Apocalypse Circular

Observing the attributes of the mummified corpse before him, Lu Luo was slightly taken aback.

In terms of strength and agility, this person fell quite short when compared with most of the Sixth Tier experts he had encountered.

Not to mention that their constitution was only rated at one.

He didn't know whether this person had these attributes before death or if they had shifted to these after death.

After all, the person once reached the Seventh Tier, and it was very difficult to judge the underlying strength of someone at that level. Therefore, Lu Luo felt that he should still show some respect.

"Who might you be?"

"I am the Predecessor, Ali. Hello, Inheritor who has come to this place."

Ali?

Lu Luo glanced up, particularly at the top of Ali's head.

It seemed...there was still a strand of hair that hadn't completely withered away.

Tsk, this nearly two-meter-tall mummified corpse was actually a woman?

Inheritor and Predecessor, huh!

So, those who come here can inherit something?

Not quite understanding, Lu Luo still decided to be truthful.

"Sorry, Ali, I'm not entirely clear on what you mean by inheritance and being a Predecessor. If one is to inherit, what can be inherited here?"

Ali smiled at Lu Luo and Qi Xinzhu.

Then, she revealed her somewhat grim set of teeth.

"I am a transmitter of human strength. Inheritors can gain strength, Sequence, and Holy Radiance from beings like us."

Seeming to anticipate Lu Luo's gesture to refuse, Ali spoke again, "Don't be so quick to reject the offer, junior. The transfer of human heritage is never that straightforward. You can first listen to my story. After hearing my tale, perhaps you will have a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Predecessor."

Lu Luo frowned slightly, unsure at that moment whether he should refuse.

"What do you mean?"

[Should I listen to the story?]

Lu Luo nodded a little.

"Very well, Elder Ali, I will listen attentively."

Upon hearing Lu Luo's agreement, the mummified Ali adjusted her collar.

With a hint of formality, she began to recount her own past.

"Before I became a Predecessor, I too had a complicated history. I was once a common believer in the Church of Truth..."

The Church of Truth!

Lu Luo did not interrupt and continued listening.

"During a collective gathering at the church, a male believer from our parish told me that there was something he had kept from me. I asked curiously what it was, and then he revealed to me something that changed my life. He said to me: 'Ali, you may not be aware, but at one point, I played a prank on you.' I replied: 'Ah? Haha, is that so? A prank aimed at me? Which incident are you speaking of?'"

At this point, Lu Luo frowned.

Which incident?

From Ali's tone, it was clear she had been pranked more than once during her time as an ordinary church believer. That was why she asked in that way.

Ali seemed to sense the slightly astonished look in Lu Luo's eyes. With a smile, she continued her story, "The male believer continued, 'Back then, Ali was the most self-conscious female believer in the parish! One day, I forged an anonymous love letter and tricked her into waiting in the church's prayer room after the afternoon prayers for a date that would never happen.' It was only then I learned that he had written the letter. He confessed in front of everyone just to ridicule me. No one sympathized with me; everyone was laughing uproariously. I was actually very angry, but I didn't show it. I began to speak calmly, as I am speaking to you now.

"That night, I always believed that the person who professed love to me would definitely come. He must have been delayed by some other urgent matters. So, I waited for him, and waited, and waited, well into the late hours, until deep into the night."

When Ali spoke of this, Lu Luo had already sensed something amiss.

The aura emanating from the mummified Ali was no longer as pure and bright as before, but had become... incredibly evil!

It was the purest form of malevolence, and malice!

However, the mummified Ali continued to calmly narrate her story, and Lu Luo decided to keep listening.

"At the very moment I was waiting for my admirer, my father, concerned that I hadn't returned home all night, died in a car accident on his way to find me. My mother, unable to bear the shock of losing her husband, took her own life. Orphaned and without support, I was sent to live with my uncle's family. From that day on, every single day was spent enduring beatings.

"I lost all hope in life, became self-destructive, stopped believing, and stopped praying. Step by step, I walked a path of no return. Having fallen so low, I eventually ended up in prison for committing a crime. In jail, I spent twenty-five years.

