93: Chapter 93 Copyright Dispute over the Demise of Japan

The East Sea went silent for a second.

It was not that the wind stopped, nor that the rain ceased.

It was that the entire sea seemed to have been locked onto by some higher-order life form, frozen in sheer terror.

The black wall of water that had been crushing down toward Linhai City faltered, just for a split second.

The feeling was bizarre, like a wolf pouncing on a sheepfold that suddenly catches the scent of a more ancient, hungrier predator.

The seawater stopped roaring.

The crests of the waves hung suspended in mid-air.

The shadows of the dead, brought along by the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom, were like beings whose throats had been gripped, all freezing behind the glass of the phantom city.

The next moment.

Countless tentacles rose from the depths of the East Sea.

They were thick, slimy, and twisted, their surfaces covered in scarlet patterns and dark purple membranes, with every inch seeming to devour the light.

The tentacles coiled around the edges of the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom.

They wrapped around the streets of the phantom city.

They ensnared the skyscrapers hanging upside down in the sky.

Several tentacles even reached into the windows where lights were on, snatching the shadows of the dead clinging behind the glass.

The shadows of the dead made no sound.

They had no throats.

Yet, everyone seemed to hear the faint sound of Souls being chewed to pieces.

Crack.

Crunch.

Crunch.

The skyscrapers of the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom began to twist.

Building after building of the phantom architecture crumpled like cardboard boxes crushed by a giant hand; walls collapsed inward, and glass curtain walls cracked inch by inch.

The shadows of the dead inside the buildings retreated frantically.

Even though they were long dead, they displayed a fear more intense than that of any living person at this moment.

Inside and outside the freight station.

Everyone was stunned.

Including Executive Jiang Xu.

Including Bai Cang.

Including Queen of Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth.

This also included Su Yao in the Linhai Investigation Bureau, who had been preparing to request a nuclear fusion strike from the High Command.

Because no one had ever truly imagined that this taboo existence, which had crawled out from the depths of the reservoir, calling humanity a pasture, treating Strange Tales as rations, and viewing Half-step King Level entities as a buffet, would actually stand before Linhai at this moment.

He was no savior.

He was no guardian.

He was not even an ally that humanity could trust.

He was supposed to be something even more dangerous than the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom.

An ultimate calamity that would sooner or later devour the world and grind civilization into nutrients.

But now.

This greatest of Strange Tales was blocking another Strange Tale.

The scene was too absurd.

So absurd that people could not even feel the relief of surviving a disaster.

There was only a deeper chill, slowly creeping out from the marrow of everyone's bones.

Tsukuyomi knelt in the rain.

The black blood on his face was washed into winding trails by the rain.

That split eye of the Black Moon stared fixedly at the dense mass of scarlet eyeballs beneath the sea surface, his lips trembling, his voice nearly choked with sobs.

"My King..."

Yomi Boy knelt as well.

The Faceless Lady knelt.

The Elder of the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade knelt a bit slower.

It was not that he was not devout, but his knees had just been shattered by Executive Jiang Xu, and a crisp sound of bone echoed as he knelt down.

The three rotting Buddha faces of the Inverse Buddha lowered simultaneously.

The Headless Samurai cradled his own head, pressing that split skull into the stagnant water.

The scene was indescribably bizarre.

Six Neon calamities that had just been preparing to sacrifice Linhai, slaughter the Queen, and behead Bai Cang and Night Owl were now kneeling more orderly than employees clocking in for a morning company meeting.

Su Jianguo felt his scalp tingle.

The Black Flame was still burning at his feet, but he could not control the expression on his face.

"This thing..."

"Do they really acknowledge a master?"

Bai Cang's mouth twitched.

His body still bore traces of water-mist transformation, and the edge of his entire right arm was so faint it seemed about to dissipate into the rain, but upon hearing Su Jianguo's words, he could not help but add.

"Looks more devout than my Salvation Society's team-building."

Su Jianguo fell silent for a moment.

Then his expression became even more complicated.

What exactly did they do at Salvation Society team-building events?

Was the lifestyle of this big brother he had just acknowledged a bit too criminal?

Queen Elizabeth looked at the sea.

She did not speak.

Her silver-white hair was tossed by the rain and wind, and for the first time, genuine gravity appeared in the depths of her eyes.

Princess Evelyn huddled behind her, whispering, "Mother, the man you chased after does not seem to have as much presence as this monster."

The Queen said calmly, "Shut up."

Princess Evelyn lowered her head.

"Oh."

Bai Cang: "..."

These words sounded very hurtful.

But he really did not have time to argue right now.

Saintess Lin Xinglan knelt on one knee in the rain.

