Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 103: Chapter 103: 3 Things in 6 Hours

Grudge took form, as a rare Mutation Entry, allowing one to directly utilize stark resentment to conjure specters possessing abilities of their opponents or their own.

As Bai Wu’s voice faded away, several grudge entities, identical to Bai Wu, appeared beside Hong Yin.

Bai Wu himself was also enveloped in resentful energy.

If Hong Yin’s resentment were compared to nuclear radiation, then Hong Yin herself would be likened to a nuclear power plant.

In such close proximity to Hong Yin, barring those three level nine mutant monsters, normal people would probably have already reached their emotional limit, the kind that could literally cause the needles on their emotional watches to shatter.

But Bai Wu was immune to all of this.

So, in the eyes of the others, Hong Yin was just a lonely child who had created some strange toys wearing capes and masks to keep herself company.

Bai Wu’s presence, thus, didn’t seem out of place; he appeared to be merely a resentful spirit created by Hong Yin.

This was to Bai Wu’s surprise, the little girl was quite smart, knowing he was human, she thought of presenting herself as an Evil Fallen right away.

And judging by the way Hong Yin addressed him, it seemed he hadn’t done anything, but inexplicably... she had grown fonder of him.

She didn’t call him by name but had started calling him ’brother’ instead.

He hadn’t realized, someone who had absorbed the grudges of too many monsters, in seven hundred years, had rarely felt the sensation of having a friend.

Just as Bai Xiaoyu would imagine some nurses, janitors, fellow patients, and so on. But compared to reality, these fantasies seemed insignificant. Bai Wu wasn’t just a figment of Hong Yin’s imagination, he was a genuine beam of light shining into that Hospital of Despair.

In short, Hong Yin missed Bai Wu a lot.

For Bai Wu, encountering Hong Yin here was an unexpected blessing.

However, Bai Wu remained cautious, not letting his guard down.

"Hong Yin’s situation is getting worse. I feel like if I hadn’t come... she might have lost control. Who is the cave master exactly? How could they summon so many level nine Evil Fallen?"

Four level nine Evil Fallen didn’t seem many, but Bai Wu didn’t doubt for a second that these three monsters, along with Hong Yin, could kill all squads of the Garrison Corps and Investigation Corps three to five times over.

Within the black mist, those eyes of Hong Yin represented parts of her emotions.

All these gazes were filled with intense murderous intent and greed.

[I don’t want to devour this person... but everyone is making me do it...]

In the Illusionary Realm, Hong Yin sat in a corner, clutching her knees, her head buried in them, looking quite frightened and uneasy.

Her primary will was fighting against the appetite of a top predator, and a fierce aura was emanating from Hong Yin.

In Bai Wu’s eyes, the girl in red pulling the black mist seemed cute, but in reality... the vibe she gave off was quite unsettling. Even though they were of the same level nine, the other three knew that this little girl was no ordinary opponent, especially with layers of grudge between them.

Bai Wu watched Hong Yin in the Illusionary Realm, struggling to control herself, thinking he needed to help her divert her attention, and it so happened he also had some questions to ask.

"After leaving the hospital where you were, I went to a jungle where a gigantic monster lived, and the entire area was its stomach. After some harrowing yet non-fatal struggles, I met someone who, like me, wouldn’t turn into an Evil Fallen."

Bai Wu was referring to Bai Xiaoyu.

Bai Xiaoyu’s heart held much loneliness and sorrow; his emotions were much more profound than Bai Wu’s, but whenever he faced great mental suffering and torment, another protective mechanism would gradually alleviate these feelings.

"I think you two would be good friends; he is a kindhearted human just like you, Hong Yin. You won’t always be an Evil Fallen, so you need to be patient."

Hong Yin turned her head and looked at Bai Wu, nodding softly.

"After that, I learned about something that could normalize the rules outside the High Tower, even allowing Evil Fallen to become human. I only have clues for now, but I’m not yet able to put all these clues together. However, I promise you, one day, you will be liked for being who you want to be."

Anticipation once again tipped the scales in favor of Hong Yin’s primary Will. The person sitting at the table suddenly seemed to lose their appeal.

After Hong Yin’s malevolent thoughts were slightly suppressed, Bai Wu pressed on:

"Tell me, how did you get here?"

[A strange person surrounded by three crows found me. He asked me if I wanted to leave the hospital. He was very powerful, stronger than the person that my brother brought before, and even stronger than the person who left something two days ago.]

