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Chapter 98 - Ninety-Seven: "Her Twelve Years

Chapter 98: Chapter Ninety-Seven: "Her Twelve Years

The barrage understood the situation:

"Damn! Everyone’s targeting Ming’an, how is this fair?"

"If it were those trash players it would be fine, but all those who came are strong, this beatdown is too much..."

"What? Ming’an can’t hold his own? I was waiting for him to fight back!"

"There’s a post on the forum analyzing the Number One Player occupation, this occupation isn’t suited for face-to-face battle with multiple people... unbeatable in one-on-one or survival, but Shen Xue clearly came prepared..."

"This is really showing no mercy, especially Lv Shu... I never dreamed Lv Shu would start fighting with Su Ming’an."

"Here comes the multiplayer combat you wanted."

"Da meh da meh! This isn’t the future I wanted! Ya Mie Die!"

"..."

Su Ming’an never thought he would encounter such a scenario.

Wang Xingkong and Yang Changxu were manageable, but Lv Shu was truly a disaster. Being just an ordinary university student, he had no combat knowledge. Faced with Lv Shu, who had allocated all his points into direct combat, it was really hard to cope.

High Mentality Points allowed him to catch the Mantis’s fast movements, but his body couldn’t keep up. His clone blocked Wang Xingkong and Yang Changxu, while he had to deal directly with the fierce Lv Shu.

Xiao Xiao didn’t seem too deeply controlled and for some reason his attacks seemed somewhat restrained... of course, that might also be because he wasn’t good at attacking in the first place.

With a "swoosh," the Mantis grazed the place where he had been standing, and he was forced to use Spatial Displacement for the second time.

...Su Ming’an’s effective method of attack was annihilation.

But using annihilation would take a person’s life.

If the opponent was Lv Shu...

"Su Ming’an," Lv Shu said, "where’s the egg I gave you earlier?"

Su Ming’an remembered the egg Lv Shu had given him before the end of First World, but it seemed like it had never hatched...

"...It never hatched?" Lv Shu was also stunned, "Didn’t you smash it?"

"Smash it?" Su Ming’an dodged while confirming, "Smash the egg?"

"Yeah, smash it and it’ll come out," Lv Shu said as if it was obvious.

Smashing an unhatched egg to bring the creature inside to life... such an unusual hatching method could only be thought of by Lv Shu.

Su Ming’an immediately took it out of his backpack and smashed it on the ground!

"Crack—!"

A shadow flashed past.

"[(Pet egg) has hatched]

[The type of born creature is random, and its innate growth is random, please purchase evolution materials from the store to further evolve]

[You have received the (Battle Companion: Hei Yu Flame Tail Cat)]

[Hei Yu Flame Tail Cat (Growth: Blue) (Unnamed)

Level: lv.1

HP: 400

MP: 120

Type: Physical Type, Speed Type

Talent Skill: Claw Strike (Consumes 40 Mana): Launches a tearing attack forward, causing (Basic Damage) 30+10*Level damage, and continues to cause bleeding.

[Combat Power: 590 + 30]

...

The black cat was small, with a tail like a floating flame of blood. The moment it sprung from the egg, it confronted the mantis’s blade-like forelimbs.

With a "snap," a claw strike was unleashed, and the mantis was knocked back along the path it had rushed from.

Lu Shu was taken aback; his Little Bi had an agility of 30 points, which was high, although its strength value was not very high. But being smacked back by a cat’s claw strike was too much...

"Awoo!" The Flame Tail Cat cried out like a wolf and licked its paw—it had a visible cut on it.

Although it had knocked the mantis back, it had been fiercely scraped by the blade, and because of the clear level suppression, its HP had directly dropped by more than 300 points.

With a "swoosh," Xiao Xiao’s beam came from the side, almost completely enveloping the black cat’s form.

...This wouldn’t work. Su Ming’an watched this scene.

Unless he made a killing move, this internal strife would not end, and surely the instance wasn’t going to make him kill all his teammates to pass perfectly. There had to be another way.

He looked at Shen Xue, who was standing in a corner, well-protected by Wang Zhenzhen’s light shield. In a moment, he channeled all 700 MP into Spatial Vibration, then suddenly activated the skill!

An instantaneous tremor erupted next to Wang Zhenzhen and Shen Xue, like a localized earthquake. Wang Zhenzhen was directly knocked unconscious, and the pale light shield finally disappeared.

"Swoosh!"

The next moment, the clone’s long sword thrust out, aimed directly at Shen Xue!

Even Shen Xue herself had not expected Wang Zhenzhen to suddenly faint; she was still watching Su Ming’an desperately dodging left and right, not anticipating the cold sword suddenly thrusting toward her.

