Loneliness

"What are you talking about?" Azure's brow furrowed, the gentleness on his face slowly fading.

"You are clearly just the lowest-rank Anomaly. Even if you have some potential, what power could you possibly have to harm me, who wields a portion of the world's will...?"

"Your lines are so cliché, Mr. Villain."

Even though his body was wracked with pain from the constriction of the flesh tentacles and he was coughing up blood, Ren Yi still found the leisure to retort slowly, his tone carrying a hint of nonchalant mockery.

The rain had already drifted here, cold droplets sliding down the tips of his hair, dripping onto the writhing mountain of flesh beneath him and splashing into tiny beads of blood.

"But let me correct you. I'm not some 'lowest-rank Anomaly.'"

Ren Yi's voice drifted through the sound of the rain, understated yet crystal clear.

"To be precise, I'm not an 'Anomaly' at all right now."

He slowly lifted his eyelids.

"Right now, I am a bona fide Participant—Mo Ming."

Azure's body stiffened for a split second, but then his lips curled upward as if he had suddenly understood.

"You want to use the Calamity Rule?"

Ren Yi didn't respond. After saying those words, he closed his eyes again, looking as though he couldn't be bothered to waste any more breath on him.

Azure's previous claim that "there was only one individual here" was incorrect.

Perhaps he hadn't realized it, or perhaps he was intentionally misleading Ren Yi to prevent him from thinking in that direction.

According to Auntie Lu Qing's initial instructions: "In this descent, Anomalies marked with an Alliance identity will not be affected by the Calamity Rule."

It was rather ironic that, in the end, the key to this Three Cities World was also "Identity."

But while he had used various methods to obtain an identity in the Lu Family Courtyard, here in the Three Cities World, he couldn't wait to tear this skin off.

Now, his Anomaly identity was being forcibly obscured, and the skin of a Participant was pressed tightly onto him.

His Alliance identity protection... was gone.

In other words, as the literal Participant "Mo Ming," he was now an individual capable of triggering the Calamity Rule, just like Azure.

Therefore, there were clearly two "people" here—Azure and Mo Ming—two potential triggers for the Calamity, fulfilling the condition of "together."

"Do you think I haven't thought of that?" Azure's tone carried a hint of mockery.

"No matter how powerful the essence of that rule is, it still requires the medium of 'pain' to trigger. Without a medium, everything is empty talk."

"Unfortunately, I feel no pain right now. In fact, I could even say my heart is full of joy—I am happy for myself."

He tilted his chin up.

"I have already reached the peak of what humanity can achieve. I am about to complete my life transcendence. My conscience is clear; where could pain possibly come from?"

Ren Yi still didn't pay him any mind, and silence began to spread between them.

Azure watched him, his mouth opening as if to speak, but the expression on his face inexplicably turned hesitant.

He sensed his own flesh; the digestion was proceeding at maximum speed. Yet, the other's fearless behavior caused an uncontrollable doubt to rise within him.

Azure believed he had long since severed all emotions and felt no pain whatsoever, but at this moment, he found himself adding a supplement as if possessed.

"Furthermore, the Calamity has only just descended. The judgment of 'pain' isn't that strict yet."

"Even if you want to trigger the rule, you must feel the exact same pain as I do."

He sounded as if he were advising Ren Yi to give up, yet also as if he were defending himself.

"Emotions... are not something so trivial."

"I am certain that you are no different from an ordinary human right now... your ability uses are exhausted, and you can't use energy crystals."

"Surely you don't intend to rely on psychological self-suggestion to manufacture pain for yourself?" Azure scoffed.

"That would be too ridiculous."

Before his mockery could even land, he suddenly noticed Ren Yi open his eyes.

Those pitch-black pupils were currently devoid of any focus.

He struggled to move, his actions somewhat sluggish, like someone who hadn't moved in a long time and had just woken up.

Azure quickly realized that Ren Yi wasn't looking at him.

His gaze went straight past him, looking toward the sky behind him that was being eroded by the void.

Azure kept his eyes fixed on Ren Yi, several tentacles immediately rotating to turn the eyeballs on them toward the place where Ren Yi's gaze was directed.

But there was nothing special there.

Azure frowned deeply.

Is this Anomaly looking at something I can't see?

No, the vision of the world's will is certainly more real than his.

In that case... did he use an ability on himself?

Does he want to create pain through his own ability?

Impossible. His ammunition is exhausted, and he can't use energy crystals. Where would he get the power to activate an illusion?

His abilities are long-term...

Could it be that long ago, he had already planted the seeds of his ability within himself?

Why would he do something so nonsensical?

Besides, even if he did, it would be useless. His illusions can only affect vision.

Just like a movie—without sufficient buildup, without music and environmental atmosphere, how could it be possible to sway emotions in such a short time? How could he make himself feel "pain"?

Under the suppression of the surrounding flesh tentacles, Ren Yi's movements were heavily distorted.

Azure felt as if he were watching an extremely poorly executed silent play.

While accelerating his "digestion," he watched closely for a good while before he could barely distinguish what Ren Yi was doing.

He seemed to be... stepping out of something. His footsteps were light and unsteady, and he stumbled, nearly falling.

After steadying himself, he walked to a corner and sat down.

He held his hands out in front of him, constantly pressing and fiddling with something, but in the end, he seemed to have gained nothing and let his hands drop helplessly.

Next, he struggled to his feet, swayed for a few steps, and reached out his hand as if laboriously pushing open an invisible door.

The moment the door opened, his body suddenly stiffened, and his eyes widened in shock.

He looked around frantically, his lips moving as if he were shouting something.

But only muffled syllables escaped his mouth before coming to an abrupt halt, as if his throat were being blocked by something.

Then, he lowered his head, his gaze fixed intensely on the side as if he had seen something utterly terrible.

Azure could clearly feel Ren Yi's body snap rod-straight, his entire frame shaking uncontrollably.

Immediately after, he collapsed to the ground, groping around for a while.

Finally, he slumped into a dejected ball.

Azure could sense that he was profoundly exhausted and... lonely?

As if he were the only one left in the entire world.

Loneliness?

"What kind of pain is that supposed to be?" Azure forced himself to stay calm, trying to use mockery to cover the strangeness in his heart.

He knew Ren Yi couldn't affect his hearing, so he tried to continue using words to interfere with him.

"How could I..."

Before he could finish, his voice grew softer and softer. The mockery on his face froze, replaced by a deep, profound shock.

"...Loneliness?"