Free Web NovelChapter 412: Chapter 29: Changes Outside the Tower
Outside the tower, an unknown area.
Bai Wu looked around and found himself in what resembled an abandoned farm, where one could see giant skeletons covered with mud.
Mushrooms were even growing on them.
He could also see barns and residential buildings. He was outside one of the buildings now, hearing noises from inside.
The level of technology in Sheng Country seven hundred years ago was almost the same as the world Bai Wu had lived in his previous life.
There were densely populated cities with high technological coverage such as Baichuan, Shudu, Food City, and Denglin. There were also many suburban environments.
Compared to the "farms" maintained by the Well, this farm seemed like one governed by the Undead, with yellowing grass, bones scattered everywhere, and dilapidated barns and buildings; interestingly, though, there were sounds inside.
When Bai Wu left the High Tower and touched the black stele, he saw the following note—
"It must be said this world is quite marvelous; when several things occur at the same time, they become inevitable coincidences. In these past few months, you redistributed resources and power within the High Tower. Meanwhile, outside the tower, there was another distorted redistribution.
The number of black and red areas decreased, but the purple and blue areas significantly increased, and the white areas? Well, guess what? Pff, they’re gone~ The stele can no longer accurately transport you to areas corresponding to specific danger levels; now... it’s just an ordinary teleportation gate."]
This passage led Bai Wu to speculate that over the past three months, the boundaries between regions had vanished due to the activation of the Wells, prompting many Evil Fallen to migrate.
The concentration of distortion in an area is composed of two parts.
One is the Evil Fallen, and the other is the environment.
The stronger the Evil Fallen, the higher the concentration of distortion, the more twisted the rules in the environment become, and the higher the concentration of distortion gets.
Today the environment remains unchanged, but because the boundaries between zones have blurred, the Evil Fallen have begun to migrate.
Three months is neither long nor short.
Many areas might have remained the same, while in some, the Evil Fallen from one area could have joined with those from another.
In many areas, the Evil Fallen consist of a few Intelligent Evil Fallen, plus a horde of non-intelligent species driven by desires.
Thus, the Intelligent Evil Fallen, who have been quite lonely for seven hundred years, could only stay in one place. Now everything has changed.
In those places where the rules are so bad that even the Evil Fallen don’t want to live there, naturally, no Evil Fallen would choose to go.
Most Evil Fallen, too, seek environments suitable for survival.
Therefore, areas with low distortion levels, like the white and blue zones, have become popular destinations.
But this doesn’t mean that humans from the High Tower can now go to red and purple areas, for without information, the various rules can be more lethal than the Evil Fallen.
In short, the Evil Fallen also prefer places where the rules are less twisted and the climate is milder.
Just like the development of human cities, seaside cities and those in plains and river basins are always more bustling.
Places like Baichuan City, where humans coexist with the Evil Fallen, might become incredibly valuable.
After seeing the stele, Bai Wu quickly simulated the origin of society and drew some conclusions.
In the past, monsters were constrained by their regions, and not many could establish powers, like Zero’s Mechanical City, which built a vast Mechanical Race by absorbing souls. This is an exception.
The farm is mysterious, and it’s unclear where the children inside it come from.
The High Tower is considered a power, and although human powers can be said to be everywhere, the randomness of the stele has meant that humans have been unable to map the area for a long time.
The last ones are Huangquan Island’s power and Black Gold Island’s power.
Both islands have beings that can ignore regional constraints, one is Jing Wu, and the other is the Judge.
These are all the powers Bai Wu has encountered so far, but he speculates... it won’t be long until many new powers emerge.
These powers may be small or unprecedentedly large.
At this very moment, standing outside the farm building, he overheard the conversation inside.
"We brothers, met three months ago and hit it off immediately, forging a bond of brotherhood. Seven hundred years ago, we all came from different places, Laosi, you from Shudu, Laosan, you from Food City."
"Laosi, you hail from Denglin City, a place that has seen tragedy. As your elder brother, I know about the Evil Fallen there, afflicted by some mad scientist’s experiment. I reckon you wouldn’t dare to mess with that person."
"Laowu, you said you’re from the High Tower and only turned into this a year ago. I believe you know your limits too."
"Laoliu, you’re an escapee slave from Black Gold Island, I believe you’re disciplined, knowing whom you can afford to offend and whom you cannot."
"But among the six of us, there must be someone who has done something wrong,"
Upon hearing this, Bai Wu chuckled. Were the people here holding a criticism session? Six Evil Fallen swearing brotherhood?
Bai Wu left the tower seeking the cruise ship.
