Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 209 - 198 VS Chen Long 2

Chapter 209: 198 VS Chen Long 2

At the outset, I had thought it highly unlikely that the girl Lu Chan could cast a spiritual spell on Chen Long. The disparity in speed was too drastic, and her attempt to cast a spell at close range on Chen Long would likely result in her death before she could even begin. However, she turned the tables by taking advantage of Chen Long’s hearing, which was keen enough to pick up sounds across the entire base, and she made him hear her voice imbued with spiritual power, even from such a distance.

Chen Long’s shadowy dust had not reached the area where she was, and in the midst of the Fire Sea, there were no convenient shadows for Chen Long to teleport through. Even if Chen Long really did teleport to her vicinity and then tried to sprint to stop her casting, I would have enough time to react and prevent it. She had probably calculated this perfect opportunity. Despite being devoid of combat strength now; in the past, she was a battle-hardened demon hunter of the achieved level, and her combat awareness was not to be underestimated.

But Chen Long did not hurry to stop her casting, nor did he show any reaction to her spiritual spell.

"Hasn’t been brainwashed?" she recited incredulously the words of the other party, "How could this be possible..."

"A flawless vase cannot be mended because it has never been broken. Your attempt to correct my supposed brainwashed state is futile, for I have always acted on my clear and conscious will," said Chen Long, "Besides... have you never considered a question?"

"...What question?" Lu Chan countered.

"If Ying Lingyun truly possesses the means to effortlessly brainwash even demon hunters of the achieved level, then why would he use it only on me and never on you?" Chen Long asked sharply, "Have you truly not considered it... or do you not wish to think in that direction?"

"..." Lu Chan fell into a lengthy silence.

This was an unexpected setback.

According to my previous conjecture, without relying on overwhelming strength, the simplest way to break through "Portal Armor" was to use techniques that "need not traverse space." "Curse Attacks" are such a method and "Spiritual Attacks" are also applicable. What Lu Chan tried, was to attack on the spiritual plane.

Now that this approach had failed, was it necessary for me to comprehend "Curse Attacks" on the spot?

Furthermore... Chen Long really hadn’t been brainwashed?

Then why did he switch sides to support Ying Lingyun and the Human Bureau? What could he gain from it?

As I rapidly processed these thoughts, Chen Long teleported to me again, his fist emitting a dangerous white glow. This time, his fist made contact with me, resulting in an explosion like a missile hitting its target, which blasted me away.

This was his strongest strike thus far. If his previous attacks were like being punched and created mere bodily pain, this one was like being smashed directly in the torso with a spiked club. If a soul could have bones, mine would have probably been shattered.

And yet, his own fist was also shattered and burst.

Lu Youxun once described the downside to Chen Long’s "All-round Enhancement" superpower to me—the body of the enhanced could overload and explode if the enhancement intensity was not well managed.

But I had never heard that such an overloading explosion could also be used as a self-destructing attack method.

The next moment, his lost fist was restored as if time had rewound.

This was not his own rapid regeneration but repair through the power of restart. Unlike the multitude of obstacles I faced, the power of restart was his ally.

His self-destructive fist attack would probably not be so easy to use in the outside world, even if he could regenerate at high speed, it would surely consume a great deal of his Mana. Moreover, since it was a self-destructive attack that could damage the enemy’s soul, it would likely also cause significant backlash to his own soul.

But with the favor of the power of restart, the cost to both body and soul was nullified, and the same was true for the exhaustion of physical strength. To put it in video game terms, as long as he was within this base, he might as well be carrying an automatically activated "infinite health potion" and "infinite mana potion." And should he sustain damage that instantly depleted all his health, falling into a state of death, he would revive fully restored the next second.

He also had "Portal Armor," which might as well be "unlimited defense," while I hadn’t even figured out a way to inflict any damage on him, and yet he had demonstrated another cheater-like mechanic to me.

Even I, someone who relished challenging difficult levels, couldn’t help but start to wonder if this challenge was a bit too difficult.

"If that’s the case, then why would you betray Luo Mountain... betray me?"

At the same time, Lu Chan, unable to accept it, asked, "The person you used to be could never do such a thing!"

"I have never changed, Lu Chan."

Relying on his "Portal Armor," Chen Long even took the time to answer his old friend’s question while fighting me, "I have always fought to save more people. It was true in the past, and it is true now. I simply discovered that this goal could not be achieved with Luo Mountain, so I switched to the Human Bureau.

"Moreover, if we are truly speaking of betrayal, then it was you who first betrayed our path."

"Betrayer? Me?" The girl, Lu Chan, seemed to doubt her own ears.

