Hu Liena and her two companions froze for a moment, then lowered their guard.
Still, they kept giving the boy who called himself Brother Wei strange, appraising looks.
He looked flippant and carefree, with not a trace of soul power emanating from him, nor any sign of special abilities.
"You?" Hu Liena frowned, her voice full of doubt.
Seeing that they were looking down on him, Zhang Wei immediately took offense.
He slapped his waist and whipped out two gleaming golden pistols.
He spun them expertly a few times, then struck a pose he thought looked impressive.
"I'm Dachang City's greatest sharpshooter! Oh, right, and the greatest sharpshooter on the sea, too! The Dual-Wielding Golden Gunman-that's your Brother Wei!"
Looking at the two extravagantly designed Golden Pistols in Zhang Wei's hands, Hu Liena couldn't stop the corner of her mouth from twitching.
But since he was the backup sent by the Forum, she couldn't lash out at him outright. She could only swallow her exasperation.
Zhang Wei gave a disdainful sneer at their distrustful expressions.
"I know you look down on me. That's fine. Just pray you won't be crying and begging your Brother Wei to save you later!"
With that, Zhang Wei slipped both pistols back into the holsters at his waist and swaggered toward the Cockroach Club's entrance.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Hu Liena exclaimed in a hushed voice.
Without looking back, Zhang Wei waved a hand. "What's there to hesitate about? Why not just go straight in? We're only dealing with the Cockroach Club. What's the big deal?"
Hu Liena, Yu Tianheng, and Yan exchanged bewildered looks.
Go straight in?
Were they here to carry out an assassination or get themselves fucking killed?
Did the Forum have some backup plan? Or was Zhang Wei actually an expert hiding his true abilities?
The three gritted their teeth and had no choice but to steel themselves and follow Zhang Wei.
Soon, all four reached the Cockroach Club's entrance.
"Stop! What are you here for?"
Several burly bodyguards in black immediately stepped forward and blocked their path, glaring hostilely at the strangely dressed group.
Hu Liena and her companions tensed. This was bad.
If a fight broke out here, everyone in the club would be alerted, and their assassination plan would go up in smoke.
Zhang Wei really was unreliable!
Yet just as they prepared to force their way through...
Zhang Wei calmly took a strange-looking object from his pocket and waved it in front of the bodyguards.
Upon seeing it, the bodyguards hurriedly stepped back and gestured for them to enter. "Please, come in."
Hu Liena, Yu Tianheng, and Yan froze on the spot.
Douluo Continent.
The Sky Screen suddenly flickered.
Then, without warning, the section showing Douluo Qian Jun went completely black!
The image vanished.
Past experience told them that this meant only one thing: death!
Spirit City, Papal Hall.
Bibi Dong sprang to her feet, her face filled with disbelief and shock.
"How is that possible? How did Douluo Qian Jun die?"
Not just the Spirit Hall, but every top powerhouse on the Douluo Continent felt an unprecedented chill at that moment.
Deep within Sunset Forest.
Standing inside the Poison Formation, Dugu Bo sucked in a cold breath as he stared at the darkened Sky Screen, his withered hands trembling slightly.
"He was a level ninety-six Peak Douluo! Did he not even have a chance to fight back?"
The world of Mysterious Revival, Huanggang Village.
Lin Cheng hovered quietly in midair, his deep-blue ghost domain pushing back the surrounding gray fog.
As he watched Douluo Qian Jun brace himself against a formidable enemy, Lin Cheng felt no killing intent. Instead, a bold idea took shape in his mind.
He knew that the path of becoming a different kind was ultimately the wrong one for Ghost Handlers.
But the Titled Douluos of the Douluo Continent were different.
Their bodies had been tempered by nearly a century of soul power, long since surpassing mortal limits. Their vitality was terrifyingly tenacious.
If he let a Titled Douluo control the supernatural and establish a balance, then used some special method to break through the restriction of attaining godhood at level one hundred...
