Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 100: Chapter 100: Evil Fallen Gathering

"Why do I have the feeling that we’re going to get dragged off for interviews by the third- and fourth-tier reporters? Isn’t this like making history?"

Feeling the dark clouds converging on everyone’s faces, Wang Shi wanted to say something to lighten the mood.

He was speaking the truth.

Returning from the red stele was something they could brag about for a lifetime, a feather in their cap that would give them an advantage in future promotions to squad leader over others.

In the following days, each of them would produce a very detailed investigation report. frёeωebɳovel.com

Although from beginning to end, what Wang Shi and the others had done amounted to only two things—watching the captain fight and observing Bai Wu’s analysis.

Lin Wurou was in agony.

"Wang Shi, are you fucking brain-dead? Is Bai that big? Don’t you know how to read the room? Fuck your mother!"

Wang Shi fell silent.

The team was actually very clear about their own strength. They said it was the red zone, but in reality, they were just at the doorstep of the red zone.

The only person who truly entered the red zone was Bai Wu alone.

Shang Xiaoyi merely tried to sense it and passed out directly; the captain took one look and then insisted on returning immediately.

Now that Bai Wu, the weakest one, had gone in... it was practically impossible for him to come back alive.

What was most upsetting was that the area was too dangerous for Wu Jiu to even mobilize others for a rescue.

He was the one who blamed himself the most, ultimately swayed by Bai Wu’s speech, but if the person couldn’t come back alive, even the most important intelligence would be meaningless.

...

...

Outside the tower, the Mysterious Mine.

Bai Wu’s pace was slow. When he emerged from the dense fog, he even thought that, if his emotions were intact, his accelerating heartbeat at that moment would be out of fear, not excitement.

The wall of fog was like a door; the world outside the door was still peaceful, but inside, it was twisted and bizarre.

The moment his figure emerged from the thick fog, Bai Wu frowned.

An entrance far larger than he had imagined unfolded before his eyes.

The entrance alone was hundreds of meters high, and the gigantic mine stretched for hundreds of miles.

This made Bai Wu suspect that what lay inside was not a cave, but a city hidden beneath the mine.

The well-ordered structure the captain had mentioned, although Bai Wu had imagined it, still seemed incredible when actually seen.

The words "demons dancing chaotically" involuntarily came to mind.

But while there were plenty of demons, there was no chaos to speak of.

These Evil Fallen of various sizes, from many different regions, were actually queuing up orderly.

So much so that the scene was somewhat comical, and Bai Wu couldn’t help but spit out an old quip.

A super-sized Evil Fallen as huge as Godzilla was actually queuing obediently behind a red Slime; its enormous size meant that in the three rows of creatures, the number of Evil Fallen was about the same, but because of its presence, that queue was a basketball court’s distance longer than the other two.

Cyclops, giant cockroaches, Bone Knights wielding spears and round shields, towering Centaurs, and Mechanical Triceratops covered in metal...

Each of these creatures could probably hold its own on a battlefield, but here they were all quietly lining up.

The huge cave entrance seemed like a sanctuary; these Evil Fallen were more like refugees waiting for relief in a post-apocalyptic world.

Bai Wu initially thought this was a good opportunity to observe the Evil Fallen, but as he focused on a target, Prayle’s Eye popped up with a strange message:

[You are now at the center of the barrier, acting as the ruler of the rules. All supernatural abilities will be temporarily suppressed, old pal, I may have to go into power-saving mode. However, if you insist on being an unscrupulous boss and make me work overtime, that’s not impossible either, but I only have four chances... After those four times, I will fall into sleep for the next six hours.]

Bai Wu was stunned for two seconds. Was Prayle’s Eye actually being suppressed?

He had only encountered this situation once, and that was with Hong Yin.

Using her spiritual power, Hong Yin crafted a scene akin to a dream, within which Bai Wu had to willingly use Prayle’s Eye, and he barely managed to activate it once.

"Hong Yin is a level nine mutant. In her barrier, my eyes were suppressed, but that was an illusionary realm... and here, this should be a real scene. Could there be an existence stronger than Hong Yin?"

He wasn’t clear on the concept of level nine, but Bai Wu knew one thing, the two area guardians he had encountered were only level seven mutants. And Evil Fallen, who had killed him on the plane, was merely a level five mutant.

Bai Wu soon calmed down and looked around again, only to discover that Prayle’s Eye was still usable, but its effects were severely limited.

