183: Chapter 183 An Imprint Engraved Deep in the Soul

Drip.

That crystal-clear drop of [Mother Nest's Tear], radiating a seven-colored glow, crashed heavily onto the blood-stained metal floor, splashing into a poignant little spray.

In this underground flesh factory filled with stench, rot, and despair, this teardrop seemed so out of place, yet it was like a morning bell or an evening drum, striking hard against the hearts of everyone present.

"Shen... Ye..."

"Don't... want..."

On the surface of that massive, writhing mass of flesh, that face so similar to Ye Fei's was twitching in pain. What flowed from her pupil-less eye sockets wasn't tears, but the final trace of attachment and resolve for this world.

Even after becoming this half-human, half-ghost monstrosity, even though 99% of her sanity had been swallowed by bestiality, the moment she saw her lover, she still relied on instinct to call out that name.

It was a brand engraved deep within the soul.

"Fei'er..."

Floating in mid-air, Black-Robed Shen Ye's originally frenzied, cold, god-like posture of looking down upon all living things instantly collapsed the moment he heard that call.

He plummeted from the air, kneeling before the massive flesh mass with a heavy thud.

This man, who had orchestrated the space-time rift, slaughtered countless fierce beasts, and didn't even hesitate to destroy the world, now looked like a helpless child. He reached out his withered hands, trembling, wanting to touch that face, but stopped a few centimeters away, as if terrified he might hurt her.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

Black-Robed Shen Ye's voice choked, his shoulders shaking violently.

"I came too late... I'm useless..."

"Thirty years... it's been thirty whole years!"

He suddenly raised his head, his deep eyes bloodshot as he looked at the young Shen Ye, Chen Xi, and the others standing not far away. His voice was hoarse and shrill:

"Do you know how I've lived these thirty years?"

"Do you think the shackles on her feet were forged by humans to imprison this world-destroying beast?"

Black-Robed Shen Ye pointed beneath the mass of flesh, where thick chains covered in runes were still faintly visible despite being blanketed by countless tentacles.

"No! You're wrong! Dead wrong!"

He let out a tragic laugh, one filled with despair:

"Those shackles... she begged me to put them on her!"

"What?!"

Hearing these words, everyone present felt their scalps tingle with numbness.

Su Xiaoxiao covered her mouth, while Li Murou was so frightened she grabbed the hem of Chen Xi's clothes.

Black-Robed Shen Ye sank into his most painful memory, his eyes hollow:

"In that year of the future, the beast tide went out of control, and the human defense lines completely collapsed. To protect the last survivors, Ye Fei forcibly overextended the creation abilities of the Lord of Myriad Spirits, attempting to control all the fierce beasts."

"As a result, she suffered a backlash. The divinity within her collapsed, her bestiality erupted, and her body began an irreversible transformation into the Mother Nest."

"In the final moment while her sanity still remained... she didn't choose to run away, nor did she choose to call for help."

"She refined all her best equipment and most precious materials into a single chain—the Soul-Suppressing Lock."

"Then... she knelt on the ground and begged me."

Black-Robed Shen Ye's tears slid down the edge of his mask:

"She begged me... to personally lock those shackles onto her feet! To nail her forever to that altar in the No-Man's Zone!"

"She said, 'Shen Ye, kill me, or lock me up. You must never let me out to hurt anyone... especially you.'"

"I... I couldn't bring myself to kill her!!"

Black-Robed Shen Ye let out a heart-wrenching roar:

"So I could only... personally lock away the person I love most! Leaving her in that endless darkness, suffering the pain of ten thousand beasts devouring her heart day and night!"

"Do you know that feeling?!"

"Watching the person you love turn into a monster, while the jailer guarding that monster... is actually yourself!"

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Even the usually calm Chen Xi felt somewhat suffocated by this heavy truth.

What kind of despair was this?

Sacrificing oneself for the greater good, and creating a self-imposed prison for the sake of a lover.

The future Ye Fei was so great it made one's heart ache.

And the future Shen Ye was in such pain it was stifling.

"So..."

The current Shen Ye, the one-eyed youth, took a step forward.

His voice was trembling, but his gaze was exceptionally firm:

"So you went mad?"

"Because you couldn't accept this ending, you traveled back in time, wanting to rewrite it all?"

"But look at what you're doing now?!"

Shen Ye pointed at the experimental beast subjects around them that were still screaming in agony, and at the pipes flowing with green liquid:

"To save her, you've turned yourself into a demon more terrifying than the fierce beasts!"

"Do you think if Ye Fei still had consciousness, she would want to see you using such filthy methods to resurrect her?!"

"She sacrificed herself back then to protect humanity, but you now... are destroying everything she guarded!"

"Shut up!!"

Black-Robed Shen Ye stood up abruptly as if his tail had been stepped on, a terrifying spatial fluctuation erupting around him.

"What do you know! You're just a green boy who hasn't experienced anything!"

"Justice? The greater good? That's all bullshit!"

"In this world, nothing is more important than her! If saving her requires destroying the world, then what does it matter if I destroy it?!"

Black-Robed Shen Ye's gaze turned cold and crazed once more.

He wasted no more words and violently waved his hand.

"Since you refuse to cooperate, don't blame me for being heartless."

"Here, in this domain filled with life essence... I am the ruler!"

"Come forth! My children!"

Rumble—!!!

Following his summons, the ground of the entire underground factory began to shake violently.

Those modified fierce beasts, which had been imprisoned nearby and had temporarily quieted down due to Ye Fei's pressure, suddenly let out painful roars.

Zzzzt—

The pipes connected to them suddenly reversed their flow!

From that massive Mother Nest flesh mass, surges of eerie black-red energy gushed out, injecting back into the bodies of those fierce beasts through the pipes!

[Warning! High energy reaction detected!]

[Target organisms are undergoing secondary mutation!]

[Energy Level Reaction: Lv.65... Lv.70... Lv.75!]

Chen Xi's system panel sounded alarms frantically.

Those beasts, which were originally only Tier 3 or Tier 4, swelled up like balloons after absorbing this black-red energy.

Their skin split apart, revealing muscles beneath that flowed with lava-like liquid.

Their eyes turned pure black, losing all reason, leaving only the most primitive desire to slaughter.

"Roar—!!"

Hundreds of modified and enhanced [Corpse Puppet Fierce Beasts] broke free from their restraints and surged toward Chen Xi and the others like a tide!

"Not good! It's the Corpse Puppet Technique!"