Him and their stars.

Chapter 2041 You Killed Yourself
"Perhaps I'm the one who's going to kill myself?" Yu Lian said to "himself."

After all, the atmosphere has been built up to this point, wouldn't it be too impolite not to say something like this?
So this is what it's like to use my face to make silly faces and act like a riddle solver!
Looking at "himself" in the camera lens, Yu Lian still felt that his handsome face and proud, upright figure still made him look so elegant and outstanding. But he had to admit that even the most handsome face can be quite annoying when it comes to riddles.

"So, this is the true purpose of the illusion, isn't it? Feifei, to kill the other me?" He already knew he was in an illusion instance the moment he boarded the train.

Of course, he didn't believe that his question would bring about any irreversible and huge changes to the formation of the illusion.

Or rather, even if he did, he was already mentally prepared.

“No need to rush, there’s absolutely no need to rush,” Fei Fei told him. “The purpose of the world and the goals of life are the same; you can’t make decisions too early. You should choose the outcome little by little; we have our own principles.”

Yu Lian responded with a laugh. Besides smiling, he didn't know how else to react.

He watched as the red beam slid out of the gun barrel, like a constantly evolving divine weapon, hurtling towards the person on the balcony 2000 meters away.

Logically speaking, such a distance should be covered in an instant by a light spear cannon.

In Yu Lian's perception, time seemed to stretch out infinitely, slow down, and even gradually freeze at this moment. The surrounding clamor of voices turned into blurred and meaningless background noise; the frenzied crowd, the waving battle flags, the city lights, and even the fireworks blooming in the sky all became shimmering patches of color, leaving the whole world with mottled and chaotic ugly patterns.

Thus, within Yu Lian's perception range, only the figure on the balcony remained. That figure, identical to him, with a majestic and imposing presence, exuding the aura of a conqueror.

And of course, there's that enigmatic smile.

That's how a ruler should be. Even when he smiles, he must make his subordinates suspicious, otherwise he's definitely unqualified.

Yu Lian still didn't find anything strange about it. He just felt a surge of fighting spirit instantly rise from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and his blood seemed to boil.

He felt a momentary dizziness, but then his body tensed up instinctively.

He almost couldn't resist rushing up and fighting the other side.

Yes, the other self 2000 meters away was practically my mortal enemy. It was as if only by defeating, killing, or even devouring the other could I complete myself.

It was an absurd yet incredibly strange experience.

Of course, there's also complete horror.

But should it really be scary?

Yu Lian felt that although he was very excited, his mind was unusually calm, so calm that he even expanded his senses to the maximum to capture all the information around him.

He witnessed firsthand that before his red light struck the figure on the balcony, the surrounding time and space finally solidified completely.

The "self" that revealed a strange smile had already swaggered away from the balcony with an air of indifference, stepping through the misty void and charging towards itself.

However, even though he made such a move, it did not affect the entire space.

Everything and everyone that has frozen in time—everyone and everything in this city, this space, this universe—has been transformed into a rigid and stereotypical backdrop.

And so, only he and I remained.

No, there's also Feifei.

Yu Lian also sensed Fei Fei behind her. She finally moved.

Although his naked eyes were constantly focused on his target, the vision attached to his telekinetic eyes could capture all of her movements, even changes in her expression.

She moved a few steps away, creating a slight distance between herself and him, and reached into the inner pocket of her loose coat, pulling out a capsule about the size of her little finger, complete with a button.

If their energies hadn't been locked together, Yu Lian would have definitely turned around to get a clear look.

She pressed the button on Feifei's hand and tossed the capsule to the ground. A sleek electromagnetic rifle, shimmering with a ghostly blue energy, appeared steadily in her hand. Or rather, a device that looked very much like an electromagnetic rifle.

The streamlined gun body and its just-right length make it very comfortable to hold. However, the muzzle is not a barrel smaller than 9mm, but a notch that pulses with explosive energy.

Needless to say, it is a phase-wave cannon for individual soldiers.

...Speaking of which, Feifei seems to have always liked using this kind of weapon. She always carries a cannon that she took from some siege engine, and after some alchemical modifications, she can power the weapon with her own psionic energy.

