Chapter 1413: The Culprit

Chapter 1414: The Culprit

"Yes, her constitution was too weak, and with the cancer already widespread, she ultimately couldn't pull through..."

"It's my fault... The success rate of the anti-cancer agent is still too low. I'll find a way to iterate on it, to create a drug that can adapt to more types of cancer and have a higher survival rate."

"If possible, could I visit your clinical department? I hope to obtain more patient samples."

"This is the latest agent I've developed; it's taken orally. I've added some of my secret ingredients, which can effectively reduce pain and alleviate the patients' suffering... However, this drug is still under development, and I need to regularly track and collect data from users. Could you make an exception?"

"No, that's not possible... This agent contains the latest biotechnology, and I won't release it to anyone until it's completely perfected."

"Still no? ...Alright, never mind then."

"Hello, are you the patient's family? I have a drug that's still in testing, with a certain probability of curing your son's cancer. However, since it's currently confidential, please do not disclose it..."

"Or, you could just send your son directly to me."

It was me...

So it really was me...

As these fragments of memory flooded his mind, Teacher Ye felt as if he was being torn apart. He saw everything that had happened from a third-person perspective, as if another entity had remotely controlled his body, and his own recollection of these events had been erased.

Just then,

The familiar, thunderous gavel of judgment fell once more!

Bang—!!

Teacher Ye felt as if he had returned to a courtroom from over three hundred years ago. He stiffly looked up...

Under the dazzling, piercing lights above, those azure eyes regarded him with a complex gaze. Chu Changqing stood at the pinnacle of biology, uttering the soul-shaking question:

"Teacher... how did you, an ordinary person, merge with the world-ending calamity?"

Boom—!!!

Thunder roared in Teacher Ye's mind.

Yes... how did he... merge with the Calamity of Thought back then?

No matter how hard Teacher Ye wracked his brain, he couldn't recall any details from that time. This massive loophole had clearly always been right before his eyes, yet his thoughts seemed to have been deliberately guided away, never delving deep into this question.

Did he really merge with the Calamity of Thought?

Or rather...

Did he merge with the Calamity of Thought, or... did the Calamity of Thought control him?

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh—"

A heart-wrenching roar echoed through the devastated laboratory. The biologist, who had believed he dedicated his entire life to human civilization, fell to his knees with a thud amidst the shards of glass, like a pathetic worm whose spine had been removed. His knees instantly bled profusely.

"It was me..."

"It was me!!!"

"It was I who conducted human experiments at the South Sea Base! It was I who distributed agents mixed with calamity genes to the public!! It was I who abducted the children!! It was I who discarded their bodies in the Ash Realm after killing them..."

"It was I who turned the children of the Integration Faction into this... It was I who personally transformed them into monsters!!"

"It was I who destroyed the South Sea Domain!!!"

Teacher Ye's fists repeatedly pounded the ground, the glass shards tearing at his hands until they bled profusely. His bloodshot eyes were filled with remorse and pain... He had tried to pursue humanity's dawn, he wanted to help humanity ascend to a new step...

But he hadn't realized that the research he had dedicated his life to was merely a ridiculous lie of the Calamity of Thought.

The Calamity of Thought had used him, used the Integration Faction, used Chu Changqing, used Chen Ling... It had sent them into the South Sea Domain, waiting for this very moment to break through the South Sea Domain from within, using the hands of the Integration Faction!

In the face of the Calamity of Thought's scheme, this seemingly impregnable domain, on which everyone had placed their hopes, completely fell in less than three hours...

Like a joke.

Just as Teacher Ye was overwhelmed with pain, footsteps sounded from outside the door.

Creak—

Hard boots crunched over the scattered debris on the floor, and a biting cold wind from outside, carried by a trench coat, swept into the chaotic laboratory...

Teacher Ye stiffly raised his head.

A dark gun barrel slowly pressed against his forehead.

Silver enforcer insignia glinted on the hem of the trench coat. Han Meng held the gun in one hand, looking down at Teacher Ye who was kneeling on the ground, his gaze as deep and calm as a winter lake.

"It's you..." Teacher Ye rasped.

"Once, Chen Ling asked me if I could help the Integration Faction enter the South Sea Domain... I refused."

Teacher Ye gave a bitter smile, "You were right to refuse."

"Actually, at that time, I had a question." Han Meng paused for a moment. "In Aurora Domain Sector 3, there was an Ash Realm convergence... The calamities from the Ghost Mockery Abyss knocked on people's doors and even learned human language, reciting a sequence of names..."

"The Scarlet Sovereign of the Ghost Mockery Abyss, the Formless King who Mocks Fate."

"Later, I heard that this incantation was personally written by you, Teacher Ye..."

"If that's the case,"

"How did those calamities know?"

Teacher Ye froze.

After a long moment, it was as if something occurred to him, and the pain in his eyes intensified.

"So that's it... Heh heh... Even the incantation for world destruction... it told me?" Teacher Ye muttered to himself. "That wasn't an incantation... that was the original 'title' of the world-ending calamity. It... merely used my mouth to spread their names."

"So from the very beginning, I was just a tool... a tool planted in human society by the world-ending calamity!"

Teacher Ye's body trembled ceaselessly. Everything he had done until now was negated, and at this moment, only endless despair and remorse remained in his heart... He took a deep breath, directly seized Han Meng's gun barrel, and forcefully pressed it against his own forehead!

His bloodshot, pain-filled eyes stared fixedly at Han Meng.

"Kill me!!" Teacher Ye pleaded, almost begging. "Kill me... I am the culprit behind all of this! I am humanity's sinner! The shame of human scientists!! Aren't you the Chief Judge? Let my soul scatter, never to reincarnate... Only then can my sins be repaid... even if only a shred..."

Han Meng looked at Teacher Ye, who had completely broken down before him, his thoughts unknown...

Finally, he slowly closed his eyes.

A magnificent and solemn judgment hall rose beneath his feet. Endless chains bound Teacher Ye's body. Han Meng slightly parted his lips and uttered a few words calmly and indifferently...

"Sentence of Cardinal Sin, court is in session."