Chapter 466: Awakening from the Dream

“Luo Ge, what’s the meaning of this?”

Zuo Meng calmly met Luo Kun’s gaze beside the car, showing no trace of panic. The dozen machetes pointed at him seemed no more threatening than twigs.

“As expected of Ah Meng—still composed even now. If you were truly loyal, I’d have made you my second-in-command. Pity…” Luo Kun gestured sharply, and the surrounding thugs began closing in.

“Luo Ge, I’ve served you seven years.”

The message was clear: after years of loyalty, don’t trust baseless rumors.

Zuo Meng retreated, keeping distance from the advancing thugs. Against fewer opponents, he might’ve fought back—but here, numbers overwhelmed him. Worse, Luo Kun’s bodyguards nearby had drawn pistols, rendering resistance futile.

“Seven years… Who’d have guessed? If not for Huang Sir—your dear superior—”

Luo Kun snatched documents from a bodyguard, revealing police undercover files. The subordinate Zuo Meng had earlier eliminated—one of them. The “betrayal” charge had always been fabricated.

“He sold your file personally. The old fool’s crimes surfaced—needs cash to flee overseas.” Luo Kun sneered, almost mocking Zuo Meng’s misplaced trust.

Zuo Meng fell silent. With such details exposed, his cover was undeniably blown. No room for deception remained.

“Quit dawdling! Move!”

Luo Kun flung the papers. A photo of Zuo Meng’s police academy days drifted free—classified records somehow leaked, proving even anti-corruption efforts couldn’t stop desperate men.

“For old times’ sake—leave his corpse intact.”

Luo Kun entered the car, ready to depart.

Zuo Meng faltered. Skilled but mortal, he quickly suffered wounds under the mob’s assault.

Injury worsened his plight.

Within seconds, a dozen cuts bled him pale. Yet he’d felled five attackers, making others hesitate.

An engine growled nearby.

Zuo Meng turned to see Luo Kun’s bodyguard—ex-special forces sharpshooter—aiming through the car window. At this range, escape was impossible.

Bang!!

The gunshot emptied his mind.

Dying?

Fatigue swallowed him as visions flickered—something ancient stirred in his consciousness, painting illusions between life and death.

Time froze. The bullet hung mid-air, sparks stilled. Luo Kun’s sneer solidified; thugs’ furious panting revealed underlying fear.

Golden light erupted from Zuo Meng’s forehead.

Through haze, he glimpsed the glow’s form—

A seed. Golden.

“Seed?!”

Agony tore through his skull. Gasping, he seized a fallen machete and hacked down three thugs.

Thud! Thud!

Blade met flesh until all attackers lay dead.

The world remained frozen. Memories flickered indistinctly. Clutching the bloodied machete, Zuo Meng strode toward the car.

The bullet hovered ten meters ahead. He swung—

Clang!

The bullet ricocheted away.

Zuo Meng stabbed the blade through the bodyguard’s throat. The veteran collapsed mid-trigger-pull. As the machete dropped, time resumed. Pain vanished. Memories cascaded.

He remembered—he’d been Transcending the Calamities at the Imperial Level.

“Ah… Ah Meng…”

Luo Kun trembled. In his view, Zuo Meng had become a blur—slaughtering thugs instantly, deflecting bullets, killing elites effortlessly. Some mysterious force let Luo Kun witness it all.

A blade deflecting bullets—this broke Luo Kun’s sanity. Survival became his sole thought.

“Seven years…”

Slash!

Zuo Meng discarded the machete. Killing Luo Kun merely ended this life’s tale.

“Awaken.”

The city crumbled like aged parchment. People froze mid-motion—wealthy, poor, all dissolving into mist.

Zuo Meng floated upward. Upon reopening his eyes, he stood within the bamboo scroll world.

Time remained at the moment of Transcendence.

A ten-thousand-year dream!

World-level power—Zuo Meng could wield it, but none rivaled the ‘Reality’ that had warped even his existence.