Act.18 Prodigal Son

Foreword:

I'd rather be envied than pitied.

[Part 1: Manifestation of Divinity]

The loss of the White Paper Fan and Duran signifies that Lawrence has lost his keen observation skills.

The loss of the Black Gloves and Cici signifies that Lawrence has lost his lethal offensive power.

The loyal Fly Man died, and within an hour, countless ministers and cousins were killed or wounded. The Guangling Zhixi team appeared and disappeared like ghosts, and their next target was Zero Platform in Xiangwan.

The Cult Leader doesn't have much time to react.

--After dealing with the affairs of Sanhe Town, he finally awoke from his confusion.

These documents and contracts were like sharp fishhooks coated with LSD hallucinogens, gripping his mouth tightly.

When Guangling Zhixi first launched its attack, the governor of Forty-Eight District sent a warning, telling him to be more careful and vigilant. This time, it was Ming De's elite troops who were carrying out the anti-drug mission, with their target Little Brotherhood.

Lawrence didn't care.

--Because he had heard this kind of social etiquette between the legitimate and underworld countless times, he was so tired of it that his ears were practically calloused.

They all wanted his Little Brotherhood restrain themselves. Losing a few hideouts and shutting down a few workshops was just a matter of giving up a pittance; Sanhe Town was his real target. If Lawrence was intimidated by the governor's few simple words, he would never let it go.

But in that short hour, the combat briefings that came through became increasingly bizarre and horrifying; the intelligence relayed by the Black Gloves sounded so frightening and terrifying. Until the young Bolivian man's voice could no longer be heard at the Xiangwan platform.

Lawrence Madison finally awoke from the sweet smell of ink and realized that this was no simple matter, a trouble that he could not simply brush off by paying money and ceding land.

He had to start struggling immediately! Drop the official seals and documents at hand, abandon all business entities! He had to escape to God's territory!

The red-haired recipient of the blood sacrifice lost all composure, donned heavy winter clothes and bulletproof armor, and rushed towards the exit to happiness. Using the [Heaven's Gate], he left Zero Platform and arrived at the multi-access [Universal Room], where he made a phone call to the manager of the Blackland Royal Hotel.

"Mana! I have to leave this place now."

Thumb is currently in the museum of the Blackland Royal Hotel, the most important treasure trove of the Little Brotherhood. If the Cult Leader wants to escape, he will definitely have to return here first and use the power of the [Heaven's Gate] to move all the treasures in this room in advance.

Thumb Brother was accompanied by three Ming De warriors.

They are Jason Megan, Bloodhound, and Katusha.

In addition, over a thousand Rangers from Eleventh District have taken over the defense of the Blackland Royal Hotel, with more than a hundred dark gun barrels pointed at the exit of the Rabbit Hole.

Thumb looked at the Lapis Lazuli with nervous excitement. Under the instruction of the Bloodhound, he calmed himself down and answered the call from the Cult Leader.

"Warden, the museum doors are always open to you, please rest assured."

Lawrence was overjoyed.

With this money, he could find a way to make a comeback in just half a month. So he couldn't wait to step out the door.

But as soon as I took that step, a strong sense of crisis inexplicably arose within me!

Perhaps it was the intense spiritual pressure emanating from the two VIPs present that caused Lawrence to turn ashen-faced the moment his body stepped through the Heaven's Gate!

"Wendy!" Jason roared, calling out Soul Might's true name, "Shatter this gate!"

The azure spirit of the windmill punched the north gate into pieces, leaving only Lawrence's thigh, which was immediately turned into mincemeat by bullets!

The Cult Leader stumbled and fell back into the multi-purpose room. He was frustrated and annoyed by the betrayal of Manager Mana. In the instant his body was weakened by blood loss from his thigh, his mental world was also about to fall into the Gate of Death.

"We can't give up. No, no, no!"

The centipede, though dead, did not stiffen. Lying paralyzed in the safe, warm, multifunctional room, its brain began to work at high speed, unwilling to admit defeat.

His forehead was covered in cold sweat. He took out Universal Elixir from the medical kit in his armor and healed the wound on his thigh. The severe mental trauma also made him feel that all was lost.

"You didn't come here to admit defeat! You didn't come here to fail! You didn't come here to die! Lawrence Madison!"

He kept emphasizing this, like a fanatic, as he watched the enemy's superhuman powers restore the gate, and the windmill once again repaired the passage between the museum and the multi-purpose room.

Jason Megan's sinister gaze shone through the doorway.

The moment Lawrence regained consciousness, he immediately revoked the Heaven's Gate's control over the gate!

The bullet was intercepted at the gate halfway through its journey, and the door to wealth was forever closed to Lawrence Madison.

