Chapter 140: Termination, Return!

"This... how is this possible?!"

Carlo watched with his own eyes as Li Nanke stepped onto the Arm of God. After a momentary trance, the other man expanded significantly in size, his muscles bulging and knotting. Just by visual inspection, one could clearly sense the terrifying power contained within his body.

That overwhelmingly intense sense of oppression was like some horrifying ancient behemoth, capable of easily devouring a person alive and tearing them to pieces!

Not only that, the azure hue in Li Nanke's eyes made him feel an instinctive tremor, as though a lower life form had caught a glimpse of a supreme and exalted great existence.

This feeling was extremely familiar. When Carlo was integrating into the apotheosis ritual, upon seeing Simon summon the true arm of a god and witnessing that massive divine arm descend into the world, he had experienced the exact same terror and trembling.

This man seemed to have received a response from the stars, obtained the legacy of the gods, and ascended into a lofty, magnificent life form.

"In order to carry out the apotheosis ritual, Simon racked his brains and schemed to his utmost limits, only to end in failure..."

"Yet why was Black Rabbit able to bypass the ritual and so simply achieve an ascension of his life essence?!"

The crystal-like Arm of God turned into sand and powder beneath Li Nanke's feet, blown away and vanishing in a gust of wind, as if he had absorbed all the essence of the Arm of God in a single instant.

The various strange phenomena on Li Nanke's body rapidly faded away.

His physique returned to normal, his muscles firm, powerful, and sharply defined, and his blue pupils turned back to black, leaving no trace of any abnormality.

Yet Carlo could clearly sense that although the outward appearance had faded, an extremely terrifying power still slumbered deep within Li Nanke's body.

He was no longer a lowly inferior life form; he had faintly broken through the various shackles of humanity, possessing infinite possibilities.

It was not just Carlo who found this hard to believe; Geppetto, currently operating the Ergo apparatus, could not help losing his focus either.

He knew that Black Rabbit harbored many secrets—such as using bizarre alchemical tools to break the taboo of life and death, bringing a completely dead motive heart back to life; or silently mastering the supernatural powers of an alchemist, acquiring a unique talent to analyze the composition of all elemental particles in existence.

The other man seemed naturally born to break the constraints of rules, continuously subverting the cognitions and worldviews of others.

Even though he had already witnessed Li Nanke display all sorts of incomprehensible miracles, the scene before his eyes still frightened him.

Yes, it did not merely shock him; it genuinely frightened him!

If ascending to a higher life form were that simple, Simon would not have needed to go to such lengths to combine machinery with flesh and blood, and then absorb a massive amount of Ergo, taking a shortcut and resorting to crooked paths to hold the apotheosis ritual.

It was much like how one could not build a skyscraper with pure human labor alone; one had to use tower cranes, excavators, and other heavy machinery, and at the very least, one had to set up scaffolding!

Yet Li Nanke came empty-handed, faced a pile of bricks, and with a wave of his hand, a towering building rose from the ground—completely defying reason and ignoring all rules, he had manufactured a skyscraper that others labored painfully for a lifetime to build.

This utterly subverted Geppetto's cognition!

Alchemists were equivalent to the scientists of this world; seemingly mystical and fantastical alchemy was not magic, but a science.

Analyzing, arranging, and recombining the structures of elemental particles to manufacture various alchemical items all required adhering to the most fundamental rules and truths. Nothing could be conjured out of nothing, and everything had a traceable logic.

Yet now, a freak like Li Nanke had appeared, completely ignoring the existence of rules, directly and straightforwardly absorbing the Arm of God, and simply and easily ascending to a higher life...

"Could it be... could it be..."

Countless thoughts flashed through Geppetto's mind as he seized that fleeting flash of inspiration.

"Only by praying to the stars and utilizing the great power originating from the stars can one ignore all sorts of rules, display such miracles, and create the possible out of the impossible!"

"I understand! Black Rabbit must have sought out the stars that have been hidden away for ages!"

"So that's how it is, so that's how it is. Now everything makes sense!"

Brilliance burst forth in Geppetto's eyes. While controlling the Ergo apparatus, he shouted loudly to Li Nanke:

"Mr. Black Rabbit, we can completely cooperate!"

