Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 453: Chapter 70: The Strength of Dong Nianyu

(The progress for the extra update owed to the Silver Alliance is 67/100.)

Dong Nianyu?

Bai Wu’s reaction finally wasn’t so indifferent.

However, Xi Yunzi didn’t see the problem here, since in his mind, Bai Wu couldn’t possibly know Dong Nianyu.

"She’s considered our boss, both beautiful and strong."

"Club K?"

"Yes."

Bai Wu had a bad feeling and said,

"What does she look like?"

"Wait a moment, I’ll draw her for you. I know what she looks like because I’ve seen her on the farm, but I don’t know where she is. You mustn’t suspect me. By the way, are you really not Light Arrow Knight? I was ready to take Light Arrow Knight as my faith. Could you introduce me to him?"

"So you’ve met the Taoist Ancestor and Buddha you believe in?" Bai Wu teased.

"I’ve never seen them. Because they don’t have fixed forms, but there are places where you can worship them."

Bai Wu quietly noticed the key elements.

The strength of this person comes from the number of believers, but first, he must also believe in what the believers believe in...

And the judgment of his entry must make his faith process quite special.

The other party’s ability is such that the more believers, the stronger the power. But the believers aren’t just lip service.

In this world, many people believe in various gods, but out of ten believers, nine—practice a utilitarian worship.

If they lose a bet or have an accident, they’ll immediately curse, "What a useless god, feudal superstition."

In the end, it’s because gods don’t exist.

But Light Arrow Knight is different.

The Light Arrow Knight truly exists, and now the entire world has developed a faith in this savior because of Light Arrow Knight’s three interventions.

And this is different from religion; how many people in the world are religious? But there are truly many people in the world who believe in Light Arrow Knight.

Among them, there’s no lack of fanatics.

Bai Wu suddenly realized why Xi Yunzi appeared.

He wanted to "believe" in Light Arrow Knight, but clearly, his faith, as judged by his entry, would require much more than an ordinary person’s faith.

Having understood this layer, Bai Wu understood why Xi Yunzi had come to follow Light Arrow Knight.

He might not be feigning allegiance but sincerely offering it. But once the faith was complete, it was hard to say.

However, Bai Wu wasn’t in a rush; Xi Yunzi still had his uses. Bai Wu was open to this kind of espionage game.

At the same time, he also pondered some other issues.

"Dong Nianyu... Dong Yugan, could it be Xiaoyugan’s split body?"

"The First Generation said he and Xiaoyugan were bound by karma, and thus their names could not be mentioned; Dong Yugan was a nickname given when Xiaoyugan was fighting a cat over food."

"And Xiaoyugan first appeared in the forbidden territory, and it was a split body that appeared on the periphery... Perhaps there’s more than one split body."

Even though Xi Yunzi hadn’t finished drawing Club K yet, Bai Wu already had an idea.

But to appear ignorant about Club K, Bai Wu patiently waited for the other party to finish the drawing.

"Why is she wearing a hospital gown?"

"I don’t know... Xiaoyu always wore it like that, slightly loose hospital clothes."

It definitely was Xiaoyugan, but her temperament was completely different.

Different experiences create different characters.

This Dong Nianyu’s face had an air of world-weariness and indifference.

Although Xiaoyugan was abandoned by Bai Yuan and K later left Xiaoyugan as well, the brief but deeply ingrained experiences allowed Xiaoyugan to retain her innocence.

It was a vast difference.

Even a single glance was enough for Bai Wu to know that there was a significant gap between the two Split Bodies.

"Could it also be related to the emotions during the splitting from the original body?" he speculated.

All of this was conjecture; Bai Wu couldn’t be certain. He pretended to ask,

"Club K seems quite special in your description?"

"Xiaoyu is different from us. We are the discarded, while Xiaoyu—well, she’s lived much longer."

Bai Wu understood:

"So you’re not from the same generation as her?"

"That’s right. In terms of seniority, she could be considered one of the very first batch—and that batch were all legends, heh heh, such a pity."

Xi Yunzi was smiling genially, and not a falsehood.

Those Ks who had once stepped off the chessboard to become players themselves, although they ultimately failed, still left him awestruck and deserving of respect.

After all, he knew he couldn’t accomplish that; Xi Yunzi was well aware that he was just an ordinary chess piece.

He couldn’t change much but at the very least, he tried to ensure he wouldn’t become utterly useless.

Bai Wu was now certain.

He felt somewhat uneasy. If the personalities of the two Xiaoyugans were so different, then what was the real Xiaoyugan like?

Was the Xiaoyugan he knew special among the many Split Bodies?

Representing Club K, is Dong Nianyu now human or Evil Fallen?

