CHAPTER 450: CHAPTER 447: [THREE WAYS TO KILL YOU]

Chapter 447: Three Ways to Kill You

At the far end of the street, at the intersection, several cars on both sides of the road had been set on fire. The blaze raged as thick smoke billowed into the sky.

Under the cover of night, they resembled massive torches, extremely conspicuous!

The cars were ignited by the Fourth Seed, but the people inside the house showed no particular reaction.

Boss Guo was still making ramen in the kitchen.

After all, in this world, the shop wasn’t his, nor was the beef his own...

To put it mildly, Boss Guo had never been so generous with beef in his ramen in his entire life!

Eventually, he himself began to feel somewhat dazed.

This damn generous serving of beef in the noodles is pretty thrilling!

And... if my own shop dared to serve beef like this, I’d lose a house’s worth of money every year!

In the end, knowing he was no match for them, he simply stopped caring.

The last two large servings of noodles were for himself and Fourth Miss—well, Fourth Miss’s portion was served in a basin.

Picking up his chopsticks, Boss Guo went and sat directly in front of the Fourth Seed. He casually took a clove of garlic, bit off a large chunk, and munched on it as he slurped his noodles.

After wolfing down half a bowl in one go, he finally looked up, let out a comfortable sigh, and fished out half a pack of Lanzhou cigarettes. He glanced at the Fourth Seed. "Smoke?"

The Fourth Seed smiled and took one, lighting it with practiced ease and starting to puff away.

He looked like a seasoned smoker. He took a long drag, the smoke never passing his throat; it was exhaled from his mouth and simultaneously inhaled through his nose.

"Lanzhou?" The Fourth Seed examined the cigarette pack. "It’s a bit strong. I prefer Daqianmen."

"Daqianmen? Isn’t that harsher?"

"That’s why I said yours are just a tad strong."

Boss Guo nodded, lit one for himself, and took a couple of drags before asking, "I haven’t had the pleasure of your name..." As he spoke, he scrutinized the other person closely, then ventured, "Judging by your appearance, you’re from Huaxia, right?"

At this moment, the Fourth Seed’s physical form was that of the Electric General, which naturally had a Chinese appearance, hence Boss Guo’s inquiry.

The Fourth Seed thought for a moment, a strange glint in his eyes, then chuckled. "You could... say that."

"May I know your name? I’d like to know who bested me," Boss Guo said, with the air of someone from the martial world.

The Fourth Seed looked down, pondering for a while before replying, "My surname is Yun. My given name is He, a single character."

The space of Room 504 glided gently through this world, like a small boat on a river.

Chen Nuo stood by the window, gazing at the fog-shrouded world outside. He sensed the space’s coordinates while absentmindedly humming an unknown tune.

"Boss, what are you humming?"

"A song."

"Huh?" Xicheng Xun looked at Chen Nuo curiously.

Chen Nuo sighed. "Time cannot be turned back, space is easily shattered..."

Xicheng Xun, being from Neon, didn’t recognize this Huaxia song and was taken aback. But then, as she looked out the window, her expression changed.

"Boss, we’ve returned to Jinling!"

Chen Nuo hummed in acknowledgment, then quickly spread his Spiritual Force Tentacles, cautiously searching the surroundings.

A moment later, he frowned. "Hmm?"

No matter how much beef was in the noodles, it eventually ran out.

After they put down their chopsticks, everyone in the shop remained silent.

Only Zhu Dazhi still stubbornly glowered at the Fourth Seed—Yun He. If Xiao Yu hadn’t secretly and forcefully stepped on his instep several times, Zhu Dazhi would have already started cursing.

With his hotheaded temperament, he was used to confronting others, never being on the receiving end.

However, Xiao Yu was frantically trying to stop him with covert glances and by stepping on his foot, forcing Zhu Dazhi to hold his tongue.

When you’re under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head.

Normally, he would have confronted them openly. Even if he couldn’t handle the consequences, at least he wouldn’t stifle his own nature.

But now... He glanced at Xiao Yu beside him.

Yun He also put down his chopsticks, then suddenly looked up towards the outside of the shop and smiled. "It seems they’ve arrived."

WHOOSH!

A rope descended from the sky, landing on the street outside the shop.

Immediately after, Chen Nuo jumped down decisively, followed by Xicheng Xun, who slid down the rope.

Chen Nuo first glanced inside the shop. His youthful face showed no surprise as his eyes quietly swept over everyone he recognized.

Finally, his gaze rested on Yun He.

"Still eating?"

"Yes, just finished. Have you eaten?"

"Not yet."

"Then come in and have some."

"Okay." With a smile, Chen Nuo walked cheerfully into the shop. He went over to Yun He and patted Boss Guo, who was sitting opposite Yun He.

"Old Guo, thanks for your trouble. A large bowl of the thinnest noodles, with extra beef, please."

With a complex expression, Boss Guo looked up at Chen Nuo. "This time... I might as well put a whole cow in there for you."

"Sounds good. I’ll be waiting," Chen Nuo replied with a smile. As soon as Boss Guo got up and went to the kitchen, Chen Nuo took Boss Guo’s seat, facing Yun He.

