Chapter 698: She Said She Didn't Want to Leave

But even as he had only rushed back a few dozen meters, the silver eyes atop the throne moved. An invisible iron curtain sliced across before him, and the bridge ahead of him collapsed in an instant, turning into countless shattered starlights.

"Lynn, do you know what you are doing? She is the Colossus's Heart, this is her home. She understands nothing now. It is not that she cannot live without you, it is because she has lost her past consciousness. If you interrupt this process, you are destroying her future, destroying everything about her!"

But Lynn did not step back at all.

When the bridge beneath his feet crumbled, he leaped without hesitation, vaulting high over that black void whose bottom could not be seen.

Because human beings, as a species, are truly an indescribably laughable creature.

Even if everything had long been planned.

Even if one knew it would not end well.

They still could not help but turn around, tossing aside all previous calculations and reason, stepping across that red line.

"She doesn't want to. She wants to stay by my side."

A fist crashed heavily into the iron curtain.

Countless tentacles surged wildly from his body, and through that void iron curtain, he gritted his teeth and pounded again and again at that great wall.

"I understand everything you said. From a purely rational standpoint, this is the best and most correct decision for us. Zuo Zuo returns to the Colossus to recover her past, you can fully awaken to finish what you haven't completed, and I can get your help to clear all external obstacles."

"I've been thinking about this ever since you and I established our first link. I had already imagined this moment."

"You could say everything up to now was part of my plan, but there was one thing I ignored, or rather one thing I refused to consider."

"That is her place in my heart."

Boom—

Every punch he threw battered the iron curtain, his gaze bloodshot as he stared at the knowledge-light screen almost within arm's reach.

"I know I have treated her poorly. I bullied her a lot. She always got angry and argued with me, and would sneak my money when I wasn't looking. We fought often. She was disgusted with me in so many ways, and I was equally disgusted with her. She said if leaving me would kill her, she would have already gone long ago. But I never told her the truth, because the one who would die was not her, it was me."

"And because of that, every time she saved me I felt guilty."

"Because I was a coward and couldn't be sure whether she saved me out of love for me or because of the lie I once told. I didn't know whether in her heart my position was as important as hers was in mine."

So he always couldn't help but think.

The more he thought, the more he dared not ask aloud.

Because he could be almost one hundred percent certain that if he really asked, that damned left hand would tsundere-spitefully and disdainfully say to him:

"Hmph! What a disgusting dimensional joke! In this left hand's heart, Stupid Brain, you are merely a hairy goose egg! This left hand just hasn't found the chance; otherwise I would've chopped you to pieces ages ago!"

He knew that was her personality; she never straightforwardly told you what she really thought.

And precisely because he knew that,

he had never asked, because he knew he would never hear the words he wanted from her mouth.

And he had already grown used to it…

Just like the strange looks many people gave when they learned he had a talking left hand, only he knew the absurd little thrill that flashed in his chest the first time he heard his left hand speak.

Having a hand that talked—then even in hell, maybe he wouldn't be alone anymore.

Yes.

For someone who had not dared step out the door for two years, having a hand that could listen to your crazy ramblings and never leave you was the greatest comfort he could imagine back then.

Boom—

A heavy punch struck the invisible iron curtain. His feral right eye flashed abyssal black.

Crackle, crackle, crackle—

The curse forced itself to activate, pushing him ever closer to becoming an undead skull. Flesh continuously mutated and twisted. Almost at the same time the undead curse triggered, the cataclysmic curse he absorbed from the Desire Mother Tree also began acting upon his own body.

Click.

The Cursed Eye deepened another pitch-black and crimson crack.

Countless fleshlike vines and tentacles, in the out-of-control desire curse, spread and crawled in every direction with creaks and snaps. Centered on him, the twisted vines in an instant filled his entire field of vision.

At the same time, a System prompt sounded in his ear.

[Ding! Your long-term task: Intimate Mutant, completion reached 80%, special option task triggered: Homecoming]

[Special Task: Homecoming A]: Accept an agreement with the Colossus's Brain, allow Zuo Zuo to successfully complete the Colossus's Heart metamorphosis. Task rewards: Level +3, All Attributes +10, Black Skull Coins x5, Special Legendary Reward, Assistance from the Colossus's Brain x1. Accepting ends the long-term task.

[Special Task: Homecoming B]: Break the agreement with the Colossus's Brain by any means necessary, and keep Zuo Zuo at your side. Task rewards: Completion of the Intimate Mutant task, opens the next stage task, your relationship with Zuo Zuo reaches trust.

As the prompt chimed, Lynn slammed his fist into the iron curtain, making the whole bridge tremble.

His feral expression already told the System his choice!

Boom—

But it had no effect. The silver eyes on the throne reflected the image of his cataclysm, expressionless.

Finally, that void figure struggled to rise from the throne and spoke calmly:

"I am glad you have such feelings for Her. When we leave this hell, I believe that each time She recalls this experience, She will remember that there was a friend like you in hell. That makes me happy, even envious."

"But I am sorry."

It turned its head and slowly closed its eyes. At the same time, the entire space quaked.

Under the reflection in Lynn's eyes, the girl wrapped in countless golden characters, like a golden cocoon surrounded by butterflies, began to rise before him bit by bit, and with the figure's footsteps, moved away from him.

"We have reasons to leave this hell, and our time is limited. Before this hell's curse reaches us, this is our final moment to take a gamble."

It lifted its head, gaze piercing the heavens.

"Either success or death."

Yet at the very moment it prepared to act, a loud crack resounded. The collision of cold chains rang alarmingly through the void.

It turned its head sharply. The silver pupils suddenly exploded with dazzling, icy light.

And behind it.

Chains completely formed from curse energy, like snakes, climbed and bound onto the golden-wrapped Zuo Zuo before anyone noticed, imprisoning her in place, making it impossible for it to take her away.

On the other side of the iron curtain, Lynn stretched out his bloodshot hand, the cracks in his right eye now a dense web.

"She said she doesn't want to leave."