(Written before this Chapter: Regarding the Origin World, I will never admit that it is the real world to avoid censorship. This is a traditional way to be cautious, but some things inside, let’s just treat it as a parallel universe, after all, it will appear a lot in this Chapter.)

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[Do you think this is the final Chapter of your Crime and Punishment? You wonder why, at the moment of your death, you would see a page of a book.]

[Puzzled, you think about how these words could anticipate your thoughts and present themselves on this strange page.]

Time almost came to a stop, but only almost, as Bai Wu could still feel his body disintegrating, slowed to an infinite degree.

Was this a sort of heart flow domain?

Or was this the actual sight restored as death approaches?

Undoubtedly, as he harbored these doubts, that yellowed page also displayed these words.

He inexplicably felt that this page had nothing to do with him.

It did not belong to him; it merely appeared here suddenly.

Bai Wu was a person with a strong desire for knowledge, and this page before him, it seemed, was also here to help Bai Wu.

If it was just to prolong the agony of dying, Bai Wu thought it was simply a waste of time.

Especially so if the enemy could appear between Alpha and himself, they wouldn’t be doing such boring things.

[Alright, he sensed that the new presence was his ally.]

Everything in the world became extremely slow, except for Bai Wu’s thoughts.

Bai Wu suddenly thought that since the page could display his thoughts, perhaps he could communicate with the page through his mind.

[Of course, I’m here to save you, and it’s regrettable that I didn’t arrive in time. Aligning my will with this world again required more time than expected.

Even now, I can barely make contact with you. But it doesn’t matter, our cooperation will grow stronger.

Meanwhile, my companion is also en route, making an all-out effort to join us.]

The page did not tease Bai Wu anymore and made clear its intention to join forces before the time-stopping domain came to an end.

"At the very least, I should know who you are."

Even by using Temporal Power, he could delay the moment of death, but he could not escape it.

It was a killing move endowed with the Law of Causality "Absolute Hit" by Alpha.

A single Twisted Spear was enough to annihilate the Underworld; Bai Wu could not imagine what power could defend against twelve Twisted Spears.

Deep in his heart, he still believed that the owner of this page did not possess the ability to fight Alpha.

[Thanks to your reverse flag, I am now filled with energy, as if I have eaten a basket of Snickers.]

The vocabulary of the Origin World made Bai Wu suddenly realize something.

[Don’t be afraid, I’m establishing rules.]

In front of Bai Wu was no longer a page, but rather it felt like one of those futuristic movies from the Origin World, where players donned a helmet and a system interface appeared.

["Hundred Percent Dodge Rule" loading progress: 7%.]

["Tenfold King Fist" loading progress: 11%.]

["Vajra Indestructible Skill Distorted Special Edition" loading progress: 24%.]

["Psychic Barrier loading" progress: 9%.]

A series of things Bai Wu had only seen in novels, movies, or anime from the Origin World began to appear frantically.

What S-Class Dismemberment Skill Qi Yuan Slash, Top-Level Inner Strength Heart Method Yi Jin Jing, the best sword in the village, Celestial Dragon Flash, Lingbo Weibu, Wind King Hammer, Starburst Stream Slash, Serious Punch...

Everything in front of him was like the universe of skills from various worlds that kids from the Origin World were most passionate about, mixed together in a wild muddle.

Bai Wu had already figured out that the person in front of him was Bai Wu.

[Yes, I am Bai Wu, concerning the matter of my father... I have already learned of it from your memories.]

[My allies are still on their way, and there is a tough battle ahead of us, because will needs a vessel, we shall fight side by side until he arrives.]

In the yellowed pages of the book, upon the completion of these words, a skill finished loading in the eyes of the Ten of Spades.

[Guardian Angel loaded completely.]

The battle, up to this moment, shifted once again.

Within the super annihilation field formed by the twelve Twisted Spears, the utterly shattered Ten of Spades—rarely resurrected.

His life force was faint, nowhere near his peak condition, but he was indeed... alive once more.

It was as if he had donned a suit of resurrection armor.

Li You was shocked, and Alpha was greatly astounded.

They witnessed with their own eyes the broken, decaying body of the Ten of Spades, suddenly restored to a complete state.

[One-time item Shinra Tensei loaded completely.]

[This is an active skill, you can trigger it by shouting the name of the skill. If you don’t shout, it cannot be activated.]

The slowly disintegrating temporal field was about to shatter, and Ten of Spades’s eyebrows raised slightly...

These so-called skills were actually combinations of various Source Powers.

