Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 131: Chapter 131: Another Abnormal Blue Area

"You... are not joking?" Wu Jiu put down what he was doing and stared at Bai Wu.

"I know how to do it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I can actually achieve it. The insides are very complicated, and I will tell the captain after we exit the tower."

Giving hope lightly is a dangerous matter, and Bai Wu considered for a long time before deciding to share these things:

"It’s difficult, in my view, this matter is on the same level as saving the world, but I’m not talking nonsense, nor will I hide anything. After we exit the tower, I will share the information I’ve collected with the captain."

Hearing the seriousness in Bai Wu’s tone, Wu Jiu asked earnestly:

"What’s the plan for the people exiting the tower?"

"Just the captain and me will do. There are some things that, for now, are only suitable to tell you alone. After we understand things clearly, we can bring the others on the next mission."

Although Bai Wu was somewhat muddle-headed, Wu Jiu still believed in him. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

"Three hours... no, let’s depart in four hours." Wu Jiu noticed Bai Wu still had things in his hand and guessed he probably had some matters to tend to.

"Alright, then you go ahead and get busy, captain. I still have some socializing to do. Also, it’s best if you go and see the landlady."

"What’s wrong with her?"

"Nothing much, the landlady misses you a lot."

As Bai Wu thought about going to see Yan Jiu, he suddenly remembered that there was also some good news to tell Wu Jiu from the Dwarf’s Wife’s side.

During the two days since Wu Jiu had come back, he had been frantically busy with work and was unaware of some matters.

After Wu Jiu agreed, he left the office not long after Bai Wu did and headed to Lily Community.

...

...

The Asylum.

Bai Wu really wished the conch had the ability to transport objects through space, so that sending gifts to Yan Jiu would be much less of a hassle; it wouldn’t be necessary to wear a noble’s tag and then head to the third floor.

When Yan Jiu received the album, she was completely baffled, even forgetting to make a smile to express her happiness.

The gift held a special significance for her.

Ever since she was little, it was always her giving gifts to others; she had hardly ever received any.

Especially a gift from Bai Wu—that made her start babbling:

"Thank... Thank you! I... I-I-I..."

"Don’t be too excited, it’s perfectly normal to exchange gifts. You helped me out, and this is my way of showing gratitude, which is just normal human social interaction. Besides, this won’t be the last gift you’ll receive; you’ll get many more from others in the future."

Yan Jiu nodded obediently, thinking of showing Bai Wu a smile, she prepared to make a customary gesture.

Bai Wu stopped her motion and said in a gentle voice:

"Just as a friend and a gift don’t necessarily have to relate, happiness, joy, and smiling also don’t necessarily relate. Humans have many ways of expressing excitement; I can sense your excitement through other means, so you don’t need to force yourself to smile."

"I always feel... my expression might make you all uncomfortable," Yan Jiu said with wide eyes.

"It’s fine, Liu Chengzi won’t be uncomfortable, and neither will I."

"Maybe one day, I’ll be able to find my emotions again. By then, I’ll be able to smile as beautifully as they do."

Yan Jiu spoke in an even, calm tone, but Bai Wu could sense her anticipation.

Her loss of emotion was related to the Evil Fallen.

There were still many secrets unexplored on the Death Flight, and Bai Wu didn’t believe that he and that mummified creature would never meet again; he still held fragments from the flight in his hand.

Maybe one day, he would return to that plane. Then, everything about the ruler of the fifth layer, the Yan Family’s secrets, and the very meaning of the flight itself, would be known.

Among them might even be a way to help Yan Jiu regain her lost emotions.

"I must go now."

"Do you have anything to do this afternoon?"

"I need to leave the Tower."

"Oh, then if you run into any trouble, I’ll notify the others for you."

"Good. I’ll come to see you again next time."

"When is next time?"

Yan Jiu still felt reluctant to part. Bai Wu thought for a moment and said:

"It won’t be too long. When you’re bored, use the surveillance equipment to get someone to contact Liu Chengzi."

Yan Jiu nodded her head.

As Bai Wu was leaving, she stood at the door of 6-18, standing somewhat restrainedly, like a little wife seeing off her husband on a business trip.

...

...

During the time that Bai Wu visited Yan Jiu, Wu Jiu had also learned some things from Ruan Qingyun.

The location of their conversation had also moved from Ruan Qingyun’s home to the prison of the interrogation department.

This was the Investigation Corps’ own independent prison used to incarcerate petty thieves and scoundrels.

The truly great villains would be sent to the Trial Prison.

