People in Yu-Gi-Oh! The hyper-converged audience is also integrated

Chapter 336 Daydreaming (The End)

Xia Longguo, Intelligence Division of the Ninth Security Bureau.

Inside the huge circular office, dozens of intelligence officers in black uniforms were busy at their respective workstations, the sound of keyboards clicking incessantly, the atmosphere solemn as if they were mourning some important figure.

On the giant holographic screen directly in front of you, a magnified screenshot is frozen in time.

Under the blood moon, a gothic girl with silver hair and red eyes tore through the void and emerged, surrounded by bats. Her expression was indifferent, her posture elegant, yet she exuded a chillingly sinister aura.

This is footage just sent back from the Xunyang City branch.

"Target's real name is Li Guanqi, age 20, a sophomore at Xunyang University."

A young woman wearing gold-rimmed glasses stood in front of the screen, holding a thin file in her hand, her voice crisp and capable.

"According to the school's investigation into social relations, the student is excellent in both character and academics, has a gentle personality, good interpersonal relationships, scored 668 in the college entrance examination, and has received scholarships multiple times. He is a model student in the eyes of teachers and classmates."

She paused, then turned the page.

The strange thing is—

Inside the office, everyone slowed down and listened intently.

"In the family information he filled out, his parents are alive, but his junior and senior high school classmates, college roommates, teachers from both schools, and even neighbors all said the same thing - they had never met his parents."

His response was, "They don't like going out."

Sitting in the main seat, a man with eyes as sharp as an eagle listened to the report without saying a word.

The woman continued her report: "Through in-depth investigations using the household registration system, we discovered that his father, Li Weiguo, died of liver cancer five years ago, and his mother, Su Wan, committed suicide two years ago due to severe depression."

"All the documents are complete, including a death certificate issued by a top-tier hospital, a crematorium certificate, a cemetery purchase contract, and even photos of the funeral."

"His high school at the time therefore granted him a special scholarship of 100,000 yuan."

The man finally spoke, his voice hoarse: "Since the documents are complete, what's the problem?"

“The problem is that these documents are too complete, like… a standard template.” The woman tapped the file with her fingers. “All the evidence points to the death of his parents, but there is no corroborating evidence to prove that they ‘lived’.”

"The neighbors have never seen him, his workplace doesn't exist, his social circle is zero, and those funeral photos only show Li Guanqi alone, along with two sealed coffins."

An agent in a corner couldn't help but speak up: "He fabricated two parents for himself, held a funeral, all to swindle 100,000 yuan in student aid? And he fooled everyone?"

"Perhaps he's even fooled himself," the woman whispered. "His teachers and friends all speak highly of him, saying he—"

"He's a nice person, not like someone who would lie."

"That's not the key point." The man in the main seat glanced coldly at the two of them, then looked back at the screen. "The energy fluctuations of that barrier have reached the highest level of alert. We're not investigating a fraudster; we're assessing a potential humanoid catastrophe that could threaten the city's safety."

The atmosphere in the entire intelligence department plummeted to freezing point.

“According to our investigation,” the woman continued, “the duel in the square is related to a card game called Yu-Gi-Oh!, but the cards in this game are playing cards, unlike the crystal cards in the target’s hand, and cannot summon monsters.”

"The origin of those crystal cards may be related to his parents, who have never appeared in public."

The man in the main seat shifted his gaze from Li Guanqi on the screen back to the file, and the last trace of emotion in his expression vanished, leaving only an iron-like resolve.

"Seize and control."

The woman wearing gold-rimmed glasses stiffened slightly, then turned around and gestured towards the communications station.

Commands are transmitted through an invisible network, spanning hundreds of kilometers.

Xunyang City, the old southern district.

In front of an ordinary two-story building, a dozen fully armed special police officers huddled like ghosts in the shadows of the corner, the muzzles of their weapons gleaming coldly.

"Command center reports: Target's danger level is extremely high; maintain a maximum alert level."

