95: Chapter 95 Since you know the king likes to devour, why don't you climb in yourself?

The shadows of the dead pressed against the glass, frantically pounding on the windows, opening their rotting mouths, yet unable to make a sound.

The blue-black core was tightly gripped by Su Yun's tentacles.

Within that eyeball-like core, it had originally reflected Linhai City, the black tsunami, and the reality-warping Authority of the entire Mirage of the Sea Kingdom.

But now, the surface of the eyeball was covered in cracks.

The cracks spread like a spiderweb.

Every inch it cracked, the entire Mirage of the Sea Kingdom let out a dull roar that made one's heart tighten.

It was not the collapse of buildings. Nor was it the surging of seawater. It was the rules themselves breaking.

An Origin rule supporting the existence of a Half-step King Level Strange Tales was being forcibly torn open by something of a higher order.

The voice of the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom exploded from all the broken windows.

"No!" "I have not yet become a King!" "I have not yet reclaimed the fear of Neon!" "I have not yet—"

Crack. Su Yun's tentacles tightened slightly. A corner of the blue-black core was crushed on the spot.

The rest of the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom's sentence was cut off instantly. It was just like a villain delivering their final words, only to have the microphone cord pulled right in front of them.

Above the freight station, everyone heard a teeth-grinding sound of shattering.

Bai Cang looked up at the blue-black eyeball, his mouth twitching uncontrollably.

Half of his body was still on the verge of atomizing into water, and he looked as disheveled as if he had just been fished out of a high-pressure water jet.

Yet even so, he couldn't help but speak up: "Did you really have to squeeze it while it was talking?"

Su Jianguo was silent for half a second. Black Flame burned in circles around his feet. He looked at the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom's twisted, painful appearance, thought about it seriously, and then said: "Maybe he wanted to add a touch of tragic atmosphere for it?"

Bai Cang glanced at him. This reason was damnably reasonable.

After all, this monster had been flooding the city while delivering an acceptance speech since it appeared; it really deserved it.

The Mirage of the Sea Kingdom finally went completely insane. It no longer maintained the high-and-mighty stance of a dead city. The entire mirage suddenly inverted.

The black tsunami that it had originally forced into reality surged even higher at this moment.

Outside the port, the wall of water temporarily held back by the black day boundary began to roar.

The black water churned, as if countless arms of the drowned were reaching out from the waves, tearing at the boundaries of space.

It no longer rushed only toward the front of Linhai. Instead, it spread in all directions.

The airport. The freight station. The port. The school. Residential areas. New walls of water appeared in every direction.

Those water walls were like a circle of constantly tightening black graves, preparing to crush the entire Linhai City and its surrounding coastline into sludge.

Since the anchor point was going to break, it would drag the entire sea area into the grave with it.

Lin Wanqing gripped the black day, her wrist sinking heavily. The boundary that spanned the coastline emitted a low hum.

A tiny thread of light lit up on the blade of the black day. It wasn't that the blade was about to break, but that the weight it was bearing had already exceeded the limit that the current user could maintain.

This S-rank Forbidden Object could slice through space. It could isolate attacks with the power of the "boundary." But after all, it was not a complete King Level Authority.

It could not slice through the entire East Sea driven by Half-step King Level rules. Moreover, the person wielding the blade at this moment was not the true master to whom the black day submitted.

Lin Wanqing's eyes narrowed. Rainwater slid down her eyelashes. The veins on the back of her hands bulged as golden Holy Light and the dark spatial patterns of the black day intertwined, actually showing faint signs of mutual repulsion.

But she did not let go. Behind her was Linhai. It was also her home.

Lin Wanqing said in a deep voice: "I can't hold on for much longer."

Bai Cang was just about to raise his hand to reinforce it with a water-type rule. But as soon as his right arm lifted, it scattered into a mist of water.

The water mist flickered in the rain before laboriously coalescing back into a translucent outline. He looked down at his arm, his face as dark as if he had just been told by his boss that his annual leave was canceled.

