Chapter 83: Within the Web
After hanging up the phone, Artist turned slightly and looked at Li Shaoheng and the others.
He had several new wounds, slowly healing, but still noticeable.
After all, Artist wasn’t well-equipped to handle Li Shaoheng’s unpredictable spatial manipulation, with Cen Xiangyun’s constant interference as well.
And most importantly…
An Yu.
Her ability had always seemed insignificant. Conceptually erasing things sounded powerful, but due to her own weakness, she could only erase minor things.
Until the Baiyan Village incident, when An Yu gained a new ability: she could forcibly remove and temporarily become immune to the effects of other abilities.
The moment Artist entered the train, he had considered animating the entire train, but An Yu’s ability had interrupted him before he could even begin.
Although with Artist’s strength, forcibly breaking through An Yu’s erasure wasn’t impossible, now… a more pressing threat loomed.
“Order path Awakened Ones are so troublesome…”
Artist thought to himself.
Fortunately, An Yu’s current strength could only remove his influence on the train, not enough to deal with the current situation.
So, Artist used all the ordinary people on the train as hostages, stalling Li Shaoheng and the others while waiting for Scientist to rescue him.
Meanwhile, Li Shaoheng and the others were also anxious.
After Luo Ling’s warning of “enemy attack” echoed in their minds, she had vanished without a trace, leaving no sign of her departure from the train.
In her place was Artist, who had somehow entered their encirclement.
Li Shaoheng didn’t believe Artist would be foolish enough to face them three-on-one beyond the Boundary, and Artist’s initial surprise indicated that this infamous Harbinger of Calamity member had fallen into Luo Ling’s trap.
However, Luo Ling must have paid a price, perhaps even going to the enemy’s lair to rescue her sister.
Regardless, they had to capture Artist. This was a rare opportunity.
However…
“That feeling just now… did Scientist use her ‘blessing’?”
Although Li Shaoheng maintained a calm facade, his heart was in turmoil.
He could still feel the lingering fear from that fleeting gaze, the terrifying pressure of that presence.
He had heard that the Harbingers of Calamity had made deals with Taboos, exchanging Prices for power, but this was the first time he had experienced it firsthand.
Victoria was still in a state of unrest, and although they knew the Harbingers of Calamity were plotting something, they hadn’t made any large-scale moves yet, nor had they revealed their objectives.
He had thought it was just a rumor, but unexpectedly…
No matter what, he couldn’t let them succeed!
Even now, the Company still didn’t know the Harbingers’ true motives. Their actions were erratic, and each member had a distinct personality.
Even stranger, sometimes they even saved people.
Like Philosopher, although he had helped Scientist slaughter cities, the ordinary people who had interacted with him described him as a kind and benevolent old man, even mediating neighborhood disputes and taking in homeless children.
In short, it was a bizarre organization, the only certainty being their indifference towards humanity.
They didn’t necessarily want to destroy humanity, but they didn’t care if it happened in the pursuit of their goals.
In the earlier battle, Artist had suffered several injuries, but Li Shaoheng and his team weren’t unscathed either. Protecting the ordinary people on the train had been exhausting, and Cen Xiangyun had almost been injured, saved only by Li Shaoheng’s quick intervention.
“Let’s end this,” Li Shaoheng’s eyes narrowed, thinking of how to cut off Artist’s escape route.
Artist, wounded but still elegant, maintained his polite smile and, as if sensing something, took a step back.
Scientist’s grotesque figure appeared, her monstrous appearance startling everyone.
“This is…”
Li Shaoheng looked at Scientist warily. He could sense that her aura was similar to the gaze from earlier. She must have borrowed the power of that terrifying entity.
So, Miss Luo Ling…
His eyes narrowed.
As if seeing through Li Shaoheng’s thoughts, Scientist sneered.
“Dead.”
…Dead?
Li Shaoheng shuddered.
That quiet girl and her sister… were both dead?
It seemed so. Against such power, there was no room for struggle.
Miracles didn’t happen every time…
But this was his fault.
He had failed to protect the newbie.
But now… his priority was the ordinary people on this train. He couldn’t be distracted.
“How cold,” Scientist grinned, her grotesque face twisted in a horrifying smile. “That was your Company’s newbie, and that’s all you have to say?”
Li Shaoheng didn’t respond, silently sending his throwing knives towards her.
Cen Xiangyun also didn’t hesitate. Although saddened by Luo Ling’s sudden death, she had to deal with the enemy before her.
“Tsk, tsk, as expected of one of the few High-Order Awakened Ones capable of killing me, the openings revealed by Omniscience are indeed few,” Scientist shook her head. “But… I’m not playing with you anymore!”