"After I was released, the sense of alienation from life made me think of death. But I knew I still had unfinished business! I wanted revenge! These people, they all deserved to die!"

When Lu Luo looked at the mummified Ali again, he noticed that the energy within her had been replaced by pure black Holy Radiance.

That's right, black Holy Radiance.

This kind of energy was simply more outrageous than Qi Gefei's evil form.

"Revenge? With such experiences, vengeance seems quite justified."

Lu Luo was no saint of the Wasteland. He firmly believed in the principle of an eye for an eye. Ali's ordeal was indeed brutal: the loss of both parents and half a lifetime wasted. To him, her choice of vengeance was a natural response. Never mind any talk about her own faults. Lu Luo distinctly remembered what the mummified Ali had said earlier. She mentioned not knowing which prank it was. This indicated that she had suffered countless pranks already. When an avalanche occurs, no snowflake is innocent. The birth of a massacre, a disaster, surely has its reasons. At the point where one loses everything, most people talk only about karma, not humanity.

"What did you do to them?"

"I invited everyone from that gathering, and everyone who ever bullied me, to meet. Then... I planned to kill them one by one!"

"Where did your power come from?"

Lu Luo knew that the key lay within the mummified Ali herself. Based on her earlier account, Ali must have been one of those marginal figures in the group. A character who could be bullied to such an extent would not likely possess formidable strength. If Ali had the power to slaughter all of these people before, they surely wouldn't have had the chance to bully her. This was a simple and obvious truth. The trajectory of the mummified Ali's life was quite apparent. The only thing that could have changed her were those twenty-five years in prison, which was what interested Lu Luo.

"What happened during your twenty-five years, Senior Ali?"

"I gained favor from my lord, who bestowed upon me strength, blessings, and trust. Humanity is filthy, and the world needs purification. And I, I am the weapon to purify this filth, the chosen one of my lord.

"I killed them all and made their bones into bracelets which I gave to their family and friends. I enjoy watching their faces filled with hatred towards me, yet unable to retaliate. Seeing them suffer is truly a delightful thing.

"Amidst the slaughter, I gradually shed the shadow of my hatred because I now had a greater and more noble cause: to be my lord's blade, to clear every obstacle from my lord's path. Because of this, I stand here today as a Predecessor. My lord once said that those who can come here and discover me are all worthy Inheritors. So, Inheritor, are you ready to receive my lord's power?"

At this moment, the mummified Ali looked like a crazed figure with a completely twisted mind. Her situation and experiences didn't seem at all like those a normal will would select. To select someone with such experiences and a completely twisted mind... Lu Luo's first thought was of the heretic deities from those texts! The high-ranking Exotic Species! Only heretic deities would beguile and twist the minds of humans. Just like a Nightmare Demon! That's why he sensed something was strange.

"Senior Ali, was there a Wasteland Alliance during the time you lived?"

"Wasteland Alliance? Never heard of it. I have no interest in continuing this irrelevant conversation. Inheritor, have you made up your mind? If you have, come and receive my lord's power as soon as possible."

The mummified Ali urged, seemingly impatient. But as eager as she was, Lu Luo wasn't in the least bit hurried.

Indeed, she wasn't from the era of the Wasteland Alliance. In fact, when Ali mentioned the Church of Truth, I had already guessed that she might not be a figure from the past 400 years. Only the church from before the founding year of the Alliance was called the Church of Truth. Afterwards, it had always been called the Dawn Church.

A church changing its name might not seem like a big deal, but with the extensive knowledge he had acquired, Lu Luo knew it was important. Ordinary people's names could be changed freely, but a church's name is not to be changed lightly because the church's name is largely a matter of faith. The most important thing for a church is faith. Faith is the source of everything. If a church completely changes its name, to the extent that it has a completely different meaning from before, it can only mean one thing. From the moment the Wasteland Alliance was established, the church's faith was changed. From Truth to Dawn.

What kind of catastrophe must a church undergo to completely change its faith? In a way, the Church of Truth had perished. This event seemed like a terrible one to me!

He still had many questions not yet answered, and eliciting some information from Ali was his current priority.

