Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 107: Chapter 107: The Four Heavenly Kings of the Future

The miners had become Evil Fallen.

They wore the uniforms of the lowest High Tower miners, stripped of their humanity under the influence of fear, anger, and despair.

Bai Wu, who had originally treated the rescue mission as a secondary task, was once again flooded with an empty feeling because of these miners.

Their tragedy hadn’t ended, but continued, either lengthy or brief, in the form of Evil Fallen.

Bai Wu remained calm and rational.

He watched the Evil Fallen’s carnage around him with an expressionless face, as complex calculations and deductions took place in his mind, recording the Evil Fallen that might survive.

He had a premonition that he would meet these Evil Fallen again in the future.

The Seventh and Eighth Sequence Evil Fallen that survived this carnage might grow stronger and become local overlords in those regions described by the Travelers.

The most significant intelligence Bai Wu obtained from this rescue and expedition was about the Well.

The Well was the twisted source, seemingly capable of releasing a substance that exacerbated the world’s distortion, existing in the form of certain resources.

The Traveler allowed the Evil Fallen to fight each other to eliminate the weaker ones, so that the stronger Evil Fallen would have access to more resources.

The white region would shrink in a few days, but as to how much it would reduce and what the proportions of the other colored regions would be, Bai Wu was still unclear.

But up to now, according to the dubious statistics available, the white region still had the highest proportion among all colored regions.

In fact, Bai Wu had also received an extremely important piece of intelligence—a map.

When the Traveler described each region, he added directions and distances to some, while for others, which were too far away, there were no references or bearings.

The Traveler was well aware of the intelligence of the Evil Fallen. Moreover, his accounts had no pattern, the sequence chaotic, especially since not many of the Evil Fallen would survive. Even if they did, they would head to those special regions and become the Guardians of those areas.

So this Traveler, out of show-off, gave overly detailed information for some regions.

What he didn’t expect was that a human would mix into this gathering full of terrifying monsters!

All the information about the regions he described was completely memorized by this human, who then crafted half of a map in his mind.

Although it was only half a map, it greatly shortened the future human exploration process for the Well.

Prophecies always carry such a sense of fate; the more one tries to resist, the act of resistance itself could more likely fulfill the content of the prophecy.

The aim of this gathering was to fortify the regions around the Well and select strong Evil Fallen with evolutionary potential to obstruct humans from reaching the Well.

Yet, it ultimately provided a human with a map to the land where the Well was located.

Despite this, Bai Wu himself hadn’t realized that the deepest area on the map was closely related to the Well.

"It’s time to head back. Do you have a place where you would like to go? Among these regions described by the Traveler, is there anywhere that interests you?"

Bai Wu looked toward Hong Yin.

[There is, that village, it reminds me of my grandmother.]

The village Hong Yin mentioned was not the one where gender would change, but another one, deeply nested in the mountains, near a lake. That village was replete with bizarre legends.

It was said that, when the end times came, the people there wouldn’t leave because of ancestral teachings. Such villages with old traditions often also hold many unnerving stories.

But if there were ghosts in this world, they would probably be afraid of Hong Yin.

Bai Wu naturally remembered that Hong Yin mentioned in her journal that it was her grandmother who had combed her hair and played hide-and-seek with her when she was a child. During the days she was locked up in Building Two, this memory served as her salvation.

The little girl wanted to visit that village solely to reminisce.

Bai Wu nodded without stopping Hong Yin from going to the areas soon to be affected by the Well influence.

Hong Yin was an Evil Fallen, and that was something he wouldn’t forget. If an Evil Fallen wanted to survive in this world, it needed to constantly grow stronger.

Evolution was an experience all Evil Fallen craved.

...

Before leaving, Bai Wu still had three more uses of Prayle’s Eye. He hadn’t forgotten to collect information on these level-nine Evil Fallen.

Perhaps one day in the future, he would seek out the Well, and on the journey, Bai Wu guessed he might encounter some of the formidable Evil Fallen here.

He wouldn’t be surprised if Beauty Mark, the Demon, the Mirror Person, along with the Traveler formed some kind of Dark Four Heavenly Kings combination—that’s what Bai Wu thought.

So Bai Wu turned his gaze to the three level-nine Evil Fallen.

The Mirror Person’s body, smooth as a mirror surface, deflected all attacks from opponents. Although visually it was far less stunning than that of Beauty Mark and Hong Yin, this ability to simultaneously attack and defend, turning the enemy’s strength against them, felt like the most troublesome to Bai Wu.