"Damn it." "Still want me to work overtime."

Queen Elizabeth looked at him. Her silver-white hair was soaked by the torrential rain, yet she still stood with dignity and elegance, as if she were not on a doomsday battlefield, but in a palace banquet hall.

"Do you need me to support you?"

Bai Cang was expressionless. "No need."

Princess Evelyn hid behind the Queen, her face pale, yet she couldn't help but whisper a follow-up jab: "Mother, he refuses you very skillfully."

The Queen said indifferently: "Shut up."

Bai Cang: "..." Is it too late to request the tsunami to wash this mother-daughter pair away separately?

The screech of the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom came from the depths of the city. "Newborn King!" "Don't you want to protect your ranch?" "Then protect it!" "Let's see how you protect it!"

The black seawater began to bypass the edge of the boundary. The boundary was a line, but the tsunami was a plane.

The black day could block the front, but it couldn't seal off all directions.

Especially when the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom started going crazy, sparing no effort to force all its remaining rules into the seawater, the waves outside the boundary no longer followed normal physical laws.

They bypassed space. They passed through the storm. They poured down from the clouds. They rolled up from beneath the sea surface. From the edges that the boundary could not cover, they slithered toward Linhai like countless venomous snakes.

Inside Linhai City, countless people looked up. They saw new walls of water appearing on the horizon.

The sliver of hope that had just risen because of the Holy Source projection and the black boundary was once again crushed by death.

Some knelt on the roadside clutching their children. Some hid behind the glass doors of shopping malls, trembling all over. Some stood on rooftops, looking at that expanse of black water, without even the strength left to run.

Linhai No. 2 High School. The students of Senior Year Class 2 were pressed against the windows. The distant sky seemed to have been torn open by the seawater into a black crack.

Chu Youwei gripped the edge of Su Yun's empty desk tightly. She didn't know where Su Yun had gone. She only knew that ever since Su Yun disappeared, the entire world had become less and less like reality.

Li Hao's face was pale, his lips trembling. "Brother Yun..." "Where on earth did you go?"

Higher up outside the window, Su Qing hovered in the curtain of rain, her shadow wings almost deformed by the violent wind.

She gritted her teeth, staring at the sea. She wanted to rush over. But she knew that if she rushed over, it would just be suicide.

In the Investigation Bureau hall, Su Yao stared at the big screen. Her fingers pressed against the desktop, her nails almost embedding into the wood.

She didn't speak. She was waiting. Waiting for the next move of that monster.

This kind of waiting made her nauseous. It made her feel absurd. It even made her want to laugh for a moment.

She, a person who had experienced Rebirth and sworn to stop the world-ending calamity, was now actually waiting for the monster that would destroy the world in the future to step in and save the city.

What was this? The malice of fate? Or was this world itself a Strange Tales written by a madman?

But she knew even better. Now, apart from waiting, there was no other path.

Nuclear fusion strikes were too late. The Holy Source was shattered. The black day boundary couldn't hold on much longer. Executive Jiang Xu was already heavily injured. Bai Cang was so overdrawn that his body had atomized into water. Night Owl, the Saintess, and the Queen were all pushed to their limits.

Everyone was fighting with their lives. But all their efforts combined only managed to pull Linhai back from the line of death for a few seconds.

The only thing that could truly end all this was that thing on the seabed.

Beneath the East Sea, Su Yun watched the rampaging Mirage of the Sea Kingdom, his voice still lazy. "Panicking?"

The Mirage of the Sea Kingdom roared. "You cannot kill me!" "Even if you devour my core, I will make this city pay with its life!" "I will make you watch with your own eyes as your ranch is crushed to pieces!" "I will turn your food into mud on the seabed!"

Su Yun let out a laugh. That laughter traveled from the seabed, through the torrential rain, through the tsunami, and fell into the ears of every powerhouse. It carried a calmness that made one's scalp tingle.

