[Oh God…]

A flicker of confusion crossed [Vakh]'s eyes, and then he tightened his grip on Shu's cheeks.

"What does that have to do with me… Vakh was killed by you, and I am a completely new consciousness!" He leaned closer to Shu's face, a cruel smile playing on his lips.

"Ah… it seems you've accepted Natasha. She's watching too, isn't she…" [Vakh] glanced at the drone hovering above, then looked back at Shu.

"I wonder if Natasha has realized this? What will she think of the person who killed her brother with his own hands…" [Vakh] suddenly wanted to see Shu break down.

It was unfair that only Shu could mess with his mind!

He wanted to isolate Shu, to burden him with the curses and condemnation of others!

"Herrscher… your attempts at sowing discord are even less effective than a sewer rat…" Shu chuckled at [Vakh].

[Vakh] still wanted to break him?

This was his specialty! His skill in this area was almost equivalent to [Vakh]'s overwhelming advantage in biology!

Someone who only possessed memories, whose only contact with network devices and communication was through places like [Spiderweb]… someone who had always had everything handed to him on a silver platter, what kind of resilience could he possibly have?

Shrinking back before the Skyfire, crumbling under pressure in their mental duel, these were all evidence of his lack of resilience.

"Are you referring to the fact that I killed the previous parasite?" Shu laughed, letting [Vakh] hold his head. "Natasha will only thank me, then turn her disgust towards you, the new parasite…"

There was no need for a fight now. Just watch him verbally destroy this guy!

[Vakh]'s expression shifted slightly.

Shu paid no mind to [Vakh]'s change in demeanor. In fact, the more agitated [Vakh] became, the happier he was.

"You're just a sudden parasite, a vulture that found a corpse and became arrogant…" Shu glanced sideways at where the [False Dragon] had fallen.

"You and the parasitic creatures you created are the same, only capable of seeking refuge on Vakh's body through the most despicable and lowly means."

"A wriggler that could only hide in the dark sewers, unable to see the light, suddenly sprouts wings and starts buzzing in front of us? Just because you sucked a little blood, you start boasting about your pure bloodline?"

"Herrscher… I said, you're not worthy of anything you have, and you're not worthy of using someone else's legacy to bark so brazenly! You should…"

[Vakh]'s grip suddenly tightened, making it difficult for Shu to speak, forcing him to stop mid-sentence.

[Vakh] stared at Shu's mocking eyes, seeing the undisguised contempt within them.

"You…"

"Are… you… scared?" Even with [Vakh]'s tight grip, Shu managed to force these words through gritted teeth. "A rat… seeing the light… suddenly… covers… its… eyes?"

"What… are you… afraid of?"

Shu stared into [Vakh]'s furious eyes, uttering his final words slowly and deliberately.

"A… lowly soul, inhabiting a body… no matter how advanced… is still… just a lowly being!"

"Shut up!" [Vakh] furiously flung Shu's head away. If it weren't for the last vestiges of [Hope] within him protecting his neck, Shu felt his head would have been ripped off.

But the effect was excellent, wasn't it?

"I am the most superior being! You are the lowly maggots!!" [Vakh] took a step back, roaring at Shu with unbridled fury.

"Cough—!" Free from [Vakh]'s grip, Shu coughed twice, then forced a smile, raising his head.

"Really? Superior beings never become complacent and smug over gaining the knowledge of lesser beings…

"On the contrary, it's the lesser beings who become ecstatic over a small handout from a superior being, believing in them wholeheartedly… right? Herrscher, inheriting a legacy?"

[Vakh]'s chest heaved. His brain, filled with theoretical knowledge, raced, trying to find a rebuttal.

But he couldn't…

Shu's expression grew weaker. The depletion of his stamina, authority, and [Hope] had pushed him to his limits in every sense.

But looking at the Herrscher before him, speechless and reduced to impotent rage, he smiled with satisfaction.

This was the greatest weakness of these beings who considered everything they knew to be correct.

When your rebuttal is based on their own stance and perspective, they have no counter-argument! He had already learned this from Ethics and Science!

But there was a fundamental difference between the AI mechs and [Vakh]. The mechs saw themselves as juniors, eager for recognition, while [Vakh] believed the world revolved around him…

"You don't understand!" Finally, [Vakh] snapped. "Natasha is dead! Dead the moment that bullet entered her brain!"

"Her brain was destroyed! She stopped thinking! Her heart and pulse stopped! She was already dead! Vakh couldn't save her!"

Shu's expression froze.

"It was me! It was ME!!" [Vakh] pointed at himself, glaring at Shu. "It was that Vakh who knelt down and begged me! Begged me to use the abilities he didn't possess to save Natasha!"

"He exchanged everything he had with me! His life, his identity, his memories, his thoughts!"

Shu's eyes widened.

---||---

"Natasha… it's okay… Natasha…" Vakh, covered in blood, held the lifeless body in his arms, desperately trying to warm it with his own body heat.

"It's okay…" Vakh lowered his head, the most abject posture he had ever assumed.

He tremblingly extended his blood-soaked hand, picking up his broken communicator. Blood smeared across the touch screen, leaving fingerprints.

His entire body trembled. Every time a call connected, he felt a momentary reprieve, desperately trying to control his voice.

"Hello, I need equipment, top-of-the-line surgical equipment… Please, I'll do anything…

Please… I'll do anything…"

He failed… rejected time and time again… No one, no faction agreed to help him.

He even called those who were hunting him, pleading and begging, abandoning all his dignity…

He failed…

Besides ridicule, he received countless rejections…

No one could deliver the equipment within the timeframe he needed, and no one believed he could save someone who had been shot in the head several minutes ago…

Not even he believed it himself.

So, he held Natasha's body tightly in his arms, bowed deeply towards the sky, and slammed his head against the stone.

"Oh God… please… save my sister… save Natasha…

"I'll give anything… anything…

Oh God… can you let me feel…"

---||---