After I stopped trying, a rich woman trained me into a demon emperor.

The White Tower Council's self-proclaimed authority as "guardians" was completely stripped away by Zhou Ran.

Just as Zhou Ran was about to sheathe his sword, Sample Number One, which was suppressed in the center by the magic array, raised its pale little hand.

Its headless body leaned forward, and its pale finger pointed straight at Zhou Ran's chest.

On Zhou Ran's chest, the black and gold door pattern in the shape of a door bolt was emitting a faint light.

From within the hollow chest cavity of Sample One, an ancient, emotionless voice resonated:

"You are also a sample."

The sound of Sample One echoed in the hall.

Zhou Ran looked down at the glowing door mark on his chest, and the warnings from Meng Po and the Moon Emperor flashed through his mind.

"What the imperial prince left behind was not salvation, but merely a seal."

"Don't trust the emperor's son."

All the clues come together at this moment.

Hermann, sprawled on the ground, forced out a twisted laugh.

"Hahaha! Zhou Ran, did you hear that? You're a sample too!"

"You really think you're saving the world? You're just the most suitable nourishment in this vessel! What the Emperor left behind isn't a rule protecting Earth; it's a selection mechanism!"

Hermann's voice was hoarse with excitement.

"Those who can bear the gates of the old gods, refuse cleansing, and rewrite the rules of judgment will be recorded in these remains as the most perfect samples!"

"The more you resist, the deeper the mark will be on you."

"The Moon Emperor wants to use you to open the door, and the Imperial Prince wants to use you as a selection bolt for the door!"

"People like you are the most dangerous variable on this planet!"

Zhou Ran ignored Herman's ravings, focusing all his attention on the strange movements within his body. His nascent soul began to vibrate, as an external force of rules attempted to forcibly take over his body.

"Zhou Ran".

Chen Ya walked quickly from the control panel, her face serious. She had also noticed the abnormality in Zhou Ran's body.

Xu Youwei and Qin San gathered around, while two demon dukes stood protectively beside Zhou Ran, staring at Sample Number One.

Zhou Ran raised his right hand, and the illusory image of the White Bone Pen appeared at his fingertips.

He stared at Sample Number One and said, "My identity doesn't need to be defined by a single bone."

He wrote a line of words in the air in front of his chest with a bone pen:

[Sample identity is not the same as sample attribution.]

The black and gold characters condensed into a talisman and were imprinted on the door pattern on his chest.

The agitated bolt subsided, and the connection with Sample 1 was forcibly severed.

Sample One's black eyes rolled a few times, as if puzzled by this rule-breaking definition, before slowly closing and its body retreating back into the ruins of the cryo-chamber, where it remained motionless.

Hermann's last vestiges of madness vanished, replaced by a final sigh as he collapsed completely.

"Take them away and hand them over to the Xia Kingdom investigation team and the Yin Si compensation team," Chen Ya ordered Qin San.

"Yes."

Qin San waved his hand, and the demon soldiers stepped forward and took Herman, Xu Xuance, and all the other council members away.

Chen Ya sat back down at the control panel and began the final asset receipt and data processing.

"All core ledgers of White Tower Island have been exported."

Chen Ya looked at the data on the screen and said to Zhou Ran.

"Shenghui's core data on the global industrial chain, the origin of cold energy raw materials, the manufacturing technology of cryogenic chambers, and that special list of people with special physical conditions are all now under the control of Qinghui Trust."

Zhou Ran looked at the data stream on the screen, then glanced at the composed Chen Ya beside him, his tense nerves not relaxing in the slightest.

The Moon Emperor outside the door still covets.

And that "Imperial Son Selection Mechanism" is a shadow hanging over everyone's head.

Xiao Rou came up from the fourth basement level, clapped her hands and said, "The victims on the fourth floor are all safe. I have used the Gu worms to help stabilize the chip rejection reaction in their bodies."

However, the condensation algae pool below needs to be taken over by professionals; that stuff is very important to Sister Lin's eyes.

"I've already contacted Mr. He's team, and they will bring the most professional equipment over," Chen Ya said.

Xu Youwei stood to the side, looking at the broken hairpin in her palm. Her silver eyes were still restless, but the aura around her had relaxed considerably.

"Xu Xuance and his men have been captured, and Penglai's overseas influence has been completely dismantled. When I return to Jiangcheng, I will personally visit the Penglai ruins."

"I'll go with you," Zhou Ran said.

Chen Ya swiped a few times on the screen, her brows furrowed.

"Zhou Ran, come and take a look at this."

Zhou Ran walked over and looked at the screen.

That was an encrypted file extracted from the deepest database on White Tower Island.

This document is encrypted at an extremely high level, using an ancient rune lock.

"This file requires permissions from four people to open."

Chen Ya pointed to the four verification slots on the screen.

"The system shows that these four permissions correspond to you, me, Lin Qingxue, and Xu Youwei, respectively."

Zhou Ran looked at the four verification slots and knew what to expect.

These four people correspond perfectly to the three powers of heart, hand, and eye, as well as Chen Ya, the "imperial prince's backup plan".

This verification mechanism must have been established 30,000 years ago.

"Can it be broken open directly?" Zhou Ran asked.

"no,"

Chen Ya shook her head.

"It's a physical rune lock; if it's forcibly broken, the data will be completely destroyed."

Zhou Ran placed his palm on one of the verification slots.

Chen Ya also extended her hand.

Xu Youwei stepped forward and placed her injured right hand on the third verification slot.

The three verification slots lit up in turn, but the fourth verification slot remained dark.

"Requires the authority to clear the snow."

Zhou Ran said,

"Let's go back to Jiangcheng first."

Just as they were about to withdraw, the encrypted file on the screen sensed the access of the three permissions, and the outer layer of runic mist spontaneously dissipated, revealing the file's true name.

An ancient line of black and gold text appeared:

Blue Star Reserve List

Below this line of text, rows of crossed-out names can be faintly seen.

And at the very top, in the first line, the name crossed out by a thick black and gold line clearly shows two characters:

"Zhou Ran".