Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 194: Chapter 194: All the Fragments Gathered

Late at night.

A person who felt no fear and another who was the very source of fear, lay on beds two and four of dormitory 403.

If ghosts, paranormal incidents, and all manner of terrifying tales truly existed in this world, encountering these two individuals would undoubtedly be a nightmare for those strange tales and specters.

Perhaps sensing something, Bai Wu didn’t hear the security department’s patrol this evening since nightfall.

They reported to the headmaster and had once assisted the headmaster in abducting numerous students, but after calamity struck, their unfulfilled desires prevented them from receiving the promised vast sums of money, and they were forever tasked with guarding students.

Now that the headmaster was dead, perhaps they felt something had changed.

The security guards of the security department, having a powerful strength bonus within the dormitory area, had become the wardens of the students, who didn’t dare provoke them.

The hierarchy within the dorm was from highest to lowest:

Lantern Bearer—the terrifying tales within the dorm—security guards—students.

Should the guards enter the dorms, the tales were no longer merely tales but transformed into real perils.

In a sense, the terrifying tales were protected by the students’ desires, yet due to the unfulfilled curses, they continually tormented the students.

In the depths of the night, as she thought about the students who simply could not sleep, each plagued by nightmares, Jiang Yimi was once again engulfed in guilt.

She planned to speak with Bai Wu before the Lantern Bearer arrived:

"Uncle,"

"Uncle?"

Bai Wu felt offended. He was not even twenty years old, and this was like calling Dwarf, who was one meter fifty-nine, as being one meter fifty-eight—it was an absolute offense.

Up until now, Jiang Yimi had always addressed Bai Wu with "you," because most of the time she was the one who responded.

"Well, I can’t exactly call you ’Old Man’... even though you are quite old."

"..."

Bai Wu then remembered that one mustn’t mention the name of the Masked Strange Person, seemingly marked by some power. Once spoken, the name might bring about trouble.

And to Jiang Yimi of those years, the Masked Strange Person was like the kind of uncle a young girl would yearn for.

Not a greasy middle-aged man, but an uncle with both a mature charm and great strength.

"What’s wrong?"

"When we obtain the final fragment, will you turn everyone back? They’ll become human again, right?"

"I’m still thinking about exactly how to do it. You can’t understand how important this area is for the people living in High Tower. I don’t know if there will be some kind of change to the Teleportation Stele within High Tower after completely purifying this area."

Jiang Yimi didn’t speak, listening seriously to Bai Wu.

"If such a change really happens, might it attract regional attention, and if it does, might it then draw the attention of those above? If everything truly unfolds in this way, might it cause many unfortunate events to occur, which may prompt the higher-ups to make some foolish decisions? Perhaps both the people here and those in High Tower with partial intel may be threatened."

Bai Wu’s concern was based on one fact—each color zone had its corresponding stele.

Lower East Square had a total of six steles: white, blue, purple, red, black.

And the sixth stele was obscured by curtains. In the existing history of High Tower, no one had ever returned from the black stele or from the one that was covered. freёwebnovel.com

Even the return records for the red stele were brought by himself.

Bai Wu had a vague feeling that if someone returned from the black area, would the upper levels—the fifth layer—become restless?

At that time, might they commit some outrageous acts? Would it even be possible that just returning from the red zone could attract their attention?

The most crucial thing was the five zones corresponded to five colors, and even the Well-level entities, in Bai Wu’s view, belonged to the black zone. The sixth stele might be different from the previous five. It wasn’t placed on the other side of the black stele because it was more difficult.

It’s highly likely... that it represents the Pure Land.

Because there was no pure land in this world, the stele was initially discovered to be inoperative and thus, was covered with a curtain.

So if the area is completely purified, then upon returning to High Tower, would it be from the sixth stele?

Thinking of this, Bai Wu felt this might be an even more dangerous affair than exposing his Sequence.

"So... what does the uncle plan to do?"

"If I don’t restore all the areas, would you accept it?" Bai Wu asked.

"I don’t know... But without you, it seems impossible for me to pass the test and lure out the principal."

"You’re going to leave the choice to me?" Bai Wu asked again.

"Mhm," Jiang Yimi replied softly.

In the days that the Masked Strange Person and Jiang Yimi spent together, it appeared that their feelings for each other, or at least Jiang Yimi’s feelings for the Masked Strange Person, were better than imagined.

Bai Wu could understand.

After all, Jiang Yimi had always been the cursed source that the world scolded, a blight. Suddenly, someone was willing to take her out of the mire and stand in front of her; she would definitely regard the person as dear family.

