Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 528 The Goddess's Decree

Collins?
The Burning Heart Trio stared in astonishment at the figure in the distance, completely unable to reconcile the extremely deformed-looking monster with the serious and upright Collins they remembered.

The spear was swung in mid-air, its blade pointing diagonally at the ground, and with just one movement, a large cloud of dust was stirred up on the ground.

Li Xia slowly walked towards Collins, while the three little ones spread out behind him, shielding the frail Fafner and Iris behind them.

He had previously guessed that the hunters of these monsters were either the Church of the Night or Collins, but now it was confirmed.

What remains is the most puzzling thing for Li Xia: from their first encounter, even when they were more than ten kilometers apart, Collins was able to pinpoint her location precisely.

This suggests that either the other party has a special method, or their perception is exaggerated to an alarming degree.

In either case, Collins should have noticed his arrival much earlier.

Li Xia stopped in his tracks, looking at Collins who was still standing hundreds of meters away. So he was deliberately waiting for him?

"Kara"

Collins, leaning against the rock, finally managed to stand up with some difficulty, his abdomen swollen in an exaggerated way.

The robes covering his body were tattered and torn beyond recognition. Half of his face was normal, while the other half was bulging high, with sharp canine teeth protruding from his lips.

Even one of its dark eyes turned blood red.

"Outsiders————"

The muttering was incredibly strange and sinister; one had to listen very carefully to understand what Collins was saying.

Why are you with the people from the Burning Heart Church?

Li Xia's pupils contracted. As expected, his guess was correct. Collins still had his original memories, but that did not mean that Collins still retained the emotions he had when he was human.

For Collins at this moment, that kind of memory was more like watching someone else's memories; he wouldn't have any emotional involvement, he would just know that it happened, and he wouldn't feel anything.

"What do you think?"

Collins's strange face showed a hint of confusion, as if he hadn't yet gotten used to this roundabout way of speaking.

But he quickly adjusted, becoming a perfect aberration—perfect not just in the body, but in the perfect fusion of the aberration and the original form.

"It seems—you and that being—are completely different—"

Collins spoke very slowly, almost as if reciting each word in a monotonous, mechanical way.

“We can unite.”

Not only Li Xia, but the entire trio of heartbroken people were also deeply shaken.

After saying this, two bulges suddenly appeared on Collins' back. The bulges grew larger and larger, and with a tearing sound, pus splattered out, from which a pair of huge, jet-black wings emerged and unfurled.

It looked remarkably similar to the skeletal wings of a griffin. Collins shook the wings, wiping off the slime.

"brush!"

The wings stretched out to both sides, and with a powerful flap, a strong airflow spread with the movement of the wings, carrying smoke and dust in all directions.

His body flew into the sky at an extremely fast speed, instantly turning into a black dot.

Then a clear explosion came from mid-air, and a very obvious sound barrier cloud appeared in mid-air. Collins flew away in the distance, leaving an unusually clear white trail.

The three members of the Burning Heart Trio and Li Xia were left stunned.

No, tell me how we should unite?
Does saying "unity" mean it's all there is to it?

Li Xia frowned. Even with his comprehension skills, he couldn't understand Collins's bizarre thought process.

But Collins seems to be on their side, which is good news.

Moreover, the way he grew wings at the end was hard to miss. It can only be said that he is a perfect mutant, able to absorb those monsters and directly combine their strengths into himself.

"So... Collins is on our side?"

Iris's expression gradually brightened:
"He seems to remember us, that's great! If Collins is willing to join us, our chances of winning will increase significantly!"

Did Collins overcome corruption?

"I'm afraid not! Iris, do you remember what I told you?"

Victor shook his head, staring intently in the direction Collins had gone, and said solemnly:

Even if the twisted and corrupted monster has memories, those memories are like watching from a third-person perspective to him, and he will not feel anything about them.

If he speaks to you with the same emotional memories as before.

So----"

Iris's face fell, and she said in a low voice:
"Then he must have ulterior motives."

"Very good, it seems you haven't forgotten—"

Victor nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Li Xia:

"Xia, something's definitely strange this time. What do you think?"

