Dr. Chu ignored the injuries on his face, staring foolishly at Eva lying on the ground. He desperately reached out towards her, then erupted into hysterical laughter, shouting, "Hahaha! Eva, this... this is good! Now you have no chance to win his affection! Haha! Who... who would choose to be with a dead person?! Even... even so! Even if you become a pile of bones, I will keep you by my side, together until we turn to ashes! Hahaha! Eva! Do you know? Since the first day I saw you, I fell in love with you! For you, I am willing to do anything! You... you will always be mine! If I can't have you, no one can! Even in death, we will be together—"
Pfft!
Before Dr. Chu could finish his almost mad words, a short sword whizzed through the air, accurately piercing his forehead. Accompanied by a powerful sword aura, Dr. Chu's entire brain exploded instantly, crimson brain fluid spraying out and vaporized by the scorching sword aura into acrid black smoke before hitting the ground. Subsequently, Dr. Chu collapsed backwards, life extinguished, all signs of life gone.
The one who struck down Dr. Chu was none other than Hao Yun. Though his face remained calm, intense killing intent emanated from his eyes. Only after confirming that Dr. Chu was beyond death did Hao Yun slowly retract his arm, which had thrown the sword. His voice turned ice-cold as he said, "Eva won't die. The only companionship you'll have below will be endless punishment and torture!"
Hao Yun's decisive action left everyone present momentarily speechless. However, considering Dr. Chu's attempt to assassinate Hao Yun and inadvertently harm Eva, along with his extreme psychological distortion and deeply pathological fanaticism towards her that he displayed thereafter, everyone could understand why Hao Yun decisively killed Dr. Chu. In fact, if Hao Yun had hesitated for one more second, the usually hot-tempered Dream Jia would have shot Dr. Chu's head herself.
"Lord Hao, what do you mean by this? Although Dr. Chu has not yet been promoted to a formal Purification Envoy, he is at least one of our reserve members. Leaving aside your audacity in killing him before us, simply by killing a lower realm creature recklessly, the Divine Spirits Alliance has enough reason to bring charges against you! Aren't you afraid?" Upon witnessing Hao Yun's efficient killing of Dr. Chu, Elsie, though somewhat displeased, questioned him. But discerning eyes could see that Elsie was merely symbolically expressing dissatisfaction with the death of a member on their side. In reality, she cared little about Dr. Chu's demise.
"He attempted to assassinate the official and violated the taboos of the Divine Spirits Alliance! What's wrong with me taking immediate action? Besides, don't forget, this is not the Divine Spirits Alliance, and he is not a creature of the lower realms. So even if I kill him, what can you do?" Hao Yun stared directly at Elsie, replying coldly.
With Dr. Chu's attempted assassination of Hao Yun and accidental injury to Eva, both sides had effectively crossed the point of no return. Thus, Hao Yun's tone became increasingly blunt as he spoke. He knew that in a situation already disadvantageous to them, if they did not maintain a strong posture, they might lose all ability to fight the other side.
However, Elsie was not angered by Hao Yun's attitude but shrugged helplessly after hearing his reply. Then, with a somewhat regretful tone, she said, "Well! Lord Hao makes sense. Poor Dr. Chu. You worked diligently in secret for us for so many years, yet you never gained the recognition you deserved. Tut-tut-tut! Such a pity! Oh well! You should rest in peace!"
Hearing Elsie's response, Elina also nodded in resignation. So, she calmly regulated her emotions and gestured casually towards the two Xibo soldiers closest to Dr. Chu's body. The two Xibo immediately moved to drag Dr. Chu's body to the edge of the open platform in the hall and threw him directly into the chaotic mist outside.
Watching Dr. Chu being swallowed by the mist, Elina sighed, saying, "Actually, before Serras and I were decreed by Lady Elsa, the shortage of personnel here had to some extent affected the work progress of the Purification Envoys. Therefore, after we joined, we were urged to quickly assist the elders in executing tasks. Due to our good performance, Lady Elsa conceived the idea of finding a few capable assistants from Earth NX. So, we recommended Dr. Chu to Lady Elsa. The reason is that as the military strategist of the Skeleton Squad, Dr. Chu also has a high reputation in Lena Tower City. This makes it easier for him to contact and participate in important strategic deployments in Lena Tower City, covertly cooperating with Lady Elsa and setting traps for humans."
Then, Elina looked mischievously at the unconscious Eva and said with a playful tone, "Another reason we recommended Dr. Chu is because we know that Dr. Chu has an almost pathological craving for my sister. How should I put it? He has been caught spying on Eva more than once. However, given his sincere and unique obsession with Eva, and the fact that he has not done any harm to Eva, we did not expose him or use harsh words like 'toad wanting to eat swan meat', to make him discouraged."
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"After all, in this world of Earth NX, where the flames of war are burning, having a fanatic admirer like Dr. Chu ensures Eva's personal safety to some extent. So, as expected, after we persuaded Dr. Chu with the promise of Eva, he enthusiastically accepted and became Lady Elsa's informant planted on Earth NX. On the day the purification task is completed, he will be brought back here with Eva by Lady Elsa, and under Lady Elsa's special recommendation, he will be promoted to become a holy spirit. At the same time, we will also help Dr. Chu and Eva achieve their wish and become a pair of enviable immortal lovers."
