
He quickly adjusted his mindset, refocusing his attention on the urgent matter of escaping. His thoughts raced again, this time more specifically:
"I understand. So, Cornerstone, tell me exactly what to do next? How do you use your status to crush that Blood Ancestor and break the illusion? How do you need my cooperation?"
New images slowly unfolded in my consciousness, like a carefully edited silent film:
Scene One: He sat upright in the bureau chief's office, his posture ramrod straight, his face as cold and stern as ancient ice, his eyes calm and undisturbed, like a high-ranking deity looking down upon the mortal world. The entire scene exuded an aura of absolute control and indifference.
The scene seamlessly transitions to the second act: the perspective zooms out, arriving at a world churning with a dark red sea of despair. The arrogant Blood Ancestor stands in human form on the red sea, but the space before him is like glass struck by an invisible giant hammer, instantly covered with spiderweb-like cracks before shattering with a deafening roar!
A colossal, immeasurable spatial rift, its edges flowing with the gray light of concrete, suddenly appeared!
Beyond the crack lay not nothingness, but the magnificent, cold, and eternally ordered concrete core—the very foundation! It was like the eye of divine punishment that had traversed countless dimensions, coldly "gazing" upon the Blood Ancestor.
Act Three: There were no energy beams, no earth-shattering explosions. A pressure, purely formed from the "existence rank" itself, formless and intangible yet heavy enough to crush the world, surged forth from the crack in the foundation, like the first ray of light of law at the beginning of the universe, precisely enveloping the Blood Ancestor!
The scene freezes here: the terrifying colossus made of billions of bones and blood, without even being able to utter a complete wail, melts away silently the moment it touches that invisible pressure, like a snowman under the scorching sun!
The enormous body twisted, collapsed, and decomposed, eventually turning into a pool of boiling, then rapidly losing its vitality and becoming dark and murky blood, which merged into the churning sea of blood below, leaving no trace.
With the annihilation of the Blood Ancestor, the entire Blood Sea Illusion was like a popped soap bubble, violently shaking and twisting, before shattering and dissipating inch by inch!
The screen ends.
Zhang Su remained immersed in the "solution" of the cornerstone transmission for a long time.
Simple, brutal, and outrageously efficient! Throughout the entire process, this bureau chief... actually only needed to sit on the high platform, maintain his high-class demeanor, and act as a detached "spectator"?
"Amazing! Absolutely amazing!" Zhang Su couldn't help but exclaim in his mind, a triumphant smile curving his lips. "Foundation Stone, your 'Rank Crush' move was absolutely awesome! I didn't even need to lift a finger. Blood Ancestor is nothing compared to you."
He paused, then said somewhat embarrassedly, "But doesn't this make me, the bureau chief, seem a bit too passive? I've been watching the whole thing, letting you do all the work. I feel... well, a little guilty. I should at least do something, right? Otherwise, being the bureau chief is too easy."
Zhang Su's mind raced again, and an idea that was both slightly mischievous and befitting of a "bureau chief" quickly took shape: "Hmm, I've got it, we can..."
He clearly conveyed this "newly conceived plan" to the cornerstone.
Almost the instant his thought was formed, an incredibly clear "emotion" returned from the core link of the cornerstone!
It's no longer just a visual image, but a more direct emotional symbol: a huge,憨厚 (honest and simple) smiling face outlined by rough concrete lines, followed by countless small, pulsating red hearts radiating warm light—like joyful sprites expressing their happiness!
This clumsy yet passionate expression was filled with pure joy and the satisfaction of being "needed"! Cornerstone was clearly incredibly excited and pleased with Zhang Su's initiative to "participate" in the action plan.
Sensing the almost overflowing joy in the cornerstone, Zhang Su couldn't help but laugh out loud, and the cold, concrete-core style office seemed to brighten and warm up a bit.
He spoke to the void in a doting tone, "If you like it, that's all that matters! Who told me to be the director? From now on, we'll only have more of these 'tacit cooperation' situations! Alright, buddy, are you ready?"
Zhang Su's gaze fell upon the floor-to-ceiling window, his eyes filled with excitement and fighting spirit, as if he had pierced through the barriers of space and seen that filthy sea of blood.
"Let's set off—to give that arrogant '?; Erjiu? Qi Liu Jiu (Part 1) Shaanxi Ba Suo Jun Xue Zu' a good slap!"
