Chapter 345: Eloping
Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy
"Oh, it kinda hurts."
When the five fingers landed on the ground, Faceless One babbled an understatement and let down the arm, causing blood to gush out like spring from the fingerless hand.
For Liu Li's physical quality, even if her fingers were cut off by a sharp weapon, the wound would heal in a short time. This was the comprehensive quality of a successor disciple. It was often said that her defensive and restorative power was slightly weaker, as opposed to her offensive prowess. Currently, the wound on her fingerless hand continued to stream out blood. Obviously, this was intentional on the part of Faceless One. He deliberately let the blood to flow out of the wound, letting it gush out and cause a lot of blood loss.
"Huh, I never thought that your mental quality would be this good. Everyone around you is going insane with worry, yet you, who actually has a very good relationship with Liu Li, are still very calm."
While flaunting off the bloody fingerless hand in front of everyone, Faceless One observed that while Aya and the others were boiling with anger, Wang Lu actually showed a curious indifferent look.
"What is there to care about?" Wang Lu said, "It's just broken fingers, it's not that they're not going to be back. As for the pain, the one who is hurt is actually you."
Faceless One broke into laughter. Although the expression appeared stiff and twisted, it seemed like it was a pleasure that came from the heart. "You said it well. But, to be able to maintain calm in front of someone that is close to you and seriously injured, are you really a human? Or you don't actually care about your Junior Sister?"
Wang Lu lightly said, "I am not human, so I have no human feelings. But I do care about my Junior Sister, so when I catch you, I will make you pay for it. As for now… tell me about your conditions."
"Conditions?" Faceless One asked back, "Do you think I want to talk to you about conditions?"
Wang Lu said, "No? Then are we just going to talk? Very well, I'll just continue to drive and we can slowly talk along the way."
With that, Wang Lu reached out towards the vehicle control device, ready to start the vehicle and move forward.
Faceless One, of course, was not there to chat. When Wang Lu obtained Golden King's level eight vehicle, Holy Light Religion team was already unable to defeat them in normal ways in the sea of clouds. Therefore, he could only use this method, and the hostage in his hand was his biggest card.
However, in the face of an opponent like Wang Lu, it was already quite stressful to use a hostage. If he took a wrong step, this card might turn out to be in vain, therefore...
"Slowly talk? Okay." Faceless One said, "By the way, you're right, I haven't completed the spirit occupation of Liu Li, but it's not because I can't, rather I deliberately left a lifeline. But since it seems like you don't care about her, it seems like I don't need to keep it either, what do you think?"
Wang Lu immediately tightened his grasp on the control stick—this was something that he was really afraid would happen.
This was the worst case situation.
Liu Li who could not be saved, and Liu Li who has a very slim chance of survival were two very different concepts. If Liu Li has already died, in a sense, it was actually a good thing. It meant that Wang Lu could take revenge at all cost for her, free from any restrictions and constraints, but now...
"I'm not here to tell you the conditions, because I don't have to. You already know it," Faceless One lightly said,
"Needless to say, I can't accept it," Wang Lu coldly responded.
"Really? Then let's have a rational analysis of the current situation." Faceless One said, "My condition is that you stop here and fight head-on with us. Of course, this is a dead end for you. Therefore, I can simply say my condition is to let you die."
"And then?"
"And then, the card in my hand is your most valued Junior Sister Liu Li. If you guys die, she alone could not survive. Even if I promise to let her live, I'm afraid you won't believe me."
Wang Lu sneered. "Then isn't it clear, your so-called hostage is meaningless."
Faceless One said, "It does seem meaningless. But, if it's really meaningless, why did you stop the vehicle? Why are still afraid to launch the vehicle?"
"..." Wang Lu's grip on the control stick became even stiffer.
"Hahaha, you're at a loss, right?" Faceless One said, "Even if you intellectually know that it's a dead end, emotionally, you can't bear to just helplessly watch your Junior Sister die. Because there's no amount of reason and rationality that can trump your feeling of closeness and responsibility towards your Junior Sister, right? So, you are at a loss, you know perfectly well what is the right thing to do, but you simply can't do it! Unfortunately, within a short amount of time, spirit occupation can only be carried out once, otherwise, right now, you're a really good spirit occupying object."
Wang Lu did not speak, but just gradually shifted away his gaze from Liu Li.
At this time, he heard Aya's voice through primordial spirit.
"... Wang Lu, I'm sorry. It's all because of me that Liu Li ended up like this. I thought that since you're not a local, there's no reason for Holy Light Religion to utterly destroy you, so I think it's better if I…"
For Aya's request, Wang Lu's response was simple, "Shut up you idiot."
"Wang Lu!"
"Just shut your mouth and stay put. If you say one more word, don't blame me if I put you on my blacklist."
Aya was stunned for a long time, but finally silently broke off the primordial spirit connection.
