Zhou Huai's thoughts were like a flash of lightning, piercing through the fog of memory.

It was the scene inside the giant beast, fighting Thor for the pendulum of life.

The ancient and heavy pendulum of life was tightly bound by several thick chains.

At the time, he didn't think deeply about it.

He only thought it was some kind of ancient Seal ritual.

Now that he thought about it, there were suspicious points everywhere.

Only when Thor completely unraveled those chains did he vaguely understand something.

That wasn't a Seal.

That was imprisonment.

It was the remnant Soul of the giant beast, attempting to pull itself back from the abyss of death through the pendulum of life.

And those chains were the final shackles preventing all of this from happening.

Later, the giant beast's resurrection ritual was halfway through.

It was forcibly interrupted by him and Thor.

Just as Zhou Huai fled the giant beast's corpse with the pendulum of life.

He personally saw several Hell-level BOSSes launching frantic, reckless attacks against the massive corpse.

Why?

Now, all the clues finally connected to form a complete line.

For the pendulum of life to resurrect such a behemoth, the life energy required would definitely be an astronomical figure.

But where would this energy come from?

The only possibility was to forcibly extract it from the bodies of other Mythical Beasts (strange beasts).

That's why those Hell-level BOSSes attacked the corpse at all costs.

Because they felt the threat of death.

This was best evidenced by Gandalf seeing large numbers of Mythical Beasts (strange beast) corpses when he escaped the ruins.

Countless corpses were shriveled and devoid of life.

They looked exactly like Takatsukasa Arashi and Park In-maeng when they died.

That was the characteristic of having one's life energy completely drained.

In other words.

The pendulum of life might truly have no conditions for resurrecting a life.

But there was a price to pay.

Just like the Zhen Tian Seal.

Every use was overdrawing the user's life.

If not for Zhou Huai's unique Clone ability, which allowed him to perfectly avoid this backlash, he would not have been able to control it at all.

The Free Federation did not attach too much importance to this Divine Artifact, probably for this very reason.

Zhou Huai articulated his thoughts, word by word, clearly to Marshal Zhao.

After listening, the old man's brows furrowed tightly, and he remained silent for a long time.

After a long while, he let out a lengthy sigh.

“If it's truly as you say...”

“The life energy required to resurrect an SSS Rank expert would probably also be an astronomical figure.”

“No wonder, no wonder the Free Federation would abandon this Divine Artifact.”

He raised his head, his deep, tiger-like eyes fixed intently on Zhou Huai.

“Even so, do you still want to get it back?”

In Marshal Zhao's view, the price to resurrect an existence like Zhou Huai, comparable to an SSS Rank, would probably be equally high.

However, Zhou Huai nodded without hesitation.

“Of course, I have to retrieve it.”

He knew his own situation best.

His main body was just a weak E Rank.

He couldn't be compared to those true SSS Rank experts.

Even if he took ten thousand steps back.

He could exploit a bug with the Zhen Tian Seal.

The pendulum of life might not be any different.

Just as the two were conversing.

A cold System notification suddenly rang in Zhou Huai's mind.

【Ding!】

【Clone 'Caesar' has arrived at Natsume Hiro's doorstep.】

【Would you like to take over?】

Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, bowed slightly to Marshal Zhao.

“Marshal Zhao, I'm returning to Sakura Country first.”

Marshal Zhao nodded, his expression solemn.

“Be sure to be careful.”

“If anything happens, report it promptly.”

“I'll be guarding here during this time.”

Zhou Huai also nodded.

“If anything happens on your end, you can also tell Gandalf directly.”

“Once I receive the message, I will transfer my consciousness over.”

With that, Gandalf's deep eyes slowly closed, his gaze instantly losing all its luster, becoming hollow and vacant.

He just stood there quietly, like a statue without a Soul.

Marshal Zhao was stunned.

He subconsciously reached out and waved his hand in front of Gandalf's eyes.

Seeing no reaction from the other party, he withdrew his hand and couldn't help but sigh softly.

“This method of communication is really convenient...”

At the same time.

Zhou Huai's consciousness passed through endless darkness.

The next second.

His vision suddenly brightened.

A turbid air, mixed with dampness, mold, and a faint smell of blood, instantly rushed into his nostrils.

Controlling Caesar, he stood in front of a two-story house.

The gray paint on the walls was peeling off in large patches, revealing dark red bricks underneath, like solidified scabs of blood.

A corner of a window on the second floor was broken and crudely patched with a piece of cardboard, making a muffled “thump, thump” sound when the wind blew.

This was the very edge of Takamagahara.

Although it was far from as prosperous as the inner city, it was still much better than the despairing quagmire of Ashihara.

At least, it was still quiet here. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

But this small building, like a patient in the throes of an illness, continuously seeped out mad shouts and arguments from the cracks in its doors and windows.

“Bitch!”

A man's furious roar penetrated the thin wooden door.

“This is all the money we have at home! And you still want to take it out to gamble!”

“I'll beat you to death!”

Immediately following was a woman's sharp and frantic laughter.

“Anyway, if I don't gamble, that beast Hiro will take it to gamble anyway!”

“Don't worry! My luck is great today! I'll definitely win all the money back!”

“Slap!”

A crisp, loud slap.

The woman's laughter, however, grew even more deranged, carrying a sense of reckless abandon.

“If you're so capable, then kill me! Haha! I haven't wanted to live for a long time!”

The man's roar became even more hysterical.

“Kill you! Kill you, you slut!”

The dull thud of fists hitting flesh, one after another.

And a little girl's desperate crying was mixed in, so faint it sounded like it could break at any moment.

