Page 164
Page 164
[Similar to a feather crossing the dust].
He doesn't need to completely replicate all the functions of that key of the gods; he only needs its core ability—simulation and deduction.
Using the power of the [Herrscher of Reason] to analyze all things, and then using the unreasonable characteristics of the [Talking Tom] fragments, the results of the analysis are simulated and collided billions of times.
A strange crystal, composed of countless points of light and runes, constantly changing its shape, floated in front of him.
With a slight thought, Zhou Ye input a very simple spatial movement model into it.
The next second, an unimaginable torrent of information erupted from inside the strange crystal.
That simple spatial model was disassembled, reassembled, and distorted within the crystal, colliding with the physical rules, magical formulas, and even the Herrscher powers he had just acquired.
Fail, fix, fail again, fix again.
Billions of simulations appear to outsiders as nothing more than a single moment of crystal flickering.
In Zhou Ye's mind, however, 172 new, optimized spatial techniques had already been developed.
feasible.
He gave instructions to the cartoon character beside him.
"Guard."
"Yes, Master."
The cartoon mascot emitted a crisp, synthesized electronic sound, its small body standing straight, warily scanning the surrounding void.
Zhou Ye closed his eyes, his entire consciousness sinking into the [Pseudo-Feather Crossing Dust].
His body remained still in place.
His spirit, however, entered a frenzied cultivation cycle of endless spiraling ascent, with his left foot stepping on his right.
After finishing his frantic self-analysis, Zhou Ye did not leave this pure white space.
He opened his hand, and a crimson metal gauntlet silently appeared in his palm. The gauntlet's design was full of biological features, resembling the claw of a ferocious dragon, with dark gold patterns covering it, and a jade gem set in the center, as if it contained a world within it.
The God-Slaying Gear, [The Crimson Dragon Emperor's Gauntlets].
This treasure, powerful enough to drive even gods and demons mad, lay quietly, like an ordinary work of art. But Zhou Ye's [Herrscher of Reason] power could analyze the immense, violent power within it, enough to tear space apart, and a dormant, ancient, and proud consciousness.
【...yet another one.】
A grand, metallic sound resonated directly in his mind.
Human, how many times can you withstand my power? Ten times? Twenty times? And then, like my predecessors, will you be consumed by your desires, or torn to shreds by that white creature?
Zhou Ye did not respond to the disdainful greeting. He never followed someone else's script. His mental strength, like a sharp needle, pierced the precious jade in the center of his arm armor without hesitation.
【Om—】
The world is turned upside down, and the universe is reversed.
The next second, Zhou Ye found himself standing on scorched earth composed of lava and sulfur. The sky was a perpetually dusky yellow, and enormous chains hung from the heavens, piercing through the earth. Before him, a colossal crimson dragon, large enough to blot out the sky, coiled in a sea of lava. Its scales were more brilliant than the hardest diamonds, and each breath stirred up scorching winds.
This is the Crimson Dragon Emperor, Dreggoh.
Around him floated dozens of semi-transparent figures. They varied in form: knights clad in ancient armor, mages wielding staffs, and youths in modern clothing. They were the successive hosts of the [Crimson Dragon Emperor's Gauntlets], their souls bound here, eternally witnessing this endless cycle of reincarnation.
“I didn’t expect you to come in on your own initiative,” Draig’s dragon head slowly lowered, his giant eyes, like molten gold, scrutinizing the tiny human beneath his feet. “It seems, kid, you’re no ordinary person.”
A burly, bearded man in leather armor stepped forward, sizing up Zhou Ye and letting out a sneer: "So what if you're not an ordinary person? The final outcome is the same. You'll be killed by your destined rival, your soul imprisoned here, becoming the backdrop for the next unlucky guy."
“Belusad, don’t be so pessimistic,” another elegant female figure in a mage’s robe spoke, her voice tinged with curiosity. “This person’s soul… is very strange. It’s unlike any of ours.”
Zhou Ye ignored the hosts' comments. He looked up and stared directly into Drag's eyes.
“Nice to meet you, Draig. And everyone else.” His voice was clear and almost jarring in the oppressive space. “Then I’ll get straight to the point.”
..... 0
Two streams of scorching dragon breath shot from Drag's nostrils, causing Zhou Ye's clothes to flutter loudly. "Speak."
“Dreig, I can prepare a mechanical dragon body for you.”
Upon hearing this, the entire mental space fell into a deathly silence. Even the flowing lava seemed to freeze for a moment.
The hosts of each generation looked at each other, their expressions shifting from curiosity and disdain to pure astonishment and absurdity.
"What...what is he saying?"
"A madman! Another madman has arrived!"
"Create a body for Tianlong? Does he think he's a god who created all things?"
For the first time, an emotion called "astonishment" appeared in Draig's enormous golden eyes. He had lived for countless years and seen countless hosts—heroes, villains, ambitious men, and the desperate—but never had anyone dared to speak such arrogant words to him.
“Human,” Draco’s voice deepened, the storm within it enough to tear a soul apart, “do you know the weight of your words? That’s not a toy, not something your barren imagination can construct!”
"Of course I know." Zhou Ye's answer was terrifyingly calm. In his palm, blue data streams began to converge, rapidly constructing an extremely complex three-dimensional model. It was a colossal mechanical dragon made entirely of an unknown alloy, its intricate structure and complex energy circuits causing the souls of all the knowledgeable hosts present to tremble.
"I will use this God-Slaying Gear as its core and implant it into the central processing unit of the dragon's body. I will find a way to solve the energy source problem. The control system will be completely synchronized with your soul. From now on, you will no longer be a weapon, but an independent combat unit with a physical entity."
Zhou Ye raised his head, and his words struck the soul of every person present like a heavy hammer.