Li Xia pondered for a moment, then calmly said:

“I don’t think Collins is lying to us. He probably really wants to join forces with us. Although it’s a bit unconventional, I think maybe Collins left some backup plans before he became completely corrupt, which led to the current situation.”

Backhand?

Victor was taken aback, then his eyebrows shot up sharply. His expression clearly showed that he had thought of something, something was about to emerge in his mind, but he was just a little short of it.

"Imperial Edict!"

Fafner's voice suddenly broke in; the old man's gray eyes gleamed with a faint light, carrying a sense of bewilderment and emptiness.

This is a characteristic behavior he exhibits when retrieving information from his mind.

"Collins may have used the sacred artifact of the Church of the Divine Decree—the Divine Decree of the Goddess."

"Yes, that's it, very likely!"

Victor's face broke into an excited smile.

A divine pronouncement from the goddess?
Li Xia became interested, and through Fafner's slow and deliberate explanation, he roughly understood the function of the Goddess's Prophecy.

It's roughly a kind of mandatory order or decree, forcing the subject to act according to the decree.

If I had to explain it, it would be similar to Kotoamatsukami in Naruto and the thought imprint in The Three-Body Problem.

"so--"

Li Xia said slowly:
"Before Collins was completely corrupted, he issued himself a mandatory order through the Goddess's Ordinance, which was very likely something like killing Simmons?"

"Yes, that's why Collins is hostile to us and irrationally aggressive towards corruption and distortion. The divine decree he gave himself might even be to eliminate all corruption."

Fafner exited that search state and added a few words.

"What's the price?"

"The price is extreme pain, just like Collins is now completely corrupted, his nature is to regard all things and lives that are not yet corrupted as food or enemies. But the goddess's decree will force you to go against your nature, and that kind of pain is like having a red-hot iron stick stuck in your body forever. Once you try to disobey the decree, the pain will be magnified infinitely within your body."

Until you follow it.

The Goddess's Decree, though arguably the most powerful sacred artifact of the Church of Collins, has always been treasured and rarely used.

Victor looked at Li Xia, remained silent for a moment, and then said with a slightly desolate expression:

"Because very few people can withstand the pain brought by the divine decree, the subject will basically choose to end their own life due to the extreme pain caused by the defiance of their nature."

Collins.
He kept his promise—if Ogan was gone, he would live on and take revenge on the darkness!

Aowu and Heitan, who had been listening silently, were filled with awe. At this moment, in their hearts, Collins had been upgraded from a man to a tough guy, a true man of Black Star.

Hard! So hard!
"But we still don't know how Collins will cooperate with us."

Iris suddenly added a sentence, and the atmosphere that had been somewhat heated because of Victor's words immediately cooled down.

"In short, our plan remains unchanged. We will proceed as planned and eliminate Simmons' four bishops first."

After a long silence, Victor said in a low voice:
"At least for us, we no longer need to worry about whether Simmons is hunting these monsters in preparation for ascending to godhood."

The wooden cart hovered steadily in mid-air, overlooking the city nestled in darkness in the distance.

This is Canvira, a satellite city of the royal capital Emmonds, about thirty kilometers away from the main city. It is connected to the main city by a tall bridge, a miracle from the heyday of Black Descendant, a perfect combination of magic and supernatural power.

It even possesses a beauty that rivals the power of industry.

"At its peak, this city had a population of about one million, but after all that has happened, it is estimated that only a quarter of the population survived, and by now they should all have been corrupted by darkness."

From this perspective, even a monster with over 200,000 monsters is still beyond our capabilities.

"I'm afraid we'll need to think of a way to lure the bishop out."

Victor pointed to the cluster of cities below and said in a low voice.

Li Xia also gazed at the city, where huge towers stood tall, making the city exceptionally tall and three-dimensional.

The existence of supernatural forces has freed many buildings from the constraints of traditional architecture, with layers descending one after another, using wooden corridors and ladders as steps to go up and down.

"Where is the bishop's seat?"

