Simultaneous Transmigration: We Share a Role-Playing System

Chapter 157 Locke: What's stuck to my portal? Oh, it's Emperor Mark.

"Do you know what kind of person can become the biggest obstacle on your path to achieving a great goal?"

"That kind?"

"I'll give you three options, guess what they are."

The first is a powerful and intelligent enemy whose plans and strategies will make every step you take feel like walking a tightrope; one wrong step and you will lose everything.

The second is the corrupt bureaucracy, which always puts its own foolish interests above the collective. They are numb, short-sighted, stupid and wicked. Greed blinds them, and their useless pride turns them into dwarfs who can only vent their frustrations. Their greatest mission in life is to record that book of hatred. They are either trying to trap you or on their way to doing so.

Third, those who possess power strong enough to change the world, believe the world is black and white, and are easily led astray without their own correct sense of judgment.

Cecilia was still smoking the alien cigarette Locke had given her, but the moment she heard the answer, she gave him a look as if he were an idiot.

"God, Locke, are you kidding me? Of course it's the third one, is there even a choice? You've practically thrown the answer in my face, I'll choose the third one no matter how many times I choose."

After saying that, Cissell exhaled a puff of blue smoke, then shuddered and looked suspiciously at the alien cigarette in his hand.

"Are you sure this isn't some kind of alien leaf?"

"Don't worry, although the Interstellar Alliance considers this thing to be the most dangerous psychoactive controlled substance, that's because most alien species lack the genes that encode their key metabolic enzymes, making it impossible to biotransform and eliminate it."

"So you mean we humans possess this crucial metabolic enzyme?"

Hearing Locke's explanation, Cissell felt relieved and started smoking again. It has to be said that this thing calmed his recent irritability a lot, and even his mind began to relax.

Then he heard a despairing reply.

"Of course not."

"Cough cough cough!"

Cecilia instantly threw away her cigarette and started coughing wildly, while also taking the opportunity to give Locke a friendly gesture.

"Hey buddy, relax. Our pineal gland has undergone significant functional degeneration during evolution. Its neuroendocrine receptor spectrum has been fundamentally altered, making it unable to bind to the hallucinogenic active ingredients of this substance. Therefore, it will not produce psychological dependence or physical addiction. Instead, it will only have a stimulating effect on the pineal gland."

Hearing Locke's definite answer, Cissel finally relaxed. He then casually picked up a cigarette from the ground, took another drag, and complained, "Do you know how annoying you are?"

Locke simply took a swig of his drink, put his arm around Cecilia's shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, one day when you've taken off your responsibilities, you'll owe me more than I do. This is just a normal compensation mechanism."

Cecilia was skeptical, simply asking, "So you mean you've already unloaded all your burdens?"

"God, you heard what I said. I'm no longer the ruler of an empire that rules the universe. Of course I can do whatever I want. I'm just a pitiful, weak, helpless, and lonely old man now."

Hearing the words "pitiful, weak, and helpless," even Sissel's lips twitched involuntarily. Recalling Nolan being treated like a grandson, he thought that Nolan definitely didn't think that way.

"As the former ruler of the universe, didn't you ever think of continuing your great work here?"

Upon hearing Cisel's abrupt and direct question, Locke looked at Cisel with surprise, as if he had seen his mentally challenged brother suddenly become intelligent.

"What's wrong? Although my IQ can't compare to yours, I've been in this position for so long, so I'm not an idiot."

"Then you should know that there are fewer than one hand the number of people in this world who I consider normal, right? Actually, you're really no different from monkeys."

"God, can't you just answer my question directly? I can't stand you beating around the bush anymore. Can't we just be straightforward with each other?"

"Of course I can answer you, but I have a condition. I'm curious why you and Nolan kept it a secret for twenty years when you both knew it, and we've only known each other for less than twenty minutes, yet you dare to confront me."

Cecilia looked at Locke beside her, gave him a deep look, and then sighed before replying, "Because I can tell that what you said before was true, unless you are a born liar. But if there is even a one percent chance that what you said is true, then I think we must treat you with caution, otherwise our current system and situation will be finished. I know this is a risky move, but I choose to trust my intuition."

After listening to Cecilia's explanation, Locke gave him a meaningful look and then said, "So you already know the answer, don't you?"

I want to hear you say it yourself.

Seeing that Cecil was so insistent, Locke rolled his eyes, wiped the wine from the corner of his mouth, and said nonchalantly, "Fine, fine, I'm retired now. I have no interest in ruling humanity anymore. I just want to enjoy my retirement life, provided no one bothers me."

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Cissell breathed a sigh of relief and, unusually, said something nice: "Thanks, you have no idea how important that is to me."