Bloodhound: "What's your hurry?!"

Katusha: "Yes, sir! What's the rush?!"

"My Inspiration is incredibly sharp." Jason picked up the broken bullet from the ground, examining its cut. "Just now, when Lawrence Madison took that first step, even if it was just a leg, I could feel the intense fear emanating from him. He wanted to run! If he had been a second later, he wouldn't have even lost that leg."

Thumb Guy gripped his phone nervously. "He hasn't hung up yet! What do we do? Our intentions have been exposed!"

Mr. Lawrence regained his composure and slowly began to speak, mediating with the warriors of Thumb and Ming De.

"Why? Mana? Why did you betray me?"

"You can all hear my voice, and you can understand what I'm saying, right?"

"I guarded this prison for Ming De, served the governor of Eleventh District, and made many contributions to the finances of Forty-Eight District."

"Let's do the simplest math: I should be worth more than any of you. Have you ever considered what a huge loss it would be for the Abyssal Railway if I were to die?"

Thumb Bro had already put his phone on speakerphone, so Lawrence's voice could be heard by everyone, including the FOB radio station of the Guangling Zhixi battle group and the dedicated line of Ming De.

The Cult Leader slumped in the all-purpose room. He still had several paths to take and several shortcuts to take, but he wanted the simplest and most direct one.

Why is a family called a family? Why is a building called a building?

"It is because of the existence of [the door]! It is the door that turns stubborn stone into a cave! It is the door that turns an infinitely distant journey into a warm dwelling—my spiritual power is the miracle that Ming De so desperately desires! But why? Why do you oppose me?"

"I am the incarnation of God! I am a divine manifestation!"

"I've done so much for the railway and the boss! I've imprisoned so many criminals! I've created so much wealth! I've opened a door to happiness for you!"

From the other end of the phone --

--A voice that sounded neither male nor female, but like that of a child, came from the BOSS.

"Lawrence Madison."

The Cult Leader: "BOSS! BOSS! BOSS! You're finally willing to answer me?"

Boss: "You're a talent."

The Cult Leader: "That's right! That's right! You're willing to accept me? I knew it! You would never let a gem go to waste."

Boss: "Wait a minute. The main reason I'm calling is to help you face reality and think carefully about how you want to spend the last part of your life."

"What do you mean?" Lawrence Madison's expression changed drastically. "Ming De, are you really going to abandon me?"

BOSS: "I heard from the battle reports at the front that your soul power is indeed beautiful, extremely alluring. But if I think about it carefully, if someone else hadn't built a gate for you to pass through the arms of this marble sculpture and let the [Heaven's Gate] send your body to a distant place, you would probably have immediately fallen into the [Gate of Death] and lost contact with your soul."

Lawrence frowned, deep in thought.

--He did indeed do this once, in a life-or-death moment, without using any other means, he went directly into the embrace of the Heaven's Gate, the whole process was extremely dangerous. When he arrived at his destination, because his spirit was still on the other side of the gate, his soulless body was almost in a daze for several hours before returning to the human world.

"This is not a shortcut," the BOSS described it. "It's a dead end. Without craftsmen building your gate, without the blood and sweat of others, how can you have your heaven?"

Lawrence loudly protested, "Boss! I'm useful! I'm still useful! Without me..."

Ming De interrupted—

"--How many sentries did you leave in Hedland? Let them get moving. Try it and see how much trouble these criminals can cause me. Do you think I'll hesitate? You want to threaten me? Do you think you have the guts?"

At this very moment--

Aside from the thousand-strong armed force of the Lapis Lazuli Guards and the Rangers, the sun rising from the rooftops of Hedland seemed to remain forever beneath this fertile land.

This Lord of Cinder faithfully fulfilled his duties, and the blood-soaked monster could not escape to the sun-drenched land.

"I can bring you wealth!" Lawrence said nervously. "I know what you want! More essence! More money and power! More land! Right?"

Boss: "No, all I care about are people."

"You want people?" Lawrence thought for a moment, then immediately changed his mind. "I can be a person too! I can love people too! God naturally wants to love all people! Yes! You're right!"

BOSS: "What do you mean by 'you can also'? What does that mean? What does 'you can also' mean? I don't understand."

"I can abolish power, pluck feathers, I can be docile and obedient. I can." Lawrence paused halfway through his sentence, feeling a piercing, excruciating pain.

--The pain of relinquishing power and land was almost ingrained in his soul. It was something he absolutely could not compromise on; it was worse than death for him.