Could that open up an entirely new path?
Douluo Qian Jun was undoubtedly the perfect test subject.
"Who are you?!"
Douluo Qian Jun roared, soul power surging through his Coiling Dragon Staff.
Lin Cheng said nothing. He merely lifted his eyes slightly and met Douluo Qian Jun's gaze.
The instant their eyes met...
Ghost Brain, medium activated!
There was no physical attack, nor any warning fluctuation of paranormal power.
Douluo Qian Jun's entire body abruptly stiffened, his raised Coiling Dragon Staff freezing in midair.
His eyes instantly lost focus, and a wholly fabricated memory surfaced naturally in his mind.
"I..."
Douluo Qian Jun froze, the soul power emanating from him rapidly subsiding.
He stared at Lin Cheng, his eyes filled with confusion and shock before those feelings gave way to affection.
"I'm actually from this world? I transmigrated to the Douluo Continent?"
Douluo Qian Jun's voice shook, his eyes instantly reddening. Looking at Lin Cheng, he blurted out, "Brother!"
Lin Cheng remained calm and played along.
"You suddenly disappeared when you were little. Our parents were devastated. They fell ill and died young because of it."
Those words struck Douluo Qian Jun like a thunderbolt. Two streams of tears rolled down his aged cheeks.
"Father... Mother..."
Leaving the grief-stricken Douluo Qian Jun alone, Lin Cheng slowly descended toward the ground.
He activated his ghost domain, preparing to search for the Ghost Coffin in Huanggang Village that was nurturing the Ghost Messenger.
Yet the instant Lin Cheng turned away...
A terrifying gleam suddenly flared in the eyes of Douluo Qian Jun, who had still been weeping a moment before!
Boom!
His level ninety-six soul power erupted without restraint. With a sonic boom that tore through the air, the Coiling Dragon Staff slammed toward Lin Cheng's back!
The strike was as fast and vicious as it could possibly be!
But the Coiling Dragon Staff passed straight through Lin Cheng's body and smashed into the ground.
It blasted a massive crater into the hard earth.
Within the deep-blue light, Lin Cheng's body had become translucent and intangible.
The Ghost Submarine's intangibility granted immunity to all physical and supernatural attacks.
His strike having missed, Douluo Qian Jun's pupils contracted sharply, shock filling his face.
Yet he maintained his attacking stance, tears still lingering at the corners of his eyes.
"I know you used some special trick!"
"Even though that memory feels real, as if it actually happened..."
"Just look at your face, then look at mine!"
"The difference in our ages-that's an undeniable fact!"
Lin Cheng turned around and sighed softly as he looked at Douluo Qian Jun.
A Titled Douluo's mental fortitude truly was beyond that of an ordinary person.
No matter how convincing the memories implanted by the Ghost Brain were, they could still force their way free through sheer willpower.
"In that case, let's add a little more."
Lin Cheng's gaze turned cold, and the Ghost Brain's paranormal power erupted once more without restraint!
This time, it was no longer a simple recollection.
Instead, a complete set of memories spanning an ordinary person's entire lifetime poured madly into Douluo Qian Jun's mind!
From his birth, to learning to speak, to the two brothers depending on one another for survival.
Lin Cheng added a crucial detail to these memories.
Because he had gained control over the supernatural, his body had stopped aging, which was why he looked young.
In reality, however, he was already a hundred years old-Douluo Qian Jun's true elder brother by blood!
These meticulously detailed, logically consistent memories instantly overwrote all of Douluo Qian Jun's memories of the Douluo Continent.
Douluo Qian Jun dropped the Coiling Dragon Staff in agony, clutched his head with both hands, and fell to his knees, letting out harrowing screams.
Two vast, utterly different sets of memories collided violently in his mind.
But the Ghost Brain's paranormal power had no counter.
A short while later, Douluo Qian Jun's screams gradually subsided.
Before you continue