"Blood vessels... of a god?"
Xie Antong frowned as she repeated the words, still struggling to comprehend the scale of this battle.
So it was confird now - gods existed, and they were fighting against them?
Was that why communication had been so sporadic below ground? Because they were facing sothing far too powerful?
Looking at the weakened and battered state of "Sin" before her - more vulnerable than she'd ever seen him - Xie Antong slowly knelt down to examine him closely.
"You... take such reckless risks..."
"What choice did I have? You didn't exactly offer to switch places with via earpiece earlier," Lu Ce chuckled weakly.
Xie Antong: ...
After a brief pause, she gave a bitter laugh. "Well, the suicidal missions are your specialty. Out of potions?"
She produced a high-grade healing vial, then hesitated when she noticed Sin's mask.
"Your mask... what happened? Can you still drink through it?"
The once pink mask now bore twisted spiral patterns as if wrenched by trendous force, its base color barely visible beneath fluorescent green streaks.
"The mask's fine, but forget the potion."
Lu Ce could barely manage a slight head shake - even that small movent was difficult now.
His condition was improving, but at a glacial pace. It was like trying to refill a lake through a single faucet.
"Those dicines... probably won't help right now..."
His earlier transformation - that montary brush with divinity - had granted Lu Ce profound insights. He suddenly understood sothing fundantal about CHOSEN'S PARADISE: this ga was intrinsically connected to the gods.
All abilities, items, weapons, and Sequence Objects obtained here were ultimately god-related in nature. The powers players gained likely originated from those unseen deities. Sequence Objects contained divine power with heavy contamination - stronger than weapons but with worse side effects. Weapons were purified versions, retaining only fragnts of divine power without the corruption.
By that logic, all healing items must be connected to the god of Life.
Having suffered life-energy backlash earlier, Lu Ce knew potions would just make him vomit - completely ineffective.
"Why?" Xie Antong felt this exceeded her understanding.
"Hard to explain... Let's just say anything life-related probably won't help now."
Xie Antong's eyes flickered. She knelt fully, reaching for Lu Ce's emaciated right hand.
Lu Ce: ?
He instinctively pulled back, but Xie Antong moved with surgical precision, seizing his wrist.
"Stay still. I need to check your condition."
Her voice remained clinical, though his reflexive withdrawal sent an unnoticed pang through her. After a long examination, she frowned.
"Your current state... are you even alive anymore?"
"Since when did you study Chinese dicine?" Lu Ce deflected.
"Why should you know everything about ?" Xie Antong countered deliberately.
Lu Ce: ...
In the silence that followed, Lu Ce noticed her intense scrutiny of his mask - like the All-Seeing Eye analyzing data.
"You're not thinking of removing my mask now, are you? I'll kill you~" His playful threat barely concealed how he subtly withdrew his hand.
"Never mind." Xie Antong pondered briefly before asking, "You said life-related things won't help, correct?"
She'd deduced that [Life] must be the deity connected to this ga event.
"Then this should be unrelated to life."
With a flick of her wrist, she produced a half-foot-long golden needle!
"If life energy can't help you... perhaps Death can? Trust enough to try?"
"What is that?" The gleaming needle made Lu Ce's eyes sting.
"Sequence Object A-001: Death's Gate." Even Xie Antong regarded the item warily.
"Last ti I saw a 001 was the Ancient God's Reflection. Not sure if it's the sa item that disappeared after use... but the ga identifies it as such."
"As long as your body and soul haven't been completely annihilated, this should preserve you until we achieve perfect clearance healing."
An A-rank Sequence Object? The top of its class?
Lu Ce was genuinely shocked. And why would sothing called "Death's Gate" be a needle?
"So you want to take this out of the ga? The top A-rank item - not worried I'll keep it?"
"If you trust enough to use it, I can trust you with it," Xie Antong said indifferently.
"How does it work?"
"Simple - insert it into your heart."
Lu Ce: ...
Stab an A-rank artifact into his own heart?
Seeing his hesitation, Xie Antong moved to put it away.
"No trust? Fine. You probably won't die imdiately anyway."
"You think I'd back down from your challenge?!" Lu Ce's voice suddenly shifted octaves.
Even Xie Antong flinched at the intensity radiating from behind that mask.
"Please. Proceed."
A spray of blood followed as Xie Antong drove the needle ho without ceremony.
"Cough!"
Lu Ce's body convulsed violently, folding nearly in half as he vomited green blood. Yet monts later, he slowly rose to his feet.
"Tch... interesting."
"Though that stab felt a bit... cathartic for you?"
The needle had disappeared completely, leaving only a tiny golden puncture. Lu Ce felt weightless - still weak, but standing required no effort now.
Behind them, Black Knight quietly retracted a cannon barrel that had been trained on Xie Antong's back.
Lu Ce surveyed the area. Wherever his gaze fell, other players averted their eyes.
"Seems the ga isn't over yet."
"No problem. Just so cleanup work remaining."
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