Entering the fire elemental form allows me to overcome all the weaknesses of a normal human body.

Since my body is made of fire, even if my head is blown off or my heart pierced, it's merely a deformation of my form. Toxins are ineffective, and chemical weapons don't work.

I can still see and hear normally, and I can also pick up objects as long as I intend to. Whether the fire will damage the object depends on my will, so there's no need to worry about breaking anything when I pick it up.

In this form, I can even merge my consciousness with the surrounding heat in nature.

It’s said that the former Soviet Union used nuclear bombs to extinguish fires, although I’ve forgotten the exact details, even if a super powerful weapon were used to extinguish all the flames that make up my body in an extreme situation, I still wouldn't die. I can merge with the surrounding environment’s heat and reignite my existence.

To completely prevent my revival on a physical level, one would have to create an extremely large-scale absolute zero environment, but that would only work if I hadn’t set up "fireflies" or other fire derivatives elsewhere.

Attempting to ambush and assassinate me before I entered the fire elemental form is also futile; Agent Kong has already tried it. In fact, my division of forms into "normal form" and "fire elemental form" isn't very precise. Since the first time I entered the fire elemental form, I have already become the fire itself, and my normal form's body is more like a fire imitation. External ambushes can't deliver a fatal blow; at most, they will force me from my first form into my second.

If there’s any room for controversy, it’s the endurance time of this form.

It’s not that the endurance time is insufficient—on the contrary, I can maintain the fire elemental form for a long time. The longest I’ve gone is over two months without feeling any limit, and I can’t quite pinpoint the exact maximum time. During this period, I don’t even need sleep. If not for the fact that the fire elemental form is too conspicuous and produces the sound of blazing flames, I would even consider using this form to monitor Ma Zao for extended periods during the night.

In theory, since I’ve become the fire itself, there’s no need to worry about endurance time, but the truth is, my experience in the fire elemental form isn’t as comfortable as my normal form. It’s like someone who easily gets carsick being forced into a car—even if it hasn’t started moving, they’ll still feel uncomfortable.

Perhaps it’s because my consciousness still belongs to humanity. The fire elemental form may place an invisible burden on my mind. However, under normal circumstances, this isn’t something I need to worry about.

In any case, this is all of me now, and I’ve fully revealed it to Ma Zao.

“Elementalization…”

Ma Zao stared at me in disbelief, her breathing seeming to become very heavy.

“A few days ago, I fought a human who had turned into a monster here. Perhaps you think that was an unusual danger you attracted, and I can't deny the possibility. However, as you can see, I didn’t die, not even a scratch. I defeated him, then went home as usual. You probably didn’t even notice that I had been in a fight.”

“This place, you’ve seen it in the news. The news said it was damaged by a gas explosion, but that’s not true. This is the site where I fought the other person, and this building is one I personally severed.”

“I’m telling you this not to boast about my power, but to show you that I have the strength to help you, and that I won’t die because of the disasters you attract.”

“I have indeed concealed my abilities and lied to you. I must apologize for that. But I truly want to be with you, to help you prove to the public that the Apocalypse is coming. I swear to you, this is my genuine, sincere desire, with no pretense.”

“I hope you can accept me, and together, we can fight.”

I finished my long speech and waited for her response.

As she listened to me, the look of disbelief on her face slowly faded, gradually transforming into a look of contemplation and scrutiny.

After a long pause, she actually shook her head.

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“Having such a level of power… Even among all the strong in the Apocalypse times, you would be an exceptionally outstanding warrior. But the strange dangers I’ve attracted cannot simply be overcome by strength alone.”

She wasn’t wrong. The otherworldly space beneath the basement wasn’t something I could simply conquer with brute force. However, in this situation, I couldn’t express any weakness, so I could only continue with a firm tone: “No, I can overcome it.”

“If you’re willing, you could live a carefree life in this era,” she said, seemingly not angry or suspicious about my concealment. Instead, she spoke with an unprecedented gentle tone. “But because of that, you cannot be with me. Being with me will make you lose all your happiness and peace, ultimately leading you to destruction.”

“I know your feelings... I’m very sorry, but this is to prevent you from being affected.”

These words, for some reason, seemed to have passed through my heart before.