"You seem to have misunderstood something." The BOSS's tone was filled with chilling murderous intent. It had transformed from a childish, childish voice into a deep, composed young man. It changed its tone depending on what it wanted to say, "Lawrence Madison, why do you think Saturn is Saturn? Is it because of his innate divine power? Is it because he fathered so many children, one of whom was named Jupiter, who later became the king of the gods in Greek mythology? Is Saturn a posthumous title he bestowed upon his father as a title of honor?"

Lawrence's head drooped dejectedly.

The BOSS, however, passionately and loudly recounted the basic rules of mythology.

"Only through the labor and cultivation of countless people can wealth be created. The source of wealth is not the land, but people themselves—human beings created the Saturnalia festival. If you want to compare yourself to Saturn using famous paintings, then you must accept your fate. What you are swallowing is not your own flesh and blood, but countless brothers and sisters who were born and raised on this same land and have been harmed by you."

The BOSS then recounted the world as seen through the eyes of its monstrous form.

"We only have one mother, only this land, a machine of flesh and blood shaped by carbohydrates and genes. To avoid becoming slaves to our genes, to avoid living like machines, so much wisdom and love were born. So many rituals and rules arose—"

--Lawrence Madison, run! Keep running! You don't deserve to die in this museum! It's a collection of the masterpieces of countless brilliant stars in the history of Homo sapiens!

--You think you can turn over a new leaf? What a pipe dream!

[Part 1: Facing Imminent Disaster]

Keep running!

Don't stop!

In his panic, Lawrence, having lost his way to wealth, fled without hesitation toward the doors of District 18.

The moment he burst through the door, he felt a sense of relief, as if he had let go of his savings of many years and experienced a refreshing feeling of breaking free from the cocoon and emerging as a butterfly.

I'd rather be envied than pitied!

This was Lawrence's thought; he couldn't accept the BOSS's condescending attitude, as if he were the one who should be sitting on the throne!

The unfamiliar yet familiar environment allowed him to breathe easily. This was a cold storage room on the second floor of a restaurant, located in an unnamed village within the Wusong Peak Nature Reserve in District 18. To the north was the Transportation Authority's hub, with easy access in all directions, and to the south was another settlement of the Madness Butterfly Sect, where he could contact other Blood Butterfly brethren.

The Wusong Peak Nature Reserve is also the origin of H16T hallucinogens. Lawrence had a wild idea in his mind—if he could get his hands on such an item, he would be able to fight head-on even if he encountered one or two morpho butterfly units.

He hurried to the restaurant's front hall, greeted the waiter at the front desk, showed his Little Brotherhood armband, and was about to take the key from under the incense burner at the shrine to retrieve some medicine from the safe for self-defense.

A strange, dark-haired man grabbed Lawrence's hand.

Wen Bucai: "It seems you're the Cult Leader."

At that moment, Lawrence felt utterly bewildered and astonished.

He had thought that since Ming De had made such a threatening statement, there might already be people lying in wait at the other exits of the Rabbit Hole, but there were no station personnel to be seen inside or outside the restaurant in District 18, and even the manager and the laborer had not been changed.

How does this mysterious man know Lawrence's true identity? Is he a VIP?

Why have I never heard of this person before, or even seen them before!

Over the years, when Lawrence went to the Transport Department to sort out interpersonal relationships and participate in social interactions, he met many Wen Bucai semi-...

There's no time to think about that now!

The Cult Leader was grabbed by one arm, and he felt an immense, terrifying force coming from the hand that was gripping his wrist bone!

"Open the Heaven's Gate!"

He summoned his spirit, determined to fight Wen Bucai to the death!

The marble statue emerged from its body, like the muscular physique of an ancient Roman warrior, and suddenly delivered a powerful punch towards Wen Bucai's skull.

A powerful shockwave was generated in the restaurant's front hall!

[The Drunkard] used his dark, sharkskin arms to intercept the punch from the Heaven's Gate halfway through, almost shattering the spirit's wrist bones!

"Ouch!" Lawrence felt a pain in his right hand. Through his spirit, he saw the strange Easterner reach for a gun and immediately activated his soul power to continue throwing punches!

The Drunkard: "Ada!"

The other arm of [Heaven's Gate] was also shattered by a fierce mid-range volley.

Wen Bucai raised his gun and stood still, the muzzle of the M500 pointed directly at Lawrence Madison's head.

The instant the gunfire erupted --

Lawrence was enveloped in a chilling aura, using his ethereal form to protect his head. Even with his bent arms, the Heaven's Gate could barely manage to draw a circle!

The bullet pierced through the door and immediately shot out from the door of the room on the second floor of the cold storage, almost piercing the floor above the two men's heads.

