Chapter 939: Eye

Chapter 939: The Eye

A relentless ringing filled his ears, and Li Huowang felt his senses vanish in an instant; his body, seized by spasms, sank limply into the depths.

"Huo... Huo..." A few indistinct sounds drifted as if from the edge of the world, impossible to decipher.

Suddenly, his hearing snapped back, and the voice became deafening. "Li Huowang!"

The words had barely faded when two large hands reached into the water, straining to haul him up.

"Li Huowang! Have you lost your mind? Holding a metal rod high in a thunderstorm? Are you tired of living?" Wu Qi roared at him, frantic with rage.

Li Huowang looked down, sluggish, at the hand holding the blade. It was charred black, and from the roots of the burns, black scars snaked along his veins, spreading across his entire body.

The events of moments ago flooded back into his dazed mind; Li Huowang realized he had just been struck by lightning.

Wiping the seawater from his face, he looked up at the sky, where a vast, swirling mass of black clouds loomed like a demon god.

He took a deep breath and screamed hysterically at the heavens. "You want me dead? Not a chance!"

He struggled to hoist Yang Na’s corpse higher, clutching her tightly to his chest. "Death itself stands with me! If you have the power, strike me down!"

"How can you fight it? This is no time for madness, we have to go!" Qing Wanglai grabbed Li Huowang’s shoulder, trying to pull him under, but was shoved aside.

Li Huowang snarled, his expression twisted. "No! I cannot leave! If I leave, everything is lost! Yang Na will never come back!"

"We still have a chance! And if we retreat, they will seize the Daos of Rot, Pain, and Death! If they grow while we wane, then we are truly finished!"

Zhao Shuangdian’s voice echoed in his ear. "Li Huowang, I understand your intent, but you see it too—the enemy this time is a cyclonic storm front! It is nothing like the factory; you could destroy a factory, but how do you destroy a typhoon?"

"It isn't even a living thing. If it lacks life, how can you kill it?"

Hearing this, the roaring Li Huowang froze. He slowly looked down at Yang Na beneath the water and whispered, "Nana, do you hear? The Si Ming this time has no life, not even death."

Li Huowang suddenly smiled, a gentle expression. "But that doesn't matter, does it? We have you. It has no death, but you are the Si Ming of Death—you can bestow death upon it!"

"Yes, that's it!" As if a sudden clarity had struck, Li Huowang ignored the surging waves and charged with Yang Na toward the waterspout in the distance.

Merely approaching it, the gale-force winds made it impossible for him to break the surface.

Under the water, Li Huowang removed his oxygen mask, kissed Yang Na fiercely, and used both hands to push her toward the surface.

As soon as Yang Na’s body reached the surface, the violent winds caught her, threatening to sweep her into the sky like the cruise ship.

Watching her sway like a rag doll in the storm, a sudden, intense reluctance seized Li Huowang’s heart. Just as he prepared to let go, he gripped her tighter. "It’s okay, it’s okay! Don't be afraid. I won't let you face this alone; I’m coming with you!"

With that, Li Huowang kicked his fins and surged out from beneath the water. The storm instantly caught them both, hurling them toward the pillar of water that stood between heaven and earth.

The wind bit into his soaked skin, but he could barely feel the cold, his body already numbed by the lightning.

"It’s fine, it’s fine! Don't be afraid, Yang Na!" Li Huowang squinted through the gale, watching the waterspout loom closer, and gripped his military knife with every ounce of his remaining strength.

"I’ve got it!" At that moment, Zhao Shuangdian’s voice rang out. "I should have realized it sooner! It’s topology! My thinking was trapped in a dead end!"

Seeing the waterspout directly before him, Li Huowang opened his mouth and roared:

"What the hell is topology!"

"Li Huowang, listen to me! I’ll guide you! Don't be reckless! Let go of Yang Na, then grab her again in one second!" Zhao Shuangdian’s tone was uncharacteristically urgent.

Li Huowang hesitated for a fraction of a second, then released Yang Na.

Though he didn't know what she had found in her worldview, they were in the same boat; Zhao Shuangdian would not betray him now.

As Yang Na left his embrace, her body drifted to the left like a kite in a storm.

"Now!" As soon as the word fell, Li Huowang’s hand shot out, grabbing the "kite string" with a death grip.

With the lift provided by the kite, Li Huowang was yanked upward, skimming past the left side of the waterspout.

"Let go of Yang Na! Strike it!"

Li Huowang gripped the knife with both hands and slashed at the waterspout with a roar.

A massive force slammed into him, and he was instantly swallowed by the vortex. The world before his eyes spun at a dizzying speed.

When his vision cleared, he was upside down, feeling a sickening sense of weightlessness as he plummeted.

With a crash, he slammed into the water. Agony flared; his body felt as if it were shattering.

With many bones broken, he used his final reserves of strength to crawl onto the wreckage of the cruise ship.

Gasping for air, Li Huowang looked around. Compared to before, the sea here was eerily silent.

Though the lightning-charged clouds hung low and the sky remained pitch black, there was no wind—not a breath of it. The sea was as still as a mirror.

"Where... where is this? Why is it so strange?" Li Huowang suddenly saw something and reached into the water, pulling Yang Na out.

Yang Na was ready; Death was in position. He could kill this Si Ming now.

"This... is the... eye... of the typhoon." With a burst of static, Zhao Shuangdian’s voice cut out.

"The eye of the storm? I understand! This is the Si Ming’s weakness!" Aching all over, Li Huowang stood up. He stared at the tranquil surroundings, gripped his knife, and plunged it into the water with all his might.

But beyond a few ripples, nothing happened.

Li Huowang stood frozen for a moment, then pulled himself up onto the ship’s hull, staring blankly at the world around him.

In the distance, the black clouds were closing in like a mountain range.