Chapter 301: "Hand of Redemption"

Whoosh—As the wind and snow swept past the two figures, one black and one white, the world seemed to come to a standstill.

"Lord Aurora, Yang Xiao." Tan Xin walked along the frost-covered street, his eyes fixed on the white-clad figure opposite him, his expression cold yet resolute.

Lord Aurora quietly watched the black trench coat approach. He gently set the swaddled infant he held aside and brushed the flakes of snow from his clothes. "I recognize that trench coat. When Aurora Base was established, I designed the Enforcer uniforms... Are you the current Chief?"

"Who I am is not important."

Tan Xin's black trench coat flapped wildly in the wind. He took a black box from behind his back, pressed a button, and a steel instrument resembling both a birdcage and an arm guard snapped onto his right arm, threads of electric light flickering across it.

He spoke calmly, "I was once Enforcer Tan Xin, but for the continuation of humanity's destiny, I can be anyone... including the one who kills you."

Tan Xin's aura surged, and the terrifying pressure of an Eighth-Tier master suddenly descended. The frost and snow on the ground were shaken away by his steps, spreading outwards like invisible rings.

"A reverse Faraday cage?" Seeing the device on Tan Xin's arm, surprise flickered in Lord Aurora's eyes. "No... the design is similar, but the principle is completely different. Does it also have the effect of correcting magnetic fields?"

As a top scientist in the field of magnetism, Lord Aurora instantly recognized the device's purpose and surmised Tan Xin's intention to kill him.

"The concept and design are impressive. It's surprising to find such talent in this era." Lord Aurora felt a touch of regret. "It would have been good to meet them if there was a chance..."

"You've met him," Tan Xin said calmly. "His surname is Yi."

"So it was him..." Lord Aurora recalled the eccentric scientist he had seen shortly after awakening.

"Did he name this device?"

Tan Xin paused for a moment."'Hand of Redemption.'"

Lord Aurora was taken aback. After a long pause, he nodded with a complex expression. "...A good name."

"I don't believe sacrificing three million souls will allow you to transcend the Ninth-Tier... Therefore, I choose to redeem Aurora City." Tan Xin's eyes narrowed slightly. Though usually appearing calm and refined, he now fully unleashed the authority and imposing presence of the Enforcer Deputy Chief. "I know you are Ninth-Tier. In your prime, I would undoubtedly lose, but now... I want to try."

"You are right." Lord Aurora glanced at the fading aurora above. "I can sense that threshold, the tenth step; it cannot be reached by simply accumulating souls... Even if all souls from the nine great realms were gathered, it would be almost impossible."

"So..."

"But that doesn't mean I will cooperate with you."

Before Tan Xin could finish speaking, Lord Aurora calmly interjected.He took a single step, vanishing instantly in a flurry of fine electric arcs. Tan Xin's pupils didn't even have time to contract before the corner of the white-clad figure's clothes brushed his cheek... Lord Aurora, with one hand in his pocket, brushed past him.His other hand lightly patted Tan Xin's shoulder.

Boom—!!Under the influence of Lord Aurora's palm-held magnetic field, countless moving charges instantly erupted with terrifying kinetic energy. A pillar of light, shimmering with plasma streams, burst forth from within Aurora City, its roar accompanied by a horrifying earthquake that swept across the entire city!

At that moment, all the Enforcers scattered throughout the city paled, their heads snapping around to look in that direction.

"This... this is..." Qiong Xuan muttered to herself.

Dust filled the air. In a crevice-riddled trench in the earth stood a black-clad figure, looking disheveled.

Lord Aurora slowly withdrew the hand he had raised, glanced at Tan Xin, and continued walking down the street.

"I still have things to do... If you want my soul, you'll have to earn it."

Tan Xin stood in the ruins, breathing heavily. His Enforcer trench coat was torn to shreds... He had believed that the dying Lord Aurora might be a match for him, but his opponent had nearly incapacitated him with a single move.

Protecting the "Hand of Redemption" he held, Tan Xin spoke hoarsely:

"What are you going to do?"

"Leave the city."

"Leave the city?" Tan Xin seemed to realize something. "Are you going to enter the Forbidden Sea?"

Outside Aurora City, the Gray Realm had now fully converged. The location corresponding to the Aurora Realm on Earth in the Gray Realm was precisely the domain of the Forbidden Sea... Aurora City's current low temperature was also due to the sea winds from the Forbidden Sea.

For Lord Aurora to leave the city meant stepping into the Forbidden Sea the moment he exited the gate, which would undoubtedly trigger a massive assault from calamities.

"In this era, though humanity's power may be diminished, we are not to be trampled upon." Lord Aurora looked up at the roaring waves and incantations outside the city, his eyes narrowing slightly. "They want to consume Aurora City, and I will make them pay the price..."

"But your current physical condition..." Tan Xin's brows furrowed.

"I already died once, silently, in a laboratory," Lord Aurora continued walking without looking back. "This time... I want to die on the battlefield, not within the city."

Tan Xin stared blankly at Lord Aurora's retreating back. The white-clad figure gradually vanished at the end of the road, and further beyond lay Aurora City's gate... and the intensely cold Forbidden Sea of the Gray Realm.

At that moment, Lord Aurora's earlier words echoed in his ears once more:"I still have things to do... If you want my soul, you'll have to earn it."

Tan Xin looked at the "Hand of Redemption" and stood silently in place... He now understood Lord Aurora's meaning.Lord Aurora could die, but he should not die within the city, and certainly not at the hands of Tan Xin, another human... If Tan Xin wanted his soul, he would have to wait until Lord Aurora died in battle, then claim it by his own strength.

Tan Xin's fist unconsciously clenched, then helplessly relaxed. Only then did he truly grasp the weight of the name "Lord Aurora"... Facing the direction in which Lord Aurora had departed, he murmured:

"Farewell... Lord Aurora."

As if he had heard Tan Xin's voice, the white-clad figure turned his head slightly, then continued onward...

The souls of the tragically deceased echoed in his ears, and a faint aurora drifted across the desolation towards the sky. Lord Aurora walked along the city's edge, finally stopping before the massive, ice-bound city gate.

Outside the gate, the cold wind howled like thunder.