Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 498: Chapter 115: The Secret of the Puzzle Pieces

Baichuan City’s refuge shelter.

Thanks to the efforts of everyone, the shelter’s urban area had expanded to nearly one-sixth of Baichuan City.

As for the suburban area, with the help of the Clown, it was convenient to collect the fragments of the Doomsday Puzzle, and almost all of the suburbs of Baichuan City had been purified.

The reason for purifying the suburbs was to make the twisted rules there ineffective, so that it would be possible to cultivate crops.

After discussion, considering the long-term food supply, everyone agreed that it was both feasible and necessary to do so.

So, Yan Jiu and Jiang Yimi, one was in charge of the suburban area, and the other of the urban area.

Although the battle at the shelter had spread fear throughout Baichuan City, it also affected many Guardians in those regions.

Which made the expansion of the shelter go extremely smoothly thereafter.

In the suburban area, members of the Clown’s Circus were incredibly powerful, stopping at nothing.

In the urban area, Nie Chongshan, Liu Mu, Gu Hailin, and the original forces of Shudu Prison also made rapid progress, frenziedly expanding their realm of influence.

Since Evil Fallen would become Guardians of their respective areas once bound to a Doomsday Puzzle fragment, those fragments were entrusted to the two humans.

The main building of Baichuan Campus, which was the principal’s office, had now become a meeting room.

When Bai Wu appeared, Yan Jiu’s suspended heart finally settled.

Because in the past few days, Xie Xingzhi’s strange looks had worried Yan Jiu, concerned that something might have happened to Bai Wu.

Now in the conference room, with Bai Wu’s appearance, Yan Jiu finally felt at ease.

In a place like the conference room, Yan Jiu behaved very sedately, not staring at Bai Wu all the time.

Merely bowing her head, twirling her index fingers together, and occasionally blushing.

Bai Wu also noticed that Yan Jiu’s Innate Force had actually surpassed the third tier.

There were many people in the meeting room, nearly all the leaders of the refuge shelter were present. And there were also some new faces.

Cain’s two containers and his main body stood behind Bai Wu.

Surveying the gathered officials in the shelter, Cain was secretly astonished.

He had always known that Bai Wu had been developing the shelter’s forces, but he had not expected... these forces to be so immense.

They were indeed capable of competing with any faction outside the tower.

Liu Chengzi made a rare appearance at the shelter.

Bai Wu figured she must have clung to Yan Jiu when Yan Jiu was returning to High Tower to transfer supplies and persuaded him to bring her along.

However, the shelter was currently safe, and Bai Wu wasn’t concerned.

What captured Bai Wu’s attention was the person by Liu Chengzi’s side, who had features resembling Lin Wurou, a nose and mouth similar to Yan Zizai, slightly captain-like cheekbones, a height of 1.9 meters, overall appearing somewhat slender - the very definition of a Stitched Monster. Naturally, this person couldn’t escape Bai Wu’s eyes - Qu Li.

Bai Wu could guess in an instant why Qu Li came here and why she chose such an appearance.

"So you two sisters have already recognized each other."

"Ah... you can tell that?" Liu Chengzi looked at Bai Wu in surprise.

In that moment, Qu Li also reverted to her original appearance.

Liu Chengzi panicked:

"Don’t change back, Lizhi! Let me touch you a little longer."

Seeing Liu Chengzi’s previously silly affection, Bai Wu thought of a meme from a past life—

If you found out your best bro turned into a woman one day...

Now, Liu Chengzi was just like that towards Lizhi.

Not long ago when Lizhi arrived at the shelter and the sisters recognized each other, the two girls hugged each other and cried for a very long time.

And after the great emotion finally subsided, Liu Chengzi learned of Lizhi’s ability and said to Qu Li with blushing cheeks:

"Lizhi, have I ever asked you for anything in my life?"

Time, like a sharpening stone, grinds people of all shapes and forms, leaving them in various hues and colors.

In the end, Lizhi fulfilled her colorfully imaginative sister’s request, transforming into a perfect character from Liu Chengzi’s imagination.

So, there was now this preposterous scene.

However, the appearance of Lizhi and Chengzi reminded Bai Wu of something.

These two people might just be able to secure the alliance of a very powerful teammate.

Aside from Lizhi, Xu Wei was also a new face. He had been very happy in the asylum.

His schizophrenia had improved a lot.

Because he finally became convinced that there were living people in the world, Xu Wei’s spirits had lifted considerably.

Xu Wei was always a... very important character.

Bai Wu didn’t know what the monster in the High Tower was looking for when seeking Xu Wei and The Pursuer, or what for.

In the corner was another new face.

Evil Fallen Mirror.

The day when Nie Chongshan watched Evil Fallen Mirror leave in desolation, he actually had the thought of recruiting him.

After Bai Wu left to sail the seas, Nie did just that.

Evil Fallen Mirror was different from Xu Wei; Xu Wei became popular after he arrived here,

But because of Evil Fallen Mirror’s unique constitution, everyone naturally disliked him.

Only Nie Chongshan and Liu Mu didn’t really mind him.

