Hide Behind Me

With that one shot, Yang Jia died.

Among those watching this battlefield were the group of crazed VIPs from the Iceberg Bar, a mysterious force led by the Hell Organization with their own agendas, and a group of staff members at the temporary combat command center of the Black Forest Biological Laboratory.

They each possess unique abilities to observe this battlefield, but on a mental level, faking death to deceive others is very difficult.

Therefore, they were all certain that Yang Jia had just died from Xiao Xiao's gunshot.

They all froze on the spot, speechless for a long time, their pupils dilated and their faces contorted in a terrifying way, more terrifying than if they had seen a ghost.

"Slap slap"

Amidst the chilling silence, it was the group of VIPs at the Iceberg Bar who reacted first.

Amidst their oddly shaped faces and blank silence, the Rabbit Boss was the first to speak, uttering a deep sigh before suddenly bursting into loud applause:

"That's amazing..."

"I'm still wondering how he could have fallen for something as tantalizing as love..."

"It turns out, I was too shallow..."

"..."

"Slap slap slap"

"Slap slap slap"

"Slap slap slap"

"..."

Following this, more people realized what was happening and were deeply moved. Some were even moved to tears and began to give the mysterious owner behind the Iceberg Bar the warmest applause.

None of the regular customers at the Iceberg Bar are ordinary people.

They each have their own problems, and each possesses their own extraordinary beauty and spirit. If it weren't for these innate advantages, they wouldn't have been able to gain such great benefits in the clash between the two Mysterious Source.

But even this group of people suddenly realized at that moment why they were just customers, while the others owned a bar.

The more they thought about it, the more they realized how wonderful the scene they had just witnessed was. The mysterious owner of the Iceberg Bar had truly taught them a profound lesson...

On the other side, on the Hell Organization's ship, countless members silently watched White Devil.

Their eyes held an undisguised look of inquiry and surprise.

White Devil also looked embarrassed and remained silent for a while before suddenly looking up at everyone and saying, "I've been telling you not to offend him, now you finally understand why, right?"

"This is to protect you..."

"..."

Everyone nodded in understanding, and at the same time subconsciously moved a little further away from the White Devil.

"Making friends with someone like this makes me feel like this usually kind and amiable White Devil Captain isn't quite normal..."

"..."

"..."

"Could the Pioneer Project really have some kind of psychological impact on these chosen ones?"

On the other side, in the temporary operational command center of the Black Forest Biological Laboratory, the Shepherds was also staring blankly at the screen, his expression one of astonishment and utter bewilderment:

"Judging from my experience of being single for over fifty years, he probably really likes that woman..."

"But when faced with a woman he liked so much, he could shoot her without hesitation, and even after firing the gun, he didn't seem sad or anything like that..."

"I'm starting to understand why those people in the Black Forest were so reluctant to cooperate with me before..."

"Such a cold-blooded and ruthless collaborator is indeed not very reassuring..."

"..."

"..."

At this moment, Xiao Xiao had no time to care what these people were thinking.

That single shot killed Yang Jia, and with it, the Mysterious Source within her. Just as the Hell Organization had once wiped out the residents of a small town to kill the Mysterious Source had parasitized their collective spiritual world, Xiao Xiao had now killed this Mysterious Source by killing its sole Branders. The fear of impending death caused the dark red tentacles around Yang Jia to frantically rise towards the sky, blotting out the sun, before falling limply back down, like a dark red tide of blood.

"Crack crack crack"

At the same time, the black door also began to tremble and become powerless, with mottled cracks and shattered flesh appearing on it.

At this moment, the immense spiritual power lost the restraint of the core will, and like a river bursting its banks and a tsunami sweeping in, the violent spiritual power instantly swept in from all directions.

The surrounding Iceberg Bar customers, the Hell Organization's field of vision, and even the Black Forest's monitoring equipment all malfunctioned at the same time. Some suddenly clutched their heads, feeling as if their brains were about to be torn apart by the violent mental force, while others hurriedly looked away to avoid the violent mental force spreading to them through their gaze. On the Black Forest's side, all equipment failed simultaneously, leaving only jumbled lines and large patches of meaningless static on the screen.

