Chapter 772: The King Who Dies With the World / Return to the Arena Hotel

The End had arrived at its final stage.

Nefrolo’s life had also reached its conclusion.

He sat peacefully amidst the wind and snow.

His body began to crumble, just like this world.

In truth, he could have left.

He could have left at any time from the very beginning.

As a strong man, he was fully capable of walking out of this world, tearing a hole through the End, and leaving this place.

But Nefrolo was unwilling.

His people were buried here, his kingdom was buried here.

So his end, too, belonged here.

Ye Qiyan stepped out of the Barrier that was on the verge of shattering.

He took down the Key from the icicle, which had already lost its effect and was now utterly useless.

No words of persuasion, no exchange.

If this place was his Station World.

Then at this moment, all he had to do was drive the Train to leave.

But that wasn’t the case. Ye Qiyan still had a proper Fifty-Third Station to conquer.

And the way back was one, and only one.

【Anchor】

The Blasphemy Card was pinched between his two fingers.

A dark gold radiance surged around him, forcefully pushing back the encroaching ice of the 【End】.

Ye Qiyan cast one last glance at Nefrolo.

Then.

Anchor Point confirmed.

【Sailing—】

【Drowning...】

Nefrolo looked toward the direction where Ye Qiyan had vanished. His body was gradually disappearing, and with the last shred of his will, he let out a final murmur belonging to the 【King of Glory】.

"May your... path ahead... never break..."

King of Glory·Nefrolo

Died alongside his world.

—————

"Heh, whew, that was really damn cold."

The moment he opened his eyes, Ye Qiyan stretched lazily as he looked at the familiar surroundings around him.

"Not a bad haul. A Disaster Card and... another Ring of Sovereignty, huh?"

He spread open his palm.

That ordinary-looking ring lay quietly there.

"Phew... King of Glory, and before that, the Cruel King. Tsk tsk, just how many weird and bizarre existences are still out there in the Wasteland? It really makes a guy curious, but..."

The Matrix space unfolded.

Ye Qiyan entered it and returned to his Train, which was docked at the station within this Matrix space.

He shed his clothes and walked over to the 【Record Wall】, which bore the memories of his past adventure spoils.

He took the Display Case handed over by Lisette.

A strand of Spirit energy merged into it, completing the Sublimation.

He placed the ring in his hand inside it, and above it, he inscribed a line of text.

【King of Glory·Nefrolo·The Crown Bearer Who Dies With the World】

This was the sixth item on the Record Wall.

The one before it was the bottle of wine from Akula Tengo, who had died in 【Salvation】 in Miranda City, and Laine’s Scepter.

Ye Qiyan hesitated for a moment, then looked at the still somewhat empty wall, and took out the other ring from the Matrix space as well.

After that previous upgrade, although the Matrix space was not as flexible and convenient as the Storage Unit in terms of storage, if he wanted to retrieve a specific item from the space, it was still quite easy.

So, there was no need to keep some things in the Storage Unit all the time.

For example, this other ring obtained from 【Cruel King·Asmodeus】.

Lisette handed him another Display Case again; he had bought quite a few of these on the Trading Platform.

Another strand of Spirit energy was injected into it.

He placed the Ring of the Cruel King inside.

Ye Qiyan also inscribed a line of text above it.

【Cruel King·Asmodeus·A Strand of Broken Kingly Soul】

The number of items on the wall had now reached seven.

In the future, there would surely be even more.

But his Train would also keep expanding its space.

This wall, too, would grow larger and taller.

Perhaps...

This wall would never be filled, after all.

"Ha~ I’m exhausted, dead tired. I’ve been listening to stories for the past two days. Nefeti, got any energy left?"

"Chirp~"

"Good. You did well these past couple of days. I’ll give you a reward later, hehe."

Ye Qiyan poked Nefeti’s body, then took off the remaining clothes he had on and headed to the Water Storage Carriage, planning to take a good bath.

Lisette picked up his clothes, intending to wash them, so she prepared to follow him to the Water Storage Carriage. But before leaving this place, she stopped in her tracks.

She looked toward the bottom of that wall, and blinked.

"Mmm... I feel like..."

She thought for a moment, then took out the camera Ye Qiyan had given her. From within it, she selected a photo of her master sitting by the window in the Wasteland, looking outward, placed it in a Display Case, and set it right in the center of this wall.

"Mhm! This way, it looks nice."

After resting for a while, Ye Qiyan hadn’t forgotten that he still had some serious business to take care of.

After changing his clothes, he returned to the hotel room.

He dispelled the power of 【Arrogance】 that had been lingering in this place all along.

He called up the Nether system and sent a Call to Emilie.

Shortly after he sent the message, Emilie rushed into the room. When she saw Ye Qiyan, her face was full of excitement.

"Boss! You’re finally back! I, I thought you had—!"

"Thought I’d skipped town? What are you thinking? I haven’t earned... *ahem*... I mean, I haven’t passed the Trial yet and proven myself. Of course, I wouldn’t leave."

Ye Qiyan coughed lightly.

This station, aside from taking a bit more time, could steadily earn him a huge amount of Train Coins. He wouldn’t be willing to leave just like that.

"By the way, if I calculate the time, I should have only been gone for a day, right? Why are you this anxious?"

At this mention, Emilie’s expression turned indignant.

"Boss, just today, some reporters from a newspaper came for an interview. Since you weren’t here, I told them you didn’t like interviews and were resting quietly.

Those troublemakers who love to watch the world burn! They actually started spreading rumors that you had used some forbidden power that consumed your Stamina and Spirit ceiling,

to kill Caribbean in a single slash. Now that you’re not showing up, it’s supposedly because your injuries are severe and you don’t dare to show your face. I was worried it would affect your comings and goings, so I didn’t dare go out to explain either.

But it’s fine now! Now that you’re back, Boss, as long as you step out once, those rumors will collapse on their own! I’ll contact the newspaper right now and..."

"No need to contact them."

The corner of Ye Qiyan’s mouth curled up into a subtle arc.

"Fancy me being the one to run into something like this. Hehe, just let them keep thinking that. I don’t feel like going out anyway. Emilie, want to play some games?"

He took out a game console and tossed a controller to Emilie.

"Huh?"

Looking at the controller, then back at Ye Qiyan, who was already picking out games with Lisette, Emilie was a little bewildered.

She found that she could never seem to understand what Ye Qiyan was thinking.

But... games?

A few fragmented images flashed through her chaotic memories.

She felt like... had she once owned a game console too? And it seemed like it was on a train...?

Her head hurt... she couldn’t remember...

What kind of person was she, back then?