Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 541: Chapter 158: The Deeper World of the Well

An expected question for Black Spade Ten.

However, just as Black Spade Ten was about to answer it, Black Spade Ten suddenly asked a question that surprised both Bai Wu and Jing Liu.

"Is there an invisible presence by your side?"

"Why do you ask?" Bai Wu feigned confusion.

He was indeed puzzled, or rather astonished, but his confusion was of that inexplicable kind.

Although Jing Liu was not very useful, Bai Wu did not want to expose him just yet.

Black Spade Ten smiled:

"Nothing in particular, just asking casually."

Jing Liu burst out:

"He’s definitely not just asking casually."

Bai Wu also believed this, the question asked by Black Spade Ten was too strange.

Black Spade Ten did not allow Bai Wu to ponder on this matter for too long and said:

"We’ll be at my place soon. Although your strength is far too great for the current me and Bai Yuan, your situation is not exactly safe either. So, I’ll just treat you... as a regular guest."

"There’s no rush with the questions you asked. I’ll give you answers after we get home and I have a cup of hot tea."

...

...

The garbage truck didn’t drive for too long before it slowly pulled into Black Spade Ten’s dwelling.

The outskirts of the city’s dump were visible from far away.

About three kilometers outside the dump, there was still a faint sour smell in the air from the decay.

It was hard to imagine that two interdimensional visitors, both criminal experts, one played the perfect doctor in a small town,

while the other lived inside a box truck outside a distant pile of trash.

Black Spade Ten’s home was humble—no television set, no radio, just a rather old computer, that’s it.

However, Bai Wu remembered from an incident that in order to divert police attention, this guy made a spectacle of showering money from a helicopter.

So Bai Wu guessed this was also one of Black Spade Ten’s deceptive methods.

Or perhaps it was Black Spade Ten’s twisted sense of humor.

Once at his own home, Black Spade Ten lay on an old, faded brown sofa. Bai Wu even felt that rats and cockroaches could crawl out of the couch.

The house was actually very clean, even extremely so; it’s just that at this location, seeing some adorable little creatures around wasn’t strange at all.

Black Spade Ten leisurely poured two cups of hot tea, and the tea was indeed not ordinary.

"Tea that costs over eighty thousand a kilo, I got it from that fat guy’s place just now. I’ve been looking forward to this tea all the way here, didn’t expect to have someone to share it with today."

"You should at least have a proper tea set, and... a more professional way of brewing it," Bai Wu complained.

"Hahaha, you’re quite particular," said Black Spade Ten, gesturing for Bai Wu to sit down.

Bai Wu sat on the other end of the old sofa, separated from his host by a low table that doubled as a dining table and a cluttered desk.

After sipping his tea, Black Spade Ten said:

"Now we can talk about the question you just mentioned. This world is a tower."

"Start by explaining the situation, why not ask Bai Yuan."

Bai Wu didn’t plan to disclose the secrets of Prayle’s Eye; he avoided Bai Yuan because the prompts from the Sequence indicated that contacting Bai Yuan would cause significant causality issues.

Bai Wu didn’t know what the issue was. Why it wouldn’t be a problem to seek out Black Spade Ten.

"No comment. I need to know why you think this world is a tower," Bai Wu pressed.

Black Spade Ten didn’t beat around the bush any longer:

"We search for the High Tower, but in truth, we are also searching for the Well. Where the High Tower and Wells appear, nobody knows."

"Perhaps you’ve seen an area of chaos and believed the Well to be nearby, yet that area can only prove the existence of the Well, not that it is indeed close by. The location where the Well appears may be very far away."

"And the High Tower is a tower, the Well, may also be a tower. We are merely on a certain level of the tower."

This statement was rather similar to Bai Wu’s understanding of his situation.

He had activated the distortion from the "shell" left by Alpha, made contact with the Well, and then was brought back to the Well World.

Thus, he arrived at the first level—the Pure Well Area.

The environment there was beautiful, populated by many pure Evil Fallen.

Then, through a choice—murder, he entered the second level.

Perhaps this was the "tower’s" next level.

So, he came to Well City.

In Well City, there were many humans, and while their lives were controlled by the tycoons, overall there still was some order.

A few members of the Rebel Army caused destruction in the city, but ultimately, they could not alter the climate.

