Responsibility Is the Shackles the Strong Place Upon Themselves

Jin Ping’s taunt from not long ago stabbed deep into his heart like a boomerang.

At those words, the old man’s eyes flew wide open, and his deeply wrinkled face instantly flushed red.

"Heh heh."

"Ah!!!"

Ignoring Jin Ping’s crazed state, Lu Su merely turned and spoke to the surroundings. "You’ve watched for so long, sir. Isn’t it time to come out?"

Bai Yueming and the other two were alarmed. They had completely failed to notice that someone else was present.

After a stretch of eerie silence, applause suddenly sounded from midair. Then, a figure appeared before them.

It was Adley.

White Crown Adley, a Hall of Fame Card Master from the Indo-American Federation.

He lightly clapped his hands, looking at Lu Su with a trace of admiration. "Mr. Luo, you’ve truly opened my eyes."

At his appearance, hope for survival immediately welled up in Jin Ping and the Skin Peeler’s eyes. In contrast, Bai Yueming and the other two’s expressions darkened.

Yet Adley paid no attention to either side and their conflicting thoughts. He merely studied the Soul King beside Lu Su with curiosity.

Though the middle-aged man in a dark blue suit was seeing the strongest of the Soul Reapers for the first time, he inexplicably found him familiar.

Soon, he remembered where that sense of familiarity had come from.

Didn’t the cards of those Card Masters standing at the pinnacle of Europa’s Church also possess this sort of divinity?

Adley remembered them calling it the "Omniscient and Omnipotent Lord."

At that moment, he thought with interest, Interesting. I wonder how those old geezers will feel when they see this card.

In Adley’s perception, this strange being before him was closer to so-called "omnipotence and omniscience" than the cards of those old geezers from the Church.

Of course, it was only closer. He did not believe in such things. If something truly were omniscient and omnipotent, Demons would not still exist in this world.

On the other side, seeing that the Hall of Fame Card Master from the Indo-American Federation had remained silent, Lu Su said coldly, "What have you come here for? Just say it."

In truth, Lu Su had known about Adley’s presence ever since he first summoned the Soul King. Since Adley had not deliberately concealed himself, there was no way he could evade the Soul King’s detection.

That was also why Lu Su chose to summon the Soul King again after activating the Reincarnation Technique.

If he only needed to deal with Jin Ping and the others, wounded survivors who had already suffered severe injuries under Ye Zhou’s attack, Lu Su would not have needed much effort to handle them even without summoning the Soul King.

At Lu Su’s question, a hint of distress appeared on Adley’s face, as though he were troubled over what he was about to say.

Seeing the middle-aged man putting on such an act, Lu Su could not help curling his lip. Then he exposed the man’s intentions. "Mr. Adley, you came for her, didn’t you?"

As he spoke, he pointed at the Skin Peeler, who remained under the Soul King’s control.

It was not difficult to infer. Lu Su had learned of some connection between the Skin Peeler and Adley when he rebelled against the Spirit Summoning Society last time.

At that, Adley nodded somewhat sheepishly and scratched his cheek with a finger. "Mm."

"So, could Mr. Luo let Sakaja go?"

"If you’re willing, I would be most grateful."

Sakaja was the Skin Peeler’s real name.

Hearing that, Bai Yueming and the other two behind Lu Su exchanged glances.

During the disaster not long ago that had nearly overturned Great Ming, the Skin Peeler’s crimes might not have matched Jin Ping’s, but they were not far behind.

For a war criminal like her, even being executed by a thousand cuts would not have been excessive.

Yet now, someone wanted Great Ming to spare her with nothing more than a few casual words. How ridiculous.

But.

This man was a Hall of Fame Card Master.

Unable to stop themselves from sighing inwardly, Bai Yueming and the other two looked at Lu Su’s back.

They left the choice to the youth before them.

Whether he accepted or refused, they were willing to follow his will.

For a moment, an eerie silence fell over the scene as everyone waited for Lu Su to make his choice.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes.

Lu Su did not move.

Just as everyone thought he would choose to swallow this grievance for now, an abrupt change occurred.

Jin Ping and the others, held under the Soul King’s control, suddenly made muffled sounds. Then they began struggling violently.

Jin Ping had never imagined that Lu Su would dare act in front of Adley. Did he not know that the Skin Peeler was connected to him?!

The Hook-nosed Elder stared at Lu Su with bloodshot eyes in disbelief, but all he saw was an utterly expressionless face.