"Since you have already found the stars, the human race's ascension plan no longer needs to rely on any devices or machinery. We can pray to the stars to grant eternal life to everyone!"

Geppetto's current mechanical ascension plan relied on the Ergo absorption apparatus, and also required using the mechanical body of the Nameless Puppet as the vessel for the combined consciousness.

After the birth of the combined consciousness, it would still be necessary to ignite a world war across all of humanity to harvest all the vital Ergo.

The final step of the plan was extremely protracted, fraught with far too many uncertainties.

If they could borrow the power of the stars, the entire plan could be completed in an instant, turning all of humanity into true gods!

At this moment, both the puppet and Geppetto felt the unmasked, terrifying power radiating from Li Nanke.

Under Geppetto's control, the three puppets did not actively initiate an attack. They stood before Geppetto, guarding their great creator to the death.

"Don't harbor vain hopes. There is no possibility of cooperation between us."

"You must die today!"

Li Nanke sneered. Hefting the bloody warhammer, his figure flashed and he arrived right in front of the three puppets.

If he had truly found the stars, and if he hadn't witnessed how terrifying the so-called 'gods' were, from the perspective of node missions, there actually would have been a possibility of cooperating with Geppetto.

Because the requirement of the final node was to prevent Geppetto's 'mechanical ascension' plan; if the plan were changed to a pure ascension, it would equally count as preventing the plan and fulfilling the requirement of the final node.

Cooperating with Geppetto might even yield quite a few benefits from this alchemist.

However, were the stars, hidden for countless years, really that easy to find?

Besides, this supreme existence was eight-to-ten odds not a benevolent entity either; when ancient humans prayed to gain immortality, the stars turned them into indescribably terrifying monsters.

The wish was indeed fulfilled, but the price was definitely something ordinary people could never accept.

Li Nanke's speed was extremely fast. As his robust physique tore through the air, it erupted into a series of sonic booms, sounding like a heavily armored train roaring past, its whistle blaring so loudly it made one dizzy.

Carlo's dynamic vision could hardly keep up with his speed. He only felt his vision blur, a surging gale rushed toward his face, and the enemy was right in front of him.

The terrifying warhammer, weighing as much as ten thousand jun, expanded rapidly within his field of vision!

The searing flames were too blinding to look at, and the countless sharp spikes on the warhammer gleamed with cold light. It was as if even the air was shattered and torn apart, and the terrifying blow had already arrived before his eyes!

"Too strong... too terrifying!"

Carlo barely managed to raise his thunderous greatsword to block, filled with extreme terror, leaving only this single thought in his mind.

"Boom!"

The earth roared and trembled, and a surging wave of air exploded outward.

A figure flew backward from afar like a golf ball, crashing into the ground and creating a large crater that kicked up countless shattered rocks.

The caved-in impact on Carlo's chest was extremely striking, and his limbs were all twisted at unnatural angles. Electric sparks crackled and spat continuously from his joint sockets.

Even with Geppetto using blue energy threads to forcibly control him, Carlo could no longer be made to stand up.

With a single blow, Li Nanke had reduced the enemy's numbers, completely stripping Carlo of his combat capability.

Carlo could sense that the enemy might have held back because of Pinocchio; otherwise, that terrifying strike could have cleanly and utterly killed him on the spot!

"Mr. Black Rabbit! Ascension is a plan beneficial to the entire human race!"

"If you are unwilling to join, I can compromise, but please do not stop me!"

This single blow made the remaining two puppets witness Li Nanke's terrifying strength, even though he had only just touched the threshold of Tier 3 supernatural power, and even though he was still in the newborn state of ascending to a higher life form.

Yet this incomparably powerful strength was no longer something they could contend with.

Geppetto also felt a deep, piercing fear toward this terrifying power.

He understood that if Li Nanke was dead-set on killing him today, he would have no hope of survival whatsoever!

The only thing Geppetto could do was accelerate the aggregation speed of the Ergo apparatus, and before Li Nanke killed him, create the combined consciousness and fuse his own self-awareness into it.

The huge vortex in the firmament grew even more violent, fierce winds howled, and boundless azure energy tore through the sky, surging in from all directions.

