Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 434: Chapter 51: The First Generation

(Unable to use extra updates for the Silver Alliance, progress completed 57/100.)

With a plan in mind, Bai Wu spent the next period of time doing two things.

The first thing was naturally a big deal: all the criminals in Food City who had yet to be apprehended were brought to justice by Bai Wu, who boldly, in the identity of the Masked Man, used the information provided by the powerful Angel Envoy.

And every time, he left a message—

"I am waiting for the one with the same mask as mine."

The news soon began covering this Masked Strange Person, even though in real history, at this time, the Masked Person was only active in the shadows.

People are always curious about the actions of superheroes. Everyone wanted to know who this Masked Person was.

Some even wore fake masks in hopes of approaching the Masked Strange Person. They started calling out in the identity of the Masked Strange Person— "I have already put on the same mask to find you."

But Bai Wu knew clearly—he had seen Lin Rui. He knew what kind of feeling the real First Generation would bring.

There were also some social elites and even public officials who criticized the Masked Strange Person.

The irony is... this was all just like when Bai Wu first explored Violet’s Manor.

While exploring the Manor where compulsory "family role-play" took place, Bai Wu saw a news report in the room that Zhong Xu originally stayed in:

"Do you believe the Masked Strange Person’s behavior constitutes a crime?"

"Yes, as far as I’m concerned, I need to arrest Evil Fallen, study its Origin, but the Masked Strange Person clearly believes his existence is above our laws, he took Evil Fallen away to a place we do not know of..."

"But Evil Fallen actually threatened the safety of the citizens, didn’t it? According to many citizens, if the Masked Strange Person had not appeared, they would have faced a mortal danger."

"Impossible, our city is very safe!"

Although there is no Evil Fallen now, the repetition of the news cannot be said to be similar, but rather exactly the same—just replacing Evil Fallen with criminals, and the study of Origin with the preservation of legal authority.

At that time, the Masked Strange Person was already starting to be misunderstood by many people. Saving the world, perhaps, was only deemed worthy in the eyes of the savior. Those who were saved didn’t even recognize you as their savior.

Every adult’s life is filled with their own pains. That’s why in many animations, the saviors are high school students.

If it were a working person, should you tell them the world is about to end, they would say: Is there really such good news?

Anyway, the trap was set, and Bai Wu patiently waited for Lin Rui’s arrival, believing that Lin Rui would definitely see it.

...

The second thing was that Bai Wu, in this process, learned a lot about the Pre-Tower Era.

Technology, life, entertainment, commerce. He memorized all aspects of information to expand his memory.

However, Bai Wu didn’t get any useful information; the twist existed, but at this time, its concentration was so low it was practically nonexistent.

This was an extremely normal era.

A tremendous calamity lurked within this normalcy, yet people were still blind to its shadows and contours.

Just as the officials said, our city is very safe.

But it’s not that absolutely no useful intelligence was found; children were missing all over the world.

The incident that occurred to Zhang Xian was one of six or seven similar cases.

If you count the World Beyond the Mist, the number of missing children could indeed match the number of kids at the farm.

Of course, not all the children on the farm were necessarily abducted.

Indeed, Bai Wu also learned of many strange events, but at the end of these events, there was always a "closer look at science" kind of reason that was laughably trivial.

Probably, if he had not investigated Zhang Xian’s case, he would have thought that Zhang Xian really had gone insane, and that it would be a waste of time.

So in these strange events, how many were truly bizarre is unknown.

Bai Wu had no time for a slow exploration. freēwebnovel.com

Because on the ninth night.

A familiar voice came from outside the door:

"You are looking for me."

The powerful aura instantly woke up Bai Wu, who was resting with his eyes closed.

Bai Wu’s heart raced, had Lin Rui not entered a closed loop in the real world, he might not have been so thrilled.

Though he knew that the composition of this world differed from the real world, the fact that Bai Wu could see Lin Rui again, meet the most powerful Lin Rui, still excited him.

Bai Wu was in a building that had not yet been fully decorated.

He knew that if Lin Rui arrived, he would definitely be able to find him.

Because at that time, although the distortion had already begun, it was not yet enough to affect the world, and his own aura was equally strong; as long as Lin Rui was in Food City, he would inevitably feel it.

"Yes, I’m looking for you," he said.

Bai Wu stood up and was about to open the door when the First Generation Masked Strange Person appeared behind him.

[The vast difference between you has finally disappeared, and now you can see some of his information, but it’s meaningless. Even if you knew that he possessed the power of the Time-Space laws, for you, it’s all a bit too late, isn’t it?

However, I can tell you that he possesses the power to traverse time-spaces and enter alternate dimensions.]

It was indeed the First Generation Masked Strange Person.

Bai Wu still remembered how the Masked Strange Person, with a snap of his fingers, took Jiang Yimi and rendered the guards of the Ninth Psychiatric Hospital unable to move.

