Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 606: Chapter 223: Bai Yuan’s Departure

The mechanical beings, no longer part of the animal kingdom, played the part of some bizarre animals in their minds, which were governed only by program commands.

It seemed that the "animals" in this zoo still appeared lively and lifelike.

Occasionally, people would come out of curiosity to visit, but these were not animals, they just looked like animals.

Long gone from being mechanical organisms, they had turned into pure mechanical beings.

Inside those steel-clad bodies, there was not a trace of anything that belonged to a living organism.

All of this had been caused by Jing. If Jing still had its own consciousness, it could restore everything.

But in this heavily deformed world, Jing itself was eroded by pollution, transforming from a semi-mechanical being into a purely mechanical one.

It was not Zero, unable to block data with data, nor could it consume viruses with viruses.

Thus, Jing, the only Guardian that could have returned everything to the beginning, had fallen into a mechanical being without a will of its own.

Like all mechanical beings, it had but one purpose, to take revenge on humanity, to contaminate every human that came here into one of their own kind.

Bai Wu and Wu Jiu were such powerful entities, and that "rabbit" used as a trump card could indeed contaminate them, but "contamination" itself was a twisted transformation.

Bai Wu had a strong resistance against distortion, so much so that it required all the mechanical beings in the zoo to turn into sources of pollution.

After the rabbit self-destructed, the other mechanical beings received their command to act.

Countless mechanical beings—lions, white rabbits, fierce tigers, foxes, birds in the sky, and Jing, once a huge mechanical creature with guns bristling from its form that countless animals shunned.

All mechanical beings converged on Bai Wu as the center, attempting to transform him into one of their kind.

Of course, they had no such desire, it was merely a command.

Nobody could have predicted that this final strike from Baichuan City Zoo... would inadvertently turn into a masterful assist!

The moment the mechanical beings made contact with Bai Wu, everything changed.

...

...

Destiny tried time and again to make Gu Qingyu act against his character, but time and again it failed.

As for Bai Wu, he had been completely controlled along with his captain.

He faced a monster that issued decrees that became reality, able to change the world at will.

But when he realized that this monster could do nothing against his captain, he too was inspired.

With a heart as resilient as Wu Jiu’s, Bai Wu, who had been somewhat bewildered, also became as indestructible.

Even separated, the two of them could not be prevented from finding each other.

Even the yellowed pages with words that seemed like destiny could no longer affect Bai Wu’s psyche.

The zoo was their last gambit.

Will could not kill them, but through the rules of this place, it could erase their wills, turning the wills that resisted distortion into data that obeyed distortion.

At this moment, Bai Wu in the Inner World could not see the yellowed pages, nor the mocking words on them.

[The grand finale has arrived, the journey of the Dragon Slayer comes to an end. They showed great willpower, defying destiny and traveling far enough, but all was just a play put on by fate.

Now everything is over. So, when will someone next enter Destiny’s room? What kind of person will they be? I am very much looking forward to it.

—The end of the play]

The final character was never written, as the words on the yellowed pages suddenly stopped.

And in contrast,

the thing hidden by Bai Yuan in the deepest part of Bai Wu’s Inner World... was something even will could not peer into.

It was inherently a mechanical lifeform, not of humankind.

So hiding in the Inner World of humans, it was simply a segment difficult to perceive. It was like a file unknown, with no corresponding level to open it.

After opening, it was just a string of garbled code.

But once Bai Wu transformed from human to a mechanical body... that string of garbled code became the "antidote" that turned the decayed into the marvelous.

Once again... the Will of the Well World had failed.

The surrounding mechanical bodies wouldn’t become alive due to a string of data, but interestingly, the Bai Wu they were connected to wasn’t a pure mechanical body yet.

The characteristics belonging to living organisms in Bai Wu still possessed strong vitality, and with the help of memory from Zero, this vitality became the very virus that genuinely destroyed the mechanical contamination.

The pure mechanical bodies unexpectedly reverted to... mechanical life.

More and more biological traits began to appear in them.

And as the creature covered in gun barrels and immensely huge gradually gained its own consciousness, it seemed to finally wake up.

It let out a low hum, a sound as long and profound as a horn blowing on the frontier, carrying with it a power that turned the decayed into the marvelous, as if it were working in concert with Bai Wu inside the mist, purifying the mechanical pollution on a large scale.

