The Snake's Loneliness

Is that... Honkai Energy? He condensed Honkai Energy together like Herrscher?

With both palms extended, the spherical energy containing pure destructive power expanded into a scorching fireball with a radius of two meters immediately after leaving his hands!

"Boom!"

Lin subconsciously crossed the chains in front of him to protect himself. The fireball's internal Honkai Energy was quickly contained after it hit the chains, but the chains could not stop the light, heat and impact.

Everything before him was engulfed by the scorching light. Lin took a step back and bumped into the Oath of Judas. After his burned eyesight had recovered a little, he vaguely saw that his hands were burned and torn apart.

"Don't get distracted."

Before anyone could react, the ghostly figure had already stepped in front of them, its right hand, wreathed in "qi," drawn back like a bow, its cold eyes, barely visible beneath the cloak, devoid of any emotion.

"Inch-force - Heaven-opening".

"Bang!"

Lin Fei got up.

His chest was pierced through by a fist as if it were torn apart by tofu, and the cross nailed to the ground behind him was uprooted and blasted into the sky at a terrifying speed!

How could someone achieve this without weapons?

"Swordsmanship originates from the Sword Form, but is imbued with the soul. One who is deeply versed in the way of the sword can transcend the form; the body itself becomes the weapon, the body itself becomes the sword."

"Someone taught me this, but I think you should learn it too."

"Bang!"

He crashed heavily to the ground, clutching the gaping hole in his chest and coughing up several mouthfuls of congealed blood. His eyes widened automatically due to a physiological reaction, and his spear and chains were scattered all over the ground, making him look extremely disheveled.

Something's not right...

Lin had suffered even more serious injuries before, but this was the first time he felt he couldn't control his body, and even standing up was extremely difficult.

That Honkai Energy... entered his body!

"What... is this?" His teeth chattered as he struggled to prop himself up on his arms and looked at the cloaked man who was slowly walking towards him, his right arm smeared with blood.

As the man drew closer, the feeling of many things mixed together intensified. No matter what the man was, he couldn't possibly be human!

"You've finally asked a good question." The foot landed in front of Lin. "This is called 'Great Void Sword Qi.' What I'm showing is its Sword Form, Sword Intent, and Sword Soul."

"However, the so-called form, intent, soul, and even Sword Heart are just things that have been refined and improved with different names. Hmm... it's just that a scientific name has been changed to a Shenzhou characteristic. The true value of the Great Void Sword Qi does not lie in these four."

"As I said, the so-called powers of the Herrscher are the ultimate in the rules, but they lack the ability to extend to other areas of the rules."

"I do not have the core of the Herrscher of Flames within me, nor do I have the genes of Honkai Beast that can use thermal energy."

So why does "Inch Punch: Chaotic Thunder" possess thermal energy in addition to the destructive power of Honkai Energy itself?

"I will not come looking for you again, but you will experience this move in countless days and nights, until the end of your life."

Space was transformed into a virtual reality, and the difference between reality and consciousness seemed to be erased. The dying Lin felt the most terrifying sense of oppression he had ever experienced.

Even the beam of light from Uranus that split the continent, the ocean, and the sky in two did not give him this feeling.

Even if one uses Phase Transfer Device to hide in a crevice in space, one cannot escape this attack.

There's no escaping it.

There's no escaping it.

There's no escaping it!

"The Divine Transformation is the ultimate of change. There is a sword even without a sword. The sword is formed by the divine, and the sword energy is formed on its own, thus connecting with the divine essence. The Divine Transformation the ultimate of change, which is the wonder of all things and cannot be questioned by form. It has neither form nor needs form. This sword fills the space, and this sword is the space. Therefore, it is omnipresent and invincible."

Lin's face was swallowed by the light. He looked up, and what he saw was...

A colossal sword that encompasses heaven and earth!

"Call--"

Lin rolled over and sat on the bed, covering his head in the darkness, panting heavily.

He won't feel pain.

But under that sword strike, he was shattered by the flashing blades; the pain of every inch of his skin and muscle being destroyed tore his consciousness apart, slicing him to the brink of death...

Their souls and spirits were annihilated.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Snake's Loneliness

"Smack."

