The time in the underground passage stretched on endlessly.

Each second felt like a century.

Lu Nanzhi finally spoke.

"Okay... I promise you."

Her voice sounded calm, but in reality, every word trembled.

She had no choice.

Even though she didn't believe a word the Apostle said... a machine that had abandoned everything just to complete its mission, why would it care about its promises?

But similarly, lies beyond the mission were unnecessary for them.

Lu Nanzhi knew very well that killing her was the ultimate goal of the Apostles tonight. They had traveled all the way from Central Continent just to break the stalemate of the Awakening Act. As for others who were not related to the Act, there was indeed no need to kill them.

They could kill, or not kill.

The survival of these people depended on her attitude.

Perhaps ten years ago... Old Lu faced the same choice, and the fact that she and Nan Jin were able to grow up and become adults was already the result of Old Lu's choice.

...

...

"Estimated arrival of Shuangchuan at the domain boundary in three minutes."

"Zhou Jiren needs five minutes."

Chu Ling reported the real-time updated location map.

In a state of mental connection, Gu Shen calmly watched the confrontation before him. He didn't interrupt or speak, but tried to minimize his presence. From the moment the Apostle Qin Ye appeared, the calculation interface that appeared before his retina never stopped.

There were preliminary guesses about Qin Ye's mysterious domain ability that covered five kilometers.

The previous route had no problems.

Even though they were walking in a straight line, they were eventually pulled back to the starting point. This could only be the result of the domain's influence—

Chu Ling's calculation results were twofold: either the domain had a visual misdirection effect, or it could actually extend a certain space.

The former was similar to the fog in Yuandan Street.

The latter, however, was terrifying.

If it could distort space, did that mean... this was a domain that could never be completed?

Five kilometers equals fifty thousand meters equals five hundred thousand meters. As long as Qin Ye's extraordinary source matter could sustain the consumption, no matter how he tried to escape, he would not be able to escape the boundary of the domain.

In this case, running away was completely meaningless.

Any form, any meaning of forward movement, was futile.

But one thing was very important.

Qin Ye was only an Apostle. Intelligence indicated that every Apostle had a relic. Without using the relic, the divine power they possessed was very limited. This domain should be his own extraordinary ability characteristic, rather than a divine gift.

Then... the miracles he could accomplish also had an upper limit.

Gu Shen guessed that the extraordinary source matter Qin Ye consumed to influence different people in the domain was different.

His group's strength was very weak.

He could arbitrarily lengthen or shorten the distance of a certain section of the road.

But wanting to influence a titled extraordinary being was not the same thing... the difference in power between the two was vastly different. This should be a blessing in disguise. Although he could not escape the domain, if he could hold on until his teacher and Shuangchuan entered the domain, then there was still a chance of being saved.

Delay.

What he needed to do now was delay.

...

...

After Gu Shen made up his mind, the Madam had already handed over the bronze box.

"The way to open the box is very simple, enter the password, insert the key..."

"The password is..."

The six-digit password was reported by her.

Gu Shen didn't know if the password reported by the Madam was correct, but he knew that the coating of the bronze box contained a large amount of illogical material. This was the last shackle that Mr. Lu Cheng had placed on it.

If someone tried to crack it by force.

Then... his extraordinary power would be eroded the moment it came into contact with the illogical material.

Just like a black spot devouring everything.

The secret of the bronze box was wrapped in "poison." Anyone who wanted to peek at the secret without permission would be eroded by the poison!

Qin Ye held the key and calmly examined the bronze box that had been delivered to him.

After Lu Nanzhi let go.

The small box that contained all of Lion's Roar's technology, which could be used to overcome the federal government's research predicament, floated in front of him.

The password numbers on the six dials were slowly turned to the correct positions.

Next, all that was needed was to insert the key to open the box.

Qin Ye did not act directly.

When he killed Lu Cheng back then, he searched for the key, and then scoured the entire mansion, but could not find the existence of the box... Lu Cheng's mental destruction was too fast. Although he only met and fought once, and successfully killed the target.

But the other party still left him with a very deep memory.

This was a very "cunning" man.

If this was the box containing Lion's Roar's technology, then it would never be opened so easily.

"You, come."

Qin Ye spoke to Gu Shen. He released his palm expressionlessly, and the key floated in the air, drifting to Gu Shen's palm.

"...Me?"

Gu Shen pretended to be surprised, but his mind raced.

Qin Ye suspected that there was a trap in opening the box, so he asked him to open the box to avoid accidents.

He was cautious enough.

But from this point of view, the previous promise of "letting them go" was complete bullshit.

In fact, Gu Shen had never believed a single word from this Apostle.

The tremors from the ground had already proved how tragic the battle in Lion Lane was. The Apostles of the Source Tower were not merciful people who cared about life.

After opening the box, the lives of his group would be left to fate.

But if he could draw the illogical material onto Qin Ye's body.

Creating a "collapse point of order."

Then... perhaps there was still a chance to counterattack!

It was just that once this gamble failed, it would trigger Qin Ye's monstrous anger.

Apostles were just hypocritical machines wearing masks. If a dagger was destined to be revealed, then whether they were angry was no longer important... what was important was that he needed to delay until his teacher and Shuangchuan's support arrived. These most critical minutes of his life, every second seemed so long.

Should he gamble?

Should he gamble?

Behind him were his senior sister and the Madam, and perhaps more lives. The decision was in his hands, and the time to decide was only a few seconds.

In this silent moment, the whole world was silent.

He could even hear the thumping sound of his own heart beating.

Gu Shen took a deep breath, caught the key, and at the moment of slight contact, he saw the Madam's complex eyes.

That gaze contained a lot of information.

The wind in the underground passage blew past, sharp as a knife, scraping against Gu Shen's cheeks.

He slowly came to the front of the bronze box, and then inserted the key into the box's lock...

With a "tearing" sound.

The sound of the wind in the underground passage suddenly became sharp.

A touch of cold light suddenly exploded from the darkness.

...

...

(Asking for monthly tickets, there will be another chapter tonight)