[He was once a fan of supernatural games, having tried Ouija boards, mirror ghosts, and peeling apples at midnight—these common brushes with death he had all experienced. He diligently searched for traces of urban legends but never found any. He was disappointed because if even ghosts didn’t exist, who else in the world would be willing to be his friend? With whom could he share his thoughts? Probably... just with the person in the mirror?]

[Level-nine mutation, perfect Mutation Entry: Soul Cage, Mirror Return, Shadow of Truth.]

"It seems Mirror Return is the ability that allows the Mirror Person to deflect everything, and the method used on the miners was probably Soul Cage?"

Bai Wu no longer thought Entries corresponded with Sequences, however, in some respects, Entries were entirely on par with Sequences.

A level-nine mutation with three perfect Entries—such potential was essentially unparalleled in the High Tower.

His gaze then fell upon the Demon with black wings.

The Demon fought in a straightforward and unadorned manner, all its enemies being torn apart by its terrifying strength.

[The Investigation Corps has been established for hundreds of years, and looking across history, it wasn’t just Little Dwarf who had the makings of a savior. There were also those who had enough strength to look down on the High Tower (and were taller too). However, surviving in the High Tower required more than just strength. Shortly thereafter, there was no place for him within the tower, but outside the tower, there emerged a war ghost with unparalleled might.]

[Level-nine mutation, perfect Mutation Entry: Berserk Transformation, Rapid Transformation, True Demon Form, Brute Strength.]

"A purely physical type Evil Fallen? Seems like it used to have some standing within the Investigation Corps? But due to certain factors, was despised by the High Tower’s upper echelons? Judging by these Entries, it hasn’t yet displayed its true strength." ƒrēewebnovel.com

Bai Wu didn’t think too much about it. He could look further into the Demon Evil Fallen’s information after returning to the High Tower; this might be a warrior from the Investigation Corps who suffered a great injustice.

There was one last chance to use Prayle’s Eye, and he looked towards Beauty Mark.

[She was once one of the most beautiful women in the High Tower, with many coveting her beauty, as if she was born with the power to ignite men’s desire to conquer her. But in the end, a mad manager, fearing that her beauty could not be preserved, intended to turn her into a specimen, a never-decaying—Spirit Possession specimen. And guess what? The manager’s dream came true—she obtained immortality.]

[Level-nine mutation, Legendary Tier Entry—Infinite Proliferation.]

Another possessor of a Legendary Tier Entry?

"From the description, this woman was lusted after by the manager, who wanted to turn her into an ever-lasting specimen, taking her outside the tower to try and kill her, then to perform Spirit Possession? What a deranged idea, not to mention whether the Spirit Possession is even successful, and even if it is, the properties of the possessed might not necessarily be indestructibility."

Bai Wu surmised that Beauty Mark’s transformation into a level-nine probably didn’t take too long.

On the battlefield, she was torn by countless Evil Fallen only to grow numerous bodies, each with the strength of her original form.

Or to put it another way... Beauty Mark, in her current state, might not even have the concept of an original form.

After nearby enemies perished, these bodies turned into some strange energy that fused into one of the bodies.

Hong Yin was a Spirit Possession that physically devoured other Evil Fallen, whereas Beauty Mark was more like a physical consumption.

The three ninth-level mutants were all unbeatable monsters, far more powerful than any Evil Fallen Bai Wu had ever encountered.

Therefore, with the mission a complete failure, Bai Wu wasn’t too discouraged. Even if he possessed the strength of the fifth or sixth Sequence, he was still too early to confront these monsters.

Outside the cave, the Teleportation Array was sealed. Bai Wu could only activate the Return Roulette to leave under the cover of resentment.

No matter how powerful a Mutation Entry, as long as its user hailed from the Evil Fallen, it would become ineffective in the face of the High Tower.

With unbalanced attributes, Bai Wu had originally thought he could exploit a burst of a certain attribute to pick off a fifth-level Evil Fallen.

But later he discovered that even vitality might become negative due to the imbalance. There were a couple of times when his vitality drastically decreased.

In other words, existing outside the tower and infected with the attribute, every thirty seconds, there was the possibility of dying on the spot.

After some thought, Bai Wu chose not to play such life-and-death roulette games.

As the Return Roulette activated, Bai Wu said to Hong Yin,

"I’m leaving now."

[Will you come to see me again?]

