"Are you confident about the surgery?"
The man with platinum-blond long hair—his face identical to Xia Yan's—spoke calmly. He was Xia Ji, Xia Yan's twin brother.
Lately, Xia Ji had been in an excellent mood.
He had learned that his younger brother was dead. Not only that—several high-ranking figures he had long found unpleasant, Edward Wu and Tokita Niko (Second Tiger) among them, were also dead.
In one leap, he had become the new leader of the Worm.
At last, his wish was fulfilled.
So now, everyone looked pleasing to him—
even the utterly repulsive man standing before him.
"Everything is prepared. I'm one hundred percent certain of success,"
the Violator, known as the Devourer, said with a bizarre smile.
"Once today is over, the Connector will split into Dragon and Tiger. After his long-cherished wish is fulfilled, he won't interfere with you anymore. At that point, you'll be the Worm's sole leader—the true emperor standing atop the underground world."
"You really get it,"
Xia Ji laughed happily.
"Don't worry. Once you succeed, I'll make you a regional director."
Yes—no matter what others thought, Xia Ji had always feared and despised Shen Wulong.
The Worm was already a massive organization. His younger brother had inherited it from their father, and he in turn had inherited it from his brother.
Had he walked on eggshells all this way just to become someone else's dog?
Of course not.
What he wanted was real authority—to be the unquestioned leader of the Worm, not someone constantly being pointed at and ordered around.
And so, an existence like the Connector was simply too obstructive.
He no longer wanted the Worm to function as an organization cleaning up after Shen Wulong's messes.
"Hahaha… I'm looking forward to it,"
the Devourer said, turning around and entering the operating room.
The moment the door closed, his expression darkened.
The Connector's top combat forces had been deployed—yet all had fallen.
That filled him with lethal pressure.
This time's Adjudicator was no ordinary one.
He had originally thought that after a good night's sleep, he'd simply absorb Kurosaki Rei's corpse. Instead, what he received was news of total annihilation.
That forced him to change plans and devote himself fully to Shen Wulong's surgery.
In his original plan, once Kurosaki Rei died, he would kill Shen Wulong during the surgery. That way, he would accomplish a feat no explorer before him had ever achieved.
The Kengan world was a notorious "nail house" within the Space—a first-tier derivative world that had never once been breached.
Was it because the people here were physically strong?
Absolutely not.
It was because of a single individual—Shen Wulong.
To break through this world, one had to defeat its ceiling.
But for a first-tier explorer, even a level-10 one with all attributes capped at 30, defeating Shen Wulong was impossible.
Because first-tier explorers lacked any technique capable of negating Shen Wulong's logic. Their specialties were worlds apart. Trying to overpower him would only result in being effortlessly deflected—four ounces moving a thousand pounds.
That was why, upon arriving in this world, the Devourer had immediately devised a plan to assassinate Shen Wulong.
In his view, all previous explorers had been idiots.
Facing Shen Wulong head-on was sheer stupidity. Killing him on an operating table—that was the correct solution.
It should have gone exactly like that…
"Damn Kurosaki Rei…"
the Devourer muttered.
If not for Kurosaki Rei, he could have simply killed Shen Wulong outright. But now he still needed Shen Wulong alive—to deal with Kurosaki Rei for him.
"So… are you ready?"
Another voice rang out inside the operating room, instantly putting the Devourer on edge.
He stiffly turned to look.
That face was identical to Shen Wulong's—
—but it wasn't Shen Wulong.
It was Shen Luohan, Shen Wulong's first clone in this lifetime.
At present, he was the Devourer's second most hated person.
Because Shen Luohan's existence had completely ruined his plan.
Shen Luohan controlled a global arms syndicate known as the Merchant of Death. What felt utterly absurd to the Devourer was that, in this trash-tier worldview, Shen Luohan even possessed nuclear weapons.
According to the Devourer's understanding of Shen Wulong, once he learned of Xia Yan's death, Shen Wulong should have gone to exact revenge first—surgery would have been secondary.
After Shen Wulong killed Kurosaki Rei, the Devourer could still perform the surgery and kill Shen Wulong during it.
But he had underestimated how difficult it was to "攻略" this world.
And perhaps he had simply been unlucky.
Before Xia Yan even set out, Shen Wulong had already completed preparations for the surgery. News of Xia Yan's death never reached him—entirely because of the man beside him.