That prison had nine levels and was situated on the second level of the High Tower, considered to be a taller building, and both the Garrison Corps and the Investigation Corps were jointly responsible for it.

Within the numerous squads of the Garrison Corps and the Investigation Corps, each had dispatched a squad to guard the place. In addition to these, there were also the independent troops of the rulers of the fifth floor.

Lilith was a special case. Bai Wu had not sent her to the Trial Prison, which was hard to break out of.

Instead, she was detained in the inadequately guarded interrogation department.

However, these days, almost every six hours, Bai Wu would go to the medical team to get a potent anesthetic injection to administer to Lilith.

"This is a member of the Tower God Society, and she holds a not insignificant position. Bai Wu wanted me to tell you that this woman knows someone named Cain," said Ruan Qingyun, as she shared Bai Wu’s analysis with Wu Jiu. This included the military reform plan of the two corps, the suicide of the fourth-floor manager, and the missing girl cases, including where she would be taken if she was really kidnapped.

Some of these incidents were Cain’s doing, some were not, but ultimately, the purpose was to target Wu Jiu—trying every means to make Wu Jiu loathe the ruler.

Liu Mu’s transformation into Evil Fallen was also directly caused by Cain.

Sensing Wu Jiu’s anger, Ruan Qingyun continued:

"Bai Wu still hasn’t decided how to deal with her, but he asked me to tell you that you won’t always be this passive in the face of Cain. He will definitely find Cain’s weakness through this woman."

"He asked you to give him a little time, and he will come up with a way to strike back at Cain."

Although Ruan Qingyun did not know who Cain was, after saying those words, she could clearly sense Wu Jiu’s emotional fluctuations.

"Bai Wu is a very good squad member, and he cares a lot about you."

"Yes, I owe him a lot this time."

Wu Jiu now knew that Lilith had abducted Ruan Qingyun. If it weren’t for Bai Wu, he would have lost more than just Liu Mu.

Recalling that not long ago, Bai Wu mentioned that there was a way to turn the Evil Fallen back into humans, Wu Jiu suddenly felt that he owed his subordinate a great debt of gratitude.

...

...

At the bottom of the High Tower, Eastern Square.

After dealing with the matter concerning Ruan Qingyun, and having emphasized some details about the handling of Lilith to the interrogation team, Wu Jiu arrived at the Eastern Square as agreed.

Bai Wu was already waiting there, and leaving the Tower was not the slightest bit terrifying for him, it was even unexpectedly interesting.

"Where are we heading?"

"I don’t know."

"You don’t know?"

Bai Wu shrugged and smiled,

"Outside the tower is like a series of challenges. We can’t choose the content, only the difficulty level. But, based on my previous understanding, to find a region with fragments, at least a blue area is needed. So we chose a blue stele to exit the tower."

"Fragments? What fragments?"

"It’s complicated to explain, I’ll tell you after we get out of the tower."

Nowadays, Bai Wu’s Innate Force had reached the fifth rank, ninth segment, already a captain-level expert. Although his previous expeditions out of the tower had shown that he seemed to possess a constitution of difficulty +1 or even more exaggerated.

But after becoming stronger, and with Wu Jiu by his side, Bai Wu felt entering the blue area and obtaining a fragment wasn’t too much to ask for.

The registration officer was somewhat excited when he saw only Bai Wu and Wu Jiu, the two people who had come back alive from the purple area before.

But the officer soon showed a look of disappointment.

These two actually showed such a lack of ambition, merely choosing the blue area—it was so boring.

Not wasting any time, Bai Wu and Wu Jiu quickly touched the stele. They were enveloped by a blue light, and a new exploration began once again.

...

...

Outside the tower, Unknown Region 1.

As the blue light in their minds faded, Bai Wu and Wu Jiu observed their surroundings.

They were at the entrance to a building on a long-deserted street; there were no other structures around.

Or rather, other buildings had long since become ruins.

Only the building in front of them was intact.

This wasn’t strange—it merely signified that the building was an indestructible scene within the area.

But these scenes, along with the surrounding wreckage and ruins, couldn’t help but feel eerie.

Bai Wu had thought he had experienced many strange rules, but the rules this time—at least visually—were the weirdest he had ever encountered.

The whole world, from the clouds in the sky to the pebbles on the ground, the ruins around them, and the distant scenes...all were in pixel art style.

As if this world were made of countless Lego blocks pieced together.

At the entrance to the building, there were many skeletons, all human, and what would have been a terrifying setting looked rudimentary and not at all scary due to the pixelation.

Bai Wu looked around, and the notes in his eyes provided perfectly normal information.

Finally, his gaze turned to the dark entrance.