The difference between the two generations of Lin Rui was substantial. Although the later Lin Rui was also very strong, compared with the Lin Rui who had mastered the complete Time-Space Power, he was not at all on the same level.

In the summer night of July, with the moon bright and stars sparse, the moonlight made the room, which smelt of cement and formaldehyde, less dark.

In the night, the Masked Strange Person regarded Bai Wu, while Bai Wu took out his mask, ready to put it on.

But the First Generation said,

"Hold on a moment. Before you answer how you got your mask, why you were looking for me, I have a question."

Bai Wu was puzzled.

The First Generation stroked his chin and suddenly started to laugh in a carefree manner:

"It seems I failed later on?"

What a leap in thinking?

Bai Wu had never actually been in contact with the First Generation, but in Jiang Yimi’s diary, the First Generation had given Bai Wu a familiar feeling.

And the strength the First Generation displayed was not only in terms of power, his analytical abilities and disposition were also very strong,

far stronger than Lin Rui who was full of youthful spirit.

So quickly, Bai Wu came back to his senses and realized he should not regard him as Lin Rui.

This was a "K", someone Bai Yuan mentioned could sit on an equal footing with him.

A lone force contending against the world’s distortion.

"Is it strange how I figured it out? Hahahaha..." The First Generation’s laughter was hearty.

Bai Wu nodded, not understanding why the other party could guess that he would fail in the future upon seeing him.

The First Generation didn’t leave him in suspense:

"You look too much like that guy who adheres to the philosophy ’shameful to run, but it works.’ I couldn’t help but think of him when I saw you. Although he is negative, believing there’s no point in saving this world, he has his own actions."

Shameful to run, but it works. Bai Wu understood that this referred to Bai Yuan.

In fact, Bai Wu himself was curious why, after traveling to this world, his appearance was very similar to his previous self.

So similar that Yin Shuang could recognize Bai Yuan as her father at first glance, so similar that the First Generation could tell he was Bai Yuan’s son immediately.

Clearly, this body, initially led by Wang Jue, was prepared on purpose. But all of this wasn’t important at the moment.

"You’re speaking of... Bai Yuan, right? Or should I call him Red Heart K?"

Bai Wu was actually quite hoping that Bai Yuan would appear at this moment, but just like before when he thought of Bai Yuan, Bai Yuan didn’t show up.

I wonder if it’s because he didn’t want to face Lin Rui.

The First Generation said with a laugh:

"Tsk tsk, the son of an old acquaintance doesn’t just grow up so quickly overnight, so I can only conceive that... you come from another time-space. You deliberately crossed time-spaces to give me a reminder."

This line of thought in someone else would probably be considered insane, but for the First Generation, it was very normal.

After all, this person had played the trick of traversing time-spaces numerous times.

Bai Wu said,

"My name is Bai Wu."

"Then you should address me as..."

"Stop!"

Bai Wu felt goosebumps rising; this guy was nothing like Lin Rui, yet he was precisely Lin Rui.

It made Bai Wu very uncomfortable. Lin Rui used to call him senior, and now was he supposed to call Lin Rui uncle?

The familial hierarchy was a bit messy.

"Let’s do this, you call me by my name, and I’ll call you K."

Bai Wu still wanted to differentiate between The First Generation and Lin Rui.

It was somewhat self-deceptive, as if by doing this, he could convince himself... that Lin Rui’s life had not fallen into an endless loop.

The saddest part was that at this moment, Lin Rui didn’t even know he was called Lin Rui...

"That works, Little Bai..."

"It’s Bai Wu."

"Alright Bai Wu, Little Bai, let’s not talk about why you’re looking for me. Tell me, who exactly has Bai caught the eye of? Hahaha... What kind of woman would this chap be into?"

Precisely stepping on a landmine.

Bai Wu had no memory of his mother.

"I don’t know. Since I have memories, I have been with him, so you’re saying Bai Yuan has already escaped?"

"You don’t know? You’ve never asked?" The First Generation looked at Bai Wu with a strange expression in his eyes.

If he could get information about his mother from The First Generation, Bai Wu would want to know, but it seemed... The First Generation didn’t know these things.

It was very likely that in 2094, Bai Yuan had already gone to the world where his previous life existed.

"I’ve never asked. You can go ask that guy yourself, but he’s probably escaped far away by now."

"Escaped, huh... Well, he indeed escaped. Ha, that guy is too pessimistic," The First Generation said with a slight tinge of emotion.

Bai Wu noticed a vortex on The First Generation’s head as well, presuming that entering this door would lead to the creator of the Ark.

But he had many more things he wanted to say to The First Generation:

"Are you sure it’s pessimism and not laziness?"

"Of course not... although that’s part of it, he did what he had to do. Even though I think, together with him, we might have accomplished more."

