Wang drifted through the Sui-memory — wandering, for a long, long time.
Amidst the endless turbulence, he felt a faint gravitational pull, and all at once, understanding crystallized in his mind.
This was the doing of that nightmare lurking within the Sui-memory.
At this point, it hardly seemed worth being surprised about.
The voices in his ears seemed to grow clearer and clearer — at times becoming Jie's voice, at times his eldest brother's — until, gradually, they deepened and grew rougher, until they sounded almost like his own.
The first chess piece was slowly going dark.
Even in a single moment of daze, Wang felt himself nearly slip, nearly tumble into that endless chaos, into yet another layer of memory.
"Pull yourself together, will you?"
But in the next instant, a gentle feminine voice seemed to sound right beside his ear, scattering the haze, and Wang's eyes cleared in an instant.
As if jolted awake by some mysterious force.
"Someone is trying to influence you. But you should try to trust your own heart — it will not lose its way so easily."
The gentle voice seemed slightly unaccustomed to delivering that kind of line. The moment it finished speaking, it dissolved away — and yet Wang's eyes had already turned clear.
Was that, just now, also help provided by Little Thirteen?
The thought struck him, and Wang let out a soft, involuntary laugh. Somehow, his confidence swelled considerably.
So he stepped forward again.
Meanwhile, within the river, Carmen withdrew her hands, glanced at Wang where he moved through the Sui-memory, and returned her focus to the fine-grained adjustments she was managing in every other direction.
At the same time, she once again began silently cursing a certain capitalist dog in her heart.
Stealing her daughter wasn't enough — once he'd dragged her into this, he was truly squeezing out every last drop of surplus value by any means necessary!
Even actual capitalists would be moved to tears!
But things had already come this far. No matter how many grievances she had, walking off the job now was out of the question. Besides, Carmen actually got along with Jie quite well.
No — more accurately, most of the people in the group had a pretty good impression of Jie.
Fine. Consider it feeding your heart to some capitalist's dog just to hear it bark. This trip is to help Jie.
Carmen let out a silent sigh in her heart. Then, once more, she extended her hand — touching the stars scattered across the infinite star-curtain — and layered protection upon protection over Wang.
It was as though some kind of footing had been placed beneath Wang's feet, and the turbulence around him seemed to ease.
His gaze sharpened and steadied. Then he recalled the words Anthony had said to him before he set out.
"Second Brother, keep this in mind. Your task on this trip — the key point — is to draw out the nightmare inside the Sui-memory."
"You should have encountered it before. Either way, draw it out. After that, leave the rest to us and Elder Brother."
That was the mission Anthony had given him.
Then now — it was time to get moving.
Wang tightened his grip on the small shrine Anthony had forged, which hung at his waist, exhaled slowly, and continued forward in long, sweeping strides — until he was simply ignoring the chaotic history around him, even the traces of the Sui that lingered within it.
And the White Piece, hidden in the shadows, was utterly baffled.
What — why?
No, no, no. The Sui-memory is not supposed to work like this!
You were supposed to wander into the chaotic memories, slog through the plotlines, barely make it through, then grind your way through the next layer of memories.
And then crawl out half-dead. That's when I appear before you — beaten, exhausted, fresh off your ordeal — mock you, and devour you whole!
You just hit SKIP on every single cutscene! The Sui-memory doesn't work like this! I refuse to accept this!
But whether he accepted it or not, the fact remained: Wang was walking calmly through the Sui-memory as if out for a stroll.
The White Piece's brow furrowed deeply. He watched the scene unfold. After a long, brooding silence, he tentatively reached out — and pushed harder.
As if in a last desperate gamble. As if he simply had to drag Wang into those chaotic memories, no matter what.
But the moment that force touched Wang, before it could even begin to take effect, Wang detected it with sharp and immediate awareness.
The White Piece couldn't even begin to figure out how he'd done it.
"Are you not going to come out and talk?"
