66: Chapter 66: Built by Violence! And then... the Tower Cried.

The soul ferry boat passed through the gray mist and docked steadily at the bone pier of the Netherworld Ferry Crossing. That human-skin banner still swayed in the cold underworld wind, and the wailing shadows in the distance continued to linger, but the aura brought by Lin Chen's group seemed to add a touch of difference to this place of deathly silence.

Without delay, after paying the "return trip" fee once more, the soul ferry boat carried everyone and began the spatial transit back to the Fortress in the living world.

When the familiar air, filled with apocalyptic dust and the smell of blood, rushed into their lungs, they had already returned to the open space in the center of the Fortress. The blood moon still hung high, but the Fortress was brightly lit, providing a twisted sense of security.

Lin Chen immediately took out the [ferrymans dragon bone (Essence)] and that standard unit of [styx river water] from the system warehouse and handed them over to the Yin Soldier team responsible for engineering construction. The materials for building the soul ferry boat were now complete; the next step was simply a matter of following the blueprints.

Then, he looked at Su Qingyu, who was still tightly clutching that crystal hairpin, her expression filled with confusion and a hint of unease.

“Follow me,” Lin Chen said, then walked toward his core command room.

Su Qingyu took a deep breath and followed. Zhang Hao sensibly did not join them, going off to arrange rest for the Yin Soldiers and handle other chores.

Inside the command room, Lin Chen signaled Su Qingyu to place the hairpin on the metal analysis table in the center.

As soon as the hairpin left Su Qingyu's hand and touched the cold surface of the analysis table, an anomaly occurred!

The dark red stains on the hairpin actually began to squirm like living creatures, emitting faint but extremely uncomfortable evil fluctuations! Strands of almost invisible red thread, like living tentacles, probed out from the stains, trying to reconnect in Su Qingyu's direction!

Su Qingyu's expression changed, and she subconsciously took half a step back.

Lin Chen's eyes turned cold, and he directly mobilized the system's power, creating an invisible barrier that isolated those red threads.

[Detected high concentration of 'Styx Blood Pact' pollution, possessing strong parasitic and localized erosion characteristics.]

[Analysis: This token has been marked by the 'Faceless Bride' as a medium for long-term erosion and eventual duplicate replacement of the target, Su Qingyu. Even if the Faceless Bride dies, the blood pact residue will instinctively seek out its host.]

[Processing Options:]

[1. Forceful Purification: Consumes 50,000 nether talismans. Can completely clear the blood pact, but the token itself may be destroyed.]

[2. Stripping Transformation: Consumes 100,000 nether talismans. Can strip the blood pact's power and transform it into a one-time protective item 'Substitute Doll (Su Qingyu)', which can block one fatal soul attack.]

[3. Trace to Source: Consumes 200,000 nether talismans. Can attempt to reverse-trace the power source through the blood pact residue, potentially discovering connections with the 'Nether Shadow Council' or other underworld factions.]

The system presented three options.

Lin Chen hardly hesitated. Su Qingyu was a useful subordinate he had acknowledged; since this blood pact had targeted her, it had to be dealt with thoroughly to leave no future troubles. Moreover, he could recycle the waste to enhance her survival capability.

“Choose option two, Stripping Transformation.” Lin Chen directly paid one hundred thousand nether talismans.

A soft white light containing high-level rule power emerged from the analysis table, enveloping the hairpin. The squirming dark red stains on the hairpin seemed to encounter their nemesis, letting out silent shrieks and struggling violently, but it was meaningless before the system's power.

Soon, the stains were forcibly stripped away, condensing into a constantly twisting dark red energy mass. The crystal hairpin returned to its original crystal-clear state, though its luster was slightly dim, as if it had exhausted some form of spirituality.

That mass of dark red energy was continuously compressed and shaped within the white light, finally turning into a palm-sized, blurred doll that shared seventy to eighty percent of its likeness with Su Qingyu, before falling into Lin Chen's hand.

[Obtained: 'Substitute Doll (Su Qingyu)' *1]

Lin Chen tossed the doll to Su Qingyu: “Hold onto this. It can die once in your place at a critical moment.”

Su Qingyu took the still-warm substitute doll, feeling the strange power contained within it. She looked at the hairpin on the table, which had returned to its original form but lost its spirituality, her heart filled with complex emotions. There was lingering fear, gratitude, and even more so, a sense of shock at Lin Chen's ability to resolve such a massive crisis with a flick of his wrist.

“Thank you,” she whispered, carefully putting the doll away.

“Cleaned up a small trouble.” Lin Chen's tone was flat, as if he had only done something insignificant. “Next, it's time to get down to business.”

His gaze fell upon the [soul suppressing pagoda (Incomplete) Blueprint] obtained from the Faceless Wedding Dress Shop.

...

Several days later, in a massive cleared-out open space in the central area of the Fortress.