Her previously confident face showed surprise and fear for the first time.

"Aaaaah!" she screamed, hastily retreating back, her face pale with fright, but the clone showed no mercy, its sword accurately targeting her heart!

"Swoosh!"

Suddenly, a strong hand swiftly grabbed Shen Xue’s sword and then shielded her behind him!

Blood splattered on Shen Xue’s face, and a moment of astonishment and loss appeared in her eyes.

The tall man, though still bound with threads, seemed to have gained his own consciousness beyond control, shielding Shen Xue behind himself.

The long sword pierced through his body, and blood "drip-dropped" down the blood-stained blade onto the floor.

The clone was a bit dazed; he hadn’t expected the usually lifeless Teacher Shen to suddenly step in front of Shen Xue, as if throwing his life away to protect her.

"Dad... Dad?" Shen Xue whispered faintly through her parted lips. The next moment, the mountain-like figure collapsed in front of her.

Shen Zhuo’s movements were mechanical; his eyes, long since turned into glass beads, still showed a dead calm, but his hand gently, instinctively, touched Shen Xue’s cheek.

His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but could only produce a "squeaky" mechanical sound. In the end, his shiny glass eyes fully reflected Shen Xue’s figure, then closed.

"..." A deep perplexity appeared in Shen Xue’s eyes: "...No, he was clearly already dead, completely under my control, how could he suddenly break free..."

"Because he is a... ’Artisan’." The clone withdrew the long sword, casting a line of blood on the ground: "...For now, I acknowledge Shen Zhuo’s wish, although temporarily. He achieved a moment of consciousness control after his death, moving forward one step with the will he had during his lifetime—even if it was just a momentary ’Eternal’. At least he made it, and I respect that for this."

...Shen Zhuo’s wish was that the school’s students would still exist after death and achieve ’Eternity’.

But he failed; the school’s students could only mechanically repeat their actions each day. They couldn’t act with ’eternal will’ or possess ’immortal souls’.

Shen Xue was one of his experiments.

His most perfect creation.

He experimented on other students before daring to take the final step on his own daughter—this step he succeeded, offering Shen Xue permanent existence and her own will.

After his death, Shen Xue also transformed him into such a being... It seemed a complete failure; Shen Zhuo even struggled to act autonomously, resembling a walking corpse, not as resilient as previous, dying from a single sword strike.

But in the end, he gained a moment of self-awareness and stepped forward to block a fatal blow for his daughter.

In a sense, both father and daughter had completed the work named "Eternal," whether it was everlasting or just a moment.

...But no matter what, using innocent students as experiments, that kind of evil could never be washed away.

[Perfect Pass·Hidden Line·Glorious Line: Completion 55%]

"Admiration is but a moment, but as for now," Cloning thrust forward with a sword: "...you may go die."

Shen Xue looked up.

Her clenched fist loosened, and then, she fiercely pulled over the unconscious body of Wang Zhenzhen, shielding herself with it.

"—If you dare to strike, just try it!" Her expression somewhat collapsed, apparently driven beyond calm reasoning by Shen Zhuo’s actions.

Her fingers turned pale from clenching, and her entire person seemed entirely pressed against the unconscious Wang Zhenzhen, back against the corner wall, not leaving a gap, the silk threads in her hand twitching, with Wang Xingkong and Yang Changxu quickly rushing over from behind.

...There was no time to hesitate.

But, if Shen Xue were to be killed, it would inevitably mean stabbing through Wang Zhenzhen’s body as well.

Cloning looked over to Su Ming’an, who was busy fighting Lv Shu.

"Strike." Su Ming’an, who was busy, glanced in that direction and commanded directly.

The barrage started:

[You’re heartless! You’re hypocritical!]

[How come you dodge left and right when facing Lv Shu, brother, but just "strike" when it’s Wang Zhenzhen?]

[Wow, Ming’an is really being double standard now, haven’t you guys figured it out yet?]

[Pressed by circumstance, Ming’an had no choice...]

[Yeah, Lv Shu is obviously much more useful than Wang Zhenzhen...]

[Hey, hey, hey! How come your thought process has been assimilated too! Since when did it become about who is more important, didn’t we agree that everyone can shine?]

[...]

Having received the command, Cloning immediately thrust downward.

Shen Xue’s eyes shifted slightly, and the next moment, she gritted her teeth, stirring something in her hand—

"—Wait!"

A clear female voice came from the side, followed swiftly by a sword that thrust at an incredibly tricky angle, instantly deflecting Cloning’s strike.

It was Shen Yue, holding a thin sword in her hand, she deflected Cloning’s attack almost instantly.