Wang's voice was low and steady as he spoke, turning to face the direction where the White Piece was hiding, his other hand still gripping the shrine at his waist.
By this point, Wang himself had also figured out what was going on.
Within the Sui-memory, the nightmare operated in secret — calculating, orchestrating, pulling the strings of the chess board. What it relied on was interference with consciousness — or rather, with the soul.
In truth, that much was hardly surprising.
But here was the problem: you actually dared to play games with souls?
In a straight head-to-head fight, maybe Anthony would have felt a bit apprehensive. But if you were going to pull petty little tricks that made no sense whatsoever — then it was time to show you what Artificer Technology was really made of.
Just like right now.
The small shrine fastened at Wang's waist was, of course, an Artificer mastercraft.
It incorporated Anthony's understanding of the Sacrificial Society and the Artificer's Body, and carried the effect of protecting the soul — but its most critical feature was that, in a certain sense, it was a standalone component split off from the Artificer's Body · Stygian King series.
It had inherited the Stygian King's formidable soul-amplification capability, and could be described as a pair of eyes — capable of seeing through any incoming soul-based attack.
So the moment the shrine issued its warning, the White Piece — who had been hiding all along — was exposed.
With Wang's quiet, low-voiced challenge, the White Piece fell silent.
Instinct told him the situation was beginning to slip outside the boundaries of his control.
A plan that has come unmoored is no longer a plan — it can become a catastrophe at any moment.
But the problem was: Wang, who was now walking toward him at a steady pace, looked for all the world like a walking catastrophe himself.
"If you won't come to me, then I'll come to you."
Wang said it mildly, taking several steps forward. The White Piece ground his teeth.
And so, finally, with no more room to stall, he had no choice but to reveal himself from within the Sui-memory.
In an instant, the endless turbulence around them slowly ground to a halt. Behind the White Piece, the vast body of the Sui manifested. The White Piece stood before the chess board, gazing down with imperious contempt.
Being forced to show himself, unable to play the patient schemer's game anymore — and yet, to be perfectly honest, the White Piece still felt that the advantage was firmly on his side.
In fact, that advantage had never left him from the very beginning.
Yes, he hadn't been able to use those chaotic historical memories to whittle Wang down — but by the same token, he himself hadn't expended any power either.
Dealing with Wang now should still be perfectly easy...
Thinking thus, the White Piece looked toward Wang — and yet, for some inexplicable reason, a faint unease stirred in his chest.
You tell me — why would he feel that way? The other side walked in completely alone, without any preparation whatsoever. So why is he feeling this?
And yet, baseless as it was, a powerful sense of dread gripped him from the inside out.
"So. You finally showed yourself."
But Wang paid none of that any mind. He simply looked at the White Piece, furrowed his brow as though facing a formidable enemy, and spoke in a low voice.
"I had thought eliminating you would be a task for sixty years from now."
Wang's voice was grave. The White Piece said nothing in reply — he focused on maintaining his connection to the Sui body at his back, and gradually steadied himself.
No. There's nothing to fear.
Here, my authority is at its absolute peak.
Who could possibly stand against me in this place?
"Wang — you will regret the choice you have made today."
The White Piece looked at Wang, and then, abruptly, said: "Once before, your stubbornness cost a brother or sister their life. And here you are again."
"Other than futile effort, what else could you possibly reap?"
He sneered — that mocking curl of the lips. "Have you finally decided to offer yourself up?"
"The one who died last time — it should have been—"
"Shut your mouth!"
Wang's voice cracked like a whip, his expression turning razor-sharp in an instant. The White Piece's pupils contracted — and in that same instant, he struck.
Devourment still required the consumption of the opponent, but that was a minor concern.
Just get that tedious step done in the middle of the fight!
So, under the White Piece's close and intent gaze, Wang's expression shifted — seeming, perhaps, to be caught off guard by the surprise attack...?
