Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 395: Chapter 12: Major "Reforms" Within High Tower

Two people were missing from the High Tower.

Or rather, two people were missing from the lower five floors of the High Tower.

For seven hundred years, the High Tower had operated as usual, whether it lost commoners, nobles, managers, or rulers.

Countless heroes and tyrants died, yet the High Tower always remained the High Tower.

Gu Hailin and Nie Chongshan from the previous era, or even farther back, tracing to the Origin of the Investigation Corps with Duan Feng and Xiao Kuhai—these once-celebrated heroes had long since faded from memory.

But before time could erase all, there were still those who remembered the ones who had suddenly disappeared.

Bai Wu had been missing for two days, and the pileup of work forced Qin Zong to look for him.

Eventually, a letter was found on the desk Bai Wu used for work.

It was about entrusting Yin Shuang with managing the Seventh Squad, about leaving the Tower himself.

Qin Zong couldn’t help but laugh and cry:

"Both of you left, you really lived up to being the direct superior and subordinate from the Seventh Squad, both leaving without a word."

In Qin Zong’s view, Bai Wu and Gu Qingyu were like his left and right arms, but these two seemed to be natural-born adventurers.

He was very worried about the two of them.

Both had arguably reached the pinnacle of humanity; Bai Wu had even surpassed this pinnacle, making it incredibly difficult to strive for further improvement.

Qin Zong was not like Bai Wu.

Bai Wu was always led by Wu Jiu, saved by him numerous times, and had mysterious confidence in him.

But to Qin Zong’s eyes, it seemed that Wu Jiu would find it very difficult to improve further. He just hoped that the two would return soon because if both of them were absent, some strange events might occur in the High Tower again.

...

...

On the first day after Bai Wu and Cain left.

Fifth floor of the High Tower.

Qin Ye received some news that excited him. Soon, Zheng You, Pang Hai, Liu Long, and Wang Jue were all privy to the news.

Even the new ruler of the Zhong Family, Zhong Zheng, had received this information.

But everyone was restraining their impulses, not rushing to do anything. The eventual unfolding of events was still unknown.

On the eleventh day.

Qin Ye could no longer hold back and began to look for the Wang Family’s elder matriarch, Wang Jue.

This eternally youthful woman, in Qin Ye’s view, was wise. It remained unclear which power outside the Tower the Wang Family had partnered with.

Qin Ye suspected it might also be Black Gold Island.

The people of Black Gold Island played a tricky game, like balancing on three boats with one foot while breeding poisonous insects.

The Zhong Family, Qin Family, and Wang Family were three such insects.

However, sometimes Qin Ye felt it wasn’t quite right. Because the Wang Family’s business dealings were all with entities that couldn’t be associated with Black Gold Island. freewēbnoveℓ.com

The Wang Family always seemed to have a prescient ability to avoid risks, which was why Qin Ye wanted to confirm Wang Jue’s intentions.

Indeed, he received the answer he wanted from Wang Jue.

On the sixteenth day.

Qin Chu, Liu Hu, Pang Li, Wang Su, and Zheng Yue competed in a contest.

This competition made the five participants realize the disparity.

Bai Wu should be on the same level as the old ancestors in at least one respect, on Innate Force, he must have reached the pinnacle.

Which is the twelfth order.

This indeed was Bai Wu’s current strength, but the Well could enhance traits, and in terms of taking a beating, Bai Wu’s ability far exceeded their imagination.

Especially since Bai Wu’s strongest aspect was not his Innate Force.

All five family Guardians thought that Bai Wu’s current strength might even surpass that of their family’s ancestors.

And Gu Qingyu’s strength was even greater, a point that Zheng Yue indeed believed, so the others also thought the same.

The reason why they engaged in the duel was to gauge the gap in core combat prowess.

Because before long, the Qin Family planned to initiate a "revolutionary change".

Of the original seventy-two candidates, many had died or fled, and the entire fifth level was actually a battlefield for survival.

Later, when only eight families remained, none could do anything about the other, and they were all well aware of the high mortality rate that followed and that they had no certainty of reaching the top.

Thus the eight families coexisted, a situation that had persisted for seven hundred years.

Seven hundred years is a long time, but for a few in the High Tower who had lived like spirits, it could have lasted even longer.

Until a person named Bai Wu appeared.

Now, the contradictions among the eight families had escalated to a tipping point.

And with the death of Zhong Xu, the various rulers grew restless, with the Yan Family even changing their ruler. Moreover, the Xie Family and the Yan Family seemed to have inexplicably formed an alliance.

