Chapter 1059: Chapter 1059

"Just now... was that a coincidence?"

Scattered raindrops fell through the broken ceiling onto the corridor as the long-haired man crouched once more, leaning against the railing, seeming to ask He Ao while also talking to himself.

"Do you think it’s a coincidence that it hit once, and would pulverize bones and scatter ashes a second time?"

The irritable man couldn’t help but retort.

His voice was still coarse and loud, but perhaps because the long-haired man had just pleaded for him, it wasn’t as sharp as before.

He smacked his lips and glanced at the metal piece on the ground, "If you ask me, that’s Divine Punishment! Those repulsive heretics have finally provoked the Divine Beings and suffered their deserved retribution!"

The long-haired man opened his mouth as if subconsciously wanting to refute, but he ended up not speaking. His beliefs seemed to have been greatly shaken; he lowered his head, murmuring, "So they didn’t receive the ’Favor’ of K..."

"That was ’K’, no doubt about it,"

The nearby bearded elder spoke hoarsely, gesturing in the air with his hand, "I will never forget that radiance in my lifetime, that dazzling and holy light."

He lowered his head, his gaze sweeping over the metal on the ground, "That greedy beast could also summon a similar radiance, but far from the purity and sanctity of the one we just witnessed; that definitely was ’K’."

He lifted his head, looking at the massive hole above, his murky eyes shining with a devout sparkle, "The Divine Being is watching us."

The irritable man pondered at this moment, "seemed not as powerful as the one in my memory that pierced through the blood sun."

"And that is the mercy of the Divine Beings! Idiot!"

The elderly man turned his head, looking intently at the irritable man,

"Think about it, if it were the light that pierced the blood sun that had descended, not just us, but this entire city, would be instantaneously obliterated!

"Just punishing that filthy beast and not venting wrath on us commoners, that is the true mercy of the ’Righteous Gods’, and moreover,"

The elderly man seemed to remember something, speaking in a hoarse voice, "I saw it, the fear of that beast before his death, he must have seen something terrible, perhaps the miserable souls he had taken life from had come seeking revenge under the guidance of a Divine Being."

Hearing his words, the somewhat distracted long-haired man also subconsciously looked up at the large hole, "He was very afraid."

Then he lowered his head and murmured, "Then it’s his retribution, he should be reduced to ashes in fear."

The crowd held in the compartments listened quietly to the discussion, many of them looking up at the hole in the ceiling with a glint in their numb eyes.

And He Ao was among these people, but his gaze remained fixed on the spot where the sword-carrying man had stood.

What the sword-carrying man had seen at the end wasn’t something real, but an ’experiment’ with his Super Memory ability.

The Super Memory, once promoted to rank B, acquired the ability to influence others’ emotions to a certain extent, and as He Ao deepened his mastery of B-ranked Super Memory, this power was rapidly improving.

He had previously used this ability to slightly stir the thoughts of the ’Fighter’ An Ming, but out of experimental nature and to protect An Ming, he hadn’t used too much strength.

So this time, he picked the sword-carrying man to try it out, using the power of Super Memory to ignite the man’s fear, making him see the thing he feared most deep inside.

However, because those were essentially born from the target’s own fear, when the sword-carrying man was covered by that ’Grace’, and he felt he wouldn’t get hurt, the illusions didn’t advance further.

It wasn’t until He Ao directly wounded the sword-carrying man with the Light of the Firmament, leading his mental state to completely collapse and fear to engulf his soul, that the experiment could be deemed somewhat successful.

While He Ao was listening and pondering, hearing the elder call the other an idiot, the irritable man on the side subconsciously wanted to argue back.

But after thinking it over, it seemed like the elder was indeed correct, he himself had been foolish, and in the end, he could only vent his frustration by hammering on the railing, "Damn it, we need to figure out a way to get out of here."

His words woke the elderly man still immersed in the greatness of the Divine Being. The elder hesitated for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "How’s that kid doing?"

"The situation probably isn’t good,"

The somewhat dazed long-haired man, after hearing this, fell silent for a moment, then spoke hoarsely, "He’s different from us, probably involved in some secrets, those I’ve seen escorted out for interrogation, none have returned."

His voice paused, and he slowly said, "To be precise, no one I’ve seen taken out of the compartments, whether for interrogation or any other reason, has ever come back."

The compartment, which had been slightly noisy, fell silent again.

Everyone exchanged glances, speechless for a moment.

The little warmth flowing in the air also turned cold under the silent darkness.

He Ao lifted his head and looked up.

At this moment, that young man was actually in a room right above their heads.

"Kid, this is the interrogation room"

The gaunt man led the young man into a dimly lit room.

Dim yellow light cascaded down from above, illuminating an array of dangling metal items stained with blood in the room.

The short and stout man reached out to close the door, glanced at the somewhat reluctant youth, and pointed to the iron chair in the center of the room, "Have a seat."

The roaring thunder exploded outside the window, the howling wind carrying the sudden rain rattled the leaky windows.

The sharp blades and instruments hanging near the chair also began to sway slightly in the wind squeezing into the room.

They collided with each other, emitting crisp sounds.