For some reason, the White Piece felt that the look on Wang's face was something like... a relaxed smile.
"He finally took the bait."
And then, accompanied by a leisurely sigh from Wang —
The White Piece's pupils snapped to pinpoints. He instinctively tried to pull back and retreat — but he couldn't move a single inch.
There was only the shrine at Wang's waist, from which a soul appeared, glancing back with curious eyes — a smile that was and wasn't quite a smile — directed straight at the White Piece before it.
Then, supported by Soul Splitting, the fishing line of Dimensional Fishing and a phase-transit engine delivered a Stand directly into the Sui-memory.
It landed — right on the shrine at Wang's waist.
And at that moment, it turned toward the White Piece — and broke into a grin:
"Hello there — neighborhood goodwill delivery!"
With that warmly enthusiastic greeting, it flung open the front door of its own house.
In that instant, the White Piece — who had been planning to use his authority to crush the opponent — felt, instead, the terror of staring death in the face.
In that soul manifesting before him, he watched in horror as the other's authority surged to infinite heights in a single moment — even shielding Wang entirely.
Then the authority revealed itself in full.
Vivid, colorful river-water began to surge — roaring and crashing toward the White Piece's soul like a living storm.
The Primordial River bared its savage fangs at the White Piece who had tried to use authority as a weapon, gnashing and thirsting, eagerly waiting for this morsel to leap into its bowl.
In that instant, the White Piece went cold with terror. In almost the same breath, he abandoned every single attack and retreated in alarm toward the Sui body behind him.
Then he stood there, staring at Wang and Anthony ahead of him, his heart still hammering.
"What's wrong? Why did you suddenly move so far back?"
Anthony asked with what seemed to be genuine curiosity: "Not interested?"
A little kid from the family comes to pay New Year's respects, and not only do you not give them a gift — you turn around and sneak off to your room.
You must have a lot of very nice little figurines in there, huh?
Come on, be good. Let me have a look.
It's the New Year. The kid's still young. They came all this way.
And so Anthony raised his head and looked at the vast Sui body behind the White Piece, making no effort at all to conceal the wonder and longing in his eyes.
What an extraordinary natural treasure.
He did a quick mental calculation and concluded that this thing and he were destined for each other.
But the White Piece only felt horror. In this moment, he strained with everything he had to reconnect with the Sui body — and only barely managed to steady himself slightly.
"There's one point you got wrong just now. This time, I am not alone."
Wang said abruptly, then swept a glance to Anthony at his side, and continued in an unhurried tone:
"The one you have to face — is not only me."
"And so what?"
On instinct, the White Piece let out a cold laugh, as if he still refused to believe it: "Even if there are more of you, it just means a bit more trouble to deal with. That's all."
"That youngster beside you — wherever he came from — may be a thorny problem, but he doesn't look all that powerful, does he?"
"He's just prickly. Fine. I simply won't use the same approach as before. What exactly do you think you can do to me?!"
He laughed coldly, still convinced: the advantage is mine.
Until Wang spoke with a puzzled look, accompanied by a sigh:
"No — I think you've misunderstood something."
He raised his head and looked at the White Piece ahead, speaking plainly:
"The one who was ever going to deal with you — was never me, or him."
"From the moment you tried to contact the Sui body, to draw power from it, to attempt to awaken — my entire task was already completely finished."
There was no longer any point in keeping secrets.
Because by this point — it was safe to say that all the work had been done.
The net had been cast. Every escape route sealed.
And for the thing caught within the net, only one question remained.
Our cooldowns are all done. You're still not running. What are you waiting for?
Your funeral?
And so, from that moment, the color drained from the White Piece's face.
He felt the connection between himself and the Sui body sever almost immediately — and then his entire consciousness shook with violent force.
Like he'd taken a lethal punch to the face. Without warning, he couldn't even hold his consciousness steady. But the other side didn't stop — and drove in another punch.
Then, in the next moment, the White Piece saw it.