However, the one she took out now looked much lighter, more agile, and more individual than the one she used before, and it immediately exuded a high-tech feel.

"I will definitely protect your back," she said.

It was certainly very touching.

However, what Yu Lian was more bothered by was the way this thing was presented!

"Oh, this was developed by Liu Xiaoqiang, who is from the same year as us, and Zejuan, who graduated last year. Just like the light spear cannon that Bulma developed in your hand, it's standard student equipment provided by the academy's technical department!"

You've got it backwards again, haven't you? You must have mistaken the person for someone else!

Yu Lian wanted to drop the light spear cannon in his hand and argue with the other party, but at this moment Fei Fei had already raised the wave cannon and pulled the trigger at the "Yu Lian" who was rushing towards her.

boom!
Actually, no sound was made, but since it is a high-powered, high-tech weapon, it still needs sound effects to create a sense of ceremony.

The phase cannon's notch emitted any sparks; only a thin, almost invisible, pale blue beam of light flickered out before shooting out at a speed beyond comprehension!

Then, the needle-like beam of light, as it tumbled through the clouds, suddenly opened up and transformed into a fan-shaped surface rippling across the void.

puff!

A muffled sound reached Yu Lian's ears; it was the sound of flesh being torn apart by high-speed energy.

The figure of that arrogant ruler of the universe experienced a noticeable tremor and shaking in the air.

His body exploded amidst the ripples in the void, transforming into a blinding cloud of blood mist and shattered metal and fibers! Fragments of his magnificent military uniform, mixed with flesh and blood, splattered into the air.

Only the head remained.

Yu Lian's head, like a large, still-burning golf ball, traced a perfect parabola in the air, its face directly facing himself on the balcony, frozen and suppressing extreme pain.

Even at this point, time in the entire space remained frozen.

The crowds in the square and streets continued their frenzied screams and shouts, gazing longingly at the heads that floated through the air.

The head of their overlord, their leader, their ruler.

Why do I keep seeing heads flying around lately? First it was girls' heads, then mine, and now it's mine again. But to be fair, having one head struggling is one experience, but watching another head of yourself flying around perfectly intact is quite another.

Purely from his current senses, Yu Lian felt that he had indeed been mentally polluted.

But at that moment, fleshy buds suddenly sprouted from beneath the cut surface of the head's neck, began to swell, and then solidified into a complete limb. The contamination became even more severe.

Fortunately, the newly grown body was wearing clothes, otherwise Yu Lian would have felt even more sanity-depleted.

But wouldn't that seem even more unscientific?
On another note, it turns out that the body growing out of the neck creates such a striking visual effect! No wonder Fei Fei had such a hesitant expression earlier.

Yu Lian couldn't help but sigh.

He heard the other person shout: "Don't you understand? I can't kill you, and you can't kill me. In this universe, we are immortal."

He sensed the golden light of dawn unfolding behind his head.

Sure enough, it was an alternate body! But why would an alternate body simulate so many pieces of flesh and blood? This shameless and perverse sense of humor, isn't it a bit like my own style?

He threw down the light spear cannon, flashed his sword, and unleashed the same energy light blade.

Identical energy blades collided, and the jumping force fields of atomic collapse intertwined to form an energy field that resembled a black hole, suppressing a buzzing sound in the air, like the clamor of millions of soldier bees exhaling at the same moment.

At this moment, his senses had lost their ability to perceive his surroundings, leaving only his perception of himself in front of him.

Whether from a philosophical or practical perspective, humanity's most formidable enemy is undoubtedly itself. Therefore, it's impossible to be complacent.

As for Feifei, he no longer cared about her.

Her intuition told her that she could only fight this battle by herself. She couldn't help, and even if she wanted to, she had absolutely no idea where to begin.

The psychic surge surged wildly in the frozen spacetime, tearing apart the stable foundations that constitute reality.

The distorted energy field twisted and collapsed around them, forming miniature black holes that were visible to the naked eye and constantly devoured light. The gravitationally pulled airflow spread in all directions, as if it had transformed into a miniature supernova explosion.

