Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

A cluster of dark red flames suddenly condensed in the void, roaring out with an unstoppable killing intent.

However, the moment the flame touched the guard—

"Thump!"

Li Rui felt as if he had been struck by a heavy blow, and a mouthful of dark red blood gushed out of his mouth.

That was a much stronger backlash than before.

The karmic fire unexpectedly surged back uncontrollably, leaving a charred arc on his own body.

How is that possible?

!

Li Rui stared intently at the unharmed guard.

The other person first took a half step back in fright, but after seeing that the cluster of flames had indeed disappeared without a trace, the expression on their face changed from astonishment to a mocking grin.

"Captain! This thing is useless against us!"

In Li Rui's mind, the ironclad laws of the Judgment of Karmic Fire roared:

This fire can only ignite the guilty... If one's understanding is flawed, unclear, or wavering, and one forcibly ignites it, the karmic fire will backfire upon oneself with equal intensity.

Cognitive errors, ambiguity, or wavering.

Li Rui was stunned.

In his own mind, was this guard... guilty?

He stared at the face, his mind racing through possible "files" on the other person—

We hire mercenaries; they're paid to do things, and they're ordered to guard this place.

He never personally captured any test subjects, never directly committed violence, and he may never have even set foot on that floor of the experimental chamber.

In Li Rui's subconscious at this moment, this person was merely a "tool," an "employee," someone "standing here for money."

The crime does not warrant death.

The moment that thought crossed Li Rui's mind, he understood.

It was he himself who could not be "certain" about the individual sins of the guard.

His hasty attack, based solely on the fact that "he is Zhang Zhaoqing's man," was, in the logical judgment of karmic fire, an act of usurpation.

"Damn it..." Li Rui endured the excruciating pain of the backlash.

Zhang Zhaoqing, observing this scene from afar, was extremely excited: "I knew it! This fire has a weakness! It can't burn everyone! Let's wear him down!"

The captain of the guard waved his hand: "Go! He's injured!"

Li Rui heard the heavy footsteps approaching from all sides; danger was drawing ever closer.

"Inject! Finish this quickly!" the guard captain's voice rang out again.

Through the gap beneath the experimental table, Li Rui saw the guards stop in their tracks.

They all pulled out the dark purple "Tranquilizer V" serum from their tactical pouches at their waists in unison.

The guards simultaneously inserted needles into the side of the neck.

"Heh...heh..."

Heavy breathing echoed through the laboratory.

Li Rui witnessed their eyes rapidly becoming bloodshot, gleaming with a shrewdness reminiscent of wild beasts.

The drug took effect.

The enhanced guards, like rampaging tanks, charged towards the experimental table where Li Rui was hiding.

The experimental table, weighing several hundred kilograms, was actually overturned from the ground bolt amidst their angry roars.

Just as the experimental platform tilted and the bunker was about to disappear—

Li Rui didn't look at the figures rushing towards him.

His gaze passed over their shoulders and pierced into the deepest part of the laboratory.

Inside those cold, transparent experimental chambers, he saw several huddled figures.

That top student in the grade, that roommate, that witness who tried to file a formal complaint—

There was also a middle-aged woman, who was weakly opening and closing her lips towards the void.

That was a silent cry for help.

That was the final accusation before being swallowed by this hell.

Standing next to these figures was Zhang Zhaoqing.

The person who protected Zhang Ziqian, the person who set up the laboratory and treated people like consumables.

Li Rui's pupils suddenly contracted.

Are these guards truly innocent?

They live off the wages Zhang Zhaoqing earned with human blood, guarding this living hell on earth.

They watch their compatriots become expendable resources amidst their cries of agony, and watch broken families despair in the darkness, yet they can comfortably keep this hell running by simply saying "employees."

In this pure battle between good and evil, they chose to stand on the side of darkness.

They are the walls of hell, the minions of demons, and the indispensable lubricant on the gears of evil.

In this laboratory, there is no such thing as "following orders".

Only tacit approval and assistance to evil.

They chose darkness...

This is—sin!

The experimental table was completely overturned, exposing Li Rui's figure to the seven guards.

They roared and charged forward, their fists and feet whistling through the air—

At that very moment.

boom--!

The ruby ​​brooch on Li Rui's chest suddenly burst forth with an extreme brilliance.

It was not a visual light, but a kind of blazing flame that could illuminate the soul, penetrate flesh and blood, and reach the deepest part of consciousness.

That was the karmic fire sensing the ultimate qualitative change in the host's will; that was the most thorough transfer of the authority of judgment!

"Get out of here!!"

Li Rui suddenly sprang up, and his aura underwent a dramatic transformation in that instant.

He clasped his hands together in front of his chest, and a dense, solid, dark red fireball instantly condensed between his palms.

Inside the fireball, countless twisted faces roared; they were the wronged souls harmed by this laboratory, and all the living beings they regarded as "consumables".

"Hurry up and do it!!" the guard captain shouted in terror.

Li Rui suddenly spread his arms wide.

"Fire of Karma—Judgment!"

The fireball exploded in the air, turning into dozens of sharp red lines like flying swords.

These red lines drew a mournful whistle through the air, precisely piercing the foreheads of each guard!

There was no explosion.

Only a deathly silence remained.

The enhanced guards who had been injected with the drug, as well as the guard captain who had been directing from the rear, all froze in place.

Their pupils were instantly filled with dark red.

In the world of consciousness, their souls are being burned, dragged into a purgatory fueled by their own sins.

In the real world, their bodies began to disintegrate at a visible rate.

First, the skin peeled off like dried tree bark, and then the flesh turned to ashes directly under the red line.

Immediately afterwards, the bones, which had been strengthened by the potion, cracked inch by inch as they were burned by the karmic fire.

In just three seconds.

Seven enhanced guards, along with their captain, were reduced to ashes.

All sins, along with the body that bore them, were completely wiped clean.

The laboratory fell silent once more.

Li Rui was panting heavily.

His right arm was completely charred, and blood kept seeping from the gunshot wound on his right shoulder.

But he did not fall.

He raised his head, his gaze sharp and penetrating through the layers of experimental tables, locking onto Zhang Zhaoqing in the distance.

At this moment, Zhang Zhaoqing's maniacal laughter had completely vanished.

In the amplified senses of the drug, he saw Li Rui walking across mountains of corpses and seas of blood, each step treading on his crumbling nerves.

That was the hunter, who had finally seen the prey it was destined to hunt at the end of the trap.