The light of the blue sun was dazzling and blinding, growing and expanding rapidly, while the combined consciousness gestating at its center continuously swelled...

"Now you finally know how to compromise?"

"Too late!"

A heaven-shaking crash rang out as kinetic energy swept and exploded.

Even the King of Puppets, Romeo, could not withstand Li Nanke's advance, flying backward without a shred of resistance.

The blue energy threads pulled taut; the Nameless Puppet did not sit and wait for death.

Under Geppetto's control, bloody smoke billowed furiously from its entire body, and a crimson longsword slashed toward the enemy like a meteor streaking across the night sky, dragging a mighty, thick wave of blood behind it.

Li Nanke sneered, twisting his body and counter-attacking with a backhanded hammer strike.

This blow was completely unadorned, devoid of any technique—it possessed only overwhelming, terrifying brute force!

The Nameless Puppet simply could not withstand such fierce and brutal power. The webbing between the metal palms ripped open with a sharp sound, and the joints of both arms emitted the teeth-grinding noise of metal under extreme compression.

A blood-red longsword snapped with a sharp clang and flew out of its grip.

Geppetto, manipulating the puppet, had bloodshot eyes as all the blood in his body surged into his brain, leaving his mind completely blank.

The Nameless Puppet was the strongest puppet he had manufactured using countless precious materials, a thousand times fiercer than the synthetic beasts made by ancient alchemists; there was nothing in the world that could rival it.

Yet this most powerful puppet could not even withstand a single heavy hammer blow from Li Nanke.

The current Li Nanke had grown fierce to an incomprehensible degree.

If it were merely the loss of a single puppet, such as the King of Puppets Romeo, Geppetto wouldn't have felt much heartache.

However, the Nameless Puppet was the crucial vessel meant to host the combined consciousness. If it suffered devastating damage, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Stop!"

Geppetto lost his usual composure, shouting with a distorted face.

Yet Li Nanke showed no intention of stopping whatsoever.

With one hammer he blew away the enemy's weapon, and immediately followed up with another hammer strike descending from top to bottom!

In the eyes of the Nameless Puppet, this hammer strike was like a collapsing mountain or a falling sky.

The roaring, tidal wave of violent power could destroy anything in its path; if a mountain blocked the way, it would shatter the mountain range; if the sky obstructed it above, it would punch a hole through the heavens!

Having lost its weapon and with nowhere to dodge, it could only raise its hands to meet the blow head-on.

Amidst the teeth-grinding compression of supernatural metal, both metal arms, along with the metal casing at the left and right shoulders, were completely torn apart and brutally smashed into metal fragments and slag.

With a deafening crash, the Nameless Puppet shrank drastically in height.

Its lower half had been driven deep into the ground by the immense force of the bloody warhammer; its legs, hip joints, and waist—its entire lower half—were firmly embedded in the earth, unable to move a fraction of an inch.

Li Nanke took a deep breath, and under Geppetto's terrified gaze, he took a heavy step onto the ground and smashed another hammer blow straight at the Nameless Puppet's upper body!

This heavy stamp of his foot sounded like a thunderclap exploding out of thin air, causing the entire circular tower to tremble and shake under the force.

The moment his foot hit the ground, fierce power erupted from the soles of his feet, traveling upward through the leg muscles, twisting through the hips into the muscle groups of the back, chest, and shoulders, gathering all the terrifying strength of his entire body into a single point.

The warhammer descended with the force of a world-destroying meteorite crashing to earth!

"Boom!"

The earth and heavens trembled, and the surging kinetic energy transformed into a shockwave that violently erupted.

Geppetto felt his vision go black; unable to control his posture any longer, he was blown away by the shockwave.

He rolled across the ground in a pathetic flurry for several turns before blankly raising his head, his mind blank as he looked at the deep crater not far away.

The crater blasted out by Li Nanke's immense strength resembled a massive impact crater. At its sunken center, the body of the Nameless Puppet was no longer visible, leaving behind only a scattering of pulverized metal debris.

The most powerful Nameless Puppet in the world had been pulverized and smashed to pieces by him in just three hammer blows.