The captain gave a tactical signal, and a team member silently slid to the door, took out a piece of putty-like substance from his tactical bag, and precisely stuck it on the door lock.

"Three, two, one."

"Oh!"

With a dull thud, the thick security door sprang open, and the SWAT team surged in like a black river.

The living room was empty, the game console next to the TV still had its standby light on, and a glass of water sat on the coffee table. Everything was full of life, so normal it was almost eerily normal.

"The first floor is safe!"

"Go up to the second floor!"

The stairs were an old wooden structure, and the team members deliberately slowed their pace, their tactical boots making no sound as they stepped on them.

"Command alerts that the target may possess weapons of mass destruction. Repeat, weapons of mass destruction. Remain on high alert."

"Snipers, get ready."

The sound from the headphones made everyone's muscles tense up a little.

At the end of the second-floor corridor, a door was tightly closed, with an old wooden sign hanging on it that read in childish handwriting: "Mom and Dad's Room".

The captain's eyes sharpened, and he waved his hand.

This time, the demolition expert simply attached a complete ring of breaching explosives to the door frame.

He stepped back two steps, and together with his teammates, raised their guns, aimed them at the door, and pressed the detonator.

"boom--!"

Amidst the violent explosion, the entire wooden door, along with its frame, was shattered into pieces, and wood chips and dust instantly filled the entire corridor.

"Break in!"

Without further ado, the two scouts rushed in from the left and right before the smoke had even cleared, their tactical flashlights tearing through the dim light and illuminating the scene inside the room.

"This is..." Several team members looked around with guns in hand, their voices filled with doubt.

The captain behind him sensed something was wrong and rushed in, his gun scanning the entire room warily.

Then, he couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.

The room was empty, with no bed, no wardrobe, and no furniture. In the center was a huge iron cage with a small cement trough inside, half full of murky liquid.

In the southwest corner of the room, the wooden floorboards had been pried open, revealing black soil underneath. Weeds grew rampant on the soil, and a withered sapling stood alone in the middle, its roots showing signs of being gnawed.

In the air, besides the smell of gunpowder from the explosion, there was also a faint earthy smell and the odor of livestock pens.

"An indoor ecosystem? Mass destruction agricultural tools?" one team member joked.

No one could laugh; everyone felt like a fool who had intruded into the dream of a mental patient.

The room itself doesn't seem like much, but when you look at the words "Mom and Dad's Room" on the doorplate, it sends chills down your spine.

The captain silently scanned the area and found a few shriveled black particles in a corner of the soil. He squatted down, poked them with the muzzle of his gun, and frowned deeply.

It is animal feces.

He stood up, pressed his earpiece, and his voice carried a hint of confusion.

"Command center, the target room on the second floor has been cleared."

A crisp command came from the other end of the headset: "Report the situation on site."

The captain looked at the indoor ranch in front of him and remained silent for two seconds.

"No weapons of mass destruction were found at the scene." He paused, then added.

"The target's parents are suspected to be not human."

Xunyang City, South Suburb Cemetery.

The morning breeze carried the damp chill unique to the cemetery, blowing past rows of cold tombstones. A dozen figures stood silently before two adjacent graves, the names engraved on the tombstones clearly visible—Li Weiguo and Su Wan.

The captain turned off his communicator and took off his headset. He turned around and looked at the group of well-equipped team members behind him, who were holding entrenching tools and had strange expressions.

"Order from headquarters: Dig."

Several young team members stood frozen in place, their grip on their shovels tightening, but they didn't move. One of them couldn't help but lower his voice and say, "Captain, isn't this... digging up someone's parents' graves a bit too much?"

"This is an order!" the captain snapped. "The target is a con man who is in possession of weapons of mass destruction."

He stepped forward, his words striking a chord in everyone's hearts.

"Don't risk the safety of millions of people in Xunyang City with your personal morality."

