The Last Sentinel

Outside the Shogunate, in the myriad realms of existence, a temple floats in the starry sky.

The temple is ancient and elegant, with an alloy black iron gate and gilded light flowing along the brackets. The bronze temple plaque is sealed by a transparent high-energy barrier. The three large characters on the plaque, "Honnoji", are as deep as an abyss, making people dare not look directly at them.

Beneath the plaque of Honnoji Temple, vermilion pillars are enveloped in translucent starlight rainbows, and under the Tyndall effect, a couplet floats in front of the temple plaque.

First line: Ancient temples hold hidden secrets; neon lights replicate the raging fire.

The second line reads: A solitary heart, bound by gratitude and vengeance, compassionately shelters souls from a chaotic world.

Horizontal inscription: The same path for all ages

The temple doors slowly opened, revealing two figures that appeared and disappeared.

An old monk, clad in a kasaya, his body hunched, spoke in a hoarse, almost demonic voice, "Benefactor Charlie, what are you waiting for? Zhuge Mengde is facing a desperate situation. If you intervene, Zhuge Mengde will surely die! Zhuge Mengde is currently the commander of the Blue Star Martial Arts Academy at the Sword Qi Great Wall. Once he's dead, Li Wenzhong will be unable to control those three thousand-plus students. At that time, we can seize the opportunity to disrupt Li Wenzhong's Baiyujing plan and launch an attack on the Twelve Towers and Five Cities!"

Opposite the old monk, a bald young man in a black robe looked up at him. The young man's protruding mouth and the triangular eyes that gorillas were known for made no attempt to conceal his identity: Sentinel Ye Feng's lifelong enemy, the last hope of the Neanderthals—Charles Darwin.

Compared to Charlie who once vied for power with Ye Feng, the current Charlie, with his shaved head and wearing a monk's robe, is an enlightened monk who has undergone a great transformation.

Faced with the questioning from the abbot of Honnoji Temple, Charlie didn't even raise his head. He gently turned the incense burner in front of him and said slowly, "Killing Zhuge Mengde will not do any good for the situation, because neither the High Martial Arts Academy nor Li Wenzhong are important."

The abbot of Honnoji Temple stared at Charlie. "Then, Charlie, could you tell me who is the most important?"

A glint of malice flashed in Charlie's eyes. "Sentry, soldier."

The abbot laughed heartily. "Sentinel? You mean that admissions director, Ye Feng? His students have been fighting on the Sword Qi Great Wall for almost a month! He hasn't even seen a glimpse of him. Would he dare come here? For a master to maintain his current prestige, what he must do is never participate in battle. Once he participates, it means his myth will be shattered. And the Human Alliance won't easily let Ye Feng's banner fall. At least until a new banner emerges to replace Ye Feng, Ye Feng cannot fall. Ye Feng, he won't appear!"

Charlie kept his head down, continuing to fiddle with the incense burner. "That's your opinion. I don't think so."

The abbot seemed to be deep in thought. The old monk with wrinkles whispered in Charlie's ear, "I heard that you were defeated by that Ye Feng sentinel three times. The first time was in the Tokyo Campaign, the second time was in the Perfect City, and the third time was in the Galaxy duel. Three challenges, three consecutive defeats."

Charlie didn't get angry. Instead, he calmly read aloud, "That's right, it's indeed true. But did the Abbot notice that I'm the only heretic who has survived three failed challenges against Ye Feng?"

The abbot stood up and said, "In the way of the samurai, your mentality can be called cowardice."

Charlie said, "You're just a hermit monk; when it comes to Bushido, I have more authority to speak than you."

"Hmph!" The abbot paced outside and said, "No matter what you think, if you remain aloof and inactive in the next major battle, I will request that your superiors replace this custom-made expert!"

Charlie said, "Whatever."

The abbot snorted coldly, "By the way, we captured Zhuge Mengde's chief strategist, Sima Kongqun. To subdue Sima Kongqun, we used the most cruel tortures, and even mobilized the goddess Oda Sadako of the Atsuta Shrine in the Nagoya Star Region! Miss Sadako has completely conquered Sima Kongqun. The next offensive against Blue Star is about to begin. If you want to return to Blue Star, I hope you can do something instead of cowardly hiding in Honnoji Temple."

With that, the abbot abruptly waved his sleeve and stormed off.

Charles Darwin, gazing calmly at the rising smoke of burning sandalwood incense, said, "Hegel said that the only lesson mankind learns from history is that mankind learns nothing from history."

"The Tokugawa Shogunate had clearly grasped the entire process of the Battle of Perfect City and the Battle of Tokyo, and even knew the terrifying destructive power of a human cancer like Hua Xiaobai within their own camp!"

"But the shogunate is now repeating the same mistake, still trying to win over the enemy, using their own weapons against them!"

"That's incredibly stupid."

"Although Zhuge Mengde is not as shrewd as Ye Feng, the fact that Zhuge Mengde could abandon his important strategist on the battlefield is itself a conspiracy."

"The destructive power of this Sima Kong group is probably no less than that of Hua Xiaobai."

At this point, Charlie's lips curled into a self-deprecating smile. "These resurrected neon ancient humans are concerned with small details but lack great manners. They have no sense of gratitude whatsoever. Even if I really help them, they might not thank me. They might even frame me."

"Fine, let them be."

"I have only one goal: to defeat the Sentinels."

"We obtained the antidote to the Red-Haired Curse from the Sentinel!"

"Power is only accountable to the source of power."

"Power is the same; my power is only responsible to Susanoo, who granted me it."

As he spoke, wisps of black mist spread across Charlie's face, rapidly condensing into metallic scales on the left side of his cheek. A twisted, morbid voice echoed from his mouth, "My dear brother! Do you know how much pain I'm in right now? I, I..."

Charlie interrupted his brother John, "Good brother, gaining power naturally requires sacrifices. You're the only bargaining chip I can offer. Don't worry, once I defeat Ye Feng and get the antidote to the Red Hair Curse, I'll come and rescue you!"

John's voice was menacing as he spoke from his left cheek, shrouded in black mist, "What will happen to me if you lose to Ye Feng?"

Charlie slowly opened his right hand, his knuckles gleaming. "Don't worry, Ye Feng won't beat me this time!"

"I mean, what if!" John became exasperated. "What if you lose, or Ye Feng gets away, or what if there's no antidote to the red-haired curse, and it's Ye Feng's deadly move that kills a million enemies while harming a hundred of your own? What would you do? What would I do?"

Charlie closed his eyes. "If that's the case, then I can only eat dust, but Ye Feng is also afflicted with the Red Hair Curse, so he's destined not to live much longer either. If you and I, brothers, disappear together with Ye Feng, it will be a way of giving an explanation to the Neanderthals."

"No, you want to die, but I don't. I want to live..."

"No, you foolish little brother, you must understand that for beings like you and me, death is the best ending. I deeply regret why I didn't die with my mother when the Battle of Tokyo began, but instead survived and endured this boundless calamity. If my mother had died with me back then, none of this would have happened today..."

The sounds of brothers fighting echoed deep within Honnoji Temple.

The last time Honnoji Temple was this harmonious was when Akechi Mitsuhide and Oda Nobunaga were locked in a love-hate relationship, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi ultimately reaps the benefits.