They had nothing to do with the moves in the Origin World. Bai Wu had deliberately applied some source world’s overly dramatic and cool-sounding names to effects of a similar nature.

It was possible to have them, but not necessary.

However, it seemed Bai Wu wanted to make the Ten of Spades perform the embarrassing act of shouting out moves during battle.

Suddenly, the Ten of Spades felt as though he was being teased by this junior.

But revival or not, that destructive aura enveloped the Ten of Spades once again soon after.

It was as if he had been resurrected in the opponent’s fountain, and if he did not respond instantly, he was likely to die again right after being resurrected.

The Ten of Spades did not want to experience the agony of death a second time, so in a flash, driven by the instinct to survive, he accepted that plan:

"Shinra Tensei."

[Answer correct! Please shout louder in the upcoming battle.]

[The "Louder The Volume, The Stronger The Combat System" is loading—progress forty percent.]

The Ten of Spades didn’t know where Bai Wu was, nor did he understand what it meant for will to need a vessel.

He simply felt... if he ever saw Bai Wu, he would definitely want to severely punish the youngster.

For someone who had lived for seven hundred years, it was truly disgraceful to shout out skill names during combat.

His thoughts did not linger on this matter for too long.

Because what happened next was beyond his and even Alpha’s comprehension.

As the phrase "Shinra Tensei" was called out, Alpha’s annihilating field formed by the Twisted Spears... was forcibly repelled by a force so powerful it could contest the Law of Causality.

In that moment, Alpha had to withdraw the Power of Twist and allow that domain to dissipate.

An avalanche of shock and awe surged within the Ten of Spades.

How strong Alpha’s offense was, he knew better than anyone, but all he did was utter the shameful "Shinra Tensei," and it easily repelled that force.

Once Alpha’s domain of annihilation spread, it could completely destroy countless grids of time and space within the labyrinth. Alpha retracted it for two reasons: first, because the Ten of Spades had indeed repelled his attack.

Second, because Li You was still useful to him; after conquering the world with the Twisted Power, he would at least need another witness besides himself.

Of course, Alpha was now uncertain if he could still afford to consider Li You.

Because the "Bai Yuan" before him was undergoing constant changes in aura. Alpha could not fathom the origin of these changes.

In the Surface World, there shouldn’t be such a formidable existence.

Alpha waved his hand, and a massive force buffeted Li You towards the boundary.

Catwoman felt conflicted inside. Was Alpha protecting her?

At the same time, she also felt a surge of joy because the man who was about to die had come back to life. Although she did not understand how, this man seemed to now possess the power to confront Alpha...

At least she wouldn’t have to feel guilty about his death anymore.

This space was likely to be destroyed by the clash of two top-tier powerhouses.

Black Heart Ten was also confused:

"That girl, you actually went out of your way to spare her life?"

"Having cats and dogs around for a while, one tends to look after them a bit, but if they make a mistake, I wouldn’t mind killing them."

What Alpha cared more about was why this person suddenly had power.

The inverted red pupils were the Eyes of God, enabling Alpha to see many things clearly.

But when Alpha looked at Black Heart Ten, he did not notice any change.

[He’s observing you, but Prayle’s Eye is neutralizing the observation. You can think of it as a contest between eyes.]

A goddamn contest between eyes...

Black Heart Ten had been so affected by Bai Wu that he now had the urge to make snide remarks.

However, it had to be said that Bai Wu’s quirky skill names and comments allowed Black Heart Ten to completely relax.

The sense of dread from facing Alpha, and the oppressive feeling emanating from Alpha, started to dissolve bit by bit.

It was as if he were teaming up with a companion whose thinking was a little off but who was still powerfully strong.

The numerous mouths on Alpha’s arms all howled simultaneously.

Within the inverted red pupils, a dense network of black lines appeared, like a swarm of snakes slithering.

A storm raged, and Alpha’s body was surrounded by black lightning.

Indeed, there had been too many surprises today, and Alpha no longer wanted to tangle slowly with his opponent.

He wanted to kill his adversary thoroughly.

Wherever the red pupils looked, a black pearl suddenly appeared in front of Black Heart Ten.

It was like a bullet, appearing ten meters in front of Black Heart Ten out of nowhere, and then suddenly accelerated!

This tiny energy body, as small as a glass marble, contained a destructive aura far surpassing that of the Twisted Spear.

At that moment, Black Angel only felt as if the Grim Reaper’s scythe was swinging, and in the next instant, it would harvest his life.

He could not move, his body pressed down by a tremendous might, but the thoughts in his mind were not hindered.