All these changes were being watched by Qin Ye and the other rulers, who believed that if they did not do something, their positions could be at risk.

Furthermore, as outposts beyond the Tower were established, that year witnessed numerous fantastical events, and the High Tower’s exploration of the outside world advanced leaps and bounds.

This kind of progress should normally be at a macroscopic level, and to solidify their rule, the rulers would beat humanity back into its original shape whenever humans achieved certain outcomes.

It had been like this ninety years ago when all the experts perished outside the Tower.

They thought they could capture the next change.

But everything developed too quickly, in less than a year’s time, conquering the purple region, the red region, suppressing the Evil Fallen forces outside the Tower, deaths among the Tower’s rulers... establishment of survival outposts outside the Tower! Everything moved too fast.

It was completely different from the previous historical trajectory. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

So much so that the rulers could not react in time, and finally, after witnessing Bai Wu’s strength surpassing that of the Guardians, they realized something, they had to take action!

They had to find a way to eliminate these unstable elements, and they considered the biggest of these to be three points—

The Xie Family, the Yan Family, the Investigation Corps.

Only by cutting out these "cancer cells" of the High Tower could they ensure stable development and secure their rule for the long haul.

Liu Hu becoming the deputy leader of the Investigation Corps was originally the start of the revolution.

But Bai Wu’s emergence disrupted their plans.

Especially the strength shown by Bai Wu left Qin Ye, Wang Jue, Zheng You, Pang Hai, and Liu Long utterly astonished.

Having lived seven hundred years, they might not be able to defeat a Guardian so effortlessly, not to mention singlehandedly overpowering Qin Xuan among the three Guardians.

When had the High Tower ever produced such a monster? What exactly had he been through?

All plans were put on hold due to the extraordinarily formidable strength shown by Bai Wu, particularly his words to Qin Xuan at the end—"You may fend me off for ten days or half a month, but not for three or five years, ten or eight years."

"I am different from the Evil Fallen. In the High Tower, I come and go as I please."

These words indeed intimidated the rulers. These people, who had ruled the High Tower for seven hundred years, were frightened by someone from the lower levels.

But they hadn’t given up hope.

About ten days ago, Qin Ye received a piece of reliable information... Bai Wu of the Investigation Corps had done something crazy—heading to the sixth level of the High Tower.

Although Bai Wu and Cain chose to move at night, it was very difficult to fool the rulers on the fifth level.

Whether Bai Wu was already clear that the rulers would know his whereabouts was unknown.

But regardless, the conclusion was that this troublesome human went to the sixth level.

And he had not returned for over ten days.

Ten days, as well as the situation they all agreed upon after analysis, made the rulers believe that nowadays the Investigation Corps was all bark and no bite. Without Gu Qingyu and Bai Wu, they were easily defeated.

Although the Xie Family and Yan Family were powerful, they stood no chance against the alliance of the other five families.

The best opportunity to eliminate the Xie Family, Yan Family, and Investigation Corps had finally arrived.

That’s why there was the martial showcase today, as the five great families were assessing their own strengths.

The nineteenth day.

That day, Qin Ye was still making preparations, gathering information about the mercenaries who had participated in the defense of the human outposts outside the Tower.

He was planning to capture them all in one fell swoop.

On the same day, Zheng Yue and the old ancestor of the Zheng Family, Zheng You, had a long talk through the night.

Zheng You was puzzled; usually, when the boy sought him out for a chat, he would dismiss him with the excuse that it was time to sleep—why was he acting so out of the ordinary today?

Zheng Yue was indeed a lazy person, laziness extraordinary in nature.

If Zheng Yue could live in the age before Bai Wu’s past life, he would undoubtedly be the leader of the "Lying Flat" movement.

And for that reason, when a lazy person became diligent, it often meant that the matter was very serious.

That’s why the old ancestor Zheng You listened intently to every single word of the lazy Zheng Yue.

The next day, Zheng Yue walked out of the forbidden area of the Zheng Manor exhausted, yawning and bleary-eyed as usual.

Zheng You was still discussing "reforms" with the ruling families.

Everything seemed to be the same as before.

...

...

The twenty-second day.

It had been twenty-two days since Bai Wu ventured to the sixth level of the High Tower, and the rulers were convinced that it was a place possibly even more dangerous than the red or black zones.

One month had passed since Gu Qingyu left the Investigation Corps.

"They might already be dead."

Inside the dark tower, around a huge round table, several shadowy figures appeared.

Qin Ye believed the time had come.

Wang Jue said,

"If it were us who left the High Tower for a month, do you think we would die?"

