"This one is really nimble. Whatever — I'll deal with her later." Feeling he couldn't get the better of Kallen, the Governor stopped firing lasers at her and turned toward Rulu beside the armored vehicle, intending to eliminate him first.

"Don't be in such a hurry to leave — come play with me a little longer." Kallen taunted the Governor with a mocking tone. With a "bang," a grappling hook launched from her chest armor and struck the Governor, coiling around his feet. Kallen grabbed the steel cable and yanked hard, instantly sending the Governor off balance. He toppled backward and crashed heavily to the ground.

"You infuriating—!" The Governor was enraged by Kallen. He threw off the grappling hook with great effort, scrambled to his feet, and charged at her again, launching another attack. Kallen quickly backed away, moving swiftly to dodge his strikes. When he saw her retreating, the Governor went after Rulu instead — but Kallen charged in again and attacked him.

"She's deliberately trying to tie me down." The Governor recognized Kallen's intent, but he couldn't shake her loose, so he turned and shouted toward the Sanctuary forces: "Attack already! Go after the Rebels!"

At his words, dozens of Sanctuary soldiers gripped their weapons and began advancing on the Rebels' armored vehicle.

"Don't let them get through — open fire!" Captain Guan called out. The Rebels raised their weapons and opened fire on the Sanctuary soldiers. Unlike armored soldiers, these troops couldn't simply absorb bullets. Under the Rebels' suppressive fire, the Sanctuary forces were unable to close in for some time.

"Good — keep it up," Rulu said. He kept drawing gasoline from the oil drums, turning it into tongues of flame that surged toward the Governor, burning his body. Trapped by Kallen, the Governor could neither approach Rulu nor escape — he had no choice but to endure the relentless searing of the flames, burned continuously for a full five or six minutes.

"Alright, that should be enough." Rulu waved his hand, and the enormous tongue of flame instantly dissolved into the air.

"I… I thought you were going to do something impressive — turns out this is… this is all you've got." The Governor gasped, his voice ragged. After five or six minutes in the blaze, the outer shell of his black armor had been scorched red and was smoldering. The armor had extremely strong insulating properties, so although the Governor inside was suffering greatly, he wasn't in immediate danger of dying.

"Ha ha ha — you've been roasted for so long, I bet you're feeling pretty miserable. Let me cool you down." Rulu let out a bright laugh and swept his hand through the air. A white vortex about two meters wide, laced with tiny shards of ice, spun at high speed and hurtled toward the Governor, slamming into him.

"What?!" The Governor's heart lurched. His overheated body was hit by a bone-piercing chill. The temperature of the white vortex was extreme — the black armor, which had been glowing red-hot, was instantly coated with a layer of white frost the moment it met the vortex.

The scorching outer shell cooled with violent speed in a matter of seconds. The black armor began to deform drastically. A constant series of sharp cracking sounds rang out as fissure after fissure split across the surface — the ultra-hard alloy armor was crumbling under the onslaught of the freezing vortex.

"This is bad!" The Governor sensed that things had gone terribly wrong and immediately tried to flee, but at that moment Kallen came charging in and drove her fist hard into his head.

The Governor went down, his head slamming into the ground with full force. Kallen leapt high into the air and brought her foot crashing down onto his head. A sharp, clear crack rang out, and under the relentless impacts, the Governor's helmet armor shattered apart — his head was now completely exposed.

"Now die!" Rulu roared. A flash of red light — and another massive tongue of flame erupted, sweeping over the Governor and engulfing his entire body.

The Governor's agonized screams rose from within the inferno. With no armor to protect his head, he was directly exposed to the ravaging fire. He writhed and clawed his way upward, desperately trying to flee — but Kallen had bound his feet with the grappling cable, leaving him unable to stand, forcing him to keep enduring the fire's destruction.

"Please — spare me. I know I was wrong. I'll leave this place immediately." The Governor collapsed face-down on the ground, staring over at Rulu with an expression of sheer terror, letting out anguished cries.

Rulu remained unmoved. He watched the Governor lying on the ground with cold eyes and continued to direct the tongue of flame in burning his body.

Time passed. Within the inferno, the Governor's hair turned entirely to charcoal. His ears, nose, and the skin of his face melted like soft butter, dripping steadily onto the ground. White bone began to show through his face. Everyone who witnessed it — whether from the Sanctuary or the Rebels — felt a chill run down their spine. This was hell. A living, breathing hell on earth.

"Ahh— you demon! I curse you — you'll come to a wretched end — I'll haunt you even from the grave—!" When his pleas failed, the Governor erupted into furious howls, screaming curses at Rulu without stop.

"You… someone like you deserves to die in torment, burned by flames. Die. This is what you deserve. This is the punishment most fitting for you — ahahahaha—!"

Rulu spoke through gritted teeth, his face twisted, his eyes locked onto the Governor in a ferocious glare. His voice rose to a roar, and when he had finished, he broke into laughter like a demon's — a laugh that made even Captain Guan and Kallen feel a shudder of fear.

"Please — please… plea…" After the flames had burned him for another five or six minutes, the Governor's voice faded gradually to almost nothing. By now the skin on his skull, his eyes, his mouth, and his tongue were all burned black and charred away — nothing remained but his teeth and white bone exposed to the open air. A few more minutes passed, and the Governor's white skull drooped, hitting the ground with a dull thud. After that, there was silence.

"Uncle Qiao… Nana's mother… rest in peace." Watching the Governor die, Rulu lowered his face. His expression was blank and desolate, deeply forlorn — as though he had fallen into an endless void.

"Rulu, you did well. You're a real man." Captain Guan patted Rulu on the back, his voice full of genuine admiration.

"That's right, Rulu — you shouldn't be sad. You should be happy," Kallen said, coming to stand beside him. Seeing his low spirits, she wanted to offer some comfort.

"Hmph. I'm not sad at all. You'd better thank me properly — I did save your lives, after all." Rulu lifted his face, knitted his brows, and said with a deliberate air of self-importance.

"Alright, alright, I know, I know — thank you, thank you. I'll remember your great kindness forever," Kallen replied in a teasing tone.