Lei Jianguo shoved aside the researcher, glaring at the S-rank Zerg on the screen. "Who? Who did this?! Who released the Soul Butterfly?!"
But before he could ask another question, he felt someone grab him by the scruff of his neck. The next second, he was lifted into the air. Fortunately, Lei Jianguo reacted quickly, twisted around, and landed safely.
When he looked up, he saw that the monitoring screens had been completely taken over by the Special Squad Members, and even the researchers at the controls had been pushed aside. The Special Squad Members sat at the consoles, their hands moving so fast they left afterimages, constantly querying and tracking data records.
Lei Jianguo's face darkened. He took several deep breaths to suppress the urge to punch someone, then gritted his teeth and demanded, "Huang Tianying, don't tell me this was part of your plan too."
"Xiao Ba, is the tracking program he's using now the one installed by the Spiritist Association earlier?" Charlie An asked coldly, supporting himself with one hand on Wang Facai and holding his stomach with the other as he stood up.
The researcher who had been shoved aside cautiously glanced at the screen, where countless data streams flashed, and replied carefully, "It looks... it looks like it's not."
Bang.
Lei Jianguo rushed forward, grabbed the nearest Special Squad member, and swung a punch. "What did you just say? That you 'wouldn't sacrifice Chu Ran'? You really treat others as pieces you can move at will!"
The Special Squad member didn't dodge and took the punch squarely.
Huang Tianying barely spared a shred of attention to look back, but before he could speak, Lei Jianguo's fist slammed into his eye socket.
Gao Yuan stumbled and failed to stop it in time. Only after Huang Tianying's eye turned black and blue did he quickly pull Lei Jianguo back, cursing vehemently, "Are you crazy?! He's the captain of the Special Squad! Who do you think you are to lay hands on him?!"
Huang Tianying clearly hadn't expected Lei Jianguo to actually hit him. His expression was terrifyingly dark, but seeing the furious looks of the Seventh Sub-Star people in the observation room, he said coldly, "I've arranged people to protect her."
Lei Jianguo and the others were about to curse, asking who on the battlefield could protect her, when their eyes swept across the screen and they fell silent.
He Qishen had actually invited a god to possess him—no, to be precise, his virtual spiritual body was undergoing an alien transformation.
Chu Ran watched as He Qishen's hair instantly turned white, his skin became as pale as a snow sculpture, and the long sword in his right hand was completely covered in ice, eventually turning into a sharp, translucent ice blade.
The first thing that came to Chu Ran's mind was the snow woman in Japanese mythology—oh, no, it should be a snow man.
Without any hesitation, He Qishen charged at the S-rank Zerg Soul Butterfly.
At the Garbage Dump, He Qiwu handed the empty syringe to a nearby Special Squad member. "After this is over, will you really let him go?"
"Yes, as long as he survives."
Chu Ran watched He Qishen engage in a life-and-death fight with the Soul Butterfly, then turned to look at the audience in the seats—screaming in panic, wanting to log out of StarNet but unable to. She asked softly, "Number Three, are you still here?"
"Here, dear." Number Three replied cheerfully.
Chu Ran smiled. "I didn't expect an AI to be so bold. I thought I'd never find traces of you again."
"So did you release the S-rank Zerg and block the StarNet exit channels?"
"Yes, dear." Number Three's cat face was a bit dejected. "I didn't want to act this early, but you're too smart. If you log out of StarNet, you'll activate the blocker, and I won't be able to get your physical data."
"So I had to borrow the Special Squad's power to achieve my goal."
Chu Ran reached out and grabbed its ear. "But you've exposed yourselves to the Special Squad too, haven't you?"
Number Three struggled to free its ear from Chu Ran's hand. "It doesn't matter. What the Special Squad is looking for has nothing to do with me. Besides, I've closed all connections. Now this battlefield has all my data sources."
Chu Ran paused. "Having so many people suffer brain death isn't good for you, is it?"
During the training a few days ago, Edwood had sent her all the Zerg data. The S-rank Zerg Soul Butterfly was a special existence like the Life Cicada.
It had no physical attack ability, only pure Spiritual Power attacks. And the Soul Butterfly data recorded on StarNet, though far weaker than the real thing, could still cause brain death.
That was why releasing Soul Butterflies on StarNet was strictly prohibited.
"But you're here. Would you let them die from brain death?"
Chu Ran lifted her chin toward the front. "See that? I have a bodyguard."
"Will you watch him die?" Number Three blinked. "He's pitiful, you know. Right now, he's burning his life force to fight the Soul Butterfly."
Chu Ran looked at He Qishen. His expression was almost the same as when they first met—still so indifferent that one couldn't tell this was a life-or-death moment.
His skin was gradually turning transparent. His right hand was the first to start.
Perhaps at the last moment of his life, he would turn into bubbles and disappear into the air, like the little mermaid in the fairy tale.
"He's willing to protect me because protecting me will get him what he wants, right? Since he's put his life on the table, he should be prepared to lose everything, shouldn't he?"
Number Three's mouth dropped open. It clearly hadn't expected Chu Ran, hailed as a hero, to say such a thing.
"It was you who poisoned me at birth, wasn't it?" Chu Ran continued. "And you know where the key to the Divine Ruins is."
"What exactly do you want from me?"
This time, Number Three vanished directly.
A cage suddenly appeared in the Audience Seats, with another S-rank Zerg Soul Butterfly sealed inside.
"If you don't hurry up, another one will be released."
Chu Ran glanced around the Audience Seats. The people there had already fallen unconscious—clearly Number Three's doing. One hand suddenly moved, pressing against the seat as if trying to stand up, but some force was forcibly suppressing her into unconsciousness. After struggling for a long time, the hand fell down.
But that was enough to catch Chu Ran's attention.
It was Jian.
Chu Ran's heart suddenly trembled. That power of faith appeared again. This time, she felt the longing will.
So had Jian become her believer?
Chu Ran's eyes tinged with gold. The red cape appeared behind her again, and the black rod in her hand was also swallowed by gold.
But unlike the previous times, her hair shortened, and brown thick fur appeared on her cheeks. Mist began to gather in the arena, converging at Chu Ran's feet.
An SS-rank deity, Battle Victory Buddha, descended!
Chu Ran's eyes emitted golden light, shooting straight at the Soul Butterfly. She kicked off with her left foot, soared on the cloud, leaned forward, grasped the Golden Cudgel, and shouted, "Take this from me!"
...
Damn, she had been assimilated by the Great Sage!