Indeed, Li Shaoheng’s defenses, both for himself and his teammates, were impeccable. Even with Omniscience, Scientist couldn’t find an opening to attack him.
But the problem was…
This was a train!
A train full of ordinary people!
The Harbingers of Calamity didn’t care about the lives of ordinary people. When they were useful, they would be used without hesitation.
This train, full of ordinary people, was Scientist’s perfect “hostage.”
Facing Li Shaoheng and Cen Xiangyun’s combined attack, Scientist didn’t try to evade as before.
Several throwing knives locked onto her position, forcing her to use Retrospect, but more knives were waiting at her destination.
This was how Li Shaoheng could suppress Scientist. His spatial manipulation eliminated the travel time of his throwing knives, preventing Scientist from creating distance.
But now…
Scientist charged forward, seemingly disregarding her own safety, entering the encirclement.
“What?!”
Li Shaoheng was surprised by her unexpected move, but he didn’t have time to think. His throwing knives flew towards her, about to slice through her head in less than a second.
These weren’t ordinary weapons, but Sacred Tools imbued with abilities.
A Severance concept capable of cutting through anything, derived from the Sacred Relic of a High-Risk Grotesquery.
Facing imminent death, Scientist’s grotesque smile didn’t falter.
“Spatial Distortion, are you willing to gamble the lives of everyone on this train for a chance to kill me?” She looked at Li Shaoheng with disdain, her voice arrogant.
As her words fell, Artist, in perfect coordination, activated his ability.
“…Midas Touch.”
With Scientist drawing their attention, Artist finally had the time to break through An Yu’s protection on the train.
Half the train car transformed into a living being, then instantly turned into gold.
This was Artist’s final ability, turning living beings back into inanimate objects.
Although he could currently only use it on beings he had animated himself, not on all living beings, it was enough for this situation.
The gold-plated train car screeched, no longer functioning. The intense friction created a burning smell, and the carriages ahead suddenly became noisy, filled with panic.
“Damn it!”
Li Shaoheng no longer had time to deal with Scientist. The gold plating was spreading rapidly, and soon, the other carriages would also become useless, until the entire train, including its engine, was frozen, a catastrophic end for everyone on board.
Hundreds, thousands of lives, about to be extinguished.
Without hesitation, he redirected his throwing knives towards Artist, creating an opening for Scientist.
Artist was forced to stop and defend against the knives, and Scientist seized the opportunity, closing the distance to Li Shaoheng, within striking range.
Li Shaoheng tried to use his ability to create distance, but it was too late.
Scientist’s earlier charge had taken his casting time into account.
This was… the power of Omniscience.
Spider legs pierced Li Shaoheng’s arm, a few centimeters away from his heart.
Scientist wasn’t surprised; this was also within her Omniscience, the most damaging outcome among all possibilities.
Being too greedy would only backfire.
Venomous blood was injected, instantly making Li Shaoheng’s face pale.
Without hesitation, he threw a knife, severing his own arm.
The poisoned arm fell to the ground, instantly rotting and dissolving into a puddle of pus within seconds.
If it spread, Li Shaoheng would likely suffer the same fate.
“Rots faster than that little girl,” Scientist tsked, but the image of Luo Ling’s terrifyingly intense gaze before her death flashed through her mind, and her expression darkened slightly.
…Never mind.
The girl was already dead, why dwell on it?
Turning into pus didn’t matter. Artist was here, and his ability was perfect for dealing with such situations, often repairing and repurposing dead bodies, turning them into “artworks.”
“You managed to stop us this time, but what about next time?” Scientist grinned grotesquely. “How many more arms can you afford to lose?”
Artist, his face expressionless, continued using his ability, while Scientist watched from the side.
Li Shaoheng was helpless.
If he tried to stop Artist, he would be attacked by Scientist. If he blocked Scientist, Artist’s ability would destroy the entire train.
In that case, most of the ordinary people would die in the train accident, and he would die in the Realm of Nothingness.
The only survivors might be Cen Xiangyun and An Yu.
Sometimes, knowing too much wasn’t a good thing.
Had he been cornered…?
A rare despair filled Li Shaoheng’s eyes, and he slowly closed them. Cen Xiangyun, seeing this, suddenly understood what her uncle was planning to do.
He would die either way, but at least… he could protect these ordinary people.
Protect the foundation of this era, preventing this Boundary from falling into Disorder.
That was the Company’s purpose.
Throwing knives appeared again, aimed at Artist.
