Chapter 232

Xie Xubai had only a vague understanding of the connection between Theseus and the system, and he couldn't fathom why the system insisted on torturing the other party in front of him, its enemy.

Could it be that they sensed Theseus's intention to betray them and were issuing a warning?

Just then, a bright white and purple high-voltage current appeared out of thin air around Theseus, crackling and flowing like silver snakes. It inadvertently swept across the table, exploding into several horrifying scorch marks!

Xie Xubai's expression suddenly darkened; this didn't seem like a normal warning.

He looked at his own face, and subconsciously, he quickly took off his gold-rimmed glasses. Then he covered the glasses and the shadow at his feet with his mental energy, blocking their perception of this place.

Xie Xubai's premonitions were always accurate, and he guessed right. The system was indeed stimulating Yan Shuo by tormenting this face.

However, the system went even further, directly projecting the real-time image of the ink painting space right in front of Yan Shuo's eyes.

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At that time, Yan Shuo had already arrived at the Black King's Palace with Xie Xubai's divided soul in his arms.

A hundred or so attendants lined up on both sides of the red carpet, calling out the Black King's name and respectfully welcoming him.

Without even glancing at him, He strode straight to the palace's medical department, where the court physician treated Xie Xubai.

The semi-transparent virtual screen then stretched directly across Yan Shuo's face, reflecting Theseus's disheveled appearance.

However, Yan Shuo's eyes were glued to Xie Xubai, and he didn't care what kind of torture the imposter was about to suffer.

Without raising his head, he stretched out his hand, palm inward, back of hand outward, and waved it upward as if shooing away flies. The virtual screen shattered instantly under the impact of the invisible force!

The royal medical team couldn't see the system, but they felt a chilling wind sweeping past them, and they couldn't help but shiver. They tightened their grip.

The split soul, still unconscious, winced in pain and twitched its fingers very slightly.

Yan Shuo's brows furrowed instantly: "Be serious."

"Yes, yes, yes..." the palace physician replied, sweating profusely.

The system voice from the void fell silent for a moment, then a series of noisy fluctuations followed, sounding like angry curses.

Yan Shuo stood in front of the hospital bed, watching the divided soul tremble restlessly. He sat down by the bed, reached out and gently brushed aside a strand of hair stuck to the young man's temple, and stroked his cheek.

It seems that only when they are asleep do even the most resilient and stubborn humans reveal a hint of their inner vulnerability.

The system notification sounded relentlessly, accompanied by a venomous laugh that was sharp and piercing, like fingernails scratching a blackboard.

You lost him before.

Aren't you curious about what I did to him during the time I lost him?

Yan Shuo suddenly raised his cold and violent eyes.

Just as His emotions were in a state of extreme turmoil, the image of Theseus with a blood-covered face flashed before Yan Shuo's eyes once again.

The black high-voltage electricity burst forth with terrifying pressure, instantly surging onto Theseus's body like venomous snakes, leaping and crisscrossing his skin. Wherever it passed, his skin cracked and bled, his muscles convulsed wildly, and his limbs visibly charred, emitting a pungent, burnt stench.

Theseus's pupils constricted sharply, and in his excruciating pain, he instinctively let out a piercing scream: "Aaaaaaahhhhhh—!"

Simply tormenting Theseus wouldn't stir the slightest ripple in Yan Shuo's heart.

But under the system's stimulation, Theseus's expression suddenly began to change uncontrollably, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing, sometimes fearful, like a rapidly changing theatrical mask.

Finally, at a certain moment, the sinister and hateful look in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a gaze that remained firm and unyielding despite the excruciating pain.

He gasped for breath, howling in pain as he struggled to draw oxygen under the torment of the high-frequency electric current.

Suddenly, she met Yan Shuo's gaze, closed her eyes, reached out and conjured a blade, and without hesitation plunged it into her own heart!

This is precisely Xie Xubai's personality: he would rather die than surrender—if the enemy takes me hostage, I will shed my blood to uphold the army's morale.

In an instant, Yan Shuo's breathing became disordered.

Through this face, through this image of a young man resolutely and generously facing death, it seems as if He can recall the weary, closed-eye appearance of the young man at the end of each life.

He can indeed bring Xie Xubai back to life countless times by rewinding time.

Even if Xie Xubai's soul is shattered into pieces and outside Earth's timeline, He can still risk destroying half of a divine core, fight his way in and out of the void seven times, snatch back Xie Xubai's soul fragments, and piece the young man back to life.

But this can never change the fact that Xie Xubai was once dead.

No matter how many times He saved Xie Xubai, no matter how He made amends afterward, it is an indelible fact.