"As for the compensation..."
He paused, then stated the condition that froze the entire space.
"Even if you work for me for a thousand years, how can you compare?"
Chapter 132 Crimson Dragon Emperor Draig 2
"Hahahahahaha——!"
A deafening roar of laughter, transformed into tangible sonic waves, echoed throughout the space. Draig seemed to hear the funniest joke ever heard since the beginning of creation; his enormous dragon body tumbled in the lava sea, unleashing towering waves of heat.
"A thousand years! A mere human, whose lifespan is no more than a hundred years, dares to talk to me about a thousand years! Are you insulting me?!" Drag's laughter stopped abruptly, replaced by a raging inferno. "What makes you think you have the right to enslave a celestial dragon?!"
“Because I can give you freedom.” Zhou Ye did not back down. He faced the dragon’s might that was enough to burn everything. “Your so-called pride is nothing but a prisoner’s self-comfort. You were sealed in the arm armor, searching for hosts generation after generation, lending them your power, and watching them fight and die. Your fate has never been in your own hands.”
"You yearn to fight Albion, yet you can't even decide the time and place of the battle. You can only passively wait for the host to encounter the host of the White Dragon Emperor. Is this truly what you want, Draig?"
Zhou Ye's words were like the sharpest knife, precisely dissecting the deepest desires and resentments hidden beneath Drag's arrogant exterior.
What I'm giving you isn't slavery. It's a choice.
"A choice to tear apart one's nemesis with one's own claws. A choice to soar through the skies with one's own wings. A choice to escape this pitiful cycle and truly live."
The choice.
Draig's anger gradually subsided, and the emotions in his golden eyes became incredibly complex.
“…a thousand years,” he repeated the word in a low voice.
“That’s right.” Zhou Ye nodded. “A thousand years. It might be a long time for me. But for you, it’s just the time it takes to take a nap. Trading a thousand years for a completely new future. You’re not losing out in this deal.”
"Arrogant brat!" the illusory warrior named Belusad roared again.
"Even if what you say is true, what gives you the right to command Lord Drag? You can't even withstand the pressure from us remnant souls!"
Zhou Ye glanced at him, her gaze as if she were looking at an inanimate object.
"Pressure?"
The Talking Tom fragment within him trembled slightly. An absurd, irrational force of reality distortion instantly spread.
The oppressive aura emanating from the surrounding host souls, powerful enough to drive ordinary people to the brink of mental collapse, vanished the moment it came into contact with this power, like a soap bubble bursting.
All the illusory figures of the hosts felt an inexplicable tremor emanating from the core of their souls. It wasn't fear, but rather a sense of dislocation stemming from the level of existence itself. It was as if everything they were so proud of was nothing more than a joke that could be easily rewritten before this man.
Draig's pupils suddenly contracted.
"You...what are you?"
Zhou Ye did not answer. He simply looked calmly at the Crimson Dragon Emperor before him.
"Think about it, Draig. My patience is limited."
Draig's silence lasted a long time, so long that the surrounding lava cooled into black rock, then melted back into a scorching sea of fire. The phantoms of the previous hosts whispered among themselves; they had never seen anything like it—the great Crimson Dragon Emperor was actually intimidated by a human's suggestion.
“If you are unwilling,” Zhou Ye broke the silence, his voice as calm as if he were discussing the weather, “I can only completely erase your soul and turn it into the core computing tool for my newly created mechanical dragon.”
These words cleaved the frozen air like lightning. All the host phantoms gasped in unison, some even letting out angry roars. But their voices were quickly suppressed by Draig's dragon might.
“I am different from those weak hosts of the God-Destroying Gear,” Zhou Ye continued. “Since I can come in, I can also come out, and I can also calculate and analyze the new [Crimson Dragon Emperor's Gauntlets].
A dangerous glint flashed in Draig's massive eyes. "Are you threatening me?"
“No, I’m stating the facts.” Zhou Ye raised his hand, and the three-dimensional model of the mechanical dragon body reappeared in his palm. “For you, this choice is not a choice between life and death, but a choice between freedom and enslavement.”
Draig slowly lowered his head, his giant golden eyes meeting Zhou Ye's gaze. From this angle, he could see the unsettling calm in this human's eyes—not arrogance, not conceit, but a composure born of absolute self-confidence.
"Who exactly are you?" Drag asked again.
Zhou Ye did not answer directly, but instead asked, "What kind of person do you think could freely enter the spiritual space of the Divine Annihilation Tool and be unaffected by its pressure?"
Draig fell silent. In his long life, very few people had ever done that.
“A thousand years,” Drag finally spoke, “I can promise you that. But I have conditions.”
Zhou Ye nodded slightly: "Speak."
"First, I demand complete freedom of action. Unless I voluntarily break the contract, you must not interfere with my actions."
"Yes, but only if it does not harm innocent people."
Draig scoffed, "I'm not some bloodthirsty demon; killing the innocent means nothing to me..."
“Second,” Drage continued, “I need to know your true identity. Not your name, but your essence.”
Zhou Ye pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, but only after the contract is established."
“Third,” Draig’s voice deepened, “when I encounter Albion, you must not stop me from fighting him.”
Zhou Ye smiled: "This is exactly what I wanted to see."
A hint of surprise flashed in Draig's dragon eyes, but he quickly regained his arrogance: "Then, deal."
The lava sea suddenly boiled, and a crimson pillar of light shot into the sky from Drage's body, transforming into countless runes that swirled in the air. These runes twisted and turned as if alive, eventually coalescing into an ancient contract scroll, which floated between the two.
“A blood pact,” Drage explained, “the oldest form of contract among dragons. Once signed, the breacher will pay the price with their soul.”
pdf-ebookys