The shadow immediately froze when it heard Su Chen’s voice.

It glanced around in disbelief, but even more surprisingly, it couldn’t find any trace of Su Chen’s figure.

He was obviously not physically here, but his voice was incredibly clear and direct. This inconsistency drove the shadow mad.

The shadow, however, could not speak. All it could do was open its mouth as it pantomimed a scream. Even without a face or an expression, its actions clearly demonstrated one singular emotion: fear.

An instant later, the scene around the shadow distorted.

The black shadow discovered that its surroundings seemed to melt away like ice. Everything returned to its previous positions.

The S.S. Clearwater reappeared around it yet again.

It was still in the Dragon Boat. Youthful Labor’s corpse was to its side, and in the corner lay Night Rain, who seemed to have fallen asleep.

Sounds of battle could still be heard in the background, but the situation was not nearly as dire or chaotic as it had been earlier.

A man was standing right in front of them: Su Chen.

“This was all fake?” Night Rain awoke from his dream, crestfallen.

They had been tricked.

Everything that had just happened had been an illusion.

“Not entirely,” Su Chen said with a faint smile.

The battle had indeed begun, but it was still in its early stages — far from reaching the climax.

His illusion had merely accelerated how...