Chapter 636: Don't Be Afraid (Two-in-One)

Back then...

Hearing that phrase, Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat.

He quickly stood up, staring warily at Chen Nian.

"What happened back then had nothing to do with me."

Chen Nian lowered his eyes.

"Is that so?"

"It really had nothing to do with me. You should know that. She threw herself onto that arrow, right?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Chen Mo's heart lurched.

He knew he had said the wrong thing.

Chen Nian smiled faintly.

"Second Brother, how did you know Jie'er threw herself onto it?"

"I... I..."

Weird energy surged within Chen Mo as he backed away.

Staring at Chen Nian, who felt increasingly dangerous, Chen Mo forced an awkward smile.

"Mingkai told me, of course. You know his abilities. He was there when it happened."

Chen Nian smiled again.

"Is that right? I never heard Seventh Brother mention it."

"This..."

Chen Mo cursed inwardly.

Chen Mingkai died by your hands. What could you have possibly heard him say?

"Second Brother,"

Chen Nian spoke softly.

"I know that out of everyone, you're the one who hates me the most."

"...Nonsense. Xiaonian, you know that the two of us have been the closest since we were young."

Chen Mo's smile was somewhat strained.

"When Eldest Brother and the others isolated you, wasn't I the one always by your side?"

"They treated you like a monster, Xiaonian, but I never did."

Chen Nian smiled.

"But I've read your diary, Second Brother."

"..."

The moment he heard the word 'diary', Chen Mo's pupils contracted.

"That notebook recorded the strengths, flaws, and weaknesses of all our brothers and sisters,"

Chen Nian said quietly.

"I saw it the very first time we met."

Chen Mo recalled his first meeting with his younger brother.

At the time, Chen Nian barely reached his calves and still stumbled when he walked, so he hadn't thought much of him.

Although he had long heard that Chen Nian was a once-in-a-millennium genius of the Chen Family, there were simply too many geniuses in this era.

He hadn't been wary of Chen Nian, so he had let the boy into his room.

He never expected that Chen Nian could already read, and had finished reading his most closely guarded diary.

"What kind of normal person keeps a diary? Wouldn't you agree, Second Brother?"

Chen Nian chuckled softly and said:

"You wrote that Eldest Brother was obstinate and easily swayed by flattery. You wrote that Eldest Sister had a competitive nature but lacked foresight, and that as long as Eldest Brother was dealt with, she would just stubbornly compete with him."

"You wrote that Fourth Sister was a hypocritical snob, that Seventh Brother was evil to the core, that Ninth Sister was stupid, and that Tenth Sister was weak."

"But there was nothing recorded about me in that diary."

"It must have been because I was too young and hadn't interacted with you yet."

"Once I grew a little older, you must have written some things about me too, right?"

Chen Nian smiled.

Chen Mo desperately forced a smile.

"What are you talking about, Xiaonian? I wrote that back when I was ignorant. By the time you were born, I had long stopped doing such childish things."

Chen Nian merely smiled.

"But I already knew the diary existed."

"So later, I found a way to read it a second time."

"I wanted to see how you evaluated me, but I didn't see anything."

"Next to my name, there was only a cross—an X."

As soon as he spoke, the surroundings seemed to instantly fall silent.

The final veil draped between Chen Mo and Chen Nian had been ripped away.

Chen Mo wanted to explain, but he seemed to realize that it no longer mattered.

"...That X had two meanings."

Chen Mo smiled.

In an instant, he seemed to become a completely different person. The amusement in his eyes shifted into something much crueler.

"One meant you had no obvious weaknesses."

"Because you had no emotions."

"And no desires."

"Father once said that cold-blooded people naturally shed half of their weaknesses, and those who lack wants and desires shed the other half."

"But precisely because of this, there is no one in this world without weaknesses."

"Because it's impossible for utter apathy and cold-bloodedness to exist in the same person."

"That was what Father said, and that was what I believed. But unfortunately, both he and I were wrong."

Chen Mo smiled faintly.

"Horribly wrong."

"You appeared. A guy with no desires and no emotions."

"Monster. I was the one who gave you that name. How about it, do you like it?"

Chen Mo flashed a provocative smile.

Chen Nian's eyes flickered, but he didn't speak.

He knew Chen Mo wasn't finished.

A second later, Chen Mo started to laugh.

"But I still succeeded."

"The first half of Father's words was right after all. The ultimate winner is me. You lost, and you lost everything. Want to know how I did it? Hmm?"

