377: The system has determined that the patient cannot be revived.

That cold countdown, every single number, was like a heavy hammer, smashing fiercely onto Lin Fan's Divine Soul.

"Seven..."

"Six..."

The body in his arms was so transparent that only a silhouette remained.

The poignant smile on Li Hanyue's face also began to blur, as if it were a candle flame about to be extinguished in the wind.

"System! Spare no cost! Give all of my existence value to her!"

"Use my life to trade for hers! Didn't you say you could perform Infinite Resurrection? Then kill me first and use the death reward to trade for it! Hurry!"

Lin Fan's voice was no longer a roar, but a shriek on the verge of collapse.

He had never hated his own weakness so much, hated his own cleverness.

He thought he had calculated everything, but he had failed to account for the fact that the price of the chess game he had laid out would be her.

[Insufficient permissions.]

[The 'Infinite Resurrection' protocol is only bound to the Host's Soul Origin and cannot be transferred.]

The System's cold prompt offered no room for negotiation.

"Five..."

"Four..."

Zhao Linger, Fatty Zhang, and the others collapsed to the ground, their faces deathly pale.

They could only watch helplessly as that once peerless, cold figure in Lin Fan's arms gradually headed toward true nothingness.

That was not death.

That was being thoroughly erased from the very Foundation of existence.

"No... don't..."

Zhao Linger's tears had long since run dry; a broken sob escaped her throat as she reached out, as if trying to grab something, but only grasped a handful of cold air.

"Three..."

Lin Fan's crimson eyes stared fixedly at Li Hanyue's fading face.

He wanted to carve her appearance, her smile, forever into the deepest depths of his own Soul.

Li Hanyue seemed to feel his gaze. She could no longer speak, but she used the last of her Divine Soul's strength to curve the corners of her mouth at him.

It was as if she were saying: Live on.

"Two..."

The black cracks on her body suddenly spread, instantly covering her entire transparent silhouette.

[Warning: Target's Soul Origin has completely disintegrated.]

"One..."

Boom.

The sensation in his arms vanished completely.

Lin Fan's arms, which had been holding her, suddenly felt empty.

The last wisp of light dust dissipated from his fingertips.

Li Hanyue, that woman who was always as cold as the moon but willing to block calamity for him with her own body, had completely turned into nothingness.

Not even the slightest trace of her existence remained.

[Countdown ended.]

[Target unit confirmed 'Terminated'.]

A line of extremely cold, blood-red text appeared on the System panel.

[Determination: Cannot Be Resurrected.]

Inside the Command Hall, there was a deathly silence.

Lin Fan maintained that hugging posture, kneeling there, motionless.

His arms were empty.

Time seemed to have stopped at this moment.

Zhao Linger's crying and Fatty Zhang's wailing seemed to be isolated in another world.

In Lin Fan's world, only those four words remained.

Cannot Be Resurrected.

These four words were like four red-hot branding irons, searing fiercely onto his Soul Origin, shattering all his luck, all his trump cards, and all his reliance into pieces.

He slowly, slowly lowered his head.

Looking at his empty palms.

A drop of scalding liquid hit the cold metal floor.

Then a second drop, a third drop.

That was not tears.

It was blood.

Blood seeping from the corners of his eyes, which had split open due to extreme rage and remorse.

His body began to tremble violently and uncontrollably.

Not because of fear.

But because a rage sufficient to incinerate the entire Universe was frantically accumulating and compressing in his chest.

"Heh..."

A low, unintelligible chuckle, like a beast grinding its teeth, squeezed out from the depths of his throat.

"Heh heh heh..."

He laughed.

The laughter grew louder and crazier, filled with endless violence and murderous intent.

He slowly raised his head.

On that handsome face, there were no longer any human emotions.

Only an extremely cold, deathly madness.

His gaze pierced through the dome of the Command Hall, pierced through the layers of barriers of the Tomb of the Epoch, and looked toward that endless Chaos Void Realm.

He knew where that "Elder" had gone.

He had gone to the fake "virus source" coordinate that he had fabricated using existence value.

Good.

Very good.

...

In the dim stone room of the Area D-3 Mining Zone.

The surviving Xin Huo Members were still immersed in immense ecstasy and awe.

Their god, Lord "Kindling", had once again created a miracle.

In the face of such a terrifying existence that could even freeze time and space, he had protected everyone.

Their gazes, filled with the most fanatical worship, looked toward that "Poor Worm" still trembling in the corner.

However, the next second.

Everyone's consciousness suddenly stalled.

They "saw" that No. 7754, who was curled up in the corner as if scared out of his wits, suddenly stopped his violently trembling body without warning.

Motionless.

Like a statue frozen in an instant.

Then.

Under the "gazes" of more than seventy people who were filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

That "Poor Worm" slowly stood up from the dirty ground.

He brushed the dust off his body, his movements as calm as if he had just woken up.

His face, which always wore fear and numbness, was now expressionless.

Finally.

He raised his head.

Those eyes, once filled with weakness and fear, were now an unfathomably deep, deathly silence that was even colder than the Chaos Void Realm.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the dome of the stone room and look toward a place so distant it was unimaginable.

A chill that could not be described in words instantly seized the Divine Soul of every Xin Huo Member.

That was not the pressure of a strong expert.

Nor was it the indifference of a god.

It was a kind of... pure murderous intent that would drag the entire world into an eternal winter.

At this moment, they suddenly understood.

Their god had not been scared silly.

Their god... was filled with Life Qi.