He looked at all the Evil Fallen and could only display their mutation levels. Special explanations, entry properties, all had disappeared.

His first glance fell on Godzilla, a level six mutation.

The red Slime right in front of the colossal Godzilla was just a small blob, and yet, it was a level seven mutation.

Scanning the long queue, Bai Wu roughly estimated that out of every hundred monsters, sixty were level six, thirty were level five, seven were level seven, and three were level eight.

But he didn’t see any level nine mutations. When looking towards the cave entrance, Bai Wu didn’t see any remarks.

"It seems Prayle’s Eye can only function to observe the Evil Fallen’s level now. However, I have four chances to get a complete description. I must identify the four entities with the most information through observation."

Bai Wu began to queue.

An Evil Fallen level eight, meaning it had strength even greater than the blue area guardian.

Even though the Mummy was also level seven, with the bonus points from the Reincarnation trait, Bai Wu felt that it might not be much inferior to a level eight Evil Fallen.

In this grand procession of three rows, roughly three percent of the Evil Fallen were level eight, including the three identical level eight Evil Fallen who were the Interrogators entering the cave.

Every Evil Fallen queuing to enter the cave exchanged words with them, but Bai Wu couldn’t clearly hear what they were saying.

The appearance of the three level eight Evil Fallen was exactly the same as ordinary crows from the normal world, except their eyes flickered with green flames.

The Evil Fallen in front of Bai Wu carried a barrel of wine, from which emanated a strong scent of white liquor. Its face resembled that of a catfish, but its body contour was no different from that of a human, albeit with a somewhat thick waist.

The Evil Fallen behind Bai Wu was a spider with three male faces and five female faces, with eight eyes corresponding to the eight faces.

The expressions on every face were of intense pain, giving off an aura of the vengeful spirits from Japanese horror tales.

Bai Wu wondered... could this be eight people fused together?

Or could it be that the faces of the people devoured by the spider were preserved by the spider?

Through detailed observation, Bai Wu believed it should be the former.

"It’s a good thing curiosity isn’t a negative attribute. I never realized it before, but now that my eyes are suppressed, I truly feel my curiosity is about to explode."

Bai Wu was eager to uncover the secrets of these bizarre Evil Fallen, but he only had four opportunities.

It was like a gourmet rolling around in a pile of fine food, only to be told that as an adult, you can’t have it all; you have to choose just four, an equally vexing situation.

Bai Wu queued at position number three hundred and four. He conservatively estimated that there were probably over two thousand Evil Fallen inside the cave.

The queuing process was lengthy, and Bai Wu pricked up his ears, attempting to catch the surrounding sounds, but the sparse mists muffled the voices, making them vague.

However, one thing caught Bai Wu’s attention: although the sounds weren’t clear, he felt that all the Evil Fallen that made noises seemed to be speaking in human languages.

"Strange... That shouldn’t be the case. Could all these Evil Fallen be sentient? No, that can’t be right; we’ve encountered several waves of Evil Fallen on our way here, and though some of them had some intelligence, they couldn’t communicate with people."

Bai Wu continued to observe his surroundings. Just standing in line, he felt overwhelmed with information...

He wished his eyes, nose, and ears could all be fully engaged.

After several confirmations, Bai Wu was certain that all the Evil Fallen here were communicating in human language.

Some of the smarter Evil Fallen even spoke quite fluently, making Bai Wu feel it was somewhat like Lin reprimanding someone.

However, most of the Evil Fallen were not very intelligent, speaking in a way that almost broke each word apart.

But because they were too far away, he couldn’t hear the content clearly.

Bai Wu had also considered striking up a conversation with the person ahead but didn’t have absolute confidence he could prevent being seen through, especially since that Drunkard was Level 6.

As for the spider behind, although it was only Level 5, it was too shabby, and he had no desire to speak with it.

But then, the spider suddenly struck up a conversation:

"You, mask, fake, face, real, exchange?"

Such crude language made Bai Wu doubt they had been speaking all the time for the past seven hundred years.

He wondered if perhaps it was a term from some Evil Fallen in this area? Universal Communication?

Bai Wu did manage to understand the sentence.

The mask is fake, the face is real, I want to trade faces with you. He guessed that was probably the gist of it.

"You’re too ugly, no thanks."

