Where is this place?!
Why am I—
Gaelid realized he was trapped in a crimson space, red dots flickering everywhere like beating hearts.
His memories were already fragmented, and his understanding of the Doomsday Rules was completely stuck at the fourteenth rule, Extraterrestrial Parasitism.
During that rule, in order to spite Bruce's controlling grip over him, he had deliberately let himself inhale alien spores without restraint, and by the time the rule ended, he had almost completely transformed into a parasitized form.
It was around that time that Bruce discovered this and forcibly intervened using every means available. The process nearly killed him, and in the end, Bruce had no choice but to place him in a Life-Support Pod.
This meant Gaelid had no idea what the subsequent rules contained, and knew absolutely nothing about the power of Scarlet Fear.
At this moment, those red dots, like sharks sensing the scent of blood, swam toward Gaelid's consciousness one after another.
His consciousness desperately tried to flee in terror, yet found itself utterly unable to leave this space.
"No!!!"
The moment his consciousness made contact with the nearest red dot, a vivid scene materialized instantly.
"Smack!"
Bruce's palm struck young Gaelid across the face, sending the coffee in the latter's hand spilling everywhere.
"What did I tell you? You are not allowed to touch any addictive substances!"
Little Gaelid clutched his cheek, gathering the courage to argue back: "But Father, this is just coffee... Everyone drinks it! Some of my classmates have it every—
"Shut up!"
Bruce's shout was accompanied by a heavy kick that sent little Gaelid sprawling to the ground.
"You are not to compare yourself to that trash. You are the son of Bruce, the man destined to become king of Suroma. You cannot afford even the slightest weakness!"
These memories had long since shattered into fragments and disappeared, or been deleted by Dr. Haisen during the transfer process, yet now, under the power of the "Wailing Furnace," they resurfaced once more, striking directly at Gaelid's consciousness.
"Th-These..."
Gaelid couldn't believe it. In his memories, his father Bruce was the person he respected most in the world. How could the conflict be this severe?!
Aside from the fleeting thought, he had no time to dwell on it, because the moment this scene ended, another scene followed immediately.
It was after a Beixing language class, and a blonde, blue-eyed woman pulled a bar of chocolate from her pocket.
"Go on, eat it. Mommy brought this for you."
"Thank you, Mommy!"
Little Gaelid took the chocolate and had just torn open the wrapper when a large hand reached out from behind and snatched it away.
"All of Gaelid's meals will be handled by dedicated nutritionists. You should not be giving him any food on your own." Bruce's voice came from behind, and little Gaelid trembled all over as fear enveloped his entire being.
"Bruce, you've gone far enough!" the woman snapped angrily. "He's just a child! Good heavens, if you want to be some kind of 'Perfect King,' that's your business, but why do you have to force a child to do the same!"
"You are not perfect, so you want him to become this perfect king. From today onward, you are forbidden from seeing Gaelid alone."
"Yes, Father. Mommy, you—
Little Gaelid turned his head, but only saw darkness. That terror pierced through the scene itself, striking directly at Gaelid's consciousness and wringing a silent scream from him.
Outside the conscious space, the girl's body currently hung limp, limbs dangling, eyes vacant, unconscious, suspended in midair by a shadow hand controlled by Guan Tong.
Guan Tong watched, a flicker of reluctance passing through his crimson eyes.
He didn't know much about Gaelid, only having heard some past stories from Yishan, knowing this too was a pitiful soul poisoned by Bruce's overwhelming desire for control, and possibly a parasitized form as well.
But even so, he didn't particularly care whether Gaelid's consciousness lived or died. His only concern was that using the power of the "Wailing Furnace" on it might affect the other consciousness within this body—the consciousness of Ai Ya, the body's true owner.
But there was no other way. In Guan Tong's view, he had to first completely break down Gaelid's consciousness or spirit before there was any chance for Ai Ya's consciousness to emerge and take control of the body.
How long this process would take, he didn't know, but it was a golden opportunity for him.