To Bai Wu, this was an unexpected gain, as Evil Fallen Mirror was also extremely suitable to join the Tower defense lineup.

His strength had actually been very troublesome during the last battle in the asylum. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

One might say he had Nie Chongshan completely suppressed.

Bai Wu exchanged some perfunctory greetings with the new and old faces, before getting down to business.

He started to talk about the purpose of this visit to the asylum and also about the changes outside.

"These days, with everyone’s hard work, the asylum has made preparations to accept humans."

"But unless absolutely necessary, it’s best not to take in any humans, because as of now, the High Tower is still the best place for humans."

"Previously, the people in the High Tower helped us defend the asylum; now it’s our turn to defend the High Tower."

"I will contact Zero shortly... he will prepare the means to cross the sea at the right location."

"Next, the list of personnel who will be accompanying us."

The initial lineup for defending the Tower that Bai Wu had chosen was himself, the captain, Cain, Nie Chongshan, and Liu Mu. He quickly announced these names.

But now Bai Wu decided to add a few more people.

"Lizhi, Chengzi, you two come along as well," he said.

Bai Wu looked towards Qu Li and Liu Chengzi.

Yan Jiu, Lizhi, and Liu Chengzi were all taken aback. It was understandable for Liu Mu and Nie Chongshan to go,

But Qu Li and Liu Chengzi were truly a drag.

Qu Li thought Bai Wu recognized her ability, but then she wondered why he would take Liu Chengzi as well?

Suddenly, she thought of something and looked at Bai Wu for confirmation.

Bai Wu nodded and said,

"According to the intelligence from the captain, the last of you three sisters had been duped by Jing Liu."

"It occurred to me that you might want to see each other, and the reason I’m taking you with me is that Shen Shuyue has a rather important mission coming up..."

"I sure can convince her by myself, but after this, you won’t be able to see each other for a long time. So I don’t want you to miss this chance."

The importance of Shen Shuyue goes without saying.

Without using Origin Level power, Shen Shuyue could be said to have an immortal body.

Shen Shuyue had also fought Jing Si once.

But in that battle, Jing Si was more venting than anything, and the Inverted Well Domain did not unleash its true power.

Yet Jing Si still managed to push Shen Shuyue to her limits with his terrifying strength,

But this just so happened to demonstrate her power.

Now that Jing Liu has gone missing, it’s time to turn Shen Shuyue, to make him understand Jing Liu’s true intentions.

As for the safety and whereabouts of Qu Li and Liu Chengzi, Bai Wu had made other arrangements.

Confronted with Qu Li’s and Liu Chengzi’s grateful gazes, Bai Wu simply nodded:

"Then there’s Qian Yixin, and Yuan Ye. Both of you, come with us to the world beyond the fog."

Among the four leaders of the prison force, Colt and Yuan Ye were the most skilled in combat.

However, compared to people like Nie Chongshan, they were still a level weaker.

Qian Yixin’s strength was even weaker.

"Why me and him? Even if you have to bring some bench players, you should bring Colt," Yuan Ye didn’t give Qian Yixin any face.

Qian Yixin, feeling mocked, also couldn’t understand why Bai Wu would want to bring him along. His strength was indeed the weakest among these people. When it came to support, it was even more unnecessary.

Bai Wu spoke:

"Yuan Ye, I’m bringing you because your child has gone missing. But I believe, if there is a chance to find your child, if there are leads on your child, you would not hesitate to leave the refuge, right?"

Yuan Ye was shaken, staring at Bai Wu in astonishment.

This was indeed not a secret, but Bai Wu mentioning it, did it mean that Bai Wu had found his child?

Bai Wu met Yuan Ye’s expectant eyes and shook his head, saying:

"Unfortunately, I have not found your child."

"All this is just my intuition; the sudden disappearance of your child strikes me as strange."

"Originally, I encountered a mother on the cruise ship who had lost her child, so I thought, maybe... during the plan to infiltrate the farm, you could do something different."

Yuan Ye didn’t understand what this different thing was; she simply asked:

"Can you find my child? How confident are you that my child is on the farm?"

"As I said, all this is speculation. But if what happened to him is as I suspect... at the very least, you’ll be able to find clues about him on the farm."

"Fine! I agree," Yuan Ye readily accepted.

Although it was only Bai Wu’s guess, indicating only a possibility, even if there was a one in ten thousand chance, Yuan Ye would not give up on searching for her child.

Bai Wu nodded and then turned to Qian Yixin:

"As for you, Qian... you’re not just a substitute—your abilities are very special. I want to introduce you to someone; you might find a kindred spirit. You’ll be quite interested in meeting him."

"Who? I don’t have a son lost out there..."

"The largest capitalist outside the fog."

"Deal." Qian Yixin changed his expression at lightning speed. While Yuan Ye searches for her son outside the fog, I, Qian, am searching for a father; it makes sense.

Bai Wu didn’t know how much power the term associated with Qian Yixin could unleash.

He could only hope... that someone was wealthy enough.

"Finally, there’s you, the new arrival," Bai Wu pointed at Mirror Evil Fallen.

