Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 414: Chapter 31: The True Number One of High Tower

The Angel Envoy fell silent, and Bai Wu resumed his journey.

In the World Beyond the Mist, the concentration of distortion was very low, but that didn’t mean there were no powerful monsters and twisted rules.

Because the concentration of distortion is just an overall concept. The distortion itself is something without any regularity in the details.

Some areas might exhibit extremely strong distortion rules and terrifying monsters.

After all, this was similar to seven hundred years ago, yet not quite the same. With the existence of the Overlords, no one knew what could happen.

As Bai Wu contemplated these issues, he realized that cooperation with Zero was indeed necessary.

He couldn’t help but sigh; although he had also gradually become a stronghold himself, the former strongholds were still strongholds.

The small town was quickly reached.

Seven hundred years ago, this little town and the barn farm where Bai Wu had exited the tower had a cooperative relationship.

It was like those places not yet covered by modernization. Some small towns had farms not far from them.

After passing through the woodland and walking straight for a while, Bai Wu saw the sparse few hundred brick and tile houses and bungalows. These not-so-dense houses formed a somewhat isolated small town.

One could still see those "pots" used for receiving signals in the past life, from the early stages of modern civilization.

However, these houses had already become dilapidated due to being uninhabited.

Even if preserved by the distorted rules, the scene that had remained undamaged for seven hundred years still exuded desolation from being uninhabited.

[He’s out picking fruit right now and is not at home. The most modest house is where he lives. You’re curious about what kind of person he is, so you decide to take a look.]

Bai Wu’s interest was indeed piqued.

The tone of Prayle’s Eye, combined with this small town... seemed to suggest a person who had survived for a very long time.

There was only one such person he knew, Lin Rui.

Or rather, the First Generation Mask.

But Lin Rui had already fallen into the loop of time. Was he the only person who had been wandering in the world outside the tower for seven hundred years?

Bai Wu didn’t know.

He believed that there certainly wouldn’t be large-scale human tribes, but there might still be other wanderers like Lin Rui.

Because Cain and Lilith had both mentioned something—

Seven hundred years ago, not all of the seventy-two ruler candidates had died, some had disappeared, gone into hiding.

Only which ruler would be

The most modest house, Bai Wu found it quickly.

It was on the edge of the town, almost immediately discernible for its modesty, as it was a wooden hut.

Bai Wu couldn’t help but imagine such a scene.

Seven hundred years ago, a ruler who had walked out of the High Tower, tired of the strife within, was transported to this small town by the stele. It seemed to remind him of his former life.

He decided to settle here, so he built himself a wooden hut.

Bai Wu walked to the outside of the wooden hut, which had already grown some moss. Any creature from the world outside the tower could be deadly or possess some strange abilities.

[Some moss emits a hallucinogenic scent, which isn’t deadly but can make one enter a state of "intoxication." When the loneliness of the apocalypse descends, you’ll find that this state is more sought after than being "sober."]

Airborne alcohol?

The moss seemed to grow too coincidentally.

Bai Wu pushed open the nearly useless door of the wooden hut and entered the small room, about ten square meters in size.

The inside was very simple, with a homemade wooden table, two stools, and a wooden bed.

The owner was a craftsman, but it was evident that the craft wasn’t one that could earn money; it was simply their own interpretation of a table, stools, and a bed, made as best they could.

The workmanship was very rough. Even the wooden table wasn’t completely smooth. Clearly, there were no people left in this town, yet someone insisted on putting effort into this, which piqued Bai Wu’s interest in the owner of the hut.

On the wooden table lay a manual.

[Decent people don’t keep diaries, but what if someone believed there were hardly any living humans left in the whole world? What if someone was immortal, with a never-ending lifespan, living each day in a muddled haze? They would want to remember those special days, which are few and far between over seven hundred years, not even enough to fill a single manual. As you flip through the diary, although you will eventually be caught in the act by its owner, it doesn’t matter, for they are eager to see other humans.]

Bai Wu grew more convinced that this person might be one of the seventy-two rulers. But why was this person the one he wanted to see?

With questions in mind, he didn’t hesitate, as he usually flipped through the diaries of the dead without any reservations, and this time flipping through the diary of a living person... he still had no reservations. freewёbnoνel.com

In Bai Wu’s view, a diary truly written for oneself is more likely not called a diary but a memo.

