Chapter 526: Chapter 526: Furnace (End)_1 Chapter 526: Chapter 526: Furnace (End)_1 Daniel was probably dead.
In the sudden notification, that was Fu Qian’s first reaction.
At the same time, his movements did not pause in the slightest, as he methodically fiddled with the jewelry box in his hands.
For this outcome, Fu Qian wasn’t particularly surprised.
He was not the kind of person blindly optimistic. His opponent this time could almost be regarded as an existence akin to the will of the world.
Defeating Stan was merely dealing with the most obvious threat. There could be many more after that, which only required time to guide appropriately.
They would be like boulders pressing in from all sides, eventually leaving him with no way out.
So, the failure of the mission was not strange, and one could almost imagine that the new mission would be even more inhuman.
Being able to unlock one more lock now was tantamount to having a sliver more of hope.
[Current mission has been updated—-]
The very next moment, the prompt for the new mission abruptly ceased.
Snap!
At the same time, the door next to him opened on its own, without the lock being opened.
…
This seemed reasonable.
You interrupt me once, I interrupt you once.
Under Medea’s watchful gaze, Fu Qian finally stopped his actions and slowly stood up.
The uninitiated new mission, which one could deduce was as difficult as ascending to the heavens with a mere thought, was no longer important.
In this endless race, he had ultimately won.
Beyond the open door, a glance revealed the same pile of clutter, seemingly unchanged.
However, in Fu Qian’s eyes, it appeared as if he was looking at a cracked wound, bleeding profusely.
Without wasting time, Fu Qian took a step forward and grabbed the doorknob.
Yet, as he reached forward, he felt himself blocked by some invisible barrier.
[Choose a Catastrophe]
The next moment, a line of unfamiliar prompts appeared before his eyes.
Then followed a list of information.
[The Rain of Chaos]
[The Swarm]
[Tide of Terror]
[Moment of Sorcery]
[Return to Reality]
[Heavenly Frost]
[Ancient Guardian]
Could it be so damaged to this extent?
Looking at the seven options before him, Fu Qian felt a touch of regret for a moment.
It seemed that Furnace was indeed on the brink of being reduced to mere dregs!
He had thought his relentless destruction might at most allow him to exert his utmost strength and create an opportunity for the warehouse to forge a passageway.
Now it seemed that the opening of this passageway could actually cause devastating damage to the world.
It was like knocking a hole in a sheet of glass.
[The Rain of Chaos, deathly flames descend from the sky, turning all to scorched earth]
It was clear that one had to choose a Catastrophe in order to pass through the door, and without hesitation, Fu Qian began to assess the contents of the seven Catastrophes one by one.
[The Swarm, boundless and endless, without beginning or end]
[Tide of Terror, the plague of the mind, the tide of agony]
[Moment of Sorcery, countless errors converge upon one, sacrifice an individual, and the world continues]
[Return to Reality, illusions no more, face the chaos head-on]
…
Going through them, most were undoubtedly akin to the style of supreme Catastrophes, but the content of the fourth option stirred something in Fu Qian’s heart.
Countless errors converging upon one–this style was too familiar.
The meaning was quite clear. It meant to sacrifice an individual, to take the chaos that the world couldn’t bear and attribute all the errors to him, thereby obtaining a temporary stability.
Somewhat akin to debts being nullified by death.
Towards Furnace, which nearly burned him to ashes, Fu Qian couldn’t say he had any fondness.
But the other party was nothing more than a cold World Will, and even if destroyed, there would be no sense of retaliation.
So the only two things that seemed somewhat interesting were the Moment of Sorcery and the Return to Reality.
And the contrast between the two was immense.
The Moment of Sorcery obviously involved sacrificing one person to maintain the status quo.
The description of Return to Reality was too simple; perhaps it was akin to a dream shattering, the feeling of confronting life head-on?
Is the very nature of this world chaos? And this patchwork utopia, is it the result of desperate efforts to maintain it?
Fu Qian released the doorknob, turned around, and looked at his two captives.
For such a momentous decision, it was better to leave the choice to the native inhabitants.
“You two, I have a question.”
Hmm?
As soon as Fu Qian spoke, Medea and Stan instantly pricked up their ears.
“The illusion of happiness or the harshness of reality, which one do you prefer?”
…
Has this guy gone mad?
From the eyes of those he questioned, Fu Qian read such a meaning.
“You have thirty seconds to think, and then you must answer separately.”
He offered no explanation.
“Of course, if you’ve thought of an answer in advance, you may interrupt.”
“You madman… I should have realized it earlier… you’re just like Edlar.”
No sooner had Fu Qian finished speaking than Stan, already covered in a great stain of blood on his chest, seemed to be on the verge of collapse, his teeth clenched in anger.
“Do you think you can judge me from your high horse? Ridiculous! People like you deserve to die… Continuing to exist in the world will only become a catastrophe!”
“Is this Chief Stan’s answer?”
As the target of the attack, Fu Qian showed no annoyance; instead, he listened earnestly.
“It seems that you actually feel quite justified in locking Edlar behind the door.”
“His death would only save more people.”
“Understood, and you?”
Fu Qian turned his head to look at Medea.
“I… I don’t know…”
Clearly in a state of shutdown, Medea couldn’t come up with any justification under Fu Qian’s intense gaze.
“Alright, voting is over; the current situation is one to zero.”
“You still have a long way to go compared to Chief Stan in terms of realization!”
Fu Qian shook his head, a look of disappointment on his face as he turned around and chose the Moment of Sorcery.
“There’s still a chance to salvage this. If you take me back, neither you nor Daniel will be harmed–”
After ranting, Stan changed his tone and tried to persuade Fu Qian to reconsider.
“Daniel is already dead.”
Unfortunately, his words were immediately cut off by Fu Qian.
“I’m sorry, but your subordinate seems to have had some ideas of his own!”
…Daniel is dead?
Before Stan could digest this information, he was shocked to find Fu Qian’s hand reaching out toward him.
Shining with an indescribable brilliance, a finger touched his forehead.
A strange shock instantly swept through his body, and Stan lost control of his limbs.
Next moment, his bones writhed under his skin as if alive.
Crack! As if leather were tearing, a wound split open along his forehead, and his skull, bathed in plasma, rapidly elongated and unfurled like petals.
Was this what they called bearing the world’s sins? It was as if pure chaos was being injected into the body.
As Stan rapidly deformed into a mass of grotesque tissue, Fu Qian withdrew his finger and walked forward; the invisible barrier had disappeared.
Stepping through the door in front of him, he found himself in the familiar warehouse as the light dimmed.
[Task completed, Containment unit 1-005 successfully contained]
Hmph!
Hearing the prompt in his ear, Fu Qian looked up at the sky.
“Let me just say in advance, the injuries from this one are pretty severe!”