Suddenly, he feared that the real Xiaoyugan might be a very unpleasant existence.

"How about it? Is the information I provided satisfactory? By the way, I see that your bones..."

"I have faith, but not in your religion."

"Is that so? That might not be the case; my services are quite extensive. Tell me what you believe, and maybe I..."

Xi Yunzi was not one to pass up any chance to gain a believer.

"I praise the Fool," said Bai Wu.

"What the heck? Praise the Fool?" Xi Yunzi didn’t quite understand.

Bai Wu thought to himself that Xi Yunzi’s scope of knowledge wasn’t that broad after all:

"Alright then, I’ll change it. We contain, we secure, we protect."

"What’s that now?"

"And this doesn’t ring a bell either? How about ’Flesh is frail, Mechanical Ascension’?"

Xi Yunzi was utterly bewildered.

Bai Wu thought it impossible; Xi Yunzi knew only of the old gods but was clueless about the new gods of the new era. Bai Wu shook his head:

"Your information is of some value, but right now, I can’t let you meet my boss."

Xi Yunzi genuinely did not understand what Bai Wu believed in... He had to give up:

"What must I do to meet your boss?"

"Provide me with information about Club K. If we manage to successfully remove Club K, I can grant you an audience with my boss."

"It’s a deal."

"Also, I need you to go undercover," Bai Wu said with a smile.

Knowing that the other party is an infiltrator gave a different dimension to instructing them to go back and be an infiltrator for their own side.

It was also a test. Xi Yunzi squinted his eyes and said,

"What if they also want me to be an infiltrator? After all, I was the one who killed the Queen of Spades; they might exploit that fact and have me infiltrate for them. It would be very difficult for me then, wouldn’t it?"

Xi Yunzi had no idea how many layers of a spy buff he was carrying on himself.

"That would be interesting, wouldn’t it? I can’t fully trust you yet, but I do sense some sincerity. All you need to do is provide information on Club K, specifically where he plans to strike. The more detailed the information, the better."

Bai Wu patted Xi Yunzi’s shoulder and said,

"In the future, we will meet here. If you have more information, come to this place. We will know your movements."

Xi Yunzi knew the other party was using him, and also knew that they were aware he saw through their manipulation.

But such is the way of the Red Heart faction—fond of games, fond of intrigue.

"I treat the Light Arrow Knight as my faith; to meet him, I will definitely complete the mission," he said.

Bai Wu nodded and quickly left the small town on Fuyue New Island.

Only after Bai Wu had completely left did Xi Yunzi slowly let out a sigh of relief:

"I really hope you are the Light Arrow Knight. If you are not, then dealing with the real one could be quite troublesome..."

Bai Wu was very cautious of Club K, believing them to have considerable abilities.

Similarly, Xi Yunzi also felt the formidable strength of Bai Wu.

"If we were to fight, I’m afraid the several gods I can summon wouldn’t be a match for you, right? Hahahaha... Humans are indeed too lacking in faith."

Xi Yunzi stood up and began planning his next steps.

...

...

Over the subsequent days, Bai Wu and Zero left to investigate the various Ks.

Having completed Mechanical Descending God, Zero seldom paid attention to the human world unless a K appeared, only then turning his focus outside the mists.

Mechanical City itself had many minor matters that also required Zero’s attention.

Moreover, Zero had recently received news that Black Gold Island and Huangquan Island seemed to have become active again.

So after the event of Mechanical Descending God, Zero hadn’t paid much mind to affairs outside the mist, only admonishing Bai Wu to contact him through an Angel Envoy in case of any special circumstances.

He also shared his permissions with Bai Wu.

Meanwhile, Bai Wu was focused on dealing with the K, even though the Angel Envoy could obtain information from various sources, there was still a limit to what he could handle.

Therefore, Bai Wu had to entrust many matters to Zhao and Tang Jing, as he couldn’t take care of everything himself.

Among the several Ks, one was an artist and another a businessman. Dong Nianyu’s identity remained unclear,

and perhaps didn’t even exist in the world outside the mist.

Bai Wu began a widespread search for Club K, but unfortunately, Club K seemed to have evaporated from the world of men.

He wasn’t in a hurry, though, because he knew that soon enough, Club K would send a report.

While Bai Wu and Zero were busy with their respective tasks—the world was slowly changing.

The tale of Zero’s Mechanical Descending God spoke of twisted affairs, clearly narrating all that had happened seven hundred years ago, the dangers within the mist, and the potential consequences humanity might face.

Now everyone in the world knew one thing: emotions could lead one to transform into Evil Fallen under certain conditions.

The actions of Zero and Bai Wu were undoubtedly righteous.

They allowed people to confront their fears and unite against the Power of Twist.

