"He brought a rule—【Do not fall asleep】."
Azure chuckled low, his laughter filled with self-deprecation. "Heh, no one cared back then. Even if they had, it would have been impossible to follow."
"In short, during that global slumber, everyone had a nightmare."
"At first, we thought this ability was incredibly weak."
"The price for breaking the rule was just a nightmare. Compared to the Instances that appeared later, it was practically cute, even laughable."
"But soon, we realized something was wrong."
Azure's voice dropped, carrying a fear that seemed to penetrate his very marrow.
"At first, it was just swarms of scurrying rats, snakes suddenly dropping from streetlights, or spiders the size of a human face."
"These things were strange, but not enough to threaten us. At most, they were disgusting and annoying."
"But gradually, things became more and more absurd—earthquakes, tsunamis, massive carnivorous plants, plagues that made people cough up blood until they died..."
"Then, machines suddenly went haywire and killed their owners. Tentacles capable of snapping starships reached out from the void. Satellites suddenly opened massive maws and began frantically tearing at their primary planets..."
"We finally realized that when Participants died within an Instance, their nightmares would immediately descend upon reality."
"The Empire and the Federation set aside their millennia-old grievances to face this crisis together."
"They tried to select Participants whose nightmares were less threatening to enter the Instances, hoping to reduce the disasters. But instead, it triggered massive chaos."
"People began to panic and grow suspicious of one another. Everyone started concocting horrific stories for their own nightmares."
"They all tried to prove their nightmares were terrifying enough that they shouldn't be sent into an Instance."
"But then, those stories in turn began to appear in their dreams."
"Finally, a young man whose entire family had been forcibly sent into an Instance by the Empire broke into the ultimate Instance..."
Azure's voice trailed off, as if he were recalling some horrific image.
"After that, a massive black hole suddenly appeared and swallowed the entire world."
"I escaped just before that happened."
Ren Yi listened with great interest.
Which Calamity had the Azure World encountered?
Was it one of the Calamities he knew that was registered with The Alliance, or a Calamity that had already left The Alliance?
"So, what does all this have to do with what we're talking about?"
Ren Yi raised an eyebrow and pressed for more.
"You still don't understand? What makes you special?" Azure said solemnly. "Pain, resentment, nightmares—They feed on such deep-seated flaws."
"But you are different. Your very existence is the ultimate malice toward the world."
Ren Yi was stunned. This was the first time he had heard such a claim.
"Are you saying that pain, resentment, and nightmares... those are the things that represent benevolence toward the world?"
He felt his brain struggling to make the turn; he couldn't quite follow Azure's logic.
Azure didn't speak, but his expression clearly indicated his silent agreement.
"Is that why you went to all this trouble to bring me here?"
Ren Yi found Azure's twisted theories confusing, feeling as though he couldn't keep up with the man's train of thought.
Opposite him, Azure didn't seem inclined to say more. He curled his lips into a bizarre smile.
"I've said everything I need to say, and explained everything that needs explaining." The gentleness in his eyes vanished completely. "What do you think of my proposal, Mr. Ren Yi?"
"Will you voluntarily agree to fuse and become powerful together, or will you force me to take action and fuse with you by strength?"
Ren Yi frowned, deciding to play along with this madman's words for a moment.
"You clearly still haven't explained many things, like how the fusion works, who will be in control afterward, how I'm supposed to cooperate with you..."
"Is that so..." Azure sighed softly.
In the next second, the flesh mountain beneath Ren Yi's feet began to writhe violently. The intense shaking nearly knocked him off his feet.
Immediately after, crimson tentacles of flesh rose from the ground. Fleshy lumps bulged along the tentacles, rapidly swelling and bursting.
Bloodshot eyeballs emerged from the lumps, staring at him in dense clusters, enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
Squelch.
A tooth-aching sound rang out.
Azure suddenly raised his hand and thrust two fingers deep into his own eye sockets, gouging out both eyeballs and tossing them onto the ground.
Two trails of blood streamed from his empty sockets.
The nearby tentacles immediately swarmed over, crushing the eyeballs into a bloody mess that splattered everywhere.
"I forgot to mention, based on the information I gathered earlier, I know what your ability is."
Azure's voice was devoid of emotion, as if he were discussing something trivial.
Without changing his expression, he plucked two new eyeballs from a nearby tentacle and pressed them back into his own sockets.
"I must say, although your ability has no direct lethality, its rank is very high. Most individuals in this world would likely find it difficult to detect or resist."
"But unfortunately, as someone who possesses a portion of the world's will, I do not belong to 'most individuals.'"
"I spoke with you so sincerely, hoping to gain your trust, yet you still tried these little tricks."
He slowly raised his head, the cold light of his newly replaced eyes flickering. "It seems you are not willing to accept my proposal."
"In that case, I have no choice but to hurry and forcibly fuse with you before the Calamity completely descends."
The flesh mountain beneath them suddenly constricted. Countless flesh tentacles coiled around Ren Yi, pinning him ruthlessly to the ground.
A surge of intense pain shot through his human body, causing Ren Yi to let out a muffled groan as a trickle of crimson blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.
Ren Yi stared at the remains of the crushed eyeballs, his frown deepening.
Is gouging out eyes some kind of traditional specialty in this Three Cities World?
While stalling Azure just now, he had already taken the opportunity to use his only remaining "Ammunition."
Although he had expected his ability to be exposed eventually, having Azure point it out so casually still left him feeling a bit helpless.
Despite all the praising words Azure had said earlier, he hadn't given Ren Yi a single shred of positive emotion from beginning to end.
Perhaps he didn't view anything he had fused with—whether it was the world's will, the Xin King, the people of Xin City, or Ren Yi himself—as equals.
Toward these "tools," he could naturally remain indifferent.
Therefore, the so-called gift from before was complete nonsense... Ren Yi didn't believe for a second that Azure's "fusion" would preserve his consciousness.
To put it bluntly, Azure just wanted to "eat" him.
Clearly, he was now doing exactly that in a physical sense.
The flesh wrapped around him grew tighter and tighter, and a burning sensation spread across his skin, as if something were forcibly burrowing into his body.
Was this an attempt to "digest" him?
"Your ability should only be usable once. Furthermore, I know you have some strange little tools called energy crystals."
Azure was grown into the flesh mountain and could not move, so he simply watched Ren Yi from a distance, his tone certain.
"But your current body, the Participant 'Mo Ming,' shouldn't be able to use items from your Anomaly power system. You can't activate the energy crystals, can you?"
"Don't worry. After the fusion, I will return your original identity to you."
"Do you have any last words... hmm?"
Azure's voice faltered because he saw that the expression on Ren Yi's face wasn't one of pain, but a helpless smile.
"Mr. Villain, you talk a lot... cough, cough... but actually, you could have talked a bit more."
This human body began to cough up blood, making Ren Yi's words somewhat broken.
But he was smiling, and the grin on his face became increasingly evident.
"It would have been best if you'd rambled until the Calamity descended... oh well, unfortunately you aren't quite that stupid."
He slowly raised his head, a sharp light flashing in his eyes. Even though his body was being torn apart by agony, his tone remained somewhat nonchalantly arrogant.
"Since that's the case, I'll just have to kill you myself."
Rate on N.U.
