Chapter 257: I want to be

The Old Speaker had originally been watching from a distance.

At a glance, it looked like Chu Cang was wrapping his entire body around Wen Shengqing. He froze for a moment, almost thinking the two of them had finally… “gone that way” together.

But after a few more seconds, his heart suddenly sank.

Wait!

This wasn’t intimacy; it was clearly murder!

He immediately leapt from the stands and raced toward the center of the battlefield.

However —

It was already too late.

Or rather, even if he had been in time, he could not have stopped it.

There was already a 5th Rank present on the battlefield — Shen Ning.

Yet she could only stand by and watch as everything happened.

—

“Do you remember? When we were kids, we lived in that abandoned church with nineteen other children.”

Chu Cang’s voice was cold and slow.

His neck extended like a noodle, coiling tightly around Wen Shengqing as he whispered into the man’s ear:

“The priest told us stories. He told us about the Bible, the Apocalypse, and how in Eden, Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit.”

“Back then, all the other children were listening to the parts that made their hearts race.”

“Only I was thinking —”

“Since there was only one apple, why did the two of them have to eat it together?”

Wen Shengqing could no longer speak.

Black Tide Water poured incessantly from his throat, leaving him with nothing but a muffled, ragged gasp.

“I used to think it was because they were inseparable and willing to share.”

“Just like what you told me.”

“But later, I finally understood —”

Chu Cang’s voice grew even lower.

“It’s because they knew it was wrong.”

“So they had to drag the other person in to become accomplices.”

“When one person falls into the water, they must drag the other down with them.”

—

Chu Cang’s body coiled tighter and tighter, his form becoming increasingly grotesque.

Xu Chuyao pulled Shen Ning back quietly while signaling to Yu Jing.

While the others were still dazed, they had already quietly retreated from the center of the battlefield.

The atmosphere —

Something was wrong.

Something terrible was about to happen.

—

“When that serpent found me and asked what my deepest desire was…”

“I thought about it for a long time.”

“Was it to stand by your side? To obtain the same status as you?”

“But — I couldn’t forget the past.”

“The pain of these years has been like a maggot in my bones.”

“So, I finally realized —”

Chu Cang’s voice suddenly turned frantic.

“What I truly want to do is grab you and plunge into the abyss together!”

—

“Stop!!”

The Old Speaker finally arrived.

Despite the distance of several kilometers, he had arrived almost instantaneously.

“Enough! That is enough for today!”

“There is no need to keep fighting!”

However —

Chu Cang ignored him.

Wen Shengqing could not speak.

—

“I’ve paid a heavy price for this moment.”

“More than I ever imagined.”

“But I know you.”

“Once I take that first step, I will become a thorn in your side.”

“There is no turning back.”

“So —”

Chu Cang’s mouth suddenly stretched open.

A loud hissing sound erupted in the air.

“You thought you blew off my arm?”

“I gave it up voluntarily.”

“And — it wasn’t just one!”

—

In the next moment, the mutation exploded.

His skull split open, and a pair of massive, pale nuchal scales thrust out from the back of his head. They tore through his jaw, expanding his entire mouth to a terrifying degree.

Then —

In one bite.

He swallowed Wen Shengqing whole.

—

Silence.

Everyone froze.

The creature before them was no longer human.

A terrifying giant serpent was now coiled on the ground, its scales shimmering with a damp, cold light.

The nuchal scales spread out behind its head were as large as windows.

And upon them —

Was a wrinkled human face.

Chu Cang’s face.

His eyes were open.

His mouth was agape.

He let out a cold, chilling hiss.

—

The Old Speaker was the first to react.

He quickly scanned the scene and then rushed toward Xu Chuyao and Shen Ning.

“It’s dangerous here, follow me!”

He reached out his hand.

Countless waves of seawater suddenly surged from the ground.

It was as blue as the ocean, forming a sharp contrast with the dark green Black Tide Water.

The seawater surged and sealed the area —

Completely isolating the center of the battlefield.

*Boom!*

Space was severed.

It was like the boundary between a continent and the ocean.

—

This was his 5th Rank ability:

Exile.

—

The only problem was —

There were still people inside.

“No!!”

“Let us out!”

“Old Speaker! Save us!!”

The screams of Peter Mo and the others echoed from within the isolated zone.

The Old Speaker’s face twitched slightly.

But in the end —

He did not look back.

—

“Chu Cang has chosen a path of evil.”

“He is the first high-level human and high-level variant fusion.”

“He is extremely dangerous.”

Xu Chuyao nodded.

She stole a quick glance at Shen Ning.

—

‘Actually, he isn’t the first.’

—

But she didn’t say it.

Because the Old Speaker was right.

Such an existence —

Was indeed terrifying.

—

Wen Shengqing was dead.

Swallowed by his most trusted friend.

Not a single trace was left behind.

The situation had completely collapsed.

The old boss was gone.

A new — even more horrifying monster — had appeared.

The only upside was:

Only one enemy remained.

—

“I can’t trap it for long.”

The Old Speaker rubbed his forehead.

“He also has a Water Attribute.”

“And… I’m not yet sure what that serpent gave him.”

The situation —

Was extremely dire.

The two pillars:

One dead.

One turned into the disaster itself.

More than half of the 4th Stage Councilors were dead or injured.

—

Who would shoulder all of this?

—

“Old Speaker, Elder Ye.”

Xu Chuyao tugged at his sleeve.

“Let’s withdraw first.”

“He’s only just been born. If we give him time to adapt, he’ll be even harder to deal with.”

But the Old Speaker shook his head.

“We cannot retreat.”

“The longer we wait, the older I will get.”

—

Xu Chuyao looked at him.

Her small face was serious.

“We can deal with it.”

“I have a way.”