Shen Luohan had sealed off all information, forcing Shen Wulong to proceed with the scheduled separation surgery. Once Shen Wulong entered deep anesthesia, Shen Luohan threatened the Devourer—
He wanted Shen Wulong's memories.
Yes. Shen Luohan had never intended for Shen Wulong to be split.
What he wanted was the Connector's complete memory.
As Shen Wulong's first clone, Shen Luohan possessed extraordinary power—greater even than Xia Yan and the others. Yet he could never reach the true summit.
Because he was not Shen Wulong.
He had never imagined such a perfect opportunity.
After witnessing the Devourer demonstrate a live separation-and-fusion procedure on a human body, Shen Wulong had immediately agreed to undergo the operation.
"You underestimated human malice…"
Shen Luohan murmured as he looked at Shen Wulong lying on the operating table.
Shen Wulong took everything far too much for granted.
With loyal hounds like Xia Yan gone, he still dared to undergo surgery?
Today, Shen Luohan would become the new Shen Wulong.
As for whether he would inherit Shen Wulong's original troubles afterward—that wasn't something he cared about for now.
If he ever became troubled, he could always have the Devourer perform another separation—
just under much stricter supervision, by people he truly trusted.
"Are you sure?"
the Devourer asked again.
"Once fused, you won't be you anymore."
He genuinely didn't want to do this. His ability merged memories and personalities. If Shen Luohan became the new Shen Wulong, that Shen Wulong might not be nearly as… cooperative.
"This is my wish,"
Shen Luohan said with a vicious smile.
"And you'll become the new highest-ranking executive. As for that idiot outside—let him die."
Xia Ji, that fool, still didn't know Shen Luohan was even here. He truly thought he was about to become the Worm's supreme leader.
Once Shen Luohan became the new Connector, the first thing he would do was kill Xia Ji. That kind of stupidity dragged down the organization's average IQ far too much.
"I don't care about being a top executive,"
the Devourer said grimly.
"I only want you to kill Kurosaki Rei. I want his corpse."
The Devourer was trapped.
If he refused the surgery, Shen Luohan would kill him—he had the strength to do so.
If he performed it, he couldn't pull any tricks either. Shen Luohan had deployed ten submarines to encircle the isolated island.
If anything went wrong during the operation, the Devourer would be greeted by a missile barrage—at worst, even nuclear fire.
With his abilities, escape was impossible.
So he could only obediently perform the fusion surgery.
"No problem,"
Shen Luohan smiled.
"To the Shen Wulong I'm about to become, Kurosaki Rei is just a minor character. As an arms dealer, I value one thing above all—integrity. Your wish will be fulfilled."
"Now—begin the fusion."
......
Kurosaki Rei, of course, had no idea that Shen Wulong's version update was underway.
He was currently wandering through an ocean of martial arts.
Three days had passed since the Kengan Annihilation Tournament. After order was restored, he had fought an extra match with Kuroki Gensai the very next day.
With physical strength restricted, the two had enjoyed a fierce and satisfying exchange.
The result held no surprises—Kurosaki Rei still won.
To many Kengan members, this felt only natural. Chairman Katahara Metsudo had ruled the Kengan Association for far too long. Few truly believed the Annihilation Tournament could dethrone him.
What shocked everyone, however, was that after winning and gaining the right of nomination, Katahara Metsudo did not nominate himself—
—but instead nominated Nogi, the very initiator of the tournament.
Kurosaki Rei wasn't surprised at all. The old man was simply too old and wanted a reliable successor. The tournament itself had always been just one of his amusements.
Afterward, Kurosaki Rei and Kuroki held a friendly discussion on the principles of martial arts. Both absorbed parts of each other's techniques and improved—it was a case of no fight, no friendship. They ended up on very good terms.
Then Kurosaki Rei returned to the territory of the Wu Clan and plunged straight into their Scripture Pavilion.
As the Wu Clan's benefactor, Wu Hui-liang opened the back door for him. As long as he didn't pass anything on, Kurosaki Rei could learn whatever he wanted.
Like a starving sponge, Kurosaki Rei rapidly absorbed these refined techniques, simulating and integrating them in his mind. Combined with the battles of recent days, his specialization level rose yet again.
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