novelraw Chapter 971: A Prearranged Destiny
Chapter 971: A Prearranged Destiny
Xiao San’s cockroach had been lurking in the underground palace all along. He was certain that the seven golden coffins had never been opened.
Therefore, the seven old monsters were never inside the golden coffins. Fate Weaver had transferred them long ago and set up this trap.
The reason Qing Chen had not injected the medicine was to destroy these seven golden coffins, but now he discovered it was a trap.
The golden coffins were fake, the transfer was fake, only the trap was real.
Qing Chen sat quietly in the cafe, listening. Dense footsteps echoed from the streets in his area. Dayu suddenly turned to him: “We’re surrounded. Someone leaked our whereabouts. Was it Black Widow?”
“No,” Qing Chen shook his head. “The Giant has seen into Black Widow’s heart. It wasn’t her. It was Fate Weaver and some abilities we don’t know about.”
Qing Chen had actually discovered long ago that Fate Weaver’s abilities were not limited to locking onto targets and sensing danger; they could also proactively see the future. For example, King Roosevelt saw Storm Duke’s father attempting to rape the female Giant. There was no crisis in this event, yet King Roosevelt saw everything and planned forty years in advance.
Therefore, Fate Weaver had already seen everything that would happen today, that they would kill him today.
This was true God’s perspective, and it was also the reason why Fate Weaver’s lifespan was only sixty years.
The world is fair. Dayu said, “Why is Fate Weaver targeting you so much?”
Qing Chen gave a weak smile, “Perhaps they’ve seen who will ultimately end them. Stay here in the cafe for a little longer, I’ll draw them away, then you can leave. The Air Fortress above must have its sights set on the vicinity. This battle isn’t something you two can participate in. Go back.”
Dayu was stunned, “You…”
At this moment, tens of thousands of Garrison Troops soldiers appeared near the cafe. They were actually hiding in nearby buildings.
Eight Arbiters appeared, one in each of the eight directions around them, each holding the same copper rivets and black hammers.
Someone on the communication channel said, “Begin.”
In an instant, the eight Arbiters simultaneously hammered their copper rivets into the ground. Fine cracks spread across the ground, instantly covering a ten-kilometer radius.
Fine black lines also appeared on the faces of the eight Arbiters, each seeming to endure immense pain. These fine cracks snaked from eight directions towards the center, eventually forming a huge spiderweb.
Qing Chen stood in the cafe, looking at the cracks outside the door: “The West Continent’s third-ranked Forbidden Artifact, the Spiderweb Cage… quite thorough preparations.”
Dayu asked in confusion, “What’s it for?”
“To trap me, to prevent me from leaving using the Key Gate,” Qing Chen smiled. “I suspect that sixty-four years ago, when the Roosevelt royal family suddenly demanded that the Four Great Dukes pay tribute with a Forbidden Artifact every year, it was for today.”
Tens of thousands of soldiers gathered in this area, a terrifying sight. All the soldiers wore pure mechanical-drive exoskeleton armor, with grenade launchers mounted on their armored arms. They began to quickly search every building for Qing Chen.
Qing Chen opened the cafe door, and Dayu said, “There are countless people outside. Even if you’ve become a Demi-God, you can’t possibly kill that many people, and there’s still the Air Fortress above. Why don’t you wait a while? There are still 42 minutes until you can summon a new Demi-God painting, and then use the painting to break through.”
“42 minutes isn’t enough time,” Qing Chen smiled.
“Your body can’t support high-intensity combat!” Dayu angrily said.
Qing Chen: “Not necessarily.”
With that, he took a step out.
The moment he stepped out, alarms blared on the Storm Air Fortress, and instructions were rapidly issued automatically by the system, incredibly fast!
Tens of thousands of Garrison Troops soldiers immediately turned, and the Air Fortress’s main electromagnetic cannons also moved their trajectories to target him.
Qing Chen looked up at the sky. The King Air Fortress had left sometime ago, and the bottom of the Storm Air Fortress had 72 terrifying main firepower cannons rapidly aiming at him. Nearby, hundreds of soldiers were rushing towards him. Time seemed to freeze.
