He suddenly coughed violently, his body trembling uncontrollably, and a stream of dark red liquid overflow from the corner of his mouth. It was clear that Zuo Feng's words and his own extreme emotions had dealt a huge blow to his body.
Yet he still struggled to hold on, his face a frightening mix of pain and intense hatred.
"E City? What can you do by going there? That's nothing more than a... transfer point... a long-abandoned... empty shell! The true ritual... the true future... you will never... never be able to touch it!"
He laboriously raised his hand, pointing at Zuo Feng. Though his fingertips trembled, they were filled with endless curses.
"You, and all of you, will turn to ashes in the dawn of the New Era! Your existence... is nothing but an obstacle on the path of evolution!"
The air in the command room seemed to solidify into heavy lead blocks, making it difficult to breathe.
Every word of Wen Dizhi was like a poisonous dagger, stabbing into everyone's nerves.
Mao Wudi's knuckles cracked, Tie Zhenshan's chest heaved noticeably, and the flames of anger in his eyes seemed ready to erupt. Rou Moyu's gaze behind her glasses was as cold as an ice blade, fixed on every subtle change in Wen Dizhi's expression.
Da Bai Tu stood with a heavy chill in her eyes.
Zuo Feng's gaze, however, was extremely calm, like a frozen lake, without a single ripple.
Although Wen Dizhi's reaction was frantic, the fragments of information revealed within it were quickly piecing together in his mind:
E City is a "transfer point" and an "empty shell," indicating that the true core is not there;
Wen Dizhi's address and reverence for the "master" were deeply ingrained, indicating a status far superior to Wen Dizhi himself;
The 990,000 sacrifices are key to initiating the "true ritual," and this ritual is clearly not yet complete, or... something is still missing.
"Ashes?"
Zuo Feng's deep, clear voice broke the deathly silence brought by Wen Dizhi's curse. He leaned slightly forward, his gaze piercing Wen Dizhi's mad, bloodshot eyes like a tangible entity.
"Wen Dizhi, the New Era you speak of is nothing but a purgatory built from the bones of billions of living beings.
You and your hidden master, and your so-called 'Corpse Clan,' are merely clinging to life in this twisted way because you fear being forgotten, afraid of truly disappearing."
His words had a sharp insight that penetrated the essence. "Your so-called evolution is nothing but a fig leaf for self-destruction.
Tell me, is that 'master' who doesn't even dare to show his true face also afraid?
Afraid of being discovered by a more powerful existence?
Can your meticulously planned sacrifice truly succeed?
You have only completed the first step; you cannot complete the true ritual of sacrifice."
Wen Dizhi's body suddenly stiffened, and a subtle flicker of surprise seemed to cross his frantic eyes.
Zuo Feng keenly caught this momentary flaw, and his tone suddenly intensified:
"What you lack is not sacrifices, but something more important, something your thieving master doesn't even know, only I do."
Zuo Feng's voice seemed to come from the abyss, every word carrying an unshakable certainty.
The terror and disbelief in Wen Dizhi's pupils almost overflowed his eye sockets.
He had never imagined that Zuo Feng knew more than he had thought.
But he was quickly enraged by Zuo Feng's words and roared madly:
"Nonsense! My master is the true agent, you are the lowly thief! If it weren't for the right time and incomplete materials, my master would have completed this ultimate ritual long ago! At that time, the god of my Corpse Clan will tear you, this humble blasphemer, to shreds!"
Wen Dizhi's voice cut through the air, his roar mixed with a non-human shriek.
The time is not right... the materials are incomplete... Zuo Feng's mind raced. The time is not right means the ritual has strict requirements for the time node. The materials are incomplete means that in addition to the 990,000 sacrifices, some crucial item is missing, and obtaining this material is more difficult than obtaining the sacrifices, otherwise, they wouldn't gather the sacrifices first before seeking that material.
As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Dizhi's body suddenly stiffened. He realized that he had again been lured by Zuo Feng's words and revealed information he shouldn't have.
He struggled to straighten his back, but slumped again from exhaustion, his face full of resentment, glaring fiercely at Zuo Feng.
"You provoke me! You trick words out of me! You are despicable!... I won't tell you another word!"
Watching Wen Dizhi fall silent, Zuo Feng sighed. He could no longer get more information from the other party.
Wen Dizhi's madness, though a loophole, was also his strongest shield. Once he sobered up, he wouldn't easily reveal any more flaws.
However, at least some information was obtained from Wen Dizhi's mouth.
First: Wen Dizhi has a superior, and the Corpse Clan indeed exists.
Second: The 990,000 corpses are meant to create more powerful zombies to serve as sacrifices, summoning the Corpse Clan to descend.
Third: The ritual requires a specific time and some crucial materials that are not yet complete, so it cannot be completed for now.
Fourth: Although the true identity of the master mentioned by Wen Dizhi is still unclear, it is certain that he comes from E City.
Fifth: The birth of the Void Land is indeed related to the Corpse Clan, and those two drops of fresh blood are indeed Corpse Clan blood. This also gave Zuo Feng a preliminary understanding of the Corpse Clan's power; they are an existence that humanity currently cannot contend with.
Zuo Feng slowly closed his eyes, quickly deducing all the clues in his mind. After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes. The current clues were still too few; he needed more to uncover the truth.
Glancing at Wen Dizhi on the ground, Zuo Feng said to Da Bai Tu:
"Take him down first and hand him over to the Bixiao Guards for safekeeping. Make sure he has no chance to escape or self-destruct again.
There is still valuable information in his mind; we cannot let him die easily."
Da Bai Tu nodded in agreement, then had Kong Ling carry Wen Dizhi out of the temporary command center.
Soon after, Kong Ling and Da Bai Tu returned to the command center.
Zuo Feng looked at Mao Wudi and the other two, and slowly began:
"Chief Mao, Chief Tie, Chief Rou, you have all heard it. Things are much more complicated than we imagined. Now let's summarize the intelligence we currently have and see what breakthroughs we can utilize."
Mao Wudi was the first to speak, his voice deep like a drum, suppressing his surging anger:
"990,000 sacrifices! These beasts! E City, our H City has no enmity with them, so which deranged bastard wants to sacrifice our H City people! We must find out the true identity of that 'master' in E City. He can manipulate such a vast conspiracy from the shadows, and there must be deeper forces intertwined behind him."
Tie Zhenshan took a deep breath, trying to calm the anger in his chest, and said in a deep voice:
"Chief Mao, calm down. Not everything Wen Dizhi says can be trusted, but the phrases 'transfer point' and 'empty shell' are worth pondering.
We must investigate F City, but we must be cautious.
The 990,000 sacrifices disappeared without a trace; the organizational capability and energy behind this... far exceed our previous estimates.
Also, he mentioned 'the time is not right' and 'materials are incomplete.' What exactly are these 'materials'?
Are they more difficult to obtain than the zombie sacrifices transformed from 990,000 living people?"