Yet reality is often magical.

In the days when Zero and Bai Wu were diligently searching for the Ks—the world began to "strange" itself.

Their initial intentions—were twisted by the world’s higher-ups.

The higher-ups of various countries, though not daring to confront or search for Zero, did not diminish their desire for power and strength.

Following numerous forbidden secret experiments, backed by these higher-ups, many human biologists confirmed Zero’s words that emotions could turn people into monsters.

Some scientists began to focus on this revelation, and in private, countries were arrogantly... attempting to harness this Power of Twist that could turn people into monsters.

As if the twist was not a disease of the world, but a gift to humanity.

Simultaneously, countries began manufacturing emotion-measuring devices, even more sophisticated than the emotion wristbands of the High Tower Investigation Corps.

Not only could they measure the emotions of an individual, but they could also measure the emotional sum of an area.

Each city and county were required to regularly report the average emotional values of their residents.

If the average negative emotions in a populace exceeded a certain threshold, the local officials would receive corresponding punishments.

All around the world, publications started restricting content that could easily provoke sadness, fear, or anger.

Even some very dark youth literature was put on the banned books list.

Television and movies, among other things, gradually became geared toward a younger audience, starting to focus on children.

In the world of anime, whenever an author created a highly popular character, there would be a dedicated organization legislating to protect the life of that virtual character.

If that character’s death caused a short-term increase in the emotional measurement value of the local residents, then the manga artist would be arrested for spreading negative emotions.

Many ugly and frightening actors lost their jobs because their appearance would scare children on screen.

Internet forum trolls who loved to incite arguments were all listed under a real-name system as negative emotion creators.

And a person’s emotional display began to be linked with their personal credit history.

Companies would not hire people with significant emotional fluctuations, and some industries with greater pressure began arranging for psychological therapy for their employees.

But in fact... the effect of this psychological therapy was nearly nonexistent.

On one hand, they were unwilling to reduce the workload of employees, and on the other hand, they would warn employees—if your negative emotions are too strong, you could be arrested.

In just a few weeks’ time, the world underwent a massive change.

This was the magic stemming from high-level human policies.

But an even greater fear was still unfolding, continuously happening in the following time, as the world became even more preposterous.

It seemed as if everyone was suppressing something within themselves. Inside everyone’s heart, there seemed to develop a strange self-imposed limit—

Do not cry, do not rage, do not fear.

As if something terrible would happen once they did.

But once sadness, anger, and fear were gone, their opposing emotions vanished as well.

People resisted becoming Evil Fallen, yet they resisted their own true nature. It was as if their settings had been altered, and they were oblivious to this absurdity.

A child finally couldn’t help but cry at school, but the price was isolation by the other children, who looked at him as if he were a monster. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

After school, some even called the child a monster. The child felt deeply wronged, but everyone around was frightening him—

"Don’t cry! Don’t cry!"

The child ran back home crying, and his parents were also upset, but they had to smile and couldn’t stand up for their child.

Because anger and sadness would elevate emotional levels, and this would lead to something very terrible. What this terrible thing was exactly, they didn’t know.

A husband came home drunk and beat his wife.

The wife covered her mouth, not daring to speak. She held back her tears, not allowing them to fall, frightened that doing so would... raise the emotional monitoring level of the neighborhood because of her. She also feared that her sadness would bring about some sort of misfortune.

But what exactly... she didn’t know. She forced herself to appear happy, yet it looked incredibly sick.

At the funeral, everyone laughed and joked, yet clenched their fists. Words like grief and sadness had become taboo.

In the first few days, everyone thought the world had become more friendly. But soon they felt a kind of terror.

This terror was called the deprivation of negative emotions.

Even if you secretly cried, secretly felt down or angry, nothing would actually happen, yet everyone seemed to have some sort of setting planted within them.

People all over the world put on masks; they cursed while laughing, suffered while smiling, and raged while grinning.

A tremendous distortion was brewing, ready to burst at any moment.

At an art exhibition, an artist was painting such a scene—

Twisted flames burning humanity, as people laughed and accused each other, with no one attempting to put out the fire.

The artist clutched a pocket watch engraved with the Club K on his chest.

And behind him, a businessman admired the painting:

"Xiaoyu’s spiritual power is truly frightening—such a magical world formed so naturally, undetectably. It won’t be long before we experience an outbreak of Evil Fallen Transformation. Human emotions have always been like this, easier let out than kept in. Once bottled up, they only become more distorted."

The artist, too, laughed and said:

"After all, her entry is legendary. More and more people will be affected by her power."

"There simply doesn’t exist a person who is emotionally healthy without negative feelings. Everyone will be influenced by Xiaoyu’s power."