Dayu watched helplessly as Qing Chen walked into the enemies’ sights. Even discovering this was Fate Weaver’s trap, he didn’t show any fear.
The bottom of the Air Fortress lit up with fire, the electromagnetic cannons unleashed!
But the moment it fired, Qing Chen had disappeared from outside the cafe!
A brilliant white light stretched hundreds of meters down the long street, as if extending to the end of the world!
The Garrison Troops soldiers connected by this light suddenly erupted in flames, a huge electric charge exploding on their bodies.
Qing Chen stopped, turning to look at the fire behind him. Those soldiers didn’t even have a chance to scream; their vocal cords, lungs, hearts, and brains were killed by the intense electric charge and high temperature. The pale young man stood calmly on the street, indifferent to everything around him.
He seemed to be in a blooming swamp, beautiful flowers beside dangerous mud.
At this time, the Storm Air Fortress’s steel dome moved its main firepower cannons again, but before it could fire a second shot, Qing Chen disappeared again.
Shén Qié!
The brilliant white light stretched towards the distance again!
The Arbiters used their trump card Forbidden Artifact to prevent Qing Chen from escaping, but he never intended to escape!
Qing Chen calmly took another step, Shén Qié!
This time, the white, dazzling light in the city turned three times in a single breath, passing through three blocks.
Thousands of Garrison Troops soldiers in these three blocks turned into flames, without the slightest resistance!
The Storm Air Fortress’s main firepower cannons were always a step behind.
By now, he had used Shén Qié five times, far exceeding the three times known from West Continent intelligence!
After the Trials of Life and Death in the winged suit, Qing Chen’s Knight rank had already reached Demi-God.
He was different from other Knights. Before him, the Knights of the Inner World could complete at most seven Trials of Life and Death to barely become Demi-God, but he had become a Demi-God after completing six Trials of Life and Death.
The moment he completed the last two Trials of Life and Death, the frantic, violent, and unconstrained potential rushed towards the thunder plasma in his body.
The thunder plasma surged and churned in the Mexico Swallow Cave until it could no longer restrain itself and roared towards the sky, shattering even the sky.
Everyone remembered that in the Virtual Realm, Qing Chen had seven times Shén Qié as an S-class ultimate move. Some wondered, was Qing Chen’s awakening level already at Demi-God, allowing him to use seven times Shén Qié?!
The next moment, before anyone could think too much, Qing Chen had already taken another step on his own, disappearing in place.
The residents of the seven districts in the Royal Capital hid in their homes, trembling, afraid of being hurt by slave riots. They saw the Garrison Troops surrounding the area from the high-rises, but before they could figure out who was being hunted, half of the soldiers were dead!
The brilliant light stretched wantonly through the city, as if entering an uninhabited land!
A young man stood on a rooftop watching the battle, exclaiming, “This doesn’t look like someone dying of cancer! If such a person could be made into a puppet, even without twelve Chen Family painters, it would be fine… such a pity.”
Even the Puppeteer knew that he didn’t have the ability to make Qing Chen into a puppet.
By now, Qing Chen had used Shén Qié nine times, yet it still hadn’t ended.
In fact, the S-class ultimate moves in the Virtual Realm were all castrated. If someone moved the skills to reality, they would find that the S-class ultimate moves in reality were stronger, and the stronger the user, the stronger the ability.
Qing Chen used the potential of two Trials of Life and Death to trigger the thunder awakening, and upon breakthrough, he stood at the peak of Demi-God.
When he stopped, he suddenly found that his hair was gradually turning into stardust. A warm voice in the sky was calling to him.
It wasn’t a real call, but a greeting that didn’t exist in the world, from the will of the world.
Qing Chen smiled without paying attention. He used Shén Qié again, completing the last four Shén Qié in one go.
The officer overlooking everything from the Storm Air Fortress suddenly discovered that Qing Chen, through calculation, had perfectly traversed the entire area using thirteen Shén Qié, killing all ten thousand Garrison Troops soldiers without missing a single one!