"Did you forget?" "Your five senses are under my control now."

The voice of the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom stopped abruptly. The next second, it saw Su Yun's core.

Right at the end of the tsunami. Right above Linhai City. That cluster of dark purple light pulsed, squirmed, and radiated the aura of a high-level Abyss Origin.

That was what it craved to devour. That was what could allow it to cross the threshold of the Half-step King Level. That was the final step before the throne.

The Mirage of the Sea Kingdom did not hesitate. All tsunamis turned around. All rules locked onto that cluster of dark purple core.

It didn't even have time to distinguish. Nor did it dare to. Because it had been tortured by Su Yun to the point where it didn't dare to trust its own judgment, yet it had to believe in the only thing it could still "see."

Boom!!! The black waves collided. The two tsunamis that were originally meant to destroy the city crashed into each other right in the center of the sea.

Hundreds of millions of tons of seawater crushed and tore at each other. Seawater exploded a thousand meters into the sky. Black rain swirled backward.

The phantom city was knocked hundreds of meters sideways by the recoil force. A dozen more cracks appeared on the blue-black core.

The Mirage of the Sea Kingdom was stunned. The freight station also fell silent for a moment.

Su Jianguo looked at those two walls of water crashing into each other and finally squeezed out a sentence: "This Strange Tales..." "Did it buy its driver's license?"

Bai Cang nodded. "And it's drunk driving."

Executive Jiang Xu gripped his dark gold spear and added expressionlessly: "No." "It's being remotely driven."

Everyone: "..." Hearing this from Executive Jiang Xu, it was inexplicably colder. And inexplicably more cutting.

The Mirage of the Sea Kingdom finally realized that it had been tricked again. It didn't dare to move. All its perceptions had become traps.

The Su Yun it saw might be its own core. The attack direction it heard might be its own anchor point. The Abyssal aura it smelled might come from the rules its main body was losing.

It couldn't even determine whether it was moving forward or backward at this moment. If it moved, it was attacking itself. If it didn't move, it could only wait to be eaten away by Su Yun bit by bit.

This kind of fear made it break down more than death. Because it was the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom. It controlled reality and illusion.

It had once relied on the boundary between truth and illusion to flood the Neon coastline and devour the fear of countless people. It fed on deceiving reality.

But now, it had been tricked by another monster that was even better at deceiving perception, turned into a blind man who didn't even know where he was.

The voice of the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom finally changed. It was no longer heavy. It was no longer arrogant. All that remained was uncontrollable trembling.

"Wait."

Su Yun did not stop. The tentacles continued to tighten. The blue-black eyeball was squeezed out of shape. Deep within the core, low moans of near-collapse emanated.

The Mirage of the Sea Kingdom panicked. "I can submit!" "I control reality and illusion!" "I can flood cities for you, create fear, and harvest faith!" "I can become your Sea Kingdom!" "I can manage your ranch for you!" "Linhai is just a beginning!" "If you want, I can turn the entire East Sea into your feeding ground for you!"

Tsukuyomi looked up abruptly. In his black moon eye, which had cracked after the sacrifice, fanaticism reignited.

Lord Mirage of the Sea Kingdom submitting to our King? What is this? This is the first cornerstone before the throne! This is the beginning of a new order in the Abyss!

Yomi Boy was trembling with excitement. "Is the King going to accept the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom?"

Faceless Lady's voice trembled. "Our King is truly going to ascend above the Abyss!"

The Elder of the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade knelt even lower, his forehead bleeding from knocking it against the pooled water. "Thank you, our King, for avenging the fallen nation of Neon!"

The Headless Samurai held his own head, his tone solemn. "The Mirage of the Sea Kingdom devoured Neon, our King devours the Mirage of the Sea Kingdom." "This is called a Karma closed loop."

Yomi Boy glanced at him. "You're quite knowledgeable."

The Headless Samurai: "My head fell off, that doesn't mean my brain fell out."