The first team member to speak looked at the tombstone, took a deep breath, suppressed all his discomfort, and walked to the grave without saying a word. He then swung his entrenching tool and plunged it into the soil in front of the grave.

"Pfft." The first shovelful of soil was turned up.

Seeing this, the others no longer hesitated and scattered to join the digging.

Meanwhile, in various live streaming rooms, those who didn't know the stuff were being led astray by those who did, shouting incoherently.

"Moved!"

"The twin shafts are moving!"

"Secretly burying a hand in the cemetery, is that even acceptable?"

"【Beast King】's claw attack was a great help."

"With a dynamic twin-axis design, both battery life and end-game intensity can keep up."

At Xunyang Square, Bai Zhi's gaze was fixed on Li Guanqi, his voice low and menacing: "Who exactly are you?"

This was not an illusion; this was the second time she had sensed Tiera's presence on him.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Li Guanqi said with a meaningful smile. “My name is Li Guanqi, an ordinary person who aspires to be a doctor.”

Before he finished speaking, his expression suddenly turned serious, and he abruptly raised his hand and pointed to the center of the field.

"The effect of [Live Stream ☆ Twin Rila] is activated!"

Special Summon from Deck: 【Live☆Twin Kissgyl Frost Spirit】!

[Lila] snapped her fingers, and a data stream appeared out of thin air, from which a red-haired virtual idol popped out.

"I've set connection markers for [Lira] and [Kissgeller Frost Spirit]!"

The two girls, one with pink hair and the other with blue hair, exchanged a glance and, understanding each other perfectly, transformed into two streams of light of different colors, one pink and one blue, soaring into the sky and converging in mid-air to create a quadrilateral portal.

"Connect Summon!"

"Appear, Link2, [Evil Twins Kissgeller]!"

Inside the portal, a slender arm wearing a bracelet reached out first, followed by a scantily clad red-haired demon emerging from within, with a miniature blue-haired cybernetic creature floating beside him.

"Activate the effect of [Evil Twins Kissgyl] to Special Summon [Live☆ Twins Lira] from the Graveyard."

A light shone in the graveyard area of ​​the Duel Disk, and Lila leaped out from it, landing next to Kissgill and stretching.

"It's not over yet. Set connection markers for the two entities: [Evil★Twin Giskiller] and [Live☆Twin Lila]."

The red and blue figures transformed into streaks of light once more, colliding violently in mid-air and tearing open a brand new portal to space and time.

"Connect Summon!"

"Appear, Link 2, [Evil Twin Lila]!"

A blue-haired girl walked out of the portal, her expression indifferent. Beside her floated a miniature, pink-haired electronic creature, its arms crossed in a huff.

"Activate the effect of [Evil Twins Lira] to Special Summon [Evil Twins Kissgeller] from the Graveyard!"

A red light flashed across the ground, and the figure of the red-haired demon girl [Evil★Twins Kisskill] reappeared.

"At this very moment, I activate the effect of [Evil Twins Kissgeller] and draw one card." Li Guanqi calmly drew a card, then waved it toward the graveyard, "Activating the effect of [Destroyer God Sama] in the graveyard!"

"Special Summon this card by destroying [Evil★Twin Lila] on the field."

"Bang!" [Evil★Twin Lila] exploded, and the blue beast [Destroyer God Sama] leaped out of the graveyard.

Bai Zhi frowned and murmured something, as if he were calculating something.

"At the moment of destruction, activate the effect of [Destroyer Yama] in the Graveyard," Li Guanqi said in a deep voice. "Ban this card and Special Summon [Evil Twin Lira] from the Graveyard!"

"come back!"

[Yama] The soul of the dead transformed into a ring of fire, and amidst a chant, the blue-haired demon girl slowly rose from hell.

"Activate the effect of [Evil Twin Lila] to destroy your opponent's face-down card!"

【Evil★Twin Lila】swiftly raised her hand, unleashing a bolt of lightning that shattered the covering 【Sen'e Wolf】, leaving the white paper field completely empty. Her expression was rather grim.