The ship had already broken through the Hei Wu, but since it belonged to the Inside the Mist and to a specific area at that, he wanted to try his luck.
But trying one’s luck in such a vast area was akin to a fool’s dream, so Bai Wu decided to start his exploration from whichever area he might randomly end up in.
And so, he arrived at the farm.
Using his tried-and-tested method, observing with Prayle’s Eye, Bai Wu learned that this place was the outskirts of Denglin City, which lay to the west of Baichuan City – incidentally the direction Wu Jiu had headed.
At this point, Bai Wu serendipitously learned that the captain was still alive, through a very classic conversation that ensued, which greatly excited him.
"That shorty, very dangerous, I’ve said again and again not to provoke, not to provoke, keep a lid on it! His body might be weak... so tempting... but damn dangerous! Who the hell provoked him? Laoqi and Laoba are still out cold! Made me get a warning from him too!"
"If it weren’t for lacking that organ, I swear I would have pissed myself right there!" Laoda was very agitated.
When the term ’shorty’ was mentioned, Bai Wu felt his DNA stir, and it continued to stir subsequently.
Laosi: "You know me, big brother. If I had provoked that shorty... I would have been dead on the spot."
Laosan: "You know me, big brother. I like to be passive, I’m always the one being provoked, never the other way around."
Laosi: "You know me, big brother. I’m not interested in people, I’m fond of Evil Fallen."
Laowu: "You know me, big brother. That shorty is famous in the High Tower, how could I possibly bully him?"
Laoliu: "Don’t all look at me, you know me, big brother. I only like the big ones, little ones don’t suit my appetite."
Laoda swept a glance:
"I can tell, each of you has a unique skill. But sure as fate, someone among us has provoked him. It’s lucky that the shorty has a good temper and isn’t a killer-on-sight of Evil Fallen, otherwise we’d all be dead!"
"Could it be... that Laoqi and Laoba were the ones who did it?" one of the subordinates asked.
"Don’t I know Laoqi and Laoba? They appear fierce on the surface, but they haven’t eaten a single person to date, only hunting rabbits in the forest when they’re hungry."
"But that person has a cat... could Laoqi and Laoba have provoked that cat?"
A cat?
Bai Wu guessed that the ’shorty’ mentioned by these Evil Fallen was the captain, but since when did the captain have a cat by his side?
Would the captain knock out the so-called ’Laoqi’ and ’Laoba’ from the Evil Fallen just for a cat?
It wasn’t out of the question; with the captain’s skills... knocking them unconscious was actually holding back.
But was the captain truly still alive?
He certainly hoped the captain was alive, but if the captain had indeed survived, ninety-something days... would that mean the captain was carrying more than five hundred negative attributes?
Was that even human?
The odds considered, Bai Wu thought the captain couldn’t have endured so many negative attributes, and neither could he.
Moreover, it was strange that the captain had a cat with him, and he quickly deduced that maybe there was something off about that cat? Perhaps it was the cat that allowed the captain to survive?
What kind of cat is that? Doraemon or Beerus?
However, Bai Wu did not go in to ask; the several oddballs in the room gave him some good news, and he was ready to leave and continue his exploration.
The few people in the room didn’t know that beyond the mist there was a human. An unorthodox human.
...
...
After leaving the farm, there was a piece of woodland, where Bai Wu encountered some non-intelligent creatures.
Easily dealt with by Bai Wu.
He realized something; the ecosystem was unfolding.
If the territorial restrictions disappeared... and assuming they disappeared permanently, then soon the Evil Fallen would, due to various needs, establish all sorts of survival rules.
An era truly belonging to the Evil Fallen was coming.
The Intelligent Evil Fallen would become the masters of the world outside the Tower, the non-intelligent ones, would probably play the role of wild beasts, no?
Pure humans would be hard to define then.
Whether this was a good or bad thing, Bai Wu was not sure. But he was very clear that the dilution of the twisted concentration... meant that the High Tower would reappear.
The High Tower now had two possible outcomes.
One outcome was that the seal on the sixth floor was slowly infiltrating the power system of the High Tower Creator, mastering new powers, and ultimately unsealing itself.
The High Tower might be indestructible from the inside... but it might also be unable to imprison that monster.
Another possibility was that when the High Tower reappeared, one of the six Wells arranged by the seal would find it and destroy the High Tower from the outside.
And once that monster appeared, the other places where that monster was sealed would probably be found by this monster as well.
Bai Wu could feel it; the monster on the seventh floor of the High Tower was powerful... but not in its complete state, at least... not very smart, perhaps also related to being cut off from all external senses by the High Tower.