This is the final mental breakdown of a Mysterious Source before his death.

This power was terrifyingly strong.

At that moment, Xiao Xiao suddenly took a deep breath, then opened his arms to face the raging waves and the storm.

It appeared that he had gone in alone, heading straight for the wildly waving dark red tentacles.

He was Mingming thin, a stark contrast to the enormous creature, yet as he strode forward, his figure seemed to grow taller and more imposing.

Sometimes, one person can hold back a mountain or an ocean.

All you need to do is block the view from those looking at the mountains and the sea. But now, Xiao Xiao seems to have blocked everyone's gaze from looking at this mountain and this sea all by himself. He alone has blocked all the crazy, surging spiritual turmoil.

Then, he embraced Yang Jia's lifeless body, which was falling downwards amidst this mental frenzy.

"He really... I'm so upset..."

Customers at the nearby Iceberg Bar witnessed this scene, and some were so moved that tears streamed down their faces.

"Mingming just coldly and ruthlessly killed his newlywed wife, and now he's thinking about protecting us bar customers from danger?"

"Kill those who deserve it, protect those who deserve it. Boss Xiao is really good at separating public and private matters..."

"..."

But of course, they didn't know, nor could they see, that at this moment, as Xiao Xiao, deep in a state of mental frenzy, held Yang Jia's corpse in his arms, a faint golden light flashed within his embrace, followed by a sound of startled and violent breathing:

"I'm not dead?"

"No, I just died once, but I came back to life..."

"You..."

"I told you I would bring you back, even if it was through a rather roundabout method..."

"..."

At this moment, against the backdrop of dark red tentacles falling from the sky, Xiao Xiao looked at Yang Jia's open eyes, his body trembling with excitement.

The gamble paid off!

The Branders is indeed unable to escape the control of the Mysterious Source, because it is parasitic in the brand itself, and this brand is not engraved on the person's body, but on their spirit.

Therefore, as long as the Branders lives, the brand will always exist, and as long as the brand exists, the Mysterious Source will never die. However, the method is actually quite simple: since the Branders cannot escape the Mysterious Source as long as they live, then the Branders should just die for a while...

What a simple truth!

Of course, under normal circumstances, if the Branders dies and is resurrected, the Mysterious Source will still sense her and mark her again.

Only under these circumstances, when the Branders dies, the Mysterious Source also dies. The Branders can be resurrected with the help of mysterious items, but the Mysterious Source cannot.

So, the plan is that simple.

Using the resurrection coin that Yang Jia obtained from Dante Organization, kill her and also kill the Mysterious Source.

No one could see this scene, and even Yang Jia, after thinking about the details, quickly became somewhat horrified:

"Did you plan all of this in advance?"

"..."

Xiao Xiao shook his head. "Of course not. Things happened too suddenly. I only had a general idea, and the plan was implemented step by step through exploration..."

A hint of relief flickered in Yang Jia's eyes, but then she suddenly tensed up and stared intently at Xiao Xiao: "So, when you killed me, you weren't sure you could win?"

Xiao Xiao paused, his expression somewhat embarrassed. "... Yes."

Yang Jia was even more surprised and asked suddenly, "How can you be sure I have that coin on me? What if I gave it to someone else?"

"How is that possible?"

This time, Xiao Xiao was frank, and laughed, "When we were dancing together just now... no, when we were in close combat, I already touched this coin..."

"..."

Yang Jia looked at Xiao Xiao with a strange expression, somewhat taken aback, and muttered to herself, "No wonder."

"I thought you were deliberately taking advantage of me..."

"..."

Xiao Xiao's face turned extremely awkward upon hearing this. "What are you thinking about?"

"Am I that kind of person?"

"..."

Fortunately, Yang Jia didn't dwell on this issue. In fact, everything happened so quickly. For Xiao Xiao, he had just experienced the feeling of seeing Yang Jia die, worrying, and then feeling a little relieved when he saw the wound on Yang Jia's forehead disappear. But for Yang Jia, it was just a blink of an eye before she realized that the situation around her had changed drastically. She was shocked by too many things at this moment, such as the death of the Mysterious Source, and the fact that she could actually break free from the control of that mark that had always been there...