"Your friend’s cooking is really good. I haven’t had such delicious noodles in a long time."

"Yeah, his skills are great. He’s just a bit stingy, always reluctant to add more meat." Chen Nuo saw the half-pack of Lanzhou cigarettes Old Guo had left on the table, took one, and lit it. He then turned to look at the people inside the shop. "Everyone’s here."

Brother Lei and Zhang Linsheng watched Chen Nuo with complex expressions. Brother Lei whispered, "Master Nuo..."

Chen Nuo waved his hand, signaling Brother Lei not to speak.

Then, he turned his head back to Yun He. After a moment of thought, he said, "Why don’t you let them all go? After all, I’m the one you’re looking for, and since I’m here..."

"First, answer a question for me."

"Go ahead!"

"How did you escape my search?" Yun He inquired.

"There’s a separate small space here, one that exists in my memory, similar to a spatial interstice. I hid in there," Chen Nuo stated directly, not beating around the bush.

Yun He pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Alright, we’ll consider that answered."

"So, can they go now?"

"No." Yun He shook his head decisively.

Chen Nuo spread his hands. "Even a top-tier expert like you lacks magnanimity?"

"Do top-tier experts have to be magnanimous? Who told you that?" Yun He smiled. "If I can control you with the most direct method, why should I take a more circuitous route?"

Yun He’s words were very forthright. "I know you’re cunning, and I know you won’t just obey.

You’re well aware of what I most want to know.

What I want to know is how exactly you came to this world—how did you do it!

You are that fellow’s Chosen One, so you clearly understand how important this is to me.

And let me make it clear to you.

Your friends... I peered into your dream consciousness and confirmed that these people hold an important place in your heart.

Then, I randomly pulled a few of them in here.

Now, Chen Nuo, you have only two choices.

Either answer my question and satisfy my curiosity.

Or, I’ll start killing them right in front of you, one by one, until you give in and are willing to answer my question.

You know what kind of existence I am. So spare me accusations like ’inhumane’ or ’despicable.’

Let’s just get to the point."

Chen Nuo laughed.

This speech from the Fourth Seed, well...

It couldn’t be said he was shameless, only that he was utterly without any sense of disgrace.

However, considering he’s not human but a Seed, and thus not bound by human values or morality... indeed, such criticism was meaningless.

"So... it’s a threat, right?" Chen Nuo nodded. "Fair enough. But..."

"But what?" the Fourth Seed asked.

"Actually, if you hadn’t dragged my friends into this... perhaps you really could have intimidated me." Chen Nuo sighed regretfully. "But you just had to go and do this... which makes it rather superfluous, don’t you think?"

Yun He’s gaze shifted, a smile playing on his lips. "How so?"

Suddenly, Chen Nuo snapped his fingers. A spiritual power barrier slowly emerged around them, completely isolating their voices. Because of this barrier, even the dim light in the already murky shop seemed to distort slightly.

Anyone inside looking at Chen Nuo and Yun He would now see their figures as if shrouded in a strange, distorting haze, making them indistinct.

"I’ve blocked the sound, and their vision is distorted too. Now they won’t hear what we say—lip-reading is also impossible," Chen Nuo said slowly. "Let’s discuss something of value."

"Alright." Yun He seemed quite composed.

"You’re much stronger than I am. If you truly had nothing to fear, you wouldn’t need to capture my friends to threaten me," Chen Nuo sighed. "I’ve been pondering why you would do such a thing."

"And have you figured it out?"

"Yes. At first, I thought you were using my friends’ lives to threaten me.

That explanation is logical. But since you’re stronger... you could have simply captured me and used your spiritual power to probe my consciousness. Though more troublesome, that would seem more reliable than threatening me with others’ lives.

What if I were a cold-blooded person, indifferent to family and friends? In that case, kidnapping people to threaten me... suddenly seems rather illogical."

The smile on Yun He’s lips vanished.

At this moment, Boss Guo emerged from the back kitchen and placed a bowl of noodles on the table. "Chen Nuo, your noodles!"

This action caused the spiritual power barrier Chen Nuo had created to flicker momentarily.

Chen Nuo smiled, moved the bowl of noodles in front of him, then looked at it and sighed.

"After all this time, Old Guo, you’ve finally understood the idiom ’tears streaming down one’s face’."

With that, Chen Nuo lightly waved his hand. Countless Spiritual Force Tentacles flew out, swiftly wrapping around everyone in the room, carrying them out of the shop, and depositing them on the street outside!

Yun He made no move to stop this, just quietly watched Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo grinned, picked up a piece of beef with his chopsticks and ate it, then raised his head to look at Yun He with a smile. "You brought them in... actually for self-preservation, right?"

After a pause, Chen Nuo added,

"Because, in this world, I am the only anchor!"

The only anchor!

This was the answer Chen Nuo had arrived at after careful thought!

Because he was the only anchor, the Fourth Seed needed a means of self-preservation!

And because he was the only anchor, he could potentially inflict fatal harm upon the Fourth Seed in this space!

