I immediately grabbed Kang Hui, heedless of whether he was holding the detonator, "You little brat playing tricks on me, I'll kill you first!"

Kang Hui burst into laughter. Long Nu stepped forward two paces, listened closely to what he was saying, and then shouted the translation to me. Thankfully, this invisible, strange barrier neither blocked light nor sound.

"Since I intended to come in with you, I never expected to leave. Dragon Envoy, I don't care who you truly are; you are now trapped in a spatial snare. No matter how clever you are, you cannot escape. Thank you for the energy stone; without it, we could never have activated this trap built by the ancient humans. Now, talk about whatever you like, or feel free to kill me. But you won't truly kill me, because I am everywhere, ha ha ha..."

Just as I was about to smash Kang Hui's head with a punch, a group of soldiers rushed into the hall from outside. They quickly surrounded Xia Huren and the other three. The four were unarmed; otherwise, Xia Huren wouldn't have needed to kick off a shoe to test the trap. The ground was bare, offering no usable weapons. If I killed Kang Hui, I couldn't guarantee the soldiers wouldn't attack the four outside.

I snatched the detonator from Kang Hui's hand and tore it apart. Kang Hui, however, said, "This detonator could only remotely control one nuclear missile. It's already been used. Now I'll give it to you."

I dragged Kang Hui to the base of the platform, careful not to step past the final set of stairs. I intended to ask Long Nu about the nature of the spatial snare, but I saw Xia Huren was already moving swiftly. His figure flashed as he charged into the cluster of soldiers. One by one, the soldiers were flung towards the high platform in the center of the hall. As if by magic, anyone who touched that invisible membrane vanished. It was clear this thing was formidable, not something that could be solved with fists.

A sudden coldness permeated the hall. The once intensely bright lights seemed to have dimmed considerably. A dark shadow suddenly grabbed Xia Huren and hurled him away. Before Xia Huren could even rise, the soldiers had him covered, laser guns pointed directly at his head.

It was the Man in Black! He had finally shown himself, and his timing was terrible. Now we were all constrained—what were we to do?

Bai and Xue offered no resistance; perhaps they were used to being captured. After knocking down several soldiers, Long Nu was also seized. I paced frantically inside, stomped down hard, trying to blast a tunnel out from underground. Who knew the hall was suspended? My foot punched a huge hole, and the rubble simply disappeared into mid-air. It seemed this spatial snare existed in both the ground and the surface.

Kang Hui once again burst into roaring laughter: "Dragon Envoy, what tricks do you have now?"

I provoked Kang Hui: "I have no tricks left. Tell me your plan. Is the person outside your father? Does he have a human body and a pig's face? Why is he covered up, afraid to show himself? If he has the guts, he can come in and trade a few blows with me."

The Man in Black, upon hearing Long Nu's translation, suddenly clamped his hand around her throat. Long Nu coughed twice, unable to draw breath. Soon, her face turned purple from the strain. I threw Kang Hui down at the foot of the platform and roared at the Man in Black, "Let her go! Whatever you want, come at me! Your grandpa isn't afraid of you!"

Perhaps the fellow didn't understand my words, or perhaps he simply chose not to listen. He suddenly grabbed one of Long Nu's arms and twisted it forcefully. A crisp snap echoed, and Long Nu’s eyes welled up with tears from the pain—he had actually broken Long Nu's arm!

Damn it! When had Zhao Qian's woman ever been bullied like this? Back in the outer hall, while drinking that strange liquor, I already felt an urge to go berserk. Now Long Nu was injured and clearly suffocating. Raging with anger and desperation, my throat grew sweet, and I spat out a mouthful of blood—this was the second time I had coughed up blood since arriving six thousand years ago. The first was during the Defense of Dragon Mountain. With a great roar, I grabbed Kang Hui and violently ripped him in half. Then, I began to sprint wildly around the edge of that trap capable of swallowing anything. I had to get out and save Long Nu!

The severed Kang Hui, just like that man who attempted to assassinate Long Xi that night, did not die after being torn in two. He successfully split into two, and his body rapidly swelled, becoming terrifyingly grotesque, baring fangs and claws as it tried to grab me.

But my speed at that moment was astonishing. My figure appeared everywhere; let alone grabbing me, they couldn't even see which was my real body. It wasn't that I wanted to run so fast, but I couldn't help myself. My entire focus was fixed on Long Nu’s safety outside. I was anxious and furious, my heart pounding like a rapid drumbeat, my blood surging until my entire body felt ready to explode.

I tested every millimeter of this mysterious spatial snare. The information automatically returned by my brain after the third evolution consistently warned me of impenetrable danger. Long Nu’s eyes were beginning to glaze over; I knew she was on the brink of death. At this point, she could no longer see my true form clearly, but in her fading moments, she still cast a deeply affectionate, attached, and reluctant glance toward my position. It was that glance that made me finally lose control. I heard a loud bang as my heart and body seemed to explode, and a larger torrent of blood erupted from my mouth. Then, I had no sensation whatsoever. Perhaps Zhao Qian’s life had ended six thousand years ago, leaving behind a house full of pitiful widows...

I don't know when, but I felt intense pain all over, so I opened my eyes to a world of white. Where was this? Heaven? It must be. I was certainly dead. My body couldn't possibly evolve again inside the Sun Palace, as the necessary conditions were missing. The energy within me was far from depleted, and I hadn't had any of those stimulating dreams, so it definitely wasn't evolution. Besides, I was clearly trapped in a spatial snare; even if I evolved, what good would it do? Thus, I must have done too many righteous deeds during my life to finally move Heaven, and now I had ascended after death.

I stood up and carefully observed this hospital ward in Heaven. It wasn't built particularly well; perhaps corruption and misappropriation of funds had reached even here. As I was looking around, the door slid open with a whoosh—it was an automatic door, indicating that even Heaven was moving toward modernization.

"*\—(\￥＃！？……”

It was a language I couldn't understand. I was shocked. Had I not died? Or was this Heaven from six thousand years ago? Could it be that even after death, I couldn't return to the Heaven of my own era? Taking a closer look at the angel in white, damn it, I recognized her! Wasn't this the great scientist Xue, who loved walking around naked? Had everyone perished together in the Sun Palace?

I grabbed Xue’s hand anxiously: "Xue, quickly tell me where Long Nu is. She must be here too. I let her down; I promised to protect her safety, but now... ah, I, Zhao Qian, can’t even protect the woman I love. Am I even a man? I think it’s better if I don't see her; I've failed her."

"Husband!" A sweet, crisp voice suddenly spoke in Mandarin from behind me. In the Heaven of six thousand years ago, surely no one would speak Chinese. Could Elena have perished too? Heavens! How could I, Zhao Qian, have been defeated so utterly!