Hong Yin’s various negative emotions were temporarily suppressed by the knowledge of Bai Wu’s imminent departure.

In the eyes of other fifth-level Evil Fallen, this little girl holding a black balloon and accompanying a Masked Strange Person was the most dangerous among the nine-level mutants.

"Of course. I have memorized the location of that village. When the time is right, I’ll go there to see you."

[Goodbye, brother.]

Hong Yin seemed very reluctant to part, even revealing a hint of melancholy. To Bai Wu, this resentment was the little girl’s sorrow for her friend’s departure.

For other Evil Fallen present, it was the deadliest attack.

The black resentment grew denser.

Even a storm of resentment flared up around Bai Wu, with him in the eye of the storm. freёweɓnovel.com

[As a pieced-together area, there is no such thing as an exploration degree here, because soon this area will belong to another place. But a professional eye will still conscientiously summarize—if you tempt fate too much, you may indeed die. The combined strength of the Evil Fallen here exceeds the Red Zone, but the level of danger is actually much lower than the Red Zone. Perhaps you should consider exploring these places after you upgrade to the Bai Wu 2.0plus version.]

The black storm suddenly dissipated, sweeping across every part of the battlefield. Cries of agony from the Evil Fallen filled the entire cave.

And at the center of the storm, that resentful spirit with a mask vanished.

...

...

High Tower.

The incident of the seventh squad of the Vanguard Group from the Investigation Corps returning from the Red Zone had not yet settled down.

When they had entered the area on a miners’ rescue mission, many had seen that the group consisted of six members.

Now only five had returned. Did this mean that the missing member had perished?

As the first squad in history to be officially recorded as having returned from the Red Zone, every member of the seventh squad drew considerable attention.

Meanwhile, the administrators on the fourth stratum, and even some rulers on the fifth, were working hard to suppress the news.

They tacitly understood each other, each wanting the commotion brought about by this event to subside as quickly as possible.

On one hand, they wanted to understand the situation; on the other, they wanted to seal off the news.

But the aftermath of this event had not ended.

Because more than ten hours later...

The red stele once again emitted a bright light, the sixth member of the Vanguard Group—presumed dead in the Red Zone—

had returned alive.

Bai Wu’s first reaction was somewhat similar to that of an onlooker.

"Oh, it turns out that after the area convergence, the distortion of the cave already counts as the Red Zone... I actually returned from the Red Zone, which is quite good."

Bai Wu felt much relieved again.

The last mission was in the purple zone. If not for the watch’s Spirit Possession and having carried the captain, he might not have been able to return.

The Red Zone was even more terrifying.

Some necessary objective factors could save a person from self-blame. Bai Wu didn’t want the miners’ potential Evil Fallen Transformation to trouble him for too long.

After all, the responsibility was not his to bear.

When Wu Jiu and Qin Zong learned that Bai Wu might still be alive, an undercover agent from the Investigation Corps had already been waiting at the stele.

This was more surprising than the return of Wu Jiu and the others, for Bai Wu had managed to return alone from dangerous areas twice in succession without the aid of top combatants.

"Hello, please come with us," said the female investigator, dressed in a lower-level miner’s uniform, subtly flashing her Investigation Corps badge at Bai Wu from an angle only he could see.

A tattoo was inked on the left side of her ample chest.

The remark to this detail was as follows:

[Her identity is no ordinary one, and there are many things to talk about, but I still think her most notable feature is—solid balls.]

The woman, named Dong Shuyu, was the deputy leader of a special mission team under Qin Zong’s command and possessed the strength of a squad leader herself.

Without any hesitation, Bai Wu promptly nodded his agreement. The size did not matter much to him; what was important was completing the mission.

In the large elevator, Dong Shuyu said,

"No matter what you’ve gone through, no matter how much the corps leader and your captain want to protect you, you’d better ensure that only you know the truth. Then, concoct a satisfactory explanation for everyone, and remember not to attract attention. Try to calm this storm as quickly as possible."

A storm, huh...

From this word, Bai Wu could roughly gauge the magnitude of the attention generated by his return from the Red Zone.

This woman was surprisingly reliable, no wonder she was so weighty—it was all the wisdom of survival.

"Thank you, I understand," Bai Wu responded.

He didn’t say much; indeed, he needed to carefully fabricate how he survived the Red Zone and gained some intelligence.

As the elevator passed the third stratum without stopping, Bai Wu suddenly realized he wasn’t heading to the third stratum but to the fourth.