From the spider’s eight faces, some showed a look of grievance, some anger, while the others appeared worried, as if afraid they’d be the ones to get swapped out.

Nevertheless, Bai Wu was sure the spider wouldn’t dare do anything to him.

Because in this long dragon-like line-up, there was not a single conflict.

The spider backed off.

Bai Wu pondered whether this spider was capable of face-swapping, perhaps a Thousand-Face Spider? Its term might be some Disguise Technique? Or perhaps Face Value Absorption?

But with this body, such a useful ability was completely wasted.

Bai Wu lost the urge to converse, fearing that the Drunkard ahead might insist on making him drink which would be troublesome.

He kept a low profile in the queue, just like every other Evil Fallen here.

It took about three hours before it was finally his turn.

Adding the time spent exploring earlier, Bai Wu had acquired a negative attribute.

When the attribute descended, Bai Wu found it quite exciting. If it suddenly turned out to be Desire for Blood—forcing him to fight for six minutes—that would mean he’d have to escape.

However, Bai Wu was quite fortunate, even more so compared to the negative attributes he had compiled in the zoo, his first negative attribute was called Stench...

As the name implies, with this attribute, he would emit a foul stench that would repel his teammates.

But this odor could mask his human scent even further.

And which Evil Fallen didn’t carry the smell of blood?

It was just Bai Wu himself... as if he was sitting in the middle of rotten flesh, with all the decay forcefully clogging his nose.

"On-the-job injury, I must let the captain raise my pay when I get back."

Bai Wu couldn’t help but grumble.

Suddenly, the Drunkard in front turned around:

"Brother... *hic*... how come you suddenly smell so good..."

"I just had a sudden realization, and now my body emits an aroma that seeks kindred spirits."

"Oh, you speak like a poet... *hic*, back when I was alive, I loved to write poetry too. Enough chat, I’m heading in."

The Drunkard was talking to a crow, and Bai Wu, being a little far back, couldn’t catch their words, which seemed to be inquiring about origins.

Sure enough, the Drunkard entered the place.

Although it was just a crow, Bai Wu knew it was a Level 8 mutant crow, and if he could deceive it, then it meant... as long as he didn’t approach more dangerous beings, he would be safe.

"Strange outfit, is the face under the mask ruined?" the crow sized up Bai Wu.

"If you want to see, I can show you, but witnessing my face will make you agitated."

"Oh, not interested. You don’t seem very powerful, or do you possess the ability to suppress your aura? Since you managed to come here, it must be the latter."

Bai Wu didn’t say anything but his eyes expressed an impatient sentiment.

The crow coughed and said, looking at Bai Wu with eyes of green flame:

"Since you are a guest of the master, go on in, but before that, I need to register you. Which area do you come from? What’s your number?"

Bai Wu was taken aback.

The only number he knew was one, but he wasn’t sure if it could be used. For instance, had the other party pre-registered the areas and numbers of these invitees?

He didn’t hesitate; it was time to make a snap decision. He quickly reported a nine-digit number.

The crow hesitated for a second and then said:

"That area... I seem to recall it. My master told me there’s an undying mummy there."

Bai Wu remained silent, his impatience even more apparent in his gaze.

"Alright, I’ve asked too much. Go in, your area is in the humanoid section."

With those words, a piece of black crow feather fell onto Bai Wu’s chest.

"Next," said the crow, no longer paying attention to Bai Wu.

Bai Wu mulled over the crow’s words.

The conversation was brief, but the information was explosive.

The crow’s master... had he been to the flight? How did he escape the flight with Reincarnation intact? Why didn’t the Evil Fallen who tore open her belly mention it?

Or perhaps the holder of the travel ticket met the mummy in a different form?

Bai Wu’s heart rate was still accelerating; he was excited and even more curious about the purpose of this gathering and the information he might gain.

There were many paths inside the cave, each varying in size. Bai Wu thought about what the crow had said, guessing that these individuals were likely classified by size.

It made sense; if based on other categories, should there indeed be some sort of gathering, it’d be absurd—a Slime-sized Evil Fallen sitting at a dining table, facing a giant Evil Fallen thousands of times larger...

How would the food on the table be portioned then, according to the giant’s share, or the Slime’s?

Humanoid area, Bai Wu guessed that the area he was about to enter comprised beings with human-like contours.

So he glanced at an Evil Fallen whose size was similar to his own and followed it.

(Finally made it out.)