Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 468 The Blood-Red Frenzy on the Dance Floor
Some civilizations regard palaces as sacred sites.
Some ethnic groups use battlefields as altars.

The fallen, however, take the dance of destruction as a prayer.

—The Black Book of the End Tower: Blood Night Chapter

Night tore through the sky.

On the other side of the City of the End, a Gothic building that seemed to hang upside down in the darkness was illuminated by neon lights. Its black iron spires and scarlet window lattices intertwined, like a blood church standing in the mortal world.

The doors swung open with a deafening roar, and heavy metal music, like the howls of beasts and the hammer blows, carrying melodies of destruction and abandonment, rushed in.

The drumbeats roared like a heart being torn apart, and the guitar screamed as if it were howling. The air was thick with the smell of vampire-mixed liquor and rust, intense yet morbid.

"Welcome to—Blood Night." Natasha snapped her fingers, as if pushing Si Ming into another world.

Si Ming frowned; he didn't like this kind of occasion. The music was loud, the atmosphere was chilling, as if every beat was urging the soul to fall.

"I don't like it here."

Natasha smiled brightly and pulled him inside: "Don't be so quick to hate it. Maybe if you stay a little longer, you'll fall in love with this place."

In the corner of the booth, dim lighting illuminated a red leather sofa.

Natasha sat down with Si Ming and beckoned a pot of vampire cocktail.

In the center of the dance floor, several vampire girls twisted their bodies wildly, their movements somewhere between dance and ritual, as if paying homage to the night with their flesh and blood.

Si Ming glanced around casually, but his gaze suddenly froze.

On the music stage, under the spotlight of the DJ booth, a familiar figure was wildly waving his arms to the beat, his fingers flying across the mixer.

Siming was stunned, and subconsciously opened his mouth:
"—Xu Jinxiao?"

He found it difficult to reconcile the image of the Lord of the Mysterious City, the Creator of the Life Seed, from the Mysterious Planetary Calamity, a place where machines and flesh intertwined, with the DJ before him, swaying wildly to the music.

This is crazy.

It was as if the entire dance floor and the entire blood-red night were laughing at the absurd contrast.

The music trembled, and the drumbeats pounded wildly like a heart being torn apart.

Under the spotlight, Xu Jinxiao frantically fiddled with the mixer, his iron fingers and fleshy fingers striking the keyboard alternately, producing a piercing yet strangely harmonious noise.

He suddenly raised his head, his gaze passing over the revelers and landing precisely on Si Ming's booth.

Then, he picked up the microphone, his laughter blending into the beat:

"Yo—Siming! Aren't music and flesh, in essence, both pursuits of rhythm? The pulse of bones, the drumbeat of blood, the bass drum of the heart—hahaha, unforgettable tonight, unforgettable evening!"

The entire audience erupted in a roar, the heavy metal guitar riffs thundering like flames.

Xu Jinxiao stretched out her finger, first pointing to Si Ming's seat, then pointing to herself, indicating—see you later.

After several high-energy songs, the dance floor finally slowed down.

The lights softened, and the chaotic atmosphere receded like the tide.

Si Ming picked up his wine cup, his gaze calm, and looked at the "person" who was slowly walking towards him.

Xu Jinxiao—yes, if he can still be considered a "human".

His skull was half iron alloy and half flesh and blood, with chain-like blood vessels running through his neck, and the faint grinding sound of gears emanating from under his shoulder blades.

But he himself didn't care at all, as if this way of being was the ultimate form of pleasure.

He raised his glass and took a small sip, his smile wild and carefree:
"I never expected to run into you here, Siming. Back then you were only a ten-star, but I knew you would eventually make it this far."

Si Ming shook his head and said coldly, "Now that you've escaped the prison of the City of Bones, why have you hidden in another prison?"

Xu Jinxiao burst into laughter, the sound of gears turning mingling with his laughter:
"A cage? Do we have a choice? Just like my birth—the creator of destiny. Fate Master, even if you one day gain the power of 'Lord of Destiny,' do you really think you control destiny?"

Si Ming remained silent, tapping his wine glass with his fingertips.

He wasn't that arrogant.

"Yes, it seems like we are in control of our destiny, but aren't we actually being woven by destiny? The script has already been written, and we are just struggling on the stage."

Xu Jinxiao's eyes brightened slightly as she raised her glass in response: "So, instead of thinking about how to die tomorrow, let's enjoy ourselves tonight."

He opened his arms, and immediately four or five beautiful vampire dancers surged up behind him, surrounding him. The fragrance of their snow-white skin and red lips mingled, and he took a deep, intoxicating breath, his laughter low and hoarse.

"An unforgettable night."

Beside her, Natasha rubbed her forehead and scoffed, "That's why I brought you to see him, Siming. Look at him, he lives a much more carefree life than you."

She kicked the chair away, laughing and scolding, "Alright, you guys chat. I'm going to go to the dance floor and get some exercise!"

After saying that, he threw off his coat and rushed into the dance floor, twisting and turning with the frenzied vampires, drowning in the rhythm of destruction.

The drumbeats on the dance floor were still vibrating, and the light and shadow flickered between the two.