"Don't rush, Senior Ali. Inheriting something like this sounds very serious, right? Since it is a very serious matter, it only makes sense to clarify everything as a sign of respect to our predecessors."

Lu Luo's words seemed to make sense, and the mummified Ali finally stopped.

"What do you want to know?"

Lu Luo's lips curved slightly as he asked his most pressing question.

"Is your master the Dawn Disc?"

"Does it matter whether it is or isn't?"

"Of course, it matters! I, Lu Luo, was raised under the Holy Radiance. I shall not share the sky with sin!"

As Lu Luo spoke, Ali on the other side seemed unable to wait any longer. She stretched out her emaciated fingers towards Lu Luo. Although he was a few meters away from her, Lu Luo could already smell the putrid odor from her.

"Good grief, that smell is strong!"

[Let's be real—it is indeed!]

Lu Luo had not yet recovered his full strength, so engaging in a fight with her at this time was not a very wise choice. But it couldn't be helped. All the rooms had been explored, and perhaps only by killing this creature could he find the path to the Dawn Disc.

"Xinzhu, Holy Radiance!"

"Alright!"

Qi Xinzhu infused her Holy Radiance into Lu Luo.

Lu Luo drew his damaged Fenrir sword, channeling the Holy Radiance into the blade.

"Steam, fourth gear!"

HISSS!

CLANG!

Lu Luo had thought that this would be another tough battle, but the outcome of their collision was somewhat beyond his expectations.

CRACK!

The mummified arm was as fragile as a dry straw stick. It really shattered on touch.

"You?!"

Strike when the enemy is sick, and take their life. Whenever Lu Luo gained the upper hand in battle, he would typically smash his opponents to pieces, not stopping until there was no chance left for them to resist.

Lu Luo bared his teeth and bit down on his own forearm.

"Steam, fifth gear!"

"Charged Punch!"

BOOM!

The blast carried Ali's shattered body towards the wall of the room. The fragmented flesh on mummy Ali's body had completely fallen off. Under the impact of Lu Luo's punch, her dark Holy Radiance fell apart, leaving behind only an incomplete skeleton.

"You dare reject the radiance of my lord... You!"

BANG!

Lu Luo stomped and broke the mummy's leg bones. He didn't speak; he only took action. So at this moment, Lu Luo had already lifted his Fenrir greatsword.

CLANG!

The half-bodied Ali was cleaved in two by Lu Luo's sword. However, his blade also halted inside Ali's skull. He hadn't held back; instead, his blade had encountered something inside Ali's brain.

"What is this?"

The so-called Predecessor, a sage meant to pass down power, was already dead under Lu Luo's sword. Lu Luo directly used his finger to break open Ali's brain and took out the object inside.

"What is this thing?"

[Soul Crystal.]

"Soul Crystal? What's it for?"

[This object has been recorded in many books, but most Soul Crystals are very small. This is the first time I've seen one this large. As the name suggests, Soul Crystals are meant to preserve souls. Their specific effect is to hold the soul of a person or a creature, preventing it from dying. The Church has used Soul Crystals many times to preserve the souls of heroic spirits. The fact that this mummified corpse could wait over 400 years in the coffin, her body decaying and crumbling without dying completely, might be related to the Soul Crystal in her brain.]

The Observer rarely gave such a lengthy explanation, but this information did answer the doubts in Lu Luo's mind.

"So, is this thing valuable?"

[Of course, it's very valuable.]

Upon hearing the Observer say that the item was very valuable, Lu Luo even considered going back to the other rooms to pry off the candlesticks, then killing the people inside and snatching their Soul Crystals. However, after pondering for a moment, Lu Luo abandoned this constructive idea. Because he didn't know whether the strength of the beings emerging from the coffins was fixed. The Ali before him was manageable because her body had become very fragile due to the decay of time, making it easy for him to win so comfortably. But if his opponent was very strong and he couldn't beat them, wouldn't that mean he would be in trouble?

After thinking it over, he decided to let it be.

[If you've given up on that suicidal idea, then you should be able to go check the location of the coffin now.]