The person I brought before? That must have been Dwarf. The person who left something must be Cain, who left the Traction Disc.

An existence more powerful than both of them...

Bai Wu asked:

"What else did he say to you?"

[He said I shouldn’t keep myself shut in this hospital. He had a way for me to leave, mentioning that I possessed potential like his. He mentioned that the world outside the tower would soon undergo changes, and I should secure a place with more resources.]

[I initially refused his offer because I was afraid of harming other people once I got out. But... but I couldn’t restrain myself. All the voices in my head were clamoring for me to leave the ward...]

Hong Yin was like a little girl who had done something wrong.

For seven hundred years, whether it was the Wills of the Evil Fallen within Hong Yin’s mind or Hong Yin’s own Will, they had all wanted to leave this place.

Bai Wu could imagine that after being refused by Hong Yin, the person didn’t force her.

It was as if the numerous red regions’ Evil Fallen hadn’t come to join them. Because they were not alone.

Prisons, schools, amusement parks—they all housed many Evil Fallen, and unlike Hong Yin, perhaps these people had been to many places before becoming Evil Fallen.

But Hong Yin was different, she was still a child, she had always stayed in the hospital, longing for the outside world. The person who came to persuade her left behind something akin to a Teleportation Array—it was like leaving food in front of a starving person. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

For Hong Yin, the temptation to leave the hospital was far greater than that of the miner on the table.

"It’s okay, coming out to have a look can be good. See, haven’t we met now? And you haven’t done anything bad either."

Bai Wu consoled her, then changed the subject:

"Did he tell you the purpose of inviting so many Evil Fallen here?"

[I’m not very clear on that. He only mentioned that many regions we are in are becoming more distorted due to the influence of the Well. This change was originally once every two hundred fifty years, then it became once every two hundred years, later once every hundred years, after that once every eighty years, and now once every seventy years. I don’t quite understand. He just hoped that I would participate in something happening in the next few days when the regional restrictions are lifted.]

The amount of information in this statement once again made Bai Wu feel somewhat overwhelmed.

The Well?

Bai Wu heard this term once again, unable to deduce what the Well was based on the knowledge at hand.

But from what Hong Yin said, it seemed that the Well was exacerbating the distortion of the world outside the tower.

And this statement also revealed an important piece of information—the world outside the tower was still distorting gradually.

This also meant that—the white regions would become fewer, and the colored regions would increase.

"Is there any other information? How long ago did all this happen?"

[No more. Three days ago.]

Bai Wu nodded, curious about the information brought by the cave’s master and the so-called Well.

But for now, he couldn’t know more, so he had to continue waiting. Meanwhile, Bai Wu sorted through the existing clues:

"It seems that person intends to gather a large number of Evil Fallen to discuss the division of regions. What we know so far is that within seventy years, there will be at least three days when regional restrictions disappear."

"However, because of his travel pass ticket, even if he isn’t here within these three days, the cave owner can freely travel to any area. He possesses great strength and is probably a level nine Evil Fallen, but perhaps he has some imba Innate Forces,"

"He wants to reshuffle the power structure of many areas, yet what he stands to gain from this remains unclear. Whether the upcoming gathering will be marked by any major incident is also unknown."

For Bai Wu, a level five Evil Fallen was deadly.

In the eyes of a level nine Evil Fallen, a level five Evil Fallen was probably nothing more than plankton beneath the waves, completely unable to control their own destiny.

Bai Wu had a hunch that these level five Evil Fallen being called here... their fate probably wasn’t going to be good.

...

...

Time ticked by, second by second.

Bai Wu originally thought there weren’t many Evil Fallen, but after asking and finding out that Hong Yin had been waiting here for seven hours, he suddenly felt uneasy.

With seventy years of preparation, who knows how many area Evil Fallen this cave owner had allied with.

Bai Wu waited a full six hours before the gathering moved on to the next stage.

And three things happened during those six hours.

The first thing, the miners finally encountered a crisis.

A woman, whom even Bai Wu considered to be perfectly beautiful, woke up a miner resting on the table, but she didn’t plan to eat the miner; instead, she wanted the miner to kill her.

Ultimately, the miner didn’t do it, because as a level one, stage three Innate Force miner, he couldn’t even breach her defenses.

This saddened the beautiful female Evil Fallen:

"The ones who dismembered me before were all so strong and muscular, I really miss them."

