Chapter 1752 - 901: Man and Dog

Five minutes ago, an explosive sound enveloped the entire Seven Cities.

The lighthouse's flash suddenly extinguished.

Boom——

Darkness, like a volcanic eruption, gushed from a fishing boat adrift on the waves.

In the midst of shrill screams, everyone on the boat rapidly withered, as if some invisible monster had devoured their life and blood...

Amidst countless dry bones was a small white porcelain box.

An urn.

At the moment when the guardian, following Ling Liu's instructions, opened it, everyone on the entire boat paid with their lives for his action.

Yet the malice and venom erupting from the urn were still endless, continuously surging, ascending to the sky. It was like writhing snakes, coiling around the lighthouse, infiltrating inward, spreading, taking root, and never to be dispelled.

Who knows how much craftsmen's ashes were melted in the You Sui cauldron, how much profound hatred and venom transformed from the venomous fire, ultimately becoming this lethal poison against all creation.

They seemed endless, surrounding the lighthouse, and even before the defensive modules could react, they filled the inside, rapidly mutating and solidifying, splitting, and spreading like parasites, causing the malfunction of the malfunctioning Seven Cities defense system.

And the massive white fog had already risen from the sea, like tides, overshadowing the sky and submerging the entire Luo Island in the dimness.

Harsh alarm sounds began to blare, echoing ceaselessly.

Amidst the surging fog, a door slowly opened, and from behind it, people who had been waiting for an unknown duration surged out. The majority rapidly dispersed, moving throughout Luo Island, carelessly pulling triggers, throwing explosives, stirring chaos, and destruction.

And amid the spread of flames and thick smoke, the elite forces assembled from Gray Port and Sea Abyss Corner charged straight into the Seven Cities Trade Association's location!

Boom!!!

In the fierce explosion, the outer walls collapsed, buildings cracked, and blood spread and dripped.

The wailing continued amidst the intense crossfire and defense.

Meanwhile, in the Seven Cities Wasteland Collection headquarters, no matter how the people below requested, called, or even knocked on the door, the president's office door remained tightly locked, with no response.

"President? President!"

Dumbfounded subordinates repeatedly knocked on the door in front of them, but never received any response. In a brief moment of hesitation, they mustered the courage to ignore the preparation and forcibly broke open the door in front of them.

And then, a nauseating stench assailed them!

Ling Shuo had already collapsed over his desk, barely alive.

Clearly, his body was intact, but black corpse spots began to appear on the exposed skin and face, blisters rapidly swelling, bursting, and beneath the decaying flesh, white bones were exposed.

It was as if he had heard a call from afar; his hollow eyes blinked, but they held no spirit.

It felt like being swallowed by the unfathomable darkness.

An endless descent.

In the distance, a hysterical voice sounded, cursing and condemning, with profound hatred and regret, echoing, tearing at his consciousness and soul, dragging him into even deeper darkness.

.

Fifteen minutes ago, in Gray Port, in a dim underground space, the candle on the offering table was lit.

Amidst the piercing, harsh sound of metal friction, the rusty cages were opened, and two people covered in blood and heavily tortured were dragged by chains, forced to kneel before the offering table by Ling Liu's side.

"Spare us, spare us..."

"I beg you, I know I was wrong, no, no..."

The two people who had been tortured for a month screamed, struggled with all their strength, tears and snot streaming down their faces.

They couldn't understand.

Why would someone capture a dying prostitute and a gambler burdened with usurious debt, to torture and torment them so cruelly?

But now, as they looked at each other's faces by the candlelight on the offering table, they both involuntarily paused, as if they recognized each other but couldn't remember.

"You may have some impression of each other, perhaps something happened in the past, but that's not important."

Ling Liu bent down, scrutinized their faces, raised a hand with a smile, and pointed at a photograph on the offering table—a man with a somber, indifferent expression.

Now, looking at him, the eyebrows seemed to have a subtle resemblance to both of them.

"You may not know him, but this is your child, and you are indeed his biological parents, no doubt about it."

Ling Liu paused for a moment, caressing the terrified, twitching face next to him, sighed with regret: "The many torments you've suffered over such a long time were all because of this.

He is a bad person who has done many things that wronged you, wronged me.

He deserves to die a thousand deaths!"

In the darkness beyond the candlelight's reach, Ling Liu, solemnly gazing at the two sacrifices he had carefully preserved until now, earnestly pleaded: "So, I ask you to curse him."

"As parents, using your own blood, your own souls, sincerely repent for the mistake you once gave birth to!"

Soon, in this dimness, indistinct, hoarse voices rose, filled with terror and bewilderment, instinctively obeying the command in their ears, kneeling before the eerie idol on the offering table, praying, praising, cursing...

