136. Blazing Mars Shaken
Qiu Ran is dead.
This heavy fact weighed like a boulder on Li Aozi's chest. He clutched his throat, feeling suffocated and miserable.
Qiu Ran is dead.
Li Aozi constantly tried to grasp every wisp of wind, to reclaim traces of Qiu Ran's existence, but every wisp of ash slipped through his fingers, unable to stay.
Qiu Ran is dead.
Li Aozi suddenly stopped all activities.
He knelt on one knee, without surging sadness and pain, without intense grief and resonance.
He just stayed there, the huge shock making his face numb and stiff, unable to show any emotion.
Plop!
The sound of heavy footsteps on the ground rang out, Li Aozi slowly raised his head—near the collapsed ashes, a tall, thin body slowly stood up.
"Damn carbon-based creature!"
It was covered in shadowy black, appearing like a humanoid just two meters tall at first glance, but its body was covered with gelatinous, slender tendrils, with an out-of-proportion inverted triangular head, its face elongated, with no features, only a pair of large, pale eyes remaining.
"Fire, damn fire, why are carbon-based creatures so afraid of fire, forcing my true form out. At this rate, the Speaker will surely annex me."
Rozhi • Inni cursed, but more out of fear, its true form exuding a Beta-level oppressive aura.
If not for the jury's sturdy body, facing the fire, it would have melted away like those ordinary puppet citizens.
A faceless face that can't even smile, for a citizen of the replica society, there is almost nothing more cruel.
"Eliminate the witnesses first, then make plans after the councilor hijacks the train."
It raised its slender palm, six fingers transforming into sharp blades, ready to finish off the kneeling Li Aozi.
"Actually threw away your weapon, what a foolish carbon-based life."
It approached Li Aozi disdainfully, blades swinging down in an instant!
Li Aozi remained expressionless, he raised one hand, casually sweeping in front of him.
Boom—
Rozhi • Inni froze in place, it raised its blade-formed palm in disbelief—the scorching flames blossomed rapidly along its palm.
"Fire! How could—"
Before it could shriek, Li Aozi's eyes rapidly expanded with crimson flame-like halos. He slowly stood up, his hair blown apart by the incoming cold wind, his originally black hair faintly glowed dark red. He put one hand in his pocket, step by step approaching Rozhi • Inni.
"How could you also have the power of fire—don't come any closer!"
The recent explosion had stripped Rozhi • Inni of most of its transformation abilities. Facing Li Aozi's relentless advance, it was almost soul-crushed, frantically waving its blade-formed palms.
The result was no exception. Each time it desperately swung its blade, just about to reach Li Aozi, it was casually deflected by Li Aozi's light, indifferent hand movements.
Clang!
Li Aozi detached his mechanical power arm, the equipment had restrained his use of Omega Energy.
He didn't know what he was feeling now. After intense emotional fluctuations, he felt neither sadness nor joy, instead becoming extremely calm.
'Li Aozi, kill it!'
Xue Nuo's voice echoed in his heart, now thinking back in extreme fear—if it weren't for Xue Nuo being young and in poor health, staying in the first-class compartment for treatment like other children, she might have been mercilessly devoured and replaced by the puppets, like Qiu Ran and those innocent passengers.
But even without her reminder, Li Aozi had only one thought in his heart:
Destruction.
Boom—
Flames rose, illuminating the face of Rozhi • Inni, now reduced to a pair of large, pale eyes, filled with shock and fear.
"Am I that scary?"
Li Aozi asked calmly, lightly deflecting its slash, igniting a cluster of stunning crimson flames.
The ignition of [Natural Fire] was a romantic and magnificent process: the area in front of his palm twisted into a vortex like smoke, rapid heating caused the air to sway, quickly increasing pressure.
The higher the pressure, the higher the temperature, and vice versa. In a short moment, the two formed a positive feedback loop.
Then the air and combustible materials within were rapidly ignited. The [Natural Fire] Omega Energy's finale, through intense molecular motion, finally produced brilliant crimson flames, cutting and melting the puppet's blade palms instantly.
The entire process was filled with a fantastical sci-fi spectacle, like flower petals blooming.
But Li Aozi's face was numb, he felt something was still missing.
His numb indifference was nothing short of a horror show to Rozhi • Inni.
Effortlessly, freely unleashing extraordinary abilities, with almost no visible exhaustion, it desperately swung its blades, only to be shattered by the flames each time.
Under high temperatures, no matter how fierce its attack, the flames reduced and weakened it.
"Why?! This is impossible, didn't the councilor say there were no threshold-level experts on this train!"
Rozhi • Inni was terrified:
"Councilor, you lied to me—"
"Oh, so you're at this level, you must be a citizen of the jury society."
Li Aozi suddenly stepped forward, kicking Rozhi • Inni, flipping him to the ground. He lifted his left foot, stepping on Rozhi • Inni's face:
"Felonious Society • Phylox is nothing, I've killed thirteen great demons from the Outer Domain Society • Pelgar!"
Rozhi • Inni froze, staring at Li Aozi in disbelief:
"You—how do you know about the Outer Domain Society? How could humans on Blue Star know about these things!?"
Slap!
Li Aozi stomped hard on its face, calmly saying:
"Phylox is a disgrace to society, just a dog with a broken spine chased by narratives."
"Shut up!"
Rozhi • Inni roared in anger, trying to get up, but Li Aozi immediately pressed his palm on its head.
Surging flames instantly engulfed its scalp, roaring fiercely, Li Aozi pressed its burning head while continuing:
"Phylox's neck was bitten off by the Gadia of the Mumbles Society, nearly killed, two councilors were bombed to death by the tenth narrative's Left Skote fleet, and they were deceived by the [Greedy Councilor], losing four hundred resource star systems."
His words destroyed Rozhi • Inni's faith bit by bit, Li Aozi knew too well that these citizens of society revered their mother society like gods.
Many citizens simply referred to their society as mom or mother, as they were indeed like cells split from the society.
Rozhi • Inni could no longer endure this dual torture of body and mind. It gave up resisting, but still asked unwillingly:
"Who are you really?"
"I am—"
Li Aozi suddenly choked it, and under Rozhi • Inni's wide, pale eyes, the flames completely incinerated it into ashes and tar.
He stood up, turned around, still feeling something was missing.
"—oh, I am Li Aozi."
The most uncomfortable action is to leave a sentence unfinished.
The feeling of letting someone die with regret is satisfying but not that joyful.
He calmly put his hand in his pocket, picked up his long knife, and slowly walked toward the train's weapon control room.
There was still one left, the so-called councilor.
"Citizen, jury, councilor, speaker—this is the structure of society."
He muttered:
"Now, I seem unable to accept the fact that this planet, having to be destroyed by the replica society, has to be blown up."
"This planet, with such a despicable country as the Frost-Plated Republic, is also the one that gave birth to Qiu Ran and Nomi. This sunless bitter cold land is also the homeland where the people of the outer world struggle to survive. No matter what—it cannot be destroyed by such a group of trash."
"I will completely kill the replica society. From the speaker to the citizens, slaughtering every single cell."