"Want to know why Xue Jie willingly threw herself at that arrow back then? Hmm?"

He looked at Chen Nian, repeatedly saying the things meant to stoke his fury, waiting for Chen Nian to ask.

Then he could tell Chen Nian the cruelest truth in the world.

But Chen Nian didn't speak. He said nothing at all, merely unwrapping the bandages around his body in silence.

Weird energy surged.

Those strips of white bandages fluttered into the air like moths.

For the first time, Chen Nian appeared before Chen Mo completely unhindered by bandages.

Not a single flaw could be found on his silver-white mechanical body. Perfect arcs traced across every inch of the silver casing, dividing it into sections. Exhaust vents, weird energy pumps, and fluid conduits were arranged across the chassis like a work of art.

In the distance, Tiger and the Old Man narrowed their eyes. At that moment, the same thought flashed through their minds—

This was a perfect machine.

Out of all the mechanical bodies in this world, across all the mechanical pathways, none shrunk down to this size could ever surpass the one before them.

In truth, the two hadn't seen many mechanical bodies, but that was exactly the feeling Chen Nian gave them.

The moment he appeared, he instantly eclipsed everything they had seen in the past and triumphed over any imagination they had for the future.

"You have to die."

Chen Nian looked at Chen Mo.

Chen Mo laughed.

"Three against one takes no skill."

"Heh." Chen Nian chuckled.

"I know. You want a one-on-one, so be it."

Before Chen Mo could rejoice, Chen Nian unwrapped the bandages on his neck. At the nape of his neck lay the final patch of what could be called flesh and blood.

The next second, a mechanical bone spur grew from his back and stabbed directly into that patch of flesh.

Gurgle, gurgle—

Blood sprayed out, and in its place, some other liquid was pumped into Chen Nian's body.

Chen Nian's eyes instantly turned pitch black.

Boom!

Chen Mo hesitated no longer. He stepped forward, appearing before Chen Nian almost in a blink, his right hand forming a fist.

A dark sun appeared on the back of his hand. It was as if he hoisted the rising sun high into the air before bringing it crashing down.

BOOM!!!

A cyclone and weird energy expanded simultaneously, instantly destroying the floorboards and sweeping up a storm of wood splinters. Tiger and the Old Man's expressions changed, and they rushed forward to intercept.

Chen Nian's true Tier was only the Sixth Tier.

Facing this full-powered strike from the Tenth Tier Chen Mo, it was highly likely that a single hit would completely strip him of his mobility.

But...

A crisp sound rang out.

Chen Mo looked down in disbelief.

He saw Chen Nian lightly raising his hand, effortlessly blocking the strike.

Chen Nian lifted his head. On that silver-white face, blood vessels visibly throbbed, pumping blood as soft tissue grew at a frenzied pace.

Real flesh and blood were actually growing between those cold electronic circuits and the mechanical casing.

This sight left everyone around them stunned.

Both the Old Man and Tiger were dazed.

"What is this? Flesh regeneration?"

The Old Man stared blankly at Tiger.

Tiger shook his head.

"Mr. Chen's entire origin is rewinding. He is being reborn."

Saying this, Tiger seemed to realize something and looked up at the sky.

"He deliberately excised his origin bloodline. So that's how it is... Legend says that in the ancient Great Desolation, there were bloodline behemoths who, in order to prevent their bloodlines from gradually thinning, would directly excise the bloodlines of their offspring."

"If an offspring's bloodline could undergo rebirth, it proved they had sufficient potential. The other offspring would be killed, leaving only one to be supplied with resources."

"Under such a method, a 50% bloodline could revert to 70%, and a 20% bloodline could revert to 90%."

Hearing Tiger's words, the Old Man's expression blanked.

He clearly remembered Chen Nian saying that his bloodline purity back then had already exceeded 90%.

"Who could be ruthless enough to excise their own 90% purity flesh and blood just to take a gamble?"

Tiger saw through the truth, his gaze calm.

"Either he seeks something even greater."

"Or, he truly loathes his own bloodline to the extreme."

"It obviously isn't the former, so it must be the latter..."

He looked at the Old Man beside him.

"Old Master Liu, when would you ever loathe something to the absolute extreme?"

The face of his senior martial brother surfaced in the Old Man's mind. Finally, he let out a soft sigh.

"If there really was such a thing, it must have caused me extreme agony."

