"Is there a better choice? Of course, there is," said Ziong MingDe.

His response, seemingly obvious to him, did not convey the same message to Yan.

It was as if he was seeking and waiting for the answer "two" to the question of what one plus one equals.

Indeed, for Yan, the first point was that Ziong MingDe could not refuse the experiment's arrangement; the second was that Ziong MingDe would transfer the Ziongzong personality into his own prepared body during the experiment; and the third was that the success of this experiment would serve as a bargaining chip for future transactions.

Of course, this was only an ideal expectation.

Yan knew that the success rate of the experiment was very low and the risk of death was high, and Ziong MingDe was also aware of this.

But at this moment, they seemed to selectively forget about this possibility.

It was like soldiers about to go into battle, only considering the methods of victory without pondering the path to death.

At this critical moment before going into battle, Ziong MingDe's response disrupted Yan's plan.

--There is no better choice.

Yan persisted in thinking so, even though he immediately understood the meaning behind Ziong MingDe's response.

Without needing to ask Ziong MingDe, Yan also knew that the so-called better choice was for Ziong MingDe to give up his own body and let Ziongzong stay in this body.

But would such a choice be possible?

"Did you misunderstand my question, MingDe?" Yan asked, choosing to avoid a direct confrontation instead of facing it head-on. This was extremely rare for him.

But Ziong MingDe did not intend to change the battlefield.

He could not refuse the experiment.

He could not contain Yan's threat.

The people of the Uesugi family, the people of the Koga family... the people who lived around the "Ziongzong" personality, he could not watch them suffer harm because of his involvement.

All of these things made him no match for Yan.

And it was precisely because of this that he came here obediently, without any resistance, to undergo the personality transfer experiment with a less than 50% survival rate.

But on this final battlefield, he still had one last, decisive, and important matter to attend to.

"I didn't misunderstand, old man," Ziong MingDe sneered.

"A better choice does exist," he said, pointing his thumb at his own head.

"Here."

"I will leave my body to 'Ziongzong,' and as for myself, I will enter the broken body you have prepared."

Even Yan, who thought he understood Ziong MingDe better than anyone, was stunned by this answer.

He could comprehend the meaning behind Ziong MingDe's actions and words. He understood that Ziong MingDe wanted the 'Ziongzong' personality to stay in his own body.

Was it possible for the Ziong MingDe who had always pursued selfishness and endured unimaginable hardships to train his body to its current strength to give up all his achievements from the past decade to a personality that was only created out of nothingness?

Yan couldn't understand it. The Ziong MingDe he knew, the one he was acquainted with and understood, could not make such a foolish decision.

After a long pause, Yan finally spoke, but his voice lacked the power it had before and was very weak.

"...Why?"

When Ziong MingDe heard these three words, he laughed.

It wasn't just a smile, but an open-mouthed, loud laughter, almost hysterical.

For over a decade, he had never been able to defeat Yan, not even once. And now, in this moment, in this place, Yan was surrendering to him in such a foolish question that he had never even thought about before.

Although Ziong MingDe had lost the entire war, he felt a great sense of satisfaction.