Having missed his first shot, Wen Bucai showed almost no sign of stopping, firing six shots in quick succession. He seemed still pondering the nature of the enemy's soul power—he had no idea about the miraculous creation of the [Heaven's Gate], nor could he clearly see the trajectory of Magnum's bullets. He was still puzzled by his missed shot.

The bullet impact point on the floor above made a crisp, cracking sound. Wen Bucai immediately lowered the muzzle of his gun, treating it as the recoil of the M500 to shoot down the planes in the sky.

Lawrence was also forced to lower his body, manipulating his Soul Power to guide the deadly bullet.

As Wen Bucai handed the revolver to Jiu Kuang for control, he finally noticed something amiss between the two arms of the Heaven's Gate forming a circle.

But he did not stop shooting.

--It shows no sign of stopping.

There were still over two hundred rounds of ammunition in the weapon pouch. Lawrence's Soul Might was extremely precise, but what about its endurance?

Mr. Wen Bucai only wanted to break through the defenses of the Heaven's Gate from the front. Lawrence, however, retreated little by little, struggling to hold on amidst continuous gunfire, and finally found the necessary tool!

No sooner said than done --

--A cold glint flashed under the Cult Leader's armpit, and an inconspicuous wine glass at the restaurant counter became a new door.

Guided by the [Heaven's Gate], the bullet shot straight from the cup toward Wen Bucai!

"Hahahaha!" Lawrence laughed maniacally, "To hurt God is to hurt yourself!"

The smile lasted only a fraction of a second.

--The Drunkard gripped the violent bullet tightly, the powerful kinetic energy leaving behind a golden molten iron ball and a sonic boom dust on the spirit's palm.

Lawrence was completely stunned by what he saw.

The enemy's spiritual power far exceeded his expectations. Being able to block a bullet wasn't particularly remarkable, but being able to catch a bullet with his bare hands, possessing such incredible speed and strength—

--He is no match for [the Drunkard] now.

Even if this spirit has no special abilities, its power, precision, explosive force, and reaction speed alone are enough to kill the Cult Leader in just a few seconds or a few breaths!

"Ada!" The drunkard threw a punch—

Lawrence, in a panic, frantically dealt with the fierce punches using the Heaven's Gate. In the first instant, he grabbed the large bronze gong next to the money box and used it to build a circular door with a diameter of no more than fifty centimeters!

A flurry of punches slammed into the hollow gate of the gong, immediately emerging from the same entrance. These dozen or so punches landed on empty air, and Wen Bucai's physical body could not keep up with Lawrence's nimble steps as he moved with the feathered serpent.

They rummaged through the shop on the first floor, one using both fists and a gun, the other fleeing in a sorry state. All the furniture on the first floor was torn to shreds, and the load-bearing wall connecting the restaurant's booths was smashed open by Lawrence's retreating body, all in an attempt to find a sliver of hope, a way out.

"Door! Door! Door!"

Only one word remained in Lawrence's mind—

--Found the door! Escape back to the multi-purpose room!

A sudden high kick shattered the large bronze gong. Even though [Drunkard] was clumsy, his continuous straight punches were ineffective, so he changed his attack route and method.

Lawrence's mouth was slashed open by flying copper and iron shards, leaving two bright red wounds that tore through the endurance plate of his bulletproof helmet. He rolled and crawled, then immediately got up and ran away, leaping up the crumbling load-bearing wall to escape!

The shards of the large gong scattered like deadly shot, hitting various parts of the room. Several middlemen from the Little Brotherhood, who were still frantically searching for weapons to help their Little Brotherhood kill the enemy, were instantly killed by the shrapnel, their brains spilling out.

Wen Bucai followed closely behind, his bullets splattering the target's back and chest, only to see the pure white marble statue still drawing circles with its hands, protecting this demon.

The moment he crashed through the cold storage's iron door--

Lawrence Madison, drenched in cold sweat, returned to the multipurpose room.

He didn't know what kind of monster had come to the Frost Peak in District 18. But this road was also blocked. He waited in front of the door for a while, and the second he saw Wen Bucai reach out his hand to enter the Universal Room, he was so terrified that he almost sobbed. He immediately deactivated the special ability of [Heaven's Gate].

A finger remains here--

Lawrence immediately picked it up, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed it vigorously to replenish the energy he had lost in the fierce battle.

Wen Bucai held a fresh arm, the index finger was severed, the fingertip was nowhere to be found, the arm was torn from a corpse downstairs.

He was very cautious and had already learned new scouting techniques from Xue Ming and Xiao Qi's combat records.

"Fine."

Looking through the large door of the cold storage room, the view has returned to normal, indicating that the [Rabbit Hole] has become useless.

"Luckily, I had a backup plan."