Chapter 136: Multiple Choice? No, I Want Them All!

Romeo watched with his own eyes as Pinocchio lost its motive heart, continuously letting out frenzied, furious roars.

If it could stand up, it swore it would kill Li Nanke no matter the cost. But right now, its motive heart was injured, rendering its entire body immobile, leaving it only able to lie prostrate in impotent rage.

Romeo did not understand why Li Nanke had raised a butcher's knife against his companion.

The enemy who had demanded the motive heart was already powerless to resist, and it would only take one more strike to kill them completely. With the enemy posing no threat whatsoever, Romeo simply could not fathom why Li Nanke had done this.

Could it be... that this man had harbored the same objective as Simon from the very beginning, also coveting that one-and-only motive heart in the world?

It was not just Romeo who found this unbelievable; Sofia, manipulating her Aether butterflies, was equally shocked by the scene before her.

She watched helplessly as Li Nanke picked up the Greatsword of Thunder's Verdict, clutched the vigorously beating motive heart, and walked slowly toward Simon.

Suddenly realizing something, Sofia shrieked in sudden panic.

"Black Rabbit, what are you trying to do?!"

"Haven't you always wanted to become the master of Puppet P? Stop right now, and I'll tell you the method to become his master!"

"Simon is only this motive heart away from the final enlightenment step of the apotheosis ritual... Are you actually going to help Simon and become the enemy's lackey?!"

"You are releasing a demon with your own hands, the most terrifying demon of all!"

Li Nanke ignored the two of them, kicking Simon over so that the twisted, grotesque, and massive body faced him directly.

With a single slash of his sword, amid a splatter of azure blood, Simon's chest was laid wide open.

Holding the motive heart, Li Nanke shoved it directly into Simon's chest cavity...

Lying on the ground, Romeo struggled to turn its head and wide its eyes, but it could not see what Li Nanke was doing, catching sight only of his semi-crouched back in front of Simon.

Though unable to see the specifics, hearing Sofia's panicked screams made Romeo realize that Li Nanke intended to use the motive heart to help Simon complete the final step of the apotheosis ritual.

"Stop!"

"Damn you, stop right now!"

With a ferociously grim expression, Romeo let out a heart-wrenching, thunderous roar.

For a mechanical puppet, the motive heart was equivalent to an engine in a car, or a human soul.

Removing a motive heart did not mean death for a puppet; as long as the motive heart remained intact, putting it back into the puppet's body would revive it.

However, if the motive heart was severely damaged or completely shattered, it spelled the death of that mechanical puppet.

As the motive heart integrated into Simon's chest, a brilliant radiance of Aether surged forth, and the extinguished azure flames threatened to reignite.

A continuous stream of vitality was injected from the motive heart into Simon's entire body. Simon abruptly opened his eyes and lifted his head.

Feeling the violent beating of the new heart within his chest, he looked at the man before him with a mixture of surprise and suspicion.

Li Nanke remained silent, yet a gentle smile hung upon his face.

Simon quickly understood the whole situation. Glancing down at his limbless body, a smile also crept onto his face, though that smile carried a faint trace of madness and bloodthirst.

"Black Rabbit, I've always known you were a clever person."

"Although you chose the wrong path initially, waking up to reality at the very last moment and making the most correct decision is also a wise move."

Simon did not know why Li Nanke, with victory already secured, had suddenly turned on his companion, sacrificed Puppet P's heart, and stood on his side.

Even if Li Nanke had changed his mind at the end, hoping he would show mercy and overlook past grievances, he would still kill him!

This was not only because his limbs had been severed by Li Nanke, but more importantly, because of Lacysia's death!

However, none of that mattered anymore.

What mattered was that he had obtained the most crucial motive heart and could now proceed with the final step of the apotheosis ritual!

Simon laughed aloud, the maniacal laughter echoing in everyone's ears.

"I shall cast off this frail mortal flesh and truly grasp divine power!"

"This is... evolution!"

As his words fell, a synchronized system prompt sounded.

[Nightmare, you have completed the hidden node (optional branch): Travel to the Alchemical Isle and offer the motive heart of Puppet P to Simon, leader of the Alchemists' Guild!]

