"You've said enough of your nonsense, I presume..."
"Since that's the case, then you can all be on your way!"
Divine Might!
Lin Ran unleashed the formidable power of his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan without hesitation.
Having gained experience from previous encounters, Lin Ran was now proficient. He precisely located the source of calamity, the Disaster Crystal, within the Naga's body.
The Naga, completely unaware of this development, never imagined that the incredibly resilient Disaster Crystal could be shattered from the front. Thus, it charged with ferocity.
This allowed Lin Ran's plundering Divine Might to land with perfect smoothness.
*Swish!*
The Naga's retaliation was swift and brutal.
In a mere few seconds, the Naga's expression shifted from fierce determination and anger to utter shock and despair.
It watched helplessly as its energy core vanished into thin air, its body succumbing to irreversible annihilation.
The scattered remnants of its body were utterly inexplicable, marking the Naga's final glimpse of this world.
Of course, the ones who were even more shocked were the other two Forgotten Ones, observing from a third-person perspective...
The Zombie and the Titan!
These two had no idea what had just happened. They simply felt their companion's body disintegrate and his consciousness extinguish.
And the time between these two events was less than a second...
In other words, within the span of just one second, Lin Ran, relying solely on a gaze, had instantly annihilated their brother, the Naga!
Upon realizing this outcome, both were stunned into silence.
What kind of joke was this? How could Lin Ran's combat power be this immense?!
How could such an outrageously powerful, unprecedented skill or secret technique be so utterly unreasonable?!
A sudden transformation?!
That was a living, breathing eighth-tier powerhouse, practically at the apex of the eighth tier!
A formidable warrior who could boost his actual combat power to the tenth tier through energy surges!
And now, with just a mere glance from an opponent, he was gone... utterly gone!
Vanished without a trace, completely eradicated, body, soul, and even the crystal that served as its energy core.
Such an absurd level of power was unheard of, even during Nightfall's absolute reign at its peak.
The two swallowed hard and exchanged glances.
In each other's eyes, they saw boundless fear...
What was happening had shattered their worldview, broken their spirits, and they were gradually losing their ability to think rationally.
The most pressing question now was: with Lin Ran's overwhelming strength, could the preparations and arrangements they had made surrounding him possibly achieve their intended effects?
It seemed highly unlikely...
But the problem was, they had already committed so deeply, so desperately, that backing down was simply not an option.
Even with a one percent chance, they had to try!
However, from an optimistic viewpoint, at least they wouldn't have to worry about dying gracefully and without revealing their weaknesses before Lin Ran.
After all, if Lin Ran was so powerful that he could kill them with just a glance, what was the point of struggling?
Might as well just lie down and accept it!
Initially, the Zombie harbored a slim, unrealistic hope. He fantasized that Lin Ran's eye-attack on the Naga was some sort of one-time ability, or perhaps a highly conditional skill that only worked on the Naga race, a one-in-a-million chance...
But when Lin Ran once again used Divine Might to twist the Titan's Disaster Crystal, the Titan, before his eyes, met the same fate as the Naga.
Only then did the Zombie realize that Lin Ran truly possessed power that rendered them utterly helpless...
With that, the Zombie stopped pretending. He simply collapsed onto the ground, closed his eyes, and adopted a natural pose of surrender, awaiting death.
"Well, you're quite sensible..."
"What, want to have a chat?"
Lin Ran nudged the slumped Zombie's body with his foot and gestured towards him.
The Zombie remained as still as a true zombie, utterly silent and not even breathing...
Anyone would think a corpse was lying there.
Despite the Zombie's silence, Lin Ran stood beside him leisurely and continued,
"If those eighteen gray stars represent the last eighteen surviving Forgotten Ones, then that red moon must represent the true mastermind behind this operation, right?"
"Are you interested in discussing their identity with me?"
Even with such explosive talk, the Zombie remained unmoved, maintaining his feigned death.
Lin Ran sighed and said,
"What, unwilling to speak?"
"If you're unwilling, then there must be some unspeakable reason, some hidden difficulty?"
"Or perhaps, you actually don't know the true origin of that red moon?"
Upon hearing this, though the Zombie showed no outward reaction,
Lin Ran sensed a slight flicker of shock through his mental fluctuations.
With a knowing smile, Lin Ran decisively used Divine Might to twist the Zombie's Disaster Crystal once more.
Luo Qingyan, who had been a mere spectator throughout, blinked in surprise.
"Huh? They don't know either? You really think so?"
Lin Ran shrugged noncommittally.
"Who knows... It's just a possibility."
"But those things aren't that important to us right now, they'll come to light sooner or later..."
"What's important, on the other hand, is..."
Lin Ran's words were barely halfway spoken when the cave began to rumble uncontrollably.
"The volcano is about to erupt!"
Luo Qingyan immediately grasped the critical situation.
Lin Ran nodded.
"The ones controlling the formation are gone, so this accumulated volcano is naturally going to erupt..."
"And judging by the tremors, it's likely to be the most massive eruption in this volcano's history."
"When the lava flows down, it'll be quite a spectacle."
Luo Qingyan rolled her eyes.
"Even now, you're thinking about watching a show! Let's go, let's go! To the next stop!"
"If you want to stay, then you stay here yourself..."
"I have no intention of joining you for a hot bath."