The air was thick with tension. Under the stark white light, two "Xie Chens" faced each other, a step apart, an invisible storm swirling within the cramped bedroom. One was a ruthless, domineering CEO, consumed by ten years of madness and despair, his obsession turning him into a demon; the other was a newly merged, still-unstable, yet equally formidable, fusion of souls. Their gazes clashed in the air, almost sparking icy flames.
Caught in the middle, Su Nian struggled to breathe. The demonized Xie Chen's declarative words of "ultimate imprisonment" still echoed in her ears, each word carrying a bloody, obsessive tone that sent chills down her spine. The tense back of the nascent fusion body in front of her also conveyed a sense of impending doom.
"A fake?" Xie Chen, in his initial fusion form, spoke slowly, his voice low and carrying a hint of cold sarcasm accumulated from multiple worlds. "Are you talking about yourself? A pathetic wretch trapped in the ruins of time, only capable of going crazy over photographs."
His words struck Xie Chen's most sensitive nerve.
The deathly coldness in Xie Chen's darkened eyes shattered instantly, surging with terrifying ferocity! The oppressive aura around him suddenly intensified, the lights in the room flickered, and the photos on the walls seemed to come alive, with countless "Su Nian" eyes seemingly watching this confrontation.
"Poor wretch?" Xie Chen, now corrupted, repeated in a low, hoarse voice, the twisted curve of his lips widening into an almost ferocious "smile." "What do you know? Have you ever experienced the despair of losing her for ten years, searching the world in vain? Have you ever felt the pain of every hope that is ignited and then ruthlessly extinguished, as if being repeatedly tortured in an endless hell?"
He took a step closer, his gaze passing over the nascent fusion body and fixing on Su Nian's face, his eyes seeming to want to devour her alive: "You! It's all because of you! Your disappearance has turned me into this! This is what you owe me!"
His accusations, though illogical, contained the real and profound pain accumulated over a decade.
The initially fused Xie Chen did not give an inch. He even leaned forward slightly, and a deep and dangerous dark aura that combined the characteristics of multiple worlds began to flow around him, rivaling the cold domain of the blackened Xie Chen.
“Pain is not a reason for you to completely objectify her, to mold her into a soulless collectible.” The voice of the nascent fusion body resonated strangely, as if multiple fragments were speaking simultaneously. “What you wanted was merely a shell that wouldn’t resist, wouldn’t disappear. But we…” He paused, glancing briefly at Su Nian behind him, his eyes filled with complex and unreadable emotions, “…Our different experiences have taught us that true possession is not about destroying her wings, but…”
He didn't finish his sentence; it seemed even he himself was still searching for the answer.
"And what?" The corrupted Xie Chen sneered, his laughter dry and grating. "Play those pointless redemption games with her? Like them?" His gaze swept over the photos from other worlds on the wall, his eyes filled with undisguised disgust and jealousy. "Watching her smile at others, feel sorry for others, and even... fall in love with others?"
His words sent a chill down Su Nian's spine. She realized that this corrupted Xie Chen seemed to have "seen" most of her experiences in other mission worlds through some means! This feeling of being completely spied on and having no privacy sent a shiver down her spine.
"That's not a game!" Su Nian couldn't help but retort, her voice trembling slightly with nervousness. "Those experiences were real! Those... emotions too!" She didn't know why she was arguing at this moment; perhaps she wanted to break his crazy logic that completely objectified her.
Xie Chen's darkened gaze instantly became even more terrifying. He suddenly turned to Su Nian with astonishing speed!
“Real?” he almost roared, ten years of pent-up emotions finally finding an outlet. “Your smiles for them were real? Your dependence on them was real? What about me?!” He pointed to the prison-like bedroom, to the photos covering the walls. “Your fear here, your tears, every attempt you made to escape… those were real too! Why is it that only my ‘realness’ results in your disappearance?!”
His question struck Su Nian's heart like a heavy hammer. She opened her mouth, but found herself unable to refute it. Initially, in this world, she truly only felt fear and the desire to escape.
"Because your 'truth' is built upon her suffering." Xie Chen, in his initial fusion form, coldly interjected. He sensed Su Nian's emotional fluctuations and subconsciously wanted to sever the mental oppression she was under from the corrupted Xie Chen. "Your use of chains and imprisonment to express so-called 'love' is itself a distortion."
"Twisted?" The corrupted Xie Chen seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. He looked around at the "nest" he had transformed over the past ten years, his eyes revealing an almost devout madness. "This is the ultimate love! Stripping away all external interference, eliminating all unstable factors, leaving only the purest 'us'! Every inch of air, every ray of light in this space exists only for her! This is eternity!"
Before he finished speaking, a faint hum suddenly filled the room! Pale blue, circuit board-like, complex energy patterns began to appear on the walls, ceiling, and even the floor! These patterns connected to each other, forming a huge cage that completely enveloped the entire bedroom! An even stronger binding force descended, and Su Nian felt his limbs instantly become heavy, and even his thoughts seemed to slow down!
This "birdcage" is not only physical, but also a comprehensive blockade on both the energy and spiritual levels!
Xie, in his initial fusion state, let out a muffled groan. The dark energy around him had become noticeably sluggish under the suppression of the pale blue energy field. He tried to mobilize his power to resist, but the energy field seemed to have a special suppressive effect on "abnormal beings" like him.
"It's useless." The corrupted Xie Chen watched him struggle, his eyes cold and smug. "Over the past ten years, I have transformed this place into a forbidden zone for all 'variables.' An unstable aggregate like you would be rejected here even for its very existence."
He ignored the initial fusion and focused all his attention on Su Nian again. He reached out, and this time, instead of hovering, he grabbed at Su Nian's wrist with irresistible force!
“The game is over, my bird.” His voice carried a chilling gentleness. “Time to go back to your cage.”
Just as that cold hand was about to grab Su Nian, a fierce glint flashed in Xie Chen's eyes as he began to fuse! He no longer tried to resist the entire energy field head-on, but instead instantly contracted and concentrated his power into a single point, slamming it into the outstretched arm of the blackened Xie Chen!
"Bang!"
Two forces, though originating from the same source, collided violently, producing a deep, resounding boom! Energy ripples spread outwards, causing the photos on the wall to rustle!
The corrupted Xie Chen's arm was violently knocked away, and he took half a step back, his eyes revealing genuine, offended rage for the first time! The initial fusion body also swayed slightly due to the forced mobilization of suppressed power, and the dark aura around it flickered, clearly indicating a huge consumption of energy.
"You...how dare you!" Xie Chen's voice, now blackened, seemed to come from the deepest, coldest abyss.
The nascent fusion body, panting, stood in front of Su Nian, his condition poor, yet his protective stance was unwavering. He raised his head, looking at the corrupted Xie Chen, his dark eyes flashing with an indomitable light:
“As long as I exist…” he said, emphasizing each word, “you can forget about… touching her again.”
Looking at the figure before her, who was willing to fight against her own, a being of the same origin and even stronger, to protect her, Su Nian felt as if her heart had been struck hard. Chaos and fear filled her heart, but also an indescribable bittersweetness and throbbing spread within her.
As Xie Chen, now corrupted, looked at them, at the protective posture of the initial fusion body, and at the complex and unreadable emotions in Su Nian's eyes, the crazed expression on his face gradually subsided, transforming into a deeper and more terrifying calm.
He slowly, very slowly, tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"very good."
"It seems that before we build the final cage..."
"I need to..."
"Clean up some...excess 'impurities'."
His gaze, like the most precise scalpel, fell upon Xie Chen, the initial fusion body.
The devouring began.
(End of Chapter 152)
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