It is His incompetence and inadequacy, a pain He can never overcome.

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The ink-wash space began to shake violently. This unusual vibration originated from the chessboard, or rather, from the Black Tower, which is the core part of the chessboard world.

The Black Tower has long been integrated with its sole ruler, the Black King. When the Black King is in pain, it becomes turbulent; when the Black King is enraged, it becomes frenzied.

In an instant, all the players climbing the tower and the citizens of the game kingdom could feel the terrifying pressure crashing down from the sky. The air seemed to be sucked out completely, and a suffocating feeling rose from their chests. Death seemed to be just around the corner!

At the critical moment, Yan Shuo's upper body suddenly sank, and he looked down at the hand that was grabbing his collar, then at the thin, porcelain-white arm, and finally met the eyes of the split soul that were slowly opening.

Xie Xubai's divided soul struggled to catch its breath, its gaze calm and steady. It grabbed Yan Shuo's collar and pulled him even closer, almost pressing his face against Yan Shuo's.

Their noses touched, their hot breaths mingling.

Under the incredulous gaze of the royal medical team, the frail young man on the bed raised his chin and said to the still-unresponsive evil god, "What's so interesting about him? Look at me."

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The system's repeated provocations against Yan Shuo by using itself as a guise thoroughly enraged Xie Xubai.

He was unable to find the system's existence in the ink-wash space, proving that the system was remotely controlled by Theseus through some kind of contract link.

Xie Xubai made a decisive move, focusing his gaze and channeling his spiritual power. Golden light, like an arrow released from a bow, swiftly pierced into Theseus's body.

It was also the system's own fault. Theseus, as a modified version of Xie Xubai, was just as skilled in mental power as him, and he also knew Xie Xubai's attack methods inside and out. In the past, Xie Xubai would never have been able to successfully infiltrate him.

Now, Theseus, whose personality has been tormented to the point of confusion, is utterly powerless to resist Xie Xubai's mental probing.

The golden light rushed straight in and quickly reached Theseus's sea of ​​consciousness.

Chaos reigned here, crimson cracks tore through space, and the air, like a thick, cold swamp, filled the nostrils, making it hard to breathe. Everywhere one looked, there were fragments of memories floating and scattering like shards of glass.

In this world of consciousness riddled with holes, any anomaly becomes readily apparent. Therefore, Xie Xubai didn't need to search carefully at all; he discovered the anomaly hanging high in the sky at a glance.

It was an eye, an enormous eye, hanging overhead like the sun. Countless mechanical blood vessels extended from behind the eyeball, winding downwards, while hook-like connectors were rooted deep within the sea of ​​consciousness.

Just then, those terrifying eyes rolled around and stared intently at the golden light that had suddenly entered, as if they had discovered his presence.

Why were you allowed in? Get out!

In an instant, an invisible shock swept over him, and Xie Xubai's vision went black. Countless murmurs echoed in his mind, making him dizzy and disoriented.

[Roar—!]

The next second, a majestic dragon roar suddenly resounded in his mind, the howl seemed to be divinely aided, and his confusion was instantly shattered like a fog.

Xie Xubai regained his clarity, his eyes sharpened, and without hesitation, he manipulated the golden light to shatter the mutated eyeball!

However, the system was created by Theseus, and the connection between the two cannot be severed so easily.

All that could be seen was blood and flesh shattered into puddles of mud, scattering everywhere, then suddenly freezing in mid-air, and under some kind of pull, gathering together and covering the original at a speed visible to the naked eye.

When it recovers, it will also regain control over Theseus, including manipulating him to continue to provoke the feast.

The game wasn't over, and Xie Xubai couldn't kill Theseus. He decisively separated a portion of his mental energy, embedding it into his sea of ​​consciousness to compete with the system and seize control of Theseus.

The next instant, a black and red figure suddenly appeared.

His body was cut into countless pieces by invisible lines: eyes, mouth, nose, ears, hands, feet... Each piece was constantly changing, sometimes large, sometimes small, sometimes long, sometimes short, like a game character whose face was being twisted.

That was Theseus's main consciousness.

Xie Xubai's attack system gave him a fleeting opportunity to break free from his constraints. He grabbed the golden light that Xie Xubai had separated from, stuffed it into his own consciousness without hesitation, and then attacked it!

This scene was like Xie Xubai swinging his knife at the system, while Theseus snatched the knife away and viciously stabbed Xie Xubai instead.

In a flash, Xie Xubai, who was already wary of him, reflexively retaliated. To his surprise, there was no resistance at all. The golden light pierced through Theseus's consciousness, and blood splattered everywhere!

