Du Lai’s group had been standing farther back, and with Yan Qingwen’s early warning, they’d managed to dodge in time and escape serious injury.

The moment Yan Qingwen shouted “Catch him,” the fastest among them immediately charged after the king!

Fu Miaoxue wiped the blood spattered on her body, furious and frustrated, and yelled: “That’s Willard! Kill him!!!”

But Willard had already been standing near the boundary line. When he saw them give chase, he stepped back two calm, unhurried paces — and his figure vanished into the haze beyond.

“Come back!” Du Lai stopped in his tracks. “Watch for tricks! Circle around the other side!”

The subjects who had been running ahead stopped and reversed course with Du Lai, taking the alternate boundary line of the triangular territory to go around.

Yan Qingwen and Chen Hui and the others hurried to follow.

As they left, Yan Qingwen looked back at the steel puppet lying on the ground — that massive frame motionless, clearly having sustained severe damage in the blast.

A complicated mix of feelings rose in his chest. He said quietly, “…Thank you, old friend.”

Then he looked away and followed the others.

They arrived at the neighboring territory and immediately found that the sensor status had changed! The holographic projection was no longer Fu Miaoxue — it was Willard.

“He claimed this territory while we were away!” Fu Miaoxue raged. “Damn it! The sensor is still in its safety window — we can’t change the ownership status yet!”

“No need to panic,” Du Lai reassured her. “All his subjects are dead. Now he’s alone. No matter how many territories he claims, we’ll take them all back eventually.”

“Right.” Fu Miaoxue heard this and felt her heart ease somewhat. “We’ve got eight people! No matter how capable he is, he can’t take all of us.”

“I’ve never seen anyone so ruthless… He actually sacrificed every single one of his subjects…”

Chen Hui recalled the scene just moments ago. Her heart was still racing — when the explosion hit, she’d been running as fast as she could and hadn’t witnessed the full horror of it, but the blood-soaked aftermath was enough for her mind to fill in every grim detail.

Another subject agreed: “That king is just… not human!”

“Enough.” Du Lai said with a frown. “Let’s catch him first, talk later.”

Everyone stopped worrying about the sensors and circled around in the direction where Willard had just been — but Willard seemed to have gotten away ahead of them. The territory was empty, with only a sensor that had already been changed to Willard’s name.

Another territory lost.

Fu Miaoxue seethed.

Du Lai steadied himself and led the group in continued pursuit.

They chased through seven or eight territories one after another. Every single one had been claimed! And each territory’s sensor timer was perfectly calibrated — all within the ten-minute window, making it impossible to reclaim any of them immediately!

The whole group finally began to unravel.

Then they advanced into one more territory — and caught sight of Willard standing right beside the sensor!

The man touched the sensor lightly with his wristband. The blue glow instantly turned red, and the holographic projection switched to his own image!

Du Lai’s heart seized — terrified of letting him escape again — and he hurled several throwing blades with full force!

Willard saw it coming and turned to run!

But he was half a beat too slow. Both his calf and his back were hit, and after staggering a few steps, he pitched forward and fell!

Fu Miaoxue cried out in delight. “Du Lai, finish him off!”

Du Lai walked toward him.

The fallen Willard slowly twisted his head and looked up at Du Lai with an eerie smile.

It was as if a breeze had passed — something brushed against his face, faint and ticklish, like a strand of hair…

Du Lai stopped where he stood.

For no reason at all… where would a strand of hair that long come from?

“Du Lai, why are you stopping?” Fu Miaoxue walked up and urged him. “Hurry up and finish him! Once he’s dead, we win!”

Du Lai turned around.

Two fingers pinched a blade — and in a single lightning motion, it sliced clean across Fu Miaoxue’s throat. The movement was precise and effortless.

Fu Miaoxue was stunned.

She lifted her hand to touch her own throat, then stared at Du Lai in utter disbelief, unable to process what had just happened.

“Du Lai…”

—