Tiger said no more, nodding as he looked at Chen Nian in the distance.

At this moment, Chen Mo was similarly staring at Chen Nian in disbelief.

It wasn't just Chen Nian's flesh and blood growing madly; his Tier was skyrocketing as well.

The Seventh Rank was merely an instant, the Eighth Tier was breached directly in just a few seconds, and then... the Ninth Tier.

Horror filled Chen Mo's eyes. He couldn't afford to wait any longer. The six streams of flames behind him morphed once more, revolving one by one as a massive phantom appeared in the air, merging into his body. The six combined into one, and immediately crashed down.

BOOM!!!

Chen Nian moved as well, shockingly using the exact same technique as Chen Mo, with even more flames behind him.

A full eleven streams!!!

Those flames surged into the center of Chen Nian's brow, finally converting into fuel for steel and machinery.

In a daze, Chen Mo heard the roar of machinery, then the clash of steel, and finally, the hum of an engine.

The two fists collided, culminating in an earth-shattering boom.

Countless streaks of flowing light shot out in all directions from the point of their clash. Any faint glimmer of light that landed on the ground would corrode the surrounding space and earth, turning it into a domain of pure darkness.

Their figures remained locked in a stalemate midair, grand flames blooming across the sky.

This seemed to be an evenly matched confrontation...

Was it?

BOOM!!!

The next instant, Chen Mo coughed up blood, his entire body sent flying backward.

Behind Chen Nian, the radiance of Divinity bloomed.

He had finally advanced to the Tenth Tier, transforming into a brand-new Divine Envoy.

Behind him, the massive phantom of a flesh giant, the phantom of a golden-horned, fanged behemoth, and the phantom of a mechanical entity wearing mechanical robes and wielding a scepter all materialized in unison.

Chen Nian took a step forward, and a massive mechanical palm burst from the ground, catching him and carrying him right before Chen Mo.

Bam!

Chen Nian grabbed Chen Mo by the collar and threw a punch.

With one punch, Chen Mo's face caved in, blood flowing freely.

"Heh heh... heh heh..."

Blood spilled from Chen Mo's mouth.

But he was laughing.

"You are a monster created by me, Xiaonian."

His voice sounded like a duck trapped in a jar, yet his tone brimmed with manic triumph.

"Your title was spread by me. Your isolation was guided by me. Your failure was because of me. Therefore, your rebirth can only be attributed to me."

"And... the person you liked was also created by me."

After saying that, Chen Mo burst into uproarious laughter.

He had finally revealed this secret.

This secret he was supposed to reveal after Chen Nian's death could now only be spoken before his own.

Blood backed up into his windpipe, making him cough violently.

But he was still laughing.

"That girl, Xue Jie... Cough, cough ... I knew her since she was little."

"Her weakness was her innocence."

"Between a mature man and a monster of a boy, how would an innocent girl choose? Chen Nian."

"Of course, she chose the former."

Chen Mo laughed raucously, as if telling the funniest joke in the world.

"Do you know how terrified she was of a monster like you at first?"

"Do you know how many times I had to coax her before she was finally willing to get close to you?"

"Honestly, I can't even remember how much time I spent observing you every day, listening to you talk, all just to open up the heart of a monster like you."

"Fortunately, I succeeded in the end."

Chen Mo laughed triumphantly.

"She must have finally come to her senses, right? When her brother fired that arrow at you."

"I recall that you and her brother were actually good friends, weren't you?"

"Brilliant. Truly brilliant. Who could have imagined that a single arrow would kill two geniuses."

Chen Nian listened quietly to Chen Mo's words, his gaze tranquil as still water.

He had actually known all along that Xue Jie didn't like him.

He had also long known her motive for getting close to him.

He was a monster.

How could a monster not see through all of this?

He should have played along with their scheme, waiting until he grew up to kill everyone who dared to pry into the monster.

But it just so happened that one day, the girl seemed to wake up.

But it just so happened that one day, the girl seemed to truly understand him.

"Monster Niannian, don't be afraid."

The girl hugged his arm, seemingly speaking total nonsense.

He was a monster.

Why would he be afraid?

But as the girl said those words, she seemed to be looking toward a day in the future:

"No matter what happens in the end, don't be afraid."

"One day, you will meet monsters just like you."

"They will understand you. They'll get it."

"And you will understand too."

"It isn't just me in this world."

"Monster Niannian, you can't be afraid."

"Mhm," Chen Nian said softly.