"Get out of here! You've ruined all my fun today. I hate you."

After saying that, Locke took out a replica teleportation gun from his pocket, opened the unstable teleportation portal, and gave Cecil a friendly gesture.

"By the way, don't let the stealth special forces come next time. This thing is outdated. If you don't like it, you can make some people that can be enlarged or shrunk, like Ant-Man."

"Bullshit, I didn't have an invisible special forces team protecting me, and what is Ant-Man anyway?"

"Think about it yourself. I'll come to you tomorrow to get my ID card. Goodnight."

After the portal closed, the turbulence generated by the phase teleportation blew the documents on the ground up, but they remained suspended in mid-air until the stealth special forces revealed themselves, only to find that the documents had been covering one of the men's faces.

Seeing this, Cissell sighed, took another drag of his cigarette, exhaled blue smoke, and ordered, "Take that idiot Dr. Earthquake away. Let the medical department confirm what that madman Locke did to him. Don't come back next time. Congratulations on saving your lives."

Then, he glanced at the cigarette in his hand, took another reluctant puff, and handed it to one of them.

"Oh, by the way, take this to the chemistry department for analysis, and then call Immortal Knight over."

"Now, immediately."

On the other hand, Locke didn't care at all whether Cecil could sleep tonight. As long as he could sleep, that was enough. Cecil was a smart man; he knew what to do.

Back in the car, after reclining the passenger seat, Locke lay down, covered himself with the blanket Debbie had given him, and fell asleep instantly.

Upon returning to the dream world, the invincible young hero Locke opened his eyes and saw Locke from Hogwarts and Locke from the newly arrived God Space transformed into wild dogs, frantically chasing and biting Locke from Type-Moon. The poor boy was now almost running out of sight.

Invincible Young Hero Locke: "Haven't they forgiven Type-Moon yet?"

Naruto Locke: "If I were them, I wouldn't forgive them either. His popularity score of 19 billion was reduced to only 250,000 after he used Twisted in a fight. If I hadn't already reached the limit, I would have wanted to tear him apart too."

Locke, the Cursed Art Responder: "That means he can still earn a fixed 20,000 every day in the parallel world thanks to his Emperor status. Otherwise, it wouldn't be as simple as just biting. By the way, is your illness any better now?"

Invincible Young Hero Locke: "It's not that simple. I still don't understand what kind of dimensional virus that higher-dimensional creature gave me before it died. It's especially easy to go insane in the real dimension. It's just that the dream world has protection, but I can't do anything about it. I can only say that we should take it slow and find a solution eventually."

Spell Reaper Locke: "Alright, but looking at it from another angle, isn't this actually a good thing? This virus has actually turned you into a genius, and now you're the brains of our group."

Invincible Young Hero Locke: "I'd rather not do it this way. It's not you who's experiencing memory confusion. Now that I think about it, haven't I just picked up Rick Sanchez's script? This is too weird."

Pirate Locke: "Stop with the nonsense, let's shake hands. After that, I'm going back to punch the sandbag."

After saying that, the group of Locke began to exchange memories and powers. After the exchange, Locke, who was in charge of spellcasting, pondered for a moment and said to Locke, who was invincible, "Have you forgotten something? You forgot about Big Horse and Little Horse in a parallel world."

Invincible Young Hero Locke: "WC!"

The dividing line between parallel worlds: The night, like a piece of velvet soaked in ink, slowly covered the vast yellow sands of the Sahara.

The silvery moonlight spilled across the undulating sand dunes, outlining a soft yet sharp silhouette.

The sand grains rolled gently in the evening breeze, making a soft rustling sound. A black, thick-tailed scorpion emerged from under the sand, its venomous pincers raised, and silently crawled toward a gerbil that was nibbling on grass roots. Further away, on the edge of the oasis, a few dim lights flickered on and off, the last trace of human presence in the desert.

All was silent except for the mournful sound of the wind whistling through the sand dunes, like an ancient whisper.

Ten thousand meters above this seemingly peaceful desert, a life-or-death chase is unfolding at three times the speed of sound.

Old Ma, carrying the terrified Pony in one hand, cut through the cold air in a streamlined motion. His black battle suit was torn in several places, and blood was still seeping from the wound on his left arm, which was blown backward by the high-speed airflow into a thin red line.

Xiao Ma clung tightly to his waist, burying her face in his back, unable to even scream. All she could hear was the howling wind and her own violently pounding heart.

"Hold on tight!" Old Ma roared, then suddenly rolled to the side.

The next second, three crimson energy blasts grazed his scalp, leaving three scorching trails in the night sky before finally striking a sand dune below.

