Desire

Even in his sleep, Li Yèlái felt exhausted but also exhilarated.

He'd roughly calculated that, excluding the dual-bladed knights, he'd personally killed at least two hundred cavalrymen. The King of Zhelan was just a bonus.

He'd avenged his fallen comrades, his heroes.

As he entered deep sleep, his body, enhanced by the Heart of Slaughter for two hours, began to radiate vigorous life force.

So much so that the clerical staff stitching his wounds were astonished to find their needles could barely pierce Li Yèlái's skin.

They gave up, disinfected the wounds, and wrapped them with bandages.

After all, with his physique and resilience, such wounds would likely heal completely in just a few days.

Thus, when Li Yèlái opened his eyes.

He found himself wrapped in numerous bandages, lying in a spacious containment room with a group of other injured personnel. Many clerical staff were acting as medics, moving back and forth.

Not far away, clerical staff were burning incense and praying.

Despite the ventilation system, the air was still thick with the smell of disinfectant and incense.

The bizarre scene left Li Yèlái somewhat bewildered.

"Yo, you're awake?" Cheese's voice came from the side. Li Yèlái turned his head to look.

He saw her leaning against the wall beside him, a smile on her pale face, just like when they first met: "You've already become a young lady!"

"The same trick won't work on me."

Li Yèlái grinned and asked, "Are you alright? Where are you injured?"

"I'm fine. I just ate too much saccharin and felt nauseous. Plus, my psionic energy was depleted, so I came here to rest." Cheese made a disgusted expression: "I never want to eat any sugar again in my life!"

Li Yèlái sat up and stretched his limbs.

As he moved his body, crisp cracking sounds echoed from all over, leaving Li Yèlái feeling refreshed.

Li Yèlái instinctively felt that his strength and reaction speed had greatly improved.

His abdomen now showed distinct abs, and his entire musculature was more defined.

"Looks like the Heart of Slaughter's enhancement worked." Li Yèlái clenched his fist and swung it casually, producing a whistling sound: "I feel like I could punch a cow to death with one blow."

"You were enhanced by the Heart of Slaughter for two hours, far exceeding the safe limit. Furthermore, you were constantly in combat, which is even more dangerous!" Cheese's voice held a hint of lingering fear.

Normally, when colleagues used the Heart of Slaughter to enhance their bodies, they were usually fixed on a restraint platform. The Heart of Slaughter would be removed as soon as the time was up.

Someone like Li Yèlái, carrying the Heart of Slaughter and daring to throw himself into battle, was truly reckless.

Once submerged in the desire for slaughter, it would be truly over.

"Fortunately, you made it through. Theoretically, with two hours of enhancement, your physical strength is already comparable to a third-awakened True Martial path. As for punching a cow to death, that's nothing." Cheese continued, "However, while it was a blessing in disguise, you wore the Heart of Slaughter for too long in one go. It left some scars on your chest."

Li Yèlái heard this and looked down at his bandaged upper body. Indeed, three crimson scars extended from his chest.

"As long as there's a gain, a few scars are nothing." Li Yèlái replied, mimicking Cheese's posture by leaning against the corner of the wall. He then asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

At the same time, Li Yèlái surveyed his surroundings. Based on the current situation, the Forbidden Items likely hadn't been completely suppressed yet.

Otherwise, the injured wouldn't be housed in a containment room meant for suppressing Forbidden Items.

However, the Forbidden Item in this containment room was indeed the least dangerous.

A Class D Forbidden Item: Door Gods.

Effect: Two Door God talismans pasted on either side of a door or entrance, with incense offered to them.

The talismans would activate, projecting a psionic barrier to protect the space behind the door.

Its uncontrolled manifestation: opening all doors within a certain range.

Regardless of how the doors were sealed, they would be directly opened.

This was considered the most user-friendly Forbidden Item for humans.

Protection could be obtained simply by offering incense.

This was the main reason for choosing this location to house the injured.

"You slept for almost five hours." Cheese replied, "After you fainted, three more Forbidden Items appeared there due to various coincidences. They were attacked by White Poplar and his group and successfully suppressed. Including the King of Zhelan's banner and the Heart of Slaughter, a total of seven Forbidden Items were suppressed because of you. Therefore, the Night Watchmen intend to apply for some merit points for you as commendation."

"There's nothing to commend. So many comrades sacrificed, what is there to commend?" Li Yèlái asked in a low voice, "What's the situation now?"

"All the Forbidden Items in the upper sector have been suppressed, but the battle in the lower sector is still fierce." Cheese responded, "White Poplar and the others have gone to reinforce the lower sector, while we continue to guard the upper sector, awaiting support."

"I wish them victory!" Li Yèlái nodded, then found his Crimson Longsword, the bell, and the jet axe nearby.

