Chapter 453: Echoes of the Void

“Gong dong,” “Gong dong,” “Gong dong.”

Every beat of his heart was painfully clear and weighted with pressure.

The countless crosses around him had been utterly destroyed, leaving none to ever grow again.

Yet Lu Xin remained in this world, now reduced to nothingness.

All around was pure emptiness, a darkness stretching in every direction.

There was no light, no ground, nothing tangible to reach out for.

It felt like he was drifting in space, with nothing to see, hear, smell, or touch except a wild, explosive rage that constantly burst in his mind.

His heart was pushed to its limits, struggling to hold up powers far beyond what he could bear.

But he couldn’t help but laugh, as a thrill of maddening exhilaration began to sprout within him:

“It’s utterly ridiculous… so much fun…”

“A cat hides safely in its hole while a rat bangs on a drum trying to drag it out…”

“Ha ha ha ha…”

“Since it’s this laughable and arrogant, then…”

“…why not tear everything they have to shreds and let them see?”

“…”

Above the Wasteland, Doll looked down to see that she had indeed arrived there.

She could even feel the explosive surge of limitless mental power all around her.

That dangerous aura of raw, violent fury instilled a deep, instinctive fear in anyone.

It was like being a tiny paper boat on a stormy ocean, constantly at risk of capsizing.

Yet Doll was unfamiliar with such fear, and instinctively she glanced around, her eyes resting on Lu Xin’s face.

Lu Xin stood in the Wasteland with his eyes closed, motionless, his expression oddly strange.

Occasionally, the wind would swirl around him, dancing in frantic circles.

It was as if an invisible demon were reaching out from him, claws bared and silently howling, desperate to tear everything apart.

But he himself was intensely calm.

Doll slowly approached him, as she usually did, reaching out to grasp his arm.

“Thud…”

Suddenly, a violent tremor surged through Lu Xin, and an unseen force exploded outwards.

Near Doll, the mental power that had quietly reassembled to shield her was smashed apart by the shock, scattering uncontrollably.

“Snap!”

Doll was thrown about three to four meters, tumbling in mud.

Her expression turned vacant, tinged with a hint of injustice, her small mouth pouty.

Gently, she wiped the muddy water from her hand onto her skirt and slowly stood up, hesitantly moving toward Lu Xin.

……

……

What was going on outside?

Lu Xin didn’t wish to pay attention; all he felt was overwhelming annoyance.

It was as if from the outside, a tiny hand had grasped at him, but Lu Xin was irritable.

So that little hand was immediately flung away, and even the entity itself was sent flying.

At that moment, Lu Xin only wanted to feel in silence.

That sensation of wild, violent energy flooding his mind was incredibly satisfying.

Unbridled, unstoppable.

No emotion in the world could compare to the catharsis of releasing anger.

Everything around him was as fragile as paper.

He could destroy it all and revel in the terror and despair they showed in their final moments before total annihilation!

……

……

It was the first time he had ever unleashed such power.

In the past, he often treated this power as if it were part of his father.

Only now did he realize that it truly belonged to him.

It had been hidden deep within his consciousness all along.

He now wondered if fully embracing this state meant he could maintain this euphoric, electrifying thrill forever.

His excited heart trembled with the thought.

But if he was already so exhilarated and agitated…

then why did he still remain in this empty void?

Lu Xin’s mind grew confused as he seriously pondered what he truly feared.

He believed he should have no inhibitions.

But in this pure environment, a touch of fear inexplicably plagued him.

……

As endless troubles arose in his heart, he felt that little hand’s owner approach once again.

Seemingly afraid, she picked up her umbrella and gently prodded him.

“Swish!”

An explosion of rage surged within Lu Xin; his heart pounded fiercely as a wild emotion rose high.

In his mind, a hand reached out, attempting to grab her neck, as if to rip her to pieces.

“No…”

Yet at that moment, from deep within his consciousness, a calm, warm voice spoke.

The voice was soft, without any force.

But upon hearing it, the hand that had been reaching out suddenly froze in midair, trembling spasmodically.

The peak of his explosive emotion instantly cooled to a simmer.

……

Lu Xin, pausing his action, saw the near-perfect face of the little girl with timid eyes.

Even though his eyes were closed, he could sense her presence—a face that seemed flawless, with eyes so clear they reflected countless images.

Because of their clarity, they reflected so much.

From those eyes, Lu Xin saw himself, and a sudden, inexplicable shock ran through him.

It was like a critical turning point; that brief tingle of fear quickly gave way to rapidly fading anger as he absorbed visions—vivid, animated, yet pitiful and fragile as hallucinations.

He roared furiously in the void, lashing out with his temper as he glared at the figure in his mind like a sworn enemy.

But the other only remained calm, leaving his anger with no outlet.

Gradually, that fury turned into a sense of helplessness and sorrow.

“How tragic…”

“Why must the mightiest existence rely on the most fragile things for a sense of security?”

“…”

Lu Xin exhaled deeply and began to quickly regain his composure.