"You are very strong, you along with Liu Mu and Nie Chongshan together, although everyone has a poor impression of you, I am looking forward to your performance."

For Mirror Evil Fallen, an opportunity to be recognized by everyone was not to be missed; it nodded furiously.

Thus, the new squad’s lineup was fully assigned, with two sets of combat members.

Bai Wu, Wu Jiu, Cain, the strongest trio among humans.

Nie Chongshan, Mirror Evil Fallen, Liu Mu, the strongest lineup of the refuge’s Evil Fallen.

Then there were the special members: Liu Chengzi, Qu Li, Qian Yixin, Yuan Ye.

A team of ten, whether they could hold the High Tower in the world outside filled with Evil Fallen, Bai Wu had no certainty.

He only knew that he might have survived a certain calamity, but the calamity of this world had just begun.

To avoid that future, they had to win the most difficult battle.

...

...

The content of the meeting ended quickly.

Yan Jiu and Jiang Yimi found Bai Wu, who decided to tell Jiang Yimi everything about Lin Rui’s past life and the causes and effects of his current one.

The darkest time in Jiang Yimi’s life was when The First Generation appeared and gave her hope.

Perhaps The First Generation would never return; no one knew what he did or where he went after passing his powers to Lin Rui.

The First Generation should be dead.

Lin Rui and The First Generation somehow formed a causal loop.

Bai Wu wasn’t sure he could break this cycle, but at the very least, he ought to make Jiang Yimi understand the kind of hero the person she cared for was.

He slowly narrated all sorts of deeds of The First Generation, even captivating Yan Jiu as he listened.

When finally learning about the destiny between The First Generation and Lin Rui, Jiang Yimi’s head rested on Yan Jiu’s shoulder while she cried loudly.

After a long while, Jiang Yimi’s emotions finally calmed down:

"Bai Wu, thank you. At least you avenged him."

Bai Wu shook his head and said:

"Revenge wasn’t important to him; what mattered most was completing his unfinished business. By telling you these things, I didn’t mean to upset you, but to show you that some people never truly die."

"Even in death, they leave behind their will."

In the recent period, Bai Wu had truly felt these wills.

Zhou Zeshui, The First Generation, Tao Xingzhi—these great figures never truly died in his heart.

"Right, Jiu and I came to tell you about the recent Doomsday Puzzle pieces."

The two girls took out all the Doomsday Puzzle pieces they had obtained from the recent territorial expansions.

The prior pieces of eyes, ears, mouth, and nose had all been assembled, but the face that they constituted was not one Bai Wu recognized.

It was like one of those faces with just strokes, devoid of any distinguishing features.

Seasons and scenery, birds and beasts, eyes and ears, nose and mouth, and many similar pieces, various animals, various elements, various landscapes.

Many areas of Baichuan City had been purified, and the shelter had collected quite a few pieces during the time Bai Wu was outside the fog.

Previously, Bai Wu thought the Doomsday Puzzle pieces were very mysterious; eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, birds and beasts—these things seemed completely unconnected.

But as more pieces accumulated, he began to discern a pattern.

He tried placing all these pieces on a flat surface.

Bai Wu did not bring out the special pieces like Full Moon, Manjushage, Sacrifice, or Jade Chariot.

He had a feeling that, although the special pieces were much more powerful than these four-grid pieces, the answer to the puzzle—the essence—still lay within these four-grid pieces.

"The abilities of these pieces... are nearly identical, earning the favor of Evil Fallen, turning Evil Fallen back into humans, as well as lifting the distortion of regions and breaking regional boundaries."

"And the breaking of regional boundaries has a certain commonality with what happens after the Wells are opened."

Bai Wu murmured to himself while stroking his chin, as Yan Jiu and Jiang Yimi watched him without daring to speak.

"I’ve always been curious, what exactly is this thing? Even when Jing Si used his lethal move, I died... but these pieces remained."

"I’ve always believed that Origin Level powers were sacred, the most powerful force that only creatures like Jing Si and the ones in High Tower could wield..."

"But upon careful consideration, purifying distortions, lifting rules, aren’t these Origin Level powers? Aren’t these the innate powers of the puzzle pieces?"

"Even the aspect of turning Evil Fallen back into humans... To this day, I have not seen anyone capable of doing this..."

"So, I previously thought that Full Moon, Manjushage, Sacrifice, Jade Chariot, these pieces were very powerful, stronger than the regional pieces like seasons and scenery, birds and beasts, eyes and ears, nose and mouth..."

"But in fact, those special pieces are Rule Level, while these regional pieces, they’re at the Origin Level."

Bai Wu fiddled with these pieces. Although there were many, these pieces only came from Baichuan City.

For the complete puzzle, with many other regions and cities to account for, these pieces still weren’t sufficient to make sense of the whole picture.

But staring at these puzzle pieces for a long while and guided by intuition, Bai Wu had a bold guess:

"A scroll?"

"What?" asked Jiang Yimi, unable to hold back.

Bai Wu said:

"This could be a scroll... depicting some extremely important place!"