Chapter 1769: Torture

Having killed the First Generation President casually, Chen Ling looked at the last survivor of the Alchemy Association’s three-hundred-year history and spoke slowly:

"During the Great Cataclysm, the world was in ruins. It was the Nine Great Bases that couldn't bear to see the suffering and took in you refugees from overseas..."

"And you?"

"You backstabbed the base, detonated nuclear weapons, nearly killed a million people, and caused the Red Dust Domain to become a nuclear wasteland, preventing the Red Dust Sovereign from falling into slumber... If it weren't for you, humanity could have had one more demigod-level combatant, and our situation wouldn't have been so difficult..."

"It is precisely because of rat droppings like you, influencing humanity’s progress either openly or secretly, that we have had to restart time and time again to find the best solution."

The red paper tentacles wrapped around the mixed-race president’s neck tightened further. His head had turned bright red from congestion, and his two eyeballs were about to burst from their sockets!

Under this extreme pressure, he couldn't even speak; he just opened his mouth in pain, greedily begging to inhale even a sliver of air...

But he didn't get air; instead, a hideous little centipede made of stone crawled into his open mouth and burrowed into his body along his esophagus.

Following it was a second, then a third...

Chen Ling’s cold voice sounded again:

"...And you?"

"While you were tearing both worlds apart... you were hiding in this dark underground, waiting for your descendants to slaughter a million people for you, to bring you eternal life?"

"Fine... don't you want eternal life?"

"I will grant it to you."

Under the mixed-race president’s terrified gaze, one hideous poisonous insect after another burrowed into his body. He could clearly feel their mouthparts tearing his mouth, slicing through his esophagus, piercing his stomach, and then burrowing into his other internal organs, churning them frantically.

Under this extreme pain, his body trembled violently. He had no way to express his agony, no way to resist, and even his vocal cords had been bitten through. He could only let it all happen and endure it in silence.

Even Li Laide felt his scalp tingle at the sight of such a torturous process.

The mixed-race president’s pupils trembled frantically.

With a crisp explosion, five poisonous insects burst out from his limbs and head. The mixed-race president’s body split into several pieces in an instant, and hot blood splattered across the ground!

Chen Ling just watched this scene calmly until the entire underground space fell into dead silence.

Chen Ling had killed many people, but this was the first time he had killed in such a brutal way... He wasn't doing it to vent his anger, but for Su Zhiwei, for Yao Qing, for the pioneers of the Red Dust Domain who once said, "May the high towers we build restore the glory of humanity," and for everyone who struggled in both worlds to seek a path of survival for humanity.

Therefore, Chen Ling would never let him off easily. Once the mixed-race president was dead, he slowly opened a large red paper umbrella...

The bewildered ghost, having just flown out of the mixed-race president’s body, was forcibly dragged into the red paper umbrella. Immediately after, a tragic wail sounded from within the umbrella!

This large red paper umbrella, besides storing ghosts, had the specific function of torturing them. The former Calamity of Mockery had relied on these inhumane methods to make all living things tremble in fear... Now, the mixed-race president would become a permanent guest here, feeling pain and despair in endless torment.

This was the "eternal life" Chen Ling had prepared for him.

With this, there were no living souls left in the entire Taishi Bureau, except for Chen Ling and Li Laide. The three hundred years of the Alchemy Association’s foundation were blown away by Chen Ling with a single breath.

In the silent pool of blood, Chen Ling turned slowly, his ruby-like eyes looking at Li Laide.

"...Do you understand now?" he asked calmly.

Li Laide was startled, and after a moment of contemplation, he nodded:

"I understand a little."

"Tell me."

"The Taishi Bureau is ostensibly the Taishi Bureau of the Chengtian Dynasty, but it is actually an organization called the 'Alchemy Association' wearing a shell." Li Laide carefully organized the information he had gathered along the way and answered methodically,

"You came to cause them trouble not only because they attacked Li Shangfeng, but also because they detonated nuclear weapons in the Red Dust Base before the Great Cataclysm... causing very serious consequences."

Chen Ling nodded slightly. Just as he was about to speak, Li Laide, completely immersed in his deduction, continued:

"But what’s strange is that what you just mentioned wasn't the Eight Great Bases... but the Nine Great Bases."

"According to what that president said just now, you should have existed since before the Great Cataclysm. You couldn't have made such a low-level mistake... And you mentioned the 'Eight Sovereigns' before... There is also a statement I’m confused about, which is that you mentioned 'two worlds' both this time and last time..."

"So, it is very likely that you don't belong to our world... but come from another world that is very similar to this one... You also mentioned 'restarting,' which means the two worlds are not parallel, but... sequential?"

"Your world disappeared for some reason, so you restarted the world, and that’s how this world came to be?"

"No wonder you are so strong, yet you have never appeared before, as if you just popped out of thin air..."

Looking at Li Laide, who was lost in thought, a flash of surprise that Chen Ling couldn't hide crossed his eyes.

Chen Ling hadn't answered Li Laide’s questions before because he wanted him to see and hear for himself, to see if he could piece together the cause and effect from the fragmented information... He thought it would be enough for Li Laide to deduce his connection to the Alchemy Association, but he hadn't expected the other party to guess most of the truth about the world.

"...Very good," Chen Ling praised him, which was rare. "You are smarter than I imagined."

"Then, does this count as completing your test mission?" Li Laide asked immediately. "Will there be a reward like last time?"

"What reward do you want?" Chen Ling paused for a moment. "Let’s get this straight, freedom is impossible... So, information, or gold bars?"

Li Laide was silent for a long time before finally making up his mind and speaking in a deep voice:

"I want to join you, join... the [Twilight Society]."

When Li Laide first asked who Chen Ling was, Chen Ling had mentioned that he was the Sixth-Generation Red King of the Twilight Society. Looking at it this way, the Twilight Society was the organization behind Chen Ling and the key to restarting the world.

Chen Ling was stunned.

He looked into Li Laide’s eyes and found that those deep blue pupils were unexpectedly serious... He frowned, lowered his head, and pondered for a long time as well...

Then, he gave an answer Li Laide hadn't expected:

"No."