Every piece of information You poured out was like a winding strand of mycelium, burrowing and spreading through the depths of Meng Chao's brain, until it gently and densely entwined itself around his soul.
Meng Chao felt as though he had been swept into a warm whirlpool. He could not summon the slightest disgust or urge to resist, and only felt that the "unparalleled freedom" You spoke of was the most natural and most worthy thing to pursue in heaven and earth.
Yet just as his consciousness was about to be completely assimilated by You, light originating from Zero's solemn rules and laws erupted from deep within You's deformed, twisted, irregular body. Like razor-sharp blades that could slice through a hair, it tore apart You's bewitchment from within and pointed straight at Meng Chao's heart.
Over the countless eons of slaughter and entanglement, mutual infiltration, devouring, and transformation, You and Zero had long become a state where you were in me, and I was in you.
Indeed, from the very beginning, they—representing absolute order and absolute freedom—had been two sides of the same coin, two operating models of the same civilization. The existence of either meant the immortality of the other.
Just when You believed victory was firmly in its grasp, Zero's power erupted once more like a volcanic blast, attempting to seize control of this virtual body.
For a time, the virtual god and devil before Meng Chao resembled a drunken man fighting himself with both hands, staggering, swaying, and constantly changing shape.
Clusters of glittering crystals continuously grew from amid the free-spirited flesh and blood, trying to turn it back into a flawless, crystal-clear existence like a diamond statue.
But before these crystals could cover its torso and limbs, threads of scarlet cracks appeared deep within them. The