Originally, he had thought that rescuing Ai Ya would require infiltrating the Hall of Halls. Yet now, Bruce had sent Gaelid to carry out the mission of suppressing the resistance, never expecting that Guan Tong would come to their aid.
Not that Bruce could be blamed for not anticipating it, because in all the previous suppression operations, Guan Tong had never once appeared.
But just this once—the one time he sent Gaelid—Guan Tong received Roy's plea for help, rushed over, and ran into him.
News of Guan Tong appearing on the battlefield had been relayed back to the Hall of Halls by modified Ascendants from the moment he showed himself.
The moment Bruce learned of it, he rushed to the combat command center and used the surveillance feeds embedded in the modified bodies to observe the scene.
But just as the video feed connected, dozens of modified Ascendants were wiped out by Guan Tong in one sweep.
Forced to switch to the cameras on the war mechs, he witnessed Guan Tong capturing Gaelid with his own eyes.
"Your Majesty!..."
Heisen, who had received the emergency notification, also ran up from the underground laboratory. When he saw the wings behind Guan Tong through the high-definition lens, his face went pale with shock.
The mere fact that Guan Tong could fly using wings formed from his Shadow was a feat never seen before. Because this required not just the power to make the body fly, but also absolute mastery over the body's balance.
Back in the peaceful era, humanity had already developed jet-propelled flying devices. Users wore a jetpack on their backs and controlled their flight through a handheld controller, something available at many tourist attractions.
But the speed and agility of such flight were extremely poor. Essentially, humans were ground-dwelling creatures, and adapting to three-dimensional physical movement was incredibly difficult.
Yet looking at Guan Tong's movements now, he seemed to have completely adapted to this mode of motion.
Had he "evolved" again?
Just as Dr. Haisen was reeling in shock, he noticed the pair of crimson eyes on Guan Tong's face, exposed where the Shadow Armor didn't cover.
He immediately realized what that meant and blurted out: "That's Scarlet Fear...! Your Majesty!"
He turned to look at Bruce, whose expression was so dark it seemed ready to drip water.
Just then, a military general present said, "Your Majesty, shall we mobilize the nearest troops? Or have a few mechs launch an immediate attack?"
"No!" Dr. Haisen disregarded protocol and spoke up first. "Gaelid has definitely been seized by Shadow using the power of Scarlet Fear. We must interrupt this process as quickly as possible, or else..."
"Or else what?" Bruce asked in a low voice.
"...Or else his consciousness is likely to die." Dr. Haisen said with difficulty. "Because of his fragmented and missing memories, Gaelid's consciousness was already unstable. Even as an Ascendant, he won't last long under the stimulation of Scarlet Fear."
"So this is Guan Tong's goal?" Bruce stared at the screen. "He wants to kill Gaelid's consciousness so that Adam's daughter's consciousness can reclaim that body."
"Your Majesty, we must take immediate action. Gaelid doesn't have much time!"
Heisen was frantic. From the memory transfer to awakening to stabilization, he had personally handled every step of Gaelid's care, and had developed deep feelings for him throughout the process.
Especially since he had devoted his life to scientific research, never marrying or having children of his own. To him, Gaelid was like a son in many ways. Now that the boy's life was hanging by a thread, how could he not be anxious?
"What do you plan to do?" Bruce looked at Heisen.
"...Threaten him."
Dr. Haisen activated the war mechs' long-range amplification and audio-receiving functions, establishing a real-time two-way communication mode remotely.
"Shadow, listen here. Release Gaelid immediately!"
Bruce frowned slightly at Heisen's presumption, but for the moment said nothing, allowing him to broadcast to Guan Tong.
At this moment, at the edge of the small town, aside from the four war mechs, the robot soldiers had mostly been wiped out by the resistance, and the modified Ascendants had long since died at Guan Tong's hands.
Even with a few mechs remaining, the resistance fighters had gained confidence after Guan Tong's appearance, believing they could win this battle. Their morale surged.
