137. Purification, Cleansing, Destruction
Snap.
The disguised Celia slowly took off the headphones. Everything was ready. It continuously maintained communication with Zhou Liefeng.
In just ten minutes, they would reach the underground and completely escape the threat of the beast tide.
In this way, she could free up her hands to kill the driver and take full control of the train.
Once they reached the crowd, the impostors could disperse and expand their forces at will.
It stood up and turned its head towards the door.
"Oh?" Celia clicked her tongue in surprise. "It seems something unexpected happened."
Before she finished speaking, the plastic steel door quickly turned red and heated up. Molten iron dripped to the ground like butter, spreading bright, scorching flames across the floor.
"Are you the councilor?"
A calm male voice rang out in the space.
"This is not a place you should be," the mimicking impostor said sternly. "Leave here and return to your compartment!"
Snap!
Li Aozi stepped onto the road ahead, his superior [Charisma] granting him deeper control over Omega Energy.
[Natural Ignition]
[Mode One • Purification of Filth]
The flames immediately split into two paths in front of him. The intense heat and metal vapor were lifted and then instantly released, bombing the mimicking Celia like a bomb.
Boom——
The impostor's pupils contracted. As the high-temperature shockwave approached, it immediately realized its mimicked armor couldn't withstand such an explosion. Instantly, it abandoned its disguise, liquefied, and retreated rapidly.
Metal, machinery, and electronic devices were shattered by the high-temperature shockwave in an instant. Rapid oxidation caused them to explode again. The impostor's mood plummeted. Just as it reformed after landing, its front was covered in flames.
But compared to nearly being killed upon meeting, the impostor, now mimicking Jane Neria, looked at Li Aozi in horror:
"You—you, a native, how could you know about society's structure?"
"So it was Jane you devoured."
Li Aozi nodded.
"Who exactly are you?"
Fear rose in the impostor's heart. Without interstellar civilization, it would be impossible to know about society. Even in the Abyss, narrative-level civilizations strictly blocked information about society.
Now, it heard the clear term 'councilor' from the mouth of a native civilization that hadn't even left its home planet.
"I am a councilor of the Replica Council, Yalka • Fake. Who exactly are you?"
"I am your dad."
He didn't bother to answer everything.
Li Aozi raised his palm, scattering a mix of iron and aluminum dust from his pocket. These metal powders, which couldn't normally burn in the air, were captured by the [Natural Ignition] ability. The oxidation reaction accelerated violently, bursting into brilliant sparks in the air like a meteor shower, showering down on the impostor.
"Damn it!"
Yalka • Fake quickly retreated. The thermite agent, barely brushing against its arm, immediately burned through transparent holes.
Jane Neria's [Plunderer] profession provided decent agility and a high base [Constitution], preventing her from being instantly burned to death by the flames.
The plan was exposed. The Omega Energy this man casually wielded—his power was at least at the extreme threshold level. No, it's not impossible that he has undergone one reforging.
'The Speaker assessed that no indigenous life forms on this planet could undergo a second reforging. If he shows stronger abilities, it means he comes from the stars.'
Yalka • Fake turned and ran towards the back door, switching to a liquid state and quickly seeping through the door cracks. As a councilor-level replica citizen, its shapeshifting ability far surpassed that of ordinary impostors. After devouring Celia, it had obtained the entire layout of the train, including all details, passages, and ventilation ducts, mastering them thoroughly.
'Eat dirt, star man. Even if you have narrative-level civilization backing you, the final victory still belongs to us replica society!'
Yalka • Fake's mind was exceptionally clever. After mimicking a carbon-based life form, it gained weak fire resistance.
Even if it fled here, it was confident the opponent wouldn't dare to set large fires.
'Go ahead and set fires here! Do you think you can burn down this entire weapon compartment?'
However, Li Aozi gave her no chance to escape. He took three steps, raised his palm, and the trajectory of the flames converged like a welding torch, instantly cutting through the back door. His gray eyes lit up with red flame rings, and facing the mimicked Neria, Yalka • Fake, he directly raised his palm.
[Natural Ignition]
The high-temperature convection transmitted heat. The higher the temperature, the more violent the thermal motion of the air molecules. The heated air quickly expanded, inflating the entire corridor's air to hundreds of times its volume.
Thus, an explosion occurred.
[Mode Two • Cleanse the World]
Once the terrifying high-temperature field was generated, it triggered a chain reaction. First, the violent explosive shockwave blew the entire weapon storage room sky-high. Then, the surrounding walls and iron cabinets emitted popping sounds. Metal surfaces bulged with bubbles, then burst, forming linear metal jets that splattered everywhere in the narrow carriage. Yalka • Fake's post-disaster excitement froze instantly, transforming into horror and fear.
