Chapter 1261: Conflict
There were countless wounds on that back, and now only one of them contained an eyeball weeping bloody tears.
Most of those wounds had begun to rot and become infected. It was fortunate that Earth Snake had a strengthened body; at this moment, he only felt excruciating pain in his back, but it wasn't enough to make him collapse.
Xiao Ran also gasped when she saw that back. She gently covered her mouth and muttered softly, "Ugh... so ugly."
She had never had any fondness for "snakes" to begin with, and now this feeling was even more confirmed. To her, every "snake" here was strange.
"What's the problem now?" Heaven Snake said calmly, wiping his hands nonchalantly. "My 'modification' skills weren't as refined back then. They're better now."
He draped the towel over the arm of the nearby "furniture" and then patted it.
"Besides, this child's 'grafting' has gotten more and more proficient," Heaven Snake said. "Is this something so hard to understand?"
White Snake kept his back to Heaven Snake and slowly twisted his head around, asking with a pale profile, "So... if you performed the same transplant surgery on me again, would you succeed, Teacher?"
Upon hearing this, Heaven Snake reached up and adjusted his glasses, a slight frown forming on his brow. He felt that White Snake's mood was very strange today.
"It depends on the specific circumstances," he said. "Why are you suddenly asking about this? Turn around and let me see your eyes."
"Don't I have an eye on my back already?" White Snake pointed behind him. "Teacher, by looking at this, can you know what I'm thinking?"
Heaven Snake paused. "No."
"What a pity." White Snake slowly turned around, fixing him with a pair of ice-cold eyes. "Your proud skill can't convey this good news to you."
He stepped forward one pace at a time, his voice hoarse: "My most respected teacher, I've come to tear you limb from limb."
Upon hearing this, Heaven Snake couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine, but he quickly calmed down. He carefully examined White Snake's eyes and found that White Snake was not lying.
Xiao Ran quickly finished putting on her clothes while retreating to a corner. She didn't really care about the grudge between these two; she just hoped she wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.
"So you're the 'Rebel'...?" Heaven Snake asked with a frown.
"Yes," White Snake nodded. "Even if I weren't, it wouldn't matter. I'd find a chance to kill you sooner or later."
"Wait..." Heaven Snake raised a hand to stop him. "You know that we 'Heaven-ranked' are also forced into this. Very few of us genuinely want to die for those two. Can't we talk about this?"
White Snake frowned slightly upon hearing this. "What do you mean..."
"I surrender!" Heaven Snake said. "I really don't want to die!"
...
*Thud.*
Heaven Rabbit immediately knelt down before Earth Rabbit, the panic on her face only increasing. "I really don't want to conflict with you... I just want to return to the real world... What did I do wrong? Why should I die?"
"This..." The tall Earth Rabbit looked down at the middle-aged woman kneeling before him and was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Have I ever harmed anyone? Have I ever killed anyone?" Heaven Rabbit continued, her voice trembling. "I may be a 'Heaven,' but I haven't done anything. Why should I have to die?"
Heaven Rabbit's questions pierced into Earth Rabbit's heart like sharp needles, making him hesitate deeply.
He truly had never seen Heaven Rabbit on the "Train" before, nor had he ever heard of anyone being killed by her.
Perhaps this woman was telling the truth—she had been asleep for decades and only woke up yesterday.
Wasn't it a bit unfair for him to suddenly barge in and try to kill her when she knew nothing at all?
If Earth Rabbit really thought about who his enemies on the "Train" were, it would definitely be Heaven Rat.
Heaven Rat had discovered Earth Rabbit's "Echo" by chance one day, and then used it as leverage, forcing Earth Rabbit to broadcast for him using "Propagation" during every game, or else he would expose the secret.
Although he hadn't been fitted with a collar like Earth Rat, he had still become Heaven Rat's dog. He was treated like a joke, broadcasting his perspective daily for Heaven Rat, who had even installed many speakers in Earth Rabbit's "Penglai" game venue to manipulate him.
Thinking about it that way... if Heaven Rabbit didn't need to be killed, shouldn't he go after Heaven Rat directly?
"Sister, please get up first..." Earth Rabbit said with a frown. "Like this, I don't know what to do either."
"Do you believe me?" Heaven Rabbit asked shakily. "I really just woke up... I don't even know what I should do now..."
"I believe you." Earth Rabbit nodded, stepping forward to help the trembling woman up. "Since that's the case... would you be interested in joining us?"
"Joining you...?"
"We're planning to break through all the 'Apexes' here," Earth Rabbit said. "Whether it's the 'Heaven-ranked' or the 'Twin Dragons.'"
"I... I can't..." Heaven Rabbit shook her head hesitantly. "I told you, I don't want to intervene. I don't want to join either side. I just want to survive."
"This..." Earth Rabbit nodded. "That's a shame. You're a 'Heaven-rank' after all, a powerful combatant."
"I absolutely cannot trust you. 'Non-intervention' is already the biggest concession I can make... You should leave," Heaven Rabbit said. "You're already this wounded. There's no need to keep trying to persuade me, right?"
Earth Rabbit reached up and touched the wound on his chest, sighing. "That's true... Well then, that's how it has to be. Sorry to bother you."
He turned around and walked to the door. Just as he reached for the handle, he suddenly heard a strange noise.
The sound was a *clatter-clatter*, like the scraping of some sheet metal.
Before he could react, he felt a chill in his chest.
He slowly looked down and saw a strange, rough iron needle protruding from his chest, with a single drop of blood slowly falling from its tip.
Heaven Rabbit stepped up behind Earth Rabbit. Her voice was no longer trembling at all; it was as calm as if she were a completely different person.
"I told you I absolutely don't trust you. How dare you turn your back on me?"
"You..." Earth Rabbit tried to say something, but only felt a rush of sweet blood surging up through his windpipe.
"You come to kill me, but then you don't. Now it's my turn to kill you."
Upon hearing this, Earth Rabbit immediately mustered all his strength to swing a punch backward, but Heaven Rabbit dodged with a sidestep. At the same time, the iron needle was pulled from his chest, spattering blood everywhere.
Turning around, he saw that one of Heaven Rabbit's fingers had completely turned into metal—a long, rough iron needle.
He slowly pressed his hand against his chest. That needle had stabbed somewhere unknown, and Earth Rabbit suddenly found even breathing difficult.
He slowly bent over, his eyes gradually turning dark.
Why did it have to be this way?
He had endured so many years of patience and suffering... why did he have to go soft at the very last moment?
"As they say... the wicked live long," he murmured.