The voices gradually grew higher, sharper, and at some point had become frenzied, almost a scream.

With the frenzied kowtowing of two mummified corpses drained of blood, lips opening and closing.

Thick blood slowly climbed up the legs of the table and merged into the mouth of the eerie idol.

Under the sweet offering, its eyes slowly opened, and it opened its mouth, aiming at the blood-stained photograph.

Took a deep breath.

Then, Ling Shuo fell into an endless darkness.

In the muddled descent, it felt like being pulled by countless hands, deeply sunk in a quagmire, struggling to breathe, crying and calling for help in vain, yet no one responded.

Invisible mouths surrounded him, continuously gnawing, but the flesh being gnawed away kept regenerating.

Endless torment had no conclusion.

He didn't know how long had passed, perhaps only an instant, yet it seemed like millennia.

Ling Shuo cried tears of agony, convulsing, trembling.

Even repenting, begging for mercy.

Finally, out of the everlasting silence, he heard footsteps coming closer, one step, then another; a pair of familiar cloth shoes appeared before his eyes.

A faint glow from a candle illuminated that aged face, full of gentle warmth, smiling at him as if offering salvation:

"My son, have you been well?"

Ling Shuo stared blankly, lips moved, yet he couldn't produce a sound.

Overwhelmed by so much agony, he was nearly losing consciousness, tears uncontrollable, choking, hoarse cries.

But the moment he saw that face, it was as if he suddenly woke up, eyes wide, filled with bitter resentment, unable to suppress the fear and panic.

"Ji Jue is going to die."

Ling Liu sighed, "You've already been abandoned. Tools like you are inconsequential to him. No matter how loyal a dog, once it's of no value, it'll be cast out, just like you…"

Ling Shuo convulsed, panting, said nothing.

He simply stared at this face as if wanting to remember it even after turning to ashes.

"Yes, indeed, that's it, that's the look in your eyes."

Ling Liu broke into a smile, and on his hypocritical face appeared an indescribable recognition and affection: "You're the child I raised, a nobody among many, yet unexpectedly, you turned out most like me.

I understand you, Ah Shuo, because you're exactly as I once was: always looking to climb higher, despite the consequences and costs.

As long as you're not dead, you'll never give up hope…"

He reached out, caressed the young man's face in front of him, wiping away tears and snot, inviting earnestly: "Come home with me, Ji Jue is dead, but Gray Port still has a place for you, even Seven Cities you can hold onto!

If one day you can kill me, everything I have, can be yours.

As long as we father and son can join forces, West Sea, won't it be under our command?"

Spit!

Ling Shuo opened his mouth, spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto that wrinkled hand, the viscous blood and phlegm slowly dripping from between the fingers.

Ling Liu's smile froze, gradually fading away.

"Ji Jue truly raised a fine dog."

He released his hand, allowing Ling Shuo's head to fall once more to the ground, letting him cough violently, wheezing, struggling to breathe.

But Ling Shuo began to smile in his own blood, hoarse and fragmented.

In the torment of curse and plague, his eyes had long become dim, even maintaining thought was difficult.

But as numerous past memories flashed by like lantern slides before his eyes, what he recalled was not the fervor when he became a prominent figure, the agony of betting everything on Seven Cities, nor even the excitement upon being granted the position of spokesperson by the Association…

Rather, it was a scene nearly faded from his own memory.

When the news of the Desert Market election truly came, he sat in that office, bowing his head like a dog, obediently awaiting instructions and assignments.

"Mr. Ji, before taking the call, glanced at me."

In a daze, Ling Shuo grinned, panting, and laughed silently.

This was the brilliant moment Ling Shuo never imagined in his lifetime.

Not kneeling as a dog, nor becoming the Dragon Head, not even the pinnacle of having many bow before him, but merely a glance.

An instant of waiting, yet without impatience, instead calmly waiting for him to make a choice.

There was a choice!

Even then, he still had a choice!

Just understanding this, just recalling that scene, remembering that kind of gaze, Ling Shuo couldn't contain his smile.

It was as if he felt a joy that arrived too late.

For the first time, understanding in life, what dignity truly meant!

"This path, I chose it myself…"

He exerted all his strength, raised his head, grinned at that gloomy, indifferent face: "The principles of being human, how could an old dog like you possibly understand?"

"..."

Ling Liu said nothing.

Yet under the candlelight's reflection, that face accustomed to gentle warmth no longer bore a smile. As the candlelight abruptly flickered, terrifying shadows danced, manifesting the true nature of a beast, enraged and deranged.