The vampire dancers danced wildly, and the air in the nightclub was filled with the scent of blood and metal.

Si Ming and Xu Jin Xiao were separated by a table, the light shifting on their faces like actors in two acts of a stage play.

Xu Jinxiao shook his head, raised his glass, the sound of gears meshing mingling with his laughter:
"Siming, do you know why I've been hoping you'd come here?"

There was a rare serenity deep in his eyes.

"I've been inside the tower twice. The first time, on the fifth floor, I was robbed clean and nearly died of thirst."

With the catastrophic disaster reaching its limit, and my sanity on the verge of collapse... I'm almost turning into a beast.

A vampire—the Time Eater—saved me.

A gray fruit pulled me back from the abyss. That man was the owner of this bar, the Blood Duke.

He raised his finger and tapped it lightly on the table, as if tapping out some kind of destiny's rhythm.

"The second time, I entered the tower again with my Destiny Seeds and their companions. I was lucky and fought my way up to the seventy-somethingth floor."

In the final game, I chose to 'save', preserving most of my points to return to the bottom of the tower. That time, I was closest to death.

But it was also on that occasion that I saw—you.

Si Ming's gaze remained unmoved; he merely swirled the wine in his cup slightly.

Xu Jinxiao's smile twisted: "Perhaps it's you in some fragment of the future."

You gave me a hint, which allowed me to find the right path. At that moment, I understood that we are all just puppets woven by fate.

Si Ming didn't take it to heart, instead laughing: "The future me? A time traveler? A dream weaver of fate? ... Just one of countless possibilities for my failure. I've seen far too many."

Xu Jinxiao's gaze was intense: "Since you know the possible future, are you still willing to step into that tower? Why not stay?"

Why not return to the mortal world, be an ordinary gambler, and spend your life in taverns, listening to music and embracing women? Wouldn't that be better?

Si Ming raised her head, a hint of sarcasm in her eyes: "I wish I could. But, like you said, we're just lines in a script."

Even if I give up everything, it's just starting the game again. In that case, I'd like to see how I fail this time.

The air froze for a moment. Xu Jinxiao shook her head: "I can't convince you. Just as I expected."

He clapped his hands, and a vampire dancer brought over a black iron box, which she placed heavily on the table.

"Then consider it a way of giving back."

Si Ming raised his hand and opened it, revealing a metal sphere lying quietly inside, its surface engraved with cold, sharp teeth.

Xu Jinxiao laughed, her voice low:

"Destiny Seed Remains - Destroyer One. No need for stellar disasters, no need for mysteries, it can be driven solely by reason and will."

It can simulate any high-level life form or mysterious creature it has ever seen, replicating its combat capabilities in a mechanized manner. The cost is that it must undergo a long period of hibernation to cool down after each battle.

He licked his lips, his eyes like those of a venomous snake: "It's yours now. That way, I don't owe you anything."

Next time, in the tower, if we are opponents—I will take you as my destiny seed, Fate Master.

Si Ming laughed heartily, his clown mask flashing under the neon lights: "The way you intimidate people is so contradictory to the Xu Jin Xiao I know who pretends to be autistic."

He accepted the secret artifact without hesitation, raised his cup, and said, "Then I hope that next time we meet, we won't be enemies."

Xu Jinxiao changed her expression, her smile becoming arrogant: "Of course. Alright, enjoy the night to the fullest."

The rhythm of the dance floor blared once more, and the vampire dancers' figures twisted into eerie flowers in the light and shadow.

On the upper floor of Blood Life Bar, the lights were dimmer, and the air was filled with the aroma of blood and musk.

A glamorous noblewoman from the East Wind leaned languidly against a silk couch, raising her cup and swirling it slightly.

Her eyes and brows exuded a sickly charm, as if she were born only to laugh softly in the shadows.

Beside her, the vampire duke, draped in a scarlet cloak, spoke in a low voice:
"As instructed, we took in the Creator of Destiny and arranged his first meeting with the Lord of Destiny."

Should we continue down that path of 'history'... and push forward, Your Excellency?

The elegant figure did not answer.

She slowly turned her head, looking down at the hustle and bustle of the dance floor, her gaze lingering for a moment on the figure of Siming in the booth.

A slight smile played on his lips, as if he were admiring her, or perhaps pitying her.

She was flipping a jet-black card in her hand, its surface shimmering faintly—

Ruoli, Swarm Overlord LV19, Cataclysm Value 4100 / 6090.

The swarm of insects on the card seemed to be wriggling, and in the dim light, it looked as if countless tiny compound eyes were watching the world.

Ruoli finally spoke, her voice cold yet gentle: "No need. We don't need to get involved anymore."

She looked up and added calmly to the vampire duke, "I hope the Lord of Fate can catch up with us as soon as possible. Our climbing speed... is already too slow."

Below, the dance floor beats continue wildly.

Above, the noblewoman's smile had turned cold and indifferent.

"The chessboard is vast, and the pieces fall silently."

Ordinary people think they are making choices.

Little did they know that the hand holding the chess piece...
The ending was already written a hundred games ago.

—Fragments of the End Chess Manual

(End of this chapter)