"Hard to say, the dangers outside the Tower could come the very next day, and it’s even possible not to survive the first four to eight hours. As far as I know, that legendary member of the Investigation Corps once had an astonishing record of enduring twenty-four days outside. But how many times can he replicate that record?" Qin Ye clearly leaned towards the belief that they were dead.

"Is the sixth level of the High Tower definitely more dangerous than outside the Tower?" Liu Long was a man with even more exaggerated muscles than Liu Hu.

"We are very clear on one thing, seven hundred years ago, if that madman hadn’t climbed up there, maybe one of us... or even several of us would already be dead."

Qin Ye’s words were very persuasive.

"Moreover, for seven hundred years, there has been no second person who went up on their own, and those who went up never came down. We are very clear that the person who woke up to Absolute Dissolution was of an incredibly troublesome Sequence, but he already died on the sixth floor."

Everyone remained silent as Qin Ye continued:

"The sixth floor should be about the same size as the fifth. Does it take as much as half a month to explore the sixth floor? Our lives were not meant to end there, and the two most troubling beings are dead. Now, if we don’t choose to nip the danger in the bud, perhaps there will be a second Bai Wu, a second Gu Qingyu."

The people nodded, but their thoughts differed.

Qin Ye did not notice. He believed the time had come:

"Humanity always seeks change, but it’s only through constancy that we can facilitate our reign. Our greatest mistake was underestimating the potential of the ants. Perhaps we need to collaborate with those outside the tower, to use a more purified, instrumentalized humanity to help us mine minerals and food."

"You mean to say... let the lower levels..." Wang Jue didn’t finish her sentence, but the implication was clear.

"Exactly, turn part of the lower-level people into complete tools, and at the same time, cancel the system of exiting the tower, making the people on the second and third levels compete internally, and stop expanding outwards. As long as they cannot leave the tower, the world outside will not give rise to powerful humans!"

Pang Hai clapped and said:

"Should I say you’re... heartless? This move will change the seven-hundred-year survival pattern of humanity. If they can’t leave the tower, indeed, the people below can only be ordinary folks for life, but wouldn’t that be... going too far?"

"Straightening a bend sometimes does require going too far! We are very clear that we don’t need any saviors, any High Tower legends, nor do we need the likes of the Yan Family who research human balance with Evil Fallen, or the Xie Family that researches equipment outside the tower. The High Tower is ours! All those who dream of leaving the High Tower! They are heretics!"

Qin Ye’s eyes were somewhat crazed.

Liu Long pondered:

"Actually, what we’re doing... indeed, it’s just like that. If we don’t contain it, perhaps the current situation would have come about centuries ago. It’s true that the outside of the tower isn’t fit for living. We are doing this for the good of humanity; for humanity’s good, we are on the side of Justice. What do you think?"

Wang Jue smiled. This beautiful woman didn’t say a word but instead fixed her gaze on Pang Hai.

Pang Hai spoke up:

"I’m temporarily not concerned about the revolution. The premise for revolution is that we are able to join forces and wipe out the Yan and Xie Families. At the same time, how should the research results from the Yan and Xie Families be distributed? This is what I care about."

Wang Jue then looked at Zheng You, who said:

"Hahaha, don’t look at me; I’ll go with the majority. It’s always been that way."

Finally, Qin Ye turned towards Wang Jue:

"You once said that what we are going to do, will succeed."

"I did indeed say that, so I came." Wang Jue seemed to state her stance.

Qin Ye’s gaze swept over everyone as he said:

"This High Tower needs us, we are the gods of the High Tower, it is we who have granted those below the right to live. They are afraid of leaving the tower, aren’t they? We won’t let them leave then. Gentlemen, concerning the revolution, you may each have your own views, but I believe history will prove that I am right. The High Tower, it will only thrive in our hands."

No one opposed this statement.

After about half a minute of silence, someone finally spoke up:

"Not to mention other things, at the very least, eliminating the Yan Family, the Xie Family, and the Investigation Corps is something we all tacitly agree on. These folks have threatened our rule and have even set their sights on us. I’m already impatient to twist off Yan Zizai’s head. So, let’s kill."

"While those two legends from the Investigation Corps are absent, we must act swiftly as lightning and uproot them! Without those two troublesome humans, everything will be easy to handle."

Imagining the scene of dividing up the resources of the Yan and Xie Families, Liu Long was the first to speak up:

"As long as we are certain that the two are dead, I also agree. Who wouldn’t want to make a profitable deal?"

"Agreed."

"I agree too."

All the rulers of the five major families were in agreement.

In the history of the High Tower, one of the greatest internal wars was about to begin.