The dark room was illuminated by a dim light. Messy clothes, experimental equipment, and drafts written and discarded filled every corner of the room. A large pile of leftover instant noodle containers sat by the door, along with snotty tissues stuffed into the stale noodle soup.

The cold wind that rushed in through the open door blew up the manuscripts scattered on the floor, making them fall like snowflakes.

Mobius closed the door blankly, jumped off his vehicle, casually ripped off the stockings that he had worn for two days without changing because he was too busy, and which were now soaked with sweat and smelled bad, and threw them into the pile of things that should belong to the trash.

He threw himself onto the messy sofa and grabbed the tangled blanket to cover himself.

The number of eyewitness reports for the Tenth Herrscher has increased from thirteen to one hundred, confirming that this Herrscher is a plural multiple Herrscher. The Herrscher Core obtained from live dissections have also been compared with previous Herrscher Core.

It seems new troubles have come knocking, and a tough battle is inevitable.

Aside from possessing some of the abilities of the previous Herrscher, no connection has yet been found between the Tenth Herrscher, nor whether their hosts also possess any special characteristics.

These are all things that need to be investigated, but we have no clue about them right now.

Her body was exhausted, but her mind was still not fully calmed down due to the intense surgery. She couldn't sleep, and closing her eyes only made her unable to see anything. Instead, she could hear some soft rustling sounds in the darkness more clearly, whether they were real or just her imagination.

There's still a ton of work to do...

Mobius's petite body was curled up on the sofa, her green hair, longer than her whole body, hanging down her back. She forced herself to sleep.

She also has some sleep aids, but she doesn't want to use them.

To be precise, she abhorred medication.

Drugs turn humans into ugly monsters. When she left the prison called "home," she already deeply loathed humans who depended on drugs.

After closing her eyes and remaining still for a while, her consciousness finally became somewhat blurred, and she seemed to be drifting off to sleep.

But once a person forces themselves to fall asleep, they are easily startled awake, especially when things they don't usually want to think about quietly appear before their eyes.

She suddenly opened her eyes, her snake-like pupils clearly visible in the darkness, but she could vaguely see someone walking not far away, seemingly tidying up her messy room.

Mobius stared intently at the figure, her slender arm outstretched, then froze in mid-air.

"... Even when they're dead, they're still detestable."

Mobius, head bowed, got up and turned on the light.

"..."

The room contained only trash and her.

That makes sense, how could there be anyone else?

She chuckled, covered her face, and sank into the sofa.

It felt as if they wanted to crush their own bodies and stuff them into the cracks of the sofa.

Doctor Mobius, the Dark Side of the Moth of Fire, ranked first in the most inhumane anonymous poll on the intranet, with five times the votes of the second place, and last in the non-anonymous poll—no one dared to let her know that they had voted for her. She was called a demon, a monster, a snake in human skin... too many nicknames to count.

No one dared to approach her, nor did anyone dare to voluntarily approach the laboratory where she worked.

Except for one person.

Mobius looked up at the only relatively clean wall, where a piece of clothing was hanging.

What she saw in the darkness was just the dress fluttering.

Originally, I only planned to secretly collect his physical information... Oh well, it doesn't matter what I say now.

She hugged her legs with both arms, rested her head on her knees, and remained silent.

And so, they spent the entire night motionless.

The wounds healed much slower than expected. Lin suspected that Pseudo-Herrscher Core was sealed, his self-healing ability not only returned to normal, but directly became a low-level one.

A man is always taken care of and followed by maids wherever he goes. Even though Lin and Rita themselves don't care, the Armed Puppet are extremely gossipy.

Lin didn't know how far the rumors had spread, but he knew that now whenever he approached the Armed Puppet, they would stare at him in terror, and even he felt a strange sense of guilt under their gaze.

"I hope I can... help with the training?"

Rita showed some doubt when she heard Lin's request. She looked at Lin, who was calmly holding the spear with both hands, holding it horizontally in front of his chest.

What are you planning to train for?

"...cultivating immortality."

"..."

Rita looked at Lin.

Lin also looked at Rita.

Rita chuckled sweetly, "Alright then, it doesn't seem like a big deal to joke around with you for a bit."

Lin breathed a sigh of relief and handed over the spear in his hand, but Rita shook her head and refused.

"Please wait a moment, let's train in the open space outside."