And in this orderly city, he made another choice—murder, or rather, he murdered his own friend.

In the Pure Well Area, murder alone was enough.

But in the Well City area, on top of murder, something else was carried.

"Zero" seemed to know this, so he set a trap, fulfilling Bai Wu’s destiny.

So, had he come to the third level of the Well World?

Is this place the third level of the Well World?

Bai Wu halted his thoughts:

"Evidence, your arguments are all conjecture. You think this world is a tower, there must be some evidence, right?"

"The evidence is that neither your dear dad Bai Yuan nor I became ordinary people as soon as we arrived here."

Ten of Spades looked closely at Bai Wu, and at that moment, Bai Wu faintly noticed that Ten of Spades’s breathing rhythm had changed.

But soon, Ten of Spades calmed down:

"Three points."

"First, both Bai Yuan and I are skilled in hypnosis. In the subconscious of a few, both he and I have found that a small handful of people dream of the world as a tower."

"Secondly, although Bai Yuan and I have never entered the High Tower, we both know that one enters the High Tower through a Teleportation Stele, and to this place, we also came through a Teleportation Stele."

"Lastly, the High Tower repels Evil Fallen and twisted beings, and we... are repelled by this tower."

"You also know that the High Tower isolates distortion, but not completely; there are a few who can use some powers outside of the Sequence within the High Tower."

"This place is the same. It does not repel you. You are an exception."

The three points made by Ten of Spades did make Bai Wu feel that this place was a tower.

But if the Well was an inverted tower, then how would one proceed to the next level?

In the second level, Well City, murder required bearing a certain cost, so what about the third level?

Bai Wu had a doubt in his heart, which he expressed directly:

"Before I came to this world, I was in the Well, and to my eyes, it looked like a tower."

"My goal is to explore the deepest levels of the Well, to find the secrets of the Doomsday Puzzle fragments and the Seven Deadly Sins."

"But when I was about to move to the third level, a friend told me that the Well World of the third level is an even more twisted place, with a more direct influence on the real world..."

Ten of Spades narrowed his eyes, he wasn’t surprised, but he still found Bai Wu’s remarkable experiences very interesting.

"And my intuition tells me that this place..."

Before Bai Wu could finish, Ten of Spades said:

"Your intuition tells you, this isn’t the third layer, right?"

"Right."

"Then have you ever considered, this might be the fourth layer. Or perhaps the fifth layer."

Spades Ten casually expressed an opinion that made Bai Wu suddenly startle.

Spades Ten said:

"The higher you go in the High Tower, the more secrets buried. The deeper you go in the Well, the more secrets buried."

Bai Wu agreed with this point. Maybe upon reaching the very bottom layer, one would be able to know what the Doomsday Puzzle, composed of its various pieces, would bring.

As well as what the seven deadly sins would bring.

Spades Ten continued:

"But if this place is deeper than the third layer, yet only ordinary people can survive here, don’t you find that... very strange?"

Of course, Bai Wu found it strange.

According to "Zero," the deeper one went, the fewer the limitations, the stronger one’s power would be.

The real power players from the seven major corporations, all live in the third layer of Well World, or even deeper.

But if this is the fourth layer, why is it that... only ordinary people are here?

Suddenly, Spades Ten began to take off his jacket:

"When you were a child, did you ever take a bath with your father?"

"..."

The topic changed so abruptly, especially as Spades Ten was undressing, that Bai Wu felt the atmosphere turn scorching.

"What are you doing?"

"Don’t be nervous, you, a person enveloped by distortion, and me, an ordinary person, you’re not afraid of me, are you?"

Indeed, if it came to force, the one who would have a hard time escaping would be Spades Ten.

Yet this made Spades Ten’s behavior seem all the more peculiar.

Although Spades Ten’s appearance was not as perfect as Bai Yuan’s, his features were nonetheless pleasing to the eye.

Jing Liu paid no attention to decorum, watching the scene with an amused gaze.

"Here, look at this."

Spades Ten wasn’t showing off his abs; he turned around, letting Bai Wu see his back.

On Spades Ten’s spine, there were purple-black lines.

From a distance, they looked like a giant purple-black centipede crawling on Spades Ten’s back.

Bai Wu suddenly realized, Spades Ten had taken off his clothes to show him this.