Scientist smiled, satisfied with Li Shaoheng’s choice, the most valuable exchange for the Harbingers.
But just before this suicidal exchange, a scene similar to the beginning of this incident unfolded.
A cold, indifferent voice echoed simultaneously in the minds of Li Shaoheng, Cen Xiangyun, and An Yu.
“Target Scientist.”
Who was that?
Miss Luo Ling?
But it didn’t quite sound like her…
A familiar situation. Scientist’s grotesque face appeared before them.
A question of trust was placed before Li Shaoheng.
Should he trust this unfamiliar voice?
Scientist wouldn’t give him time to hesitate, but Cen Xiangyun bought him a moment.
“Ice Seal!”
Cen Xiangyun didn’t use Ice Seal on Li Shaoheng, as he wouldn’t be able to use his ability while frozen.
She used it on herself, becoming a shield for her uncle.
Spider legs pierced through the ice without hesitation, leaving a gruesome wound on Cen Xiangyun’s leg.
Even though Cen Xiangyun immediately used Ice Coagulation on her leg, the venomous blood still caused most of her leg to rot and fester.
This brief respite allowed Li Shaoheng to make his decision. He redirected his throwing knives, severing three of Scientist’s spider legs.
Combined with the one Luo Ling had broken off, Scientist now only had half her spider legs remaining.
“What?!”
Scientist was shocked and confused. She hadn’t expected Li Shaoheng to change his target, sacrificing three of her limbs for a train full of people.
This wasn’t a worthwhile exchange for Scientist. She didn’t care about the lives of ordinary people, but she couldn’t accept the heavy Price of losing her spider legs.
Even more alarming, this had also happened outside of her Omniscience!
Her Omniscience… hadn’t foreseen this possibility.
A wave of frustration and a desperate urge to sacrifice overwhelmed her.
At the same time, even worse news arrived.
Artist stood up silently and said,
“The train car… has been detached.”
…What did he mean?
The entire car was now gold-plated and had stopped moving.
But the expected panic and deaths didn’t occur. An eerie silence filled the air.
“The car…”
An Yu cautiously peeked out the window. She could only see the outer world and the current state of the train.
“It’s separated from the rest of the train.”
The golden train car was now isolated on the tracks, the other carriages and the engine continuing on their journey, unaffected by the gold plating.
In other words, the hostages were gone.
“No! Impossible!”
Scientist looked crazed, her Omniscience seemingly useless, another unforeseen possibility.
“This is…”
Even Li Shaoheng hadn’t expected this. He couldn’t use his spatial manipulation ability in the Realm of Nothingness to detach the car so precisely without affecting the rest of the train.
“I did it,” a calm, indifferent voice echoed.
Everyone looked up and saw an unfamiliar, tall woman standing at the entrance of the car, as if she had just boarded.
But no one recognized her.
“Who are you?”
Artist frowned, a sense of familiarity with this strange woman.
Was it from someone’s memories?
“Ji Ying,” the tall woman said calmly, “Or you can call me… Puppet Ballad.”
…
The pain in her chest gradually faded into a numb warmth, her cold body enveloped in a familiar warmth.
When Luo Ling opened her eyes again, she was back in the strange space she had visited countless times.
Flickering oil lamps lined the corridor, and one of the old wooden doors was ajar.
“This is…”
After recovering from the haze of being killed by Scientist, Luo Ling sat slumped on the ground, exhausted.
A heavy fatigue weighed her down. After an unknown amount of time, when she finally regained her senses, she was standing before the second door.
A warm light emanated from within, and Luo Ling pushed the door open. As expected, the room inside was identical to the Harbingers’ train car.
A crackling fireplace, half-empty cups of tea steaming on the table.
The only difference was in the center of the room.
…It wasn’t the crystal coffin from the previous room.
Two old, worn wooden planks formed a cross, standing upright on the floor.
Green vines wrapped around the cross, reaching upwards, blooming into beautiful, light purple flowers.
Bound to the cross by the vines was a stunningly beautiful woman, her eyes closed, faint, alluring markings tracing the corners of her eyes, her vibrant purple hair cascading down her shoulders, her ample bosom faintly visible.
A simple, white dress did nothing to diminish her allure. Even bound and imprisoned, she exuded a captivating, seductive aura.
She seemed to be both smiling and crying.
As Luo Ling approached the purple-haired woman, a familiar message appeared in her mind.
[Chaos: Naraku]
[Innate Ability: Weave — Expand a web domain, gaining all predictable information within the domain.]
[Weaving points into lines, lines into a web, within the web. Naraku knows all, sees all.]
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