Camp Leader Roy, while bandaging Verin's wounds, shouted loudly: "Shut your mouths! In front of Shadow, these mechs don't stand a chance. You've lost!"
Guan Tong heard the broadcast from the mech but didn't respond. Instead, he manipulated his Shadow to move closer, preparing to destroy them via internal explosion.
It was then that Heisen's voice rang out again, revealing a terrifying truth.
"Shadow, listen carefully. All four of these mechs have core protection against intrusion and interference, and each is equipped with a tactical nuclear bomb. If you don't release Gaelid, we will detonate them remotely! Four tactical nuclear bombs going off simultaneously will have enough power to level this entire town to the ground. Everyone here will die!"
The moment these words were spoken, everyone was stunned.
Not only were the resistance fighters in the town shocked, even the people in the combat command center wore expressions of astonishment.
That trusted subordinate general of Bruce pressed the mute button and glared at Heisen: "Have you lost your mind?! You just revealed top-secret intelligence to the enemy like that!"
Embedding tactical nuclear bombs in certain large-scale war mechs had been a strategy decided from the very beginning of mech development.
Its purpose was to have a backup plan.
If mech combat power alone could eliminate the enemy, perfect. If the mechs proved insufficient, then detonating the tactical nuclear bombs buried in their cores would take the enemy down along with them.
But once the enemy learned of this tactic, they would take precautions, severely diminishing its effectiveness.
Facing the general's rebuke, Heisen glared right back: "Even if others didn't know, do you think Shadow wouldn't? Don't forget, he's been to Eden Island and witnessed the nuclear explosion of the Red Demon model firsthand!"
"Even if he knows, the resistance fighters don't!"
"Stop."
Bruce cut off their argument, looking at the resistance fighters on the screen who had been plunged into fear, and gestured for Heisen to turn off the mute and continue.
Dr. Haisen turned off the mute and was about to speak when, through the directional audio pickup, he heard Guan Tong's voice ring out.
"You can detonate the nukes. But then the deaths will be on your heads."
The moment he said this, all the resistance fighters on scene were utterly dumbfounded.
"How can you say that?!"
"Shadow God, you might be able to escape a nuclear explosion, but we can't!"
"Are you trying to get us killed?!"
"The ones trying to get you killed are the people who would detonate the nukes, not me." Guan Tong said.
"Wait!" Roy stood up at this point and shouted loudly, "Shadow, I'm Roy, the one who asked you for help! Remember, you came here to save us!"
Another person, overwhelmed by the terror of death, screamed at Guan Tong: "Just hand over that damn Gaelid and be done with it! Surely our lives, all of us here, are worth more than some little girl's?!"
Facing the words of the resistance fighters, Guan Tong remained completely unmoved.
"If I hand the person over to them, and then they use your lives to threaten me into killing myself, should I listen to that too? And if I refuse, will you all blame me just like now?"
Everyone was momentarily stunned into silence, not knowing how to respond.
"I don't negotiate with enemies." Guan Tong's voice was quiet, but his tone was absolutely unyielding.
In the combat command center, Bruce heard these words and suddenly rose to his feet.
In that moment, he realized that for someone like Guan Tong, no matter how strong or weak his power, threatening him was completely useless.
"Detonate the nukes immediately." After giving the order, he turned to the military general. "Send more forces over. Even if four nukes can't kill Shadow, they'll definitely severely wound him."
"Yes!"
"Wait!" Dr. Haisen cried out in alarm. "Your Majesty, have you forgotten that your son Gaelid is also on site? He'll be blown to pieces too!"
Bruce turned to look at him, and the coldness in his eyes sent a chill down Heisen's spine.
"Gaelid's memories are backed up. If he dies, we can download them again and load them into a new host body. The only cost is that non-original memories can no longer access the Terminal Panel or use Mind Power."
As Bruce spoke, his hand gripping the scepter unconsciously tightened.
"Even if he can no longer be an Ascendant, once our system construction succeeds in the future... even as an ordinary person, as long as he holds system administrative authority, he can still become a supreme king!"