Su Yun heard these words and was almost amused. These Neon fellows, their mental state was indeed ahead of the version. What time was it now? And they were still there writing reviews.

Seeing that Su Yun did not immediately crush the core, the Sea Kingdom thought it had finally grasped a chance to survive.

It immediately continued.

"I know the threshold for King Level!"

"I know there is a true Royal Court in the Abyss!"

"There is the Authority left behind by the Old King there!"

"There is a staircase leading to Divinity there!"

"As long as you spare my life, I can take you there!"

Su Yun's movements paused for a moment.

The Sea Kingdom was overjoyed.

It worked!

As expected.

No monster can refuse the temptation of becoming a King.

No existence in the Abyss can refuse the secret of the Royal Court.

It immediately lowered its posture, its voice nearly fawning.

"You are not a King yet."

"You need me."

"You need a guide who understands the old paths of the Abyss."

"I can pave the way for you."

"I can be your first subordinate god."

"My Lord, as long as you are willing—"

Inside the freight station.

Everyone looked toward the sea.

Executive Jiang Xu frowned, the gravitational field of the dark gold spear in his hand unfolding silently.

Lin Wanqing gripped black day tightly, a cold vigilance flashing in her eyes.

Saintess Lin Xinglan forced herself to stand, Holy Light condensing in her palm again, even though blood was still seeping from her seven orifices.

If Su Yun really accepted the Sea Kingdom.

The situation would completely spiral out of control.

A reservoir Rancher had already made the high-level officials of Great Xia restless.

If another Half-step King Level subordinate that controlled the tsunami of reality and illusion were added, it would no longer be a single disaster.

That would be a faction.

That would be an order.

That would be a new ecosystem built with Strange Tales as the core.

By then, Su Yun would not just be "The Rancher".

He would become an Abyss Lord in the true sense.

Inside the Investigation Bureau hall.

Su Yao also held her breath.

What she feared most was not Su Yun devouring.

Devouring was at least still a beastly instinct.

What she truly feared was Su Yun starting to build a faction.

Monsters are not scary.

A monster that has organization, goals, order, and knows how to subdue subordinates is the true terminator of civilization.

Under the East Sea.

Su Yun looked at the cracked blue-black eyeball, his voice flat.

"You speak very well."

The Sea Kingdom immediately said: "My Lord—"

Su Yun interrupted it.

"But I don't like eating leftovers."

The Sea Kingdom was stunned.

Su Yun continued: "You were tricked by me like this."

"And you still want to be my subordinate?"

"I don't keep idiots by my side."

Sea Kingdom: "..."

Tsukuyomi: "..."

The six S-Class from Neon: "..."

Bai Cang was silent for two seconds.

"This reason for rejection has low damage, but maximum insult."

Su Jianguo nodded.

"It actually has that corporate recruitment vibe."

Bai Cang glanced at him.

"Have you interviewed before?"

Su Jianguo remained expressionless.

"Even if I haven't eaten pork, haven't I seen a pig run?"

Bai Cang: "..."

The Sea Kingdom completely collapsed.

"You will regret this!"

"The throne of the Abyss is not something you can touch!"

"The Royal Court will not accept a monster that guards a human ranch!"

"You will be torn apart by the Old King!"

"You will—"

Crack!

Su Yun directly crushed the core.

The blue-black eyeball exploded with a boom.

The entire Mirage of the Sea Kingdom froze simultaneously.

Then, all the tall buildings collapsed inward.

Streets folded.

Bridges broke.

Those dead shadows were squeezed into sheets of black film.

Even though they clearly had no throats, they seemed to be emitting a silent scream toward the entire East Sea.

The illusory city that once made Linhai unable to breathe was dragged by countless tentacles toward the giant mouth on the seabed.

The Sea Kingdom let out a final scream.

"I am not reconciled—"

Gulp.

Gone.

It was swallowed.

As clean as a takeout box emptied by an office worker after work.

Even the broth at the bottom of the box was scraped clean, not a drop left.