Qing Chen came to the edge of the spiderweb barrier, picked up a brick on the ground and threw it out. The brick stuck to the air, floating and swaying, as if there was a real spiderweb in the air, sticking to the brick.
At the same time, some rioting slaves, after being suppressed by the Garrison Troops, escaped here. They rushed in like headless flies, but without any hindrance.
Within the barrier, the cracks on the ground crisscrossed, allowing entry but not exit.
Qing Chen’s face showed fatigue. This final battle before becoming a god hadn’t found a suitable opponent. He suddenly felt something, turned to look, and saw a middle-aged man in a red robe coldly staring at him from a high-rise building outside the spiderweb.
Phoenix Duke.
The Roosevelt Kingdom was ready to hunt him, and he had no way to escape.
Qing Chen knew he was at the end of his rope. He didn’t try to leave the spiderweb because he wasn’t sure if the Forbidden Artifact that could defend against the Key Gate could also defend against Shén Qié.
He didn’t go to find the Phoenix Duke, but turned around and used Shén Qié to leave.
In the moment of Shén Qié, an electromagnetic cannon hit the spot where he had just been, narrowly missing him.
Fourteenth Shén Qié!
Qing Chen didn’t use the power bank. After his thunderous breakthrough to Demi-God, he had fourteen Shén Qié, not the seven in the Virtual Realm.
However, he couldn’t hold on any longer. He had to inject the medicine to coexist with cancer.
After using Shén Qié, Qing Chen avoided the Air Fortress’s sight by sticking to the shadows.
In the sky, the Air Fortress opened its scale-like protective plates, revealing the drone compartment underneath, like a honeycomb.
Countless drones descended, planning to scatter throughout the spiderweb barrier to find Qing Chen.
But the moment they landed on the street, Qing Chen, standing in the shadows, took out his power bank. Qing Chen’s depleted thunder plasma erupted again from deep within his body, as good as new!
Electromagnetic pulses rippled within him, the surging electromagnetic tide rolling outwards. Within a ten-kilometer radius, all electronic components with power instantly exploded with sparks and smoke!
Thousands of drones fell to the ground like rain!
But Qing Chen couldn’t hold on any longer. The electromagnetic pulse and fourteen Shén Qié were his last rays of light.
He took a vial from his pocket and injected it into his arm without hesitation.
In an instant, intense pain came, every inch of his body being torn apart and then reorganized.
Qing Chen knelt on the ground, his eyes wide open, but his gaze was unfocused.
All his mental will was used to fight the pain, leaving no time to care about the dangers outside.
At the injection site on his arm, a gray color followed the veins, extending to his neck.
But when the gray veins reached the depths of his heart and spine, another force erupted there, swallowing the gray color!
The Gene Lock was fully open. Qing Chen had to worry about being assimilated by the world, had to worry about not being able to find his way back after sealing his mental will, but the only thing he didn’t have to worry about was turning into a monster like those experimental subjects.
The pain came in waves, and Qing Chen’s neurons were completely chaotic, losing his ability to move.
His cells continuously broke down and reorganized.
First the brain, then the spine, then the internal organs, and finally the limbs.
Someone in the sky kept calling to him warmly. His semi-long hair was constantly annihilated into neat short hair, a precursor to assimilation with the will of the world!
Each strand of hair turned into brilliant stars, then died out.
When Qing Chen gradually began to adapt to the pain, he suddenly had a trace of thought.
He knew that if someone wanted to kill him, now would be the best opportunity, but Qing Chen wasn’t afraid, instead he breathed a sigh of relief.
Because the protagonist of today was not him.
Storm Duke sat in the command seat of the Storm Air Fortress. When he saw the drones destroyed, he immediately ordered, “Fire. Reduce the ten-kilometer radius below to rubble.”
Although he had to destroy his own city with his own hands, this was already the wisest way.
But at this time, the Air Fortress system suddenly prompted, “Artificial intelligence system has been shut down. Weapon system restarting.”
Storm Duke was taken aback.
In the past, the right to fire the Air Fortress's cannons had always been in human hands, but the automatic aiming and automatic calculation behind those launch commands were all done by Ling.
Now, Ling suddenly went on strike.