With a deafening roar, a cloud of yellow sand shot into the sky, like a giant yellow mushroom cloud, instantly engulfing the gerbils and scorpions that had just been foraging for food.

This mass-produced replica of the Star Racer's spear still possesses the ability to harm the Vitrumians.

And then the camera suddenly zoomed out backward.

Behind them, a dozen silver-gray figures were in a wedge formation, hot on their heels.

Their uniform Vitrum Empire combat suits gleamed with a cold metallic sheen under the moonlight. Their flight postures were perfectly synchronized, without a single superfluous movement, like a flock of well-trained falcons, their eyes fixed intently on their prey.

Little Horse: "Why are we in this parallel universe tyrants?! Aren't the Witrumians supposed to be peace-loving, interstellar heroes who sacrifice their lives for other planets?!"

Old Ma: "Those are Kryptonians! Grandpa Locke didn't tell you anything about the Varians! What Dad said is completely the opposite of reality!!!"

Little Horse: "WTF?! So Dad was lying to us?!"

Old Ma: "Is this the time to talk about this??? Let's think of a way to escape, or we're all doomed!!!"

Little Horse: "It's all because you kicked the emperor! I feel like he's going to be childless, it hurts just watching it."

Old Ma: "Nonsense! If I hadn't taken him out first, we'd all be finished. He's obviously the strongest. Quick, check your armor for any way to escape!"

Xiao Ma: "I'm watching it again and again, don't rush me, the more you rush me, the more anxious I get!"

Just as the two Marks were arguing as they ran away, a deafening sonic boom suddenly exploded overhead.

A black afterimage streaked across the night sky at three times the speed of the guards, instantly leaving all the Witrum soldiers behind, hurtling towards the two like a meteorite carrying an aura of destruction.

Speak of the emperor, and the emperor arrives.

At this moment, Emperor Mark's black cloak fluttered in the air currents, almost torn to shreds by the wind.

His face was no longer as gentle as it had been in the park; only twisted anger and near-mad paranoia remained.

His single eye was bloodshot, and the scar on his forehead was flushed red from emotional agitation. His gaze was fixed on the two of them, as if he wanted to devour them alive.

Emperor Mark: "You two bastards! Stop right there! Hand over the teleportation bracelet! Or I'll make things difficult! All I want is for my mother to come back, why can't you grant my wish?!"

Little Ma looked at Emperor Mark behind him with a complicated expression, unable to believe that this was the same man who had just been so gentle in his eyes, so solemn in his tone, and who had knelt down to patiently listen to him tell interesting stories about parallel worlds.

Just moments ago, he had regarded the other person as a role model, aspiring to become a mature, reliable, and powerful hero like him and his father. But now, seeing the other person's appearance, it was incredibly ironic.

Why did I become like this after being educated at Witrum? How could people at Witrum be so evil!

Old Ma: "I can't give you the teleportation bracelet; you'll destroy many worlds!"

Emperor Mark: "Me? I stopped that traitor Trigger from destroying Earth, saved the world, ushered in a new future for Planet VI, and spread peace to the entire universe. What's wrong with that!"

Old Ma: "High-pressure rule over the universe, what's the difference between this and the old Wittrum!"

Emperor Mark: "I did not indiscriminately kill innocent people! I only killed the ringleaders!"

After a heated argument, even after receiving a fatal blow, Emperor Mark was starting to catch up with the two. Seeing this, Old Mark frantically urged Little Mark, "Is there any way! We're being caught up!"

Little Pony: "Found it! There's a Warframe mode specifically for Witrum!!!"

Then, Xiao Ma suddenly pressed the hidden panel on his arm armor.

With a few crisp "clicks," the breastplate, shoulder armor, and outer forearm simultaneously popped open, revealing sixteen silver-gray ring-shaped sonic discs that lit up with pale blue light in succession on their surface energy patterns.

The next second, a high-frequency sound wave, sharp enough to tear eardrums, suddenly erupted.

This frequency, specifically tuned to the inner ear structure of the Vitrum people, is almost harmless to humans, but can directly destroy the auditory nerves and balance system of the Vitrum people.

All the Witrum soldiers in the sky simultaneously let out a painful groan, instinctively covering their ears, their bodies convulsing uncontrollably in mid-air.

Their flight attitude instantly went out of control, the originally neat formation turned into chaos, and the energy cannons also shot crookedly into the empty night sky.

Within ten seconds, all the pursuers had completely lost consciousness.

A dozen silver-gray figures plummeted straight down from a height of ten thousand meters like dumplings being dropped into a pot, crashing into the desert below with a whooshing sound.

