The villain also has spring 2

Chapter 2071, Page 2.69: Pandora's Curse
As he spoke, "Angel of Death" Jonathan Rice started his swivel chair, facing Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirit Gang, who was lying face down on the ground.

He took a syringe out of the pocket of his lab coat, and under the almost pleading gaze of Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirit Gang, he slowly placed it on the sole of his foot, then gently pushed it out with his leather shoe.

Staring at the life-saving medicine slowly rolling towards him, Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirit Gang, roared and forcefully tore off his lower body, gripping it tightly. Then, he plunged the medicine into his own neck. Almost instantly, golden energy began to spread through his blood vessels.

Soon, Chen Luo, the Water Spirit Gang Leader, who was now only in his upper body, transformed into a golden, luminous being.

"What... exactly is it that you gave me?!"

“‘Pandora’s Curse’.” Staring with a mesmerizing gaze at Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirit Gang who had transformed into a golden, luminous being, “Death Angel” Jonathan Rice finally revealed the answer: “From the ancient ‘Pandora’s Box’.”

In the original storyline of *Tomb Raider 2*, Pandora's Box was depicted as an ancient artifact containing immense energy. It was described as a container holding a mysterious power capable of destroying the Earth—specifically, a supervirus or energy source. This made it a target for various factions. Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirits, and Jonathan Rice, the bioweapons expert known as the "Angel of Death," attempted to seize Pandora's Box to create bioweapons to destroy humanity. As a guardian of justice, Lara Croft traveled the world to try and thwart their plot. Ultimately, Lara sealed Pandora's Box forever on Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa to protect humanity.

Clearly, once a character card is packaged into the game by a player, the mysterious energy contained within Pandora's Box has been successfully acquired by "Angel of Death" Jonathan Rice.

"What exactly is it?!" Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirit Gang, whose entire body had transformed into some kind of mysterious golden energy body, wanted to die knowing the truth before his consciousness was completely erased.

“I call it…the will of the earth.” Now that things have come to this, “Angel of Death” Jonathan Rice no longer needs to hide anything: “You can call it ‘the cradle of life.’”

"You've opened Pandora's box!" Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirit Gang, shook his head frantically, as if trying to shake something out of his mind.

"The only question is, 'Whose cradle?'" Seeing Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirit Gang, instinctively raise his head and let out his final scream, "Angel of Death" Jonathan Rice slowly stood up, then knelt on one knee.

"Ah..." Twisting his newly formed body, Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirit Gang, dimmed completely. Before the long sigh had even finished, he had already donned the human form again.

"You did a great job." Although it was still Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirit Gang, speaking with an Asian accent, his tone and manner were noticeably different. It felt like he had been given a completely different soul.

"At your service, Master." It's rare to see the usually arrogant "Angel of Death," Jonathan Rice, so humble.

"How is things progressing?" Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirit Gang, skipped over the pointless small talk.

“It’s a bit tricky.” As the most important figure on their side, “Death Angel” Jonathan Rice didn’t hide the current situation: “A new force has recently entered the fray.”

“A new force?” Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirit Gang, seemed to have thought of something: “Ah, it must be him.”

"The Angel of Death," Jonathan Rice, instinctively asked, "Who is it?"

"You don't need to know." To his trusted subordinate's question, Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirit Gang, bluntly refused: "Don't clash with Him, and don't be particularly hostile to that new force that just entered the fray."

"'He'." Just from this title, Jonathan Rice, the "Angel of Death," already understood the gist of it.

"Ah, it's Him." As he spoke, Chen Luo, the Water Spirit Gang Leader, began to dissipate his human skin, transforming back into a golden, luminous form. Then, he broke down into streams of light, vanishing without a trace.

Only after the last glimmer of light disappeared did the three-story medicine laboratory of the Aztec pyramid regain its original brightness.

The only difference was that all traces of Chen Luo, the leader of the Water Spirit Gang, on the ground had completely vanished, leaving not a trace. "Things are getting interesting." Since the plan had changed, "Death Angel" Jonathan Rice no longer needed to appear. So he decisively activated the self-destruct program of the drug lab. Then, alone, he quietly left in his private elevator.

"Until we meet again, everyone." Before the elevator doors closed, "Angel of Death" Jonathan Rice didn't forget to say goodbye to the two sides engaged in fierce combat on the surveillance screen.

Just as the golden light dissipated, Wu Chen, far away in the Death Arena, was suddenly moved.

"My lord?" This reactive fluctuation was also sensed by the Nine-Tails captain, who was connected to his mental network.

"Ah, a player briefly intervened just now," Wu Chen said with a smile. "It's fine now."

"Isn't the Fulong Temple Battle Royale only for the 'characters'?" Captain Nine-Tailed asked, puzzled.

“Hmm.” Wu Chen explained the underlying rules: “Situations like this are one of the ways that players, as ‘Outer Gods,’ are allowed to intervene in the plot (by the Law of Shattering).

"To intervene in the plot's timeline as an external god." Captain Nine-Tailed Fox understood.

"Yes, that's it." In the final stage of the main storyline of "The Great Battle" where "fragments of similar World War II plots are integrated across different plots", Wu Chen appeared as an end credits extra and delivered a wonderful performance in "Three Days of Carnival". He and the mastermind behind the scenes, who secretly intervened as "Outer Gods", and the female player No. 0719 who used the script of "Diablo", resolved their differences through negotiation.

At the time, faced with a win-win outcome, Wu Chen easily bridged the gap between the two parties by offering a private booth at a nightclub. While the "SA3 Sisterhood" began their pre-arranged ensemble performance of "Project Eastward," player number 0719 had already completed the "Outer Realm Sweep Mission" issued by the "Lowland Committee" and successfully returned to the Broken City. Now she should be living a comfortable life, no longer needing to risk her life for survival.

Clearly, the player who briefly entered as an alien god was one of the 500 long-term guests of the Southern Dynasty Interstellar Hotel who participated in the previous Fulong Temple Otherworldly Battle Royale competition. Now, he's likely temporarily residing in Wu Chen's Eight-Legged Capsule Hotel. The reason for avoiding Wu Chen is simple: he knows Wu Chen is currently completing the Southern Dynasty's 480 Temples' exorcism quest. Therefore, he chose to proactively retreat and avoid conflict.

He knew that Wu Chen's forces weren't entering the arena to compete for first place in the battle royale, but rather to obtain the "Halloween Dragon Pearl" to complete the Shockwave removal mission.

Since there is no conflict of interest, there is no need to escalate the conflict.

This means that the forces he previously invested in the battle royale competition will also choose to retreat.

So here's the question: who exactly is the character who voluntarily withdrew from the competition on the first floor of Fulong Temple?

Captain Nine-Tailed had already figured it out: "'Death Angel' Jonathan Rice."

"Yes, it's him." Wu Chen thought so too.

Of the three known factions so far, he's the only one who hasn't appeared yet. Since players have come and gone, it's clear he no longer needs to appear. As for what happens next, we'll have to wait and see when Wu Chen obtains the "Halloween Dragon Ball."

Otherwise, what's meant to happen will happen sooner or later.

If, just if... Wu Chen hadn't obtained the "Halloween Dragon Pearl" even after ascending to the seventh floor of the Fulong Temple Pagoda, and faced with the final outcome, even knowing that Wu Chen was merely fulfilling a wave-clearing request, the players who had participated in the competition wouldn't easily back down. Because, in the face of the rules, players cornered had nowhere left to retreat.

Unless Wu Chen can make up for their losses.