Her palms cradled the crumbling residual light of the Holy Source, and thin lines of blood flowed from her seven orifices.

The hands of the Holy Source projection were still suppressing the tsunami.

But those palms, formed from Holy Light, were already covered in dense cracks.

With every inch the cracks spread, Saintess Lin Xinglan's face grew a shade paler.

Yet, the moment she saw those countless tentacles rising from the seabed, there was no relief in her eyes.

Instead, a faint, cold killing intent flashed past.

The Holy Source had not yet been completely extinguished.

Although the projection had cracked.

Although she had reached her limit.

But if, at this moment, she shifted the final power of the Holy Source away from the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom and struck at Su Yun instead—perhaps she could severely injure him.

Perhaps she could take advantage of his entanglement with the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom to cut down this true future calamity that would destroy the world.

Saintess Lin Xinglan was very clear.

The Mirage of the Sea Kingdom was terrifying.

But it was, after all, only Half-step King Level.

It was the disaster before her.

But Su Yun was different.

This thing would grow.

It would devour.

It would learn.

It would treat human civilization as a pasture.

His blocking the Sea Kingdom today did not mean he was a friend to humanity.

Quite the opposite.

The stronger he was, the more dangerous he was to humanity.

A monster that guarded its food would not suddenly become a guardian deity just because it had protected the food.

Saintess Lin Xinglan's fingertips tightened slightly.

The residual light of the Holy Source trembled gently in her palms.

In that instant.

She truly wanted to act.

She had even calculated in her mind the angle for the residual Holy Source projection to turn.

If it hit the cluster of scarlet eyes exposed on Su Yun's main body beneath the sea.

If the Holy Source could follow the traces of the rules and strike his core.

Even if it could not kill him, it could at least force this monster into dormancy for a period.

But the next second.

She heard the crying in the city.

She heard the humming of the airport shield on the verge of shattering.

She heard the sound of the Holy Source projection's hands cracking.

And she saw that wall of water still suspended above Linhai.

If she turned to ambush Su Yun, the Holy Source would inevitably dissipate.

The tsunami would fall in an instant.

Millions of ordinary people would be buried with her in this single thought.

A Saintess could judge a monster, but she could not sacrifice a city to accompany her judgment.

The killing intent in Saintess Lin Xinglan's eyes slowly subsided.

She bit the tip of her tongue, forcing the last bit of Holy Light back into the Holy Source projection.

The golden light supported the line once more.

The tsunami was held down again.

But Saintess Lin Xinglan's body swayed, nearly collapsing into the rainwater.

It was not that she did not want to kill him.

It was that she could not.

At least not now.

Lin Wanqing stood by her side, as if sensing something, her peripheral vision sweeping over her calmly.

Saintess Lin Xinglan did not explain.

Lin Wanqing did not ask.

Both generations of Saintesses understood.

Standing before the sea at this moment was not a god.

Nor was it a hero.

It was a monster that temporarily did not allow others to touch its pasture.

And the goodwill of a monster was never worth praising.

It could only be utilized, and it must be guarded against.

Beneath the sea.

Su Yun did not act immediately either.

His consciousness covered the entire East Sea.

Waves rolled.

The city cried out.

The port cracked.

He saw Su Chen.

His eldest brother stood by the seaside, his body already showing signs of water-mist transformation, yet he was still stubbornly holding back the current at the very forefront of the tsunami.

He also saw Su Jianguo.

He saw Lin Wanqing.

His mother's golden threads were almost entirely broken, yet she still stood at the very front.

He saw Su Yao.

His sister was in the Investigation Bureau, her hand already hovering over the nuclear strike application process.

Su Yun cursed inwardly.

Damn it.

This beast actually wanted to drown Linhai.

Drowning the city did not matter.

Why drown his home?

Drowning his home was one thing, but did it have to try to wipe out his leeks in one go?

This was not a natural disaster.

This was vicious competition from a peer.

Deep within the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom, a deep, heavy laughter suddenly emerged.

The sound emanated from every window.

It also emanated from every wave.

It was as if the entire city had spoken at once.

"Newborn King."

"You have finally come."

There was no fear in its tone.

Only a strange sense of confusion.

It was as if Su Yun's appearance was within its expectations.

Yet, Su Yun's behavior was completely outside its range of understanding.

Su Yun's tentacles tightened.

A phantom skyscraper was crushed into fragments of light and shadow on the spot.

The building collapsed.

Hundreds of shadows of the dead inside were swept into the mouthparts by the tentacles, chewed clean in the blink of an eye.

But the next second.

The building reconstituted on the other side of the Mirage.

The glass lit up again.

The shadows of the dead stood back behind the windows.

The Sea Kingdom laughed even more deeply.

"It is useless."