Li Guanqi didn't give her a chance to catch her breath. He raised his hand, his index and middle fingers together, pointing at the pair of red and blue players in the arena.

"It's not over yet!"

"I'm setting link markers for [Evil Twin Lila] and [Evil Twin Kissgeller] on the field!"

The red and blue demon girls exchanged a knowing smile, their mischievous grins revealing a triumphant glint in their eyes. They transformed into two streaks of sinister light, no longer colliding with each other, but spiraling and intertwining before crashing headlong into the sky.

A four-panel connecting arrow composed of countless red and blue data streams unfolds in mid-air, tearing open a bottomless virtual spacetime gate.

"Pursue, punish, and bring to justice!"

"Connect Summon!"

"Show yourself, Link4, [Evil★Troublemaker Sunny]!"

Inside the portal, what emerged first was no longer a demon's claws or a ghostly figure, but a gleaming black high-heeled boot, which slammed heavily into the void, creating a visible ripple of data.

Immediately afterwards, two figures emerged from within, one after the other.

The nemesis of the Evil Twins: a blonde loli and a silver-haired mature woman, a pair of cyber hunters who capture demons.

"The net of justice is inescapable." Li Guanqi turned his head and gave the white paper a smile brimming with a sense of mission. "Terrorists who bring unrest to society will surely be arrested by justice."

The live stream chat exploded with comments.

"Boss! I feel so safe!"

"A righteous leader!"

"Well said, but why is the boss a demon?"

"What stereotypes! Demons can't be righteous?! Answer me, isn't Labyrinth's chest unjust?!"

Bai Zhi bit her lip hard, her nails almost digging into her palms. She wanted to retort, but didn't know where to begin.

"Accept the punishment!" Li Guanqi shouted, waving his hand forward, "Advance to the combat rank!"

"【Destroyer God Sama】, attack the player directly!"

The beast, its body a deep blue with chains wrapped around its joints, let out a low roar as it lowered its body, its muscles bulging, and the virtual ground beneath its feet cracked inch by inch.

"boom--!"

【Destroyer God Sama】transformed into a blurry blue afterimage, carrying a fierce aura as it rushed towards the white paper.

Everyone offstage gasped, their hearts leaping into their throats.

Bai Zhi subconsciously raised his hand to block the swift and powerful aura.

"boom!"

With a deafening roar, a powerful energy shockwave exploded in front of her, a blue damage effect enveloped her entire body, the Duel Disk emitted a piercing alarm, and her health points plummeted rapidly.

Blue team basic points: 6800 → 4800
Bai Zhi groaned and took a step back uncontrollably before barely managing to regain his footing.

"All hands on alert!" At the captain's command, everyone raised their guns and pointed them at [Destroyer God Sama]. This was the first time in this duel that someone had actually attacked another person, which terrified the onlookers.

"This impact isn't a 3D projection, is it?"

"Dude, you're really ruthless."

"Didn't they say they were lovers?"

"Fighting with all your might is the greatest respect you can show to a duelist."

"【Evil★Troublemaker Sunny】." Li Guanqi's expression was indifferent as he pointed to the white paper again. "Attack the player directly!"

The two cyber hunters responded and sprang into action.

The silver-haired mature woman, with a cold expression, slowly raised her right hand, while the blonde loli beside her skillfully raised her left hand. The two of them joined hands to make a shooting gesture, and a red laser sight shot out instantly, accurately locking onto a crosshair at the center of the white paper.

"Zi-"

A piercing electrical hum rang out as energy accumulated to its peak.

"Ominous Annihilation Ray!" Li Guanqi shouted.

"boom--!"

The energy beam tore through the air and roared away. The beam did not hit the white paper directly, but exploded a meter in front of her.

"Boom——!"

The raging data storm formed destructive shockwaves that brutally washed over her body. It wasn't a physical impact, but a sense of stripping away from her spirit and the essence of her being.