But then she realized the most important problem.

Just before he decided to face death, he was eager to tell Xiao Xiao a secret, "I have something to tell you."

"I discovered the truth about the existence of the Mysterious Source, and I discovered their purpose..."

"..."

"I've noticed some of that too."

Seeing the fear quickly appear on her face, Xiao Xiao whispered, "But don't be afraid."

"But..."

Yang Jia was about to speak again when she suddenly felt a sinister and cold gaze.

She and Xiao Xiao turned their heads at the same time and saw the black door. With the disappearance of Mister Du, the power of the door had dissipated and the authority had been transferred, so it had lost its foundation in reality.

At this moment, it has already automatically crashed and shut down.

But just before it closed, a cold and terrifying gaze suddenly pierced through the door from the other side.

Yang Jia couldn't help but shiver when she met that gaze.

From the secret she glimpsed, to witnessing the giant, dark red hand reaching out from behind the door, to now being spied on by the creature inside the door.

The fear in her heart suddenly surged up and she couldn't suppress it no matter what.

"I already know of their existence."

Xiao Xiao whispered to Yang Jia, looking at her somewhat weak body, and gently comforted her, "But it's okay, you can hide behind me."

Yang Jia glanced at Xiao Xiao's face with some surprise.

After a long pause, he nodded and said, "Mm."

She hid behind Xiao Xiao, whose power had already resonated with Black Gate City by more than 40%, so she was essentially hiding behind Black Gate City.

Only at this moment did she feel a little relieved.

She was quick-witted, after all, she had just had her brain messed up by a bullet.

Therefore, she also understood that having glimpsed so many secrets, and having unexpectedly gained such powerful authority with Mister Du's death, she was destined to be targeted by many people or things, so she had to hide first.

Yang Jia hid behind Black Gate City, so the eyes inside the door could no longer see her.

Just before the door closed, he could only look at Xiao Xiao, who also looked indifferently into the room and then revealed a cold smile.

Boom!

The black gate finally closed, and at the very moment it closed, it collapsed instantly.

The endless mental turbulence surged again, but it was all blocked by Xiao Xiao had transformed into Black Gate City. All the people around saw was the dark red flesh covering the sky and endless tentacles struggling in pain. Only when these painful tentacles disappeared did Xiao Xiao's figure finally slowly appear. In everyone's eyes, he was standing quietly on a pile of corpses. Beside him was a broken, dark red arm and a strange, gray cloak that seemed to have been torn off from somewhere.

A cloak that is already dead.

At that very moment, the melody played by the Record Player Miss suddenly stopped abruptly.

The scepter in Xiao Xiao's hand disappeared immediately, as did the brooch held in the palm of the dark red giant hand.

A brief sonic vacuum was created around us as the music ceased.

What's going on?

"Mr. Xiao, why did you fire that shot?"

"Where's that woman? Mr. Xiao, you didn't just eat her up, did you?"

"..."

Xiao Xiao himself had also experienced a fierce frenzy. At this moment, although he was excited that he had finally succeeded in his gamble, he was also filled with palpitations and panic.

He imagined that his companions, and even the onlookers, should be tense and worried at this moment, but he never expected that the VIPs in the bar around him would actually be excited.

This group of people weren't afraid at all; they just swarmed over and started asking me all sorts of questions.

"This..."

At this moment, Xiao Xiao actually felt somewhat bewildered, but his Mind Burst ability allowed him to remain calm.

He could have had Yang Jia step forward and tell these people that Yang Jia was not dead, but he overheard it instead, and Yang Jia wanted to continue hiding.

We can't just stay silent, can we?

So he paused for a moment. His Insight ability instantly sensed the excitement and anticipation in these people's hearts, while his Mind Burst ability made him think carefully about these people's personality traits, power potential, and the great role they might play in the future.

Slowly, he revealed a mysterious smile and whispered, "The dance was done, the ring was exchanged, and the kiss was given..."

"Such a beautiful moment, only death can preserve it forever, right?"

There's more later, I want to challenge myself and see how many more I can do.