Cloning immediately struck mercilessly towards her, but despite being vastly outmatched in attribute points, the delicate girl merely holding a thin sword, blocked all his attacks in an impossible manner, her swordplay exquisitely incredible.

The two swords contacted, emitting a crisp sound, Cloning’s heightened attributes under the "Luminous" state were extremely high, yet he still couldn’t overpower her swordsmanship with his strength.

That sword, seemingly ordinary and even a bit like it was purely for show, gave a feeling of being impenetrably powerless when countered.

...Immaculate.

All the audience recognized the opponent—simply because of her swordsmanship.

"Yuanyuan...?" Lv Shu looked over, having studied the recordings of Su Ming’an’s livestreams, knowing this girl who had died for him early in the First World.

"You cannot kill her, not now at least." Shen Yue spoke while holding the sword.

"Hold on." Su Ming’an signaled Cloning to stop.

Because Shen Xue made no move, everyone regained control over their bodies.

"Do you see the silk threads on your bodies?" Shen Yue said, "Shen Xue can manipulate your actions and can strangle you instantly. If you insist on killing her, she will fight to the death and kill everyone present."

Cold sweat appeared on Lv Shu’s back; he looked at the silk threads entwined around his body, realizing for the first time how close he was to death.

"Why hasn’t she done this earlier?" Xiao Xiao asked, looking very nervous as if he cared greatly about his own life and death.

"Because her silk threads are also entwined around others..." Shen Yue glanced at Shen Zhuo lying on the ground, and—likewise entwined in silk threads, Shen Xue herself.

Cloning warily looked at the young girl hidden behind Wang Zhenzhen’s body, while the blood-stained face of Shen Xue revealed a sinister smile to him.

"...you cannot kill me," she said softly. "Once you fail to kill me, I will gradually, bit by bit... kill all of you—including you, Shen Yue. Even though you saved me, it can’t change the fact that you were once so close to Ming’an. Someone like you has survived by my side for twelve years, which is disgusting... If it weren’t for Dad always protecting you, you would have been strangled by me long ago."

Shen Yue looked at her calmly, making no move.

The barrage suddenly exploded:

[It’s confirmed! It really is Yuanyuan!]

[This... sorry everyone, I’m going to leave to wipe my tears away...]

[Damn, I’m watching the live broadcast in a coffee shop, and the guy next to me just burst into tears, even shouting something about wanting such a wife... Scared me to death]

[Yuanyuan is so strong! She can fight on par with a Cloning whose physical attributes have exploded, despite being merely a mortal, and she’s on the defensive side too, that’s too powerful...]

[Yuanyuan’s swordsmanship has always been top-notch... those who have seen Ming’an’s First World broadcasts know that if she hadn’t died, she would probably be at the top of the rankings by now...]

[This is a happy reunion! I declare Yuanyuan is the official match, she’s way stronger than Shen Xue, that skin-peeling psycho!]

[I noticed that Yuanyuan’s eyes are normal... Has she not been modified? Did Shen Zhuo spare her?]

[Twelve years... a girl’s entire youth, no wonder she looks less innocent than before, it must be the years she spent in this Underworld school that changed her... Damn the organizers, I’ve never hated these guys as much as I do now!]

[... ]

"...you waited for me for twelve years?" Su Ming’an asked.

Shen Yue looked at him, emotions swirling in her eyes as if crushed together.

"I never waited for you," she said. "You succeeded, and perhaps the Yuanyuan of the past really liked you and supported you... but twelve years have passed, I am now Shen Yue, I chose to become Observer, because this is the path I am willing to take.

I have learned a lot in this world... I voluntarily chose this life, hoping that the journey ahead will be smoother."

She had become an Observer under the Organizers, experiencing a fresh twelve years that no one else could intervene in.

"The world is vast, full of landscapes, and brimming with wonders." She smiled: "In this world, I have honed my swordsmanship, met many good people, and after this world, I will travel to the next one and become a true world traveler... I am very happy."

Su Ming’an looked at her.

She had voluntarily become an "Observer," able to traverse different world replicas, transcending her identity as a Player.

No longer subject to the rules of the annual world game, she could grow in each colorful world, reaping the fruits brought by the years.

The her of the past was like a blank slate, submerged in the agony of domestic abuse, like a frog at the bottom of a well, clinging to salvation in his form, unwilling to let go. If he walked away, she would remain forever in the dark morass, struggling in vain.

But now, she had received a fresh opportunity.

Compared to the girl who could only cling to him, blank as a slate, she seemed much more enriched.

Independent, strong, intelligent, capable of striking precisely at the most crucial moment.

Shining like a diamond.

"You’ve grown," Su Ming’an said.

"Thank you," Yuanyuan said with a smile.

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