Bai Zhi let out a suppressed groan of pain, his whole body was shaken back by the energy, his left hand instinctively covered his chest, his brows were furrowed, and his face was as pale as paper.

The alarm of the Duel Disk sounded as shrill as the wail of death.

Blue team basic points: 4800 → 1500
Seeing her clutching her chest and enduring the pain, Li Guanqi hesitated for a moment before giving the order.

He quickly shook his head, dispelling the inappropriate thought.

"Release [Evil★Twin Slayer Trouble Sunny] and activate its effect!"

The two cyber hunters on the field, the blonde loli and the silver-haired mature woman, became transparent and vanished into light spots in the air.

Special Summon [Evil Twin Ryra] and [Evil Twin Kissgill] from the Graveyard!

On the ground, two magic circles, one red and one blue, unfolded out of thin air. In the light, the demon twins reappeared hand in hand, with mischievous smiles on their faces.

Bai Zhi caught her breath, gave a bitter smile, and said with a hint of mockery, "How did the 'Trouble Sunny,' who represents justice, split into two demons?"

“This—” Li Guanqi’s face darkened, feeling that the atmosphere he had created had been completely ruined. He said no more and pointed to the white paper.

"【Evil★Twin Lila】, Direct attack on player!"

The blue-haired demon girl, Lila, looked indifferent as she raised her palm, pointing it at the white paper. The pink miniature electronic creature floating beside her clapped its little hands excitedly.

"Di-"

After a soft electronic sound, a highly compressed blue data sphere formed in her palm, with crackling electrical sparks inside.

"Activate the effect of [Phantom Beast King Chimera] in the Graveyard!" White Paper waved his hand and said, "Ban this card, target [Treacherous Saint Sen'er Wolf Mother] in the Graveyard, Special Summon that monster!"

A black light array appeared on the ground, and the [Traitorous Saint Sen'er Wolf Mother] was resurrected, and the wolf pack let out a low growl.

"【Sen'e Wolf Mother】Attack power 1900, blocked!" Teacher Da Mi, who was watching the live broadcast from the sidelines, shouted excitedly.

Dou Men, standing to the side, shook his head and said softly, "No, it's over."

"If the opponent Special Summons a monster," Li Guanqi waved his hand toward the Graveyard, "I activate the effect of the Graveyard card 'Paradise of the Chromatic Spell,' banish this card, and send one 'Chromatic Spell' monster to the Graveyard."

"I will send [The Day of the Demon's Wrath] to the graveyard."

"Activate the Graveyard effect of [Day of Wrath] to return [Grave Coffin] from the Graveyard to the Deck, and target your opponent's [Wolf Mother of the Forest] to the Graveyard!"

"on!"

[The Day of Wrath] The spirit of the dead roared and rushed out of the graveyard, smashing its axe down hard on [The Mother of the Wolf].

"Bang!" [Sen'e Wolf Mother] howled and shattered.

Li Guanqi pointed to the white paper, his expression calm: "The battle continues!"

【Evil★Twin Lila】shooted out a ball of light, and the next moment, the ball of light was reconstructed out of thin air in front of the white paper and exploded.

"boom!"

Countless fragments of code and gibberish symbols flooded the blank paper like a tidal wave.

Bai Zhi grunted, his body swaying violently, and the Duel Disk alarm sounded again.

Blue team basic points: 1500 → 400
Li Guanqi remained expressionless, raised his hand again, and pointed to the only remaining demon girl on the field.

"The final blow."

"【Evil★Twin Kissgeller】, direct attack!"

Kisskill slowly raised her right hand, her index and middle fingers together, and pointed at the white paper like a child playing, making a shooting gesture.

"boom."

She mimicked the sound of a gunshot with her lips, and a condensed crimson ray of magic burst forth from her fingertips.

This time, the blank sheet of paper neither retreated nor attempted to resist.

She simply stood there quietly, facing the destructive ray that rushed towards her, her gaze passing over the monster and fixed straight and stubbornly on Li Guanqi.