Looking at Yi Lian's enthusiastic description of the blueprint she designed for Yi Eva's later life, Hao Yun and the others couldn't help but sigh. Who would have thought that Dr. Chu was actually a passionate admirer secretly obsessed with Yi Eva's beauty? And Yi Eva's sister, Yi Lian, not only did not protect her own younger sister from Dr. Chu, a somewhat abnormal admirer, but also felt relieved that her sister could have such a pathological admirer, hoping that her sister could be protected by Dr. Chu? What kind of twisted characters were these after all?!
As Yi Lian continued speaking, her tone suddenly turned cold: "Unfortunately, Dr. Chu not only failed to complete his mission but also harmed my sister. Hmph! I can maintain an open and tolerant attitude towards his deformed infatuation with Yi Eva, but he cannot harm my sister without cause! Therefore, I can only deprive him of the qualification to recreate life through his soul after death, considering it as a severe punishment for harming Yi Eva!"
"Alas! In any case, Dr. Chu sacrificed himself tragically for the mission, and I deeply regret this. After all, we should not easily let anyone who comes here die but should follow our rules and try our best to invite them to join the Purification Envoys' family. Now that Dr. Chu is dead, let him be! However, there's no need for Yi Eva to lose her life without reason, right?" Elsie interjected.
"What do you mean by that?" Hao Yun asked with a furrowed brow. He felt that Elsie must have a way to save Yi Eva. However, instead of feeling uplifted by Elsie's words, Hao Yun became more vigilant, suspecting there might be deception, and positioned himself protectively in front of Yi Eva.
After all, Yi Eva was just an ordinary person, and moreover, a creature not protected by the powers of the spiritual world. Therefore, even the emergency treatment from the spiritual world could only delay the devouring of her life caused by the injury from the weapon blessed with divine power. This resulted in Yi Eva's condition not improving significantly despite the series of emergency treatments from Dao Lao. Her body temperature continued to plummet rapidly, and her breathing became increasingly weak.
"What I mean is, although Yi Eva looks like she's doomed now, we can completely extract her soul and take it back to the spiritual world to rebuild her life. Moreover, I can also help her ascend to become a Holy Spirit, allowing her to live comfortably in the upper realms from now on," Elsie replied kindly.
"So what's the price?" Hao Yun asked warily, knowing well that there's no such thing as a free lunch.
"The price, well, naturally, we sincerely hope you'll join us! As long as you join our team, we will definitely not blame today's events. Furthermore, we will still ensure that those present who should be promoted will be promoted, and those who should ascend to Holy Spirits will ascend. How about my proposal?" Elsie replied in a friendly tone, while also consciously restraining the intense killing intent emanating from her.
Leaving aside the rest, Elsie and Xia Ya's desire to recruit Hao Yun seemed sincere enough. So much so that even after the recent skirmish-like encounter between the two sides, they were still willing to honor their previous commitments without blame. However, to Hao Yun, their seemingly unwarranted warm invitation made the situation even more suspicious. Therefore, Hao Yun remained unmoved and responded with silent anger.
Of course, Hao Yun's current mood was far from decisive as it appeared on the surface. Because Hao Yun was well aware that his refusal was indirectly sentencing Yi Eva to death. If it weren't for Yi Eva sacrificing herself to intercept Dr. Chu's sneak attack, it would likely be himself lying here now! Grateful for Yi Eva's lifesaving grace and unable to respond to the affection Yi Eva had for him, Hao Yun's heart became unusually painful. Therefore, Hao Yun had to grit his teeth and tense his muscles to suppress the trembling of his body caused by the resentment he had nowhere to vent.
"How about it? Brother Hao, join us. In this way, you will not only broaden your horizons and completely understand how sacred our Purification Envoys' cause is, but you will also be able to marry beautiful women, not just one but two beauties. So why not do it?" Seras joined in persuading Hao Yun. At the same time, he cast a lecherous glance at Dream Jia and Yi Eva.
"Stop your damn bullshit! You perverted bastard! How can such a creepy scumbag like you become a priest? You're a disgrace to the spiritual world!" Dream Jia's temper flared instantly at Seras' lecherous expression, and she angrily retorted, aiming her gun at Seras.
Due to the lack of divine power, the power of the Equality of All Living Beings was greatly reduced, so Dream Jia's shot looked fierce but actually couldn't harm Seras at all, who was protected by divine power. Seeing the energy shield created by Hao Yun effortlessly blocking the rebounded energy ball, Elsie couldn't help but marvel once again. At the same time, she carefully examined Hao Yun's attire because she strongly felt that the energy shield Hao Yun created was closely related to his spiritual world battle armor.
Hao Yun continued to ignore Elsie's question. He certainly wouldn't tell Elsie that his battle armor had been modified by the Countess or that his armor had been reactivated by the energy released from the opened teleportation gate at the moment when the lock on the gate was broken. Furthermore, Hao Yun would never tell Elsie that it was because of his activation of the Drilling Dog Hole skill that he was able to bring everyone present through the teleportation gate in the lighthouse.