The sky split open.
Through the crack in the heavens, a figure stood holding a sword in one hand, an aureate halo glowing at his back, eyes fierce and filled with killing intent.
He stood there. Then he looked down — and spotted the White Piece in the arena below.
And the White Piece could only stare, utterly dumbstruck.
Could someone please tell him — what the hell was this now?!
"Thanks for the assist, Little Thirteen — finally found my way in."
And then, from midair, Chongyue · Shuo — Personality Overlay mode — let out a great shout. Then he lowered his gaze to the White Piece below.
And suddenly, softly, laughed.
"You know, this state — it really does feel familiar. It's been such a long time since I've had power this full, even overflowing a little."
"And yet not even the slightest sign of losing control. How remarkable."
Chongyue marveled at that, then drew his sword, battle-spirit blazing:
"Come!"
Leaving only the White Piece, standing there with every circuit in his brain completely fried.
He was stuck — damned if he acted, damned if he didn't.
What in the world was this whole setup even for?!
And so, at last, he understood what Wang had meant with those earlier words.
So you were just the damn tour guide all along. The one actually here to fight me is that overtuned monstrosity in front?!
The White Piece took a slow, deep breath. There was no time for any further deliberation. He simply strained with everything he had, wondering if there was any possible way to get back in contact with the Sui body.
At least then he'd have the power to fight — no, to run.
But the instant that thought surfaced, the color fell from his face.
The connection to the Sui body — had been severed.
In a single instant every trace of power collapsed. He discovered in horror that his link to the Sui body had been completely and utterly cut off.
No matter how desperately he tried, he could not get through.
He spun around in furious disbelief — and there he saw Anthony, standing beside the Sui body, holding two electrical cables in each hand, looking up at him with an expression of total bewilderment and wounded innocence.
Then Anthony blinked and spoke, as if genuinely confused:
"Hm? Why are you looking at me? You two keep going — I'm just here to watch."
"Ah, don't mind me at all! You two keep fighting — I'm just, you know, tinkering. Just a little touch. Just one little touch."
He said it with a mocking smirk, and then, in the rumbling roar of the Origin Furnace, pressed the two cables together.
In that instant, the lockdown was complete.
Outside Sui Mausoleum, Ji watched the enormous machine standing before her — the one connected directly into the Mausoleum — and after a moment, couldn't help but shake her head.
Meanwhile, Nian and Yi had already started cheering with delight.
"It lit up! It lit up!"
Gazing at the colossal machine before them, they let out an instinctive, heartfelt cry of admiration for mechanical ingenuity.
And sent their message:
"Second Brother, Little Thirteen! Everything's fine on our end — activation complete!"
"The rest is up to you!"
And so, at this moment, the power of the Artificer and the technology of Lobotomy Corporation were brought to bear upon the Sui Mausoleum.
Drawing from the blueprint of the Reverse-Kabbalah Suppressor, supplemented by the Sui family's assistance and a few eccentric little flourishes of Artificer ingenuity — Anthony had cobbled together the enormous machine before them.
Its name: The Artificer's Cage.
Its effect, put simply: directly suppress the designated target to its absolute weakest state.
Though its activation depended entirely on the authority of the Sui family — and was completely unworkable without them — that did not in any way diminish the device's effectiveness.
Under the deductions of three proxy agents, it was more than sufficient to completely sever all connections between the Sui body and the outside world, plunging the thing into a full "containment" state.
Once contained, it was no longer the White Piece's property.
Keep your hands off. This is all mine now. Touch it and I'm charging you.
And the White Piece, watching all of this, felt the very real urge to cough up blood.
But at the same time, Chongyue's sword was now right in his face — and the pressure crashing down upon him felt like an avalanche.
He couldn't help but start calculating in his head.
What in the world could he possibly do to survive this situation?
And so, instinct moved faster than thought. In that moment, the White Piece did what every living thing does when cornered.