Among them, except for the summoning bell, the longsword and axe were both heavily damaged.

The high-intensity continuous combat had left the Crimson Longsword riddled with nicks.

The jet axe had also been damaged during the battle.

"You'll need to spend some merit points to repair your psionic equipment, or replace it entirely." Cheese picked up Li Yèlái's Crimson Longsword, examined it, and shook her head, "It's completely blunted, unusable."

She then picked up the jet axe and inspected it for a while, saying, "I suggest you have the equipment department custom-make you a thermite axe or sword. Although they lack psionic abilities, their destructive power is outstanding."

"I can guess what you want to save up for. The captain can help you apply to try out an anti-psionic helmet. If it works well, I can buy it for you directly, and you can slowly save up merit points to pay me back later. If it doesn't work, then don't waste your money." Cheese advised, "For now, you should focus on strengthening yourself."

Li Yèlái did indeed want to accumulate merit points to buy an anti-psionic helmet, hoping it could suppress Li Yúnyān's curse.

If it worked, everyone would be happy. If not, Li Yèlái figured he'd just waste those ninety merit points.

Now, Cheese's suggestion was excellent, and Li Yèlái could only nod, "Thank you."

Afterward, Li Yèlái, Cheese, and the other recuperated injured personnel left the containment room.

They arrived at the junction leading to the lower levels.

Together with other handlers and Iron Guards stationed there, they waited for any potential backup that might be needed.

While waiting, Li Yèlái assessed his current strength.

His psionic armor was half-crippled, his jet axe was malfunctioning, and only the summoning bell could still summon the Twin Blades Knight.

His equipment losses were quite severe.

However, in terms of abilities, Li Yèlái had gained a significant boost.

First was his physical strength.

Li Yèlái followed the Myriad Manifestations path. In terms of enhancement ranking, the Myriad Manifestations physique was only considered balanced, or mediocre, among awakened Spirit Ability Users of the same level.

But this time, Li Yèlái had benefited from the Heart of Slaughter, turning misfortune into fortune.

His physical strength had surged. According to Cheese, his physique had reached the strength of a third-awakening True Martial.

This meant that with his physical strength alone, a second-awakener like him could now contend with a third-awakening True Martial.

He now had the capital for cross-level combat.

Of course, many handlers had strengthened their physiques with the Heart of Slaughter, but Li Yèlái's enhancement was not insignificant.

Next was the second Mask.

Just like Xiang Yu's Mask, Huo Qubing's Mask also brought Li Yèlái many skills.

Riding skills: Huo Qubing was an expert horseman.

But times had changed; this skill was probably not very useful. He couldn't just buy a horse, could he? And then ride it during missions?

Following that were archery skills while riding.

Huo Qubing was also skilled in mounted archery, but again, times had changed.

In fact, Xiang Yu's Mask had also given Li Yèlái archery skills, even a monstrous technique like Consecutive Arrows.

However, due to the psionic barrier of Spirit Ability Users, ranged weapons like bows and firearms were not very effective.

Spirit Ability Users could indeed infuse psionics into arrows and shoot enemies.

But the psionics on the arrows would dissipate in mid-air.

Unless they were a Spirit Ability User of the Divine Control path, Spirit Ability Users of other paths would lose their psionics after a period of time once the weapon left their body, making it impossible to break through the enemy's psionic barrier.

Therefore, ranged weapon attacks were often exclusive to the Divine Control path.

But even for the Divine Control path, few people used consumables like arrows.

Was it a cost issue? To infuse psionics more effectively, both the bow and arrows would need to be psionic equipment, right?

Bows were manageable; they wouldn't break quickly at least.

But arrows?

Was every arrow psionic equipment?

That alone was enough to make all Spirit Ability Users hesitate.

So, most Spirit Ability Users of the Divine Control path used recyclable weapons like flying swords, or simply controlled puppets to fight.

Li Yèlái's Overlord's Halberd Toss was effective because the weapon was large enough to infuse a significant amount of psionics, and the distance was not too great, allowing him to throw it for a single decisive blow. He couldn't exactly use a spear as an arrow, could he?

However, he could learn from his teammate Yang Chén's javelin throws.

So, Li Yèlái couldn't use these riding and archery skills. He could only hope to obtain a Divine Control path Mask if he had the chance to unlock later Masks.

Next was the third skill from Huo Qubing's Mask: Positional Awareness.

This was a skill akin to intuition. Even in the most chaotic terrain, Huo Qubing could discern the correct direction by instinct.

This was very useful, Li Yèlái thought.

Aside from these skills, the most direct improvement brought by the Marquis of Victory's Mask was the <Shadow Army> ability. Any unit killed by Li Yèlái would have its shadow stolen, becoming a new member of the <Shadow Army>.