"My body is the city."

"The city is the Sea Kingdom."

"You crush a building, you are merely crushing my shadow."

Executive Jiang Xu gripped his dark gold spear, looking up at the Mirage.

His face was pale, half his body still eroded by black spots, the conflict of rules within him making every breath feel like grinding his lungs.

Yet his gaze remained calm.

"Its true body is not outside."

Queen of Great Britain took over the conversation.

"It is inside the entire Mirage of the Sea Kingdom."

She looked toward the sea area where Su Yun was, her gaze sinking.

"To kill it, one must shatter the entire ethereal Sea Kingdom in one blow."

Princess Evelyn asked subconsciously: "Is this difficult?"

Queen of Great Britain glanced at her.

"Only a King Level can do it."

As these words fell.

Both inside and outside the freight station, everyone fell silent.

Bai Cang looked up.

Rainwater slid down the side of his pale face.

"Between a Half-step King Level and a King Level, it is not just a half-step."

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his voice dropping a few notches.

"It is a chasm."

Su Jianguo frowned.

"In other words, that monster cannot do it?"

Bai Cang did not answer.

His silence was the answer.

Saintess Lin Xinglan held up the lingering light of the Holy Source and whispered: "The Holy Source projection cannot do it either."

Lin Wanqing watched the sea surface, the golden thread in her hand not loosening.

There was a flash of complexity in her eyes.

"It is very strong."

"But it is not yet a King."

This sentence was like a basin of cold water poured over the sliver of hope that had just risen in everyone.

Indeed.

Su Yun is very strong.

So strong that the World-Swallowing Prison Wolf was like a main course at a buffet before him.

So strong that Executive Jiang Xu was casually transformed by him into the first hybrid monster in human history.

So strong that the upper echelons of all of Linhai dared not even truly speak his name.

But strong does not equal King Level.

Half-step King Level is a disaster.

King Level is the rules themselves.

That is not a gap that can be bridged by piling up numbers.

Nor is it a threshold that can be crossed immediately by crazily devouring a few Strange Tales.

Hearing this, the people of Neon saw their expressions twist again.

Yomi Boy grinned.

"Our King has just descended, why make an enemy of Lord Sea Kingdom?"

Faceless Lady lifted her mask, her voice soft to the point of being cold.

"Linhai is just a pasture."

"If the pasture is destroyed, we can raise more."

The Elder of the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade also spoke with a trembling voice.

"Please, after our King devours the Sea Kingdom, take the fear of this city."

Tsukuyomi looked up abruptly.

"Shut up!"

He stared at the sea surface, fanaticism and confusion entangled in his eyes.

He did not understand.

Why would the King block the sea?

Why would the King protect humans?

In their cognition, a King should devour.

A King should descend.

A King should stand at the highest peak of fear and death, looking down upon these short-lived humans.

But now.

The King stood in front of the humans.

This caused the first crack to appear in Tsukuyomi's fanatical faith.

But he dared not question.

So he could only kneel lower.

His forehead knocked heavily into the standing water.

"Our King."

"Lord Sea Kingdom is willing to clear the steps to godhood for you."

"Please do not waste your divinity for these short-lived humans."

Beneath the East Sea.

Su Yun let out a laugh.

That laughter spread across the sea surface.

"Are you teaching me how to do things?"

Tsukuyomi's face instantly turned pale.

His forehead smashed into the standing water again.

"This subordinate does not dare!"

"This subordinate deserves to die!"

Deep within the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom, the laughter rang out again.

"Interesting."

"Too interesting."

"Humans actually believe a monster will save them."

"And a monster is actually willing to block me for the sake of humans."

Its voice suddenly turned cold.

"No."

"This is unreasonable."

"New King."

"You should not be standing there."

The windows of the entire Mirage of the Sea Kingdom lit up simultaneously.

Countless shadows of dead people pressed against the glass, staring fixedly at the indescribable shadow beneath the sea.

For the first time, the voice of the Sea Kingdom held a hint of incomprehensible gloom.

"You are their greatest disaster."

"You are the thing that all of humanity should fear the most."

"They are alive now because you have not truly opened your mouth yet."

"When you become a King, when you ascend to godhood, when your divinity covers reality."

"They will be even more desperate than if they were drowned by me."

Both inside and outside the freight station, everyone fell silent.

Because what the Sea Kingdom said was the truth.

Bai Cang did not refute.

Executive Jiang Xu did not refute.

Lin Wanqing did not refute.

Saintess Lin Xinglan's fingers, holding the lingering light of the Holy Source, tightened slightly once more.

In the Investigation Bureau hall.

Su Yao watched the big screen, her face pale to the point of being translucent.

She had no way to deny it.

