Chapter 325 Wish

The moment the sound exploded in his mind, Rick's knees nearly buckled.

He gritted his teeth and stood still.

The rock platform trembled slightly beneath his feet, and gray mist surged in from all directions, pressing heavily on his skin. The huge gray-white eyeball above his head still hung there, devoid of emotion, simply watching him silently.

Rick steadied his breathing and loosened his clenched fists.

Because Lake was very clear about his situation.

His supernatural powers were completely stripped away, and his body was compressed back into human form. He couldn't sense a single one of the swarming insects. The rocky platform was only three or four steps square, surrounded by emptiness. Moving was pointless, shouting went unanswered, and struggling was just a waste of energy.

The voice had already said it three times.

"Your wish is granted."

The first time it came from afar, the second time it came closer, and the third time it was directly shoved into my brain.

The person on the wall urged him to speak.

Rick looked up at the half-giant face in the gray fog, and the gray-white eye that occupied the entire sky.

He had already recognized the place.

The swarming insects extracted memories from the minds of the third-tier Gray Pact members; these transcendent believers received their commands here. Kneeling on the rocky platform, facing the head in the gray mist, they received the orders conveyed by the figures on the wall.

Now it's his turn.

The person on the wall had no intention of letting him go. At least not until he spoke.

Rick made his judgment.

Instead of passively waiting for the other party to make their next move, it's better to test the waters first. If this thing can truly fulfill your wishes, then let it prove it. If it can't, at least you can determine where its limitations lie.

Rick spoke up.

The sound was very faint in the gray fog, like a pebble thrown into a deep well.

"Please eliminate all of the Empire's enemies without resorting to deception or any equivalent means."

He paused for a moment.

"I am willing to give everything I have."

The head in the gray fog did not respond.

The grayish-white eyeball slowly turned half an inch and stopped directly above Rex. The silence lasted for a long time, so long that Rex almost thought the other party had no intention of answering.

Then the sound rang out.

"You are unable to pay."

The same multiple overlapping sounds, the same deep, thunderous texture, but only four words.

Rick's fingers tightened slightly.

The man on the wall could do it. He just couldn't afford the price.

Even a fourth-tier, bizarre, extraordinary being willing to sacrifice everything was still not enough to obtain the wish to "eliminate all enemies of the empire." The abilities of the person on the wall far exceeded his original assessment, and the mechanism of the wish was also clear: an equivalent exchange, with the wisher bearing the cost.

Rex didn't panic; instead, he calmed down.

Since the other party has rules in place, let's continue testing.

"Without violating the Imperial Code, allow me to reach the seventh rank."

This time, the person on the wall responded even faster.

"The rules forbid it; there's nothing I can do."

When Rick heard the words "the rules do not allow it," his last shred of hope vanished.

The being on the wall is bound by some kind of rule. Beyond its own power, the seventh rank implies that this being is at least legendary in level. Those members of the Gray Pact had clearly made a promise; they accepted the price dictated by the being on the wall.

And the price they paid was themselves.

Rex confirmed one thing: the people on the wall were strong, but they had limits.

The head remained suspended in the gray mist, its pupil-less eye fixed on Rex, as if waiting for him to utter a wish that would grant Him.

Lake made the final decision.

"Let me leave here, provided it doesn't violate my beliefs."

This time, the person on the wall did not respond immediately.

The gray fog began to slowly surge, and the surge became larger and larger. The fog rose from all around the rock platform, carrying a vague sense of oppression.

Then an invisible force spread from the depths of the gray fog and landed on Rex.

Rick was unable to resist; his body was out of control, his limbs were stiff, and his consciousness was being pulled in a certain direction.

There was no pain or other sensations; instead, a picture came into my consciousness.

It was a small town near a cliff.

Everywhere there were low walls made of piled stones, with kerosene lamps hanging on them, their dim yellow flames flickering in the wind.

The sky was so dark that the sun was nowhere to be seen, and in the distance, clusters of barren mountains stretched all the way to the horizon.

The wind howled, whipping up pebbles and dry weeds from the ground, which rustled against the walls.

The town looked very small, with only a few dozen households. Stone walls surrounded several rows of low houses with rough stone slabs on the roofs.

Clearly, this place is remote and desolate, belonging to the outermost corner of the empire's territory.

The scene unfolded before Rick's eyes; he couldn't close his eyes or look away.

But he recognized the place.

There was only one night watchman in the town, a retired veteran, wearing a faded dark gray uniform, the subtle patterns on the cuffs no longer discernible.

He was the only superhuman in the town, and the only person within a hundred miles who could stand at the forefront when strange beings appeared.

The people in the town were chatting and laughing, busy packing something, and just then...

The sky in the picture suddenly darkened.

The ground began to tremble, the kerosene lamps on the stone wall swayed, several fell off their iron hooks, their glass covers shattered in the mud, and the flames struggled for a moment in the wind before going out.

