Today's Prosperity, Feeding Complete

In reality, in Experiment in Unknown Province and City.

Li Zhi woke up on an operating table. He slowly opened his eyes and took off his glasses.

This is a pair of non-prescription glasses, a little trick usually used to disguise one's vision, but it was obviously not used in this game.

He stood up, first looked himself over, and then began to carefully examine the operating room where he had lived for "a long time".

This is a completely enclosed operating room, with walls on three sides and a steel door on one side that is as solid as the wall. Normally, ventilation and air exchange rely entirely on the vents outside the air wall above his head. He had always thought this was a medical room in some underground military facility, but today, that idea has changed.

If you are a slice, then the original body would never allow you to grow into an independent player. It would definitely be watching you closely in the dark, observing you, and never letting go of its control.

So... is this really an operating room?

It's impossible for it to connect to other spaces, because Li Zhi had confirmed that the air walls around this wall didn't seem to be fake.

But today he suddenly realized he had overlooked something, and that was... the ventilation vents!

In his Memory, he had tried to climb that vent, but an invisible wall blocked his way.

But note... that's in my Memory!

So Li Zhi gripped a Scalpel and began to explore the space again. This time, he no longer trusted Memory, because fragmented Memory were meaningless.

After he had explored all four walls again, his gaze finally fell on the only ventilation opening.

He brought over an operating table and tried to climb up onto it, but just then, the ventilation opening, which was only big enough for one person to pass through, opened by itself!

Yes, I opened it myself!

The sound of mechanical gears rang out, and the louvers of the vents slid open to the left and right, revealing a dark passage. At the other end of the passage, a hoarse voice was chuckling.

"You still found out. Come on, come here, all the answers you want are here."

Li Zhi's pupils suddenly contracted, and then his whole body tensed up.

He had a premonition that this talking being might be his true form.

Finally, the moment has arrived, the moment when the slice and the main body face to face.

Li Zhi gripped the knife tightly in his hand, and after casting three Calming Techniques on himself, he crawled deeper into the unknown passage.

The being at the other end did not make any move while he was being restrained and crawling.

It wasn't until Li Zhi climbed into another space and poked his head out of the ventilation duct that he was shocked to find that there were more than a dozen devices in this space that were exactly the same as Therius's Experiment petri dishes. In the middle of those devices, there was a strange man who was both young and old, squinting at him.

"You're a smart person, come down, I won't hurt you."

Li Zhi's breath hitched, and then he cautiously jumped down.

He stood before the strange man, who was half young and half old, his eyes filled with astonishment and doubt.

"Who are you..."

"You know who I am, don't you?"

That's right, your guesses are probably all correct. Looking at my appearance Experiment, you should know that I am both a beneficiary and a victim of this Experiment.

And you... like me, are also a victim of this Experiment.

"Heh." Even Li Zhi, who was usually very good-tempered, laughed Yin-Yang upon hearing this. "So it turns out I was never the beneficiary."

"We share the same goal; someone always has to sacrifice themselves for the Experiment, right?"

"Why aren't you the one making the sacrifice?!"

"How do you know I haven't made any sacrifices? Look at this prosperity flowing through me, look at this Decay rotting within me, look at me becoming neither human nor ghost. Isn't that terrifying?"

This is my dedication.

"So you're trying to cultivate your original self, which is me, as a vessel for your molting, a new body!?"

"No, no, no, I didn't mean that at all, please don't get agitated."

"No? Then why did you create me? To prove that your research capabilities are sufficient to replicate Therius's Slice Experiment?"

"You're still so stubborn. Beneath your calm and composed exterior lies an irreversible obsession." The strange man sighed. "I separated you from the group so I could continue my Experiment in peace. That way, you go your way, and I'll go mine. Isn't that better?"

"I'm sorry, I can't tell if what you're saying is true or false, but I... I don't need to tell if what you're saying is true or false. The moment you let me go, you should have known that this matter couldn't be resolved peacefully!"

Li Zhi's gaze sharpened, and he pulled out the Concentric Dagger he had exchanged with Cheng Shi from his pocket. Then, he leaped up and, taking advantage of the moment of conversation, fiercely stabbed at the body of the old man and the young man.

Unexpectedly, the strange man did not dodge; he simply stood there waiting for Li Zhi to plunge the Daggers into his heart.

"Laugh--"

The knife pierced flesh and pierced the heart, yet not a single drop of blood was spilled.

Li Zhi looked at the strange man who had not died and his face showed horror!

"You... you... how is this possible? How could you not be dead! This is..."

The strange man laughed eerily. He stretched out his withered hand, grasped the Concentric Dagger, and then slowly pulled the murder weapon out of his rotting heart.

"Is this the slicing Concentric Dagger of Slice Therius? You mean this, don't you?" The strange man's laughter was like the breath of a dead man, intermittent and eerie.

"!!!"

Li Zhi's pupils constricted sharply as he stared at the strange man in disbelief, too terrified to speak.

He knows!

He had anticipated this!

"Aren't you shocked?"

Are you wondering how I knew that the Daggers in your hand was the one that Slice Therius's Concentric Dagger?

There are two Concentric Dagger. One belongs to Therius and is specifically used to dissect the weaker personality. If a conflict arises between the same personality and one of them possesses the Daggers, it can be used to deal with those disobedient fragments, and it is most effective.

The other one is Slice Therius.

As a fragment, he naturally couldn't wield a Daggers that could kill him at any moment, so he modified the Daggers, turning it into a weapon that only killed those with strong personalities.

This was the weapon he used to kill his true form, and you, too, want to kill me with the same Concentric Dagger, Li Zhi. You're clever, but you've overlooked one thing!

As he spoke, the strange man gripped the tip of the Concentric Dagger and, with a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, stabbed the Daggers into Li Zhi's heart with the hilt, driving the entire Daggers backwards into Li Zhi's heart.

"Puff--"

Li Zhi suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, clutched his chest, and staggered to the ground. The fear on his face intensified, as he felt his life slipping away and his personality dissolving.

This Concentric Dagger, meant to kill a domineering personality, actually killed itself!?

How is that possible?!

"You..."

Are you confused? Puzzled? Shocked?

The Concentric Dagger to kill the powerful one actually killed itself. I like this expression on your face, Li Zhi. Although I have seen your look of surprise and fear countless times, every time I see you again, it makes me feel happy.

Yes, I am a fragment just like you, and I am the weakest of all the fragments, which is why I used [Divinity] to complete my personality.

As for our great original body, I killed it long ago using the same method.

Ha, hahaha, how about it? Looks like I'm just as smart as you!

Not only that, I also inserted this knowledge into your Memory.

Have you ever considered that if your Memory of the vents are all false, then the method you used to kill me in your Memory must also be false?

The method is indeed correct, but unfortunately, it was something I deliberately taught you.

Haha, are you happy?

Yes, that's it, I love your fear!

As he spoke, the strange man used his fat hand to lift Li Zhi up directly, and before he was completely dead, he slowly, bit by bit, with a look of enjoyment, stuffed Li Zhi... entirely into his mouth, which was as wide open as a giant python.

Swallow it whole.

"Crunch, crunch, crunch..."

"Ah--

Today's "prosperity" has ended.

Unfortunately, no Sprouted Divinity; it seems the fear wasn't enough.

Next chapter: A pilgrimage to the gods. The betting begins! Guess who it is!