The youth trembled, he turned his head to see two figures blocking his escape path, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately still sat down on the iron chair dotted with some dark red spots.

A somewhat pungent scent of blood spread through the youth’s nostrils. The bloody scent had been there from the moment he stepped in, but it was most concentrated around this chair.

The youth forcibly controlled his state, trying not to vomit.

The lean man bent down, stood under the dim light, and gazed at the youth, "Both of us are quite merciful, we won’t use torture if you confess nicely."

The youth looked up at the instruments around him, tensed up, and after a brief silence, asked in a low voice, "What do you want to ask?"

The lean man chuckled, "You found the person we’ve been after with remarkable clarity. You just need to tell us where you got this information."

The youth lowered his head and quickly said, "I’ve been looking for you guys for a long time, gathered a lot of intel. I’ve made many guesses; it just so happens that this time I guessed right."

"Oh? What a coincidence?"

The lean man’s mouth curled up, he raised his hand and pressed a button beside him, "Seems like you’re not willing to talk about anything."

Several metal clasps popped out from the chair, securing the youth’s elbows, wrists, ankles, thighs, and chest.

The youth lifted his head and looked at the two people in front without saying a word.

The short and stout man rasped with a chuckle, "This is our specially designed interrogation chair. Inside every panel of this chair, there are dozens of spikes,"

He raised his hand to touch a nearby button, "Just by my pressing this button, a few hundred spikes will slowly rise from the chair, piercing through your skin, your flesh, and your organs bit by bit. Don’t worry, you won’t die that easily. The pain will keep you company until you beg us to kill you."

His tone paused briefly as he chuckled, watching the youth, "So, got anything to say now?"

"I’ve already said it, I just guessed it. That’s my talent,"

The youth lifted his head and looked at the two men in front of him, shifting uncomfortably, "If you don’t believe it, forget it. If you want to kill me, go ahead and do it."

"Quite a stubborn little guy,"

The lean man smiled and then looked at the youth, "Feeling the heat on your backside yet? This chair is electrically heated; you can think of it as an electric branding iron, which will slowly sear your skin, your flesh, and turn you into a ’well-cooked person.’"

The youth tried to lift his back slightly but found his legs firmly clamped by the metal clasps, unable to move.

Yet, he still clenched his teeth and bowed his head, silent.

"Okay, kid, very few have lasted this long in the chair without confessing."

The short and stout man shook his head and pressed the button in front of him.

Accompanying a faint hum of machinery, several spikes slowly protruded from the chair’s surface, backrest, and armrests, aiming towards the secured youth’s skin.

A dense array of pain spread through the youth’s mind.

Lightning streaked across the rain curtain with a thunderclap.

In the bustling rain curtain, an invisible blade slowly emerged outside the window.

The three people in the room didn’t notice this slight mutation.

The lean man, observing the youth’s face turning red, pressed the button to pause, "Kid, those spikes are about to pierce into your body. If you confess now, I can make it quick for you."

The youth stared at him, clenching his teeth, but still kept silent.

"Let’s see how long you can keep up this tough front."

The gaunt man’s face darkened as he pressed a button.

The sharp needles continued to ascend.

At this moment, the short and stout man leaned in, asking in a whisper audible only to the two of them, "Bro, could this kid really just be lucky? At his age, he should’ve been scared to death by us by now."

The gaunt man watched the youth clenching his teeth, "This kid is tough. If he ends up dying without revealing anything, we’ll just report to the boss that he was just lucky."

At this moment outside the window, the invisible sword of shadows slowly slipped through the crack of the window and into the room.

However, just then, the movement of the shadow sword paused for a moment.

Immediately after, a figure appeared in the pouring rain, standing amongst the droplets that naturally avoided his surrounding.

He raised his head, looking toward the inside through the window, a glint of orange-gray brilliance flashed in his black pupils, and the shape of a phantom eye within an inverted triangle outlined in the darkness behind him.

Invisible ripples spread through the surrounding space, stretching out from an seemingly endless depth, connecting to the lines on the young man.

At this moment, these already intense ripples began to fluctuate in an extremely violent state.

Deep in this boundless spacetime, something seemed to be rapidly "floating up."

The whole world also deconstructed into the most fundamental lines in He Ao’s eyes at this moment.

A scattering of purple brilliance spread among these lines, some twisted clumps of lines rapidly emerging from the depths.

Almost as soon as they surfaced in the material world, the brilliance merged into the youth’s body.

To the naked eye, nothing seemed to have changed, but in the field of view of the Eye of Truth, the entire space was shrouded in a faint purple glow.

This brilliance swiftly made contact with the youth, then rushed into his body like air being pumped into a balloon.

The youth who had been clenching his teeth under the spikes suddenly arched his body and cried out in agony.

"He really couldn’t hold on after all."

The short and stout man laughed.

But the youth could no longer hear the two men talking; excruciating pain spread through his mind in an instant, as blood naturally flowed from his ears and eyes.

The purple radiance was violently stuffed into his body, forcibly fusing with his flesh.

His skin and flesh writhed as if some unseen creature was about to break out of a cocoon and be reborn within his body.