Above the East Sea, only the churning black water and the gradually dissipating phantom shadows remained.

At the same time.

Inside Su Yun's body, the sequence core of the Lord of Blind Idiot God vibrated.

A massive amount of rules was swallowed into the depths.

[Devoured Half-step King Level Strange Tales: Mirage of the Sea Kingdom]

[Growth increased: Current growth 412/1000]

[Obtained embryonic Authority: Sea Kingdom]

[Effect: Can blur the boundary between reality and illusion within a certain range, briefly making formed phenomena illusory; currently limited by growth stage, cannot permanently rewrite reality.]

[Note: This Authority can form a partial overlay with "Curtain of Delusion", causing double deviation to perception, phenomena, and rule projections.]

Su Yun's heart stirred.

Making reality illusory?

Good stuff.

Although it is currently just an embryo and cannot permanently rewrite reality, it is already handy enough for dealing with large-scale disasters or tricking people.

Especially when overlaid with the Curtain of Delusion.

One tricks the five senses.

One tricks the boundary of reality.

In the future, whoever fights him had better first confirm whether they are fighting him, Su Yun, or themselves.

Just as he was thinking, black day suddenly emitted a low hum.

The black blade in Lin Wanqing's hand began to tremble violently.

The cracks on the blade shone blindingly.

The boundary is about to collapse.

Although the black tsunami had lost the control of the Sea Kingdom, its inertia remained.

Hundreds of millions of tons of seawater had already been pushed high into the air.

Even if the source died, they would still crash down.

Without the support of rules, they no longer possessed Half-step King Level pollution.

But the sheer physical weight was still enough to destroy a small half of Linhai.

Lin Wanqing said in a deep voice: "The water is about to fall."

Inside Linhai City.

Everyone looked up again.

They saw that the sea suspended outside the city was losing its support.

The boundary drawn by black day flickered constantly, like a thin line about to be swallowed by the tide.

Su Yun clicked his tongue lightly.

"Cleaning the table right after finishing a meal."

"The service industry is really hard to work in."

The next second.

Sea Kingdom Authority unfolded.

Countless scarlet eyeballs opened on the seabed.

Those eyeballs reflected the falling seawater.

Reflected the streets of Linhai.

Reflected the airport, schools, ports, shopping malls, residential buildings, and also the people who were looking up blankly under the shadow of death.

The moment the black seawater fell, the entire tsunami suddenly faded.

Not disappeared.

Nor blocked.

But turned from reality into illusion.

Boom!!!

The seawater passed through the boundary.

Passed through the port.

Passed through the airport runway.

Passed through the vehicles on the street.

Passed through the mother kneeling on the ground holding her child.

Passed through the teaching building of Linhai No. 2 High School.

Passed through the broken tracks of the freight station.

Passed through the Black Flames burning at Su Jianguo's feet.

No impact.

No submersion.

No death.

Only the cold sound of the tide flowed past everyone's ears.

The entire Linhai City seemed to be swallowed by a non-existent sea at this moment.

But that sea had no weight.

No impact.

Only an illusory touch that made one's Soul cold.

On the side of the street, a little boy sat at the entrance of a shopping mall, staring blankly as an illusory fish swam through his chest.

He reached out and grabbed it.

Grabbed nothing.

The mother next to him hugged him tightly, crying until she couldn't make a sound.

At the airport.

Princess Evelyn watched the seawater pass through the hem of her skirt, her face pale.

"Mother."

"Are we dead?"

Queen Elizabeth looked at the distant sea surface and said slowly: "No."

Princess Evelyn whispered: "Then I might never dare to eat seafood again."

The Queen was silent for a moment.

"After we return, seafood will be cancelled from the royal banquet."

Princess Evelyn: "...You're actually taking it seriously?"

At the freight station.

Bai Cang watched the illusory tsunami passing through the city and was silent for a long time.

"He really turned the tsunami into an illusion."

