Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 533: Chapter 150: The Choice of Two Generations

Choices.

As the memories surged, all those remarks mentioned by Prayle’s Eye became clear.

Bai Wu remembered, he came to the second layer of the Well World because he made a choice.

Of course, he remembered that the eye reminded him—the way to go deeper was to make choices involving the soul.

So vaguely, he had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next.

"Don’t worry about the outside, we can definitely escape. It’s especially hard to kill you now, especially in Eternal Bank, where they wouldn’t dare to act rashly."

Zero’s view was broad, already covering the entire Eternal Bank.

The movement of all personnel, the changes in the layout outside, even how many hostages were still trapped in Eternal Bank, were all within Zero’s sight.

Every move was under his watchful eye.

"I have some status in the Pride Consortium, so even if there were no other hostages, just on my account, they wouldn’t dare fire rashly."

"Are you here to save me?"

"You don’t belong to the second layer; I’m here to take you to the third layer."

Bai Wu found that Zero’s words were quite rigorous.

This person was neither here to help him nor to hinder him.

What it meant to be sent to the third layer, Bai Wu was not sure himself.

But Zero was clearly suppressing his own anger:

"To retrieve your things, you and the Rebel Army stirred this world into chaos. Do you know how many people have died? Those rebels are utterly mad."

"Do you realize how much panic you’ve caused?"

Bai Wu said:

"It’s unavoidable, the spy satellites have too broad a view, and under your surveillance, I can barely move."

"To divert your attention, we had to create great disorder. And chaos, by its very nature, can’t be controlled."

Zero’s gaze was sharp:

"Since when did you decide to join the Rebel Army?"

Bai Wu met Zero’s piercing gaze:

"Since I realized that the good people in this world represent all the chaos and distortions in my own world."

Zero, who had been maintaining a calm demeanor all along, finally showed anger on his face:

"Bai Wu!"

Bai Wu looked up, puzzled at Zero.

"You have already reclaimed your memory; you are an outsider. Maybe in your eyes, all the beings in this world are just various parameters in the real world."

"Isn’t that the case?"

"Of course not!"

Zero took out a dagger and slashed a cut on his own hand:

"We also bleed."

"We have flesh and blood, we have feelings. We are humans who exist just as truly!"

"As an outsider, you can see us and at the same time see the projection of the real world, but in fact... for us, we too can feel a strange familiarity when looking at you."

"The Well is a container that absorbs all the negative emotions of all beings in the world. In the World of the Well, we twisted creatures created by those emotions are not false."

Zero pointed outside the window:

"Those who have died had their own families, companions, and their networks of relationships—they too had responsibilities that were their own."

"You think the real world is authentic, but is this world, then, fake?"

"Our existence has become an established fact. On the other hand, what about the world you’re in? It’s filled with distortions and has monsters of unprecedented strength."

"Under the ravages of those monsters, how long can humanity survive? Everything you do might just be giving them a false hope!"

"The Well is the source of distortion, the root of chaos, yet the world within the Well is full of order. What you can obtain in the outside world, you can get here as well."

"That world of distortion and chaos... is it truly worth your salvation?"

"Have you ever considered that this might be a choice, a world that mirrors each other, with no so-called shadow or substance? Whichever you choose becomes the substance, and the other, the shadow."

"You regard us as shadows, but I tell you... this world is the most stable, and to destroy the world you inhabit is far easier than to destroy this one."

"The humans in this world have even more abundant emotions! Compared to those twisted monsters, we’re more human-like!"

Zero’s words were heartfelt.

Bai Wu could feel that, as Zero’s projection, this "Zero" indeed had more abundant emotions.

It was evident that Zero cared a lot about himself as well.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have spoken these words. As a member of the Rebel Army, a robber who had recently robbed Eternal Bank, for a high-level executive of the Pride Consortium to say such things, it showed considerable esteem for himself.

"If you’re willing to stay, with your abilities, you’d have an unimaginable status in this city. If you’re willing to stay... all that you’ve done today can be overlooked by the Pride Consortium."

"Tomorrow’s news won’t have even the slightest report on today’s events."