Seeing this, Adley immediately dropped his false smile and furrowed his brows slightly.

The middle-aged man in the dark blue suit truly did not want to fight Lu Su. In his current state, he was not completely confident that he could take Lu Su down without being injured.

Moreover, he did not know how many times the youth could consecutively use that terrifying method of refreshing card cooldowns. He had no desire to gamble.

However, the moment Adley summoned his cards, he discovered that Jin Ping and the two Master Grade Demons had already gone still. Only the Skin Peeler remained alive.

Though she had survived, the Soul King had not released his control over her.

After witnessing Jin Ping’s death, the Skin Peeler, who had always appeared remarkably composed, was drenched in cold sweat.

Despite the overwhelming terror in her heart, she forced herself not to utter a single word, afraid she might provoke Lu Su.

"Does Mr. Adley intend to fight?" Lu Su glanced at the cards beside Adley before speaking coldly. "Where is your Supreme Machine God Quetzalcoatl?"

"Why haven’t you summoned it?"

Bai Yueming and the others were already extremely tense, ready at any moment to fight the Hall of Fame Card Master in the air.

After the tense standoff continued for a while, Adley suddenly put away his cards.

He shrugged helplessly. "Fine, I understand what Mr. Luo means."

"However, I never intended to ask you to spare Jin Ping. If necessary, I could even do it for you."

"As for Sakaja…"

At that, the middle-aged man stopped speaking and pointed at the Skin Peeler.

The next instant, beneath everyone’s gaze, the Feather-crowned Woman’s limbs suddenly vanished.

A dignified Master Grade Card Master was instantly reduced to a limbless stump.

This was naturally not a simple severing of her limbs. Through the Soul King’s feedback, Lu Su knew that the very existence of the Skin Peeler’s limbs had been stripped away on a conceptual level.

At that moment, Adley’s voice rang out again. "This should satisfy everyone from Great Ming, shouldn’t it?"

There was no doubt that although he had spoken politely, anyone present who was not an idiot could understand that this was a naked threat.

After all, since Adley could turn the Skin Peeler into such a state, he naturally had the ability to do the same to those present who were weaker than the Feather-crowned Woman.

Lu Su naturally understood such a simple truth as well.

However, he also knew that Adley was acting so casually because, like him, he had benefited from Ye Zhou’s efforts. Although Jin Ping, the Skin Peeler, and the others had survived Dongjun’s attack, they had also suffered extremely serious injuries.

After a moment of silence, the Soul King released his control over the Skin Peeler. The unconscious woman immediately plummeted toward the sea.

But as Adley sighed, she appeared behind the middle-aged man like a ghostly spirit. Along with her came a set of extremely bloody-looking life-support equipment.

After finishing this, he nodded to Lu Su and said with a trace of apology, "Thank you for showing mercy, Mr. Luo."

"I’ll be leaving first, then. I won’t interfere with your cleanup."

With those words, the Hall of Fame Card Master from the Indo-American Federation vanished from everyone’s sight.

After confirming through the Soul King that Adley had truly left, Lu Su, who had been tense all along, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew Adley had backed down because his Hall of Fame card, Supreme Machine God Quetzalcoatl, was currently suppressing several secret realms in Antarctica.

With only the few cards Adley had just held, even if he could defeat the Soul King, he would likely have to pay a considerable price.

Of course, no one knew whether Adley would disregard the bigger picture and summon Supreme Machine God Quetzalcoatl back to his side if they truly fought.

That was why Lu Su had ultimately chosen to spare the Skin Peeler for now.

If he could, he wanted to kill one of the chief culprits behind everything that had happened.

Unfortunately, he could not.

After losing Ye Zhou, Great Ming could not withstand further turmoil in the short term.

"So which side are you actually on?"

"Adley."

Thinking of Adley’s deeply contradictory actions, Lu Su’s expression shifted uncertainly.

Judging from Adley’s willingness to suppress those secret realms in Antarctica, he was undoubtedly still on Blue Star’s side.

But if that were the case, Adley should not have allowed the Skin Peeler and Jin Ping to collude, nor should he have stood by and watched the Four Calamity Gods descend.

Could it be that the Demons in Antarctica’s secret realms were Hall of Fame Grade Demons, while the Four Calamity Gods were not?

Just as Lu Su considered Adley’s motives, Bai Yueming behind him asked worriedly, "Xiao Luo."

"Don’t overthink it. You’ve already done very well."

