55: Chapter 55 The Fall of the King of Hell

Blue energy particles were still slowly falling in the night sky, like a poignant rain of light.

But to Ye Yan, this was no different from the embers after a nuclear explosion.

The Red-Robed Ghost King, which he had spent countless efforts on and even spat out essence blood to summon, had vanished without even touching a single strand of Gu Changan's hair.

It was shattered.

The invisible sledgehammer known as "Science" had forcibly smashed its Soul structure apart.

“No... This is impossible...”

Ye Yan slumped onto the rough concrete floor of the bell tower's top floor. The exquisite black dragon robe he wore was now covered in dust and bird droppings, making him look ridiculous.

The Underworld army he took pride in was gone.

The Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost he used to intimidate Mortals was also gone.

The entire world seemed to quiet down in an instant, leaving only the faint hum of high-power searchlights and the shrill echoes of distant police sirens.

A chill rose from the marrow of his bones, making his entire body shake uncontrollably.

“System! System, say something!”

Ye Yan suddenly grabbed at the Void Realm, like a drowning man trying to grasp at the last straw.

“Exchange! Exchange for the Invincible Golden Body! Exchange for the Yama of the Ten Palaces! Exchange for anything! Hurry up and kill all these people! Kill them all!!”

He roared frantically in his mind, trying to wake up the mysterious voice that once made him believe he was the lord of the world.

However, the response was no longer that cold, mechanical, yet powerful electronic voice.

Instead, it was a burst of piercing static noise.

[Zzt... Zzt... Warning... War... ning...]

[Environmental magnetic field... extreme... disturbance... Quantum link... unsta... ble...]

[System... restarting... Re... start failed...]

[Error code 404... Unable to connect to the Netherworld server... Zzt...]

Ye Yan was stunned.

The pale blue System panel that had always been floating on his retina was now like a computer screen infected by a virus, full of garbled code and static. After flickering twice, it went completely black.

“How could this happen... My System... My cheat...”

Ye Yan blankly tapped his head, trying to knock the panel back into existence.

“Don't waste your energy.”

A cold voice, amplified by a megaphone, pierced through the night sky and struck him clearly in the face.

“Your cheat has run out of credit.”

Ye Yan jerked his head up.

He saw several black rappelling ropes already hanging from the edge of the bell tower at some point.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Several crisp sounds of glass shattering followed.

Several Special Police members wearing Exoskeleton Combat Armor burst through the windows, their dark muzzles instantly locking onto his head.

Red laser aiming dots converged into a glaring spot on his forehead.

“Don't move! Hands behind your head and squat down!”

The Special Police's roar was deafening.

Ye Yan subconsciously wanted to retreat, only to find a precipice behind him.

The illusory dignity of being "King Yama" caused a final burst of madness in this desperate situation.

He suddenly stood up straight, straightened his tattered dragon robe, and roared with blustering ferocity:

“Presumptuous! I am King Yama! I am the Lord of the Netherworld!”

“You lowly Mortals! How dare you point guns at a god?! Believe it or not, I will strike your names from the Book of Life and Death! I'll make sure you never find salvation!”

“A god?”

A soft chuckle came through.

Gu Changan stepped over the broken glass and dust, walking out from the shadows step by step.

He wasn't even wearing a helmet, though his black trench coat still carried a faint scent of gunpowder smoke.

He stopped three meters in front of Ye Yan, his eyes devoid of any awe, containing only the playfulness of someone watching a clown.

“Magnetic field interference bombs plus full-band signal jammers, specifically designed for illegal cheats like yours that rely on quantum signal transmission.”

Gu Changan took off his gloves and casually tossed them to Chen Xiaobei nearby.

“Without that so-called System, you're just a breathing carbon-based organism.”

“Nonsense! I am the Mandate of Heaven! I am...”

Before Ye Yan could finish, Gu Changan suddenly raised his foot.

“Bang!”

The polished leather shoe kicked hard against the skull Ye Yan had used as a prop to look cool.

The skull rolled far away, hitting a corner and breaking into two halves.