"As long as you’re willing to stay."

Bai Wu was somewhat puzzled:

"I thought you were going to send me to the third layer."

"I don’t want you to die here, so if the final outcome is that you choose to resist us, then I will let you escape to the third layer."

Zero stepped closer and continued:

"The third layer is a place with high concentration and upper limits of distortion. There, the resonance with the real world will be much tighter, and you might change many causal relationships because of it."

"You might turn the world you want to protect into a complete mess. But it’s also possible... that you’ll find an opportunity."

Bai Wu felt Zero’s ambivalence.

On one hand, this person wanted him to stay, to help the Order Faction, and to spend the rest of his life in this city.

On the other hand... it seemed there were other thoughts as well.

But the desire for him to stay was clearly stronger.

"So why gamble with your destiny? Stay here, Bai Wu—this is the real world. That world in your memory... there’s no longer any need for salvation."

...

...

In Ark, within the Forbidden Zone.

Finding the master of the Memory Labyrinth, which is a memory museum composed of multiple worlds, is a very difficult task.

But just like boarding a ship, there are always a few exceptions.

The First Generation is undoubtedly one of those exceptions.

The moment he entered the Memory Museum, Xiaoyugan, far outside the many Memory Doors, had already sensed it.

Human memory is undoubtedly the most honest; all the dark, filthy past and all the desires deep within the heart are presented in their truest form within one’s memories.

Xiaoyugan does not like the memories of the adult world; as a Split Body, one who always believed she was the substance, she has the painful memories of the substance.

That’s why she always speaks in contradictions, wanting to hide what’s in her heart, yet never able to do so.

Therefore, she prefers the memories of children.

She would always appear in the memories of many children, playing alongside them.

Xiaoyugan was squatting with a little boy at this moment, drawing various patterns with a stick.

It looked just like a little girl in a patient’s gown and a little boy squatting in a corner, drawing circles. freёweɓnovel.com

Crack—when someone suddenly intruded, the stick in Xiaoyugan’s hand instantly snapped.

"Sister, what’s wrong?"

The little boy looked at Xiaoyugan, puzzled. A person who had been fine a moment ago was now suddenly crying.

Xiaoyugan’s face showed many expressions, making her appear somewhat fragmented.

But then, through a multitude of memories, she came to understand everything, and her expression was left with nothing but joy.

Joy from a long-awaited reunion.

At that instant, in countless worlds of memory, vortexes began to form.

She had no time to say goodbye to the children around her, for she always made a point of bidding farewell earnestly whenever she left.

This time she did not; in her haste, she crossed through the vortexes and finally met the visitor in the Food City from seven hundred years ago.

"Old... K? Is it really you?"

She had always been the one in the trio who cried the most, but this time, the girl with tearful eyes, biting her lip, tried her best to hold back the tears.

On the other hand, K, who was always roaring with laughter, resilient against anything, had tears streaming down his face.

"It’s me... I’m sorry, Xiaoyugan. I’m late... seven hundred years late."

Seven hundred years ago, Xiaoyugan resisted hugging K.

Because K was ugly, and because Bai always seemed to know what she was thinking, charming and considerate.

If she had to choose someone to hug, it would definitely be Bai.

But at the reunion seven hundred years later, the two who had experienced immense loneliness hugged each other tightly.

One of them had been alone in a barrier that couldn’t be broken through, enduring the agony of time.

With no information from the outside world and no one to speak to, there was only emptiness and void.

And the other was a mere passerby in the memories of countless people.

She might have had brief moments of warmth, but she always knew that she didn’t belong in anyone’s memories; after the fleeting warmth came even greater loneliness. freewёbnoνel.com

They were the heroes who escaped from the farm seven hundred years ago, each paying a heavy price to fight against the distortion.

The First Generation wondered countless times... what would the outside world be like when the seal ended, when one finally broke through the barrier?

Was Xiaoyugan still alive?

If she knew Bai had died... would she also lose her attachment to this world?

Xiaoyugan had not died.

Out of a promise, she waited alone, because someone had promised her that they would come back to see her.