"Unknown time. A colossal tower-like city appeared as if descending from beyond the skies; it stood silently there, and I cannot see its upper parts above the clouds. What a magnificent miracle this is, or perhaps it is a great statue of a god. I finally found a miracle after noticing some strange abilities in my body, and I began searching relentlessly. Because I believe that there are gods in this world."

A tower-like city? The High Tower? Something’s not right...

This mentioned an extremely bizarre piece of information.

Bai Wu suddenly recalled a peculiar question raised by the teachers at Baichuan School, those Bai Can creatures.

They mentioned that the High Tower was over six thousand meters tall, undoubtedly very high. The height of the High Tower wasn’t frightening, but the area of each layer was.

Each layer of the High Tower was equivalent to a small city, capable of being divided into many areas and accommodating hundreds of thousands, even millions, of people.

Six thousand meters is quite high, but if each layer’s area was considered—

One would realize that the shape of the High Tower should not resemble a tower but rather should look more like a vastly enlarged Go game piece.

If the High Tower’s shape was that of a typical tower, then it would certainly be more than six thousand meters high.

Thinking back to how the seventh level did not exist originally until the monsters from the sixth level began to carve out new layers...

What if the monster had an infinite number of layers to create?

Does that mean that the High Tower doesn’t actually... have an end? No matter how the monster carves, it can only remain trapped inside the High Tower.

And it can only ascend, not descend, the further away it gets from humans inside the High Tower, the safer the people become.

Is this why, after creating the seventh level, it stopped carving new ones?

Bai Wu remembered exploring the High Tower with Cain, if it weren’t for that monster ascending to the seventh level, cut off by the tower’s power or having its own strength diminished—Bai Wu might not have dared to deceive it so openly upon sensing its presence.

Bai Wu continued to read on.

"Unknown time. Today I again felt that my concept of time is becoming vague, is this a good or a bad thing? Perhaps it’s because of my ability. I might never die, never age, never be tortured by various illnesses, so is it that my body has realized that I will become an existence as eternal as the river in the river of time, causing me to subconsciously discard certain perceptions?"

"An unknown time. I found that tower. It had no entrance, but as I approached it, I was engulfed in a red light, as if it could destroy everything, which eventually turned into a soft white light. When I came to my senses, I was inside the tower."

"An unknown time. I can’t find an exit, damn it, how am I supposed to leave this massive structure? It’s so vast...how many floors does it have? I can’t see; when it appeared before me, I couldn’t see its end."

"An unknown time, I reached the second floor, no one, not a single person. Could it be that I am actually the first to enter the heart of this miracle?"

Bai Wu’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The first to enter the High Tower? This person seemed somewhat special. But theoretically, when the High Tower appeared in this world, its interior and seven hundred years later should not be much different.

"An unknown time, how lonely... Why is there no one? I don’t know how to get out, how long have I been trapped in here? It must be, I’m very hungry, although I know I won’t die of hunger, I can always return to a point in time when I’m less hungry. Perhaps the Grim Reaper can no longer catch up to me, but...it’s really so lonely. Is there... any humanity within this tower?"

Indeed, the first to enter the High Tower, but it seemed... very strange.

Is this person immortal?

Bai Wu grew more curious about who this person might be, his eyes indicating an earnest desire to meet this person, but for now... he had not seen them.

He had already begun to speculate.

"An unknown time. The fifth floor. Similar to the fourth floor, but the Black Towers are not so dense. What are they for, I don’t know... The sixth floor seems to have something, but my instinct tells me it’s dangerous.

The four floors below...nothing. But there is water on the fifth floor, and in the center, I saw a Well—can I drink the Well Water?"

"An unknown time. In the end, I drank the Well Water, my reasoning was simple... after all, nothing else can kill me."

"An unknown time, I fear the sixth floor, I dare not approach, but I really want to go up and see. After drinking the Well Water, it’s as if the concept of time is even more elusive to me. How long have I been in this massive tower, exactly?"

"An unknown time, I made it to the sixth floor. On the edge of the sixth floor, I saw strange symbols. There was also a Stele, inscribed with many interesting things, like some kind of power? Sequence. What is that? I inexplicably thought of the periodic table of elements."

"An unknown time. Well, actually the second day after the previous entry, I’ve been quite happy these two days, the unknown information has eased my loneliness. It seems that the master of the High Tower left messages for me, I have a premonition that I should not enter areas with those strange symbols. It’s like a boundary. Hmm...I must go down."

