Chapter 685 - 406: Joy Masks Pain, Laughter Defies the Void
Xue Dili looked at the masked man in front of him, unsure why he felt something was amiss.
"Are you really an old friend of Captain Xing Jia’er? Or the leader here?" Xue Dili asked anyway.
"I am." The masked man said solemnly.
Xue Dili: "?"
He twitched at the corner of his mouth, suddenly having a bad premonition.
"Really?" Although Xue Dili already knew there was something wrong with this person, he still retorted.
"A gentleman never speaks lies!" The masked man in a suit and tie said earnestly.
Xue Dili slapped his forehead hard, knowing it wasn’t that simple; this person in front of him was fake too!
Why are the people in this ghostly place so mad and wicked?
Shortly after, a Teleportation Gate opened behind this person, as he continued to speak grandiloquently: "I am the leader of this ball, indeed, I am destiny, leading everyone to defeat the Void; duty calls!"
A foot suddenly kicked him hard from inside the Teleportation Gate, and another figure stepped out, resembling a certain little Death God on set; all dark, with no facial features, just a face swirling with ink-like stains.
"Apologies, my subordinates have caused you trouble. I will punish them by having them run naked a lap outside the plaza," said the dark figure, seeming quite sincere.
Xue Dili: "..."
Is it fun to deceive people, huh?
Xue Dili felt genuinely annoyed, tricked once, then twice, and now again the third time?
You inherently evil old ghost, I’m going to rip off your mask myself and see how many faces you have!
Xue Dili reached out without hesitation, only to find his entire arm was instantly covered in black, ink-like contamination.
That arm seemed instantly filled with exhaustion and paralysis, uncontrollable. Xue Dili was shocked, decisively slicing off his own arm at the shoulder.
The dropped arm on the ground quickly became similar to the dark figure, emitting an indescribable Void Power.
"Your arm has committed suicide. Despite its ability to detach and become a new life form after contact with my power, it ultimately chose suicide. This is the power of the Void," the dark figure quietly said, sitting across from Xue Dili, the ink stains on his face constantly shifting.
"Also, a gentleman uses his words, not his hands. It’s best not to touch me; anyone who does will be contaminated by the highest level of Void, even Apostles should not attempt it."
The dark figure’s words were calm; he wasn’t as frantic or laughing like the other masked men. He truly seemed to fit Xue Dili’s impression of someone eroded by the Void.
The key point was that his Void Power was unmistakable, fully covered in it. At this level of authority, Xue Dili felt he could only open up a Great Void in his own chest, letting it consume him, transforming into a twisted, shifting void monster to match.
Perhaps his power is not strong, but his presence anywhere is akin to walking calamity, a creature on a galaxy-devastating scale.
Even if he dies or fails to suppress his own power, he will collapse into a Cosmic Void, akin to the Cosmic Void barely patched up with a black hole by the almighty effort of Unit 27 of the Interstellar Corps during the First Era.
He now resembles that walking Cosmic Void, wholly merged with the Void Power, his calamity extent no less than the insect swarm unleashed by the Sixth Apostle, the Heart Stealer disaster by the Fourth Apostle, or the Divine Tree disaster unleashed by all Apostles.
However, he suppressed his own Void Power, barely maintaining a normal human form.
Even possessing proper thought and consciousness; no wonder Captain Xing Jia’er brought him here; it turns out there really is an expert to handle the Void.
Xue Dili couldn’t help but be respectful; he even felt a bit of admiration for the person in front of him.
Void Power erodes all emotion, sensation, five senses, and every desire to keep living, leading ultimately to self-destruction.
Yet, despite being eroded to this extent, this person persisted in living, perhaps understanding that his death would result in a disaster no less dire than that of the Mist Council.
So, he continued to live, even founding such a strange organization, a gathering of lunatics, mad folks, jesters, tricksters, and all sorts.
Oh, they’re all people eroded by the Void; never mind then...
These people are true walking disasters, likely causing destruction no lesser than the Apostles when released, perhaps even more terrifying due to their unstable mental states.
Yet, this figure managed to lock them all here, akin to a founder-level predecessor of the Interstellar Corps in Xue Dili’s view.
"Perhaps you’ve misunderstood me; I’m not as great as you imagine. This is merely a place for us to huddle together for warmth, to exchange solutions for this contamination," the dark figure said, sipping on his drink, "Would you like a cup?"
Xue Dili: "..."
Though I respect you, Xue Dili won’t consume anything from here...
He still knows those beasts outside who replaced the water with pure alcohol; ingesting anything here feels like a risky trap.