"How could this... how could this..."
Xie Ying's voice tightened. Her trembling hands slowly clenched, her knuckles whitening with the strain, her fingertips almost digging into her palms.
The power Su Bai had displayed was already beyond anything Xie Ying could comprehend. That instant when lightning and fire intertwined, those beings that descended from the void-not only were they on a level Deep Dive could never reach, they far exceeded the limits of her understanding.
They were all human players, yet Su Bai had summoned... a power that could almost contend with the rules themselves.
Was that really something an ordinary human player could control?
She finally understood why, ever since entering this nightmare, she had felt that Su Bai knew too much and was far too calm, as though he had seen through everything from the start.
Perhaps he had stood above them from the very beginning.
But now, she had no time to explore any of that. Only one thought remained in her mind-
Her three companions from Deep Dive were still here.
They were hidden inside those things called "fruit," sealed like specimens within translucent, flesh-colored membranes, as though trapped in a nightmare frozen in time.
In that state... even if they were still alive, it could no longer be called "living."
"This cannot be where they end up."
She murmured under her breath, walking toward the "fruit" with heavy steps, as though driving the point home to herself, or making an accusation.
She violently swung the Meat Cleaver in her hand. The heavy blade seemed an extension of her obsession, filled with every ounce of her strength and emotion.
Crack-
The blade sliced through the membranes of the "fruit," as though tearing through a thick layer of amniotic fluid. Several "fruits" were cut open at once,