Otherworldly Affairs Office

Chapter 903 903: Suzi's Devotion

"Fool, you're about to die, yet you worry about how others are doing!" Pei Yan laughed bitterly. As a soul body, he wanted to cry but couldn't. He looked up at Suzi, managing to squeeze out a smile and asked, "If I don't erase your consciousness and we fuse, can you still exist between heaven and earth?""Master, that's not possible! If I don't erase consciousness, after our fusion, my consciousness will exist in your subconscious, and your soul will no longer solely belong to you. I know you are most wary of transforming your body; the ship of Theseus is always your nightmare. Your body has been modified many times, and the soul is your purest part. If mingled with my consciousness, it would become… "

"Become impure?" Pei Yan interrupted Suzi with a gentle laugh and sighed, "Alright, don't talk about me like I'm a little girl worried about being bullied. I'm about to die, and still worry about purity. Since you have a soul and self-awareness, you should know what kind of person I am. I won't let you sacrifice in vain. Let's fuse first, and when the time is ripe, I'll choose a suitable body for you, separate your soul consciousness, and set you free! I keep my word!"

"Master, I believe in you! Thank you!" It was only then that Suzi's calm voice finally revealed a ripple of emotion, her voice choked as she said, "Master, the situation is urgent, let's hurry with the soul fusion!"

"Alright!"

Following Suzi's proposal, Pei Yan immediately began fusing with the soul she manifested. Since Suzi gave up defense and devoted herself wholeheartedly, Pei Yan encountered little hindrance throughout the absorption process. Once fully united with Suzi's not-so-strong soul, he felt Suzi's consciousness integrating into his own, gradually fading. Pei Yan had no time for sentiment and immediately started absorbing and incorporating the soul fragments outside the Source Energy Protection Wall.

Although the fused soul with Suzi was still not strong, it was more than sufficient to deal with singular soul fragments. As Pei Yan began to devour the scattered soul bodies step by step, his soul gradually repaired and strengthened. Until he gathered all his scattered soul fragments externally and regained control over his body, he then turned his gaze to the instrument souls within himself.

"Two instrument souls! It looks like the Demon God is making a last-ditch gamble. If successful, I'll become stronger; if I fail, I die a swift death!" Pei Yan stared at the chaotic and rampant instrument souls inside him, a nameless rage stirring deep within. "Since it's come to this, don't blame me for being greedy; I won't let a single one of the seven Divine Artifacts go!"

Aside from his overwhelming rage, Pei Yan dared to act this way mainly because the new soul formed from his fusion with Suzi brought him new changes and confidence. The soul conceived from supernatural abilities triggering artificial intelligence is an anomaly in this world, which can be called a new existence—a pure, unpolluted soul. And this soul happens to be highly compatible with Pei Yan. After absorption, Pei Yan felt his mastery over mechanical abilities reach its peak.

Because of this, he abandoned his cautious approach to devouring instrument souls, shifting to an aggressive, large-mouth swallowing akin to a whale. This act undoubtedly frightened the people outside holding Divine Artifacts manipulating instrument souls; they were already struggling against the space cracks formed by fracturing prison and couldn't hold back several instrument souls from flying toward Pei Yan's chest.

"Demon God, this... this!" Even Old Samikina was flustered, looking to the Demon God for help, holding the Divine Artifact.

"Let go, let him absorb it!" At this moment, the Demon God also noticed the changes inside Pei Yan. After a slight hesitation, he made the decision, staring with blood-red eyes at Pei Yan suspended in mid-air, clenched his fists, murmuring, "You better succeed! Don't disappoint me, or even if you die, I will use your family to settle this score!"

At this time, Pei Yan was too busy to care about the external reactions. Although absorbing Suzi's soul significantly enhanced his soul body, the backlash from multiple instrument souls simultaneously pouring into him was still beyond what his current soul body could endure.

"Space severance!" Struggling, Pei Yan squeezed out the words through clenched teeth. The space vortex formed when his chest's prison exploded was finally utilized after Pei Yan devoured a large number of fragmented prison instrument souls. While absorbing the other six types of instrument souls, he allocated most of his strength to sever the nearby space, creating a space crack leading to the cornerstone dimension.

As soon as the crack appeared, Pei Yan immediately threw his consciousness into it. This was Pei Yan's solution to the crisis: channeling the pain endured by his soul into network data and offloading it. This method was something he understood after fusing with Suzi's soul, gaining the artificial intelligence characteristics of the new soul.

Consciousness delved into the crack, and in this socially differentiated network infrastructure, Pei Yan quickly found a network connection, converting the impact from multiple instrument souls on his body and soul into network data, which spread continuously from Pei Yan's body to the network.

The influx of massive data caused network lag in the selected region, resulting in widespread network delays and interruptions for users within the area. They complained bitterly, calling network operators' customer service, while on the other side, the network operators were clueless and dispatched personnel to inspect and repair.

But Pei Yan, desperate to save his life, couldn't care about these details. As the pain from his wounds gradually transferred, he seized the opportunity to boldly devour the incoming instrument souls. His soul body continually expanded, compressed, digested, and then expanded again in a cycle of procedures. Once he devoured the instrument souls from the several Divine Artifacts completely, his soul became indestructible. Consequently, the effects brought by multiple Divine Artifacts began spreading within him, leading to a new phase of refining his body.

At this point, Pei Yan's pressure began to ease. In contrast to his fragile soul, Pei Yan's body was significantly stronger and more enduring. Having passed the most critical moment, Pei Yan's breathing and body functions gradually stabilized.

Seeing this scene, the many present members of the Demon Race were filled with mixed emotions. Watching Pei Yan survive the direst moment suggested their involvement wasn't wasted, holding potential for reaping rewards. As for being pleased, that wasn't entirely the case! The sentiment was more bittersweet as they invested in a foreign body with seven Divine Artifacts including the fractured prison. They couldn't determine whether this venture was profitable or a loss.