"I am a person who trusts in my intuition very much. In my view, intuition is like a divine stroke from the brain—it can quickly combine a lot of information, surpass the speed of our thinking, skip the process of verification, and directly provide an answer."

"In your intuition... do you see something bad?"

"Yes, during the day, I was like you, hoping that this area could be completely purified. But just now... when you asked this question, I suddenly felt that we should be more cautious about this matter."

Jiang Yimi didn’t speak.

Bai Wu was thinking, maybe this is a case of longing but not obtaining? Although everything was just his deduction and guesswork, once such thoughts appeared in his mind, he could no longer convince himself not to care about anything and to purify the area directly.

"Then... What about the others in the future? Will they turn back?"

"They will. Although I can’t completely purify the whole area, I will purify and restore most parts of it."

"Then, that’s good, I believe in you. I’ve been longing for everything to return to normal for seven hundred years. Uncle... you surely have your concerns, so it’s okay, I’ve waited seven hundred years, I don’t mind waiting a little longer."

This statement touched Bai Wu slightly.

Jiang Yimi smiled and said:

"But you have to promise me one thing."

"Tell me."

"Uncle, you, you... you can’t suddenly disappear and leave me behind again."

This was a question Bai Wu could casually agree to, but he just could not bring himself to speak.

If Baichuan Middle School really was a refuge, perhaps starting from this place and gradually expanding the area, it could be possible to save Baichuan City.

But this plan was just a concept, and for a long time, he would still have to stay in High Tower. Although Jiang Yimi was a Semi-Evil Fallen, she too could not enter High Tower.

What he could do was to give Jiang Yimi a choice:

"I won’t disappear, but I have too many things to do. I will spend a lot of time in High Tower, so the opportunities to see you will be limited. However... if you choose to become human again, you can stay by my side."

Bai Wu made it very clear. He was adept at lying, but for some questions, he knew that the truth was the most efficient answer.

If Jiang Yimi was willing to become human again, as long as she obtained the last piece of "fish," she would be able to accompany Bai Wu back to High Tower.

She would become an important combatant in the Investigation Corps, and her kind-hearted nature would also enable her to become friends with Yin Shuang and Lin Wurou.

Jiang Yimi’s final choice surprised Bai Wu, who also admired her:

"Turn back into a human... That should be a very happy thing, right? There are a lot of humans in High Tower, aren’t there?"

"Yes, many, many, countless times more than the school."

"Then... will they despise me?"

"No, if you’re willing to come with me to the High Tower, all the regrets of your past could be made right. There are some annoying folks up there, but there are also many worth befriending."

"That would be great... I really want to become human, and I’d love to stay by your side, uncle, but I must remain here."

Bai Wu didn’t ask why.

Jiang Yimi seemed to envision a brilliantly bright scene, tears filling her eyes, yet she said:

"I am a calamity, it was only with your arrival, uncle, that it was proven I also possess the power to protect everyone. This school needs me, as do these students and teachers. They became like this because of me, so I have to take responsibility for them."

Bai Wu actually wanted to say that you were not alone at fault for losing control and being isolated seven hundred years ago; this blindly following and believing crowd also bears a great responsibility.

But Jiang Yimi already knew that.

"I always feel... that accepting a new life at the High Tower with you, uncle, would be like admitting defeat."

"I... don’t want to leave that way."

"Rather than receiving recognition from others, I would prefer to gain the school’s acceptance. Seven hundred years ago, my biggest wish was for them not to dislike me, to accept me, and maybe one day I could join them, sitting in the classroom, listening to the teacher’s lecture, hearing complaints from my deskmate."

"That was my original intent, and if I am denied, I will keep striving for it. I will always protect them, even if seen as a monster, even if I’m no longer human. So I can’t return to the High Tower with you, uncle, nor can I become human, at least not yet."

Her final words once again stirred something in Bai Wu’s heart.

This girl... in fact, she wasn’t someone who always gave in.

She didn’t flinch when facing the principal, nor did she shy away when her beloved faced disbelief; despite facing everyone’s accusations and curses, she never chose revenge.

Her only weakness was that she fell into self-blame all too easily.

This was a kind of goodness completely different from that of Hong Yin, Yan Jiu, Bai Xiaoyu, and others.

Not long after arriving at the High Tower, Bai Wu felt this world was thoroughly corrupt, rotten from top to bottom, fraught with danger and deceit from the inside out.

Kind souls wandered homeless outside the tower, while the corrupt rulers atop the tower lived forever, undying.

But thinking about it, he always seemed to encounter souls that shined.

