Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 569: Chapter 186: Those Who Strive

The farm was a nearly impossible Different Space to locate, yet those who performed exceptionally well within the farm did indeed have the chance to leave in a special way.

And receive a compass that guided their path.

Bai Wu once obtained one.

But Dong Nianyu didn’t need it; her powerful spiritual power could lock onto the farm at any time.

As Jing Er stepped out of the forbidden area, a new trouble arrived.

Jing Yi stood at the entrance to the forbidden area, looking much recovered from his injuries.

But Jing Er could sense that this was not the case.

"I never expected that after a thousand years, I would see you like this again."

In the night breeze, the slightly loose white lab coat fluttered gently with the wind.

Jing Er did not make the gesture of bringing his hands together in salute; he walked calmly towards Jing Yi:

"Big brother, apart from Laosi, you are the strongest among us. But now, you are no match for me, even if you killed me... No, neither of us could kill the other."

"I want to leave this place and take them with me. I hope elder brother won’t obstruct me."

The air about Jing Er made Jing Yi suddenly feel somewhat tired.

He was one of the Wills of Alpha and would ultimately return to Alpha.

So it was impossible for him to betray Alpha. Over the years, in his efforts to allow the distortion to spread, he had neglected to contact the other few.

Jing Er had turned traitor, Jing Si had gone mad, Jing San had been cleansed by human means, and it just so happened that the one who cleansed him was a human he himself had raised.

Jing Liu gained bloated ambitions from mastering the Power of Causality.

It seemed like one was forgotten, but it no longer mattered.

These brothers and sisters all underwent unexpected changes due to that part of them that was "human".

This made Jing Yi feel the presence of another formidable power.

A power that was almost irresistible.

That was the pursuit of one’s true nature.

Trying to twist a great soul seemed to invariably end in failure...

Jing Yi truly could not stop Jing Er now; in his current state, a fight to the death would only result in mutual destruction.

"Where will you go after this? Jing Er, don’t do anything foolish." Jing Yi looked at Jing Er.

The tall and large monk smiled indifferently:

"My end will be the same as my elder brother’s."

"If the elder brother fails, I will just eternally guard a certain place. If elder brother succeeds, I shall die."

"And whether you, elder brother, fail or succeed, you will also lose your self, so our ends are actually the same."

Jing Er was once a monk, and in distinguishing Buddha’s teachings, none could surpass him.

Upon reflection, Jing Yi realized this was true and then turned his gaze to another person:

"How about you, do you think the same?"

Jing Yi looked at Dong Nianyu.

Dong Nianyu said:

"I want to understand some things in my own way."

Seven hundred years of continuous distortion failed to instill in Dong Nianyu a pure hatred for Bai Yuan and the people outside the farm.

It seemed these Split Bodies always inherited some characteristics of their original selves.

"And... in the forbidden area, I saw many... mes. I can’t trust you anymore."

At this point, Shen Shuyue took a step forward, and Hong Yin’s Grudge Manifestation condensed an illusion in front of Dong Nianyu.

They were protecting Dong Nianyu. Jing Yi only felt bored:

"When the distortion descends, my Lord will be another Will of this world. I may have used you, but in this twisted world, you will live better than everyone else."

Jing Yi turned and walked away:

"But you have chosen the path to death. Let’s go."

Jing Er nodded; they had all made their respective choices.

The final correct answer could only be known after a great battle.

...

...

Denglin City.

After Jing Si’s arrival, the scientists naturally felt a surge of fear.

It was as if they had finally rid themselves of the curse of Jing Si’s heart, only to face a source of terror even greater than the curse itself.

But as time passed and through interactions, as well as some narratives from Yan Zizai, Xie Xingzhi, and others, this fear gradually dissipated.

They needed a powerful Evil Fallen.

And Jing Si was the strongest Evil Fallen in the world.

The grand formation to seal Alpha still required some time to prepare because it needed a tremendous amount of Temporal Power.

During this process, no one held any expectation for human effort.

But Jing Si still actively cooperated with humans. This world’s strongest monster no longer harbored any contempt for humanity.

In K’s eyes, Jing Si’s role was to deal with Alpha, to hold Alpha back.

However, K really didn’t have the time to pay attention to Jing Si recently, so he let Jing Si mingle with the scientists.

Or perhaps, Jing Si was in fact seeking redemption.

K was very aware of how much guilt Jing Si felt inside toward these scientists.

The seven hundred years of despair could be said to have been imparted by Jing Si.