One hammer to bat away the puppet's weapon, another to drive the puppet deep into the earth, and a final hammer to literally smash the puppet into slag!

These three fierce and unyielding hammer blows interpreted brute strength to the absolute extreme!

Li Nanke, having smashed the Nameless Puppet to death in three blows, still seemed unsatisfied. He raised his head and looked up at the Ergo apparatus at the top of the circular tower and the blue sun that was gathering and swelling.

With a fanatical look in his eyes, he stomped hard on the ground, sending stone fragments flying and spiderweb-like cracks spreading outward.

Li Nanke's figure shot straight up, soaring like an arrow meant to shoot down the sun.

With a single leap spanning half the height of the tower, his feet landed on the inner wall of the tower. Pausing briefly, his body crouched to gather strength, and with another explosive boom, he launched himself upward once more, instantly reaching a height nearly level with the Ergo apparatus at the tower's peak.

The warhammer in Li Nanke's hand suddenly transformed into a giant hammer of fire.

The flaming hammer, like a divine artifact in the hands of an ancient giant, swept upward into the firmament, carrying a searing wave of flames.

The giant hammer ignited with boundless fire, erupting with the momentum to burn the heavens!

Even though Geppetto was down at the base of the tower, the searing temperature made his entire body burn, the hair on his skin charring and curling with the tendency to spontaneously combust, as a heat wave resembling high explosives rushed toward his face.

"Boom!"

A dazzling light bloomed, making even the brilliance of the blue sun appear incomparably dim in this moment.

Surging kinetic energy swept across the circular tower in the form of a shockwave. Massive stones shattered and plunged from the top of the tower—falling along with the stones was the twisted, crippled giant Ergo apparatus.

Geppetto had no time to think; instinctively scrambling and crawling in a panic, he fled a certain distance just in time to avoid being crushed to death by the massive Ergo apparatus amid the deafening crash.

Following the fall of the Ergo apparatus, the blue sun also extinguished in an instant, as if Li Nanke had punched a hole right through the sky with a single hammer and knocked down the blazing sun.

Countless particles of Ergo energy drifted away, starry azure glimmers as gorgeous and beautiful as fireflies filling the sky.

Li Nanke landed amidst this poignant scenery, carrying his warhammer as he walked slowly toward Geppetto.

At this moment, this Father of Puppets, this world's most brilliant alchemist, had an ashen face and a mind devoid of all hope. His mechanical ascension plan had ultimately failed, and his grand wish for the entire human race to ascend was finally shattered.

"Do you have any last words?"

Geppetto raised his head, staring blankly with unseeing eyes at the enemy before him, then shifted his gaze to Carlo, who lay paralyzed amidst the pile of rubble.

He finally closed his eyes and said with difficulty:

"If possible, take care of Carlo for me..."

"I will. But not Carlo—Pinocchio."

With that, Li Nanke swung his hammer down without a moment's hesitation.

Flesh and blood flew and burst apart; Geppetto met his end and died.

[Nightmare, you have completed the final node: Reach the Alchemical Island and prevent Geppetto's mechanical ascension!]

[Final Node Reward: Marionette Gloves (Pending Claim)]

[Returning...]

The azure butterflies appeared once more, dancing gracefully around Li Nanke as Sophia's voice drifted over:

"Mr. Black Rabbit, what you've done is truly shocking."

"Thank you for helping me complete my revenge. Now you only need to wear Geppetto's alchemical gloves to completely control the puppet P and become his true master..."

Li Nanke picked up the alchemical gloves left behind by Geppetto, and azure threads rippled and erupted from his fingertips, entangling the paralyzed Pinocchio lying on the ground.

His eyes flashed as he immediately erased Carlo's consciousness, leaving only Pinocchio's personality intact.

The synchronization prompt sounded, but Li Nanke didn't have time to listen carefully. He retrieved a special Panacea and tossed it to Romeo.

Geppetto was dead, and the grand contract binding the King of Puppets no longer existed, freeing Romeo as a result.

"Go to the Hotel Krat, and help me deliver this to Cunning Rabbit..."

A surging darkness swept over, accompanied by a deafening roar that swallowed everything in sight and overwhelmed every sense...