268: Death Game, Doctor's Invitation

Dead silence.

The entire fleet had fallen into an eerie, deathly silence.

Black Skull's crazed roar still echoed in every pirate's communication channel.

"Fire! Blast the flagship to pieces!"

The cannons of dozens of starships flickered with ominous psychic energy, coldly aimed at that hideous skull that had once symbolized supreme power.

The hands of the pirates gripping their weapons were trembling slightly.

Reason told them this was suicide.

But their leader's command was like a shackle branded onto their Divine Soul, making it impossible for them to resist.

Just at this critical moment, a smiling voice drifted leisurely through the flagship's amplification formation, resonating across the entire starry sky.

"Don't be so worked up."

"It's such a fine ship; it would be a shame to break it."

Inside the Main Control Room, Lin Fan strolled out slowly, returning to the high platform on the deck.

He didn't even glance at Black Skull, who stood beside him with bloodshot eyes, acting like a madman; instead, he swept his gaze across the dense array of cannons and shook his head regretfully.

"These are all my assets. If they get nicked or damaged, I'll be heartbroken."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the pirates were stunned.

Assets?

This guy had already started treating the entire Black Sail fleet as his own property?

"And..." Lin Fan's tone shifted, and a look of weariness appeared on his face. "Your methods of killing are just too unoriginal."

"Either hacking with blades, blasting with cannons, or shaking the Divine Soul."

"Honestly, I'm bored of it."

He extended a finger and shook it gently, wearing a devilish smile.

"So, let's play a new game."

"The name of the game is 'Who Can Kill Me'."

"From now on, you don't need to listen to this old fool's orders anymore." Lin Fan pointed at Black Skull, who stood beside him in a state of utter numbness.

"Whoever can kill me using the most novel, interesting, and unexpected method, I will hand over the supreme authority of this 'Black Skull' to them."

"How about it?"

Boom!

If Black Skull's previous order had lit the fuse of madness, then Lin Fan's words had directly detonated a powder keg!

Control of the flagship!

That was the symbol of supreme power within the Black Sail Pirate Crew!

In an instant, the hesitation and fear in the eyes of all the pirates were replaced by endless greed!

The cannons were slowly lowered.

But the gazes they directed at Lin Fan became even more intense and dangerous than before!

A novel... way to die?

"Is melting him from the inside out with 'Corpse-Dissolving God-Rotting Water' considered novel?" a pirate muttered to himself.

"Idiot! How is that any different from the Molten Gold Divine Light!" the person next to him immediately retorted. "If you ask me, we should throw him into the 'Ten-Thousand Soul Banner' and let ten thousand evil ghosts gnaw on his Divine Soul day and night!"

"My 'Nine-Turn Mind-Bewitching Incense' can make a person go through nine lifetimes of Reincarnation in an illusion, eventually dying from a mental breakdown. Is that interesting enough?"

"Get lost, all of you! It's my turn first!"

The fleet, which had just been united in hatred, instantly dissolved into a chaotic mess. Countless pirates scrambled, all wanting to seize this opportunity to rise to the top in one leap.

Black Skull was ignored by everyone. He stood there like an abandoned statue, the madness on his face gradually turning into endless sorrow and despair.

His fleet, his majesty, his everything... had been completely dismantled by this monster with a ridiculous game.

Just as the deck was in chaos, with pirates even coming to blows to fight for the "priority kill right," a sharp and calm voice cut through all the noise.

"Stop it, all of you! A bunch of idiots who only know how to use brute force!"

The crowd was parted by an invisible force. A tall, thin man wearing a white lab coat and a complex multi-layered lens device on his face walked out slowly.

He was not a pirate leader, and his cultivation was only at the Nascent Soul Stage, but all the pirates subconsciously took a step back when they saw him, their eyes revealing awe.

The Chief Technical Officer of the Black Sail Pirate Crew, a madman obsessed with all sorts of forbidden research, known as "The Doctor."

The Doctor ignored the pirates and walked straight up to Black Skull, pushing up the lenses on his face.

"Leader, those physical attacks of yours are meaningless against him."

"His immortality seems to involve some higher-level rules. To kill him, we must act from the level of the rules."

The Doctor's tone carried the fervor of someone who had discovered the perfect experimental subject. He looked at Lin Fan as if he were looking at a work of art.

"Fortunately, my latest research achievement was designed to deal with this exact situation."

He carefully took out a palm-sized silver disc covered in intricate runes from his bosom.

"This is the 'Karma Annihilation Mine'."

"It will not destroy the target's physical body, nor will it attack the Divine Soul."

"It has only one function..." Data streams flashed across The Doctor's lenses. "And that is to completely erase the concept of the target's 'existence' from the long river of the law of karma."

"Once triggered, you won't die."

"You will... have never existed."

Hiss—

A collective gasp of cold air sounded across the deck. All the pirates felt a chill deep in their marrow. Never existed? This already exceeded their understanding of "death."

In Black Skull's deathly gray eyes, a flame of hope suddenly erupted. He grabbed The Doctor by the collar and roared madly: "Use it! Quick! Use it now!"

The System panel in Lin Fan's mind was already flashing red crazily! It's here! This is it! This is definitely a mythic-grade death!

His face, however, showed no fear at all; instead, it revealed a keen interest.

"It certainly sounds quite good."

The Doctor ignored Black Skull, simply looking at Lin Fan with obsession, and gently placed the silver disc in the center of the deck.

"Once activated, it will form a three-meter radius Karma disturbance field. Anyone who steps inside will be erased."

Everyone thought that what would follow would be a tense standoff and coercion. However, Lin Fan just smiled.

In front of everyone, he straightened his collar like a gentleman about to attend a banquet. Then, he walked step by step, unhurriedly, toward that silver disc flickering with ominous light.

Black Skull's breathing stalled. The Doctor's lenses zoomed in sharply. All the pirates' greed solidified into astonishment.

He... he was going to walk in voluntarily?

Under the gaze of everyone in extreme shock, Lin Fan walked up to the silver disc and stopped. He turned his head and nodded approvingly at the fanatical-looking Doctor.

"I appreciate your work." After speaking, he lifted his foot and stepped gently into that invisible force field.

There was no light. No sound. No explosion of energy. Lin Fan's figure was as if wiped away from this world by an eraser, nonchalantly... leaving not even a trace of his existence.

[Ding! Detected that the Host has completed a "law of karma weapon concept erasure death." Death sensation level: Fleet-class. Death object intensity: Rule-class weapon!]

[Overall judgment: mythic-grade death!]

[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the mythic-grade reward: Heavenly Calculation (Elementary)!]

[Warning! Detected that the Host's basis of existence is being erased at the rule level... Resurrection Anchor positioning failed... The System is attempting to reconstruct the Karma...]

On the deck, there was dead silence. Everyone stared blankly at the empty spot, their minds blank.

Vanished? Really... just like that, vanished?

A long while later.

"Haha... Hahaha hahaha!" Black Skull burst into a fit of manic laughter, laughing until tears streamed down his face.

"Dead! He's finally dead! Completely erased! Hahahaha!"

Before his laughter had even faded, Kuang Dao, standing on the deck of another warship, saw a flash of greedy light in his eyes and roared fiercely.

"The monster is dead! The flagship has no master! Brothers, follow me and seize the Black Skull!"

One word awakened the dreamers! The greed that had been temporarily suppressed erupted again with unprecedented intensity!

"Bullshit! The flagship is mine!"

"Whoever dares to fight me for it!"

The fleet, which had just regained its calm, instantly tore off all disguises. Countless figures filled with killing intent turned into streams of light and rushed toward the flagship like madmen!