97: Chapter 97 Lao Tzu's punches hit the man's groin.

Chen Fan's knuckles were still stained with seawater and blood, yet he held Su Shuang even tighter.

The coral shards that had scattered when the bell shattered earlier pricked the back of his neck, making him wince in pain, but the person trembling in his arms suddenly pressed her fingertips against his collarbone—Su Shuang's star-like eyes shimmered with faint golden light, as if thousands of fireflies were darting beneath them.

"Look over there," her voice was as light as sea mist; though her fox tattoo was faint, the corners of her eyes were flushed with an unusual crimson. "That's not the exit... it's the entrance."

Chen Fan followed the direction of her fingertips.

The starlight that had pierced the sea surface sometime before had changed direction, now sinking down through the fissures of the underwater palace, casting distorted shadows on the rock walls with its faint blue aura.

The deeper rift was as black as if soaked in ink, but when Chen Fan squinted, he actually saw countless huddled figures clinging densely to the rock walls—they were wrapped in translucent chains, their postures resembling unborn fetuses, their skin bearing the grayish-white hue characteristic of data.

"They are the lingering regrets of the first generation of New Players," Su Shuang's nails gently dug into his shoulder. "The bronze heart is crying; it's crying for these erased... peers."

Chen Fan's Adam's apple bobbed.

He recalled the blue cloth that fell into the Cold Dew Spring earlier, and when the names of the old coworkers rose to the surface wrapped in flames, the system prompt, "The debt must continue to be repaid," suddenly exploded in his ears.

Luo Yan's voice also chimed in: "You think critical hits fall from the sky? They make you strong because they want you to be the Scavenger."

The floor of the rift passage suddenly glowed with a cyan light.

Chen Fan looked down and saw faded system prompts surfacing wherever he stepped, the characters looking as if they had been soaked for a hundred years: "Welcome to the Game World," "Completing the mission grants survival authority," "Refusal to comply will result in erasure."

As the last line of text surfaced, a few spots of light suddenly lit up in the corner of the wall—they were the light-spot children, the data remnants coalescing into points of light rapidly spelling out the words "Save Us," but before the sound finished, they scattered into stardust with a 'chi' sound.

Chen Fan squatted down, placing his palm flat on the icy ground.

The critical hit system vibrated in his Sea of Consciousness, the mechanical voice carrying static: [Original consciousness resonance detected, triggering 'Root Preheat': The next critical hit will cause environmental resonance].

His fingertips brushed over the "Refusal to comply will result in erasure" on the ground, and he suddenly remembered Little Ma's reddened eyes before he was erased by the system—the kid had clutched his wrist as he died, saying, "Brother Fan, I always feel... we shouldn't live like this."

"They didn't die in the instance," Chen Fan's voice was hoarse as he looked up at Su Shuang. "They died on the eve of their awakening. The system was afraid they would open their eyes, so it acted preemptively..."

"So it sealed them in the bronze heart as nourishment," Su Shuang finished for him. Her fox tail emerged like a phantom behind her, lightly sweeping across a chain. "Look at those IDs; they are all names that should have vanished a century ago."

The Bronze Altar at the end of the passage materialized in the faint glow.

Chen Fan's breath hitched—a heart-shaped crystal floated in the center of the altar, its surface covered in web-like cracks. Countless data chains, like blood vessels, pierced the crystal, and on every chain hung player ID tags the size of a fingernail: "Lin Qi," "Qing Jin," "Luo Yan"... A sweet taste rose in his throat, and he almost bit his tongue until it bled.

"Dong—"

The sound of a bell came from the high platform of the altar.

Monk Shen Zhong stood amidst the bronze candlelight, his cassock billowing in the eerie wind.

He lightly shook the bronze bell in his hand. With one chime, a huddled figure on the rock wall suddenly convulsed violently, data streams surging beneath its grayish-white skin, transforming into specks of light in the blink of an eye.

"Screw your damn order!" Chen Fan gently placed Su Shuang on the stone steps at the edge of the altar, his knuckles cracking loudly. "What you're striking isn't a bell; it's the gong of a slaughterhouse!"

He rushed forward but was blocked by three dark figures.