Dwarf, Hong Yin, Bai Xiaoyu, Jiang Yimi, Professor Tao... It was these people who made him feel that this apocalypse still held hope and was also worth saving.

"I’ll come to see you often, I promise."

"Okay, okay!"

If there was anything that made Bai Wu feel that his journey wasn’t in vain, it was Jiang Yimi’s reconciliation with herself and the school.

Although it was one-sided, even if this area was afflicted by a so-called curse, he believed that Jiang Yimi’s perseverance could change everything.

Three o’clock in the morning.

There came a slow pace of footsteps from outside the door and the creaking noise of a swaying lantern.

The Lantern Bearer had finally arrived.

It knocked on every room three times as usual, but when it passed room 405, it didn’t knock.

Under normal circumstances, when passing room 403, the Lantern Bearer would knock continuously because the mirror in room 403 was filled with students.

But this time, there was no knocking; instead, Bai Wu heard the sound of the door handle turning.

The Lantern Bearer was unlocking the door!

He abruptly leaped up, on guard as he watched the front.

The door slowly opened, the light bright enough to reduce Evil Fallen to ashes shone upon Bai Wu’s face.

Wearing a long white robe, much like a white-robed wizard, the Lantern Bearer’s light began to slowly dissipate.

Bai Wu had originally thought he had to kill the Lantern Bearer and take the shards, which would be a fierce battle.

However, when the annotation popped up in his eyes, and he heard the voice of the Lantern Bearer, Bai Wu was utterly stunned.

[Mutation Level Nine, Perfect Mutation Entry: Annihilation Illuminating Shadow.]

An old employee who had been diligent and dedicated for seven hundred years came into being under a violent explosion named "cataclysm." Its sole purpose of existence was to take care of every student as the embodiment of will, until the true master arrived.]

"Eight, nine, seven, two, nine, eight, eight, four, five."

A hoarse voice conveyed a sequence of abstruse numbers.

Even Bai Wu didn’t understand the meaning of these numbers at first, but he felt the light from the Lantern Bearer’s lantern was fading bit by bit.

That light, like its lifeline, dimmed, and its white robe covered with dust began to turn grey.

"Not a single one is missing."

After the hoarse voice finished the last sentence, the color of the grey-white robe darkened, and as the light faded, it ultimately turned black.

The black material started to slowly envelop it.

Bai Wu witnessed an astonishing sight: the Lantern Bearer, who originally had a human outline, turned completely black and fused with the misfortune substance on Jiang Yimi’s body.

Jiang Yimi’s expression was strange.

She stood there motionless, slightly stupefied, and after several minutes picked up the lantern that had become ordinary, with no wick left to ignite.

"Uncle, is that a fragment?"

Jiang Yimi pointed to a small object on the ground, which Bai Wu could make out clearly under the influence of Enhanced Vision.

It was indeed a fragment.

The last piece of the four Doomsday Puzzle fragments, the fish.

"Yes, now we have them all. I never thought the last piece would be so easy to obtain."

Jiang Yimi nodded and said,

"Because it has always been waiting for me."

"It?"

"Uncle, do you think sequences and entries might have their own consciousness?"

Any other person would answer no, but thinking of the "Poet Yan," Bai Wu felt inexplicably that it was possible.

"Perhaps it’s like me, although it is an ominous power, symbolizing misfortune and disaster, it too has someone it wants to protect. During the merging crisis... it became another guardian of the school."

Bai Wu suddenly understood:

"Could those numbers be..."

"The knocks on the door, every day for seven hundred years, every room, every student, it would use the knocking sound to check if they were all there. And indeed, it did... Not a single one is missing."

Jiang Yimi wanted to keep the Lantern Bearer, but it was like a part of her power that had separated from her body, ultimately returning inside her.

In fact, this seemingly frightening "Dormitory Area Overlord" was the symbol of Jiang Yimi’s utmost goodness.

It didn’t need to be killed at all; if one day Jiang Yimi could kill the principal, it would return to darkness when they met again.

Because its destiny was to protect.

Baichuan Middle School still had many fragmented urban legends, such as the headless person in the gym, the football team on the playground, the always present unpalatable food in the cafeteria.

It’s as if many areas simply had no fragments to collect, and these areas were the same, independent little areas under a larger area, which could be purified all at once after collecting the fragments.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that some small areas are not difficult. Sometimes certain independent areas can be extremely dangerous.

Bai Wu didn’t need to consider these now; he picked up the Doomsday Puzzle fragment, holding the flower, bird, insect, and fish in his hands. freewebnovel.cσ๓

"To create a refuge, there are still many places that need further verification, but at least now... our biggest trouble has been dealt with."