Death… And Me

Chapter 4407: Boo!

[Be careful. I can feel the presence of another Great Void Echo Energy in this guy,] Sister Orb warned the twins’ group.

Well, what was the point of being careful? They were completely powerless against that young man. None of them could move a single muscle other than their heads. Whatever force held them in place completely overwhelmed their ability to resist, making them feel as though space itself had solidified around their bodies. Even circulating Godly Energy had become impossible.

Rean took a slow, deep breath before asking the only question that came to mind. ”Did I do something wrong?”

Duze pondered the question for a brief moment before shaking his head.

”Hmm... not exactly. It isn’t that you did something wrong. Rather, you were completely unaware of the rules. I can tell that all of you came from a Great Void, so how could you possibly know anything about them? Still, the fact remains that Godly Pressure Control isn’t allowed in the grassroots lands.”

Roan narrowed his eyes. ”What do you mean by that?”

Putting both hands behind his back, Duze slowly walked around the room as if he were giving a lecture instead of confronting people who had just unknowingly violated some rules they didn’t even know existed. Throughout the entire explanation, the invisible force restraining everyone never weakened in the slightest.

”Godly Pressure is an essential component in the development of experts. Entire cultivation systems have been designed around adapting to it. Regions saturated with Godly Pressure become extremely dangerous, forcing cultivators to constantly improve simply to survive.”

He glanced at Rean before continuing.

”If anyone can freely manipulate or remove that pressure, the balance collapses. Difficult environments become harmless. Safe zones can be created wherever convenient. The trials intended to temper future experts simply disappear.”

He lightly shrugged.

”That is why Godly Pressure Control is one of the most heavily regulated technologies within the Celestial Nexus Territory. Only officially approved regions are allowed to manipulate it, and even then, only under very strict supervision.”

Tobao and Arcis exchanged bewildered looks.

”Celestial Nexus Territory? Approved regions?” Tobao frowned. ”What are you talking about? We’ve never heard of such a place before.”

”And you won’t remember hearing about it tomorrow,” Duze answered as if discussing the weather. ”I originally came here because reports indicated that two Godly Colossi had somehow appeared inside one of our grassroots lands... Ah, right. You probably don’t even know what a Godly Colossus is.”

He smiled faintly.

”You’ve encountered Godly Horrors before, haven’t you? Those are fourth-level Godly Creatures. Godly Colossi are seventh-level.”

Everyone’s expressions stiffened.

Just hearing that comparison made the difference terrifying. The Godly Horrors had nearly destroyed Besgol despite everything they had done to stop them. A creature three entire levels higher was simply unimaginable. Of course, that also made them understand who was truly controlling those puppets.

”Anyway,” Duze continued, ”while investigating, I discovered that this little friend here managed to develop arrays capable of manipulating Godly Pressure.” His eyes shifted toward Rean. ”Naturally, I became curious and started searching for him. Then I learned he had already departed on an exploration.”

His gaze then moved toward the motionless winged spider resting on the floor. ”Imagine my surprise when I discovered he had also brought back a functioning Nexus Core AI. Finding one of those these days is truly a heaven-defying stroke of luck.”

Still unable to move, Rean asked another question.

”So... what now? Am I going to be killed?”

”Hm?” Duze blinked before looking genuinely puzzled. ”Why would I kill you? As I already said, you had no knowledge of these rules. I already confirmed that much. Frankly speaking, almost none of the grassroots regions know they even exist.”

A smile appeared on his face. ”Besides, you aren’t the first person to figure something like this out. Every now and then, a talented cultivator—whether an ascender or not—manages to discover one of these principles without anyone teaching them.”

He chuckled lightly. ”We can’t simply execute everyone for being intelligent. That would completely contradict the purpose of the grassroots lands.”

”The grassroots lands exist to nurture future talents. Countless experts who now stand at the very peak once started in places exactly like this one. Your achievements are supposed to be encouraged, not punished. The only issue is that some discoveries simply can’t be allowed to remain here.”

*Zissss...*

Right then, everyone suddenly felt their minds growing heavy.

The sensation wasn’t limited to the room.

Instead, it spread across the entire Besgol Region.

Once again, Tobao and Arcis received frantic reports from the Array Masters stationed around the Sacred Relic. Every single one of them described the same symptoms. A strange gray energy had begun flowing from the Sacred Relic’s core, replacing its usual brilliance, and merely staying conscious had become an enormous struggle.

