And then there were Liu Yu and Lin Juntian, two raw recruits; one could barely summon the Obelisk of Light for a few seconds, and the other could barely manifest a handful of blades. Forget influencing the battle; being able to save their own lives was fortunate enough. Thus, the five of them couldn't help but feel uneasy until Zhang Heng arrived, making them all breathe a collective sigh of relief. When had this timid man grown to a point where he could bear such a heavy responsibility? He was one of the core fighters of the Central Continent Team, that much was certain. At this moment, he could directly proceed to the giant stone pillar and influence the battle between the two Zheng Zhas.

“...Is that so? So much has happened.” After hearing Wang Xia’s brief recounting of past events, Zhang Heng fell into silent contemplation. After a long pause, he finally asked, “What are everyone’s plans?” Wang Xia and the others exchanged glances. After another long silence, Cheng Xiao was the first to speak, “Zhang Heng, you said you saw two Chu Xuans fighting before you arrived... Have they not determined a victor yet?” “En, both of them seem quite energetic... At least, I wouldn't dare get close enough to observe. But judging by their auras, it might be a while before a victor emerges. In the meantime, shouldn't we go and help Zheng Zha?” Zhang Heng nodded in agreement.

The other five fell silent for a moment. Only Ming Wei suddenly addressed the clone of Ming Wei that Zhang Heng was carrying: “You must be the clone of me, right? What happened to your arm?” Zhang Heng seemed to just remember that he was still carrying the clone of Ming Wei. He immediately set her down. This woman was tough; she didn't panic even after being put down, silently rising from the ground. “It was severed by an arrow... Have you been with the original me all this time?” “He” naturally referred to Zhang Heng. The original Ming Wei did not deny it, merely nodding silently before saying, “Do you still want to kill him? Or... have you become so desperate that you’ve lost even the thought of killing him?” “...Almost. If I can’t kill him this time, I will end this life. In the Demon Team. When I was first copied in, I committed suicide once just to avoid being touched by those Caucasians. It was the clone Zheng Zha who had just returned from a horror movie then; after he became immensely powerful, he slaughtered the Caucasians and revived me... It’s ridiculous. I never wanted to return to this world, yet here I am, back again, and with all my memories intact. This sort of thing...” the clone Ming Wei shook her head, speaking with profound misery.

Lin Lei said, “I understand... I’ve always felt that way.” The original Ming Wei also nodded silently. The two women fell silent again, while the men around them, except for Zhang Heng, were looking everywhere. Only Zhang Heng stood awkwardly, daring not to move. “...What do you live for? Is your ambition merely to seek death? If that is the case, then carry that pain and grow stronger. Then, kill the one who inflicted this pain upon you, and then commit suicide. Don’t waste my side quests and reward points needlessly. If you do nothing, you are even more timid and cowardly than the person you despise...” the clone Ming Wei suddenly spoke. “Huh?” The original Ming Wei found this somewhat bewildering and asked curiously. “It was what clone Zheng Zha told me. When he revived me, he was already overwhelmingly powerful. Later, I learned about his past from the others in the team... That’s why I’ve always wanted to kill Zhang Heng... What about you? The original me, have you never considered killing him?” the clone Ming Wei stared intently at the original Ming Wei’s face and asked coldly. “I have, and I haven’t... We have experienced so much together. Watching his growth and maturation, the past pain still lingers in my heart...” Ming Wei looked at Zhang Heng steadily, then looked back at the clone Ming Wei. “I want to try changing the way I seek revenge. I will keep watching him—whether he is cowardly, brave, running away, or taking responsibility. My heart remains filled with pain and hatred. I will just watch him like this until I completely forget the hatred or until we both grow old and die together... It's a rather dull thought, isn't it? But I will keep doing it.” “...Is that so? No wonder he has grown to this extent now. Besides the courage to die, he also gained the courage to live...” the clone Ming Wei said with a bitter smile.