It was also thanks to these scientists who managed to forgive Jing Si within just a few days.

Or perhaps it wasn’t forgiveness; they just knew that Jing Si was an invaluable research subject.

During these days, Jing Si also asked K to bring a person—Xie Yingjie.

The reason was that the scientists had made some breakthroughs with Jing Si.

Of course, neither The Pursuer nor K were optimistic about these results.

Just by listening to the scientists, one could roughly understand that the researchers working with Professor Tao back then, like Fu Lei, Hou Haiyan, Bi Yunxia, and so on, actually divided into two factions.

Xie Yingjie’s physics force field faction and the chemical faction led by Bi Yunxia’s mentor, who had already passed away.

One side believed that physical rules should be created to suppress Evil Fallen.

The other side thought that they should internally disrupt the structure of Evil Fallen from a chemical level.

Both sides had successes, creating some weaknesses in Jing Si at the time.

However, as time passed, Jing Si overcame these weaknesses.

But after Xie Yingjie left, he took away those involved in physics and weapons research with him.

So among the remaining scientists, most were from the chemical faction.

For seven hundred years, their research aimed to implant something within the body of Evil Fallen.

But with Jing Si’s arrival, they found that all this meant nothing to Jing Si, and the scientists had to change their strategy.

Fu Lei had become the leader among the scientists:

"We may have been wrong from the beginning. Professor Tao never considered giving up no matter how hard it was, but after Xie Yingjie left, he became dispirited."

"Looking back now, it’s not just about friendship. For seven hundred years, our research conditions couldn’t compare to Xie Yingjie’s. Without me, our methods might have been wrong."

"It might be a bit late to say this now, but I think, perhaps at this time, we can correct some of the regrets that Professor Tao had."

Professor Tao had passed away, and his regrets were now permanent.

But the living must continue to strive and move forward.

Xie Xingzhi heard his family boss’s name and instantly perked up.

He was a scientist first, and only secondarily a Guardian of the ruling family.

After arriving here, Xie Xingzhi found that he was very unwelcome.

It was because the people here all detested the Xie family.

It was just that due to the sake of cooperation, that disgust wasn’t shown openly.

But the departure of Xie Yingjie seven hundred years ago was ultimately hard to let go of.

However, now, with the arrival of Jing Si, everything seemed to have changed again.

After the scientists were even able to forgive Jing Si, the old grudges of Tao Xie became insignificant.

So, as expected, a few days later, K used Temporal Power to bring Xie Yingjie to them.

Xie Yingjie hadn’t imagined that he would see his acquaintances from seven hundred years ago—

Alive as humans after seven hundred years.

In the opulent but bloodstained reception hall within the technological building of Denglin City, Fu Lei looked at Xie Yingjie:

"We need your help, that concept from the past, Professor Tao was the one to support you against all oppositions. At that time, we all thought we had no time left, but he absolutely believed in you."

"Do you still remember all of this? Xie, Ying, Jie."

Xie Xingzhi watched this scene from the sidelines with Yan Zizai, and he very rarely, almost never, saw his boss shed tears.

Especially after establishing cooperation with Zero and transforming himself, the boss and Bai Wu were actually very similar, being people of nearly absolute rationality.

But at that moment, after seven hundred years, Xie Yingjie shed tears.

There was no loud weeping, only the uncontrollable shedding of silent tears. After a long time, Xie Yingjie, with a reddened nose and a choking voice, said:

"Seven hundred years, never forgotten, never dared to forget."

After encountering Bai Wu and Zero, the "thing" that Xie Yingjie had pawned with Zero to obtain technology was later returned to Xie Yingjie by Zero.

He possessed rationality far surpassing that of humans, but deep down in his heart, he always kept a place for his old friends from Denglin City.

His departure seven hundred years ago had caused a huge psychological impact on the scientists of Denglin City.

Seven hundred years later, he couldn’t be considered finding his way after being lost, nor a king’s return, but he had an absolutely firm belief.

In just one night, Xie Yingjie clarified to everyone the initial intentions behind the concept he and Professor Tao had designed.

A design that, after all the scientists heard it, they felt it was worth staking everything on—

The Twisted Amplifier.

Stemming from the black mist emitted by Jing Si, which could induce Evil Fallen Transformation, it could empower Jing Si, and it could distort the regional rules.

What the old Xie and Professor Tao thought at the time was, how to diminish the distortion.

