Chapter 68 A New God? I'll Detonate It Myself!
The enormous underground cavern was deathly silent.
The "Immortal Heart" suspended above the altar beats rhythmically.
Each pulse caused the surrounding plants, which emitted a ghostly glow, to alternate between light and shadow, the light and shadow cutting across everyone's face in an eerie and unpredictable way.
Those lit screens are like windows leading to hell.
On the screen, Commander Feng Yi, Batu, Monkey, and other team members were tightly bound, their faces a mixture of despair and anger.
Behind them was a dense horde of zombies, the monsters' claws and teeth already close to their bodies.
This silent scene is more lethal than any form of torture.
Lu Zhanting clenched his fists.
His fingernails dug deep into his palms, drawing blood that dripped onto the ground, but he felt nothing.
Rage, helplessness, and self-blame burned within him, threatening to consume his reason.
He can die.
But he could not accept that his comrades had been slaughtered because of him.
This is the bottom line that is etched into his very bones as a soldier and as a commander.
The scorpion, also known as the lynx, smiled and morbidly enjoyed the pain on Lu Zhanting's face.
"How is it, Battalion Commander Lu?"
He opened his arms wide, his tone playful, like a cat catching a mouse.
"Your heroism, your ridiculous sense of collective honor, has now become a dagger piercing your heart."
"I'll count to three."
"one."
“If you do not go up to the altar, I will let my children, starting with that little fellow called the monkey, taste their appetizer.”
Lynx turned its gaze to the screen, as if giving a silent command to it.
"Let him see clearly."
On the screen, a zombie opens its foul-smelling mouth and lunges to bite at the monkey's thigh.
The monkey let out a painful groan, its face instantly turning ashen.
But he gritted his teeth and roared at the screen with all his might.
The voice couldn't reach us, but Lu Zhanting could clearly see the lip movements—"Captain! Don't worry about us! Kill this traitor! Avenge our brothers!"
"two."
The lynx's cold voice fell like a death knell.
Lu Zhanting's body trembled violently, and the wound on his chest reopened due to the intense emotional turmoil, quickly soaking the gauze with blood.
He stared intently at the lynx, his eyes filled with a look that seemed to want to tear him to pieces.
He slowly raised his foot, a step as heavy as a thousand pounds, preparing to walk towards the altar.
Just then, a cool hand gently pressed down on his arm.
It is Su Wanqing.
There was no fear or panic on her face, only a cold, all-knowing calm.
She helped Lu Zhanting take a step forward, facing the lynx on the altar, her clear, cold voice echoing in the empty cave.
Do you really think you've won?
Lynx raised an eyebrow, looking at her with great interest: "Oh? Dr. Su, at this point, what other tricks are you planning to pull?"
"You went to great lengths to lure him here, risking your identity and threatening him with the lives of your comrades, which only proves one thing."
Su Wanqing's voice was not loud, but every word was as clear as a needle.
"You're afraid of him."
“Even though he is seriously injured now, you still don’t have the confidence to capture him alive, so you have no choice but to use this most despicable means.”
The smile on the mountain cat's face froze.
Su Wanqing didn't stop, and continued, "Moreover, your so-called 'new god' plan is full of loopholes. Do you really think that by fusing with this stone full of violent energy, you can become a god?"
“Look at those murals, look at the ‘heart’ behind you.”
"It exudes only chaos, madness, and destruction, without a trace of 'divinity.' It will only turn you into a more powerful and uglier monster, just like your 'gatekeeper,' ultimately causing you to lose yourself and become a beast that only knows how to kill."
"You're talking nonsense!"
For the first time, the lynx's emotions fluctuated violently, and it retorted sharply.
"This is evolution! It's a leap in the level of life! You mortals simply cannot understand it!"
"Is that so?" Su Wanqing's lips curled into a mocking smile.
"Does someone who is about to become a god need to threaten the lives of ordinary people?"