It's like a silent question.

The next instant, the scarlet ray struck her chest precisely.

"boom!"

The violent energy exploded within her body, but instead of forming a shockwave that spread outwards, it transformed into countless crimson data chains that bound and tore her apart from the inside.

The final numbers on the duel disk flashed wildly before mercilessly fading into nothingness.

Blue team basic points: 400 → 0
【The winner is】

【Red Square】

【Duel ends】

The final declaration echoed across the square, and all the ferocious monster projections turned into data streams, dissipating like smoke, leaving only an empty space and two people facing off.

The world seems to have been muted.

Li Guanqi's chest heaved violently as he gasped for breath, sweat trickling down his forehead. He looked at his empty field and then at the blank sheet of paper standing opposite him. His eyes held no joy of victory, only bewilderment and disbelief.

Won?

I... won?
Bai Zhi remained calm, her face pale, and she gave a bitter, light laugh.

"Beautiful move."

"Congratulations."

Li Guanqi's Adam's apple bobbed, as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't utter a single word.

After a brief moment of deathly silence, the crowd outside finally snapped out of their extreme tension, and thunderous cheers and discussions erupted.

Holy crap—that's awesome!

"Going second, I passed five resistances with six cards, then countered with two monsters to finish off the opponent! Awesome!"

"Textbook-perfect operation, but if you make one wrong move, you can't even finish the build."

"I don't understand, the combos look amazing! Is this Yu-Gi-Oh!?"

The guard captain's tense nerves finally relaxed. He put down the Gauss rifle he had been holding and let out a long breath.

"Is it over?" A teammate leaned over and breathed a sigh of relief. "Captain, were we all just nervous for nothing?"

“From beginning to end, those monsters didn’t even glance at us.” Another person wiped his sweat. “The thing we were most worried about didn’t happen at all. It feels like… we were just guarding against nothing.”

The captain glanced at him and said irritably, "Shut up, the best outcome is that nothing unexpected happened."

The words have not yet fallen.

"boom--!"

The earth suddenly trembled violently, not just a slight shaking, but a violent upward jolt, as if the entire city had been thrown upward by an invisible giant hand.

The crowd outside the square instantly staggered, screaming and crying in terror.

"What's going on? An earthquake?!"

"Run! Run!"

People were in chaos, struggling to escape on the violently shaking ground; the scene was utterly chaotic.

Li Guanqi stumbled and almost fell, but he managed to steady himself and looked up at the sky.

The clear morning sky darkened at a visible speed, with thick, dark clouds gathering out of nowhere, churning and pressing in. There was no lightning between the clouds, but strange streaks of light, interwoven with scarlet and eerie blue, flickered, and a dull, unsettling sense of oppression enveloped the entire square.

"All units! All units! Maintain order! This is not a drill!" The guard captain's roar exploded through the communicator, his arm muscles taut like stones.

Ignoring the commotion around him, Li Guanqi subconsciously looked at the white paper opposite him.

Compared to the shaking ground and screaming crowd around her, she stood unusually steady. She didn't look at him or the people who were scattering and fleeing. She just looked up and quietly watched the ominous phenomenon in the sky.

There was no panic or fear on her face.

There was only one kind of calm, a fatalistic calm that had long foreseen this situation.

Those who lose in the realm of fantasy should rightfully be punished.

Looking at the eerie streaks of light tearing through the sky high above, and then at the calm white paper on the ground, as still as the eye of a storm, a terrifying thought arose in Li Guanqi's mind.

The result of the victory in the duel would be the collapse of this world.

He got it.

"Hey--"

Despite the violently shaking ground, Li Guanqi rushed towards the white paper like a madman. The paving stones under his feet shattered and curled up like biscuits, but all he could see was that motionless figure.

"Boom——!"

Above the sky, the tangled red and blue light traces found an outlet, and a solid beam of light cleaved down vertically, hitting the white paper with perfect accuracy.