Its body was perforated by linear metal jets moving at 3,000 meters per second. The high-temperature field then ignited its body, forming a blinding white flame. Before it could scream, the air in the field had been consumed by the flames. Without air resonance, no sound could be transmitted.
The high-temperature shockwave generated by the field expanded rapidly outward, then caused a vacuum field due to the air being consumed, drawing in a massive amount of gas. The pressure from just a few tons of gas pouring in pressed Yalka • Fake's entire body motionless.
[Your title 'Cataclysm' effect triggered! This attack is a 'Fatal Strike'! (Three times damage, weak point attack, high probability of death)]
[Death Judgement in progress...]
[Perpetual • Autocratic——effect activated!]
[Perpetual • Hunt Love——effect activated!]
[Judgement succeeded]
[After correction, this damage is: 4798 points of true damage (instant death)]
But this was not the most difficult moment.
Even so, the councilor-level's tough body granted it far superior vitality than ordinary impostors. Yalka • Fake's body, like a ragged doll, was pressed to the ground by the atmosphere, the intense flames melting the floor. Semi-molten steel, with a density far greater than water, dragged it down like an endless swamp. It opened its mouth wide, silently screaming in despair, watching its body melt, evaporate, and burn out in the high heat.
Until its last drop of fake blood was distilled, the impostor councilor known as Yalka • Fake was completely burned to ashes.
[Target incinerated]
[Tip: You have killed a high-value target——'Replica Councilor']
[You have obtained the title: New Hunter——your attacks will deal 3% additional true damage to 'society' type enemies.]
[Hunter Achievement Board activated. You can increase your title level by continuously hunting high-value targets.]
[Current hunting target: Replica Society • Philoris (lv.270 [Lower Society])]
Boiling molten iron rolled in the fierce blizzard. Li Aozi gently raised his hand, not wanting to look any further.
"The revenge has just begun."
Li Aozi said in a deep voice.
He adjusted the Omega Energy output. The molten iron quickly separated into a path in front of him. Li Aozi walked through several carriages and returned to the first-class carriage——Du Zexin had struggled to sit up. The explosion just now and the different weapons had left his face pale. He looked at Li Aozi, opened his mouth, and asked:
"What exactly happened?"
"Something dirty got on the train. Qiu Ran is dead, and those infected and Ms. Celia are also dead."
Li Aozi didn't reveal the impostor's matter. He lowered his head and gently touched the baby crib, and the baby closed its eyes. Through psychic resonance, it conveyed a message to his heart:
'You have done your best, Liozi.'
"It's Li Aozi." He corrected.
Before the bewildered Du Zexin could ask more questions, Li Aozi had already left the first-class carriage and entered the cockpit. Zhou Liefeng, who was concentrating on driving, stared ahead.
"I'm sorry." Li Aozi nodded. "I couldn't save her, I could only avenge her... There might still be relics on site. Do you want to check and see the situation?"
Zhou Liefeng stared ahead, holding the joystick steadily, and said clearly:
"I don't want to see anything."
Li Aozi nodded. "My condolences."
"She died on the train, that's for the best." Zhou Liefeng's tone was very calm, his speech slow and steady. "Every brother and sister of the Subway Brotherhood was born on the train, she was just going home."
Going home.
Li Aozi's gaze darkened.
"What, did you lose a lover too?" Zhou Liefeng seemed to notice his micro-expression and asked.
"No, it's not that kind of relationship." Li Aozi admitted.
"So, a friend?"
Zhou Liefeng shook his head and asked again.
Li Aozi answered, "We only knew each other for four days."
Zhou Liefeng glanced at him. "Family?"
Li Aozi denied, "No."
"Then who are you feeling troubled for?" Zhou Liefeng asked in confusion.
"I don't know, maybe Qiu Ran, maybe something else, but there is always something that can make me emotionally stirred for a person who has nothing to do with me."
Zhou Liefeng looked at him, then said meaningfully:
"Welcome to the outside world. To be honest—I've been driving for twenty years, I experience things like this dozens of times a year. At first, I cursed the heavens, then I became misanthropic, and finally, the rain of reality washed away the fire of hatred."
"People can't live solely on hatred. Those who die because of you will ultimately become part of you. The only thing I can do is to carry the wishes of the deceased to the next station."
"Move forward, move forward, by any means necessary. If I don't die, those who made me will always exist."
Li Aozi was silent for a moment, looking ahead:
"I only know that someone's good days are over."