Xu Fang approached the Boston Strait coast, with only 22% of his energy left.

In order to execute the next step, he needed to go to the nearby shore and dig out the energy hidden in the water in advance.

"Mr. Ghost, may I ask how should I address you?"

There was no response in his consciousness, it couldn't be bothered to reply.

"Uh, I can't just keep calling you 'Ghost', can I? How about I continue calling you 'Mr. Ghost' or something more affectionate like 'Ghost Sauce'?"

"...Call me Gester, the lowly humans always like to associate the unknown with ghosts and gods, using this fantasy to cover up their fear of the unknown. I possess infinite lifespan and boundless knowledge, I am a superior being compared to all of you, you should hold admiration and respect towards me!"

Xu Fang knew that Gester was boasting, someone who didn't understand even basic physics knowledge like "echolocation" couldn't possibly have "boundless knowledge", but he didn't expose it.

"Well then, Mr. Gester, it seems that you do have great supernatural powers. It is impossible for humans to exist in this world without material form, using this kind of form. Your abilities exceed what human technology can achieve."

Compliment seemed to be more effective in catching Gester's attention than verbal attacks.

"Lower beings like humans should not attempt to explore the realm of gods. Your philosophies and worldviews are full of loopholes, especially the view that 'matter determines consciousness', which I find laughable. Only you lowly souls who cannot escape the bondage of matter can be determined by matter. Higher beings like me are not affected by matter!" Gester proudly declared, with a tone filled with deep superiority.

Xu Fang didn't agree. If one wasn't affected by matter, how could they be trapped in a clone? Need to travel through electromagnetic waves and fear energy?

"Later, I will introduce you to a philosopher named Marx, I believe you will have a lot of topics to discuss in this area."

Without waiting for Gester's response, Xu Fang continued.

"Now let's talk about Luo Qingyuan's revenge, why did you want to retaliate against the Luo family? What did they do that made you so angry?"

"Why should I tell you this?" Gester didn't cooperate with Xu Fang's inquiry.

"Do you know that you have lost memories? Do you not remember the incident of attacking Luo Xiaoming in city K in Huaguo a month ago?"

"I do not remember this...did this incident really happen?" Josiah had also mentioned similar topics, so it was curious about this matter.

"You will also have your memories erased by that website."

"You knew me before? What's going on, tell me!"

"Why should I tell you this?" Xu Fang imitated Gester's tone.

"Alright, I can cooperate with you, but you have to swear to answer my questions and eventually let me go."

"I can answer your questions, but letting you go is impossible," Xu Fang said calmly, "45 minutes later, I will try to kill you. If I fail, you will naturally regain your freedom, and I can only let you have your way during this time - we can chat like friends."

Xu Fang deliberately appeared lacking in confidence regarding killing Gester.

"Alright, answer my previous question first," Gester said, "and there are some questions that I won't answer."

Xu Fang nodded, "A month ago, I was killed by you once, but due to certain complicated reasons, I didn't die. I learned about your existence and some of your abilities. Later, I was killed again, and that website erased my existence, so you forgot about me and everything that had happened."

"Why did you revive? How did you do it?"

"It's your turn to answer my question, Mr. Gester," Xu Fang reminded.

"...I don't know how the Luo family entered that ghost village, but I know they wanted to escape and return to the human world at the time. Coincidentally, I also wanted to go, so I made a deal with Luo Qingyuan - I helped him leave the ghost village, and he would take me to the human world and provide me with more souls."

"However, after returning to the real world, Luo Qingyuan didn't fulfill his promise. Instead, he found a spellcaster to seal me. He betrayed me, and his whole family will pay the price for his foolish actions!""How long did Luo Qingyuan stay in the ghost village?"

"Seven years? Eight years? I don't really remember."

"So, you were born in the ghost village... and you possessed Luo Xiaoming's body to come to the human world?"

"That's right. I've shared enough. Now it's your turn to answer."

"Well, we have to start with another author's story..."

Xu Fang and Gust exchanged some information, but they both held back when it came to discussing "Horror Novel Web" or the "author."

Although they were supposed to talk like friends, they both knew that ever since Gust invaded Xu Fang's split personality, it was an endless battle.

Both sides had already revealed too much of their hand.

But because Gust believed he wouldn't die, he was willing to communicate with him - to gain a deeper understanding of that mysterious website.

While they were conversing, Gust secretly decrypted Gussy's genetic sequence. Gussy's "unable to move with less than 3% energy" was a self-protective mechanism of its body. If this mechanism was eliminated, it would have a chance to retaliate against Xu Fang. Even if it failed, it could break free from this confinement.

...

Boston's coastline was getting closer and closer. From a distance, several tall buildings emerged from the sea level, followed by a water-based dock extending from the tracks, with several ships moored nearby.

To avoid being noticed, Xu Fang activated stealth mode. Instead of going ashore, he submerged into the sea when he was still at a distance from the shore. At this point, the distance between the water surface and the bottom was less than a hundred meters.