Yes.

The Sea Kingdom is a disaster.

But Su Yun is the future.

A future that is more terrifying, more uncontrollable, and has no boundaries.

Those fragmented scenes from her past life seemed to churn deep in her mind once again.

Divinity overflowing.

Civilization collapsing.

Cities disappearing silently.

Human resistance was like mist on glass, wiped away gently by some indescribable existence, leaving nothing behind.

The Sea Kingdom said in a low voice: "So I do not understand."

"Newborn King."

"Why do you want to protect them?"

Su Yun did not deny it.

Nor did he explain.

He just replied lazily.

"Protect?"

"You are overthinking it."

"I just hate it when others touch my things."

The Sea Kingdom paused for a moment.

It seemed not to expect Su Yun to be so frank.

Then it laughed.

"Very good."

"This is what a King of the Abyss is like."

"Since that is the case, we should not be enemies."

The streets of the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom began to light up.

Countless shadows of dead people knelt in the illusory city, kowtowing in the direction of Su Yun.

The entire city was like a huge altar.

And those dead shadows were the believers on the altar.

"Leave Linhai to me."

"I will devour the fear here."

"You devour the faith of the Neon remnants."

"We will each get what we need."

Su Yun's tone was lazy.

"I could hear your abacus clicking all the way from the bottom of the sea."

The Sea Kingdom was not angry.

On the contrary, it was calmer.

"The Neon coastline back then was drowned by me."

As soon as these words came out.

Tsukuyomi and the others all froze.

Yomi Boy's smile froze.

The mask on Faceless Lady's face trembled slightly.

The head in the arms of the Headless Samurai widened its eyes.

Even Bai Cang narrowed his eyes slightly.

The Sea Kingdom continued: "Bai Cang opened the Abyss Gate."

"I pushed the sea tide."

"The seventy-two gates of Tokyo were just the entrance."

"The sinking of the Osaka coastline was the true starting point of the fear's eruption."

Its voice contained a hint of resentment.

"But you Neon remnants gave the hatred to Bai Cang."

"You gave the fear to Bai Cang."

"You also wrote the name of the fallen nation on Bai Cang."

"Why?"

Hearing this, Bai Cang suddenly raised an eyebrow.

"So you are anxious?"

Inside the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom, countless windows turned toward Bai Cang simultaneously.

At that moment, it was as if Bai Cang was being stared at by the entire dead city.

"You stole my fear."

Bai Cang spread his hands.

"I didn't steal it."

"It's your marketing that's bad."

Su Jianguo almost lost his composure.

What time is it even.

Still dealing with brand ownership?

And it sounds like there's a copyright dispute over the fall of Neon?

The Sea Kingdom's voice became completely gloomy.

"Today, I will take back the fear that belongs to me."

"The despair of Linhai."

"The remnants of Neon."

"And you, newborn King."

The entire Mirage began to press down.

The cracks on the hands of the Holy Source phantom spread rapidly.

Crack!

Crack, crack!

Saintess Lin Xinglan spat out a mouthful of blood.

The lingering light of the Holy Source in her palm shook violently.

The water mist on Bai Cang's body became heavier, and half of his shoulder was almost transparent.

He gritted his teeth, controlling the water flow, but he could no longer stop the sea wall from advancing.

The tsunami pressed forward another meter.

Only a meter.

Yet it caused the screams within Linhai City to explode again.

The airport shield let out a piercing wail.

Several buildings on the edge of the port could not withstand the water pressure and collapsed with a boom.

Countless rubble was swept into the air, then ground into powder by the waves.

The Sea Kingdom let out a low roar.

"After devouring you, I will be the true King!"

Su Yun was silent for a moment.

Then, he asked a question.

"Did you misunderstand something?"

The Sea Kingdom sneered.

"Misunderstand?"

"You do not have King Level power."

"You cannot shatter my Sea Kingdom."

"You can only bite off my shadow."

"And I have the entire city as a shell."

Its tone was very steady.

So steady that it made people despair.

"You cannot kill me."

"But I can slowly drag them to death."

"Clear all the obstacles to my ascension to King!"

Su Yun looked at that ethereal Mirage, and the one hundred scarlet eyeballs deep in the seabed turned simultaneously.

He indeed could not shatter the entire Sea Kingdom in one blow.

At least not now.

He also did not have the ability to solve this tsunami right now.

After all, the tsunami had already formed.

The rules had already pressed into reality.

But being unable to shatter it in one blow does not mean he can do nothing about it.

Being unable to solve the tsunami now does not mean he cannot do it in a while!

The method is very simple.

Kill this Strange Tale.

Devour its core.

Use its own power to suppress the tsunami.

"Curtain of Delusion!"