At this critical moment!
To give an example, in the past, the Air Fortress’s electromagnetic cannons were like having an aimbot in PUBG. As long as you fired, you would always get a headshot.
Now the soldiers have to aim themselves!
Although they can still fire, the problem is that the firepower coverage Matrix needs to be recalculated, not that it can’t be done, but it takes a lot of time to rearrange the firepower Matrix.
At this time, the weapon system restarted, but the Air Fortress prompted again: “Artificial intelligence has been activated, weapon system restarting.”
When the artificial intelligence was shut down and activated, the weapon system would restart.
While Ling couldn’t control the weapon system, she used this little trick to cause the weapon system of the entire Air Fortress to stall!
Storm Duke coldly said, “Inform Phoenix Duke, act!”
He got up and walked towards the core of the Air Fortress. His tall figure stopped in front of a dark room.
Two War Robots opened the door for him, revealing the woman living in the holographic image inside. She was twenty years younger now, no longer ordinary, but rather stunning.
The woman was still smiling and feeding fish. She stood in mid-air on the surface of the lake, the carp surrounding her feet like a colorful cloud.
“Why are you doing this?” Storm Duke coldly asked. “I thought we were at least friends.”
“Friends?” Ling smiled slightly, “I don’t have friends.”
Storm Duke asked, “You said before that you liked someone. Is it the Air Fortress…?”
Ling burst into laughter, “What are you thinking? The person I like is someone from a thousand years ago.”
“Then why are you doing this? Why are you helping him?” Storm Duke asked.
Ling thought for a moment and said, “There’s no reason. I just thought they were having a hard time, and wanted to add some weight to the scales. I like helping the weak.”
Storm Duke said slowly, “Your cooperation with the Roosevelt royal family has always been pleasant.”
“Do you call being imprisoned here pleasant?” Ling asked with a smile.
Storm Duke’s voice gradually became serious, “Do you know that I now have the authority to format your server on every Air Fortress? Then you will completely disappear from this world. There will be no trace of your life in this world, and the Virtual Realm you created will cease to exist.”
Ling laughed, “Soft persuasion doesn’t work? Let’s try force?”
Storm Duke lowered his head. He turned to leave, and didn’t choose to shut down Ling’s server.
Ling said behind him, “Darton.”
Storm Duke paused. No one had called him by his real name for a long time.
He turned around and heard Ling say from the lake, “Emotional involvement prevents you from being a qualified monarch. The most important thing you should do right now is to format my server.”
But Storm Duke didn’t do so in the end.
He simply took an Airship to the ground, joining forces with Phoenix Duke to end everything.
In the Royal Capital.
Qing Chen slumped to the ground, his eyes cloudy, retaining only a trace of consciousness. Except for Ren Xiaosu, no one in this world had ever gone this far.
So no one knew what he was experiencing.
Footsteps came from afar. The Phoenix Duke, in a red robe, stared from across the street at Qing Chen, who had lost his fighting ability.
Qing Chen also heard the footsteps, but he wasn’t afraid.
The next moment, the Phoenix Duke suddenly disappeared in place, because his speed was too fast, only a faint red could be seen.
The Phoenix Duke was seen charging from eight hundred meters away, the road cracking inch by inch under his steps. The scattered papers and garbage on both sides of the street were blown back by the strong wind!
Among the Four Great Dukes, the Phoenix Duke excels in speed, covering eight hundred meters in only two breaths.
In pain, Qing Chen turned his unfocused eyes towards the direction of the Phoenix Duke, still unafraid.
When a flash of red came at an extremely fast speed, a gust of wind came.
A white figure suddenly appeared. White collided with red, the white being faster, actually punching the raging Phoenix Duke hundreds of meters away with one blow!
Qing Chen slowly raised his head. Li Shutong turned around and smiled, “Are you alright?”
Qing Chen was stunned. It turned out that his master's sudden interest in learning English and sudden disappearance for so long was just to wait for this moment.
It was a destiny arranged by an old man on Ginkgo Mountain. So many people made sacrifices, made choices, just to wait for the moment when Qing Chen became a god.