Li Yèlái had previously killed over two hundred Zealot cavalrymen, gaining about twenty members for his <Shadow Army>.

The addition of just twenty <Shadow Army> members allowed Li Yèlái to unleash incredibly fast speed and formidable defense.

This ability filled a gap in Li Yèlái's weaknesses.

From now on, he wouldn't have to worry about not being able to catch up to enemies, nor would he have to fear being heavily injured by powerful attacks.

The <Shadow Army>'s improvement was multifaceted. While its destructive power was inferior to Xiang Yu's Weakness Perception, its auxiliary effects were extremely strong.

From now on, if surrounded by enemies, you can use the Xiang YuFacial Mask to fight, efficiently kill enemies, and absorb more Shadow Army.

If the number of Shadow Army increases again, the buffs will likely become even stronger.

Thinking of this, Li Yèlái suddenly frowned.

"I'm not a murderer. Why am I even considering this? Have I really been influenced by the heart of slaughter?"

Li Yèlái shook his head, dismissing the thoughts in his mind.

Although he had experienced countless bloody battles in the illusions of Xiang Yu and Huo Qubing, he was no longer afraid of gore.

However, Li Yèlái did not want to cause any slaughter.

Currently, the only human who had died by Li Yèlái's hand was that old guy, Wang De.

At this moment, White Poplar, who had finished bandaging his severed arm, noticed Li Yèlái's actions and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. How are you? Why don't you go rest?" Li Yèlái looked at White Poplar's severed arm. His arm had been broken when he fought the Void Realm creature from the Scarlet Wanted List.

"I'm fine. My arm has been found and preserved. After this is over, I'll have the Plague Doctor Captain reattach it for me," White Poplar said with a smile. "If you have any concerns, you can tell me."

"Well, actually, I was thinking about the Shadow Army ability. How can I gain more buffs without killing anyone?" Li Yèlái told the truth. Since the other party had already seen the second Facial Mask, Li Yèlái had nothing to hide.

Upon hearing this, White Poplar looked deeply at Li Yèlái. "At Border City No. 2, someone else also obtained Shadow Army. It was during their fifth awakening."

"And then?" Li Yèlái inquired.

"Even for an Handler, it's impossible to encounter someone who deserves to die or a monster every time. So, his Shadow Army count was very low. Then he was consumed by desire, and to obtain more Shadow Army, he slaughtered several villages in the wilderness, becoming a wanted criminal," White Poplar said slowly. "Don't become that kind of person."

Li Yèlái said sternly, "I won't. I dislike killing."

White Poplar thought, If I hadn't seen you chasing a group of cavalry, I would have almost believed you!

However, considering it was all for revenge for his teammates, White Poplar nodded slightly. "Don't get lost in it. There are supreme beings in the Void Realm who specialize in tempting those who revel in slaughter. However, some people deserve to die, like the scoundrels who caused all this trouble this time. If I catch them, I'll show them what hellish scenery looks like!"

Li Yèlái nodded in agreement.

He also knew that the Black Prison of the East City Branch was not the only one fighting. Other teams and other branches were also fighting.

If Li Yúnyān hadn't been safe in the family apartment, Li Yèlái couldn't imagine how terrified he would have been.

He wondered how many teammates would sacrifice their lives in this battle.

Those beasts who did this had become mortal enemies.

There should be no mercy for them!

Meanwhile, on the lower level of the Black Prison.

A fierce battle had just ended, and Ice Witch, Yin Tiger, and Demon Host had all been suppressed.

But the price paid was tragic.

Several veteran night guards had died in battle.

And at this moment, the man lying in front of Yáng Chén was the one who had voluntarily put on the Black Dragon Armor to suppress the Forbidden Item.

As the battle ended, he decisively plunged a blade into his heart through a gap in the armor, ending his own life to avoid becoming a monster controlled by the armor.

Yáng Chén silently watched the comrade about to die before him, his face terrifyingly grim.

"Captain. After I die, take the mysterious materials from my soul well. This Black Dragon has quite a few things..." The man, clad in pitch-black armor, had scales growing on his skin, and his hands had transformed into claws, already in a half-human, half-dragon state.

The Dragon Man leaned against the wall and chuckled, "Whether it's for making elixirs for Night General or for psionic armament, it's the least I can do as a senior."

Yáng Chén said in a low voice, "You saw through it?"

"Of course, you can't hide things. You want to nurture Night General into the next champion. I'll do my best to help you," the Dragon Man said with a light laugh. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. You're doing very well."

After that, he breathed his last.

Yáng Chén looked at his corpse, at the corpses of his comrades.

He clutched his head in pain, letting out a terrifying roar.

Once again, he helplessly watched his teammates die before his eyes.

Again.

(Reporting on performance: First day sales were 2600. However, due to red envelopes being distributed, the actual number should be less than two thousand.)