Famine 161: Victory…?

【——!】

【Eye】 erupted in a long, shrill scream.

Si Zhiyan noticed. He turned his gaze over, an expression full of resentment and hatred, tinged with a hint of despair, fixed intently on Si Zhiyan, unable to look away.

Of course. Si Zhiyan took a moment to adjust his collar and smiled.

During the battle strategy meeting that day, someone raised a question.

“If… if 【Eye】 really lets loose and starts slaughtering ordinary players, wouldn’t we be completely powerless to fight back? At that speed, perhaps the Chosen Ones could cope, but ordinary people simply can’t dodge it…”

Yun Zhong hesitated as he spoke. Noticing everyone’s eyes on him, he hurried to explain:

“I’m not just afraid of dying, it’s just—just… too many people would die, and we’d lose both the farm’s manpower and our income…”

His voice grew ever smaller.

“It’s alright,” Si Zhiyan replied with a gentle smile. “Even if you’re afraid of dying, what’s so wrong with admitting that? Every person is precious. It’s only right to cherish your own life.”

“We have said before: 【Eye】 is constrained by many of the Supreme God’s restrictions. When challenged, he cannot refuse. He must accept.”

“Coincidentally, on the path of trial and challenge, there are those who have advanced far beyond most ordinary players.”

Si Zhiyan took a sip of his coffee, looked up, and said calmly:

“For instance, myself.”

The trial set by the Supreme God was the greatest restraint ever put on 【Eye】.
We began with the challenge of the trials. Even as the Supreme God sensed our desire to destroy 【Eye】, that restraint remained.

—In other words, as long as someone began the challenge in his domain, he had no choice but to face them, prioritizing the object of the trial above all else.

Only two people in the entire Famine Game had the qualifications to open the second-stage challenge.
Nidhogg was keeping 【Eye】 bound with ropes, so the one left to face 【Eye】 head-on on the true battlefield—

Could only be Si Zhiyan himself.

The entire basement erupted in an uproar. Shi He immediately stood up. “It’s too dangerous!!”

“Sir, if anything happens to you, everything we’ve worked for will…”

But Si Zhiyan merely lifted a hand lightly, and the rest of Shi He’s words were stuck in his throat, unable to be spoken.

“I order you to charge and fight for the farm, while I hide away in safety myself? That’s not necessary.”
Si Zhiyan lowered his hand and ruffled the boy’s hair, smiling softly. His voice, gentle and resolute, left no room for negotiation:

“This is the responsibility I must bear as the farm owner.”

——

“He has locked onto me—gentlemen, engage without restraint and charge freely!”

The battle cries shook the heavens. In the lulls between the hunter axe’s swings, Yan Cheng looked up and saw the silhouette of the farm owner, standing with one hand gripping the flag, gun at his side.

That figure, lean and tall, forever composed and steady, stood high above.

Yan Cheng drew a deep breath, feeling as if his very blood was boiling, as if bewitched. Fearless in the face of death and caught in the aftershock of 【Eye】’s attack, he raised his hunter’s axe and pressed forward—one step, then another!

All around, the sound of killing thundered. At his side were comrades fighting to the death; ahead, a leader unmatched at the front. What cause was there for hesitation?

Kill! When even the farm owner himself fought in the greatest peril, could any of them justify cowering in fear?

In the heavy fog of the Famine Game, there was no sun or moon. Si Zhiyan stood with his back straight, the crimson emblem of the farm entwined at his coat’s hem, billowing in the wind. It gave all who watched the illusion of a sunrise breaking the gloom.

Hundreds of thousands of eyes were upon him, hundreds of thousands of hands lifted him up.

So long as Sir Si remained here, the residents of the farm would know no fear, driving forward without hesitation.

【……】

【Eye】 was trembling. For reasons unknown, the god who had been so noisy just moments before now fell silent, disturbingly so, unable to say a single word.
He stared at Si Zhiyan, tears flowing freely, his gaze clouded with bitter, dark jealousy and hatred, brimming with utter malice.

Sensing something, Si Zhiyan asked, “Your beloved child?”