Executive Jiang Xu whispered: "It's not an illusion."

"It's a brief etherealization."

"The seawater existed."

"It was just stripped from the level of reality at the moment it touched Linhai."

Bai Cang glanced at him.

"You explain it so professionally, is it because you were also modified by him?"

Executive Jiang Xu was expressionless.

"Shut up."

Bai Cang laughed, but didn't continue to provoke him.

Lin Wanqing gripped black day, her hands covered in cold sweat.

She knew better than anyone how dangerous it was just now.

If this monster had been one second slower.

At least half of Linhai would have died.

If he hadn't acted.

This city would already be gone.

But the one who saved the city was the thing least worthy of being called a savior.

This is the hardest part to accept.

Because he wasn't doing it for humanity.

Not for justice.

Not for protection.

He just disliked others touching his ranch.

This kind of salvation is more unsettling than the disaster itself.

Inside the Investigation Bureau hall.

Chen Jianguo Chen Jianguo slumped back into his chair.

The technician stared at the screen, his voice shaking.

"The main body of the tsunami... passed through the urban area."

"Physical impact is zero."

"Death toll... currently cannot be calculated, but large-scale submersion did not occur."

"Linhai main urban area... is saved."

No one in the hall cheered.

Everyone was watching the sea gradually receding on the screen.

They should be glad.

They should be overjoyed.

They should be hugging each other and crying, celebrating that this natural disaster capable of destroying the city was resolved.

But no one could smile.

Because the one who saved them was not human.

Not the Saint Domain.

Not the Investigation Bureau.

Not The Watchers.

But that taboo monster who called humans leeks and the world a ranch.

They felt as complicated as if they had swallowed a whole set of non-disclosure agreements.

Su Yao closed her eyes.

He saved Linhai.

But he also became stronger.

Linhai survived.

But above humanity's heads, there was one more, larger shadow.

This time, he saved the city.

What about next time?

If one day, he feels that the entire "ranch" of human civilization is no longer worth keeping.

Who could stop him?

On the East Sea.

The illusory seawater gradually dissipated.

The six S-Class from Neon were still kneeling in the rain.

They dared not move.

Because all the Great Xia powerhouses had surrounded them.

Executive Jiang Xu was holding the dark gold spear.

Lin Wanqing was holding black day.

Saintess Lin Xinglan was condensing Holy Light again.

Black Flames ignited at Su Jianguo's feet.

Although Bai Cang's half body had not fully recovered, he still stood in the water mist.

Queen Elizabeth also raised her scepter.

No one attacked first.

Because they were all waiting.

Waiting for the attitude of that "Rancher" on the seabed.

Tsukuyomi slowly raised his head.

There was no fear on his face.

Or rather, he forcibly suppressed his fear into fanaticism.

He looked at the dense mass of scarlet eyeballs on the seabed, his voice trembling, yet pious to the point of madness.

"My King!"

"The Sea Kingdom is dead!"

"The revenge for Neon has been avenged!"

"We are willing to be the vanguard for the throne!"

Yomi Boy also spoke excitedly.

"Please, my King, accept us!"

Faceless Lady knelt on the ground, her voice soft and trembling.

"We will spread your name."

Elder of the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade said in a trembling voice: "We will offer up fear."

Inverse Buddha's three rotten Buddha faces bowed simultaneously.

"We are willing to be the believers at your feet."

Headless Samurai raised his own head.

"We are willing to be your blade."

Under the sea surface.

Su Yun was silent for two seconds.

Then he laughed.

That laughter spread throughout the East Sea.

Deep.

Lazy.

And carried a kind of pleasure that made the six S-Class Strange Tales shiver.

"Did you misunderstand something?"

The six from Neon stiffened simultaneously.

The fanaticism on Tsukuyomi's face froze for a moment.

Su Yun's voice fell slowly.

"Since you know that a King likes to devour."

"Then why don't you crawl in yourselves?"

"And become the stepping stones for my ascension to Divinity?"