Walking and pondering all the way, Bai Wu’s train of thought was suddenly interrupted.
In this woodland, there was a large tree.
Suspended from the huge tree were more than a dozen mummified corpses, clashing against each other in the wind, with bells tied to them.
[This is not the handiwork of the Evil Fallen. In the ancient traditions of Sheng Country, trees were burial sites, and bells tied to the feet of the buried allowed the souls of the people not to get lost. This is the largest tree in several nearby areas. In the town ahead, you will meet someone you want to see.]
Someone I want to see?
The captain?
Bai Wu thought it was very likely the captain, but it seemed not necessarily so. Apart from the captain, who else would he want to meet?
He began searching for that town.
The journey seemed long, but Bai Wu was fast. He did not stop thinking on the way to the town.
He suddenly felt like he had lingered in the High Tower for too long because the world outside seemed to have changed too much.
And the world beyond the mist, having gone three months, who knows what changes would have taken place. He felt as if he was in a different world.
It was as if an old player had missed several updates and was now unfamiliar with the game’s content.
While Bai Wu was thinking about how to optimize his path and get information about what’s outside the Tower and beyond the mist in the shortest time possible, Bai Wu’s cheat device received a message.
[I am Zero, please respond if you receive this.]
Bai Wu, who was preparing to head to some mysterious town, was taken aback.
"I am Bai Wu."
"Finally got in touch with you."
Bai Wu was somewhat puzzled. Zero usually didn’t seek him out; the last time he had, it was because Jing Wu and Jing Er had launched an attack.
What was it this time?
"What happened? You sound like you’ve tried to contact me many times," Bai Wu asked.
Zero got straight to the point:
"These days, Mechanical City has been bustling. Your actions have left me baffled. My ability is to accept souls and integrate them into the mechanical core."
"I know."
"I have invited you to Mechanical City before. You said you didn’t want to come because of the Investigation Corps, so I thought you had come around recently."
Bai Wu gradually cleared up the logic; he understood.
Zero also quickly offered an explanation:
"Lately, the number of souls stored in soul fragments has surged, most of them High Tower’s people, including many from the Investigation Corps. I thought you had figured it out and finally decided to bring the Investigation Corps to me."
Bai Wu didn’t know whether to say Zero was very persistent. Perhaps half-mechanical beings are just stubborn by nature?
"Some changes occurred in High Tower, leading to many deaths."
Zero didn’t care about human deaths; he was indifferent to them. He only cared about one thing:
"So, the most appropriate thing for you now is to die. If you don’t like the structure of Core City, if you die now, I can build a High Tower and reconstruct the ecology, simulating the environment inside High Tower."
Bai Wu thought to himself, ’Good lord.’
"You better manage your Mechanical City. Just think of it as... Mechanical City has experienced an explosive population increase. Moreover... take good care of them." frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Doomsday Puzzle fragments, Gathering Spirit.
The puzzle fragments in Zero’s hands possessed tremendous power, able, in some sense, to contend with Huangquan Island’s Power of Life and Death.
But not every soul of the deceased would be found. In fact, most couldn’t be found.
Only because half of High Tower’s people died, the numbers were so large that it led to some misjudgment by Zero.
He thought Bai Wu had seen the light, that being human had its limits, and he was bringing the people of High Tower to join Mechanical City.
Bai Wu said:
"I was just about to contact you. Over these months in High Tower, I’ve been out of touch with the changes in the outside world. After the removal of the regional restrictions, there seem to have been significant changes. Have you made any new discoveries in these months?"
Mechanical City was the strongest reinforcement for a refuge. When Zero discovered the regional restrictions were removed, he knew that Baichuan City might face this situation, so he created Core City version two—
The moat of the refuge.
A powerful protective network, a physical construction of a region.
Over the past three months, due to Gathering Spirit’s continuous collection of souls from High Tower, Zero was aware that something must have happened to it.
Besides repeatedly trying to contact Bai Wu, Zero was also figuring out how to spread Mechanical City.
This expansion wasn’t in a physical sense, but he had made some progress.
"As for changes in other regions, I am not clear. Because Mechanical City’s regional division relies on protective devices, there hasn’t been much change for me. But Mechanical City has expanded, and I indeed have some news to share with you, which you will find very interesting," Zero replied.
Bai Wu had clearly forgotten that Zero’s greatest strength wasn’t in combat. For a moment, he didn’t grasp the meaning of "Mechanical City has expanded."
"What news?" he asked.
"After my attempts, Mechanical City has successfully established contact with the communication stations outside the Black Mist. In short, you can now get information from the world beyond the mist through me."