Underwater, Xu Fang moved aside a giant rock that was pressed against the mud. Then, he dug down five or six meters until a half lotus-like arm appeared in the sand.

"So, this is your 'backup energy'? I thought it was a few barrels of gasoline."

"Carrying something as heavy as gasoline would be inconvenient." Xu Fang slowly pulled out the person buried inside.

It was a husk that looked identical to Gussy but lacked a soul. It was born from Xu Fang's split personality, and its consciousness had long ceased to exist. Its only purpose was to serve as the last insurance for Xu Fang.

Xu Fang held the husk in one hand and carried the frozen Gust in the other, swimming to the surface and flying higher. A constant flow of energy poured into Xu Fang's body from the husk, replenishing his empty body after the battle.

After a moment, Xu Fang's energy was replenished. He looked up at the blazing sun in the sky and flew higher and higher. Gradually, he passed through a few thin clouds and entered the stratosphere.

Looking down from an altitude of 10,000 meters, the distinction between Boston in the southwest and the Atlantic Ocean in the northeast was clear, with an obvious dividing line. The blue sea was filled with fluid textures, while the yellow-green land was divided into pieces by the steel jungle and highways of the city.

If an ordinary person fell from this height, even if they landed in the water, they would be crushed into pieces.

"What do you want to do? Do you want to throw me off?"

"No, not at all. You'll find out soon enough."

"It's useless. There's no way you can kill me."

"How do you know if you don't try?"

"Hmph."

Gust's decryption efforts continued, encountering tremendous resistance.

Gussy had likely evolved for billions of years, with genetic complexity and refinement far surpassing that of carbon-based organisms. Many of its genes were even in a quantum state.

Although there were only four major genetic sequences, each sequence contained countless control chains, and each control chain was filled with a massive flow of information, formed by energy particles in constant motion that were difficult to be digitized.

All the energy came together in a mysterious logic to construct Gussy's body.

Even so, Gust discovered the source of removing the "3% energy" restriction from the overwhelming information, and given enough time, he was confident he could regain his ability to move!

"Human, you are destined to be a failure, but I will leave a place for you in my memory. You have shown me the prototype of an ultimate creature."

"Mr. Gust, it's not a good habit to make grand claims when faced with death.""After traversing countless dimensions, this is the most perfect physical body I have ever seen. Only I can bring out its utmost potential, it's a waste for you to use it!"

Xu Fang: "Perhaps you have a misunderstanding about 'perfection.'"

"You puny humans will only become food for me, Gusty. Once I completely possess your body, I will ascend to the throne of this world!"

Xu Fang: "How did you manage to utter such clichéd lines?"

"Continue to be stubborn, pitiful reptile. If you surrender now, I may consider making you my slave."

"... " Xu Fang couldn't be bothered to comment on this guy.

At this point, speaking such words only showed Gusty's blind confidence - it firmly believed it wouldn't die.

Xu Fang continued to fly higher. By now, he had reached the middle layer, and he could clearly feel the air thinning and the temperature dropping. His "wings" became weak, the rate of energy consumption increased. However, the humanoid "power bank" in his arms continued to supply Xu Fang with power.

Gusty weighed around 30kg, and with a 10,000-degree electric energy pool of 3.6x10^7 kilojoules, it was possible to overcome the gravitational force and leave the atmosphere. However, in reality, he couldn't accelerate himself to the speed of the first cosmic velocity.

This meant that the middle or hot layer was the limit Xu Fang could reach, but it was already enough. Once the ice block in his hand reached that place, his goal would be achieved.

The humanoid "power bank" in his arms ran out of power, its body became transparent and disappeared in the atmosphere tens of kilometers high. The next actions could only rely on Xu Fang's own energy.

"Now, how high is the distance to the ground? 60 kilometers?"

Looking down at this azure planet, Xu Fang could see more than half of the United States through the clouds. However, what he saw more of was the boundless sea, and he still couldn't see the edge of the earth.

Due to the weakening of Rayleigh scattering, the sky around Xu Fang was no longer so blue. The Oberth paradox suggested that Xu Fang was converging towards endless darkness.

Immersed in this majestic blue celestial body, Xu Fang felt a familiar sense of solitude, as if he was the only one left in the world.

"Mr. Gusty, this is the planet where human civilization was born, and it holds many unimaginable worlds."

"You flew so high just to show me the scenery?" Gusty looked coldly at Xu Fang through the ice, his dozens of eyes glaring.

"Not only that."

Xu Fang retracted his "wings," stopped flying, and the gravitational force pulled him, slowing down his ascent.

When his acceleration became zero and his height reached its maximum value, Xu Fang raised the frozen ball containing Gusty above his head.

"Wait!!!" Gusty roared. It vaguely guessed what the other party was about to do.

Xu Fang didn't stop his actions. He infused almost all of his energy into his arms and then threw it with all his might.