Theseus's pupils gradually dilated, and before he closed his eyes, he gave Xie Xubai a smile.

Oh no! Is he trying to kill himself?

Xie Xubai's expression changed slightly, and golden light poured out as he devoted all his efforts to repairing Theseus's consciousness.

—If Theseus were to die at this moment, the chessboard world would collapse, and everyone inside would be wiped out!

Theseus's main consciousness was severely injured and collapsed, and his entire sea of ​​consciousness was like a dilapidated and dangerous building, teetering on the verge of collapse and slowly crumbling.

The space cracked into several pieces, peeling away like paint from a wall, finally revealing the mechanical veins hidden within, crisscrossing and so dense that they sent chills down one's spine.

No wonder Xie Xubai couldn't sever the system's connection even after destroying the mutated eyeball; it turns out this "poison" is all-pervasive and has already penetrated deep into the "bone marrow."

With the death of Theseus, they also began to wither, dry up, and lose their vitality.

The difference is that Xie Xubai's golden light is desperately trying to save Theseus, so he unusually retains a sliver of his own consciousness.

At that very moment, Theseus suddenly opened his eyes!

Seeing the mechanical blood vessels that the system used to control him die one by one, his eyes became clear and his smile was rampant. There was no sign of the exhaustion and emptiness that a dying person should have.

Seeing the fragments of his consciousness space falling to the ground trembling wildly and emitting excited buzzing, Xie Xubai suddenly realized something was wrong and retreated quickly.

So this was Theseus's scheme all along!

Exposure to a death stimulus system is like a parasite detaching itself upon sensing the host's death.

He then used Xie Xubai to keep himself alive, and with that last breath, he slapped the parasite that had escaped his body to death!

For some reason, Theseus did not attack him; perhaps Xie Xubai withdrew in time.

This is the sea of ​​Theseus's consciousness; when he possesses autonomy, he is the absolute ruler.

Before completely withdrawing, Xie Xubai heard Theseus let out a loud and hearty laugh.

Amidst that deafening laughter, spatial fragments swirled together like a tornado, tearing the remaining mechanical blood vessels to shreds!

—At this moment, he finally broke free from the system's control.

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Xie Xubai, having left Theseus's sea of ​​consciousness, clenched his teeth abruptly, a chill running through his body as he thought about how he had indirectly helped the demon remove his shackles.

But when Xie Xubai looked up again, he was stunned.

Theseus before me was nothing like the spirited figure I had imagined. He was slumped in his chair, his body covered in gruesome scars from the electric shocks, his organs ruptured, his breathing weak, his body hunched over, barely able to exhale.

Illness comes like a landslide, but recovery is like pulling silk from a cocoon.

Upon closer examination, it seems quite reasonable. From "birth" until now, Theseus has been controlled by the system, and he has almost become a part of the system. To break free, he would have to be torn apart.

Theseus, at this point, probably couldn't even lift his hand to play a game of chess, but he looked extremely happy, his shoulders shaking, chuckling softly and incessantly. The movement aggravated his injuries, causing him to gasp for breath, but then he would laugh again: "Haha, hahaha..."

Suddenly, Theseus, with strength from who knows where, turned his right hand into a claw and clawed at his own face.

The system wanted to use Xie Xubai's face to provoke Yan Shuo, so after a series of electric shocks, his entire body was almost burned to a crisp, but his face remained completely unharmed.

With a tearing sound, Theseus ripped off half of his face and threw it into the lake, splashing water everywhere.

The big fish, which had been secretly observing, glanced at the meat a few times, rushed up, snatched the piece of meat into its mouth, and happily ate it all up.

"..." Xie Xubai looked at him silently.

Theseus seemed to sense it, his chest heaving several times before he raised his hand to stop the bleeding. With his face covered in blood and gore, he sneered in a voice barely audible, "Great Sage, you wouldn't happen to pity me, would you?"

Xie Xubai suddenly asked, "Were all your chess pieces refined from living people?"

Theseus shuddered with pain with every movement. He struggled to sit up, then leaned weakly against the chair, seemingly in good spirits, and readily answered, "Of course."

Xie Xubai: "You refined it?"

Theseus: "More or less."

Xie Xubai could read his true emotions, so he knew he wasn't lying. At the same time, he didn't sense a trace of remorse and asked coldly, "Then what makes you so pitiful?"

Theseus chuckled, as if he deeply agreed: "That's true."

Author's Note:

We've reached one million words! To celebrate, I'll be giving away 50 small red envelopes in the comments section. Just comment on this chapter to receive one, first come, first served! [Sprinkling flowers][Sprinkling flowers][Sprinkling flowers]