[Hidden node reward: Primary Quality 'Alchemy' (pending claim), unlock partial special exchange privileges, increased dream settlement score!]

Suddenly, the flesh and blood across Simon's entire body withered away, resembling the corpses of those alchemists in the monastery—like a desiccated corpse dried by the wind for ages.

All the Aether within his body, every ounce of vitality, and all his primordial essence were injected into the Divine Body in a single instant!

The flower bud behind Simon suddenly bloomed.

The embryonic Divine Body seemed to come to life; it stretched its crack-covered azure body and extended a solid left arm toward the firmament.

In a split second, the world plunged into endless darkness, an eternal night-like profound gloom enveloping the entire circular tower.

Only the Divine Body emitted an azure radiance throughout, becoming the focal point of all sight.

It reached its 'Divine Arm' toward the deepest darkness at the center of the night sky.

As the few present gazed up at the eternal night, a shivering terror crept and bred from the depths of their souls.

It was like being cast into a cold, silent, boundless void of the universe, where all stars and any ray of light receded far away, leaving eternal darkness until the end of time and the annihilation of the void.

Standing alone in the void, a colossal entity that had existed since primeval times seemed to dwell within that endless darkness.

You could not make out its twisted silhouette; it was larger, older, and more terrifying than anything else!

It was not far from you—no... It was right before your eyes!

A flicker of light shone, and countless giant, pale human hands drooped from the center of the night sky. The hands continuously stretched and clenched, their roots connected to one another like the stamens of a flower, aggregating in a way beyond human comprehension.

At the center of this aggregation, an exceptionally massive azure arm extended forth.

That arm resembled the hand of a giant, or perhaps the hand of a deity, shining with azure brilliance throughout, growing from the deepest abyss of the night sky and descending downwards into the mortal realm.

The Divine Body on the ground strained to stretch its arm and palm, pointing its index finger toward the night sky, toward the giant hand descending from the eternal night.

The giant hand descended in the exact same posture. The two shared the same origin: one left behind in the mortal world, blinded by dust; the other supreme, holy, and flawless.

A massive giant hand and a tiny human hand drew closer and closer, their index fingertips about to touch.

When their fingertips touched, the apotheosis ritual would be completed, and a new deity would be born!

At this moment, Li Nanke was trembling all over, gritting his teeth as cold beads of sweat oozed and slid down his forehead, soaking the clothes on his back.

The sense of danger in his heart screamed warnings at him: 'Do not look up, do not look up, do not look up!'

Otherwise, once he looked up and stared directly at that giant hand, he would be completely consumed, losing himself entirely, forced to watch helplessly as the apotheosis ritual reached completion.

That giant hand was an entity beyond human comprehension, a terrifying existence capable of influencing the soul and willpower of any living creature.

Do not look directly! Unobservable! Unspeakable!

Even though he blocked his perception and refrained from actively observing that slowly descending, terrifying entity.

The primitive instincts of a living creature could still clearly perceive that supreme pressure, much like a weak child shivering before a towering snowy mountain.

No! It was like a low-dimensional creature accidentally catching a glimpse of a high-dimensional creature's projection; merely the projection of a tiny scale or claw was enough to overturn all cognition of the lower lifeform, plunging one into endless madness.

Gathering all his strength, Li Nanke gripped the Greatsword of Thunder's Verdict tightly.

He stared fixedly at the Divine Body holding its arm high before him, focusing his gaze on the series of cracks riddling its crystalline body.

His exhausted mental energy was no longer enough to support him in unleashing 'Frenzy' once more, but his willpower was incomparably focused, discarding all other perception.

In his eyes and heart, only that azure arm pointing toward the sky remained.

This was the moment when a deity was about to be born, and also the moment when the Divine Body was at its most vulnerable!

He had defeated Simon before the completion of the apotheosis ritual, which heavily affected the Divine Body linked to Simon.

Had he not defeated Simon, the Divine Body surely would have grown too powerful to break.

Yet now, Li Nanke could clearly sense that the immense power belonged to the terrifying entity above the night sky, not the Divine Body before him.