Latterly, she gradually realized that those two people must have... departed from this world.

But she continued to watch alone, as if still believing that one day, those two would appear.

It wasn’t until Bai Wu appeared that she understood they could never return.

But at this very moment, K suddenly appeared.

The loneliness of seven hundred years, like light snow under the sun, kept melting away.

After hugging for a long time, crying for a long time, K finally said:

"My appearance this time... is to retrieve a segment of sealed memory."

As the High Tower Seal was broken and released from the High Tower, the world’s distortion density surged significantly, and that segment of the First Generation’s memory had already been unsealed in the Memory Museum.

Xiaoyugan had also glimpsed into that memory:

"Old K, I’m tired, can we go? Summon Bai Wu, and let’s take Bai Wu with us... Let’s leave this world together, okay?"

She was still just like she had been seven hundred years ago, a helpless child who, when encountering some problems, would instinctively want to escape.

"It seems you already know..."

"Mmhmm..."

Xiaoyugan continued saying:

"You need to build the Teleportation Stele... This requires someone who possesses the original Temporal Power."

"The Stele can open spaces of other dimensions, and the reason why the High Tower isn’t affected by distortion... is actually because... it doesn’t belong to this world at all."

"It only appears in this world under certain conditions."

"Originally... Bai Yuan used the Stele that you attempted to create, to go to another world that was likewise unaffected by distortions."

Originally, Bai Yuan and The First Generation both received enlightenment from the High Tower Creator.

And The First Generation, as a result, obtained the method to seal the Twisted Master.

That is, the Teleportation Stele.

It’s just that at that time, The First Generation was not yet qualified to be a Stele Inscriber.

To create a new High Tower and seal the Twisted Master, The First Generation’s own power was insufficient.

But in the process of trying, they nevertheless opened another passage.

Two people have entered through this passage in total.

When the Twisted Master in the High Tower broke through the High Tower Seal, Xiaoyugan got hold of this memory.

"That world... won’t have any of these issues, Old K take me with you, let’s go live in the place Bai Yuan lived, okay... Let’s not stay here anymore."

Hearing Xiaoyugan’s request, The First Generation had already reached a decision deep inside.

"Going to that world would of course be nice, I believe it has kind-hearted humans, rules suitable for living, but what about Bai Wu? What about those people who still have hope for this world?"

When Bai Wu was mentioned, the longing in Xiaoyugan’s eyes suddenly struggled.

...

Well World, the third floor of the Eternal Bank building.

Facing the choice of "Zero," Bai Wu raised his head:

"Staying in this world might be a good choice. I believe it would be more suitable for living than the world I come from, but my captain is waiting for me there, all my partners are waiting for me too."

In the real world, within the Memory Museum, The First Generation brought Xiaoyugan to the top of a tall building:

"I know you’ve been lonely all these years, but in this world, there are many things weightier than loneliness, and there are many people bearing burdens heavier than loneliness."

"Xiaoyugan, I can’t run away, just as seven hundred years ago, so it is seven hundred years later, just consider this as the fate of who I am."

"What stands before me, whether it be death that extinguishes everything or endless solitude, as long as my mission isn’t completed, I will not stop moving forward!"

"This is my choice. From the moment I decided to escape the farm, it was already destined!"

Outside the Well World, someone made their own choice, and inside the Well World, someone made their own choice as well.

Bai Wu walked toward "Zero," his gaze resolute, or perhaps it had never wavered:

"I know you don’t want to kill me, I also know you think highly of me, but I can’t stay here. My purpose in coming here was to make the world I come from a better place."

"I won’t be like the previous foreigner, an indecisive person, whether it’s an enemy or friend in front of me, even if it means being a madman against the world, as long as they stand in the way of my correcting that world, I will kill them all!"

"This is my choice! From the moment I entered this world, it will never change!"

(Originally today was a day suitable for a mass release, but my thoughts are only for celebrating my country’s national day, work is just a trivial matter to be put aside, so the mass release will be paid in installments. Lastly, I wish everyone a happy National Day, eat well and drink well.)