[When doomsday came, many people curled up in their inner worlds like ostriches. Some worlds are dark, some are violent, others force people to become fathers, and some worlds—are fun. But I must remind you, any fun outside the tower comes with deadly risks. If you want to leave here, please beat this game, fragments, history, they are all in this game.]

Bai Wu’s intuition told him something was wrong, and he subconsciously looked towards Wu Jiu, who also turned to look at Bai Wu.

With that one glance, both were stunned.

Wu Jiu and Bai Wu had both become blocky. Their hair had turned into a dark cube, and their handsome and distinguished faces into polygons.

Even though neither of them felt any changes and their bodies seemed normal, they were indeed... assimilated with the environment, becoming part of the pixel army.

In other words, originally both were of blu-ray high-definition quality, but now they had turned into minimalist mode—like two old video game characters.

Bai Wu suddenly remembered something and instinctively pulled out the return device.

[Return Roulette, remaining uses: 0. Completing the level can increase the number of uses.]

[A return device, very simple, twist it, and you go back from whence you came. But this process takes one minute, even more mopey than an eight-second retreat, so make sure Garen isn’t lurking in the bush.]

Bai Wu was stunned again.

What the hell?

Two remarks?

The remarks that appeared in Bai Wu’s eyes actually consisted of two parts... The second part was the familiar, cheeky remark. The first part of the remark, however, felt strange to Bai Wu.

"What’s going on... Why can I see this information?"

The one who voiced the question wasn’t Bai Wu, but Wu Jiu.

Bai Wu looked towards Wu Jiu. Wu Jiu, holding his short dagger, wore a puzzled expression. In Wu Jiu’s eyes, a dialogue box appeared.

[Short Dagger: Evil Fallen must die. Attack power +6, upgradeable, durability 10/10. Cannot be sold.]

More and more strange information surfaced.

[Investigation Corps combat suit, defense +1, upgradeable, durability 25/25. Cannot be sold.]

[Bai Wu, lv1, attack power 2, defense 1, health 10, movement speed 1, backpack capacity six slots. Not class-changed.]

[Gu Qingyu, lv5, attack power 6, defense 1, health 18, movement speed 1, backpack capacity three slots. Not class-changed.]

After pixelation, their attributes also started to seem odd.

Combining the current remarks with the previous ones, Bai Wu quickly understood from his confusion.

"We might have, once again, encountered a strange scene that merges with the Evil Fallen."

"What’s the situation?" Wu Jiu was at a loss.

Bai Wu said:

"Remember the last scene? Violet merged with the area, forcing everyone to become her family members. This scene might have something similar, but I’m still uncertain about the specifics."

Wu Jiu still looked blank because the people from High Tower had never dealt with games during their childhood. The current scenario seemed novel to Wu Jiu.

Perhaps Evil Fallen used to be a game enthusiast... forcing everyone to play a game? Hence, all people and objects entering this area turned into items similar to game props?

That was one of Bai Wu’s preliminary guesses. He had another hypothesis, but it was more complex, and Bai Wu needed to verify it further.

"Since we can’t use the Return Roulette, let’s go in and take a look," Wu Jiu said with a good attitude.

Although Bai Wu didn’t like his current appearance, he wasn’t against this area; he even liked it a bit.

His intuition had always been accurate, and this time, he felt that he might have encountered not some evil Evil Fallen, but an interesting being.

After scanning their surroundings and finding no useful items to take, Bai Wu and Wu Jiu entered the pitch-black entrance.

The interior, starkly different from the abandoned street scene outside, was a cramped and dim storage room.

The pitch-black entrance turned into an iron door after Bai Wu and Wu Jiu entered.

"It seems we can’t go back now, only forward," Wu Jiu remarked.

Bai Wu nodded, his gaze settling on the long table in the room.

A series of strange items were lined up on the table. Wu Jiu and Bai Wu could see the same remarks, but Bai Wu could see two types.

[Resurrection Coin, restore to 100% health after death. Consumes one slot of backpack capacity.]

[You’d better not die, but if you really do, make sure you have this thing on hand, otherwise, you might never return to High Tower. But maybe you could save a backpack slot and consider arming yourself with combat items?]

Looking at the various items arrayed on the table, some were peculiar and only took up one backpack slot, while others were powerful but required more backpack space.

Bai Wu quickly realized that this was a game—

He and the captain didn’t know what they would face, but they had to choose their items in advance. How to choose would require the use of deductive skills.

"Interesting, a multiple-choice question right at the start?"

Although he didn’t know what he would encounter after opening the iron door, Bai Wu was already looking forward to it.