"Does one need to use words to defend their so-called 'greatness'?"
"Deep down you know better than anyone that you're on a path of self-destruction. You're not becoming a god; you're just afraid of death."
Every word she uttered was like an invisible scalpel, precisely dissecting the disguise that Lynx had built with fanaticism and obsession, and piercing his most vulnerable core.
Lynx's face turned extremely ugly. He stared intently at Su Wanqing, his eyes no longer concealing his murderous intent.
"You sharp-tongued woman! Once I've dealt with Lu Zhanting, I'll make you experience firsthand what true despair is!"
"There's one more question."
Su Wan-qing completely ignored his threat and turned her gaze to the screens.
"Are these images truly real-time?"
"Given the geological structure and energy interference here, I don't think any wireless signal can be transmitted without delay."
"So, it's more likely that this was a pre-recorded video you used to break down his psychological defenses, right?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhanting's body trembled violently.
He looked back at the screens. Although the monkeys and others in the images were struggling, the movements of the zombies and the angles of their biting seemed to carry a repetitive and unnatural sense of cycle.
The mountain cat's pupils suddenly contracted.
He miscalculated.
He had anticipated Lu Zhanting's loyalty and righteousness, but he hadn't anticipated that the woman beside him could maintain such terrifying composure and insight even in such dire circumstances.
"Looks like I guessed right."
Su Wanqing got the answer from the lynx's reaction. She turned to look at Lu Zhanting, her eyes filled with complete trust and encouragement.
"Zhan Ting, don't be deceived by him. Our comrades are still waiting for us to return."
Lu Zhanting closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the rage and despair in his heart had been completely extinguished.
Instead, there was a chilling, bone-chilling fighting spirit.
He straightened up again.
Even though he was seriously injured, his iron-blooded aura as an elite soldier still made the surrounding air feel heavier.
“Lynx,” he said, his voice hoarse but full of power, “the game is over.”
"Finish?"
The lynx paused for a moment, then burst into maniacal laughter.
"Lu Zhanting, are you so badly injured that you've damaged your brain? So what if it was a recording? Do you think you still have a chance to fight back? In this place I've been running for years, you're like fish in a barrel!"
He stopped trying to hide it and suddenly pressed a button on his wrist.
"Boom..."
The entire cave began to tremble violently.
The underground river surrounding the altar began to rise rapidly, becoming incredibly turbid, with countless dark shadows churning beneath.
Meanwhile, a dozen or so dark holes slowly opened up on the surrounding stone walls of the cave.
"roar--!"
Amidst chilling roars, one mutated monkey after another crawled out of the hole, their scarlet eyes fixed on the two people below the altar.
"I admit, I underestimated you. But it doesn't matter."
The lynx's expression returned to its ferocious and confident state.
"Faced with overwhelming numbers, any struggle is futile. Now, your only choice is to offer yourself as a sacrifice before being torn to pieces by my children!"
A desperate situation.
A true dead end.
Ahead lie arrogant enemies, behind are endless monsters, and beneath your feet flows a strange river with turbulent undercurrents.
Lu Zhanting shielded Su Wanqing behind him, his military knife held horizontally in front of his chest.
Su Wanqing stepped out from behind him and stood beside him.
She took out the last enhanced "Deactivation Pill" from her bosom.
The pill was only the size of a thumb, a dark gray color, but with a subtle shimmering light on its surface, emanating a reassuringly hot aura.
"Zhan Ting, do you remember our previous teamwork?" she said softly.
Lu Zhanting didn't turn around, only managing to squeeze out a single word from his throat: "Hmm."
“In a moment, I will throw this pill at the ‘Heart of Immortality’,” Su-Wanqing said quickly. “The extreme yang energy in the pill will violently clash with its extreme yin energy. Although it may not destroy it, it will definitely trigger a huge energy explosion. This is our only chance.”
“The power of the explosion is unpredictable. The altar is the center, and you are too close…” Lu Zhanting’s voice was full of suppressed worry.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
Su Wanqing's tone was extremely firm.