The townspeople were clearly stunned. Adults were shouting, the night watchmen rushed to the front, and the children were pushed to the middle. One by one, specially made torches were brought out.

Soon the light reappeared, and the town seemed to return to normal, but then...

The ground trembled, countless cracks spread, and in the next moment, countless insects swarmed out from beneath the ground.

It was an endless stream of dark brown fleshy worms, emerging in continuous swathes from the cracks in the stone walls, the fissures in the soil, and under the foundations of houses.

They huddled together like a wriggling carpet, covering every inch of the town's ground almost instantly. The insects were stout, with short, interdigital segments, and their bodies were covered with rings.

Looking at the scene before him, Rick remained calm, his eyes showing no emotion whatsoever.

At this moment, Rick understood exactly what the person on the wall was doing.

The scene continues, and the surging insects begin to feed.

The moment those people gathered on the ground touched the insects, their flesh was eroded at a visible speed. The insects burrowed under the skin and into the muscles, and wormholes appeared on the bodies of the living people.

Screams filled the entire town; some people fell to the ground, swatting at the insects on their bodies, while others carried their children and ran into the alleyways.

The man in the gray uniform stood at the very front.

With a torch in one hand and a dark halo appearing in the other, it was clearly the Night Watchman's extraordinary power. As the light swept across, a large number of insects were driven away, curling up and retreating into the cracks in the stone wall.

But it only dispels the stagnation.

The Night Watchman in the scene was clearly stunned.

Everything before him seemed to be beyond his expectations.

The swarm of insects had no end, continuously emerging from the ground.

With each insect the man shooed away, more crawled up from the other direction behind him. His aura began to flicker, the dark light growing dimmer with each passing moment.

Sweat streamed into his eyes. He raised his hand to wipe it, and there were already three or four wormholes on the back of his hand, from which blood was seeping.

He eventually couldn't hold on any longer. The number of people behind him being swallowed by the swarm of insects dwindled, because there were not many left who could stand.

The man turned his head and hoarsely roared out the last sentence.

"Grab the torches and charge out—"

Before he could finish speaking, insects crawled out of his flesh.

The dark gray uniform was torn open from the inside by the surging insects, and within seconds, only a clump of wriggling insects remained on the ground.

The crowd desperately tried to break free.

The adults led the way with torches, and insects crawled onto the torches, devouring the burning strips of cloth.

The people in front set their clothes on fire and ran forward, the flames illuminating a short stretch of road.

But human beings are ultimately limited.

As the last flames died down, the swarm of insects surged forth, and people collapsed, howling in pain.

In the end, only two children survived.

Their bodies had been burrowed into by insects, and they could feel the nauseating wriggling beneath their skin. One of them howled and collapsed into the swarm of insects.

And then another child suddenly went mad.

He charged into the swarm of insects.

"Ugh! You disgusting creatures, what right do you have to eat us! What right do you have!"

He roared, grabbing with his hands and biting with his teeth, stuffing the worms into his mouth, chewing them up, and swallowing them.

Insects were gnawing at his flesh, and he was eating insects in return. Holes kept appearing on his body, and gray insects would sway with half their bodies protruding from the openings.

He felt the fetching was too slow.

He simply plunged headfirst into the swarm of insects, desperately opening his mouth wide to devour them and chew them up. The insects burst open between his teeth, and sticky juices mixed with blood dripped down his chin.

His flesh and blood are disappearing.

The muscles in his arms were gnawed through by insects, revealing white bones through the skin lacerations. The clothes on his chest were torn apart by the surging insects, and no intact flesh could be seen inside.

All that remained was a thin sac and the surging insects beneath.

But he kept biting, his chest filled with immense hatred, and only one thought remained: revenge, revenge!!

And so, after an unknown amount of time, the insect swarm receded. Of course, it's also possible that they were frightened by the children's imposing presence, or that they had already eaten their fill.

The child knelt on the gravel ground, his fingers digging into the soil, still groping for insects. His eyes had been eaten away, and insects crawled out of the empty eye sockets, but he could no longer feel them.

Unable to find the insects outside, he began to dig into himself, tearing open his skin and flesh to pry the insects out one by one and stuff them into his mouth. The salty, fishy smell of the soil mingled with the metallic stench of blood, but he didn't care; he only wanted to kill them all.

Until all the worms in his body were eaten.

He finally ran out of strength and collapsed to the ground in despair, awaiting death.

This is a small town on the border of the empire, and also an imperial outpost. The people who live here do more than just live; they also take care of many other things.

He didn't know what he could do, but at least he wanted people to know what had happened here.

He got up and groped his way in one direction. He staggered along through the endless Gobi Desert. His torn chest was open, the remaining skin swaying in the wind, empty inside.