Actually, she also knew that even if she was willing to sacrifice, it might not necessarily make things good, much less Wang Lu would never accept her sacrifice. It was just that… if not that, then what else?
A long silence ensued as time slipped by little by little. Wang Lu's hand was still tightly gripping the control stick, but he couldn't push it. Faceless One continued to observe Wang Lu's reaction with interest, but from time to time, he also warned Quan Zouhua and Bai Shixuan with his cold eyes. Of course, the wound on the fingerless hand has yet healed, therefore, due to excessive loss of blood, Liu Li's body appeared unnaturally pale. If it were ordinary people, perhaps they would've already died.
Even if the spirit occupation hasn't yet one hundred percent completed, he already had absolute control over Liu Li's body. Therefore, if other people dared to act rashly, it would end up in a lose-lose situation. Of course, if other people really did make their move, it was not difficult to deal with him in this condition. And after they dealt with him, they were also free of the burden. However, would Wang Lu allow them?
If they really wanted to make their move, he could do it by himself, why bother dragging things out?
No one knew how much time has passed when Aya's battlefield intuition alerted her the danger has become increasingly near. Holy Light Religion vehicle was fast approaching with alarming speed, which caused beads of sweat to ooze out of her palms. At this time, Wang Lu finally opened his mouth and broke the silence.
"Just now you asked me, why did I park the vehicle here?"
Faceless One said, "By the way, I also want to ask. You have been gripping that control stick for so long, but since you don't dare to push it, why would you refuse to let it go?"
Wang Lu said, "Because if I let it go, I can't see the situation outside."
Faceless One's face suddenly stiffened, seemingly caught on to something. "What?"
A smile gradually returned to Wang Lu's face. "The inside of this vehicle is completely closed. It's armored and not transparent. Therefore for the external scene to be reflected inside here, it actually has to undergo a relay. And this relay is in my hand. Everything that you see goes through my approval first, and until now, I've been touching the control stick and showing the same scene—don't you think that the clouds outside are too monotonous?"
Faceless One thought for a moment. "But the vehicle doesn't move. At least, you can't fake this."
"Yes, you are in the vehicle, so internal energy change can't be hidden from you, but why should I start the vehicle? The so-called movement is relative. Even if the vehicle doesn't move, if the surrounding scene is moving, it's basically the same thing. The interior of the sea of clouds is unpredictable, so naturally, it's not strange if there are a few areas that move on their own, right?"
Faceless One was silent. As a veteran of the sea of clouds, he certainly knew that it was not strange!
"I've been waiting here for so long, I thought that I won't make it. Thankfully, it's actually not bad." Wang Lu smiled. "I finally get this opportunity."
"Opportunity…" Faceless One softly repeated. At the same time, he was already prepared. At any time, he could take away Liu Li's life with the fastest speed!
If Wang Lu wanted to crash the vehicle, that would be the worst possible outcome. But if he killed Liu Li, dealing a serious psychological blow to Wang Lu was also good. Spirit occupation… could then be used on him.
However, the next moment, an unexpected change caused Faceless One to have a slightly slower reaction.
Wang Lu jerked the control stick to the side and the floor on the cockpit and the entire chassis of the vehicle were opened. Suddenly, a strong suction force came from below and simultaneously pulled Wang Lu and Faceless One.
"Aya, the rest is yours."
Before disappearing, Wang Lu left behind a sentence.
—
Falling, endless falling.
After falling out of the vehicle, Wang Lu and Faceless One continued to fall. Surrounded by vast clouds, only the strong sense of weightlessness reminded the two people that they were going down. Moreover, the fall was getting faster and faster, completely without air resistance.
"... A very interesting move, even beyond my expectation."
While falling, Faceless One seriously nodded and said.
"You really don't worry that I would eliminate Liu Li, making this a lose-lose situation?"
Close to Faceless One, Wang Lu also put on a serious look. He firmly locked his attention on Faceless One's body, watching if there were any subtle movements. Upon hearing Faceless One's question, Wang Lu sneered.
"Why should I be worried? Isn't your goal from the start me? Now that there's nobody that could disturb us, you should just say what you really want."
Faceless One was slightly surprised. "I didn't think that you would be this self-aware."
If it were other people, they most likely would think that Faceless One's goal was to intercept Wang Lu and his teammates so that they could not get close to Beautiful Unique Pool Peak and win the trial. However, Wang Lu was actually very clear that Faceless One's real target was himself. Faceless One didn't care if the Treasure House's Administrator position changed hand. His task was to purify the enemies of the church, and everything else was beyond his consideration.
What about Aya? If Aya was still in her Knight King peak condition, perhaps there was still a bit of value in purifying her, but now that she was already in the spirit of the brave departed body, there was nothing special anymore in getting rid of her.
Therefore, when the time was ripe, Wang Lu immediately pulled both of them out of the vehicle, so that Aya, Little Bai, and Quan Zouhua could be free from the burden and thus able to continue to advance.
The game really began now.