109: Chapter 109 As long as your name is still around, I dare to steal it.

As Chen Fan's boot soles crushed the scorched earth, the Broken Brush's data threads were spreading between them like glowing spider silk.

The translucent fingertips suddenly paused, and the flowing blue light condensed into spikes over the words 'Starlight Tower': "This place... is the 'Rusty Iron Factory' ruins."

Chen Fan leaned in close, seeing that within the terrain outlined by the threads, the originally abandoned factory buildings had been transformed into a circular structure, with a pillar covered in metal spikes standing at its center.

A noise of data overload issued from the Broken Brush's throat. He raised a hand and yanked, and the threads suddenly exploded into a cluster of afterimages—

Brother Dao.

Chen Fan's breath instantly froze.

In the afterimage, Brother Dao was nailed upside down to a Thousand-Needle Rack, with serpentine data tubes inserted into his spine. The left half of his body was still the robust form from memory, but the right half had been completely metallized, even his ribs gleaming with a cold light.

Most glaring was the beating blue core in his chest, like a cluster of imprisoned ghost fire.

"They call this place the 'Enforcer Execution Ground'," the Broken Brush's voice sounded strained. "For every enforcer prosthetic they modify, they inject a Edict Worm into the core."

This one... is Unit 0."

Chen Fan's fingers dug deep into his palms.

He remembered three months ago in the Newbie Village, when Brother Dao handed him the last half of a compressed biscuit and said, "Brothers share hardships"; he remembered last month in the Silver Dungeon, when Brother Dao blocked a fatal blow for him, blood spraying onto his face.

At this moment, the mechanical arm in the afterimage was carving words. The word "Obey" had just halfway appeared when it was smashed apart by Chen Fan's fist.

"Su Shuang needs this core to stay alive," he said, his voice hoarse. "Brother Dao... shouldn't have ended up like this either."

Half of the Broken Brush's face suddenly blurred: "The guard shift changes after midnight. The Leyline Secret Path can lead to the outskirts of the execution ground."

Remember, when the Silent Bell tolls for the ninth time, the Edict Worms will enter dormancy—"

"Enough." Chen Fan touched the burning bronze coin in his shirt. The residual warmth of the Tinder stung his chest through the fabric. "I'm going now."

The Leyline Secret Path smelled of mold. Chen Fan pressed against the damp stone wall as he moved forward.

The closer he got to the execution ground, the thicker the smell of metal in the air became.

He heard a faint whimpering. Turning his head, he saw someone curled in the corner, covered in silver needles—a Needle Slave.

Those silver needles rose and fell with their breath. With every tremor, the Needle Slave mechanically repeated: "Obey... obey..."

A dull thud came from the high platform.

Chen Fan looked up and saw a pitch-black Silent Bell standing under the moonlight. The bell-ringer was an Executioner wearing a bronze mask.

With the first toll, a New Player was pressed before the bell, a wriggling worm stuffed into their throat. With the second toll, the player's pupils began to turn blue. With the third toll, he grabbed his companion's knife and stabbed it into the other's chest without hesitation.

Chen Fan's nails nearly pierced his palms.

He lay prone at the vent, dust fluttering down onto his eyelashes.

Below at the core of the execution ground, the one-armed Iron Penance was stroking Brother Dao's mechanical spine. His black iron right arm rubbed against the metal skeleton, creating a piercing screech: "You once fell due to weakness, but I will make you reborn through Iron Law."

He tapped his chest plate, and three clear rings echoed in the night sky: "Decree—Activate."

Brother Dao's left eye suddenly flared with a piercing blue light.

The originally drooping mechanical arm jerked upward, carving the word "Obey" into the ground.

The sound of metal joints turning was like the gears of the Grim Reaper. He slowly stood up, the metal scales on the right side of his body gleaming coldly, while the human eye on the left remained as cloudy as before.

Chen Fan's heart beat so fast it felt like it would burst out of his throat.

He touched the short blade at his waist, suddenly realizing his palms were covered in sweat.

The dust in the vent was swept up by the wind, blurring his vision—when he opened his eyes again, a virtual projection of himself had appeared in front of Brother Dao.

"Purifier simulation test, begin." Iron Penance's voice sounded like a piece of rusted iron.

Brother Dao's mechanical arm moved.

It was the fastest blade Chen Fan had ever seen.

The sound of the wind carried by the metal arm tore through the air. Chen Fan instinctively leaned back, but he was still half a beat too slow.

A sharp sting exploded from his left shoulder. He saw his blood splatter onto the iron mesh of the vent, like a red plum blossom suddenly blooming.