……
Blood Sea Illusion
Above the filthy sea of blood, the enormous humanoid figure, formed from a mixture of bones and filthy blood, slowly closed its mountain-like giant hands.
The dull cracking sound seemed to still echo in the thick air, and the blood, bone fragments, and visceral pieces that had splattered between the fingers were still there.
At the center of the Blood Ancestor's vortex-like face, the Furnace Eye flickered slightly with two dark red lights, carrying the lingering power of judgment, as it slowly swept over the filth remaining between his fingers.
It waits, waiting to extract that tiny soul from the shattered remains, to imprison and interrogate it completely, and to drain all the secrets about Zhang Su.
however……
Nothing happened.
There was nothing between his fingers except for blood and residue.
There was no soulless wailing, no fragments of consciousness, not even a ripple of spiritual energy.
It seemed as if it wasn't crushing a body that carried a soul, but merely a... lifelike empty human form or phantom.
The light in the Eye of the Furnace froze, flickering erratically.
A colossal sound, like the grinding of countless souls against rock, filled with unprecedented bewilderment, echoed low above the deathly silence of the sea of blood, proclaiming:
"Where has the soul gone? Its form has vanished and its spirit disappeared... Has this fiendish soul truly turned to nothingness? Or was it long ago captured by another being?"
This illogical situation even seemed to cause a ripple of doubt to appear on the Blood Ancestor's vortex-like face, which was composed of pure malice.
At this moment——
Snap! Rumble! !!
Not far in front of Blood Ancestor, the dark red void that was as viscous as congealed blood plasma suddenly collapsed and shattered without warning, as if it had been hit hard by an invisible giant hammer!
The space was like a fragile glass mirror, instantly covered with countless black cracks that shimmered with an ominous light!
The cracks spread and expanded rapidly, eventually collapsing into a huge, deep rift with extremely irregular edges!
Beyond the crack lies neither the reality outside the illusion, nor the void of darkness, but rather... an absolutely silent, eternally unchanging gray concrete sky!
Immediately following, a colossal concrete core structure, whose grandeur and oppressiveness defied description—with its rigid lines, sharp angles, and entirely constructed of rough, heavy, and unadorned concrete, exuding a chilling, inhuman, and eternally ordered aura—slowly and irresistibly emerged from the crack in the gray sky, revealing its immense and unparalleled form!
"Well!!!!"
For the first time, the Blood Ancestor's enormous body, formed from the filthy blood and bones of billions of living beings, trembled violently!
It was not the physical shock caused by the attack, but rather the instinctive tremor originating from the core of its existence at the level of its being.
The dark red light in the eyes of the furnace instantly contracted, like the pupils of a startled beast! The wildly thrashing nerve and blood vessel tendrils covering its surface suddenly stiffened! The constantly rotating and collapsing vortex of malice froze at that moment.
It sensed an order entirely different from any divinity, any abyss, any ancient being it knew! Cold, heavy, absolute, seemingly eternal, the very foundation supporting the very skeleton of the world!
It could not comprehend how this being could so easily breach its meticulously constructed "Blood Sacrifice Beacon" barrier, which isolated all things!
The immense sound of countless souls rubbing together carried an unprecedented solemnity and astonishment, like muffled thunder rolling across a sea of blood:
"What is this thing? How could it break my 'Blood Sacrifice Beacon' and trespass into this domain?!"
Its response was a silent crushing.
The massive concrete core of the foundation, which extends into the illusion, shows no energy fluctuations, no flashing runes, only sheer power!
An invisible and intangible yet heavy pressure, formed purely from the existence itself, enough to crush the world, suddenly spread out and precisely enveloped the Blood Ancestor's entire massive body!
hum!
Blood Ancestor's enormous body, which was a hundred meters tall, was like a wax figure thrown into a furnace, and violent ripples instantly spread across its surface!
The viscous blood-sea substance, congealed filth, writhing internal organs, and wailing fragments of the soul that make up its body begin to boil uncontrollably, soften, and disintegrate under this terrifying pressure that transcends its comprehension!
It felt that its own "existence" was being forcibly analyzed and denied by a higher-dimensional "rule"!
"Uh……"
Just as the Blood Ancestor was fully engaged in resisting this sudden, overwhelming pressure from higher ranks, and the Eye of the Furnace was locked onto that cold, concrete behemoth—
Mutations reborn!