This kick seemed to shatter Ye Yan's last psychological defense.

He trembled all over, freezing in place.

Gu Changan stepped forward, completely ignoring his so-called "Imperial Pressure," and pulled a pair of specialized handcuffs from his waist.

These handcuffs were covered in dense golden runes, emitting waves that suppressed spiritual power.

“Click.”

The sound of cold metal snapping onto his wrists was crisp and pleasant.

Ye Yan didn't even react to resist before his hands were pinned behind his back.

The intense pain made him let out a scream as Gu Changan pressed his head down, pinning him heavily against the cold concrete railing.

His cheek was scraped by the rough concrete, and blood seeped out, but he could no longer care about the pain.

“A god? You couldn't even get elected as a village chief, yet you want to be King Yama?”

Gu Changan's voice rang in his ear, cold as a blade.

“Chen Xiaobei, read out the suspect's information.”

“Yes!”

Chen Xiaobei walked forward holding a tablet, pushed up his glasses, and read expressionlessly:

“Ye Yan, male, 24 years old, Han ethnicity, junior high school dropout, formerly a temporary worker at a construction site, currently unemployed.”

“It has been established that the suspect is suspected of the following crimes:”

“One: Promoting feudal superstitions, using superstition to cause casualties and property loss.”

“Two: Organizing and planning illegal assemblies, processions, and demonstrations, seriously disrupting social order.”

“Three: Illegal possession and use of prohibited weapons—those three thousand Yin Soldiers and the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost. Although not explicitly defined by law, according to lethality assessment, they are equivalent to large-scale biochemical weapons.”

Ye Yan struggled desperately, shouting indistinctly, “I did it to rebuild order! I did it for...”

“Shut up.”

Gu Changan applied slight pressure with his hand, pressing Ye Yan's face firmly into the concrete ground, even distorting his features.

“And there's the most important one.”

Gu Changan leaned down slightly, his eyes as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice.

“Based on your statements just now, as well as your actions of privately designating a 'Ghost Domain', establishing a 'Netherworld', and self-appointing yourself as 'King Yama' within national territory.”

“You have a program, an organization, armed forces, and even clear territorial claims.”

Gu Changan paused, spitting out the charges that were enough to crush anyone, word by word:

“Ye Yan, you are suspected of violating Articles 103 and 105 of the Criminal Law.”

“The crime of splitting the state, and—the crime of subverting state power.”

As soon as these words came out, Ye Yan was completely dumbfounded.

He just wanted to show off and be a power-fantasy protagonist. How did he... how did he become someone subverting state power?

This was a felony among felonies!

He would rot in prison, or even face a firing squad!

“No... no... Officer... I was just playing around...”

Ye Yan's psychological defense completely collapsed, and that overbearing attitude from before vanished instantly.

Tears and snot gushed out, smearing across his dusty face and mixing with blood, making him look utterly pathetic.

“I just... I just wanted to be cool... I didn't want to rebel...”

“Playing around?”

Gu Changan sneered and lifted him from the ground.

“You built illegal structures on state-owned land and dug through three municipal power cables, causing direct economic losses of over forty million.”

“You staged a 'Hundred Ghosts Night Parade', scaring over a hundred residents in the surrounding neighborhoods into fainting, three of whom are still being rescued after heart attacks.”

“You call this playing around?”

Gu Changan patted Ye Yan's dirty face.

“Your dream of being King Yama is over, Mr. Ye.”

“What awaits you next is not the Book of Life and Death, but an indictment.”

“Take him away!”

Two Special Police officers in exoskeleton armor hauled Ye Yan up like a dead dog.

Ye Yan's legs were weak, and his shoes were dragged off against the ground.

He looked up at the glaring searchlights overhead, at the armed Special Police around him, and at the still brightly lit Yanjing City not far away.

There was no eerie Netherworld here.

Only cold reality and the law.

“Waaah—!!”

This "King Yama," who just minutes ago wanted all living beings to bow down to him, finally began to wail like a child.

His crying was shrill, sounding even worse than the lonely ghosts from before.