He tried, by any means possible, with everything he had — to turn around and run.
But in the next instant, it was as if a gentle wind stirred.
Within the chaotic history of the Sui-memory, something like a drop of wine seemed to fall into it — and in an instant, the entire Sui-memory once again erupted into chaos.
Then came the sound of music — settling the tone like a proclamation written in gold and jade.
Then a single seed. Then a scroll of paintings.
Until finally, a bowl of thick, rich soup was poured in — all of it, into the Sui-memory that had already descended once more into turmoil.
And so, everything in this moment arrived at something that felt like a final, definitive point.
At the far end of the Sui-memory, deep within the endless chaotic history, with Ling as its core, a great dream once again unfurled.
With the joining of so many proxy agents, it had already become the grandest dreamscape within the entire Sui-memory — so vast it seemed on the verge of swallowing all the other chaotic histories whole.
At this moment, when no one was permitted to touch the Sui body — when all contact with the contained Sui body had been cut off — Anthony seemed to be completely unaffected.
And so there was one troublemaker who stirred and stirred, pouring everything he had into nurturing the birth of this dream and into Ling's role within it.
And then his face broke into the expression of a man witnessing a bumper harvest.
This was the tactic that Anthony and the others had worked out with the other Sui family proxy agents from the very beginning.
To avoid missing anything, or allowing any accidents — including the salvage work after the battle — they needed to weave a dream.
As for the difficulty of weaving this dream — Anthony could only say: piece of cake.
Setting aside the fact that Ling herself was a proxy agent who specialized in exactly this — the moment the words "soul manipulation" were mentioned, a certain Artificer caught the scent and came running.
Oh, this has something to do with me too?
Since the White Piece had lost his connection to the Sui body, he was now, in the face of all of this, completely at the mercy of others.
The fish is on the chopping block, and the cleaver is in our hands.
So all he could do was watch helplessly as, mid-flight, the world around him suddenly transformed.
Like falling into yet another grand dream within an already vast dream. He spun around sharply — and saw the green grass around him.
And there in the middle of that green field, Chongyue, already raising an eyebrow.
In this dream that resembled a gladiatorial arena, the rest of the Sui family sat outside the perimeter — watching as this world-shaking duel drew toward its close.
And Chongyue, bearing the weight of his family's expectations on his back, finally broke into a smile.
"Not bad. This is rather refreshing — no more chasing some slippery eel of a target. About time."
He seemed to exhale with something like satisfaction. Then his gaze locked onto the White Piece, and he raised the blade in his hand:
"Now — where exactly do you think you're running to?!"
"Go, Elder Brother!"
From the sidelines, a certain carefree individual bellowed his support for Chongyue at the top of his lungs. Chongyue, even in the thick of it, found a moment to glance back at Little Thirteen.
And sent him a look of acknowledgment.
Truly — it had been too long since he'd had a fight this satisfying.
That he could fight with such uninhibited exhilaration right now — there was no denying that Anthony had played a decisive role in making it possible.
And just thinking about the battle ahead against the White Piece — Chongyue felt something like genuine anticipation rising in his chest.
As luck would have it — there were some insights in the martial path that he had finally found an opportunity to put to use.
Because he had abandoned the proxy body and embraced a human form, there were countless martial insights of Chongyue's that had never been usable in actual combat.
But now, thanks to Little Thirteen, that problem was gone.
And his thanks to the White Piece for his generous contribution!
All he could say was: the White Piece had truly been squeezed dry. Not a drop wasted.
And so, under the White Piece's terrified gaze, Chongyue lowered his eyes — and then, in a quiet voice, asked:
"So then — are you ready?"
And thus, as if extending one final scrap of mercy, he issued to the White Piece a solemn and measured declaration.
Ready or not — the outcome is the same.
I'm coming.
And so, from that moment, he raised the blade in his hand.
And brought it down — straight toward the White Piece.
____
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