But later, they wondered if it was possible to do the exact opposite; to enhance the distortion? To conquer distortion with distortion? And to abandon the traditional idea of using serum for detoxifying?

After one night, everyone had detailed plans for production.

The efforts from seven hundred years ago and during those seven hundred years quickly put them on the right track.

Xie Xingzhi and Yan Zizai looked at this scene, at the busy and excited scientists, and suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline.

"Every one of them... is so frail. Compared to people like K, these individuals struggle immensely even to stay alive. You see how The Pursuer looks at them, like children playing house."

"But I always feel... that they will succeed."

Yan Zizai said:

"Because you desire for them to succeed, and so do I."

Yan Zizai, who once deeply admired Yan Zhao, did so because he firmly believed that Yan Zhao could find a way to save humanity in his experiments.

After Yan Zhao’s reputation collapsed, Yan Zizai deep down still revered those who regarded "saving the last dignity of human civilization" as their mission.

These feelings of reverence, having nowhere to go after the death of Yan Zhao, were now placed on the scientists.

...

...

Outside the technological building in Denglin City.

As the scientists began their arduous efforts, the Pursuer, Yin He, Xu Wei, and the First Generation were also preparing to seal Alpha.

For the Pursuer, there were no factions in this world, only the twisted.

Even for people like the First Generation and Xu Wei, they were the targets for cleansing in the end.

Yet, during these days of interaction, the First Generation had won over the Pursuer with his personality and charm.

Because of the nature of the Ten Thousand Phantasmal Bodies, one could acquire the opponent’s power through touch and stimulation.

And the First Generation, to increase the chances of victory in the upcoming great battle, kept allowing the Pursuer—to obtain Temporal Power.

Yin He and the Pursuer, despite having the Ten Thousand Phantasmal Bodies, found it very difficult to touch the First Generation, who possessed Temporal Power.

This great ability would have been impossible for them to attain if the First Generation had not intentionally let his guard down.

It was during this process that the Pursuer gradually changed his view of these humans. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

They might be beings twisted by living in a twisted world, but they possessed souls that could not be twisted.

The Ten Thousand Phantasmal Bodies could be passed down. To obtain the diverse array of powers from one’s foes was the Ten Thousand.

And to be omnipresent, to be everywhere, was the Law Body.

In the past, Jing Yi had slaughtered many possessors of the Ten Thousand Phantasmal Bodies, leaving very few Pursuers alive.

But the only two who survived, the Pursuer and Yin He, father of Yin Shuang, both possessed formidable strength.

They also had the right to decide the continuation of the Law Body’s legacy.

Yin He, watching the First Generation and Xu Wei discuss Temporal Power, said to the Pursuer at his side:

"This guy may be ugly, but he’s indeed the strongest among us, and he... is a true hero."

"Yes," the Pursuer no longer denied.

"I guess you haven’t found the next bearer of the Law Body because you look down upon everyone."

"That’s right, the likelihood of humans in this world not becoming Evil Fallen is very low," the Pursuer’s words were not without reason.

In this world, already ninety percent of the people had become Evil Fallen.

The remaining people were scattered in sanctuaries, in arks, and they were a very small minority.

The majority were all in Sanchez City, which was also a stronghold of the Evil Fallen.

Evil Fallen could not receive the approval of a possessor of the Ten Thousand Phantasmal Bodies.

Even if there were some Evil Fallen with proud souls residing inside them.

But in the eyes of the Pursuer, Evil Fallen were Evil Fallen.

Yin He said:

"But the person before us is different, in the past we needed all Pursuers to bestow together in order to expand our lineage."

"Now, all the Pursuers are just the two of us. I want to initiate that ritual. If possible, I hope to let this ugly guy survive the upcoming battle of the twisted."

Yin He’s words were very sincere.

They had observed the First Generation’s behavior over the past few days, recognizing such a person as a true hero.

The more they understood his past, the more they could feel the man’s resilience.

The possessors of the Ten Thousand Phantasmal Bodies could continuously acquire the abilities of their opponents during battle.

Almost any ability.

Such power, if entrusted to someone like the First Generation, might increase the chances of victory in that battle.

The First Generation had earned the Pursuer’s approval through his selflessness.

The Pursuer nodded:

"Let’s do it then, I agree."

His gaze shifted towards the First Generation, who was imparting knowledge to Xu Wei, no longer harboring any resistance.

As if he were looking at a fellow traveler.

At this moment, the strongest beings within the human alliance had completely set aside their differences to confront their ultimate enemy.