The two women once again lapsed into silence. Cheng Xiao, standing nearby, finally couldn't hold back and said, “Ladies, let’s stop dwelling on these tiresome matters. You can settle scores with Zhang Heng later... Zhang Heng, shouldn’t we go help Zheng Zha first? Once he achieves victory, the Central Continent Team will have secured victory in this final battle. What do you think?” Zhang Heng pondered briefly and finally nodded, saying, “Good! Let’s go help Zheng Zha! This final battle. We absolutely must... Huh?” As Zhang Heng finished speaking and was about to summon his Green Goblin Glider, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest as an arrow of light pierced straight through him. Behind him, the clone Ming Wei stood with suddenly vacant eyes. One of her arms was completely severed, but the remaining arm was inexplicably drawing a string of light from thin air. With every pull, an arrow of light shot out. With several swish sounds, Zhang Heng’s body was riddled with four or five large holes. The green light of Zhang Heng’s psionic energy flickered, and the four or five large wounds began to slowly heal. However, the faster they healed, the slower the process became, until only two holes remained. The psionic light coating his body finally ran out completely, unable to mend these last two large wounds. He let out a loud waah, spitting out a large mouthful of blood, and slowly turned to face the clone Ming Wei. The others were completely stunned. The clone Ming Wei’s attack had been incredibly sudden and fast, with no warning whatsoever. It wasn't until Zhang Heng took out the Green Goblin Glider that she suddenly struck. The people nearby couldn't even stop her, let alone clearly discern the method of attack. It was only at this moment that Wang Xia roared and began condensing a bomb, while Cheng Xiao flipped over and lunged toward her.

“No... Don't kill her, please... Let me do it.” Zhang Heng let out another large gush of blood, mixed with tiny fragments of internal organs. He shuffled step by step toward the clone Ming Wei. The clone Ming Wei seemed to be struggling with something too; her body trembled violently. The light arrow in her hand brightened and then dimmed, brightened and dimmed again. But her eyes were utterly vacant—neither like someone activating a gene lock nor like blindness. If one had to describe it, being controlled would be more appropriate. Yet, from the side of those vacant eyes, pearl-like tears slowly began to drip.

“It’s over now... Don’t cry...” Zhang Heng finally reached the clone Ming Wei’s side. He gently wiped away her tears and then smiled tenderly, all while raising the ancient bow, Heavenly Wolf Shot. “I’m sorry. I wanted to live on with you, but the controlled version of you... poses too great a threat to my comrades. I am powerless to fight anymore, and I am dying. So... die with me. This isn't escapism, nor is it cowardice. It’s just that I don’t want to sleep alone in the darkness, nor do I want you to sleep alone. Come with me, my beloved... I truly liked you so much. If I had understood courage back then, we definitely could have...” “My love, everything beautiful from the past cannot return, but in my memory, I will always recall your smile. I will always remember...” Zhang Heng also wept silently. He placed the Heavenly Wolf Shot across both his neck and Ming Wei’s. As he kissed Ming Wei’s lips, he yanked the ancient bow violently, and both their heads flew into the air, kissing, touching... Until the final moment of death, apart from the few arrows shot at Zhang Heng, the controlled clone Ming Wei never fired another arrow, as if the controlling force was only so potent... Ming Wei watched Zhang Heng and her clone silently until both were completely dead. Only then did she slowly begin crawling toward their bodies... Severely wounded, she was too weak to walk, and just crawling that short distance caused her wounds to begin bursting open. Strangely, however, a smile graced her face—a captivating smile, one filled with such joy and happiness. The surrounding people watched everything in silence until three figures suddenly flew over on Green Goblin Gliders nearby. Wang Xia roared, drawing everyone’s attention to the three individuals. The three newcomers were two men and one woman. These three were not members of the Central Continent Team. In other words, possessing Green Goblin Gliders and appearing here, they were almost certainly members of the Demon Team. Their strength was unknown, but their arrival precisely when the clone Ming Wei suddenly betrayed them suggested these three were surely connected to her revolt.