This possibility stemmed from Chen Nuo himself.

He anchored this world, defined its position.

This world was one from Chen Nuo’s thoughts and memories.

Chen Nuo being the only anchor meant that this world’s existence was founded upon him as its linchpin.

Only what Chen Nuo recognized could appear and manifest in this world.

Anything he did not acknowledge could not be manifest here!

Moreover, this world was static! It wouldn’t change! It wouldn’t update!!

He had concluded this before heading to Antarctica, after visiting a street in the northern part of Jinling City he had never been to before, only to see it randomly assembled from fragments of his lifetime memories.

And for the Fourth Seed, the significance of this sole anchor was even greater!

"However strong I perceive you to be, that’s the limit of the strength you can display in my world!

Furthermore, it’s only because I recognize you that you can exist in my world! If...

I suddenly no longer recognized you... then, dear Mr. Seed.

Given this world’s static, un-updatable state...

You shouldn’t exist!"

Chen Nuo smiled and continued eating his noodles, his tone relaxed. "So, here, in this world, although you are a Seed stronger than me.

It’s possible for me to kill you in this world!

In fact, I can think of at least three ways to kill you right now!"

Yun He nodded, then smiled again. "Three ways, you say?"

"The first method is somewhat troublesome, and it also has the lowest success rate: to fight you head-on.

In this world, you can’t exert your true strength; you can only exhibit the strength I ’perceive’ you to have.

The last time I fought a Seed was against that fellow Kamisou Ichiro. At that time, Kamisou Ichiro’s Chosen One wasn’t with him, so he lacked his amplifier. The strength he displayed, while greater than mine, wasn’t overwhelmingly so.

This means that, in my world, my ’cognition’ of your strength determines your upper limit.

I can wear you down, fight you slowly, and gradually find your weaknesses. If once isn’t enough, I’ll try twice; if twice isn’t enough, I’ll try a hundred times.

There will always be a chance to defeat you—although the odds aren’t great. I’ve calculated them to be around thirty percent at best."

Yun He nodded. "That makes some sense. The chances are indeed not great... I might kill you swiftly, not giving you the chance to wear me down. After all, even though I really want to know that answer, I’ll still make a choice when my own safety is at stake."

"Yes. So, the second method has a much higher chance of success," Chen Nuo smiled. "The second method is... to erase your existence from my consciousness and memory!

If I don’t remember you, if I don’t recognize you... then in this world, which is entirely derived from my memory, you shouldn’t exist!

You would be erased by this world!"

The Fourth Seed laughed. "Then why don’t you do it?"

"Because this method, while theoretically simple, isn’t easy to implement," Chen Nuo sighed. "Not to mention the trauma that erasing memories can inflict on one’s own consciousness.

Besides, there’s a BUG with erasing memories.

For example, we’re face to face right now.

I might erase my memory of you one second, but if I’m still looking at you, I’m continuously re-acknowledging your existence.

So, that won’t work.

In other words, it must be done when I can’t see you.

Meaning, I’d have to hide somewhere I can’t see you, hear your voice, or sense your presence.

Then, under those conditions, I could erase all cognition of you from my memory.

Only then might it trigger this world to update.

And it could easily lead to future complications.

With something like sealing memories, if at some point I suddenly remembered your existence...

You would suddenly reappear.

After thinking it over... that must be why you brought my friends into this!

Because my friends are here. They know you exist; they’ve recognized and perceived you.

They’ve even had contact with you.

So, just erasing my own memories would be useless.

Similarly, if I erased my memory, and then one of my companions said, ’Hey? That opponent we were just facing...’

It’s over! The cognition would be restored.

So, that must be why you brought my friends here!

If you had captured a few strangers, perhaps I’d be ruthless enough to kill them or erase their memories.

But, I could never bring myself to do that to my friends."

Yun He nodded. "Not bad. You are indeed as cunning as I’ve heard, and you’ve certainly thought things through."

"So you admit it?"

"There’s nothing to deny. Since you’ve guessed it, what use would denial be?" Yun He shook his head. "So, what’s this third method you mentioned for killing me?"

Chen Nuo’s gaze suddenly sharpened!

He said softly, "As I said, I am this world’s only anchor. This world’s existence is built upon my cognition! So... if I cease to exist... then this world shouldn’t exist either!"

With that, he suddenly applied force, easily snapping a chopstick, and then plunged it directly into his own chest!

Blood spurted out, quickly staining his clothes red!

"The third method... is my death!

If the subject of cognition ceases to exist!

If the anchor ceases to exist!

This world will cease to exist!

And therefore...

you will die!

How about it, Mr. Seed, care to trade your life for mine?"

Blood flowed, yet Chen Nuo didn’t even frown, simply smiling as he watched Yun He.

---

[Yesterday I said this book is approaching its final phase... it’s true, it’s already at two million four hundred and fifty thousand words.

Also, there was a competition yesterday, and the setting of this book has already revealed three-quarters, with only a quarter remaining.

It’s not that only a quarter has been written, that was a typo yesterday.]