The First Generation sat cross-legged, seemingly unconcerned with the dust on the ground, and Bai Wu also sat down cross-legged.

"I see, you don’t know about Bai’s wife... Okay, you’re a child without a mother, eh."

"Why do I feel like you’re insulting me?"

"Hahahaha, how could I be insulting you? Ah, you really do resemble Bai a lot, but Bai is still a bit more charming. It seems he most likely married an ordinary woman."

"Yes, he described her as having produced a defective son, marrying a common woman. And if you’re not good at small talk, you might want to say something substantial," Bai Wu said with a full head of frustration.

Is this one of the mightiest Ks? Why does he seem a bit crazy?

"Defective? You are not defective..."

The First Generation hesitated, holding back some words, then laughed it off:

"Alright, let’s not talk about you anymore. Tell me, how did I die in the end? How did you find me?"

"You didn’t die. You just... got trapped somewhere and couldn’t get out."

"This cryptic style is quite similar to Bai’s. If I’m dead, just say I’m dead, no need to beat around the bush. But if you think spoilers are shameful, that’s okay too," the Masked Strange Person said, seeming to be always smiling because of the mask.

"And the world? Has it become a mess?"

"Yes, a mess."

"Humanity hasn’t been wiped out, has it?"

"No, in fact, some very powerful humans have emerged."

"Like you?"

"Like me."

The Masked Strange Person seemed somewhat relieved. It was normal for the world to be a mess, but the emergence of powerful humans meant that humanity had not stopped resisting.

But he quickly remembered that this kid was not normal, and couldn’t be counted as a regular human, so he asked again:

"Is there anyone stronger than you? Someone healthier, who can cry and make a fuss."

"You... these awful adjectives, am I abnormal or unhealthy?"

"Old Bai is a madman, albeit a pessimistic one. Born of a madman, he naturally is one too. Tell me about someone normal."

"Aren’t you worried about your own fate? Why care about this?"

"If I fall, someone has to pick up the baton, right?" the Masked Strange Person replied without hesitation.

Bai Wu felt some admiration inside:

"There is someone, but though he’s normal, he’s not healthy. He’s not very tall, but he’s stronger than me."

"Being short doesn’t matter. Can he be shorter than one meter sixty?"

A twitch appeared at the corner of Bai Wu’s eye. Was this person’s conversational skill level in the negatives? Luckily the captain wasn’t around.

The First Generation was clearly happy. Merely with a glance, he recognized Bai Wu, and just because it was Bai Wu, he deduced that the latter came from the future. Such a person had very delicate thoughts.

Perhaps due to often being with Bai Yuan, he barely considered his words when he spoke.

Powerful in strength, flawless in character, and sharp in mind.

In Bai Wu’s view, if opponents of K’s level were like this... then the Q they had encountered earlier might just be a group of Numeric Level players.

But, thankfully, such a person was not an adversary but a hero set to save the world.

It was not just luck; it was not just misfortune.

"You sought me out to tell me something?" The First Generation began to talk about serious matters.

Bai Wu also grew serious:

"I have a lot to talk to you about, but we can start with the serious stuff."

"Go on, what is it?"

"Do you know about the Ark?"

The Masked Strange Person’s eyes showed shock and suspicion:

"I’m not surprised you know about the Ark, given you’re from the future, but why do you ask this?"

"I want to know... where the creator of the Ark is now."

The creator of the Ark, as well as the owner of this Memory Museum, could only truly unravel the mysteries of the Memory Museum by finding this person, and only by finding this person... could one truly understand some things beneficial to oneself.

But the Masked Strange Person reacted strangely:

"How far from the future do you come?"

"Roughly seven hundred years later."

"Such a distant time... and you don’t know the creator of the Ark? How could you not know?"

"I... should I know?"

Bai Wu suddenly felt uneasy.

"Of course, the Ark has two creators. It’s normal for you not to know one of them, but you shouldn’t be unaware of the other."

Bai Wu seemed to guess something, and at this moment, the Masked Strange Person said something that Bai Wu found hard to accept:

"We’re up against an extraordinarily powerful enemy. The Ark was created by Old Bai and another person."

Bai Wu’s body shuddered, and the Masked Strange Person, seeing Bai Wu’s reaction, understood probably.

"He really knows how to keep secrets, doesn’t he? He didn’t tell you?"

Bai Wu shook his head somewhat dazedly.

"Old Bai believed that humanity’s defeat was certain. Instead of preserving humans, he preferred to preserve human memory and civilization."

"That’s why we have the Ark project, though the Ark is not yet finished... but he has already contributed his strength. As for the rest, he can’t be bothered with it anymore. According to him, no matter how hard we try, we’re bound to lose. Better to lie down and accept it sooner."

The Masked Strange Person spoke with a tone that was half sigh, half laughter: freewebnoveℓ.com

"So... he indeed ran away, but I can’t blame him."

(There will be more during the day.)