“Daddy... Mommy... don't fight... boo hoo... don't fight...”

Zhou Huai extended his hand expressionlessly.

With a gentle push.

The already dilapidated wooden door let out a groan of protest and swung inward.

A stronger stench, mixed with alcohol, sweat, and decaying food, assaulted his nostrils.

The scene inside was even more chaotic than he had imagined.

Overturned chairs, shattered dishes, blackened food scraps... the entire space was like a stirred-up garbage dump.

And in the center of the garbage dump, a tall, gaunt, disheveled man with sunken eyes was straddling a woman.

He raised his fist, mechanically and frantically, smashing it into the woman's ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) already bloody and bruised face.

The woman beneath him had disheveled hair, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

But on her face, there was a bizarre and twisted smile.

She didn't dodge or flinch, nor did she utter a single cry of pain.

She just stared intently at the man on top of her with bloodshot eyes, emitting a “ho ho” laugh from her throat, like a beast.

In the corner of the room, a frail little girl was curled up, her hands tightly covering her ears, her whole body trembling like a leaf in the wind.

Her face was streaked with tears, her eyes hollow and filled with extreme terror.

Zhou Huai, controlling Caesar, walked in expressionlessly.

All sounds ceased abruptly.

The disheveled man, who had been in a fit of rage, suddenly froze.

He slowly turned his head.

When he saw who was standing at the door.

The ferocity on his face quickly faded.

He scrambled off the woman, using both hands and feet.

Without the slightest hesitation.

With a “thud,” he knelt on the ground without a second thought.

His forehead pressed tightly against the cold and dirty floor, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

“Hiro... Hiro...”

“You... why are you back so early?”

The woman on the ground, whose face was covered in blood from the beating, also slowly sat up.

She raised her hand and casually wiped the blood and tears from her face with her sleeve.

Her movements were mechanical and numb.

She glanced at “Natsume Hiro” at the door, and the eyes that had originally held a frantic smile instantly became filled with only dead silence.

A dead silence more despairing than facing death itself.

She didn't speak, merely tidied her disheveled clothes in silence.

Then, she also knelt down.

Not a word was spoken.

In the corner, the little girl who had been crying.

The moment she saw Natsume Hiro, her crying suddenly caught in her throat.

Her small body curled up even tighter, not daring to make another sound.

Zhou Huai's gaze slowly swept over the man and woman kneeling before him.

The father, Natsume Den.

The mother, Natsume Ryoko.

And the frail younger sister in the corner, Natsume Rinko.

These were Natsume Hiro's family.

A group of pitiful creatures living in Hell, pushing each other deeper into Hell.

And Natsume Hiro himself seemed to be at the top of the food chain in this Hell.

The only king in this household.

If it were the real Natsume Hiro, looking at these obsequious parents, like two dogs wagging their tails for scraps, he would surely feel a twisted satisfaction and pleasure.

He would enjoy the power to trample and insult those who had once abused him.

But Zhou Huai would not.

There was not an ounce of pleasure in his heart.

Only a double sense of disgust, both physiological and psychological.

This was perhaps a microcosm of the lowest rung of ordinary people in this country.

Struggling to survive in a rigid and hopeless society, their minds were eventually twisted by the oppressive environment, turning them into monsters they themselves detested.

They inflicted violence upon the weaker, and were as humble as dust before the stronger.

“Hiro... listen to us explain...”

His father, Natsume Den, knelt on the ground, his body trembling like a sieve, as he tried to justify his recent outburst.

“It... it was your mother! She wanted to steal money from home to gamble again!”

“I... I just got angry for a moment and lashed out! I swear, I won't dare to do it again!”

Upon hearing this, his mother, Natsume Ryoko, actually forced out a smile on her bloodied face that was uglier than crying.

She suddenly raised her head, her bloodshot eyes glaring at her husband, her voice sharp and piercing.

“You're full of crap!”

“If you weren't drinking every day, spending all our money on useless alcohol, would I go gambling?”

“This family! You've already ruined it!”

Natsume Den's face instantly turned a purplish-red, and without thinking, he slapped her again with the back of his hand.

“Slap!”

“You still dare to talk back!”

Natsume Ryoko stumbled from the blow, blood once again oozing from the corner of her mouth, but the madness in her eyes grew even more intense.

Like a mad dog, she lunged at Natsume Den, her fingernails raking fiercely across his face!

“I'll fight you to the death!”

The farce that had just been forcibly halted by the return of “Natsume Hiro” now resumed.

The two tore at each other, cursing and screaming.

They attacked each other with the most vicious words, venting the resentment in their hearts with the most primitive violence.

In the corner, the little girl named Natsume Rinko trembled even more violently.

She buried her face deep into her knees, her frail shoulders heaving, yet she dared not make a single sound of crying.

Zhou Huai watched silently.

Watching this ugly and grotesque performance unfolding in Hell.

He had no intention of stopping it.

Nor did he have any intention of playing the role of a family member.

He just found it very noisy.

Since living was so painful, and they tormented each other every day.

Then why not. Let me send you to liberation.

Zhou Huai's face still held that honest yet slightly gloomy expression.

But his eyes, at this moment, became incredibly calm.

“Enough.”

Natsume Den and Natsume Ryoko, who were wrestling, suddenly froze.

As if a pause button had been pressed, they maintained their grotesque postures and slowly, stiffly, turned their heads.

Zhou Huai, controlling Caesar, slowly forced a smile onto his face.

That smile was identical to the gloomy, cold sneer Natsume Hiro usually wore.

“Do you... want liberation?”