Experts throughout the region staggered where they stood. Some were cultivating, others flying through the skies, while many were engaged in battles against Godly Creatures outside the Sacred Relic’s normal influence range. One after another, they all felt overwhelming drowsiness invading their minds.

”Oh... it seems it’s time.” Duze nodded with satisfaction. ”Now, all of you can go to sleep. By the time you wake up, every memory related to this meeting will have disappeared. You won’t remember the Nexus Core AI either.”

He calmly looked around the room before adding, ”And finally, every trace that a Godly Pressure Array ever existed will disappear from this region, along with every other region that received knowledge of it through your communications.”

*Pin!*

[Hostile power capable of affecting the hosts’ souls detected.]

[Creating soul puppet...]

[Complete.]

The instant that mysterious power attempted to erase the memories of Rean, Roan, Celis, and Kentucky, the Orb System automatically reacted.

Although it was nothing compared to what the original Celestial Soul System had once been, this particular function remained virtually untouched. The system instantly produced identical soul replicas, placing them directly in the path of the memory affecting effect.

The gray energy immediately shifted targets.

Instead of reaching their true souls, it crashed directly into the puppet souls created by the Orb System. Those replicas absorbed the entire effect, allowing the originals to remain completely untouched.

The dizziness vanished almost immediately.

None of the four showed the slightest change in expression.

They simply continued pretending to struggle.

There was no reason whatsoever to reveal what had just happened. If anything, the safest option was to let Duze believe everything had gone exactly according to plan... or was it? In the midst of all of that, a certain someone had an idea.

Meanwhile, Tobao and Arcis were still desperately resisting the overwhelming drowsiness, giving Roan enough time to ask one final question.

”Even if you erase everyone’s memories, there are still too many clues left behind. How many copies of Rean’s array blueprints have already spread throughout the Besgol Network? We’ll simply rediscover everything sooner or later.”

”You won’t.” Duze sounded completely unconcerned. ”Trust me. When everyone wakes up, nothing will remain. The only thing left behind will be confusion over why the entire region suddenly fell asleep. No one will even realize the Sacred Relic caused it.”

*Tud!*

Tobao was the first to collapse onto the floor.

”There we go.” Duze smiled. ”It won’t take much longer now.”

*Tud!*

Kentucky followed immediately afterward.

*Tud... Tud... Tud...*

Rean...

Roan...

Senkiyu...

Harksha...

One after another, everyone inside the room collapsed.

Across the Besgol Region, exactly the same scene unfolded.

Cultivators flying through the skies dropped onto mountains and forests. Patrols suddenly fell asleep in the middle of their routes. The wave spread so far that even cultivators carrying out missions beyond Besgol’s borders succumbed to it. Every neighboring region that had received information regarding Rean’s Godly Pressure Arrays was affected as well.

Looking at the unconscious figures scattered across the room, Duze let out a relaxed sigh. ”I suppose that settles the most urgent problem.”

He stopped using his energy to hold everyone and then opened the information stored inside his RC. ”Still... these dead men being used as puppets...”

His expression gradually became thoughtful. ”To think the Godly Creatures found a way to infiltrate the Sacred Relic’s sphere of influence through those corpses without anyone noticing. They even concealed the Godly Pressure inside the puppets using those crystals.”

He slowly shook his head. ”No wonder they managed to advance this far before being discovered.”

After pondering for another moment, he continued speaking to himself. ”That kind of trick only works in the grassroots lands, so it isn’t an immediate concern elsewhere. Still... I can’t help wondering what their true objective is.”

”Maybe this was only a preliminary test for something bigger,” Rean casually commented from beside Duze. ”You said it only works in the grassroots lands, but who says their development will stop there? I’d wager this is nothing more than an early prototype. They’ll keep improving it until it works everywhere.”

”I see...” Duze nodded absentmindedly, already considering the possibility. ”That would certainly justify these early testes. I should repor—”

His voice abruptly stopped.

Every hair on his body stood on end.

His head slowly turned toward the source of the voice.

Standing right beside him...

Was Rean.

The young cultivator had somehow walked all the way over without making the slightest sound, leaning forward just enough for their faces to be only a short distance apart.

*Boo!*

”Fucking hell!”