But the next second, all the boiling energy was re-condensed under the call of the spreading psionic energy.

The cyclical spirituality is constantly evolving, much like the continuous evolution of a star from its peak to its demise.

In fact, in every offensive and defensive maneuver, they were searching for each other's weaknesses.

If successful, both a black hole and a supernova would have been a fatal blow. But the fact is, neither of them managed to do it.

Yu Lian felt as if he were fighting against his own shadow.

It's a cliché, but it's true. Every attack he makes lands precisely within the opponent's defense, but the opponent's counterattack is always within his expectations.

This is no longer an interplay of prediction and being predicted driven by intuition; it is simply pure intuition.

Do you intuitively sense the evolution of micro black holes and supernovae, as well as the reassembly of stars?

Yu Lian could sense that deep within his consciousness, a certain star was twinkling, gathering, and gradually becoming brighter.

Once it fully unfolds, it might be brighter than all the stars that twinkle in the sea of ​​consciousness.
The enlightenment and growth that come in the life-or-death battle—this is the basic unfolding of the story. Indeed, one's greatest enemy is always oneself, but isn't one's greatest teacher also oneself?
"Can you feel it? This is the power of the universe."

This universe belongs to us!

"Regardless of who wins, we will all become eternal rulers!"

Yu Lian stared at his own calm yet incessantly chattering self. He could clearly "see" the flame in the other's eyes, a flame identical to his own.

Madness, distortion, reminiscence, and all the choices.

He was shocked to discover that as he grew to this point, as he was about to become a demigod and embark on a great undertaking that would ignite the capital, he had more and more options at his disposal.

Too many possibilities can lead to confusion, but here they become the embodiment of power.

They both drew strength from this paradox.

“We are like two sides of a mirror, and we are the broken sides of the mirror. As long as we devour each other, we can fill in the missing piece of ourselves.” He continued to chatter on to Yu Lian.

"Don't try to glorify yourself. You're just a twisted remnant of mine."

"Oh, really?" He laughed, a twisted and maniacal laugh.

Yu Lian stared directly into the other man's eyes, which burned with a mad flame, yet he clearly saw his own numb expression reflected in them: "Look! Young man, do you see? You really aren't me. If you were, wouldn't you be refuting me now?"

He was so calm that even he was afraid of himself.

In contrast, the other party was ablaze with passion, seemingly radiating boundless energy and killing intent from every pore.

As expected of a conqueror of the universe, he should be someone who can ignite passion at any moment.

“We can’t possibly be the same person. No matter who you are, once you’ve experienced and seen things I haven’t, you’re definitely not the same person anymore.” Yu Lian burst into laughter.

“That’s absolutely right!” The other person also burst into hearty laughter: “Exactly! We’re clearly envious of each other’s selves, which is why we want to devour each other!”

The same golden light blades collided again, and the energy storms intertwined and merged into a black hole.

The violent gravitational pull entangled and tore at their bodies, yet the clash continued. The battle of minds showed no sign of abating.

At that moment, Yu Lian, who had been fighting against his own shadow, finally noticed a slight incongruity.

That was the sluggishness of will during a mental shock; a sudden change was like the twinkling of stars.

Is this a trap? Yu Lian's intuition told him that there was a 50% chance.

However, he no longer hesitated.

For the first time, the Dawn Blade in his hand finally broke through the opponent's defense.

The anticipated scene of the spirit core shattering, energy dissipating, and the body perishing did not occur.

At the moment of the stab, Yu Lian did not feel any real impact, as if what was pierced was not flesh and blood or spiritual energy, but a clear lake containing tranquility and lurking water.

He watched as ripples spread outwards, rapidly engulfing the other person's entire body. The ferocity and fanaticism on "his" face faded and peeled away quickly, like paint being washed away by rain.

That's Fei Fei.

Yes, it's the girl I love most.

"Who are you?" Yu Lian asked in a deep voice. He felt it would be foolish of him to ask, but he had no choice but to.

"I am you! You are still killing yourself." She wore her usual bright smile, but the golden blade of light scattered again, like a supernova explosion, once again engulfing them both in boundless destructive power.