Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

The sound of my heartbeat grew louder and louder, like the beat of a drum, drowning out the noisy speeches on stage.

"Don't think like that, Wusheng!" Yinshuang seemed to sense something and grabbed Zhang Wusheng's hand, hurriedly saying, "This isn't yours..."

----

Time seemed to stretch out indefinitely, and Yinshuang's drawn-out tone sounded somewhat comical to Zhang Wusheng.

The next moment, everyone in the square disappeared, at least in his "imagination".

The gallows were still there, with several corpses hanging from them. From a distance, they looked like human-shaped wind chimes, giving off a subtle eeriness.

Time reversed, and the scattered fragments pieced themselves together, forming a giant vertical mirror. In the mirror, he saw a familiar version of himself—this time, his right leg was finally repaired, and those bright, vertical pupils stared intently at him through the mirror.

After a long while, another version of myself showed a "I knew it" smile.

"Although I knew this day would come, it happened much sooner than I imagined."

Zhang Wusheng, with his vertical pupils, slightly raised his chin and asked with a cold smile, "I remember, that day... didn't you say you wanted to pursue a better world? What?"

Is the real world not as you wish?

Zhang Wusheng looked at him calmly. His previous timidity and hesitation had completely disappeared from his eyes, as if he had a very clear goal.

He knew very well that there was only one thing he wanted to do next.

"Can you help me?"

"I've probably repeated this many times."

Zhang Wusheng, with his vertical pupils, gently placed his palm on the mirror.

"Click!"

A crack appeared in the smooth mirror, centered on his palm.

“I am you, I am your bestiality, your murderous intent, your violence. You are incomplete without these. The utopian ideal of mutual benefit does not exist, and bribery will eventually fail. Even if you get lucky once or twice and get what you want, if you don't have the ability to hold on to it, the result will still be the same.”

"You want that peaceful and happy grassland..."

"You have to kill everyone who stands in your way!"

Zhang Wusheng asked, "Can you do it?"

“Of course,” Zhang Wusheng, with his vertical pupils, smiled. “The question is, to what extent do you want to take this matter?”

……

“Igor told me that no one will hand all this to us as a matter of course. People like us have to take what we want ourselves.”

"I think……"

"It's today, isn't it?"

"The soldiers who fought alongside me, Lucas, and so many innocent people who have been implicated because of us..."

Zhang Wusheng clenched his five fingers tightly, finally making up his mind, and faced himself in the mirror.

Their figures overlapped.

Their thoughts were united as one.

"I will avenge you for this blood debt—!!"

Zhang Wusheng raised his fist and, together with his reflection in the mirror, slammed it hard against the mirror surface in the same posture and at the same angle!

"Clang————!"

The mirror shattered, countless fragments falling apart, each broken at an angle that seemed so familiar.

"boom-------!!!"

next moment.

A colossal crimson dragon roared out of the mirror, its wings spreading wide enough to cover the entire night sky and the stars above. The dragon was enormous, its body as red as blood, covered in scales, with ten horns on its head and four claws the size of mountains. Only its amber vertical pupils seemed somewhat familiar to Zhang Wusheng.

"roar--------!!!!!"

A hint of pleasure flashed in the dragon's eyes.

With a roar of finally breaking free from its restraints, it stretched its neck and swallowed Zhang Wusheng whole in one gulp.

Chapter 1023: Double Pupils

"Eh?"

In the real world, less than a second had passed when alarm bells suddenly went off in Yinshuang's mind. She could sense danger through her intuition, and so far, she had never been wrong. It had long since become an instinctive reflex, and she instinctively jumped back a few steps. When she realized that the source of the danger she sensed was actually the boy beside her, she was so shocked that she couldn't speak.

For an instant.

In a fleeting moment, Zhang Wusheng's demeanor changed abruptly. It was as if he had brought all the negative emotions he had been carefully hiding, as well as his sinister aura, into the open, giving the impression that he was no longer acting.

What is the difference between Zhang Wusheng in this second and him in the last second?

Under the cover of night, the cat's pupils, faintly glowing, shrank in size due to extreme shock.

In her view, Zhang Wusheng at this moment was no longer a human being, but some kind of "thing" wearing human skin.

If she had to use a metaphor, the image that came to mind was a bottomless whirlpool that suddenly appeared in the middle of the deep sea. At the edge of the whirlpool, one could still see a hint of the ocean's azure blue, but once one's gaze was cast into the depths of the whirlpool, all that could be seen was pure, unadulterated blackness.

If the water is black, then there will be abyss.

Zhang Wusheng, who had transformed into an abyss, was frantically absorbing the spiritual energy around him. In just one breath, the amount injected into his body was almost the limit that Yinshuang could withstand.

What terrified her even more was that despite continuously absorbing spiritual energy at this frequency, Zhang Wusheng's body didn't change in the slightest. It was like a person about to die of thirst, frantically drinking water without regard for the cost, completely unaware that their stomach was about to burst.

"Wu Sheng, you..." For a moment, Yin Shuang was even afraid that he would turn around and let her see a non-human face. "Are you alright?"

Zhang Wusheng slowly turned his body to the side.

Her face and features are still the same as before.

but……

A pair of pupils appeared in his eyes.

In what were originally normal eye sockets, an extra pupil has appeared, growing together with the original pupil.

The extra pupil was the same emerald green as his original pupil. However, the fact that two pupils were superimposed in the same eye socket, a physiological phenomenon inconsistent with normal people, would trigger an instinctive rejection reaction. Yin Shuang was greatly shocked and instinctively took a step back, his hand already unconsciously resting on the silver sword.

