I write obituaries for the gods

A dull, metallic sound came from above.

Lin Chen looked up and saw a tall display stand standing in the center of the hall behind layers of display cases.

On the high platform, a silver Iron Man stood tall, standing beside a prestigious display case.

"These exhibits come from subspace and are maintained here with high-cost maintenance methods."

Mr. Iron Face lowered his head and looked down at the crowd below.

"Hidden within the historical fault lines of the subspace are numerous projections of the real world—existences that lie between anomalous entities and real objects, making them extremely difficult to discover..."

"We used special methods to excavate these things from the subspace and then anchored them in the real world... carefully preserving them..."

"You're introducing all this to me just to prove your contributions and then plead for leniency?" Lin Chen chuckled.

"No...ghost, you don't understand what I mean."

A ghostly blue light shimmered from the gaps in Mr. Iron Mask's mask.

"You repaired the barrel of the MZ-300 Azure Power Cannon in a special way. My armor transmitted the data back, and I saw it."

“And the things you created... are exactly the same as these projections from the depths of the subspace.”

Chapter Eighteen: The Battle at the Top of the Tower (6000 words)

Projection, a creation deep within subspace.

Lin Chen glanced at an oil painting beside him: it was Picasso's "Guernica," with gray, fragmented human figures entangled in the painting, as if accusing some kind of atrocity.

“Your ability to extract the power of projections from the subspace is quite unique,” ​​Mr. Ironface said in a low voice. “These projections are impossible to capture precisely. Even with the technological level of the Pinnacle Group, they can only randomly extract fragments from a certain subspace fault and then reassemble them into a picture.”

"And you... you can project any fragment you want at will?"

Mr. Iron Face scrutinized Lin Chen like a scientist examining some incredible being.

"So?" Lin Chen narrowed his eyes.

"So? So that's why I'm starting to understand real history..."

Mr. Iron Mask paced back and forth in front of Lin Chen, his steel shoes making a dull thud as they stomped on the ground.

"The Secret Party's History Collapse Project... a collapsed history... ah, it sounds like a science fiction idea, but upon closer examination, one will find that those sedimented projections in the warp are the remains of previous history, aren't they?"

“Creatures corrupted by the azure will leave projections in the warp, such as demigods... These projections are difficult to dissipate even after the demigod dies. Isn’t this a way of leaving a mark?”

"So...you might ask, these paintings aren't demigods, and they weren't corrupted by the Azure, so why did they leave projections in the warp?"

Mr. Iron Face became more and more excited as he spoke. Suddenly, he opened his arms as if to embrace the entire fragmented history in the exhibition hall.

"Because one day, the azure will consume everything!" he shouted. "Everything will be consumed by the azure, pressed into the warp, and become a fault line!"

"Then, a new history sprouted anew in the warp! Everything that had happened before was repeated once again!"

"And those collapsed histories have become fragmented pieces in the subspace... projections that no one cares about. If it weren't for people like me actively searching for them, those projections would never appear in the world again."

"No...it's not just me..."

Mr. Iron Mask stared directly at Lin Chen:

"And you, aren't you? Ghost, and you..."

"You destroy history time and time again, turning it into your own exhibition hall, extracting any fragments you want, and turning them into your own weapons..."

"How...romantic..."

Looking at Mr. Iron Mask's crazy appearance, Lin Chen gently shook his head:

"It seems you've gone mad."

"So what if you don't admit it? Maybe you have no memory of it, or maybe you're just pretending, but that doesn't stop me from prying open a corner of the world's truth from the Foundation and the Secret Party!"

Mr. Iron Face suddenly stepped aside, showing Lin Chen the display case in the very center of the exhibition hall.

"And this perfectly proves your existence!"

Floating in the center of the display case is a silver facial bone!

The thing resembled a mask, yet the details were terrifyingly realistic, with an unusual shimmering light flowing across its silver surface.

The moment Lin Chen saw the facial bone, he felt a surge of intense familiarity wash over him.

He instinctively pressed his temple, countless fragmented images flashing through his mind...

Wilderness, wasteland, and a deep blue comet.

Lin Chen stood on the field, gazing at the deep blue sky.

The sky transformed into a dark blue sea of ​​fire, as if the entire hell had fallen from the heavens, threatening to overthrow the human world.

"These are artifacts excavated from the atomic bomb site of the Blue Comet, and they belonged to one of the key figures in that great war..."

Looking into Lin Chen's eyes, which shimmered with a deep blue light, Mr. Iron Mask smiled.

"Among the artifacts the foundation transferred to me, this is the one I'm most curious about..."

“They called it ‘the mask of ghosts,’ and at the time I thought it was just a name, but as I delved deeper into the warp… I discovered some unique characteristics of this mask.”

"That is... it has no projection in any subspace fault."

"It is unique."

Mr. Iron Face slowly stepped down from the display stand and faced Lin Chen directly.

"After seeing the projection you created, I suddenly realized that I am incredibly close to the truth of history..."