"Boom—boom—" The continuous loud noises shook the ground slightly, and yellow sand rose into the sky, forming more than a dozen huge yellow smoke columns under the moonlight.

Each impact point created a massive crater several meters deep, with scalding sand slowly sliding down the crater walls, quickly half-covering the unconscious soldiers as if they had never been there.

Since he hasn't yet awakened Witrum's superpowers, Pony's inner ear structure is no different from that of an ordinary human, and he is completely unaffected by sound waves.

He carried the old horse, which had just been stunned by the aftershocks of the sound waves, and slowly landed on the top of a sand dune.

The evening breeze ruffled the hem of his clothes. At his feet lay Witrum soldiers lying haphazardly, and in the distance, the yellow sand continued to slowly sink.

Looking at the mess before him, Xiao Ma let out a long sigh of relief and couldn't help but complain, "My God, this is completely different from the superhero life I imagined."

Before he could finish speaking, the armor suddenly emitted a piercing "beep beep" alarm.

The energy bar on the chest armor instantly jumped from full to a blinding red, all the sonic discs retracted at the same time, and the blue light on the surface was completely extinguished.

With Old Ma gone as his pillar of support, and his armor about to run out of power, he stood on the empty sand dunes, looking at the unconscious Witrum soldiers scattered all over the ground, and an overwhelming sense of anxiety surged into his heart.

Just then, a rustling sound suddenly came from the largest sandpit not far away.

The sand rippled slowly like water, and suddenly a large black hand, stained with blood and gravel, emerged from the bottom of the pit, its fingernails digging deep into the soft sand.

Immediately afterwards, Emperor Mark, hunched over, crawled out from the swirling yellow sand.

His black uniform was covered in dust and blood, and the burn scars on half of his face looked particularly gruesome in the moonlight.

He raised his hand to wipe the blood that kept seeping from his ear, spat out a mouthful of saliva mixed with sand, and his single eye blazed with a fury that could burn everything.

"The robot almost killed me with this trick back then." His voice was hoarse, like it had been grinding on gravel, with a cold smugness. "Since then, I've exposed myself to this frequency every day for twenty years. Now, this thing is nothing to me, not even a tickle."

Thinking of the teleportation bracelet so close at hand, and of his mother's smile that had appeared countless times in his dreams, Emperor Mark completely lost control.

He could no longer maintain even a trace of imperial dignity, and all the anger, loneliness, and despair that had been suppressed for decades poured out like a flood breaking through a dam.

"I am the Emperor of Witrum! I have conquered the entire universe! I deserve everything!"

He roared at the sky, his voice filled with heart-wrenching sobs.

"But I have nothing now! My father is dead, my mother is dead, even Oliver is rebelling against me! Everyone I care about has left me! Why does everyone have to defy me! Why is even my last hope being taken away!"

He suddenly turned his head to look at the little horse, who was frozen in fear, and his one eye burst with almost frenzied joy.

He walked towards Xiao Ma step by step, his heavy steps seeming to tread on everyone's hearts.

"Thank goodness I have you all; you are gifts from God. This time, I will never let go again. I will take back everything I've lost!"

He stretched out his large hand, stained with blood and grit, and reached for the pony's neck.

The moonlight fell on his face, illuminating the morbid ecstasy in his eyes, a joy of regaining what he had lost. He seemed to see his mother standing before him, and a future where he could have everything back.

But just as his blood-stained hand was less than a centimeter away from Xiao Ma's throat, without any warning, a dark blue portal appeared out of thin air in the middle of his body.

The cutting force of space was more terrifying than the sharpest blade, causing Emperor Mark to freeze abruptly.

The morbid ecstasy on his face hadn't faded, but the light in his single eye was gradually dying out.

He rolled his eyes at his body, which had been split into two parts, opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he only spat out a mouthful of scalding blood, which splashed all over Xiao Ma's face.

Warm liquid trickled down Xiao Ma's cheeks.

He remained in the same defensive posture, his eyes wide open like saucers, his mind completely blank.

It wasn't until Emperor Mark's front half slammed onto the sand in front of him with a thud, and his rear half behind the portal followed suit, instantly staining the yellow sand beneath his feet with blood, that he belatedly shivered, his scream caught in his throat.

Locke, with a metal flask in his mouth, stepped out of the door. He glanced at the still convulsing corpse on the ground, then at the blood-covered, terrified little horse, and froze on the spot.

He took a swig of his drink, wiped his mouth, and said with a hint of indescribable helplessness, "Damn it, don't tell me I just accidentally killed Mark Grayson, one of the few people in the entire multiverse who still has a conscience."

When Locke asked his question, all that answered him was Mark Grayson's scream.

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