Fine, this is different from Cain, or from myself for that matter. Essentially, both Cain and I are madmen who risk our lives for the sake of quenching our thirst for knowledge.

But this person... is very cautious.

If it had been me arriving at the sixth floor, assuming my eyes didn’t make it clear there was danger, I would have delved into exploring it thoroughly.

But this person actually held back.

Bai Wu considered two reasons.

One is that the first visitor to the High Tower was indeed more laid-back.

But that possibility is not high; the person at heart believes in miracles, the kind of explorer who respects the unknown.

So, the most likely reason is the second... he must have truly felt a suffocating and dangerous aura at the time.

Bai Wu still remembered when he saw the Sequence language and established a connection with the creature on the seventh floor, even separated by a layer, the suffocating sensation was palpable. Let alone, at that time, the person was on the same floor as the creature.

However, the diary did not reflect such feelings. In which case,

"An unknown time, I ultimately went down, but during the tedious time there, I comprehended all the information I saw."

"An unknown time, it turns out the Stele can help me leave... The way out is so straightforward after all. But it looks like I have to wait. Because the content mentioned, only when the outside world was twisted enough, could I use the corresponding colored Stele to go to the corresponding place."

"An unknown time, there’s still no one in the High Tower, I left the method, Return Roulette, recorded on the sixth floor, on the fifth floor. I also know I have become an eternal being, which seems somewhat superfluous, but to let those who come after me know... I still etched the words ’Eternal Spring’ atop the Well.

I wonder, why would the creator of the High Tower, the master of the miracle, bestow immortality upon people? Surely it is to allow those capable... to perpetually explore this extremely mysterious world?"

Bai Wu felt a complex array of emotions... Could this be considered the very source of all evils within the High Tower?

The initial intent of this person was good, inscribing the Eternal Spring and passing down the data of the sixth level, such as the Sequence list and the method of crafting the Return Roulette, to the fifth level. freewёbnoνel.com

Even this person had some romantic notions, believing that immortality was an endless journey fueled by ceaseless exploration of life.

Yet, how could he know that his intentions would be misconstrued by later generations?

In the minds of several High Tower rulers, this was a revelation from the sixth level—immortality symbolized eternal rule. Throughout history, indeed, many dominions have been lost due to the change of rulers.

Thus, to the successors, the Eternal Spring was a divine mission given to them, allowing them to rule forever and maintain long-lasting peace within the High Tower.

And so, individuals like Qin Ye, those cleansing fanatics, came into being. In essence, Eternal Beings lacked the spirit of exploration; instead, that pool of stillwater was almost frozen.

What they desired was not to use eternal life to explore and ascend but to constantly consolidate their own power.

Of course, Bai Wu was just reflecting and wouldn’t actually consider this person the source of all evils. He clearly understood that it was human nature that truly led to the High Tower’s current state.

He even admired this person.

Because it was clear that this person possessed some kind of ability, having attained some sort of immortality even before drinking from the Eternal Spring.

Bai Wu suspected that this person had an extremely rare Sequence, or possibly some other special power like "Temporal Power."

Imagine, with distortion descending, people on the fifth level began slaughtering one another to fight for rulership. And this individual, the very first of the High Tower, already had powerful forces at his disposal...

If this person had desired to fight for rulership, one could say that the likes of Yan Zhao, Qin Ye, Zhong Xu, and Liu Long wouldn’t stand a chance.

Of the seventy-two, the other seventy-one would merely serve as sparring partners for him.

Yet this person, remarkably, was indifferent to power. He was someone who combined immortality with exploration.

In Bai Wu’s heart, a certain deduction had formed, understanding why this person was someone he wanted to meet.

Such a person, at the very least, was worth befriending.

And soon enough, he also obtained an answer from this individual.

When Bai Wu decided to continue flipping through the diaries, a voice suddenly appeared in his ear.

"Who are you?"

Bai Wu was startled; he suddenly felt a powerful presence right behind him, yet he had been completely unaware just a second earlier?

How could this be achieved?

Bear in mind that at this moment, his perceptual ability was extraordinarily strong, and his eyes could even...

Wait, Bai Wu remembered, his eyes had given him a prompt, indicating that he would be caught red-handed by the owner of the diaries.

This brief prophecy had come true.

Bai Wu turned around, and the moment his gaze fell upon this person, he understood.

In Prayle’s Eye, numerous annotations popped up, but Bai Wu’s eyes immediately spotted the most crucial term.

[Sequence 12—Temporal Return.]