“I thought I had reached the pinnacle of the Rain City, but with your appearance, I realized that I haven’t even entered the game yet.”

"Now...you have a chance, and I have a chance too."

Mr. Iron Face reached out his hand to Lin Chen.

"Ghost, I can cooperate with you. Together we can overthrow the Foundation, find the truth of history, and become the masters of history..."

"You need my mind, I need your strength and your special abilities."

"how?"

Lin Chen chuckled as he looked at Mr. Iron Face's outstretched hand.

“I’m afraid what you really want is to kill me and then take my place?” he said softly.

Lin Chen had already witnessed the power of the Mind Body from Bai Duozhi.

During the attack on the bunker, Mr. Iron Mask was targeting Lin Chen.

He wanted to kill Lin Chen, then possess Lin Chen's body and become him.

This time is no exception.

"You think that by killing me, you can become a ghost of history, a player in the game."

Lin Chen suddenly raised his shotgun and aimed it at Mr. Iron Mask's chest—

You're overthinking it.

"Oh!"

The super-alloy armor-piercing bullet fired, and Mr. Iron Mask abruptly raised his arm, unleashing a dark blue shield—

"clang!"

The bullets struck the shield, creating ripples.

“Clever kid,” Mr. Iron Face chuckled, “you must be quite popular with girls, right?”

He took two steps back and snapped his fingers.

The next second, the ground beneath Lin Chen's feet exploded—

"boom!!!"

A tremendous force swept Lin Chen and Li Zhanyi away, and they landed safely on the ground.

After regaining his footing, Lin Chen looked up and realized that it was actually Li Ti who had pulled him and Li Zhanyi up.

"That was close!" Litty exclaimed.

"Holy crap..."

Lin Chen glanced at Liti's slender arms again and gained a completely new understanding of her strength.

Just then, footsteps came from through the smoke.

Mr. Iron Mask walked with his arms outstretched, and every now and then a mechanical component would fly out from a corner of the exhibition hall and land on him.

The more he walked, the more parts he had, and the larger his body became.

Finally, a huge suit of armor enveloped his original armor, standing in the center of the exhibition hall like a Gundam.

"Anti-Hulk armor...?" Litty murmured.

"You refused to cooperate! Ghost! That was the biggest mistake of your life!"

Mr. Iron Face's voice became several decibels louder than before, and the huge mech stepped into the exhibition hall, crushing the display cases to pieces.

“I’m one of the highest-ranking people you’ll ever meet in your life!” he shouted. “You brat! You’re dealing with the shadow president of Rain City!”

"There are so many shadow presidents in the rain capital..." Several names flashed through Lin Chen's mind. "Why don't you guys have a fight first?"

He raised his shotgun and fired at the massive armor:

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The bullets struck the surface of the armor, creating bursts of sparks, but they could not penetrate it.

"It's no use! This is armor made of super alloy!"

Mr. Iron Mask raised his hand, his armor deformed, and his arm cannon was launched—

"boom------"

Liti brought up Lin Chen and Li Zhanyi again, leading them to dodge the arm cannon, and then began to spin rapidly in the hall.

"Throw smoke!" Lin Chen shouted.

"Roger that!"

Li Zhanyi ripped off the smoke grenades hanging from the magazine and started throwing them down one by one.

The machine gun on Mr. Iron Mask's back kept firing at the three of them, and as it fired, the smoke with electromagnetic interference covered most of the exhibition hall.

"Hahahaha, hide! Ghost! You're just going to hide from me like that!" Mr. Iron Mask shouted. "You were killed in the Battle of Raintown! Today I will kill you again!"

"call--"

Amidst the smoke, Liti landed with Lin Chen and Li Zhanyi, shaking her arms.

"This thing is going to be difficult to handle," Lin Chen said, casually ruffling Litty's hair. "She made herself armor out of superalloy... That's truly insane..."

"They're really rich. Captain England's super alloy shield is priceless," Li Zhanyi muttered.

"It's going to be tough, really tough," Litty shook her head.

Lin Chen closed his eyes, projected Triton's power, and began to sense the water in the hall.

He tried it, then gently shook his head:

"It seems there's a security system inside his armor. I can't just blow him up; I have to break through the armor first."

Lin Chen pressed the headset and said:

"A-1 calling ground troops, Xuan Yi, how's the situation on your end?"

"Advancing smoothly into the camp, we'll be able to enter the Rain City Star TV Tower soon!" Gunfire could be heard in the background from Shen Xuanyi's side.

"receive."

Lin Chen looked at Li Zhanyi:

"We need some air support. Since Shen Xuanyi and the others don't need it, let's borrow it."

"Air support?" Li Zhanyi was taken aback. "This is inside the Rain City Star... It won't be easy to break through..."

"It's easier to crack the egg from the inside."

Lin Chen raised his head and examined the load-bearing structure on the dome.

He quickly identified the key load-bearing column, projected two explosive charges, and handed them to Litty: