Dottore had nothing to fear; he still held many, many trump cards.
Ye Xi knew this as well.
The Doctor, the Second of the Fatui Harbingers.
To be ranked so high, his power was naturally trivial matter—it was highly likely comparable to that of a god.
Therefore, seeing Dottore's disdain, he was not surprised.
As for Dottore's question, Ye Xi answered calmly, "Whether it is using human bodies for experiments or using the Akademiya to create a new god, your crimes far exceed those of Azar."
"Therefore, your punishment is, naturally, the death penalty."
"Are you satisfied with this result?"
"Hahahaha."
Dottore laughed aloud. "I recall that 'judgment' is supposed to be Fontaine's trademark."
"I never imagined I would face judgment from a Khaenri'ahn here in Sumeru. truly laughable..."
As he spoke, he waved his hand dismissively. "No matter, that was just an aside."
"You are correct; I have indeed done many things."
"I am a scholar. Curiosity about all things in the world is an innate instinct."
"And to verify the deductions I derive, various experiments are naturally required."
"Oh, of course, these experiments are for the sake of acquiring more knowledge."
"As you know, the path of seeking knowledge always requires overcoming certain difficulties."
"If no one steps forward to sacrifice themselves voluntarily, then the exploration of knowledge becomes exceptionally arduous."
"So, how can the things I do for the sake of research be considered crimes?"
"This should be considered a contribution—something to be eulogized."
Hearing this, Sage Nafis couldn't help but shout curses, "Absolute rubbish!"
"No matter how knowledge progresses, it cannot cross the bottom line of morality!"
"Your conclusions have long since violated the original intention of a scholar. You are unworthy of calling yourself a scholar!"
The other scholars of the Akademiya echoed his sentiments one after another.
Dottore crossed his arms and sighed helplessly. "Sage, what you cannot deny is that direct experimentation like this speeds up the acquisition of knowledge."
"Forget it."
"It is truly saddening that my academic achievements are never appreciated in my homeland."
Saying this, Dottore looked toward Ye Xi on the stage and said indifferently, "So, do you intend to get rid of me using the method you just used?"
"If that is the case..."
"I feel it would be more appropriate for you to watch me leave."
As he spoke, he produced a chess piece glowing with green light from behind his back.
Seeing this chess piece, Nahida immediately frowned.
That was her Heart of God!
Suddenly, the Heart of God bloomed with a red light.
At the same time, the people in the Grand Bazaar who had been discussing animatedly suddenly fell silent.
Everyone's eyes turned red.
Like puppets, they froze in place.
After doing all this, Dottore smiled. "As you can see, I slightly modified the Void Terminal to control all the citizens of Sumeru."
"It really is much quieter now..."
"Alright, I should be going, Khaenri'ahn."
"If you attack me, I will operate the Heart of God and have these puppets be buried along with me."
Seeing this situation, those not wearing the Void Terminals panicked.
"H-How can this be!"
"The Heart of God actually fell into the hands of a Fatui Harbinger! Azar, that sinner!"
"We must take back the Lord Dendro Archon's Heart of God!"
"Forget it. At least Azar is dead. It's a good thing that the people of Sumeru will no longer rely on the Void Terminal."
"But... Sage Nafis, if we don't retrieve the Heart of God, the God-Making Plan might be restarted!"
"Damn Fatui!"
Hearing everyone in the theater filled with indignation, Nilou was full of guilt. "If I had known, I would have reminded everyone in the dream to take off the Void Terminals earlier!"
"Do not blame yourself, Nilou. Even if you told everyone in the dream, the people outside Sumeru City would not be able to escape control."
Nahida stood with her hands on her hips, looking confidently at Ye Xi beside her. "Trust him."
"With his methods, retrieving the Heart of God will be effortless."
For a moment, everyone looked at Ye Xi.
Hearing the words beside his ear, Ye Xi was slightly stunned.
He felt that Nahida seemed to know about his abilities.
However, now was not the time to care about such things.
"Dottore, you cannot escape."
Dottore, surrounded by the Fatui, paused slightly and looked back at Ye Xi.
Suddenly, he felt his figure stagnate. In the next moment, the Heart of God in his hand vanished into thin air!
"L-Lord Doctor! Your hand!"
"Fire! It's fire!"
"Quick, get water!"
Dottore was startled and hurriedly looked at his arm.
He saw a cluster of black flames burning on his hand!
"Serpent of Black Flame!"
The sudden mutation before him left Dottore extremely puzzled, but he didn't have time to think too much.
He knew the power of the Black Flame was terrifying.
Once it started burning, it was like a maggot in the tarsal bones; it would burn a person completely into charcoal.
And it spread very fast!
Without thinking twice, Dottore chopped his own palm off with a single blade strike.
The severed palm fell to the ground, instantly turning charred and withered.
Seeing this scene, Nafis couldn't help but feel a surge of joy in his heart.
However, what surprised him was that after Dottore's arm was cut, no blood flowed out.
It was simply inconceivable!
"To think you destroyed one of my palms."
Dottore frowned and looked at Ye Xi again, discovering that the Heart of God originally in his hand had actually appeared in Ye Xi's hand.
He couldn't understand.
How on earth was this done!
"The production of segments consumes a vast amount of resources."
"Khaenri'ahn, you will pay the price for this hand."
Ye Xi acted as if he hadn't heard and tossed the Heart of God to Nahida beside him.
Catching the Heart of God, Nahida immediately released the control over everyone.
Now, the citizens of Sumeru suddenly came back to their senses.
"What just happened? I felt like I zoned out!"
"So strange! Was it an illusion?"
"I seem to have seen the Fatui Harbinger take out a shiny chess piece, and then I didn't know anything!"
"Wait a minute, look! That Harbinger's hand is broken!"
This cry of surprise immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Countless gazes fell upon Dottore.
They saw him clutching his arm, his expression extremely ugly.
"Who did it! That's amazing!"
"It must be Master Ye Xi! He's too strong!"
"Well done! He actually dared to disobey a god! He deserves it!"
"Master Ye Xi was right! Death penalty!"
"Death penalty! Death penalty! Death penalty!"
The crowd raised their fists and shouted.
Dottore found it difficult to calm down this time.
He had truly lost everything in this gambit!
For a moment of whim, he lost powerful tools like the Great Sage.
Even the Heart of God, the key item for the [God-Making Plan], was snatched away.
For this, he even lost a palm.
Such a price, and all he got in exchange was intelligence data on Ye Xi!
A loss!
It was simply too big of a loss!
Suddenly, various voices came into his mind.
[You useless thing!]
[Is this the me from my youth? Truly achieving nothing but ruining everything.]
[Just thinking that my future self is so foolish makes me feel ashamed!]
[What face do you have to return to the homeland!]
[The mission Her Majesty the Empress gave you, have you completed it?!]
These voices all came from the eyes he had cast into the [Time Dimension].
This was the mockery of the other segments!
Although he felt angry, he could not deny their reprimand!
Without the Dendro Heart of God, there was no way to use computational power to derive the power of the Electro Heart of God!
He had to take the Dendro Heart of God back!
Even setting aside the [God-Making Plan], the Empress's order was to bring both the Dendro Heart of God and the Electro Heart of God back to Snezhnaya together.
If he lost the Dendro Heart of God, the mission in Sumeru would be a complete failure!
Thinking of this, Dottore changed his mind about leaving.
He had to fight!
Instantly, the Delusion on Dottore's chest bloomed with blinding light.
A terrifying aura enveloped the entire Grand Bazaar.
The crowd that was still mocking Dottore was immediately scared by this dangerous aura until their souls trembled.
The yellow-haired idiot and the emergency food in the crowd were scared pale.
"Wuuuwah—!"
"W-What kind of power is this! He's even stronger than The Fair Lady!"
Paimon hurriedly shrank behind Lumine, too scared to open her eyes.
Lumine couldn't help but sigh, "Is this [The Doctor], the Second of the Fatui Harbingers? How terrifying."
Just as everyone in the Grand Bazaar was in a state of panic.
An incredible scene occurred!
Dottore's severed arm suddenly bloomed with black flames once again.
Dottore was greatly shocked.
"No, this is impossible!"
"The same thing happened in front of me five times, and I actually didn't see the flaw at all!"
"Khaenri'ahn, what exactly did you do!"
Before his voice fell, Dottore chopped his entire left arm off completely.
The flames instantly swallowed his flesh and bone.
Seeing this scene, the people of Sumeru erupted in cheers.
"Such amazing methods! I can't see how Master Ye Xi attacks at all!"
"Incredible! With this kind of power, he can probably even defeat a god!"
"Master Ye Xi is so strong! I'm getting so wet just watching!"
"I really want to stay by Master Ye Xi's side every night!"
Dottore's aura was extremely powerful, making everyone feel heart palpitations.
But Ye Xi's powerful strength made countless girls feel adoration.
The most inconceivable thing was that no one knew how Ye Xi launched his attacks!
Because in their eyes, Ye Xi hadn't moved from his spot at all!
He hadn't even blinked!
Nilou, Cyno, and Alhaitham were all horrified.
Nilou even wondered if it was done by telekinesis.
However, among everyone present, only one person knew what had happened.
That was Nahida.
Dottore fell silent.
However, his silence represented utter rage.
He felt that he had been toyed with.
The Black Flame was not an instant-death attack; it had a delay. As long as one was fast enough, one could save their life.
So the question arose: why, having the time to use the Black Flame, did he not launch a fatal attack directly?
Then, there was only one possibility.
The opponent was enjoying this feeling! The feeling of toying with him!
How exactly does he launch his attacks?
Dottore thought rapidly in his heart, envisioning countless possibilities.
He felt he seemed to be approaching the truth!
At this moment, Ye Xi's voice suddenly came to his ears.
"Dottore."
Ye Xi extended his hand. In his palm, a cluster of black and white flames that seemed devoid of temperature sprang up.
"This is the power of the Serpent of Black Flame."
"It is the power you bestowed upon Collei through a hundred kinds of torture many years ago."
"All these years, to avoid having her mind eroded by the Serpent of Black Flame, she had to suffer the torture of Eleazar while living in fear of the Black Flame."
"Today, I will use the Black Flame you bestowed to burn you away, bit by bit."
As the voice fell, Ye Xi's gaze turned toward Dottore.
[The World!]
Buzz—
A muffled sound rang out, and the entire world turned grayish-white.
Everyone stopped.
Breathing stopped, heartbeats stopped, thinking stopped!
Birds froze in the air, flames stopped burning, flowing water and waves no longer swayed!
Fallen leaves remained suspended in the air, fish leaped out of the water; neither the spray nor the swimming fish moved.
[One second has passed]
[Two seconds have passed]
A phantom clad in blue armor appeared in the air.
It moved swiftly to Dottore and attached the flame in its hand onto Dottore's other arm.
[Three seconds have passed]
The phantom floated back unhurriedly, returning to Ye Xi's side.
[Four seconds have passed]
Nahida, standing to the side, kept her eyes open. Her gaze still held spirit.
That's right.
She could see!
Time had stopped flowing; everything had come to a halt.
Even Dottore had become a gray background board in the picture.
Only Ye Xi and Nahida's eyes possessed color.
Nahida could see and she could think, but she had absolutely no way to move.
Whether twisting her body or blinking and turning her head, she couldn't do it.
She could only widen her eyes and watch the phantom in the air do whatever it wanted to Dottore.
Even though she had already seen it several times, she still felt incomparable shock at this moment.
She never imagined that Ye Xi actually possessed the power to control time!
And what exactly was that phantom in the air?
At this moment, her mind was incredibly chaotic, but at the same time, she rejoiced!
Fortunately, Ye Xi was on her side.
[Five seconds have passed]
Ye Xi could pause for ten seconds.
But at this moment, there was no need.
[Time flows]
Shua—
The world regained its colors.
People who were halfway through a breath continued to breathe.
Birds continued to flap their wings.
The fish that jumped out of the water fell back into the pool, and the falling leaves drifted away with the wind.
And on Dottore's right hand, the Black Flame was already burning impressively!
"...Hahahaha."
"Interesting, truly interesting."
Dottore looked at the flame burning on his hand, light flickering in his eyes.
He did not cut off his arm again, because he knew that no matter how many times, Ye Xi could put him to death.
Even if he tried his best to escape now, his outcome would not change in any way.
He retracted the terrifying aura he had released, returning to calmness in an instant.
He looked as if he had become a harmless scholar.
He smiled and spoke, "So that's how it is."
"Letting the Black Flame I left behind destroy me... this is a very interesting torture plan."
The Fatui beside him turned pale with fright.
"Lord Doctor, your hand! Think of something quickly!"
"My Lord, let me help you!"
"Lord Doctor..."
Dottore casually killed the subordinate shouting beside him and looked up at Ye Xi on the stage.
"Ye Xi, you are a very remarkable accident. You have brought us far too many surprises!"
"Since I cannot be your opponent, then let another [Me] think of a way to defeat you."
"You must remember, you hindered the Fatui's plan, and hindered the footsteps of the Snezhnayan Empress."
"You will pay the price!"
"You definitely will—"
After finishing, Dottore placed his hand on his chest. Raging fire instantly swallowed his body.
Subsequently, he turned into a charred corpse, completely losing signs of life.
Seeing this, Ye Xi sneered. That guy got off easy.
However, Dottore had other segments. He would just torture them one by one when the time came.
"Lord Doctor—!"
Dottore being burned to ashes immediately caused these Debt Collectors to lose their backbone.
Cyno reacted immediately, rushing into the midst of the Fatui.
Alhaitham, who had been lying in wait for a long time, also walked out, easily disarming several of them.
In a short while, all the Fatui were captured.
Seeing this, Nahida breathed a sigh of relief.
The farce before their eyes was finally over!
The masses of Sumeru cheered instantly.
"Master Ye Xi is too strong!"
"It's over! It's all over!"
"Long live the Dendro Archon!"
"Hahaha, the Fatui Harbinger is dead! He paid the price!"
While everyone was cheering.
In the crowd, an invisible Debt Collector fled out of the Grand Bazaar in a panic...
________________________________________
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