Flying flesh and blood spattered across the faces of the several gang leaders, bringing a flash of warmth.

"Kill him!"

Snapping back to his senses, the leader of the Black Hand Gang let out a savage roar. He shot forward like a cannonball, the flimsy wooden chair beneath him exploding into splinters from the force. He clenched his hand into a fist, his skin transforming into blackened steel that glinted with a cold, metallic luster. He brought the makeshift sledgehammer down viciously on Zhou Chen’s head.

At the same time, Green, leader of the Fierce Tiger Gang, let out a furious bellow. His muscles swelled, and his frame suddenly shot up to two meters tall. Veins bulged on his forehead as he charged Zhou Chen with a ferocious expression, emanating the savage aura of a pouncing tiger.

"Freeze."

Zhou Chen casually snapped his fingers. Immediately, Green and the Black Hand Gang leader, who were in mid-charge, froze in place as if someone had hit a pause button. They became as still as statues.

’Impossible!’ Green screamed internally. He struggled with all his might, trying to force his body to move, but it was useless. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t control his own limbs. It was as if his consciousness had been shoved into an immovable statue; he couldn’t even manage a simple action like darting his eyes.

Seeing Green and the Black Hand Gang leader so easily neutralized, the last sliver of hope in the heart of the woman with the Evil Ghost tattoos was extinguished. She scrambled and crawled, desperate to escape.

The next second, a cold light flashed.

The leader of the Chizuru Gang drew his Samurai Sword and, with swift precision, lopped off her head. His expression was full of contempt. "Hmph, a piece of trash like you dares to run wild here? Men! Throw this head at the entrance to the black market. Let the Plague Doctor see the price for opposing our five great gangs!"

’What are you talking about!’

Even though he was paralyzed, Green could hear what was happening behind him. ’What’s gotten into Chizuru? Did he just draw his sword? Who... who did he kill?!’

"Haha, Green, see? Your worries were for nothing! This new Ascender is pathetically weak. He couldn’t even take a single slash from me... Huh? Plague Doctor!"

Chizuru’s tone suddenly turned terrified and panicked. "Plague Doctor! Why are you here? No, you’re not the Plague Doctor... You’re me... I... I’m the Plague Doctor?"

’What the fuck are you talking about?’ the leader of the Black Hand Gang cursed internally. ’Does Chizuru think he can get away with this by playing dumb?’

"The next part should be quite a show. You should turn around and have a look. This will be the last one you ever see." Zhou Chen snapped his fingers. The two men’s bodies turned around against their will, forcing them to look behind.

The first thing they saw was the leader of the Evil Ghost Gang lying in a pool of blood, her head severed from her body. The clean cut on her neck was unmistakably Chizuru’s handiwork. The culprit himself was now staring intently at his Samurai Sword.

Or rather, at the reflection in the Samurai Sword—where Chizuru saw a medieval, beaked plague mask.

"Plague Doctor? I... I’m the Plague Doctor? Impossible! I’m not the Plague Doctor, I’m Chizuru! No... that’s not right. I am the Plague Doctor! I *am* the Plague Doctor! But I’m also Chizuru, so that means the Plague Doctor is Chizuru? No... I’m not..." Chizuru’s eyes were shot with blood and filled with a frantic madness. He muttered to himself like a psychiatric patient on the verge of a complete breakdown.

Just then, a large crowd of gang members, drawn by the commotion, rushed to the scene and swarmed the building. But upon seeing the grisly scene on the second floor, not one of them dared to step forward. They swallowed nervously, staring at the deranged Chizuru, completely at a loss.

"I’ve got it!"

Then, a look of sudden realization dawned on Chizuru’s face, his smile twisting into a demented grin. "So I *am* the Plague Doctor! I, Chizuru, have been the Plague Doctor all along!"

He suddenly plunged the Samurai Sword into his own torso, shouting with exhilaration, "Plague Doctor, today you die! Hahahaha..."

Laughing maniacally, he began to butcher himself with his Samurai Sword. Blood quickly soaked him, turning him into a grisly, crimson figure. His intestines spilled from his wounds, piling up at his feet. The sight made the watching gang members’ skin crawl. What could possibly be so terrifying that it would drive an Ascender to lose his sanity and mutilate himself like this?

"Plague Doctor, why won’t you die? Why won’t you just die!" Chizuru screamed in a rage. "I’ll chop off your head!"

He raised his Samurai Sword and, with a single stroke, chopped off his own head.

Chizuru’s head rolled a few times on the floor, still laughing. "Plague Doctor, die!"

With that, it went still.

A heavy silence descended.

Zhou Chen nodded slightly, pleased with the results. They had met his expectations.

The wish he had used on Chizuru was: Mental Derangement.

Zhou Chen had been subjected to a similar Skill in the past, but it had little effect on him. That was why, on a whim, he decided to test its effect on an ordinary Ascender.

Naturally, the results were remarkable.

First, Chizuru mistook the leader of the Evil Ghost Gang for Zhou Chen and beheaded her. Then, he came to believe he was the Plague Doctor, and after a bout of internal conflict, he mutilated and killed himself. To an outside observer, it would seem as if Chizuru had encountered some bizarre entity that had corrupted his mind and Deprived him of his sanity. The whole scene was utterly horrifying.

"Alright, the show’s over. Time for you to be on your way."

Zhou Chen snapped his fingers again. "Now, let your heads fall off."

CRACK. CRACK.

Two sharp cracks echoed as bones snapped. The heads of Green and the leader of the Black Hand Gang dropped from their shoulders, spraying blood that painted the ceiling crimson.

Zhou Chen’s cold gaze swept over the onlooking gang members. He announced impassively:

"From this day forward, the five great gangs are no more."

·

「The Bar’s Black Market.」

In a private room, a woman with chestnut hair sat with her legs crossed, smoking a cigarette. "Plague Doctor," she asked, her voice tinged with boredom, "do you think Siegfried can take down the Fierce Tiger Gang?"