“I will prove the existence of the end times to society, or find the divine seal and directly end the coming of the apocalypse.” As she spoke, she took a step back from the edge of the rooftop. “Go back to the life you were supposed to have, Zhuang Cheng. The darkness ahead belongs only to me.”

The divine seal? What is that?

Just as I reflexively grew puzzled, she took another step back, her body leaving the edge of the rooftop and falling downward.

“Wait—”

She was leaving. The moment I realized this, I immediately rushed toward her, trying to catch her.

But it was too late. The instant my fingers touched her, her body shattered and dissipated like the moon’s reflection in water, vanishing without a trace.

Ma Zao had used spatial displacement to escape!

I stood at the edge of the rooftop, futilely grasping at the air, struggling to process this fact.

It took me a few seconds to retract my hand, and then I exited the fire element form, letting out a long sigh.

It has finally come to this point...

Persuasion was useless, showing my social value and intelligence value was useless, even revealing the truth of being a superpower user was still useless. Ma Zao's insistence on fighting alone and her fear of harming those around her seemed to be deeply ingrained.

It’s possible that showing her “how strong I am” was the wrong move and only made her more determined that she shouldn’t stay by my side.

On the other hand, if I expressed to her that I was “weak” and couldn’t survive without her, she might actually be more willing to stay with me, just like the ten-year-old girl she mentioned. Although Ma Zao has experienced the cruel end times, she still seems to have a kind heart, so perhaps appealing to her sympathy is the right approach.

But how could I, a young man living in a peaceful society with fully functioning limbs, make her believe I couldn’t live without her? Should I say I fell in love with her at first sight and that I would kill myself if we were apart for more than a day? That would be too heavy and pathological, right?... Though I suppose I could do it if I absolutely had to.

There’s no use looking back at past mistakes now; I can only face reality as it is.

Plans lead to success, while lack of preparation leads to failure. I had prepared for this kind of situation, with my thermal signature and GPS wristband. Since she is so extreme in her actions, I can only be more extreme. First, I’ll capture her and then figure out how to imprison her in a place where no one can hear her.

Such a morally corrupt thing, I wouldn't want to do it unless necessary, but if I have to choose between my desires and morals, I would unhesitatingly choose my desires.

I am a villain who prioritizes my own desires over morality.

With this constant self-reflection in mind, I closed my eyes and began to sense the location of the thermal signature.

However... things did not go as I expected.

I couldn't sense the location of the thermal signature.

It was as if the thermal signature had gone to some far-off place beyond my perception, or maybe it had disappeared entirely.

A very bad feeling began to rise in my heart.

Wait, wait...

Wait, wait, wait... This... this can't be!

How could I possibly not sense my own thermal signature?

In the past, I had conducted many tests on my abilities, such as testing the limit of the spiritual connection between myself and the "fireflies." One such test was at an international airport, where I placed a "firefly" on a flight heading to Argentina.

Argentina is the furthest country from my own, literally on the other side of the Earth. If I were to dig a vertical tunnel from Xianshui City and come out on the other side of the Earth, I would end up in Argentina. If I could sense the "firefly" in Argentina from Xianshui City, it would mean that the spiritual connection between me and the "firefly" could not be severed by distance.

The conclusion was that I could indeed do it.

And the spiritual connection between me and the thermal signature is no different from the one I have with the "fireflies." What the latter can do, there's no reason the former can't do. Since I can't sense it now, it means...

I can only make two assumptions about this:

First, Ma Zao is no longer on Earth. She may have truly gone to another planet (though I haven't tested whether my spiritual connection can extend to other planets), or she may have gone to a space similar to the place beneath the basement—an "otherworldly space" that doesn't exist in reality.

Second, Ma Zao has discovered the thermal signature and erased it through some supernatural means.

I find it hard to believe the first assumption, because Ma Zao’s purpose must be realized on Earth, in the real world... So, could it be the second one? There is a possibility. I’ve long suspected that she might be able to sense both the "fireflies" and the thermal signature.

Even if it's the second scenario, it's not a problem. Thankfully, I had the foresight to prepare for such an eventuality and equipped her with a GPS bracelet.

I took out the phone paired with that bracelet and tried to use the GPS signal to locate Ma Zao’s current position.

However, the situation once again exceeded my control.

The phone failed to display Ma Zao’s location.

The GPS signal had disappeared.