Chapter 215: The Pitiful Soul Enslaved by Strength

‘Still stubborn after being blasted back into Soul Space? This guy’s jaw is harder than his bones…’

‘Bai Kong: Physical surrender doesn’t mean mental defeat! (Though mentally, he’s pretty much out cold.)’

‘Wait… why do I suddenly find this kinda cute? +1’

‘Hey, wake up! This is a guy who looks like a pancake, still talking big!’

Watching Bai Kong, who’d just been thoroughly thrashed by Tian Dao, stubbornly refusing to back down, the Dimensional Audience couldn’t help but mock him mercilessly.

During the exchange, the show’s camera briefly zoomed in on Tian Dao.

After finishing his brutal lesson on Bai Kong, Tian Dao deactivated the ‘Eclipse Star Liberation’ technique within his body. The engine-like roar that had filled his frame, the tangible waves of overwhelming Stellar Energy radiating from him—everything gradually settled into stillness.

Had the audience not just witnessed Tian Dao’s monstrous, merciless side moments before, they might’ve mistaken him for nothing more than a surprisingly gentle soul.

As the camera shifted again, it followed Tian Dao’s gaze toward the distant Steam Furnace.

But when the Dimensional Audience caught sight of what was happening around the furnace, the screen’s chat momentarily fell silent.

There, Vivian—no longer in the inferno—had been pulled out by Yu Chen from the scalding heat of the furnace. Her silken silver-white hair clung to her pale cheeks, damp with sweat, giving her an ethereal, almost tragic beauty—like a fragile thing that had been ravaged, yet still stood.

Yet her expression was wrong.

Her once-clear eyes were now hollow, lifeless, as cold and frozen as a lake under winter’s grip. The chill in them sent shivers down even the viewers’ spines.

Yu Chen kept pressing her, asking questions, trying to drag her away from the danger—especially from the figure not far away.

But as he stared at Vivian, who remained silent and motionless, both he and the audience felt something deeply off. A creeping dread settled in their chests.

And as Murphy’s Law would have it—when something can go wrong, no matter how unlikely, it will.

Swish!

Before Yu Chen could react, a flash of cold light lanced toward his chest.

At the last possible moment, he twisted his body instinctively, narrowly avoiding the killing blow. The blade grazed his shoulder, leaving only a shallow cut.

Now face-to-face with Vivian—her face blank, her eyes devoid of warmth—holding the ‘Second-Hand Dagger’ that gleamed with a deathly silver sheen, Yu Chen stared in disbelief.

“Vivian! Are you crazy?!”

She didn’t answer.

Her expression remained unchanged. The dagger spun in her hand, unleashing a flurry of razor-sharp attacks from impossible angles—each one deadly, precise, fueled by a killing intent so thick it could be felt even through the Dimensional Screen.

To her, Yu Chen wasn’t a savior. Not a partner. He was an enemy—someone who had to be erased.

“Deputy Captain Yu,” Tian Dao said, his voice calm, almost amused, as he walked slowly toward the furnace. “You see, when a mind is mechanized, it has no sense of good or evil. If you hesitate, your so-called ‘friend’ will be the one to plunge a blade into your heart.”

Yu Chen had no breath to respond. He was already overwhelmed—dodging Vivan’s relentless strikes while carefully holding back, afraid of hurting her. Just surviving was draining every ounce of his strength.

And he was already wounded. Tian Dao’s casual slap had left his internal organs aching, a dull pain that still lingered.

What unsettled both Yu Chen and the audience even more was this: as Tian Dao walked past Vivian, calmly, without a care, she didn’t even glance at him.

Her hollow eyes remained locked on Yu Chen. She didn’t see Tian Dao at all.

As if a silent barrier had formed around him—cutting him off from the chaos, rendering him invisible to her.

Or perhaps, her mechanized logic recognized that attacking Tian Dao now would be suicide.

In that moment, two contradictions coexisted within Vivian: madness and cold, perfect logic.

Ignoring the fight unfolding beside him, Tian Dao reached the Steam Furnace and signaled to Dannika, who was hiding in the shadow of a nearby pipe.

Dannika darted over instantly.

As she passed the raging battle between Yu Chen and the merciless Vivian, she blinked curiously—completely unafraid.

When she reached Tian Dao, she looked up at him, pointing at the raging Vivian with wide-eyed wonder.

“Mr. Tian Dao,” she asked, “what’s wrong with that lady?”

Tian Dao looked down at her, his voice low, laden with meaning.

“Nothing much. Just someone who couldn’t control Strength… and now, Strength has controlled her.”

He turned back toward the furnace—the engine still humming, the metal casing glowing faintly red from energy overload—and said, quietly:

“Come on, Dannika. It’s time we brought this drama to a perfect close.”

“Okay,” Dannika replied, nodding with a half-understanding smile. Then, she took Tian Dao’s pant leg in her small hand, and together, they stepped into the swirling white mist within the furnace. They vanished into the steam, leaving no trace.

The furnace door slowly closed.

The sounds of battle—of screams, of steel clashing—were sealed off forever.

Not long after Tian Dao disappeared inside, Chen Kong, who had been unconscious, finally stirred awake.

Thanks to Bai Kong’s monstrous resilience, his body—once on the verge of collapsing under Tian Dao’s assault—was now whole again. No lasting wounds. No visible scars. He could move, walk, even stand.

But every motion brought a dull ache through his limbs.

Still, to be alive at all was the best possible outcome Tian Dao had granted him—out of old ties, perhaps, or a fleeting moment of mercy.

Inside Soul Space, Chen Kong had watched helplessly as even Bai Kong couldn’t hold Tian Dao back. He’d placed all hope in convincing Tian Dao—though he knew it was absurd.

From the moment he’d met Tian Dao, only Kalolin had ever managed to sway him on trivial matters. No one else had ever influenced him.

But Chen Kong hadn’t expected to wake up and find not a stubborn Tian Dao—but a wild, berserk Vivian, and Yu Chen, barely surviving.

Without hesitation, he forced himself up, pushing through exhaustion, and threw himself into the effort to restore Vivian’s sanity.

Meanwhile, Tian Dao, though already inside the Steam Furnace, still watched the outside world through the Dimensional Screen.

He wasn’t surprised.

He’d known this would happen.

Just as the original script had foretold: Chen Kong and Yu Chen would join forces, awaken Vivian in the final moments, and help her suppress her Mechanical Personality—enabling her to first master the powerful ability known as Ten Machinery Kindling.

And the twelve Gear Guardians locked in a chaotic brawl around them? Just background extras—set dressing, really—meant only to heighten the drama.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end