After saying that, Rita quickly went into her room. Lin watched her leave, thought for a moment, and then walked out of the tree hole and onto the open ground outside.

Great, as soon as he came out, the Armed Puppet that were playing there automatically made way for him, without him even having to say a word.

Lin closed his eyes and recalled the cloaked man's moves. Lin became even more certain that the sword technique he used was indeed an evolution and improvement of the fighting skills of the Fire Moth. Just as he himself said, it was just a refined and improved version with a different name.

Great Void Sword Qi... I've never heard of it before. According to the cloaked man, it's a "technique" that allows one to use Honkai Energy to achieve the same effect as Herrscher using their powers. It transforms, shapes, and extends Honkai Energy, which is originally just an invisible energy, to make the most efficient use of Honkai Energy.

But... what should I do?

Now that things had come to this, even if Lin was slow to react, he knew that the cloaked man wanted to teach him the Great Void Sword Qi. The man wasn't there to kill him, but he was ruthless in his attacks, seemingly wanting Lin to memorize these things through his body and consciousness.

In novels, shouldn't the teaching of martial arts techniques at least begin with sharing insights? Or at the very least, providing a classic text? Beating someone up and then having them figure it out entirely on their own would leave even a martial arts prodigy completely bewildered.

Fortunately, this is not true cultivation of immortality or martial arts, and he does not need to follow the rules and practice according to the cultivation method.

He himself did not expect that after the existence of Pseudo-Herrscher Core in his body, the entry-level part of the Great Void Sword Qi, namely the Heart Essence, no longer needed to be practiced. This is why the cloaked man glossed over this Mind Essence, which should have been the most difficult one besides the Sword God.

Even though the cloaked man's true purpose is still unknown, Lin will try to practice that so-called divine essence.

Instead of relying on the Herrscher's abilities, they control Honkai Energy on their own.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"..."

"What's wrong?"

Lin found it difficult to answer what was wrong. After all, when Rita appeared before him in a gorgeous evening gown adorned with ornate Rosemary decorations, her legs seemingly wrapped in thorns, and carrying an equally dazzling scythe, he genuinely didn't know how to respond.

So Lin thought for a moment, then calmly pointed to her slender waist and said, "Your sides are showing."

Special Feature: Detective Rhapsody (Part 1)

Walking down the street where the cold wind rustled and old newspapers rustled, the man, like someone who had stepped out of a medieval portrait, clutched his hat tightly, the hem of his coat fluttering in the wind. His icy gaze swept indifferently over every suspicious corner of the street from beneath his hat.

His name is Lin, codename Zero, and he is a private investigator.

Many people associate the profession of private investigator with paparazzi, but Lin believes this is a misconception. While private investigators do engage in stalking, taking photos without consent, and breaking into homes, and most of their cases involve wealthy individuals seeking to uncover scandals and gossip about their partners, many ethical private investigators only accept high-quality and challenging cases.

Wake up! The days of private investigators sneaking into people's homes to gather evidence of infidelity are over. He, Lin, has now received an important commission...

Gather evidence of infidelity.

"..."

Okay, Lin admitted that he was indeed a private investigator without professional ethics, but the ethics of the private investigator profession are like chewing gum stuck under a bus seat—it's better not to have any at all.

Lin took a step and nimbly flipped into the yard. He took out the master key and entered the villa as skillfully as if he were entering his own bathroom. He casually threw a bone to distract the wolfhound at the gate, stood in a blind spot of the surveillance camera, and cut the surveillance line with a backhand slash. He then took a piece of tea and snacks from the coffee table in the living room and ate them as he walked.

Squatting in front of the toilet trash can, I used tweezers to rummage through it and, sure enough, found hairs of varying lengths and colors inside.

Sure enough, let's go check out the master bedroom next. Based on Lin's experience, he judged that the way rich people cheat is different from ordinary people. They often have a desire for excitement and a sense of immorality. They like to bring their lovers home and will choose places like the master bedroom, living room, or even the balcony to "play". Some might even make their lovers wear their partners' clothes to satisfy their perverted psychological needs.

Oh dear, this won't do. They might become our clients in the future, so it seems a bit inappropriate to make such a fuss about them.

Lin smiled dismissively, turned the doorknob of the bedroom door, and walked in with light steps...