Bai Wu and Wu Jiu, whose bodies had already been enveloped in metal and would soon grow many strange mechanical parts, were slowly turning back into humans.

All the strange cables entwined around Bai Wu’s body also dissipated.

The zoo was reverting to how it was seven hundred years ago.

Wu Jiu had already woken up, unaware of what had just transpired.

He should have been very anxious, being surrounded by a group of mechanical monsters, but for some reason...

He could feel that these mechanical creatures bore no hostility.

Not only was there no hostility, but they seemed to have developed a special emotion towards Bai Wu.

The Heart Net made Wu Jiu’s perceptions extremely delicate, and he quickly realized...

They revered Bai Wu like one would a sovereign worth serving.

"What on earth has happened?"

Bai Wu hadn’t woken up yet, and Wu Jiu didn’t know what had happened either.

...

...

Everything in the Inner World seemed to have gone through a collapse, but shortly after the collapse, the memory of Zero led to a rebirth of everything.

After figuring out what happened, Bai Wu was able to understand why Bai Yuan had praised Zero so highly, even extolling him.

"He is indeed incredible. Mechanization is like a twisted branch, and in that branch... even Alpha might not compare to him."

Seeing that the Inner World had been restored, Bai Wu knew it was time to go back.

But strangely, he found himself still lingering here.

"I should leave."

Two voices spoke at once.

Bai Wu, Bai Yuan.

Both had said the same thing.

Bai Wu thought he was still here because Bai Yuan had some arrangement he couldn’t attend to since there were more important things to do now.

"So... goodbye?" Bai Wu thought that when Bai Yuan said it was time to go, he meant leaving the coffee shop for a while.

But after speaking, when he saw the calm, somewhat severe expression on Bai Yuan’s face, Bai Wu suddenly realized:

"What do you mean?"

"I should go. I was considering answering some of your questions, but it seems unnecessary now."

"Where are you going?"

Bai Wu reacted.

No matter how outstanding Zero was, someone like Bai Yuan would never praise others as such.

Especially when he also incidentally praised himself.

When I think about it, it seems like it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Bai Yuan.

After Bai Yuan’s charming smile faded, he looked not as approachable due to the absence of that warm gentleness, but he became much more solemn.

He truly is a guy who’s perfect from every angle.

Bai Wu had to admit, even among the Yan Family’s lineage, one couldn’t find a face more perfect than Bai Yuan’s.

No wonder Jing Yi always thought highly of Bai Yuan, even though others of his generation were all monsters in their own right.

"I want to witness many interesting things; actually, I’m very interested in your upcoming adventures as well."

"The Well World Will must have granted you quite a few things, which seems to be a set of game rules. I’m curious, after Dandelion and Bai Xiaoyu reconcile, after Jing submits to you, after you discover the source of the city’s identity rules collapsing, what will you become?"

"Will the Well World Will appear before you in another form? Will he let you see something even more astounding about the origin? He always calls you Dragon Slayer, is that to imply that eventually, the Dragon Slayer will become the evil dragon?"

"Or can you really slay the dragon?"

Bai Yuan should be saying these things with a smile, but he didn’t smile, his seriousness tinged with regret:

"I really want to go see for myself, but unfortunately, I can’t."

"What do you mean... All this time, haven’t you been peering into my Inner World, experiencing what I see, what I go through? Will this time be different?" Bai Wu didn’t quite understand.

"The obsessions created by the Full Moon Fragments are actually the real souls," Bai Yuan suddenly said.

"This world has many bizarre fragments, formed by the obsessions of living beings. You should know what Jing Si’s obsession is, and that’s why the Full Moon Fragment exists."

"But ironically, he lost his heart and discarded the Full Moon Fragment as well; naturally, he couldn’t make amends for his mistakes."

"Fortunately, you picked it up, which was beyond my expectations. When I appeared in your Inner World in the form of an obsession, I knew you had grown a lot."

"Because this wasn’t the method of ’rebirth’ I had planned. But it’s interesting enough, so I stayed here too."

Bai Yuan looked at Bai Wu:

"Actually, I’m also surprised, why is your obsession me?"

Bai Wu was taken aback by the question.

"In your heart, there must be quite a few important people, like the short fellow who would instinctively protect you even after losing his memory, like the girl with facial paralysis who, in both worlds, even the World Will determines loves you, and like the little robot who didn’t join your adventures but helped you through crises again."

"You are a defective product, my child, your sense of morality towards this world is actually very low, and even I was surprised that under such pain, you didn’t become a monster."

