"Cough... cough..." Blood and foam kept spurting from Su Xiaoxiao's mouth. Her ribs had fractured inward, piercing her lungs, making each breath extremely difficult.

Chen Ran seemed to be anticipating something, as if unwilling to miss a wonderful moment. He leaned close to Su Xiaoxiao's ear, licking his lips. "Miss Su," he said softly, "guess what... how I'm going to entertain you next?"

He excitedly swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his mouth stretching into an exaggerated grin. The excitement and madness in his eyes were almost uncontrollable, but he still pretended to be subdued. "I'll start by chopping off one of your arms and throwing it on the stone plate."

"If I can get what I want, that would naturally be the best. If not..." He paused. "We still have another arm and two legs to try."

"Of course, I believe Miss Su's luck won't be so bad that we have to use your body," Chen Ran said with a smile, his mouth splitting open to reveal a row of stark white teeth. "Don't you think so, Miss Su?"

Chen Ran didn't like killing people in Nightmare Assault, as it would taint him with so-called karma. He only liked torment, for the pitiful sight of those people desperately trying to survive was what moved him the most.

Because only then would those people understand the preciousness of life.

He would even generously throw teammates who were on their last breath into the iron gate first, letting them leave and return to the real world.

Torment wasn't the goal, just a means. What he truly wanted was... edification!

Yes, edification!

Some people were truly too fragile. They had only just arrived in the nightmare world, encountered some strange events, and already cried to go back, unwilling to take even the slightest risk, even... for clues.

Too many stupid, humble, and shameful fellows were waiting to reap the rewards without sowing.

Completely淪為奴隸 of fear.

If the team suffered heavy casualties or encountered some supernatural and terrifying events, some of them... would even be so afraid that they would commit suicide.

Every time he encountered such a person, Chen Ran would control them and then torment them little by little.

He would first try to cut open their blood vessels, letting them watch as the blood flowed from their wrists, little by little, then more and more, staining the plants and soil around them red...

But what Chen Ran didn't understand was that every time this happened, these people who were determined to die would beg him bitterly, saying they didn't want to die, they wanted to live.

What a group of two-faced fellows.

With absolutely no respect for life.

Of course, he would eventually satisfy them, but before he threw them, half-dead, into the iron gate, these people would inevitably suffer.

Chen Ran was more accustomed to chopping off their limbs.

This made them much lighter to carry and easier to transport. The only problem was that stopping the bleeding was too troublesome, so he could only use this method for a very short period before the gate opened.

After returning to reality, their missing limbs would be restored to them. Chen Ran was very satisfied with this characteristic of Nightmare Assault.

He didn't mind people calling him crazy, because after tracing the origin of this word, it had no clear meaning of praise or criticism. It was merely a matter of perspective, representing what was not understood by the world.

Like Beethoven, Van Gogh, Nietzsche...

They were also once called madmen by the world, intolerable to secular eyes.

But the greatness of time lies in its ability to make the true and wonderful moments shine ever brighter, while burying all the hypocrisy and vulgarity.

Beethoven used stormy melodies to counter the argument that had existed since Bach, which claimed that music was external to personal emotion and should be a pleasing work of art.

Only after Van Gogh left his ears and lived in Saint-Rémy did he create exaggerated and distorted starry skies and irises, as well as those restless, deep blue tones.

And... Nietzsche.

Oh, Nietzsche!

A look of infatuation appeared in Chen Ran's eyes.

An aloof and stubborn personality, a pessimistic ideology, these were Nietzsche's indelible labels.

In Chen Ran's eyes, whether it was the ambiguity with Salomé, the separation from Wagner, or even being packaged by his sister as an evil spiritual godfather, and finally dying in an insane asylum... none of this could obscure the fleeting glory of the latter pointing at the plaque of Christianity and calmly saying to the world, "God is dead."

A person is alone not because he wants to be lonely, but because he cannot find his kind around him.

Chen Ran smiled with tears in his eyes.

Nietzsche's tragedy was not repeated on him. What Nietzsche failed to find, he... had found.

Crimson...

Was his destination.

"Miss Su," Chen Ran squinted, looking up at the sky. "It's getting late. If you have nothing else to say, then we'll have to..."

Su Xiaoxiao, curled up on the ground, moved. Chen Ran stared at her with interest. She was obviously reacting to his words. Did she... have something to say?

"My brother... cough cough..." Su Xiaoxiao spat out a mouthful of blood, some of which even splashed on Chen Ran, but neither of them cared. She trembled and said with difficulty, "Is he..."

"Miss Su, please rest assured," Chen Ran interrupted her, then squinted and leaned close to Su Xiaoxiao's ear, whispering, "There's a high probability that your brother is already dead. Even if he isn't, he will be when I get back."

"Cough cough..." Hearing this, Su Xiaoxiao coughed up another mouthful of blood. The "huff huff" sound of her breathing was as rapid as an old bellows with a leak.

Chen Ran was very satisfied with Su Xiaoxiao's reaction.

He had already decided to spare her life. After all, there were very few interesting people like her left. He was looking forward to their next meeting. Perhaps... without the burden of her brother, this woman would be even more interesting.

"Miss Su, please straighten your right arm," Chen Ran said, picking up a spear-like weapon from the side of the tomb, testing the edge with his finger, and tilting his head. "The weapons here aren't very handy. Cooperate a little. It'll be better for both of us."

Just as Chen Ran was looking for the best angle, wondering where to start comfortably, he suddenly heard a somewhat grating sound. He put away the spear, lowered his eyes, and looked at Su Xiaoxiao, who was like a dead dog.

"Heh... heh..."

Although the sound was very low and mixed with the "huff huff" of her panting, it was still clear.

She was laughing.

This woman, who was about to have her limbs chopped off and could even lose her life if she wasn't careful, was actually laughing.

"Even if... even if you can... cough cough, kill... kill me, you still... can't beat him," Su Xiaoxiao said in a hoarse voice.

"Who?" Chen Ran raised an eyebrow. "That Hao Shuai?"

"You... you don't really think I believed what you said, do you?" Su Xiaoxiao laughed even more wildly, her whole body convulsing from the pain caused by the laughter. "Guess... guess why Hao Shuai and the others haven't shown up?"

After a moment, Chen Ran put away his weapon, and his expression turned gloomy as he looked at Su Xiaoxiao. "It seems Miss Su has more than one partner."