Only when the two touched, completing the enlightenment to forge an eternal deity, would the Divine Body before him ascend like the giant hand into an entity beyond human comprehension.

At the very instant when the descending giant hand was about to touch the 'Divine Arm'.

All of Li Nanke's willpower poured into the greatsword in his hand, and he slashed forward fiercely with a single strike!

A dazzling sword light erupted, and a sharp, chilling gleam flashed!

Absolute silence fell upon heaven and earth.

The azure arm froze and stalled abruptly. Its stretching palm and desperately extended index finger seemed to have been hit by a pause button in an instant.

A deep slash appeared on the shoulder of the Divine Body, and a cracking, shattering sound rang out.

The cracks on the surface of the Divine Body deepened, spiderweb-like fractures spreading continuously until they engulfed its entire body.

"Crack!"

The embryonic Divine Body was torn to pieces, and countless crystal-like fragments burst and scattered.

An azure arm fell to the ground.

In an instant, the profound darkness receded like a tide, and the dim twilight of the eternal night faded uniformly.

The whistling wind atop the towering circular tower resumed, the chorus of insects echoing through the woods, and the distant sound of ocean waves crashing against the shore returned.

All sounds and light came back to this world with the interruption of the apotheosis ritual.

It was as if the darkness that had swept across the world just moments ago, along with the giant hand descending from the heavens, were nothing more than hallucinations experienced by those present.

Li Nanke panted heavily, leaning on his greatsword as he picked up the fallen 'Divine Arm'.

Though his expression was weary, his gaze held expectation.

Sure enough, upon picking up the 'Divine Arm', the synchronized system prompt sounded once more.

[Nightmare, you have completed the hidden node (optional branch): Travel to the Alchemical Isle and seize the Divine Arm of Simon, leader of the Alchemists' Guild!]

[Hidden node reward: Primary Quality 'Alchemy' (pending claim), unlock partial special exchange privileges, increased dream settlement score!]

The two optional branches of the Great Other Shore represented two completely opposite routes, seemingly forcing a choice of only one to complete. Yet Li Nanke had managed to pocket the rewards of both routes entirely through this method.

This was not a single-choice question, but a multiple-choice question where he could take them all!

The 'Divine Arm' in his hand was as hard as crystal, presenting an azure luster throughout while emitting a soft, translucent white glow.

The Primary Quality named 'Alchemy' was contained within this very arm.

Suddenly, Li Nanke's face changed, and he abruptly dropped the 'Divine Arm' as if it were a hot potato.

"Damn it! Why is it animalistic again, and an even stronger animalistic Primary Quality!"

Having absorbed multiple animalistic Primary and Secondary Qualities, he could now roughly judge whether an extraordinary ability belonged to the animalistic attribute before absorbing it.

The Primary Quality named 'Alchemy'—wait, no, 'Angel'—was unquestionably of animalistic affiliation, and far more powerful than 'Torment'.

Even after elevating his own 'Torment' to maximum level, despite already possessing several max-level human traits to maintain balance, he still struggled to suppress a particularly strong animalistic nature.

Compared to Primary Qualities, Secondary Qualities—whether bringing a sense of balance or imbalance—were vastly weaker in magnitude than Primary Qualities.

If he were to absorb the Primary Quality 'Angel' right now, he would likely descend into madness and lose himself instantly.

Li Nanke shifted his gaze toward Simon. A soft white light emanated from Simon's pocket; the Primary Quality reward named 'Alchemy' must be hidden right there.

Leaning on his greatsword, he walked over to Simon and sliced open the enemy's chest once more, dragging out a motive heart from within.

Compared to before, the beating heart, which had previously gleamed with a metallic sheen, now appeared rusted and had completely ceased its pulsation.

This was a heart that had completely died.

Simon was also long dead; he had acquired a peculiar, nearly eternal primordial essence from the motive heart.

Simon had fused and combined that primordial essence from the motive heart with his own, pouring it entirely into the Divine Body, awaiting the conclusion of the apotheosis ritual to ascend as a new deity.

Yet he never expected this scoundrel Li Nanke to flip back and forth repeatedly, acting as though he had no loyalties whatsoever.