Its massive hand, tightly gripping Zhang Su's shattered remains, the filthy mixture of flesh and blood in its palm, without warning—
boom! ! !
A pale, cold flame, not scorching but carrying an extreme chill and a pure, destructive aura, suddenly erupted!
The flames are silent, yet they contain the terrifying power to annihilate all matter and energy!
The Blood Ancestor's giant hand, composed of filthy blood and bones, instantly vaporized and annihilated like a sandcastle under the impact of the pale, cold flames!
At the center of the flames, a figure composed of pure spiritual energy and emitting a faint glow—Zhang Su's soul form—formed at an astonishing speed!
He broke free from the shackles of flesh and blood, reborn as a soul. He looked at the Blood Ancestor with a smirk and a mocking expression.
He hovered in the air, positioned directly in front of the Blood Ancestor's enormous head, small in stature, yet radiating an undeniable presence.
Then Zhang Su said, "Foolish evil creature! You think you can capture my soul and interrogate me by killing me? Dream on!"
He raised his finger, pointing directly at the Blood Ancestor's furnace-like giant eye: -Moon Chair Flag Art 3 Two Thousand Two
"My soul has long since found its home! This body and this heart belong entirely to the 'Curtain Foundation Administration'! Even if I die and my soul perishes, it is not something you vile creatures can defile!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Su's soul abruptly turned around, no longer looking at the Blood Ancestor who was filled with shock and rage.
He raised his hand and pointed to the colossal concrete core—the foundation stone—suspended in the void, radiating absolute order, his voice carrying a sense of calm and pride, like returning home:
"This is where my soul returns! Foundation, please guide me!"
After saying that, his entire soul transformed into a dazzling meteor composed of countless geometric lines and cold light, carrying an unwavering determination, piercing through the filthy, blood-red space, and heading straight for that magnificent concrete core structure!
The target is not the megastructure itself, but the huge, solemn, and faintly glowing logo of the Administration Bureau on the front wall of the megastructure—a silver-gray thin ring surrounding a dark blue ring, with a dark gray triangle emitting an invisible force field suspended in the center!
The light of the soul precisely penetrates the dark gray triangle at the center of the logo!
Om-!
The entire logo suddenly burst forth with an unprecedented, soft yet incredibly firm light!
The silver-gray rings rotated slowly like activated star rings, while the dark blue bands flowed like a deep cosmic background. The dark gray triangle at the center was like an open portal, and as the light flowed, it seemed to be silently announcing: Welcome home!
At the very instant Zhang Su's soul merged into the logo and the light shone brightly—
A brand new, completely different voice, emanating from the depths of the foundation and passing through the spatial rift, resounded clearly, carrying a magnetic yet chilling majesty, throughout the entire crumbling Blood Sea Illusion:
"Our investigators are grateful for your 'care'."
"This 'gift' should be returned tenfold."
The voice was calm and still, yet it contained a power deeper and more undeniable than the roar of the Blood Ancestor, like a solemn law being pronounced.
Blood Ancestor's massive body, which had begun to collapse and flow under the pressure of the foundation stone, suddenly stopped!
The Eye of the Furnace stared intently at the lingering light on the logo, then abruptly turned towards the direction from which the sound came. The vortex face, formed by malice, twisted violently, conveying extreme shock and an unbelievable sense of absurdity!
It never expected that the soul of that ant would attract an incredibly powerful being!
The invisible pressure released by the foundation suddenly intensified at this moment! It was no longer a heavy pressure, but transformed into a destructive torrent!
"Ugh!!!"
At this moment, Blood Ancestor should have screamed in pain, but it was too late.
Its colossal body collapsed at an alarming rate, as if it had been subjected to strong acid! The terrifying humanoid figure, hundreds of meters tall, crumbled in a matter of breaths. The lava-like blood light solidified and dimmed, like cooled asphalt. The bones turned to dust, and the wailing fragments of the soul were completely annihilated.
The entire Blood Sea Illusion groaned under its own weight, the sky cracked, and the Blood Sea poured back into the void.
The Blood Ancestor's enormous head was the last part to collapse, and the light of the Furnace Eye dimmed rapidly, like a candle flickering in the wind.
In the final ten seconds before it completely dissolves, it gathers its last strength and poses a question to the concrete core megastructure:
"You... what exactly are you?! A reclusive organization? Or... a newly born cult of wild gods?!"