93: Chapter 93 The Iceberg Collapses!

500,000.

This ridiculously high number of hunting points was hanging clearly on Xia Li's system panel.

The entire dimensional bedroom was deathly silent.

Lu Yuan swallowed hard, his voice sounding a bit dry.

"Big sister, just how many people did you kill..."

These words were like a heavy hammer, slamming hard against Xia Li's heart.

Xia Li didn't speak.

She only stared at that string of numbers. Her face, which had originally carried a hint of embarrassment and anger, instantly drained of all color, becoming as pale as paper.

On the system panel, that might just be a cold, unfeeling number.

But Xia Li knew better than anyone that under the current system rules, only killing players would cause hunting points to drop.

500,000 points.

This meant that in the past day and night, 500,000 living people had died at her hands.

Xia Li and Lu Yuan were actually quite similar in one respect.

They both had a bottom line.

When it came to killing those predatory, heinous Red Name thugs, Xia Li could do it without blinking, striking them down in one swift motion.

But... out of these 500,000 people, how many were innocent, ordinary players?

How many were unarmed civilians with white names who just wanted to survive in this apocalypse?

She didn't dare to think.

Some blurred, fragmented memories began to surge madly in her mind like a tide.

She saw herself transformed into a mindless monster, tearing apart one fleeing car after another.

She saw the despair and fear in those people's eyes, and heard those heart-wrenching cries for help and screams.

And she, like an emotionless meat grinder, ground every living thing within her field of vision into minced meat.

"I..."

Xia Li's voice trembled violently.

She clutched her shoulders tightly, curling herself into a small ball.

Those slender hands that usually gripped chain blades to slay countless monsters were currently trembling uncontrollably.

"I don't know... I really don't know..."

"The allied forces from nineteen districts... 300,000 people blocked us in the ruins and surrounded us..."

"I watched helplessly as the sisters from my guild fell into pools of blood one after another..."

"And Chen Li... my most trusted confidante, betrayed me..."

Xia Li choked, her voice filled with heartbreaking despair and helplessness.

"I... forcefully activated Beastification... but after that, I don't remember anything..."

"I couldn't control myself, I lost all my sanity... My mind was filled with nothing but slaughter..."

Large tears welled up and spilled from her eyes, instantly soaking the bandages on her face.

This icy female war god, who held sway over the Super C1 District and was feared by countless people, saw her inner defenses collapse completely at this moment.

The weight of 500,000 lives was enough to crush anyone with normal human emotions into madness.

"I'm a monster..."

"I killed them all... I didn't even spare those ordinary people..."

Xia Li pulled at her hair in agony, sobbing in despair, the entire person falling to the edge of self-blame and collapse.

Watching the person before him, who had fallen into painful self-reproach for killing too many innocent players, Lu Yuan set aside all the playful, money-grubbing expressions on his face.

He did not hesitate.

He stepped forward, extended his strong arms, and pulled the woman, who was shivering in the corner, tightly into his embrace.

This was an embrace devoid of any lust, but filled with a sense of absolute strength and security.

Xia Li stiffened.

Lu Yuan's large hand pressed against the back of her head, forcefully pushing her tear-stained face against his broad, warm chest.

The movement was overbearing, yet carried an unquestionable tenderness.

"Don't think about it anymore."

Lu Yuan's low voice rang out above Xia Li's head, clearly entering her ears.

"Let me go... I'm a murderer..."

Xia Li struggled desperately in his arms, crying shrilly.

"I told you to stop thinking about it!"

Lu Yuan's arms tightened suddenly, locking her in a death grip, letting her struggle in his arms.

In the face of 500,000 lives, any long-winded reasoning seemed pale and powerless.

Lu Yuan just took a deep breath and silently tightened his arms.

He hugged the broken woman in his arms even tighter.

Feeling this silent yet firm support, Xia Li's struggle gradually weakened.

She buried her face deep in Lu Yuan's chest, leaving only irrepressible sobs.

Lu Yuan patted her back gently, like soothing a wounded small beast, allowing her tears to soak his shirt.

"But... but those with white names..."

Xia Li tugged at Lu Yuan's shirt corner, her voice filled with an extreme sense of brokenness.

"I killed so many innocent people..."

Lu Yuan lowered his head, his eyes becoming deep and cold.

"In the face of an avalanche, no snowflake is innocent."

"The system's forced merging of districts was meant to force everyone to kill each other."

"Do you know? The number of surviving players in your District 1 is only 100,000!"

"What does this mean?"

"It means that at least one million players were killed by the Red Name thugs in your district!"

Lu Yuan rested his chin gently on the top of Xia Li's head.

"Perhaps the 500,000 players you killed were all Red Name thugs!"

"You just wanted to survive, you just wanted to protect the sisters under your command."

"Struggling to stay alive in this man-eating apocalypse is never a sin."

"Don't use the twisted rules of this cruel world to punish yourself."

Lu Yuan's words were like bolts of lightning splitting the darkness, shattering the shackles of Xia Li's heart, where she had been obsessing over the same point.

That's right.

If she hadn't activated her berserk state, if she hadn't abandoned her sanity, she would have long since become a plaything for those thugs to vent their desires!

She bore the sin of slaughter, but she had survived.

In this hellish game, being able to survive was the greatest justice in itself.

Feeling the steady heartbeat and the reassuring warmth from the man in her arms, Xia Li finally couldn't hold it back anymore.

She hugged Lu Yuan's waist tightly in return, burying her face in his chest, and cried out loud like a lost child who had finally found home.

She cried out all the grievances, all the fear, and all the exhaustion she had been carrying for this period.

Lu Yuan didn't speak again.

He stood there quietly, letting the strongest female war god of District 1 shed all her defenses and pretenses in his arms.

Using his body heat to melt away the last bit of ice in her heart, little by little.

For a long, long time.

Until Xia Li's crying gradually subsided.

Xia Li slightly raised her head from Lu Yuan's embrace.

Those eyes, originally cold and sharp, were now slightly red and swollen from crying, like a wronged little kitten that had finally found a safe haven.

She looked at Lu Yuan expectantly.

She tugged gently at the corner of Lu Yuan's shirt, her voice sounding exceptionally weak, yet carrying a hint of rare, unconscious coquetry.

"Lu Yuan... I'm hungry..."

Hearing this soft, sweet voice, Lu Yuan's heart couldn't help but soften, and a doting smile curled at the corners of his mouth.

He patted Xia Li's back gently, helping her lean against the soft headboard, while he stood up himself.

"Then you've come at just the right time, consider yourself lucky today!"

Lu Yuan turned and walked toward the portable kitchen in the corner of the bedroom, rolling up his sleeves in a dashing manner.

"Just lie there honestly and don't move."

"Today, I'll let you enjoy a top-tier delicacy in this wasteland!"