Chapter 119 - 107: Memory Loop

Chapter 119: Chapter 107: Memory Loop

"Hahaha! Red Heart Seven, you’ve finally died by my hand!"

"The Source Ore is mine!"

Trudeau roared with laughter in the sky.

It was a laugh of pure, unadulterated release. All the anger and frustration bottled up inside him vanished without a trace.

"Does killing me make you this happy?"

An all-too-familiar voice drifted over from his side. Trudeau looked to his left in terror, only to find Red Heart Seven completely unharmed.

"You... you... how is that possible?"

Trudeau’s memories felt scrambled. Countless images seemed to be hidden just out of reach, but he couldn’t quite grasp them.

"I have to admit, that final Insect Emperor Rebirth of yours was quite interesting."

"But you must know, deep down, that it only exists in your imagination. It’s utterly impossible to achieve in reality."

"I was simply fulfilling your final wish, allowing you to play it out in this virtual world."

Insect Emperor Rebirth involved the Creation of Life. How could a mere LV3 like Trudeau possibly accomplish such a thing?

As for the tiny black insects that hatched from the cells, they couldn’t be considered true life-forms either, because they completely lacked Spirituality.

Chen Qi had already verified this in the real world.

According to Chen Qi’s research, they were more like some kind of clone, or perhaps what could be called microscopic bio-robots.

The so-called Seven-Star Death Injection was less a superpower and more like some kind of biological gene-printing technology, using radiation to brand the genetic fragments of a certain insect onto the cell’s nucleus.

Once activated, it would tear apart the cell nucleus and use the materials within to replicate itself.

Of course, with the added boost from a Superpower, the entire process seemed much more miraculous.

Although the black insects lacked Spirituality, that didn’t mean they were any less dangerous.

In fact, their lack of Spirituality was precisely what made them so dangerous.

If they had possessed Spirituality, Chen Qi could have dealt with such minuscule life-forms with a single spiritual wash.

In the real world, it had taken him considerable effort—he’d even had to use his Puppet Threads—to completely eradicate them.

’That’s right. I can’t actually perform the Creation of Life.’

’The final Insect Emperor Rebirth could never have succeeded.’

’No wonder I thought this place felt strange. The way my powers worked was just too smooth. It was all an illusion.’

’Am I... really dead?’

’No, that’s not right. I’m still alive. My real body is ten kilometers away. How could I be dead?’

Under the weight of this shock, Trudeau’s mind fell into chaos and disarray. His entire consciousness teetered on the brink of collapse.

But a core of conviction deep within him ultimately allowed him to regain his composure.

Trudeau was convinced that no matter what happened, his real self, ten kilometers from the battlefield, could not possibly die.

As his consciousness settled, more memories began to surface.

The violent mental shock had shattered some kind of restraint that had been placed upon his consciousness.

BOOM!

A tide of memories surged out of nowhere, battering Trudeau’s consciousness until it swayed precariously. Then he saw it: a world of memories, spinning like a Kaleidoscope.

The memory world had seven layers. Within each layer, scenes of his battles with Red Heart Seven were playing on a loop.

Although the specifics of the battles varied slightly, the outcome was always the same: he ended up dead.

In other words, he had been killed at least seven times. This last time was his only victory.

"Congratulations on remembering everything again."

"I’ve grown tired of this game. It’s time for it to end."

Chen Qi smiled, seemingly pleased that Trudeau had come to his senses.

’A clueless opponent is just too dull.’

"You bastard! Damn you! You laid a trap here long ago to ensnare my consciousness."

"But it’s useless! You can’t kill me."

"Even if you destroy this wisp of my consciousness, the worst that can happen is some mental trauma. I’ll just need a few months to recover."

"I suggest you let me go. Otherwise, this won’t end until one of us is dead. I will haunt you forever."

The kaleidoscopic world of memories stopped spinning. Its seven layers merged into one, and Trudeau finally remembered everything.

...

It began when he discovered Red Heart Seven had retrieved the Source Ore. He had immediately led the grand army of the Insect Race to attack.

The initial moments of the battle were no different from this last time.

That guy, Red Heart Seven, had indeed escaped the massive explosion on pure physical strength alone.

The battle that followed, however, didn’t immediately escalate to the use of "Life’s Decay."

Trudeau stuck to his battle plan, using his Eight Great Vajra to attack in waves, constantly probing and unleashing one killing blow after another.

The infuriating part was that even when he had the upper hand, Red Heart Seven was too fast. Defensively, the man could form an impenetrable wall. He was simply unkillable.

Left with no other choice, Trudeau painfully brought out his ultimate trump card: Life’s Decay.

In his mind, sacrificing every last insect was a worthy price for the Source Ore.

But he never imagined that even Life’s Decay wouldn’t be enough to kill Red Heart Seven.

Not only that, but with the majority of his insects gone, the swarm protecting him thinned out, exposing his most precious asset: the "Brain Worm."

The Brain Worm was a commander meticulously cultivated by Trudeau. Its body, completely reshaped by the Erosion of Kruduo’s ability, bore an imprint of that power, allowing it to host Trudeau’s consciousness.

At the LV3 stage, a player’s abilities were no longer restricted by range.

At LV3, a player’s abilities underwent a qualitative transformation, gaining a terrifying capacity for Erosion and corruption.

Anything corrupted by a player’s ability would fall under its influence.