“We have no choice. All you have to do is protect yourself in the instant of the explosion, and then… get me out of here.”
Lu Zhanting remained silent.
He knew this was the only way.
A high-stakes gamble, for a glimmer of hope.
“Okay.” He nodded solemnly.
The two spoke very quickly, and Lynx didn't hear them clearly. He only saw that they seemed to be saying their final goodbye, their smiles becoming even more cruel.
Are you ready to die?
With a wave of his hand, the mutated monkeys let out a shriek and transformed into a black tide, surging in from all directions.
Now!
Just before the monsters surged forward, Lu Zhanting moved.
Instead of retreating, he used his last bit of strength to charge towards the altar like a cannonball.
His target is not the lynx.
It was not only to draw the attention of all the firepower, but also to... shorten the distance between Su Wanqing and the target.
"court death!"
Lynx was surprised that Lu Zhanting dared to attack first, and with a sneer, he prepared to fight back.
Just as everyone's attention, including that of the mutated monkeys, was drawn to Lu Zhanting—
Su Wanqing moved.
Instead of retreating, she took a few steps forward with Lu Zhanting and stopped less than thirty meters away from the altar.
She channeled all her spiritual energy into her right arm, tensing her muscles, and then, with the force of a javelin thrower, hurled the "Destroyer's Pill"—a pill embodying all hope—at the enormous, pulsating "Immortal Heart" above the altar!
The small gray pill traced a straight, uncurved path in the air.
It's like a precision-guided bullet, ignoring spatial distance and energy interference, solely focused on hitting its single target.
The lynx finally realized something was wrong!
His gaze suddenly shifted to the pill that was flying toward the "Heart of Immortality," and his expression changed drastically in an instant.
"No--!"
He let out a terrified scream and tried to stop them, but it was too late.
Under the watchful eyes of all, the tiny "inactivation pill" struck precisely at the center of the "Heart of Immortality."
There was no earth-shattering noise.
The moment the elixir came into contact with the "Heart of Immortality," it was like a drop of water falling into boiling oil, instantly swallowed up.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
The entire cave fell into an eerie silence.
One second later.
"Buzz—!"
A shockwave, visible to the naked eye and mixed with gray and blood, suddenly spread outwards from the center of the "Immortal Heart"!
The steady beating of the "Immortal Heart" suddenly became incredibly chaotic.
Its blood-red patterns twisted and expanded wildly, as if something was about to explode inside it.
At its core, an extremely yin and evil energy and an extremely yang and strong force engaged in the most primal and violent conflict!
"BOOM—!!"
Finally, with a deafening roar that shattered eardrums, the "Immortal Heart" exploded!
That wasn't an explosion in the physical sense, but a pure burst of energy!
A violent energy storm swept through the entire cavern.
The lynx that was closest didn't even have time to let out a scream before it was instantly swallowed up by the crimson energy torrent, its body turning to ashes in mid-air.
The mutated monkeys that rushed forward were incredibly vulnerable to this energy storm and were instantly torn to pieces.
The entire structure of the cave began to collapse completely during this terrifying energy explosion.
Huge stalactites fell from the dome, cracking the ground into bottomless chasms. Turbid underground rivers poured in, mixing with mud, sand, and gravel, creating a devastating mudslide.
In the instant the explosion occurred, Lu Zhanting had already turned around and used his back to tightly shield Su Wanqing in his arms.
Its sturdy back withstood the first wave of impact.
He groaned and spat out a mouthful of blood, but his arms remained as firm as iron clamps, without the slightest loosening.
"Hold on tight!"
He used his last bit of strength to shout in Su Wanqing's ear.
Immediately afterwards, the ground beneath their feet completely collapsed.
The two, along with countless boulders and the raging torrent, plunged into deeper, endless darkness.
At this moment, the world was completely deprived of light and sound.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com