One moment he was an irreconcilable enemy, beating him up in a group with Pinocchio and Romeo; the next moment he switched sides, offering Pinocchio's motive heart to help him perform the apotheosis ritual.

And finally, the instant the apotheosis ritual was about to be completed, he sent him off to the afterlife with a single sword strike, snatching away the Divine Arm.

Not only Simon, but even Sofia and Romeo could not comprehend Li Nanke's actions at all.

They simply thought this man had gone insane.

Sofia felt slightly better; regardless of the process, Li Nanke had ultimately completed the commission and fulfilled his promise, helping her achieve her revenge.

It was indeed a pity that Puppet P had died, but she only felt a mild regret without any other strong emotions.

Romeo, however, was on the verge of going mad. If Li Nanke's goal was to seize the Divine Arm, he could have easily accomplished it when they defeated Simon earlier.

Why make such an unnecessary detour and sacrifice Carlo to offer up the motive heart only after the enemy had lost the power to resist?

If he wanted to help the enemy, why did he end up taking the Divine Arm away after all?

Now that the motive heart had completely lost its vitality, even if it were put back into Carlo's body, Carlo could never come back to life.

Carlo was dead! Carlo's sacrifice had been completely in vain!

Romeo was almost consumed by endless fury, yet at this moment, apart from impotent rage, there was nothing he could do—he could not even stand up to avenge Carlo.

Li Nanke took a palm-sized notebook from Simon's pocket. The cover of the notebook bore the emblem of the 'Sacred Ouroboros' and emitted a soft, translucent white glow throughout.

The Primary Quality named 'Alchemy' was contained within this alchemical notebook.

"This feels somewhat like humanity, yet somewhat like spirituality..."

Li Nanke was somewhat uncertain about the affiliation of the 'Alchemy' Primary Quality, but he could sense that this extraordinary power was far less formidable than the Primary Quality 'Angel'.

He put away the alchemical notebook without absorbing 'Alchemy' immediately.

Clutching the deactivated motive heart, Li Nanke walked over to the puppet boy.

He gazed at Pinocchio's expression. On the young puppet's face, there was no lingering hatred or anger from the moment of death, only bewilderment and incomprehension.

Pinocchio had trusted his boss so innocently, only to be betrayed in a heartbeat by Li Nanke.

He sighed silently, placing the motive heart back into Pinocchio's chest and reconnecting the several metal blood vessels inside.

The rust-covered heart was extremely fragile, shedding flakes of corrosion as he reconnected the metal tubing.

Once installation was complete, the heart did not beat again; Pinocchio fell into an eternal slumber.

"Black Rabbit! I swear, I will use your life to mourn Carlo's death!"

Li Nanke glanced sideways to see the Puppet King Romeo lying face down on the ground, unable to move or stand up, looking utterly wretched.

"Who told you Pinocchio is dead?"

Romeo froze, then broke out in fury: "I'm not as naive as Carlo! Don't you think you can trick me with your smooth talk again! No matter what you say, I will seek revenge against you no matter the cost from now on!"

Li Nanke shook his head, too lazy to bother with Romeo.

Just as he was about to make a move, he suddenly paused, his ears twitching as he looked toward the entrance of the circular tower.

A middle-aged man wearing a black trench coat, a fedora, and a monocle over his right eye walked slowly into the circular tower.

In his left hand, he wore a glove woven from metal threads, with Aether crystals embedded in the knuckles of all five fingers, and hazy blue threads trembling and tightening between his fingertips.

The blue threads connected to the bizarre puppet following closely behind him.

The middle-aged man's face was very familiar; Li Nanke had seen his statue at the City Hall Exhibition.

This person was the genius alchemist known as the 'Father of Puppets'—Geppetto!

"I sense that Carlo's heart has died..."

Geppetto walked slowly, pulling the peculiar puppet with blue threads. He glanced at Pinocchio, whose exposed, corroded heart within his chest was strikingly conspicuous.

The middle-aged man's gaze was exceptionally sorrowful. He turned to look at Li Nanke, asking in an icy tone, "As the mastermind behind all this, are you prepared to pay with your life?"