"Governance Ideology will turn mortals into slaves, Extraordinaryism will turn mortals into resources. And in the end, the former will also fall towards the latter, the outcome is the same. You clearly saw this point, yet you’re still talking about believing in the path of internal change for Luo Mountain... Are you serious?" Chen Long said in a deep voice, "No, you’re just weak, just avoiding the issue—

"We all once swore to fight for the sake of more people, yet compared to the majority who should be saved, you actually care more about a few people you know. Don’t be in a hurry to deny it, if you’re given a chance to sacrifice the people you’re familiar with to save countless strangers, can you do it? You can’t, Lu Chan.

"That’s why you can’t betray your position as a demon hunter; this is your weakness.

"The moment you made that choice, you were no longer a comrade of mine."

Whether or not being unable to sacrifice the few known ones to save the faceless many is considered weakness, I think there’s some merit in what he said—based on the future analyses Lu Chan had done for me before, "the position of a demon hunter" and the "heroic stand" willing to save the general populace indeed contradict each other.

Given that Chen Long, like the past Lu Youxun, has the benevolence to save the masses, it seems understandable that he would choose to stand opposite the demon hunters.

The fact that spiritual magic is ineffective is plain to see, and all the girl Lu Chan can do is digest and accept his words before asking, "...And what about you? To prove you can give up the few around you, you sold your own friend to the Human Bureau?"

Chen Long said coldly, "Demon hunters of the achieved level Evil aren’t easy to capture. The Human Bureau needed the final piece of the puzzle to complete the ’Transformation Skill’; and here was a ’traitor’ who trusted me one hundred percent, there’s no reason to let that go, is there?"

Lu Chan clenched her fists tightly, seemingly unable to control her emotions. I could vaguely feel the tumultuous thoughts boiling in her heart and temporarily spoke the words that followed for her.

"Is the Human Bureau really a better choice than Luo Mountain?" I said, "Using demon hunters for inhumane experiments can still be argued since demon hunters are enemies; but now you don’t even spare ordinary people, and externally create numerous monsters that threaten social safety, is this the justice you’re pursuing?"

"My body was personally transformed by Ying Lingyun; it contains his backdoor, which currently prevents me from resisting him and stopping some of the Human Bureau’s extreme actions," Chen Long said, "Eventually, I’ll make Ying Lingyun pay a bloody price; and as for the high ranks of the Human Bureau who want to monopolize the outcomes and become another Luo Mountain—I won’t let a single one go.

"But I don’t believe that the current Human Bureau is completely wrong. To catch up with the gigantic Luo Mountain, we can’t only choose clean methods. The bloodshed now is for the world of the future—

"And when it’s all done, I naturally won’t have the face to continue living. I’ll expose my crimes to the world, accept the judgment due and death.

"That’s my resolution. Naïve people like Lu Chan are undoubtedly unable to comprehend me."

"Yeah, I won’t understand... No cause is worth sacrificing one’s conscience for."

Finally, Lu Chan became calm. She said, "—Maybe you’ve never changed at all, Chen Long; it was just the past me who misjudged you. Now that the misunderstanding is cleared, it turns out you’re just a deluded madman."

It seemed she had completely lost hope in Chen Long.

Yet I felt that I was finally seeing the true colors of Chen Long, while at the same time, I couldn’t help but think differently.

Chen Long’s starting point seemed admirable, but for that desire, he was willing to sacrifice even friends who once shared his ideals.

Not for personal gain, not for feelings, but for an obsession in his heart, he was crazed to this extent.

I could not come to like him, or empathize with him, and by no means did I want to become someone like him. However, on the other hand, I saw a twisted brilliance in him that I could never cross in the normal course of life.

The Undying Monster and the Shadow Swapping Monster who died at my hands, although they possessed incredible powers, their final confessions were filled with banal desires.

Seeking revenge on those who looked down on them, wanting to do as they pleased with power, aiming for higher status... It’s not that common desires are bad, but just this alone, I inevitably felt they were similar to me, just ordinary people who happened to gain great powers by chance. No matter how fanciful their battles against me were, they could not really take me to another world.

Chen Long, however, was different. Even if his wish is what Lu Chan called "self-righteous," it’s definitely not the desire of the common folk.

Now he seemed to shine in my eyes.

He was undoubtedly a man living in a realm of madness, distinct from the ordinary world, and now I was on the same stage as him, communicating and grappling with him. Thus, without a doubt, I had also stepped out of the ordinary world and become a part of this bizarre Devil Realm.

And now, I was to become the executioner in his story, to draw the final period to his saga.

"Whatever you say. In any case, your plot has failed, spiritual magic is useless on me. Zhuang Cheng, you can’t touch me, you’re doomed to lose..."

Chen Long stopped mid-sentence, then with alertness and confusion, asked, "...Why are you laughing?"

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