The miner died.

A perfect ending was impossible. Bai Wu didn’t hold out any hope to begin with. He didn’t even dare to estimate the likelihood of making it out alive to be over fifty percent, let alone saving others.

The second miner to die wasn’t so much dead as sealed.

An Evil Fallen whose body was like a mirror suddenly warped the reflective surfaces, distorting the space around the miner.

When the ripples in his vision subsided, Bai Wu saw that the miner had entered the mirror.

He banged furiously on the mirror, but no sound came out.

This Evil Fallen had many mirrored surfaces, and as the miner was devoured, each mirror displayed different scenes.

Mostly, they showed the miner’s past life: his parents were from the second layer, abandoned because of his congenital defects from a young age, placed in a welfare home in the second layer, but never adopted. When he finally got a citizen number, he was assigned to the bottom layer.

In between were experiences of deceptive love and being oppressed by other miners.

All displayed within the mirrors.

The past sorrows and despair seemed to be a delightful feast for the Mirror Evil Fallen.

It laughed in satisfaction and contentment, even asking Hong Yin:

"If you’re not going to eat, can you give it to me?"

Bai Wu firmly believed that those consumed by the Mirror Evil Fallen wouldn’t die immediately, but would experience all the pain they once endured before slowly becoming nutrients for the Evil Fallen.

He instinctively felt great antagonism towards the Mirror Evil Fallen.

At least he definitely didn’t want to relive the things that happened in his childhood.

Hong Yin enshrouded the miner with Grudge Manifestation, as if marking her food.

The Mirror Evil Fallen found it a pity, but said nothing harsh to Hong Yin.

On the other hand, the demon-like Evil Fallen didn’t bother to consume such a weak human.

Bai Wu thought to himself, this Evil Fallen... might be a warrior from the Investigation Corps. At least from the way it sat, although a demon, it was much more disciplined than the others.

Two miners survived.

Additionally, the whereabouts of a dozen or so miners were unknown.

Bai Wu couldn’t achieve a perfect completion of the mission but would not find it troublesome to save someone if he could make it out in one piece.

The second thing, Bai Wu encountered his second negative attribute -- Attribute Imbalance.

It was a chaotic mutation. If chaos caused disorientation, then Attribute Imbalance caused a disruption in abilities.

The five types of Innate Forces, their attributes would randomly change every thirty seconds.

Thirty seconds ago, Bai Wu was a warrior focusing on strength and life regeneration, a well-rounded combatant.

Thirty seconds later, all his attributes could shift to his awareness, which would become exceptionally high, while other attributes could become extremely low.

There could even be scenarios where one attribute turned negative while another received an even greater boost.

Perhaps strength became exceptionally powerful, but life regeneration dropped to negative numbers, constantly depleting his own life force.

After being infected with Attribute Imbalance, the sum total of all attributes remained the same, at seventy-five percent of the pre-infection level. However, what the precise value of each attribute would be was unpredictable.

"It’s not a fatal attribute. While total attributes drop by twenty-five percent... if I’m lucky... this negative attribute might bring unexpected effects?"

Bai Wu was originally confident in his luck, but the pressure cooker made him face reality.

The third thing.

Bai Wu took out the conch, which was the half-heart that could contact Yan Jiu.

Considering that High Tower’s time limit was fast approaching and if he didn’t report in, he was worried that Dwarf might take drastic actions and storm in. This was an area even Dwarf would have to avoid, and Bai Wu didn’t want him coming here to die.

So, he used the conch, which he hadn’t utilized much and had been in the backpack, accumulating missed calls from Yan Jiu.

Bai Wu saw the greatest use of this device as a cross-region lifeline and a hotline for external assistance.

Compared to the miners being eaten or the descension of negative attributes, this moment was even more perilous. Because Bai Wu had forgotten one thing.

As Bai Wu used the conch to call Yan Jiu, Hong Yin’s spiritual power latched onto it.

It was as if she instantly shared Bai Wu’s vision.

At the same time, through the conch, Yan Jiu also saw the girl in a red dress holding Bai Wu’s hand, and Hong Yin saw Yan Jiu, who was painting Bai Wu’s portrait in the room.

"Who is she?"

"Who is she?" freēwēbηovel.c૦m

The voices of the two girls echoed simultaneously in Bai Wu’s ears.

(There should be more tonight, but it will probably be very late.)