"Does Bai Yuan have this on him too?" Bai Wu asked.

"No way, no way, as his son, he never bathed you?"

"He did, but at that time he wore a white lab coat."

"Hahahahahahahahaha..." Spades Ten laughed heartily.

"That’s why first impressions are important. This guy wore a hospital gown as a child, as did all the kids at the farm, all except Jing Yi, who wore a white lab coat. So in his aesthetic sense, the white lab coat became the most attractive clothing."

Spades Ten began putting on his clothes, as he spoke:

"It’s just pathetic that he even wears it to bathe with his own son, probably to keep you from noticing?"

"I wonder if he was also wrapped in a white lab coat when he was making you with your mom, ah hahaha... I can’t, I need to laugh for a while."

Bai Wu was at a loss for words.

He felt he was beginning to understand the rivalry between Spades Ten and Bai Yuan.

This doesn’t seem like the kind that exists between me and Jing Wu.

These two seem to enjoy the pleasure of being enemies with each other. At least, Spades Ten felt that way.

Bai Yuan pursued what was interesting, and the fun that Spades Ten could bring was definitely not scarce.

After a while, Spades Ten said,

"When he and I arrived in this world, we felt an odd sensation on our backs, so he was interested in continuing the lineage." freeωebnovēl.c૦m

"Because he knew the world was rejecting me and him, not only by taking away our powers but also... it wanted to kill us."

"The world was expelling us in such a way. But Bai Yuan quite enjoyed everything in this world. And as for me, I don’t really fancy a world without Bai Yuan as an enemy."

"So both he and I are, in a sense, waiting for death."

"We don’t know when we will die; maybe you could give us a spoiler?"

Of course, Bai Wu wouldn’t spoil such a thing.

He was somewhat in a trance.

In fact, he had always known that Bai Yuan’s death was due to being rejected by the world.

But he didn’t realize that the process of "rejection" was so terrifying.

Bai Yuan, a man who sought perfection, would certainly not let anyone see his back.

So over the years... Had Bai Yuan never taken off his white coat in front of others?

The white coat, perhaps for Bai Yuan, was just a shell of self-deception?

Spades Ten returned to the previous topic,

"So you see, this place, according to your logic, is within the Well and might even be more twisted than the third layer. But Bai Yuan and I, endowed with great powers, are being rejected and weakened by this world."

"Yet we still can’t leave this place. Doesn’t this predicament seem familiar to you?"

Bai Wu understood the meaning of Spades Ten and suddenly said,

"Alpha! The Twisted Master in the High Tower?"

"Correct answer."

Spades Ten crossed his fingers and sat on the couch, squinting at Bai Wu,

"This place, it confines Bai Yuan and me just like Alpha in the High Tower, trapped and unable to escape, yet also repulsed by it."

"But Bai Yuan and I are outsiders; this place has existed long before us, so we have to consider one thing—this place truly wishes to trap someone else, definitely not Bai Yuan and me. We stumbled upon this place by accident."

"There must be someone else trapped in this world, or rather, the mission of this world might be to confine that person."

Jing Liu agreed with this view and looked at Bai Wu.

Bai Wu’s thoughts were even more complex and profound. He arranged countless pieces of information in his mind and eventually realized... his world might be one of pivotal importance.

"Inside Well City, all citizens are real; to Well City, or the second layer of the Well, these people are flesh and blood, real lives."

"But to the real world, these people are various parameters, various rules. The real world and the Well World have a strange and complex relationship."

"And according to ’Zero,’ the deeper we go, the stronger this correspondence becomes."

"If, as Spades Ten said, this place is a deeper layer than the third... then the correlation between this world and the real world becomes even stronger."

"In the real world, Alpha is sealed within the High Tower."

"In the Well World, is there also someone who is trapped in this world?"

"If this person and Alpha correspond to each other, then seven hundred years later, when Alpha escapes the High Tower, does it also mean that... seven hundred years later, someone in this world... will have overcome their predicament?" freeωebnovēl.c૦m

These thoughts flashed through Bai Wu’s mind in an instant.

Bai Wu raised his head,

"So that’s how it is, I understand now!"

(Still stuck on the subsequent outline, but I won’t be taking any leave of absence during this period and will strive to ensure daily updates. The major climax will have a long build-up.)