[This is a move we currently cannot defend against at this stage. At least, we cannot withstand it head-on.]

"Don’t you have Shinra Tensei?"

[That’s just a variant application of Phase Collapse from Sequence 9. I too wish to have Alpha experience pain, but sorry, I do not have a manga artist’s abilities. And I can’t use it again in the short term. Although real combat is not like a game with casting times and skill cooldowns, your body’s endurance has limits.]

The dialogue between the two was one having thoughts emerge in his mind, and the other leaving words on the pages of a book.

All of this happened in a realm where time had almost stopped.

Watching the "pearl" that seemed capable of destroying stars draw ever closer, Black Heart Ten felt Alpha’s strength once again.

"So we have no way to use that power again now?"

[Not necessarily, but if we force it, your body won’t be able to bear it, um... like Qian Yixin. But, we can still get through this crisis! Although we can’t withstand it, we can evade it!] 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

As Black Heart Ten talked with Alpha, "Will" had already loaded many different skills for Black Heart Ten.

"Hundred Percent Dodge Rule!"

"Lingbo Weibu!"

"The ’three-pointer curse’ of Sakuragi Hanamichi!"

At first, it was a time barrier that slowed down Alpha’s second killing move, "Ultimate Collapse", in its attack speed.

Then, there was the Hundred Percent Dodge Rule, the instinct to survive, accompanied by the setting "the louder the volume, the stronger the combat power", which made Jack of Spades shamelessly shout out the name of the skill.

But in fact... even if that destructive black pearl was blocked by the time barrier, it was impossible for Jack of Spades to shout out so many words.

Everything happened in an instant, the "Hundred Percent Dodge Rule" had already taken effect before Jack of Spades could shout it out.

However, this process was too dangerous, and Jack of Spades could not care about that, starting to shout loudly, continuously releasing many Sequence and Source Power variations.

And once you accept this setting... it seems quite exhilarating.

His shouts became more and more vigorous!

"Tenfold King Fist!"

After triggering the Hundred Percent Dodge Rule, the "Ultimate Collapse" that was supposed to hit Jack of Spades’ forehead passed by his face in an instant.

Alpha, shocked, had to prepare both hands in response, a Twisted Shield erected in front of him.

Because Jack of Spades... had launched a counterattack!

This man, who posed a threat to him in the mental realm, was also able to display such formidable combat power in the physical world.

The "Tenfold King Fist" struck the Twisted Shield, causing a fine crack to appear in it.

Alpha’s strong defense made it hard for Jack of Spades to make any progress.

But in this process, more and more power was getting ready.

Jack of Spades was like the protagonist out of a crossover manga, with various combat moves inexhaustibly spouting from his mouth.

Wind King Hammer! Sword of Judgment! Celestial Dragon Flash! No Regrets for the Defiant Dragon!

Those moves, which came from human imagination, seemed as if they could truly be achieved with the different applications of Source Power and the variations of the Twisted Rule!

The Twisted Shield was the strongest defensive move, besides Jing Si’s Inverted Well, there was almost no possibility of it being broken through.

But what baffled Alpha was... his own twist couldn’t corrode the opponent’s power!

Those odd moves were causing more and more cracks to appear on the Twisted Shield!

His Red Pupil had seen a brief future... the shattering of the Twisted Shield.

But strangely, he couldn’t predict the opponent’s offensive moves.

He could still predict when fighting against Jing Si, but in the battle against this man, he could see nothing.

It was as if there was a power suppressing his eyes.

As if what he could see was only what that power wanted him to see.

Too many strange things made Alpha suddenly doubt himself... could it be that he never actually left the Inner World?

Could it be that everything happening right now is just a method of spiritual power invasion by Bai Yuan?

He found it hard not to think this way, because in Alpha’s understanding, aside from Jing Si, there shouldn’t be anyone in the physical world who could compete with him.

"Who exactly are you?"

Responding to Alpha wasn’t Jack of Spades revealing his identity, but the name of a powerful technique.

"Serious Punch!" Roaring out the chuunibyou skill name from manga was indeed out of character for a scam artist like Jack of Spades.

But even more absurd was that this punch, devoid of any aura of a strong fighter, finally shattered the Twisted Shield.

After the shield broke, Jack of Spades did not recklessly advance, because he saw a prompt on the yellowing page—

["The only body in Denglin City that can bear a fraction of my will is you, but I have found a more suitable vessel."]

["But now, both you and I cannot seriously harm Alpha. Stronger than the Twisted Shield is Alpha’s Immortal body. Please, try to survive until my partner arrives in Denglin City."]