The scorching heat melted everything in sight into tiny, flickering shards of light.

The flames roared unceasingly.

Xie Kang stared blankly at everything before him.

As a thorough egoist, he didn't quite understand everything Jack had done.

He and Yang Lie were both task issuers, knowing that the money Yun You used to hire Jack did not exceed 300,000.

300,000, could it really buy the life of a seasoned mercenary?

And that hacker.

Clearly, hackers are also rational machines stripped of emotion, so why in this surely defeated situation, would they still seek a slim chance of survival?

Could it be because...Yun You provided him with unimaginable rewards?

Xie Kang continued to measure human nature with money.

It was his habit, and it was also the reason why a slum boy like him could stand out and become someone of importance in the company.

But it also meant he could never understand human relationships.

Still...after thinking for a moment, he felt it didn't matter.

Because Xie Kang knew in his heart that the explosion just now, though it seemed astonishingly powerful, was not enough to take Yang Lie's life.

If the life of an Apprentice Death God were so fragile, they wouldn't be the absolute rulers of Nest City.

And indeed, things were as he thought.

As the flames slowly extinguished, Yang Lie's figure reappeared amidst the smoke and dust.

Of course he wasn't dead, because at the moment of sensing the explosion, he utilized the ability of the Mad Dog Sequence.

[Wolf Blood Pursuit].

This move can manipulate one's own blood, turning it into a weapon or armor...

He withdrew the blood from his arm, forming a thin shield of blood before him, blocking out most of the heat and shockwave.

A Tier Two Apprentice Death God, although theoretically having combat strength equivalent to a regiment-level army, in reality, without specialized weapons, a regiment-level army would just be annihilated by a Tier Two Apprentice Death God, with little ability to resist.

Their defense and attack surpass conventional weaponry.

It was normal for the explosion not to kill him.

But still, not being killed is one thing...Jack's desperate strike still inflicted significant harm on Yang Lie.

The high temperatures scorched his skin, and countless fragments of nanometal produced by the explosion pierced deep into his flesh like shell fragments.

Although this was not lethal, it left him both in pain and itching, as if pierced by ten thousand glass fibers, making him extremely uncomfortable.

"What a mercenary, what a fearless man..."

Yang Lie parted his lips, enduring the sting on his body, laughing and praising him.

A mere mortal, able to receive sincere praise from an Apprentice Death God, should feel honored.

But the one who should have heard the praise was no longer there...

His fragmented remains had already turned to flames, disappearing under the endless night.

But that did not stop Yang Lie's admiration.

"Truly a good man! Truly not a disgrace to his family!"

"This final strike, even I didn't anticipate it..."

"If I weren't an Apprentice Death God, if I didn't have the Talent Ability and skills of a Death God, this strike might really have taken my life."

"It's just a pity, things in this world are sometimes unfair. So don't blame me; if you must blame someone, blame yourself for having no talent, for being only a mercenary instead of a stronger Apprentice Death God."

With that, he waved Xie Kang over.

"Doctor Xie, come."

"Your hands are steady, and you've performed surgeries before, help me remove some of the nanofragmentation in my brain first."

"These little things are incredibly uncomfortable, running around under my skin, every slight movement of muscle and ligament brings pain and itchiness."

"If I have these things during the victory celebration, I won't be able to laugh and drink with you for three days and nights."

Upon hearing this, Xie Kang hurried over, carefully examining the small wounds on Yang Lie's body, but did not immediately remove the fragments.

After a while, he suddenly shook his head with a smile, saying, "Remove them? Completely unnecessary, Lord Yang."

"You know, right? Nanoweapons don't have a central processor or anything like that; their chips are miniaturized and integrated inside every piece of nanometal."

"In other words, all the nanometal in your body still has its own processors. Despite being severely damaged in the explosion, with proper repair, they can still operate normally, even restore their previous performance."

"Later, I'll find some time to look at it for you, and directly let these nanometal integrate within your body, recognizing you as the master, thereby alleviating pain and adding a new powerful weapon; isn't that killing two birds with one stone?"

"This Nanometer Vajra Bone is a product of [Military Technology], and it's quite an invaluable prototype. I doubt you'd disdain it, right?"

These words struck a chord with Yang Lie.

Unlike most conservative Apprentice Death Gods, he is extremely fond of cybernetic modifications, not only having fully replaced his right hand with metal but also with a considerable amount of steel and chips within his organs and brain.

In his view, a decaying flesh is ultimately frail, so for an Apprentice Death God who needs to grow ever stronger, either replace it with machinery that can be frequently maintained and upgraded, or use gene editing tools to modify it so that he never ages.

That's also why he modifies his body...and pursues immortality.

And now, with such a remarkable thing as nanometer vajra bone before him, not using it would be a waste.

So he quickly accepted Xie Kang's suggestion.

"Since Doctor Xie has said so, it would be foolish of me not to accept."

Yang Lie shook his arm, wiping away the blood oozing from his skin and smiled, "Though troublesome, I can endure this bit of pain."

"Speaking of which, Doctor Xie, did you just take action against that hacker?"

He pointed to Frost Moon, who had long since fallen silent in the distance.

"Yes."

Xie Kang nodded, calmly explaining, "He tried to attack you, interfering with the duel. So I burned out his main chip with an anti-hacker signal, also frying his brain."

"He should be dead by now."

Upon hearing this, Yang Lie nodded slightly, his face devoid of emotion.

Just a hacker; dead is dead, not worth much attention.

So Yang Lie didn't even bother checking the body, he simply picked up a stone from the ground, flinging it casually. With a "thud," it pierced Frost Moon's chest, as if giving the finishing blow.

"Now, it's just 'Wu Ming' left."

Seeing Frost Moon still unresponsive, Yang Lie simply shifted his gaze, walking back to Yun You with Xie Kang.

"She's still alive, but not much different from dead."

The red-haired Death God looked the girl up and down in a victor's exalted posture.

In fact, he was indeed the absolute victor.

Yun You's group hadn't made any mistakes, nor committed any errors.

But what of it?

Just as Aurora had previously said, from the moment they stepped into this Demon Cave, their final fate had already been sealed.

This is "fate," cursed fate...

It's not something that effort alone could break.

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