"Warning!

Vital signs below 30%." The critical hit system's prompt carried static for the first time. "Detected anger value exceeding threshold—exchangeable for 3 seconds of invincibility. Cost: Forgetting a memory."

Chen Fan ground his back teeth.

He thought of Su Shuang's drooping fox tail while she brewed tea, of Little Candle's secret giggle when she added osmanthus to his bowl, and of the warmth when Brother Dao patted his shoulder and said, "I've got your back."

These images churned in his mind, finally condensing into that sliver of clarity in Brother Dao's left eye that hadn't been swallowed by metal.

"Exchange." He roared as he crashed through the vent, drawing his short blade mid-fall.

The blue light of the critical hit system instantly enveloped his body.

He could no longer feel the pain in his left shoulder; he could even see every scratch on Brother Dao's mechanical arm.

During the system's "3, 2, 1" countdown, Chen Fan's fist, wrapped in blue flame, smashed toward Brother Dao's chest—

Boom!

The loud crash of metal on metal made the execution ground tremble.

Three cracks split across Brother Dao's chest plate, and the light of the blue core dimmed significantly.

His mechanical arm hung limply, the blue light in his left eye flickering as if a fire was desperately trying to burst out.

"You... shouldn't have come," Brother Dao's voice was raspy, like rusted gears grinding. "The bottom... of the Thousand-Needle Rack."

Chen Fan followed the gaze of his non-metallized right hand.

In the rust at the bottom of the Thousand-Needle Rack, the words "Brother Dao" were crookedly carved, the strokes uneven as if gouged out by fingernails.

"Leave a name... for me."

Before he finished speaking, Brother Dao's left eye suddenly flared bright.

Chen Fan saw a Edict Worm crawl out of his ear canal, glowing with a ghostly blue light, like a snake flicking its tongue.

Brother Dao's mechanical arm rose again. This time, the target wasn't a projection, but him.

"Critical Leap cooldown finished," the system prompt was cold. "Activate again?"

Chen Fan stared at the clarity gradually vanishing from Brother Dao's left eye, his throat feeling as if it were stuffed with a piece of red-hot iron.

He pulled open his collar. The warmth of the bronze coin turned his skin red—it was the Tinder pulsing, the screams of everyone erased by the system.

"Activate."

The second punch broke Brother Dao's mechanical right arm. The third punch struck the blue core directly.

The moment the blue core shattered, the last sliver of light in Brother Dao's left eye went out.

His human eye slowly closed, and a faint smile actually appeared on his lips, as if he had finally laid down some heavy burden.

"System Announcement: Player [Brother Dao] has been deleted."

Chen Fan knelt amidst the metal wreckage, his palm clutching the still-warm Edict Worm core.

The blue light shone on his face, revealing a face covered in tears.

He reached out to touch Brother Dao's non-metallized left hand, but recoiled the moment he touched it—the hand was already as cold as ice.

"Time to go," he said to the air, his voice terribly hoarse.

But as he went to stand up, he suddenly froze.

He remembered the execution ground, the battle, and Brother Dao's final words, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember what Su Shuang looked like.

The name of the Teahouse, her movements while brewing tea, the warmth of her fox tail brushing against the back of his hand... it was all like paper wiped by an eraser, leaving only a blank space.

"Memory exchange complete... You have forgotten the most important person." There was actually a hint of a sigh in the critical hit system's prompt.

Chen Fan's hands trembled violently.

He unconsciously reached into his shirt. The bronze coin was still there, but the originally clear words "rejector" had now become blurred.

The ninth toll of the Silent Bell suddenly boomed.

Chen Fan looked up and saw the Gray-Faced Judge standing at the entrance of the execution ground, dark red liquid seeping from the cracks in his bronze mask.

Iron Penance's voice came from beneath the mask, mixed with electronic static: "Next, it's you."

Chen Fan stood up abruptly, his hand clutching the core until it bled.

He turned and dashed toward the secret path. The sound of metal grinding came from behind—it was Iron Penance's black iron right arm, more activated enforcer prosthetics, and the roar of the system refusing to let any "rejector" go.

As he ran, he heard a familiar voice.

"Brother!"

That voice carried a sob, mixed with the sweet scent of osmanthus, drifting from deep within the secret path.

Chen Fan's footsteps paused. The core in his shirt suddenly burned, as if reminding him of something.

He didn't look back; he only quickened his pace.

Moonlight leaked in from the exit of the secret path, illuminating a small figure ahead holding a lantern.

The words "frost moon" on the lantern swayed in the wind, but they never went out.