"Something’s not right with this kid,"

The gaunt man suddenly tensed up, watching the struggling youth, "He’s awakening!"

The short and stout man was shocked, then gazed at the youth, distractedly saying, "Awakening is painful, but it shouldn’t cause such a commotion."

"He’s awakening directly to E rank,"

The gaun man hoarsely said, "This kid is doomed. Transitioning from F to E rank is prone to madness; those who awaken directly to E rank mostly either turn into mad monsters, or form a bizarre area that becomes an opportunity for someone else’s promotion."

He watched the struggling youth, "The transition from F to E rank is a hurdle—how many have died on this hurdle. This kid can reach it in one step; he is lucky, too lucky."

The youth screamed in pain, his hands trembling, directly snapping open the metal buckles that held his wrists.

The short and stout man looked at the gaunt man and quickly said, "What do we do now?"

"Watch, and if things get out of hand, we’ll step back and call for help. Don’t let him kill all the sacrifices downstairs. I’m also E rank, don’t be afraid,"

The gaunt man kept his gaze fixed on the youth, "He’s turning into a monster."

Surging flesh writhed beneath the youth’s skin, threatening to tear apart his body, tear apart his soul, and completely mutate him into a twisted monster.

"There is no such thing as a protagonist in this world, death is the common visitor on the road to transcendence."

The gaunt man pulled out a steel dagger from behind him, "Except for the legends of Divine Beings’ Advent, I’m afraid no one could save him now."

The youth snapped another metal buckle.

At this time, He Ao, who was watching this scene from outside the window, also retracted his gaze from the deeper layers of the world.

He glanced at the youth struggling on the chair, his pupils filled with the orange-gray brilliance.

Under the gaze of the Eye of Truth, the young man’s soul and body were almost bursting from the transcendent power that had descended upon him in an instant.

His frail mortal body could not control such tremendous power.

After a moment of contemplation, He Ao raised his hand.

The enormous power that was about to burst his body weakened in an instant, transforming into chaotic lines that twined around the young man’s body.

Immediately afterward, the gentle spread of Soul Power enveloped the young man’s soul.

His soul, once filled with intense pain and as if riddled with a thousand wounds, now seemed to be immersed in tender water.

The young man’s nearly dissipating chaotic consciousness finally regained some semblance of rationality.

As if some invisible and lofty voice echoed in his ears.

He didn’t know where the voice came from, but at that moment, he clenched his teeth tight, holding onto his last shred of sanity.

He could feel the intense pain tearing at his body and soul; he could feel his flesh uncontrollably writhing under the massive onslaught, like straw buffeted in a storm, stubbornly and effortfully preserving his last intact rationality.

Gradually, he felt the writhing power slowly fusing with his body, constructing a new form.

And at the moment when the new body took shape, another surge of overwhelming power spread out from the void, continuing to fuse with his body.

As if this force had just been stripped away by some supreme will, set aside, waiting for the moment when his body could withstand it, to be released.

The flesh underneath his skin that once writhed now settled down; the young man’s disoriented gaze regained clarity, and the power that had enveloped his soul had faded away without his knowledge.

Thunder exploded through the rain curtain, as if the humming of an old-fashioned train faded into the darkness.

Outside the silent window, there was nothing to be seen.

The young man shattered the last metal buckle and staggered to his feet, looking at the gaunt man and the short, plump man in front of him.

"You, you’re not dead?"

The gaunt man’s eyes widened, staring at the young man who had managed to stand up.

"The Divine Being has given me rebirth."

The young man’s eyes, murky and shaking, looked at the figure before him.

The trace of the invisible force that had stayed within his soul ultimately formed into a word familiar yet strange to him, ’K’.

This was the Favor of the Divine Being.

"Pretentious lucky kid,"

The gaunt man, clutching a dagger, stepped forward, "You have two choices, first, join us and work for us; second, become material for transcendence and stay here forever. Don’t think becoming transcendent is that remarkable, the gates to the new world have only just opened for you."

"I don’t want to choose."

The young man shook his head slightly.

The gaunt man burst forward in an instant, charging at the young man.

The young man, watching the gaunt man’s movements, slightly stunned, raised his head as if seeing the shadows entwined behind the man.

He raised his hand, directly grabbing the knife in the gaunt man’s hand, relying on instinct to stab and penetrate the gaunt man’s neck.

Then he abruptly turned, looking at the short, plump man attacking him from behind; he pulled out the gaunt man’s knife, holding the gaunt man’s hand together, and with a backhand stab, he pierced the heart of the plump man behind him.

Not until the two bodies with widened eyes had completely exhaled their last breath did he stumble and let go, somewhat bewilderedly staring at his blood-soaked hands.

But soon, he realized something, bowed his head to the rain curtain outside the window, and devoutly bowed.

He glanced at the small door, rushed out of the room instantly, wanting to go downstairs to rescue people.

It was at this moment that a scratch appeared in front of him, blocking his steps.

He was slightly taken aback, instantly recalling the words the Elder from Central Earth had said to him.

So that sentence was meant for him as he is now.

He hesitated for a moment, then turned and ran towards the other side.