The piercing, grating hiss of steam kept echoing down, growing louder and clearer. I watched silently, my heart pounding with dread, as in the sky, something drew closer and closer—it was my corpse, the Spectral Juggernaut, Ethan Zhang.
“Heh, interesting. So this is what that old guy Luban—legendary craftsman and now a ghostly scientist—managed to create?”
Mr. Oblivion released his grip and slowly stood up, his movements tense and cautious.
My corpse kept letting out beast-like roars, raw and furious. Its right fist was raised high, swelling as if inflated, brimming with terrifying power.
A look of shock flashed in Mr. Oblivion’s eyes, and he actually dodged to the distance instead of taking it head-on. Suddenly, I saw my corpse’s spine spray out a cloud of white gas, and in an instant, it charged straight toward Mr. Oblivion, relentless and unstoppable.
The swollen fist smashed toward Mr. Oblivion at incredible speed—I couldn’t even see it clearly before Mr. Oblivion crossed his arms and was sent flying into the distance, his body crashing with brutal force.
A sickening crack rang out as Mr. Oblivion’s arms bent downward. With a thunderous boom, my corpse landed right beside me, radiating menace.
The surrounding bugs gradually scattered, fleeing in terror. Although my appearance hadn’t changed much—except for the rows of tiny holes along my spine—my body radiated a chilling aura that made all living things shudder with instinctive fear.
After rolling on the ground for a while, Mr. Oblivion stood up, raising his already bent arms and silently watching us, his gaze full of wariness and pain.
“Hardness, speed, power, angle of attack, and precision—it’s all nearly perfect. That old guy Luban really did make something extraordinary, Ethan Zhang.”
My corpse slowly came to my side and stared at me in silence. I looked back at it just as seriously. Suddenly, my corpse moved, squatted down, gently picked me up, and set me on a large stone, letting me lean back. Its cold, emotionless eyes gazed at me, as if saying: Rest easy.
I nodded and then managed a faint smile.
“This body must have been reconstructed by those guys from the Nether Syndicate. It’s truly impressive—even harder than Stygian Bone.”
Mr. Oblivion spoke, and with a crackling sound, I saw his broken arms automatically straighten and reattach themselves.
“I’m counting on you—hold him off for me. I have to save Howard Zhang.”
As I spoke, a creaking sound echoed. My corpse actually nodded.
I stared in astonishment as jets of white gas sprayed from its spine. It shot up into the air, roaring furiously.
Mr. Oblivion slowly walked over, smiling and stretching out his hands. At that moment, streaks of red began to glow, and I saw a crimson key emerge from his palm. He gripped it and inserted it into the lock.
“Good thing you handed me the key. Heh, Ethan Zhang, if you think hope is right in front of you, I’ll use this fist to destroy, once again, the spark of hope inside you.”
With a crisp click, the key turned. The handcuffs on Mr. Oblivion’s wrists came off, and his body began to swell, bit by bit.
I started checking my own body, but still couldn’t feel even a trace of strength. I’d seen the same thing happen to The Dragon before, but he broke free of it in the end. I had to try again.
Mr. Oblivion’s body began to change. Those black muscles looked like chunks of stone, piling up together. He stepped forward, and with a thunderous crash, the ground beneath his feet caved in.
The bugs around us seemed to sense something and began burrowing into the ground. The air was tense with the anticipation of battle. Still, I couldn’t feel anything, and my connection to the Ghost Soul was severed.
With a thunderous roar and a piercing whistle, my corpse charged at Mr. Oblivion, both fists swollen. Mr. Oblivion just stood there, crackling his knuckles.
With a boom, their fists collided. In an instant, a violent storm erupted, blowing everything away. I was swept up too. Around those two, nothing remained but swirling black dirt.
"When it comes to strength, I’m the superior one."
With a crash, I drifted through the air, slowly falling toward the ground. My corpse was struck and slid toward me, crackling as it moved. Flames flickered in the air. Smoke billowed from my corpse’s fists—and from Mr. Oblivion’s too, his knuckles creaking as he squeezed them tight.
Mr. Oblivion stepped toward my corpse. I landed on the ground. The city’s bugs burrowed back underground, and the ruined ghost domain was devastated. What I worried about most was Howard Zhang in the distance.
Brother Owen and Howard Zhang were still thirty or forty meters apart. It seemed that reincarnation was not so easily achieved.
The wind and sand in the sky kept swirling. Allen Zhang was still clinging to life—he’d done enough. Now I just needed to find a way to open the blocked Ghost Gates and draw power from underground once more. This time, I had to do it.
I started to get up and sat cross-legged. My arms still hadn’t grown back. In the distance, thunderous booms echoed—my corpse and Mr. Oblivion were locked in a fierce battle, colliding again and again in midair. All I could see was a blur of green and black; I couldn’t make out any details of their fight.
"Move, move..."
I shouted, closing my eyes and trying to sense. Still nothing—the connection was severed. Then I felt something strange beside me. It was the Desire Ghost, appearing at my side with Sophie Sun in tow.
“Ethan Zhang, save Zhang Hao, save Zhang Hao...”
As soon as she appeared, Sophie Sun broke down in tears. I nodded.
(Irrelevant system message skipped.)
“I will. I promise—I swore to my cousin’s wife that I wouldn’t just stand by and watch Howard Zhang die. Never.”
The Desire Ghost whimpered, looking at me.
“If this keeps up, you won’t last.”
I looked at her seriously, then shook my head.
“Desire Ghost, I’m begging you—inject all your Desire Force into my mind. I need to restore my Ghost Aura.”
But Desire Ghost seemed unwilling. She hesitated.
“But, but... Qingyuan, your Ghost Soul is already...”
“No buts. Please—I’ve had enough. Once was already too much. Everything that happened on Ghost Tomb Mountain—once is enough.”
I roared, bowing my head as waves of sorrow surged inside me.
But Desire Ghost still refused to help. She looked at me with worry, and I stared back at her.
“I told you all a long time ago—the reason I stayed in the Forest of Desire for over two years was because I didn’t want to watch the things I care about slip away again. I didn’t want to cry anymore. That’s why I endured those hard days with everyone in the Forest of Desire. Do you really want to see my efforts wasted?”
I shouted. Desire Ghost was frightened, her voice trembling as she spoke.
“No, Qingyuan, but... you really will die if you force that move.”
I smiled, stood up, squatted beside Desire Ghost, and gently leaned my head toward her. Her small hand softly covered my head.