Inside the Sonoro Sphere.
"A rare thorough enjoyment—truly leaving one wanting more."
Scar rubbed the back of his neck as he stepped out of a room. His other hand loosely clenched into a fist, easing the exhaustion brought on by overclocking.
A pair of wolf-like, aggressively cold eyes narrowed as he glanced at the Fractsidus member beside him:
"How long was I resting?"
"Report to Overseer Scar, sir."
The Fractsidus member stood at attention, reporting respectfully:
"You fought intensely for three days. Yesterday you defeated the heavily overclocked Midnight Rangers General Jiyan. Then, due to prolonged overclocking, you fell unconscious…"
Seeing Scar's gaze suddenly turn ferocious, the Fractsidus member immediately corrected himself: "Ah, no—you rested for 18 hours."
Those brief words instantly brought back the unpleasant experiences of the past few days for Scar.
With the aid of Whisperin Erosion, he should have taken Jinzhou on the first day, turning all its citizens into puppets.
But the moment he used Whisperin Erosion to deploy the barrier enveloping Jinzhou, the Magistrate named Jinhsi immediately sensed it and came to confront him without delay.
Whisperin Erosion is a Threnodian creation derived from the war Threnodian Ovathrax. It possesses intense mental pollution capable of covering the entire Jinzhou area.
Any living being within Whisperin Erosion's range would gradually lose their sense of self amid the Threnodian whispers, becoming puppets under its controller's command.
The Magistrate had only clashed with him briefly before immediately recognizing the danger of Whisperin Erosion.
After mere minutes of combat, Jinzhou's Magistrate cleverly maneuvered to gather him and all Fractsidus members together, then produced a strange Sentinel artifact that froze them—and Whisperin Erosion itself—in time.
Thinking of this, Scar felt a nameless rage surge in his chest.
Had he known this Sentinel Resonator possessed such a treasure, he absolutely would not have attacked Jinzhou so rashly.
Fortunately, Whisperin Erosion's pollution was powerful enough to continually erode the Magistrate's ability even while frozen.
In this give-and-take, even with the Sentinel artifact's aid, Jinzhou's Magistrate could no longer freeze anything beyond Whisperin Erosion itself.
Thus, they managed to escape.
"How is Jinzhou's Magistrate, Jinhsi, now?" Scar stroked his chin and suddenly asked.
"Report to Overseer Scar, sir. According to observations, the Sentinel Resonator suffered severe overclocking and heavy resonance backlash—white dragon scales have grown across her body."
The Fractsidus member watched Scar's expression carefully as he continued:
"Though she is still managing to suppress Whisperin Erosion, her power is steadily weakening. Whisperin Erosion can now pollute a ten-meter radius."
"Only ten meters?"
Scar gave a cold snort, visibly growing impatient: "This damn woman—even with Jinzhou fallen, what is she still holding out for?"
After a moment of irritation, Scar rubbed his forehead and accepted the reality:
"Fine—ten meters it is. Proceed to the next phase of the plan. What about Jinzhou's civilians?"
"They have all been captured and imprisoned within the sphere."
Hearing this, Scar finally curled his lips into a cruel smile.
He issued a merciless order:
"Bring them one by one into the ten-meter range of Whisperin Erosion. Activate the Fractsidus tech devices and conduct live-subject Tacet Discord transformation experiments!"
"Yes, sir!"
At the edge of the Sonoro Sphere, cell doors opened one after another. Countless unarmed Jinzhou civilians were herded by Fractsidus members toward another area.
"Move it—hurry up!"
A tall, thin Fractsidus member barked harshly, raising his gun impatiently at a limping little girl.
The girl blankly raised her head. Her unfocused eyes stared at the dark gun barrel. Her cracked lips parted, emitting a hoarse plea:
"Water… want… water…"
"Damn it—I'm an idiot for trying to threaten someone polluted into an idiot."
The tall, thin member irritably grabbed the back of the girl's clothes by the neck, lifted her, and sprinted to hurl her into Whisperin Erosion's pollution range.
Outside the ten-meter radius, five cold, precise Fractsidus instruments lit up red simultaneously.
The girl thrown to the ground cried out in pain. She looked around, and a spark of light suddenly returned to her vacant eyes.
"Magistrate… my lady!"
The girl scrambled up and toddled toward the frozen white figure several meters away.
With every step closer, the whispers in her mind grew more violent, forcing her to clutch her head, her face twisted in agony.
"Help… it hurts… Magistrate… save…"
Unable to finish a full sentence, the girl collapsed completely unconscious. She reached out futilely, pointing toward Jinhsi.
Behind her, a black-purple, grotesquely veined eyeball half the height of a person hovered motionless in midair, continuously emitting dark mist.
This was the Whisperin Erosion that Jinhsi was desperately trying to suppress.
"Heh heh—such fools."
The tall, thin Fractsidus member sneered, looking mockingly at the frozen white dragon-horned girl and muttering:
"Your Magistrate can't even save herself—and you still seek her help."
"Enough chatter!"
Scar approached from behind and sharply smacked the back of the tall, thin member's head, scolding:
"There are two rats that snuck in. Go capture them—alive!"
"Yes, sir!"
The tall, thin Fractsidus member hurriedly led a team away.
Scar leisurely admired Jinhsi's frozen posture, sighing to himself:
"Heh heh heh—a Sentinel Resonator indeed has some skill. You nearly made me capsize in the gutter."
Scar laughed coldly to himself, his sinister voice like a demon's whisper:
"You and Whisperin Erosion fell into time stop together—indeed disrupting the Fractsidus plan. Though we couldn't interfere with you from outside—"
"Isolated and unaided under Threnodian pollution—"
"How much longer can you hold out?"
As the words ended, another patch of shattered dragon scales suddenly spread across the girl's snow-white neck.
On the other side.
"Actually, you didn't need to risk this with me."
Taoqi stood before the blood-red gate, glancing sideways at Yuanwu beside her. He merely adjusted the white round hat on his head and replied softly:
"Allowing a woman to venture alone—as a man, neither my upbringing nor my dignity would permit it."
Exhaling heavily to ease his tension, Yuanwu stepped forward, turning with a smile:
"If danger comes later, run first—I'll cover the rear."
"I don't think that works." Taoqi frowned.
"It's settled. Come on—Baizhi is waiting for good news from us."
With those words, Yuanwu stepped first into the Sonoro Sphere. The sudden shift in surroundings briefly dazed him.
Taoqi followed right after.
As Resonators, both quickly adjusted and carefully surveyed everything in the Sonoro Sphere.
A vast, desolate sky; floating, interconnected islands—the smallest no bigger than a ping-pong table, the largest merely a soccer field. Looking down from an island revealed a bottomless abyss.
"So this is a Sonoro Sphere? It feels very barren." Yuanwu couldn't help sighing.
"Watch—there's movement over there!"
Taoqi suddenly pointed excitedly at a distant island. Yuanwu followed her gaze and instantly perked up:
"Jinzhou people—great, they're really still alive!"
"Don't celebrate yet."
Taoqi drew her long blade, its cold edge aimed at the approaching red figures.
The visitors meant no good—but fortunately, only a few enemies.
Yuanwu removed his white round hat, donned arm guards, and fixed his gaze on the nearing Fractsidus members, his tone calm:
"I've sparred with countless people at the Jinzhou fist gym, but I've never killed anyone. You?"
Though he didn't name her, Taoqi knew Yuanwu was asking her. She suddenly smiled, gripping her blade tighter:
"Never before."
Under the bleak sky, the two stood shoulder to shoulder, killing intent sharp.