“Damn it! There’s another psychic controller!” Wang Xia felt his mind suddenly thrown into chaos, as if a single thought was commanding him to kill everyone nearby. He quickly calmed himself and shouted loudly. At the same time, Cheng Xiao and Liu Yu were unaffected, but Lin Juntian suddenly manifested a long sword and lunged toward Wang Xia. Wang Xia didn't even use his bomb ability; he simply advanced and shoved, wresting the long sword from Lin Juntian’s hand, then slammed his palm onto the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. By then, the three newcomers had arrived above the Central Continent Team. Except for the woman who remained standing still, the two men jumped off their Gliders, landing on either side of the Central Continent Team members. Both men were East Asians, though one looked like a mixed-race individual. His muscles bulged, giving him the distinct appearance of a Western bodybuilder. The other was small and wiry like a monkey, with skin slightly darkened, suggesting he was from Southeast Asia. Both men’s eyes were vacant, and it was unclear if they were being controlled or had activated their gene locks. Wang Xia and Cheng Xiao exchanged a look. The understanding passed between their eyes instantly set their opponents. Since Cheng Xiao specialized in close combat, he charged directly at the muscular man. Wang Xia specialized in mid-to-long range large-scale combat. He immediately began condensing explosive spiritual energy in his palms while shouting, “Liu Yu! Summon the Obelisk of Light!” With that, he waved his hand, sending a bomb flying toward the small, wiry man. The small man remained expressionless, allowing the invisible bomb to approach him. He actually reached out and grabbed the bomb. With a deafening boom, the bomb utterly pulverized his hand and arm, and his entire body was blasted beyond recognition as he tumbled backward. This sudden turn of events stunned Wang Xia for quite a while. He had assumed that since they were Demon Team members, they must possess some measure of skill. Who knew that a single bomb could take one out? Was this a joke? Yes, it was indeed a joke... The severed limbs from the small man’s exploded arm began to writhe on the ground. Then, the mass of flesh grew larger and larger, soon forming a lump of flesh about one to two meters in size. With a faint hiss, a pair of insect pincers violently tore through the surface of the flesh-lump, and a giant ant burst forth from it. Besides this ant, the remaining fragments of the man’s exploded flesh also writhed and enlarged, forming dozens or hundreds of flesh-lumps of varying sizes. Following the emergence of this giant ant, dozens or hundreds of strange-looking insects—all variants that crawled out of those masses of flesh—began to appear. Wang Xia was relatively composed; after all, he was a soldier with fairly strong mental fortitude. But Liu Yu beside him was just a standard child. He immediately shrieked in terror. If Wang Xia hadn't stood in front of him, the little boy would have bolted. Even without fleeing, he was too terrified to focus on summoning the Obelisk of Light. “...Liu Yu! Calm your mind! You are a warrior now. In the Reincarnation World, you are a warrior of the Central Continent Team. Regardless of your age, you are a warrior of our team... So, fight on!” Wang Xia shouted quietly without turning around. Liu Yu took a deep breath, clutching the card tightly in his palm. Then, he focused entirely on summoning the Obelisk of Light. Although he still harbored fear he couldn’t overcome, Wang Xia's words seemed to carry magic, allowing him to finally steady his mind at this final moment and successfully summon the Obelisk of Light. Prior to this, Wang Xia had used a large number of bombs to destroy these insects, but the expected occurred: these insects possessed astonishing strength. Their exoskeletons seemed made of some impenetrable substance; the bombs couldn't breach them, at best only knocking them back dozens of meters. But once they landed, the insects quickly flipped over and charged toward Wang Xia and the others, clearly intending to tear them to shreds. (No choice left, I have to use the micro-nuke... But at such close range...) Wang Xia let out a breath and shouted, “Everyone take cover! I’m using the micro-nuke! Liu Yu! Use the Giant God to protect us!” As his voice faded, Wang Xia controlled the micro-nuke to fly into the distance. Simultaneously, a colossal metal figure bent over to shield him. When the fierce white light erupted, this area was instantly engulfed in the blast's shockwave... Jump to