Chapter 33 - The Mind’s Battlefield

BANG!

The moment The Wanderer's attack struck, Lin Fan felt an intense burning pain explode at the center of his forehead.

His vision blurred. A wave of dizziness crashed over him.

The Mind Stone, amplified by The Wanderer's Psionic energy, was pushing into his consciousness—forcing its way into his very soul.

Lin Fan gritted his teeth. 'Damn… he's fast.'

Majin Buu's greatest strength had always been raw power and limitless regeneration. But when it came to Psionic energy defense, he wasn't invincible.

And right now? The Wanderer was exploiting that flaw.

A crackling golden light engulfed his vision. His surroundings faded—Temple-One, the command room, everything.

Then suddenly, he was somewhere else.

The world around him had changed.

A sky blood-red and endless. A ground of dark, shifting flesh, pulsating with life.

And in the distance… a wall of reaching, grasping hands.

A nightmare realm.

Lin Fan stood at the center, and across from him, The Wanderer's form manifested—his golden figure flickering as if struggling to maintain its shape.

The old man frowned.

'Where… is this?'

Lin Fan chuckled, rolling his shoulders. "Welcome to my head, old man. It's a little messy, I know."

The Wanderer's eyes narrowed. This wasn't normal.

His past victims—hundreds of them—had fragile, simple minds. He had always crushed them with ease.

But this place…

This place was wrong.

The ground beneath him twitched, as if alive. The sky above rumbled, whispering in a language that made no sense.

And then… the hands began moving.

Thousands of pale, withered arms shot forward from the abyss, clawing at The Wanderer's golden form.

"What—?!"

Panic flickered in his eyes as he struggled to move, but the more he resisted, the more the hands multiplied.

Lin Fan smirked.

"You should've done your homework, buddy."

The Wanderer gritted his teeth. "Impossible… I've conquered the strongest minds in the universe!"

Lin Fan tilted his head. "Yeah? Well, I'm not from the universe you know."

The Wanderer felt it now—the sheer depth of the mind he had entered.

Not a human mind. Not even a cosmic being's mind.

This was something else entirely. A place of infinite hunger, infinite chaos.

And then, it dawned on him—

He was trapped.

"No… NO!" The Wanderer screamed, but it was too late.

The hands pulled him down, dragging him into the abyss.

His golden body twisted, stretching unnaturally, becoming a mere flicker of light swallowed whole.

And in the real world, The Wanderer's Psionic energy form convulsed, his body trembling in pure terror.

Then, suddenly—

He let out a soul-wrenching SCREAM.

"AHHHH—!!"

His glowing body twisted and contorted, stretching unnaturally.

Lin Fan's eyes snapped open, the dizziness fading.

He looked at the old man before him—now nothing more than a twitching mass of golden light, caught in a loop of endless fear.

Lin Fan sighed. "Damn, you really thought you could take me, huh?"

He exhaled slowly—then opened his mouth.

WHOOOSH!

A vortex of pure suction erupted from within him.

The Wanderer's golden form stretched unnaturally, pulled forward against his will.

"No! NO—!" The Wanderer screamed, but the suction overpowered him completely.

His form distorted like rubber, spiraling inward—

Until, finally, he was swallowed whole.

Silence.

Then—

SMACK!

Something dropped onto the floor in front of Lin Fan's throne.

A small golden gemstone, gleaming with endless power.

The Mind Stone.

Lin Fan looked down at it, his expression unreadable.

Then, with a slow, satisfied smirk, he leaned forward.

"Well… that was fun."

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