Seeing her panicked expression, Zhang Wusheng smiled with relief.

“It’s alright, Lady Silverfrost, I’m not crazy. I feel like I’m… really calm right now… I’ve finally figured out what I should be doing.”

"...Are you sure?" Silverfrost was deeply skeptical.

Just like a drunk person who likes to say they're not drunk, a truly insane person also likes to say they're not insane.

So-called madmen are not necessarily the kind who throw tantrums and scream; some are very calm. She strongly suspects that Zhang Wusheng now belongs to the latter category.

"Could you please keep this for me for a while?"

He handed the cicada-shaped cane he had been using to Yinshuang, and then stretched his right leg, which had been a burden to him for fourteen years.

Like a miracle, his right leg finally made a grand return, becoming a part of his body, and bent as he wished.

"What happened to your right leg... ah!"

All of this happened so fast that it wasn't until Zhang Wusheng demonstrated a physical medical miracle that Yinshuang realized what had actually happened.

"Did the psionic energy work?"

Silver Frost's first reaction was to raise the corners of her mouth and reveal a somewhat gratified smile.

She knew all too well how deeply Zhang Wusheng longed for a body that could move normally, and now that his wish had finally come true, she was genuinely happy for him. But this expression of relief lasted less than a second. Looking at those inhuman double pupils, she couldn't be sure whether this outcome was good or bad.

but……

Like a train that has derailed.

Reality has kidnapped everyone, taking us off the original, predetermined path, from which there is no turning back.

"It seems so." Zhang Wusheng handed her the Cold Cicada Cane, smiling as he said, "Could you keep it for me for a while?"

"I... no longer need it."

----

"Thirty years ago, the Federation had already won the war."

"However, the greedy Southerners, dissatisfied with the status quo, willingly handed over all their land and money to a yellow barbarian, allowing him to gradually grow stronger in the south. Until today, these bastards are finally no longer satisfied with the status quo, and have risen in rebellion, wanting to seize the entire country into their hands!"

"More people will be interrogated, sentenced, and executed until Colonel Sisley believes there is no longer a traitor in this city. I hope you understand that everything we do is for the victory of the war."

"To put it more clearly, it's about protecting the hard work, freedom, and precious traditions that our ancestors poured into building this country. Those who fund the enemy are no different from the enemy themselves; they have betrayed everything this country has given them!"

"If you want to hate, then hate that filthy yellow barbarian family, hate the Red Calamity! If it weren't for his insatiable greed and rebellion, none of this would have happened. Your relatives and loved ones wouldn't be on the gallows. It's all his fault!"

Below the gallows, the families of the deceased had long since cried their eyes out, leaving only hoarse wails, barely able to utter a sound.

Meanwhile, the executioner on the platform was already rambling on and on, his emotions running high to the point of being almost pathological.

The feeling of giving orders in front of others allowed him to briefly escape his dull life, as if he had become something grander.

This was also approved by Roy.

After destroying people's understanding with fear, you have to fill their hearts with something else.

"Fanatical faith" is a very good choice.

Fear and helplessness subconsciously drive people to grasp at any straw they can get their hands on. A persuasive speech is essential; in this way, public hatred towards the Union army can be transferred to hatred towards the enemy, towards the Red Overseer. In fertile ground of hatred, there will naturally be no traitors.

He and his army had mastered this system to perfection. He didn't need to be physically present to direct operations; everything proceeded smoothly and methodically.

……

That's how it should be.

----

"At this very moment, the true culprit behind all this tragedy, the rebel leader, is still hiding somewhere in this city. The tragedy that unfolded tonight is ultimately his doing. And he himself remains like a rat in the sewers, lurking in some dark corner, doing absolutely nothing!"

"Let me make it clear beforehand that the colonel's orders are that this massive crackdown in Morocco will not end until he is found!"

The executioner looked at the horrified crowd who had begun to murmur amongst themselves, and a smile appeared on his lips.

It's almost finished.

He raised his arm and shouted, "For the sake of this city, and for yourselves, I urge you to intensify your efforts to root out the traitors around you, and that hateful rebel leader. Only cowards with no guts would hide behind the people, using their blood to cover their own tracks!"

"On behalf of Colonel Roy Siswell, I offer my utmost contempt to that rebel leader!"

He raised his middle finger at the crowd.

……

next moment.

Just like the "frame skipping" technique in later filmmaking, a crucial frame of action is removed.

To the executioner on the platform, a figure appeared out of nowhere, suddenly standing before him. He arrived so quickly that by the time everyone reacted and realized there was someone else on the platform, the figure had already slowly raised his arms.

"……Eh?"

The middle finger was frozen there, not having had a chance to retract.

Those inhuman double pupils, reflected in his eyes, became the last thing he saw in this world.

……

Zhang Wusheng quickly brought his outstretched arms together and clapped his palms together!

Chapter 1024: The False Man

"boom-------!!!!"

The sky collapsed.

The force of that clap of hands ripped the gallows in half. Before the executioner standing before him could even utter a scream, his clothes, skin, muscles, nerves, and internal organs were all stripped from his body at the same time by the impact of the blow, turning into a literal mass of dust, and his entire body nearly vaporized.

For a brief moment.

All the shock from everyone combined couldn't compare to the shock Zhang Wusheng himself felt.

Ever since he could remember, he had always had a feeling of "not having enough to eat".