Bzzzz!

【Eye】 ignored him. Countless scarlet magic circles formed at his side, erupting in a thunderous blast.
Denser and deadlier than before, myriads of instant-death beams wove the sky into a net—the very gates of hell.

Si Zhiyan dared not falter, preparing to dodge, but found there was simply no space left to evade.

In that electric instant, scores of fearless players had already charged into the aftershocks. Attacks gathered at his feet, forming a surging tide, while Lin Qiushui’s ranged units advanced in support.
A torrent of chaotic energies crashed forth, the violent force smashing 【Eye】 backward.

【——!】【Eye】 howled in agony. Whom did he recall?

A glimmer of life split that precise web, and Si Zhiyan seized the opportunity—flashing in with a single leap, he spun around and fired!

Crack—crack!

The bullet embedded itself deep in the giant eye, piercing through the pupil, wrapped in blood as it plowed onward, tearing through the cornea until its force was spent. The bullet halted there.

And then—

Bang!

A deafening blast shattered all the crimson bills. The membrane of the eyeball burst open, spraying its clear internal fluid everywhere.

It was the upgraded “Spendthrift Sugar-Coated Cannonball,” now fully depleted. It had lodged deep within him.

【——!—!!】

【Eye】 let out his fiercest wail yet.

“It worked.” Si Zhiyan pressed his earpiece. “Excellent work, everyone.”

“Ohhh!” The players below erupted in triumphant cheers, wave upon wave.

So, with Nidhogg and Shi He tying up 【Eye】, Si Zhiyan led the main assault, attracting 【Eye】’s hatred and focus, while hundreds of thousands of players rotated their attacks in turn.

Some fell; others rose; some were caught in the crossfire, but even more surged ahead without pause.

The battle raged on, endlessly, endlessly.

【Eye】’s attacks were far denser than any bullet hell game. Each dodge pushed Si Zhiyan to his limits—time after time scattering with gas, facing danger at every turn. Eventually, 【Eye】 gathered in the red rays, and the gas scattering ceased to work.

Yet they never fell behind.

Because attacks came from every direction, and allies were everywhere.
The sharp, girlish screams of 【Eye】 echoed perpetually across the perpetual fog.

……

After a long while, at last, 【Eye】 collapsed with a crash.

The ground shook. Its round, deformed body was covered in wounds, riddled with countless gashes. Heaved and battered, it could no longer move. From innumerable wounds, liquid thick with crystals and blood pooled at his side, forming a small puddle.

Si Zhiyan’s silhouette reformed above the battlefield.

Even as only a phantom, his energy was nearly spent. The real Si Zhiyan, too, had been wounded; blood dripped from his seven orifices for a long time. The vines, in their worry, reluctantly balled up a wet tissue to wipe away the scarlet blood, until the blood-soaked tissues piled high on the ground.

It was always Si Zhiyan’s way: only after confirming he could truly kill his opponent would he allow himself any sympathy. Now, gasping for breath, he raised his hand and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Crack!

A faint sound.

Suddenly, a golden-red, oil-like barrier flowed around 【Eye】, the last few bill-shaped bullets dissolving into its surface without a trace.

A notification chimed in every player’s ear.

[Ding! Candidate No. 02, Si Zhiyan, has passed 【Eye】’s second-phase trial.]

[You are victorious.]
[You have obtained 75% of the qualification certificate.]

[Congratulations; the immortal throne is within your grasp.]

High above, a golden-red, ever-shifting sphere of light slowly formed before 【Eye】.

[Candidate, please step forward to the light orb and receive your reward.]

——

“The Supreme God!” someone whispered in awe.

It seemed this was 【Eye】’s replacement phase.

The split phantom, too, neared its very limit.
Supporting himself with a hand on his knee, Si Zhiyan breathed for a moment.

Then he raised his head, a soft, relieved smile appearing on his lips.

—He leveled his gun, and bills flew out like snowflakes.

At that same instant, countless threads belonging to the “Heavenly Pulse Lady” shot out into the air, slashing ferociously toward the already-fallen 【Eye】!