Lin Chen floated in mid-air, with a giant system interface unfolded before him, displaying that incredibly complex soul suppressing pagoda blueprint. Below, thousands of Yin Soldiers and a large number of mobilized survivor craftsmen stood ready, with mountains of various construction materials shimmering with eerie light.

Su Qingyu stood at the command position, nervously coordinating all parties. Zhang Hao ran back and forth, shouting loudly and supervising the progress.

“Material inspection complete!”

“Energy circuit calibration finished!”

“Foundation rune inscription concluded!”

Various preparations were completed one after another.

Lin Chen took a deep breath and, following the blueprint's requirements, began to frantically inject nether talismans through the system, guiding the massive energy and matter below to combine and construct!

Vast amounts of nether talismans poured out like a floodgate opening, turning into tangible eerie light that enveloped the entire construction site. The ground shook, runes lit up, and a pitch-black pagoda with an ancient design, emitting a heavy aura as if it could suppress the universe, began to slowly "grow" upward from its foundation!

The pagoda's body was covered in profound patterns, as if inscribed with the ultimate principles of heaven and earth. The spire pointed straight at the blood moon, faintly drawing upon the rules of the surrounding space.

However, at the critical moment when the soul suppressing pagoda was about to be capped and completed, a piercing red warning suddenly popped up on the system interface:

[Warning! Detected missing core rule for 'soul suppressing pagoda'!]

[Complete activation requires core rule supplement: Living Sacrifice (Requires *1 soul containing strong obsession and hope)]

[Without this rule, the soul suppressing pagoda's efficiency will drop by 85%, and the 'Soul Suppressing Domain' cannot be opened.]

[Execute 'Living Sacrifice' ritual?]

Living sacrifice?!

Su Qingyu and Zhang Hao below also saw this prompt through the auxiliary interface, and both of their expressions changed instantly!

Especially Su Qingyu; although she had adapted to Lin Chen's coldness and the rules of the apocalypse, an act like "living sacrifice"—which so blatantly trampled on basic humanity—still caused her to feel strong rejection and physical discomfort. She subconsciously looked at Lin Chen, her lips moving as if to say something, but thinking of Lin Chen's style of doing things, she forced herself to hold back.

Zhang Hao's scalp also felt numb as he secretly observed Lin Chen's expression.

Using one of their own people's lives to fill the gap? This... how would the Master choose?

In the air, Lin Chen looked at the warning message and frowned.

It wasn't because of a moral burden, but because he found it... troublesome.

“Living sacrifice?” He let out a sneer, his tone full of disdain. “What era is this, still using such primitive and backward activation methods?”

He directly closed the warning prompt, and then, under the dumbfounded gazes of Su Qingyu and Zhang Hao, he pulled up the system's "Force Complete" option.

[Detected construction conditions not fully met. Pay additional nether talismans to forcibly skip the 'Living Sacrifice' step and directly complete the 'soul suppressing pagoda' construction and activate basic functions?]

[Estimated payment required: 100,000,000 nether talismans.]

One hundred million nether talismans!

A suffocatingly astronomical figure!

Lin Chen looked at that number, his mouth twitching slightly as he inwardly cursed the system for being a profiteer.

But he didn't hesitate at all.

“Confirm payment.”

[Ding! Payment successful! nether talismans -100,000,000!]

It was as if a silent thunderclap had sounded between heaven and earth!

A torrent of nether talismans so majestic it was beyond description, like a golden celestial river pouring downward, was forcibly injected into the nearly completed soul suppressing pagoda! The pagoda body, which had appeared somewhat dim due to the missing core rule, instantly erupted with a dazzlingly brilliant eerie light!

The profound patterns on the pagoda body seemed to come alive, circulating frantically! At the spire, space distorted, and a giant, cold, deep-blue eyeball composed entirely of pure soul power slowly condensed and opened!

The [soul suppressing pagoda] was complete!

No need for living sacrifice; purely at the luxurious cost of one hundred million nether talismans, he had violently broken through the predicament and forcibly completed the construction!

The tall tower stood majestically, emitting powerful fluctuations that suppressed evil and stabilized space. The deep-blue eyeball at the top slowly rotated, indifferently looking down upon the entire Fortress and its surrounding areas.

Su Qingyu, Zhang Hao, and everyone involved in the construction all looked up at this tower that had miraculously formed in an instant, so shocked they were speechless.

Especially Su Qingyu, her heart was a mess of emotions. She once again realized deeply that with Lin Chen, so-called rules and costs could all be measured and broken with nether talismans. An indescribable, complex emotion spread through her heart.

However, at the very moment the soul suppressing pagoda was fully formed and that deep-blue eyeball at the top completely opened—

Another anomaly occurred!

That giant eyeball seemed to capture some extremely distant and terrifying existence in the unseen world, and it suddenly fixed its gaze in a certain direction!

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, that cold, emotionless eyeball...

Actually,

Slowly,

Shed a line of,

Viscous,

Dark red,

Bloody tears!