The air seemed to congeal.

At this moment, as Ji Jue spoke, eyes frantic with bloodshot fervor flared like flames looking towards Lian Cheng, and all he could feel was suffocation.

Such eyes were like nooses seeking life, looping tightly around his neck.

Gradually tightening.

From within the chilling dread, there was no escape.

But the Mutants, who once moved like puppets at his whim and deception, were now, under Ji Jue's manipulation, turning into the very blades hanging above him...

The sudden change had plunged Lian Cheng into what felt like the depths of Hell.

He still remembered the vibrant vitality of all things within the Time Ruins just a few days ago, when his plan began. How had it so quickly become the ground for his own burial?

Sweat soaked his back.

Lian Cheng, panting heavily, glared across the table at Ji Jue, wishing he could transform into the beast on the second floor and chew this damned brat to death right here, gnashing his bones, gorging on his flesh, elongating his agony for days without end!

But now, if he hesitated any longer, it might be he who would be shattered to pieces.

He no longer had a choice.

"Fine," he squeezed the words through gritted teeth, striving to maintain a smile, yet without a mirror, he couldn't see just how abstract and forced his smile really was.

Then, following suit, he saw Ji Jue across the table slowly raise his hands.

With an overflowing warmth, he began to clap.

Afterward, clapping upon clapping began to overlap and resound, filling the bizarre meeting room with thunderous applause and cheers like a tidal wave. The dean and physicians couldn't help but lift their hands to wipe away misty-eyed tears, celebrating this sacred sacrifice.

Amidst the celebratory applause, the two men locked eyes across the table.

The same smiles, yet so starkly contrasting in authenticity and deceit, made Lian Cheng look even more wretched. And in that gaze, ferocity and composure touched for an instant.

Lian Cheng's eyes widened as he etched that repulsive smile deep into his heart.

A cold sweat streamed down his back.

Only now did he truly feel an uncontrollable chill overwhelming his body and soul.

He already had one foot over the cliff's edge, and the other was teetering...

Under the watchful eyes and laughter of many Mutants, he was trapped with no way back, compelled to move forward.

What followed was as if he didn't know how he had entered the meeting room.

Surrounded by many figures, Lian Cheng ambled towards the deepest part of the hospital ward like a zombie, beneath the looming tumor of flesh and blood, amidst countless wailing faces.

It resembled the hall of some heathen cult, with bizarre-looking physicians encircling him, clapping hands, offering admiration and smiles.

Watching a fresh sacrifice walk towards the altar.

Under the ghastly white light, a device resembling an electric chair.

Layers upon layers of crimson traces overlapped, and the dry and scabbed blood had turned into a harrowing hue of black and red.

"This is the calling of the heart; this is the devotion of love..."

At the forefront of the physicians, the dean wiped away his seemingly endless blood-teared face, applauding and praising, "This is the spring breeze of humanity; this is the wellspring of life..."

"Even death itself steps back, as flowers of bliss bloom everywhere..."

Amidst the undulating faces of flesh and resonance of wails, the tearful physicians followed, "Ah, if everyone just gives a little bit of love, the world will become a wonderful place!"

Over and over they chanted, over and over they sang with joy, but it felt starkly devoid of warmth.

Only those pairs of blood-red eyes, glued to the two individuals about to take the stage, could hardly wait any longer.

Lian Cheng swallowed hard and drew a deep breath.

But then, he heard that voice that had started making him routinely shiver behind him, tinged with mockery and scorn: "If you admit defeat and beg for mercy now, there's still room for regret."

Lian Cheng stiffened for a moment, then turned back with a furious glare, hissing through gritted teeth, "Dream on!"

"Then, let's pretend I never said it."

Ji Jue continued to smile, looking ahead: "By the way, I lied just now. Even if you cried and begged on your knees right now, it wouldn't make a difference.

But, such an obvious lie, you wouldn't take seriously, right?"

Visibly, Lian Cheng's body began to tremble, breathing intensely, his face rapidly turning from red to ashen.

Within his eyes, layers of blood vessels burst, growing more fiercely red.

I'm going to kill you!!!

I must kill you!

Even if the Superior were to come, it would be useless; right here in this Time Ruins, I'd dismember you...

"I will dismember you..."

All of a sudden, Ji Jue asked, "Is that what you just thought?"

Lian Cheng said nothing more.

Struck with astonishment and shock, he struggled not to look back.

But the chill of raging anger, now uncontainable, spread...

"Please, senior."

Ji Jue stepped forward, gesturing invitingly, "A beautiful dedication is within reach."

Lian Cheng stiffly raised his hand, roughly pushing him aside, and stepped forward; thus, amidst countless cheers, he sat down in the 'electric chair.'

Under the cold, lamp-like pale light, that distorted face seemed to become pitiable and saintly.

The dean walked forward and snapped the icy shackles closed.

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