The old man spoke the truth.

At this moment, none of the surviving people of Great Ming had any standing to criticize Lu Su’s choice.

Or rather, without Lu Su, Great Ming would likely have already ceased to exist. Even if it somehow struggled on, there was a high chance it would later be devoured whole by other forces on Blue Star.

Such as the Tsardom of Russia. Such as the Indo-American Federation.

"Teacher, I’m fine."

Lu Su would naturally not torment himself over such a matter. He was simply a little tired.

After resolving Fox Jiu and Number Zero in Goryeo, he had rushed back to Great Ming without stopping.

Then he had summoned the Soul King and fought the Four Calamity Gods. Afterward, he had to deal with Adley, who appeared out of nowhere.

Of course, it was not all bad news.

After summoning the Soul King, Lu Su had naturally advanced to Master Grade.

Bai Yueming and the other two noticed this as well. They first showed somewhat surprised expressions, but soon accepted it.

After all, Lu Su’s earlier performance had already been enough to treat him as a Master Grade Card Master, not to mention that he had the Soul King as a trump card.

This was a terrifying killing move capable of clashing with a Hall of Fame Grade opponent, even though the Four Calamity Gods had only extended a single arm just now.

Unaware of what the elders behind him were thinking, Lu Su merely glanced at the Soul King. The latter nodded slightly, then raised his hand.

As azure Spirit Pressure swept over the battlefield once more, the surviving Great Ming Card Masters all felt a warm current surge from within their bodies. Then they discovered that their injuries were rapidly healing.

However, the Soul King’s main purpose was not to heal the Card Masters present, but to settle the aftermath caused by the earlier clash between all those Master Grade and stronger beings.

Chief among them was dealing with the torrential rain created by Ye Zhou’s final strike.

If it were allowed to continue unchecked, most of Great Ming’s coastal cities would likely be flooded.

At that moment, the downpour froze in midair as though someone had pressed pause. Then the slightly depleted seabed rapidly began filling with seawater, while the clouds in the sky steadily thinned.

Before long, the sea returned to normal.

Golden yellow sunlight scattered across the surface, making everything look so peaceful, as though nothing had happened not long ago.

After doing all this, the Soul King slowly dissipated beside Lu Su. The youth extended his right hand and stared blankly at the sunlight falling into his palm.

With the dust settled, this great calamity finally came to an end with the near destruction of the City within a City.

But after losing Ye Zhou, Great Ming could only barely be considered to have won a miserable victory.

If they had a choice, no one would have wanted to accept such an outcome.

At that moment, Bai Yueming stepped forward slightly and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Xiao Luo, go back and rest first."

"Leave the cleanup to us."

At that, Lu Su withdrew from his thoughts, then turned to his teacher and shook his head slightly. "Don’t worry, Teacher. I can still hold on."

"Consider it seeing Hall of Fame Ye off one last time."

Hearing this, Bai Yueming and the other two stopped trying to persuade him. They merely sighed deeply before vanishing from where they stood to begin dealing with the consequences of what had happened.

Ye Zhou’s death could not possibly be concealed, since everyone present had heard of it.

Moreover, Bai Yueming and the others had no intention of hiding it. That would undoubtedly be disrespectful to the Hall of Fame Card Master who had given everything for Great Ming.

But this was a matter of immense importance. Ye Zhou’s burial would have to be held as a state funeral on an auspicious day.

More importantly, his death would severely damage the confidence the people had only just managed to rebuild.

Fortunately, there was a way to remedy it.

Clearly, Lu Su, who had just turned the tide, was the best replacement.

Exiling the Four Calamity Gods, forcing Adley to retreat—was there any better story to publicize?

Yet Lu Su did not know that he had already been designated as Ye Zhou’s successor.

He merely stood above the rippling sea, considering what he should do next.

Though the Soul King was indeed powerful, it was not a long-term solution.

Even with the wonderful combo of the Reincarnation Technique allowing Lu Su to summon the Soul King twice in a row, it could only be used as a final trump card. Unlike ordinary cards, it could not be summoned the moment a battle began.

So in the end, he still needed to make proper Master Grade cards.

Fortunately, Lu Su had already gathered the materials for his first Master Grade card. He only needed to recover his condition before beginning its creation.

Thinking of this, he sighed softly and vanished from the sea under Spider-girl’s lead.

Only a murmur remained behind, drifting away on the wind.

"Rest in peace."

"Hall of Fame Ye."