He calmed down, silently contemplating as he decided to temporarily set aside his anger.

Then he slowly raised both hands.

In the darkness, he reached up to feel his face.

He sensed the muscles there were in a bizarre, uncontrollable state.

So he experimented by pinching the muscles on his face bit by bit; as the corners of his mouth twitched outward too far, he pulled back slightly, settling with a smile that revealed only four teeth, his eyes narrowing just a bit, and a slight wrinkle appearing on his forehead.

He gently toyed with his face, like a master sculptor crafting a work of art.

So focused was he, until he was sure his smile met his own high standard, then he slowly lowered his hands.

……

“Oh dear…”

Lu Xin, who had been standing calmly, suddenly gasped and nearly fell.

Catching himself with his hand on the ground, he looked around to find that the Small Town had vanished; all that remained was a faint swirl of mental radiation, and nearby were sluggish ‘sleepwalkers’—no longer in a trance but with tear-streaked faces as if they had just wept, though no one cried anymore.

They all stared at him in terror, as if utterly frightened.

Recalling what he had just experienced, he quickly turned and saw Doll sprawled about four meters away, her wide eyes locked on him, her black skirt now stained with damp mud.

In her eyes, there was a mix of confusion and fear.

She stared blankly at him for a long moment.

“Huh? Who pushed you down?”

Lu Xin said in surprise, hesitating as he wanted to help her up but found himself unable to reach out.

In the awkward pause that followed, Doll’s eyes fluttered gently; after a long while, she sat up slowly, then cautiously crawled closer to Lu Xin, her small hand landing lightly on his palm.

It seemed to be a tentative test, and once she was sure, she suddenly squeezed his hand.

Her body finally gathered the courage to lean against him.

Tears still glistened on her face as she lowered her head, her expression one of hurt and urgency.

“Oh dear…”

Lu Xin was both pleasantly surprised and tensed, not wanting to get too close.

In his haste to speak, he blurted out, “You’ve got mud on your rear—why not…”

“…pat it off yourself?”

“…”

Doll widened her eyes at him, then lightly patted herself a couple of times.

Lu Xin exhaled in relief, shifting his gaze from her face as he seriously scanned the surroundings.

There was still work to be done.

The Disaster Museum had been sabotaged, yet the Calamity Archbishop still appeared to be alive?

However, when Lu Xin turned to look at that Light Cocoon, he realized he no longer needed to worry about it.

It was only when the crushing, suffocating madness had finally subsided that the Calamity Archbishop reacted.

He roared and flailed about like an ordinary man, frantically fleeing into the distance.

At the same time, his eyes repeatedly darted toward the Wasteland.

An unseen fear enveloped him, leaving him panicked and desperate to escape, as if monsters might charge in any moment.

But in truth, no monsters stormed the Wasteland.

Instead, he felt his strength waning with every step, a deep sense of powerlessness welling up inside him.

Gradually, he sensed the light above his head being blocked.

He looked up sharply to see a blood-soaked monster slowly rising before him.

It was a creature with the torso of a girl in a T-Shirt and the massive, bloated abdomen of an ant, its body marred by wounds that exposed chunks of viscera and bone, and a little girl’s face bearing a cold, indifferent expression, her eyes filled with hate.

“You…”

The Calamity Archbishop opened his mouth in terror and screamed.

But as soon as he did, his voice was stifled by what emerged from the Queen’s mouth—a blood-red, flickering tongue.

It was a mental tendril.

The mental tendril instantly surged into his open mouth, piercing his abdomen and shredding through his organs.

……

When Lu Xin and Doll reached the Bottle, this was the grim scene before them.

It is well known that when ants feed, their brutality is unmatched.

Instinctively, Lu Xin covered Doll’s eyes while he himself stared wide-eyed.

Is this the way the Queen dispatches her prey?

Slowly, his face twisted in horror as he murmured, “So frightening…”

……

……

“The mission is over. Let’s go!”

At that moment, inside an RV about three or four dozen kilometers from Happy Town, the Old Man smiled satisfied and nodded.

“Go?”

The mission had indeed failed. The Calamity Archbishop’s mental fluctuations had weakened to nearly immeasurable levels.

Yet a plan so flawlessly set as a vanguard, seemingly destined for success, had failed just like that?

“Professor Wang.”

After a long silence, Qin Ran finally mustered his courage and said to the Old Man, “I know you’ve been a great help to the Technology Church. Even though you aren’t one of us, everyone—from the Technology Church to the Pope himself—holds you in high regard…”

“But this time, you promised the Calamity Archbishop you would help plan his ascension, even gaining the Pope’s support. And now, three knights and a Pope have fallen right here. We spent years setting up in Happy Town only to see everything wiped out in a week, and now she’s become our enemy forever.”

“Under these circumstances, can you at least give us some… explanation?”

“…”

“Wasn’t your explanation clear just now?”

The Old Man glanced at Qin Ran with a smile and said, “When the Red Moon first fell on this world, 70% of the people went mad. But they weren’t all the same. You can think of it as many different types of mental forces—many distinct pollution sources—sweeping over the world simultaneously. Each pollution source brings its own kind of contamination.”

“And among those afflicted, there emerged one special type—those with the most severe contamination. The thirteen mental forces that laid the foundation for the Research Institute were collected from these particularly polluted individuals.”

“Some of these polluted beings perished under the strain.”

“Some turned into monsters, lurking in forbidden zones where even you wouldn’t dare tread.”

“And yet some, we managed to cure.”

“…”

His tone was buoyant as he explained in detail.

“Even after being cured, there remained an odd aura about them. So I patiently waited until they truly stabilized, then came to see with my own eyes if their behavior matched my expectations in certain aspects.”

“Of course, it’s a complicated task.”

He sighed softly and said, “Seeing his divinity is sometimes harder than destroying him. I had to prepare extensively—like sealing some of his extra abilities in a way that wouldn’t provoke him, or objectively observing his humanity to coax out his hidden divine traits by creating a suitable environment to keep him from losing control…”

“I must admit, some things exceeded even my expectations.”

After a moment’s pause, he sighed again, “Or rather, my results were quite satisfactory.”

“…”

Qin Ran felt his whole body trembling with unexplained dread. His throat tightened as he lowered his voice:

“Are you saying that our Calamity Archbishop was always just a sacrificial pawn in your plan?”

“…”

“No,” replied the Old Man with a slight smile. He then retrieved three spreadsheets from a drawer. On them were complex data, even scored in a seemingly proper manner. He rubbed his chin and said, “It’s nothing more than an exam paper. I gave one to the Calamity, one to that kid, and one to Qinggang. Now, they’ve all turned in their answers.”

“Qinggang: Pass.”

“That kid: Full marks.”

“As for the Calamity…”

“It’s a pity. He actually had a chance; it was just his will that was too fragile.”

“…”

Qin Ran glared at the Old Man, and unable to hold back, he blurted out, “You’re making him face God’s power and still claiming he has a chance?”

“In my view, you’re merely sending him to his death…”

“…”

The Old Man slowly raised his head and gave Qin Ran a serious look.

Qin Ran knew that the Old Man was just an ordinary man with no special powers, yet that look sent shivers down his spine.

“Do you know what your mistake is?”

The Old Man did not show any sign of ferocity or threat, instead he spoke with remarkable patience:

“You all regard these abilities as a form of power, but they are merely an affliction—a peculiar disease of the human race.”

“You’re all used to comparing power, but power is just a concept. It isn’t meant for comparisons.”

“If the Calamity truly heeded my advice and came to understand him, then he would realize that the true nature of the Calamity is misfortune. Misfortune demands compassion and understanding, not being treated solely as a source of power. If he truly understood, then what emerges from this Bottle isn’t that kid—it will be him…”

“He will capture that divine essence.”

“It’s just a shame he’s always seen himself as the master of the Calamity, channeling its power to the extreme while never stopping to comprehend it. He is, in fact, a man forged from endless misfortunes, which is why he managed, with the Technology Church’s help, to become the master of the Disaster Museum. But from that moment on, he began to see himself as a god.”

“He will ultimately fail because he succumbed to that child’s humanity.”

“It’s almost laughable…”

“A man like that—I give him a failing grade. What could be wrong with that?”

“…”

Qin Ran’s body trembled uncontrollably.

Inside, he was filled with countless doubts and grievances, and even a deep-set resentment.

But whenever faced with someone who remained unnervingly clear-headed, his words seemed to wither away into feebleness.

“Then what do we do?”

In the end, he could only ask in a dejected, languid tone.

“It’s simple,” the Old Man replied with a smile, “Those who pass deserve a reward.”

“And those who fail will soon face their punishment.”

“Don’t think the Technology Church has lost; this is a brilliant experiment. The results prove that the path the Technology Church is taking is flawed—not in its technology or theory, but in its very choice of people.”

“…”

As he spoke, the Old Man rifled through his files and soon produced a stack of documents.

He glanced at them, nodded gently,

and then opened the door of the RV, throwing the documents out.

Both the Tech Priest and Qin Ran stared in silent awe, understanding the significance of those files.

“This is the reward for Qinggang,” the Old Man announced with a smile.

“Come on, let’s go. This experiment will have a massive impact on the world. The Technology Church will soon be able to create the next Mental Overlord. Not only the Technology Church, but the Research Institute, Qinggang, and even high-wall cities and factions with good intel could all find useful inspiration from this failed experiment…”

“We have opened the door to a new world. What is there left to despair about?”

“…”

His words left the RV in complete silence.

Finally, the Old Man paused, turned his head slightly, and looked toward Happy Town, a sound unspeakable resonating in his heart.

It was the wave of someone who respected him deeply, smiling and waving:

“Hello, Director…”

“…”

A faint sorrow welled up in the Old Man’s heart as he let out a barely audible sigh.