Li Guanqi's eyes widened suddenly, he stumbled, and his breath stopped for a moment.

The white paper trembled stiffly, its face drained of all color, as if its soul had been ripped away. The black guide cane slipped from its hand, rolled a few times on the ground, and made a hollow "click" sound.

His body slowly fell to the side.

Li Guanqi gritted his teeth and rushed forward, reaching out his arms at the last moment to pull her into his embrace. The person in his arms was very light, her body was cold, and she was breathing heavily.

"Hey, are you alright? Can you hear me...?" He spoke instinctively, his fingers already on the side of her neck, feeling her faint pulse.

His doctor's instincts told him to help, but reason overwhelmed him like a bucket of ice water.

If she hadn't fainted, the "Imaginary Realm" wouldn't have completely collapsed, and he would have been trapped there forever, forever confined to his dream.

He held her arm and froze.

Just as he was struggling with this internal conflict, the person in his arms trembled slightly.

Bai Zhi's eyelids trembled, her face was pale, but the corners of her mouth were pulled up in an extremely bitter smile.

"You're still the same as before." She grabbed his hand, handed him something, and her voice was as weak as a candle flickering in the wind.

"They never listen to me."

"We have different principles, so we can't work together. You're a bunch of terrorists, and I'm a model student." Li Guanqi looked at the swaying buildings around him, and as if saying goodbye, asked softly, "If I listened to you, what would you ask me to do?"

"Listen to me, then," the white paper said weakly, straining to its last breath, "climb the ranks of the Soul-Binding Division and become a Purifier."

"Kill Wang Shou."

"Kill Wang Shou? Me?" Li Guanqi chuckled. "You overestimate me a bit."

"We are...gods who control time and space," Bai Zhi gasped, a painful yet smiling smile on his face. "I will...help you gather the three fragments of time and space."

"Brother," she said, and suddenly burst into tears.

"I miss you so much."

With her last bit of strength, Bai Zhi raised her arms slightly, wrapped them around his neck, and buried her face in his chest.

A brief, cold, yet tender embrace.

Then, his arm fell limply to his side.

She completely lost consciousness; the sky collapsed and the earth cracked.

Li Guanqi gripped the object in his hand tightly. The square beneath his feet crumbled inch by inch, swept high into the sky by the gale. The distant buildings collapsed and vanished like sandcastles. The whole world was disintegrating, emitting a piercing wail.

But he just sat on the ground, holding the girl in his arms, his pupils trembling violently.

The sound of his heartbeat was louder than the collapse of the entire world.

In Xunyang City, at the southern suburbs cemetery, the earth suddenly jolted upwards without warning.

"I--!"

The young police officer lost his footing and fell, causing the entire cemetery to shake violently, with tombstones leaning to one side and trees swaying wildly.

"Earthquake! It's an earthquake!"

"Everyone take cover! Get away from high places!" the team leader yelled at the top of his lungs.

In the chaos, the cables securing the two coffins, which had just been hoisted into the air, snapped due to the violent shaking of the crane boom.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two heavy thuds followed as the black coffin crashed heavily onto the concrete floor, shattering the old wooden planks and knocking the lid off.

All eyes turned to him instantly.

The cracked coffin was empty; there were no remains at all.

The coffin on the left, which should have contained Li Guanqi's father, contained a twisted, withered dead tree with its black roots intertwined and filling the entire space.

The coffin on the right, representing the mother, was lined with a thick layer of wool, and on top of the wool lay the head of a black goat, still covered in blood.

Several police officers stared blankly at the scene before them, speechless for a moment.

The wind blew through the empty cemetery, stirring up a few fallen leaves.

The captain opened his mouth, made a "clunk" sound in his throat, and after a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"The goal... Father is a tree, Mother is a sheep."

The head of the intelligence agency paused, startled, through the earpiece: "What did you say?"

"Crack—" The world collapsed, all signals were cut off, and the world fell silent.

(End of this chapter)