The Echo Armor guards, clad in heavy bronze armor, had cold light reflecting off the beast patterns on their faceplates. The three stood in a triangular formation and spoke simultaneously: "Comply with instructions, eliminate anomaly."

Chen Fan's Flame Burst punch struck first.

The crimson-gold flame, wrapped in the golden light of a critical hit, smashed into the chest of the guard on the left. The moment the armor cracked, the system prompt exploded into a flurry: [Critical Hit Triggered! Damage increased by 3x!] But the guard only staggered, and the cracked armor pieces began to reassemble, the repeated voice sounding louder: "Comply with instructions, eliminate anomaly."

The second strike used Frost Devour.

An icy blue cold current wrapped in ice crystals stabbed into the joint of the guard on the right. The instant the ice spikes pierced the armor, Chen Fan saw the data streams surging inside the guard—but the next second, the layer of ice shattered, and the guard raised its arm, the repeated voice echoing: "Comply with instructions, eliminate anomaly."

The guard in the center suddenly raised a hand.

Only then did Chen Fan notice that his own ID was printed on the armor plate on its chest.

When the flame from the left guard and the cold energy from the right guard simultaneously surged into its body, its repeated voice was almost deafening: "Comply with instructions, eliminate anomaly!"

"They are the materialization of the rules," Luo Yan's voice sounded in his Sea of Consciousness. "You can't break the rules unless..."

"Unless I become the rule!" Chen Fan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and suddenly remembered the blue cloth falling into the flames before the Cold Dew Spring.

He closed his eyes. Little Ma's final roar before being erased, Qing Jin's loud laughter when his broken sword shattered, Lin Qi's half a mooncake pressed into his hand... These memories were like sparks that ignited the critical hit system in his Sea of Consciousness with a 'boom'.

Flame marrow and cold dew merged in his palm.

A light cluster interwoven with fire and blue steam rose. Chen Fan used the mist to obscure his figure, and the system prompt in his palm suddenly lit up: [Root Resonance Activated—Can attempt reverse return (Cooldown: 24 hours)].

When he opened his eyes, the rock walls and the huddled figures were reflected in his pupils; every face was smiling at him.

"You are not anomalies," he growled. "You are the first ones who said 'No.'"

The steam suddenly exploded.

Chen Fan's fist, wrapped in the dual burst of flame and frost, smashed directly toward the bronze heart in the center of the altar.

The critical hit system roared when triggered for the ninth time, and a golden wave of light, carrying memory fragments, swept out—this punch didn't hit the chains or the guards; it landed squarely inside the cracks of the bronze heart.

"Ding—"

This light sound was more piercing than Monk Shen Zhong's bell.

Chen Fan watched the cracks on the surface of the bronze heart expand, and the chains entangled with IDs suddenly vibrated violently.

Even stranger, Mo Jiu, who had remained motionless on the high platform, suddenly staggered half a step. A thin crack split open on his bronze mask with a 'ka' sound, and the red light of the entire server system announcement instantly enveloped the seabed: [Warning: State Regent Envoy 【Mo Jiu】 has suffered unknown backlash; energy fluctuations are abnormal].

Monk Shen Zhong's hand stopped mid-air, and the bronze bell fell to the ground with a dull thud.

The light spots of the light-spot children surged in from all directions. This time, they didn't spell out "Save Us," but rather "He Remembers."

Chen Fan knelt on one knee, panting as if he had just finished a ten-kilometer run.

He looked up toward the center of the altar. Pale gold mist seeped from the cracks in the bronze heart—that was the consciousness sealed for a hundred years, now struggling to break free from the chains.

"So..." He forced out a bloody smile. "What you feared wasn't how strong I was, but that I..."

"Remember too much," Su Shuang finished the sentence. Her fox tail had fully materialized and was gently sweeping across a chain. The "Little Ma" ID on that chain suddenly lit up.

The altar suddenly shook.

Chen Fan's palm was pressed against the ground, and he could clearly feel the vibration coming from the bronze heart—one beat, two beats... like an infant's first heartbeat.

On the high platform, Mo Jiu slowly raised a hand.

Behind his cracked mask, half of a pale face was revealed, and the corners of his eyes bore golden markings similar to Su Shuang's.

Chen Fan stared at the raised hand and heard the crisp sound of data chains breaking in the distance—he didn't know how many chains were rising from beneath the ground.