Li Xia suddenly spoke up and asked.

Victor immediately looked at Fafner, the old man who was a true know-it-all. All the information and intelligence returned by the early scouts of Burning Heart were stored in his mind.

"Information sent back by 154 church informants was retrieved."

A faint light flickered again in Fafner's greyish-white eyes, making them appear exceptionally empty and blank.

"The tower of the Church of the Night is exceptionally tall, and the church flag embroidered with closed eyes flies high. Their emblem is a pattern of the moon and the sun overlapping, held by a large, dark hand."

The bishop sat enthroned on the highest seat in the tower, looking down upon humanity on behalf of God.

Several pairs of eyes simultaneously turned to the tallest tower in the center of the city, where a flag with a closed eye design was indeed flying.

"Ouch!"

"Okay boss!"

It let out an excited howl and immediately flew down, emitting bursts of strange laughter.

"You have a plan? What plan?"

"It's simple, just smash that tower! The bishop will come out naturally."

Victor and Iris took a breath. This method was simple and crude, but extremely effective!
The only problem is how to smash that tower?

They immediately craned their necks to look in the direction of the little dragon, which was clearly the key.

The little dragon laughed wildly as it began to vigorously wave its claws, while simultaneously pulling things out of its personal space.

Furthermore, the surrounding soil and rocks seemed to come alive, rising from the ground and converging in front of Aowu. Then, under extremely high pressure, they turned a special dark red color and slowly melted and solidified into one.

"This is."

The three members of the Burning Heart Trio stared in disbelief as the enormous object slowly took shape in front of Aowu. If there were any people in the real world, they would probably have immediately cursed it out.

Because Aowu was sculpted in the exact shape of the Dongfeng intercontinental ballistic missile, after developing the 'Earthburst Star' (Black Charcoal: It's the Heavenly Obstruction Star!), Aowu tested it out in the last world with remarkable results.

But it was still not satisfied and was still thinking about what shape could maximize its power.

After painstakingly studying it for a while, Xiaolong slapped his thigh in frustration, finally discovering the answer.

Isn't it just a missile that people in the modern world, without supernatural abilities, play with?

Can you really understand aerodynamics if you expect those who rely on supernatural powers to study it? They are completely different systems!
What else is there to say?
East Wind! Even though the fundamental rules of the world are different, the fission and fusion of the present world cannot be triggered in different worlds.

But is Grandpa Long playing with explosives?
I'll smash you to death!
The object in front of him gradually took shape, and Aowu carefully and evenly applied the super heat-insulating spray paint developed by the apostle to the surface.

They also sprayed DH-001 (Donghai 01) on it with white spray paint.

He then activated his innate ability, slowly sending the terrifyingly large solid missile model, about 100 meters long and weighing over 300 tons, into the sky.

This is not the weight limit of the Awoo, but the margin limit under its precise operation.

"Wait, are you planning to use this to smash the tower?"

Iris stared in disbelief as the colossal object slowly flew into the sky, its speed increasing until it was just a tiny dot in the distance.

"Correct!"

Its roaring whiskers danced wildly, as if it had discovered the true meaning of a dragon's life: find a big guy and smash him down!

"cocoa--"

Iris glanced at the now-vanished DH-001, then at Victor, and stammered:

"If this thing falls, everyone will run, right?"

This is also one of the drawbacks of 'Earth Explosion Star': it can only hit fixed targets and cannot hit moving targets. Moreover, the higher the level of the world, the stronger the person will be able to know about things that suddenly fall from the sky in advance.

For example, if something were to fall on Li Xia's head, his instincts would likely give him a warning long ago, and that sense of danger would urge him to run away.

By the time it actually hits, they've already run far away.

"run?"

Awoo bared his gleaming dragon teeth and chuckled:
"Where can it run? It can run away from the monk, but can it run away from the temple?"

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

The results of today's follow-up examination are even worse than last time. The nick has reached 20mm, which is very large for a young child.

Experts say surgery is necessary as soon as possible, and hospitalization has been scheduled for next week.
Ugh.
(End of this chapter)