"But still, you’ve grown into what you are today, with the help of a group of people, and you’ve gradually understood your mission."

"Should I be regretful? Or happy? Even if you became a monster that disregards human emotions, that seems pretty interesting, doesn’t it?"

Bai Wu didn’t speak. Was Bai Yuan really going to leave?

It should be a very normal thing, just as for so long, if he did not return to the Inner World, he wouldn’t notice Bai Yuan either.

So the question becomes strange, so strange that Bai Wu himself is curious—

Why is my obsession Bai Yuan?

The answer, in fact, he already knew.

"I acknowledge you now, my defective product, you’ve gradually become whole. The torture you endured in your childhood was my deliberate doing, not out of personal perverse desire. But I wouldn’t mind if you took it that way, because maybe I really enjoyed the process?"

"Still, that wasn’t my sole intention; I also hoped that because of some experiences, you would have abilities that others do not possess."

Bai Yuan said the words Bai Wu had longed to hear, but for some reason, Bai Wu felt a bit panicked.

Is this still Bai Yuan?

He was gradually understanding that the inhuman torment he’d suffered indeed gave him some unique advantages in this twisted world.

But whether Bai Yuan acknowledged that or not had always been very important to him.

Father and son squatting in a room, playing a game together with controllers, Bai Yuan would say:

"You must have absurd imagination for the future."

When torturing him, Bai Yuan would say:

"Let the pain make you alert, let the harsh environment give you a clearer mind."

Nearing death, he said on his sickbed, "Death is just the beginning of the next leg of the journey."

Bai Wu resented Bai Yuan, but everything about Bai Yuan had made a deep impression on Bai Wu.

It was always Bai Yuan who had turned Bai Wu into Bai Wu.

But now, it seemed that Bai Yuan wanted to untie a certain knot in his heart:

"Alright, I’ve said everything I needed to say. Next, I will change a few things. I mentioned the Full Moon Fragment because it has imprisoned your obsession in the form of your soul in your Inner World."

"But a person cannot possess two souls; only when I am no longer your obsession can I return to where I originally should be."

"Our journey has come to an end. I owe you and your son, but I have also brought you things you’ve never had before. We’re even now."

"You don’t need me for the next part of the journey. I’m going to witness another fascinating battlefield."

The always serious Bai Yuan finally restored his charming smile from the old days. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

A huge wave surged in Bai Wu’s heart.

He had always thought that he and Bai Yuan were meant to oppose each other, that he could forever stand against Bai Yuan.

But now, it all seemed unnecessary.

"Where are you going?"

Bai Yuan did not hide it:

"You are touching the true source of the distortion, but for me, the source of distortion has always been the monster in High Tower. Now, as you are uncovering the secrets of the Well, I imagine a great battle is about to unfold in the real world."

"I need to see it."

"But you are already dead, you have no body..."

Bai Wu pointed out the key issue.

Bai Yuan made a shushing gesture:

"Shh, I have already revealed many tricks to you, this is the last one. Please let me keep some suspense."

Bai Wu couldn’t fathom it.

Bai Yuan was always Bai Yuan, the finest man of his era. Some were stronger than him, some were more like heroes than he.

Even compared to other k, his ultimate choice was more like that of a coward...

But strangely, just like Bai Wu now, the focus of everyone. In the previous era, Bai Yuan was always the focus.

"Perhaps we’ll meet again, and by then, it won’t be the Inner World anymore."

"So, I’ll unilaterally declare that our father and son are reconciled, shall we? After all, it could be a worse ending, and we may never meet again."

Those were Bai Yuan’s last words. After that, Bai Wu opened his eyes.

He took no notice of the machines around him that regarded him with awe, he only felt...

As though he had lost something.

...

...

Denglin City.

A sandstorm swept through, covering the entire city with a layer of withered yellow like a filter.

At the edge of Denglin City, heroes who had long been in training and preparation felt the terrifying presence encroach.

All the Evil Fallen of Denglin City were also intimidated by a formidable power.

Inside the scientific building of Denglin City, the scientists trembled with fear, but finally, someone mustered up the courage: freёwebnovel.com

"It’s time to check the results!"

Xie Yingjie looked off into the distance, and gradually, more people gathered behind him.

Everyone turned their eyes toward the edge of the city.

A long-prepared great battle was about to begin on this battlefield, as the two opposing sides finally made their appearance.