"What a shame. I wanted to trick you into going up for the experiments, but throwing you up there after beating you half-dead works just as well. Do you know what's up there?"

The old man seemed genuinely regretful, as this might affect the experimental results.

"It should be whatever caused this place to become like this. Don't ask such simple questions - it's a waste of time."

Lin Ye responded with disdain.

"...Would you like to conduct experiments with me? I'll give you a chance to survive."

Though survival would take a different form.

"Don't give me any chances, because I won't give you any chance to survive. That would make me seem a bit petty."

Lin Ye had no intention of letting this old bastard live.

"What a pity. Even someone of your caliber can't see through the essence of this world. Don't you think it's an honor for those ordinary people to become experimental materials? Without me, they would just muddle through their meaningless lives. I gave their brief existences purpose. They should be thanking me, not constantly thinking about escaping."

If it weren't Lin Ye standing here, the old man probably wouldn't have wasted so many words. Like encountering a chess opponent of similar skill, the old man felt a rare desire for conversation.

"I don't care. I don't care about your garbage experiments, and I don't care about these patients. Everyone must take responsibility for their own actions. They got this ending because of their own problems - it has nothing to do with me. I just want to kill you and leave this place. You're blocking my path, so I'll kill you. That's the true essence of the world."

Lin Ye completely disregarded the old man's nonsense. If he wanted to do something, he wouldn't explain himself to others. Right now, he was just buying time.

"Haha, you understand quite well after all! That's exactly right. But now there's a problem - these people are all excellent experimental subjects I've selected. Each of them is stronger than those worthless trash outside. You probably relied on some ability to control blood burning to kill those worthless ones outside. That should be an ability you obtained from over there. But now that I'm not letting them tear through their epidermis, how will you kill me?"

The old man had been observing all the experimental subjects, and Lin Ye was one of the most outstanding among them.

"Forty-three."

Lin Ye spoke calmly.

"What? Oh, you mean the number of experimental subjects. So what?"

Looking at Lin Ye's completely calm expression, a sense of foreboding rose in the old man's heart, but he couldn't pinpoint where the problem lay. These doctors, nurses, and orderlies were all high-quality experimental subjects he had carefully selected. In terms of power level, each one could handle the opponent.

"I indeed can't ignite their blood through their epidermis, but there's one issue - their epidermis is too crude, and they're all experimental subjects with almost zero control over their own flesh and blood... Shh, do you hear that? That's the sound of flesh and blood flowing."

I'm sensing the flow of their flesh and blood. What are you waiting for? Waiting to die?

Lin Ye closed his eyes, extended his right hand forward, and curled his five fingers into a loose grip toward his palm. He had grasped the melody of flesh and blood!

Forty-three torches ignited out of nowhere. Forty-three experimental subjects exploded simultaneously. Blood ignited flesh, energy tore through epidermis, and forty-three monsters revealed their true forms while howling in agony.

Simultaneously igniting the blood of forty-three monsters was no easy feat. If he hadn't obtained that Flesh and Blood Rule Fragment, Lin Ye wouldn't have been capable of this level. He had quite good compatibility with that Flesh and Blood Rule Fragment, while the other Fate Rule Fragment felt as if it didn't exist at all.

After catching his breath, Lin Ye was about to control that flesh and blood to attack the old man whom he couldn't ignite, but the old man tore open his own body first, transforming into a tall, burly humanoid monster.

Lin Ye sighed. He knew it wouldn't be that simple to deal with his opponent.

"You're quite good, but unfortunately, I'm stronger!"

The monster vanished from its spot, instantly teleporting in front of Lin Ye and throwing a punch at his head.

Its speed was extremely fast, but Lin Ye had already been predicting its attack pattern from the moment it tore its body apart, so the punch only struck the air beside Lin Ye.

However, Lin Ye's Fishhook accurately struck its chest, using the monster's own momentum to tear open its thoracic cavity and hook away its heart.

This was the advanced technique recorded in that notebook - Heart Snatching.

It was an advanced technique that could leverage external forces to seize an enemy's organs. When mastered to a certain level, one could even remotely pluck away an enemy's vital organs from a distance by harnessing various forces.

I don't move, yet the organs come to me.

With the monster's thoracic cavity ruptured, Lin Ye wanted to use Blood Burning at close range, but at the last moment before activating the skill, he forcibly stopped himself.

Blood Burning could release the energy contained within blood, serving as both an offensive and enhancement skill. He certainly didn't want to ignite the old man only to get himself killed in the explosion.

The monster quickly retreated, putting distance between itself and Lin Ye. It feared Lin Ye might control its blood.

"Cough cough, what is this... Damn it, you can control blood from this distance too?"

The monster suddenly exploded, all its flesh and blood throughout its body crushed into the purest red liquid. That liquid floated in mid-air, rapidly changing form, and finally coalesced into a middle-aged man wearing luxurious formal attire.

Lin Ye pulled Little Qi back a step. Such a sophisticated operation of transforming flesh and blood into clothing clearly indicated this was no ordinary opponent. This person was likely the true mastermind behind everything, while the one they had just fought was merely a front-line underling.

"Truly worthless. I thought he could at least injure you."

The man's tone was flat, as if he didn't care about everything that had just happened.

"And what are you? The true master of this place?"

Lin Ye attempted to manipulate the blood within the man's body, but discovered that the other's body seemed to contain no blood at all, making it completely impossible to use his skills.

"Are my Rule Fragments useful?"

The man clearly noticed Lin Ye's subtle attempt, but showed no intention of stopping him, allowing Lin Ye to continue trying.

"Quite useful. Can you give me a few more? I'd like to assemble a complete one."

Lin Ye stopped trying. If the Rule Fragments truly belonged to this man, then he needed to be careful not to let the other influence his own flesh and blood.

"I don't even have a complete one myself, and having more Rule Fragments isn't necessarily better. Keeping Rule Fragments with poor compatibility can actually have negative effects on oneself... But you don't need to worry - you won't reach the stage where you need to be concerned about Rule Fragment types."

The man revealed a cold smile. He wouldn't let Lin Ye leave this place alive.

"Your Rule Fragment has excellent compatibility with me. Now it belongs to me."

Lin Ye had already prepared for battle.

"Hehe, you're not thinking of fighting me, are you? My apologies, but you're not worthy of me taking action."

The man revealed a cruel smile and snapped his fingers at Lin Ye.

"?"

Lin Ye looked at the frozen man with complete confusion.