Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Bai Wu Becomes Evil Fallen

In just a flash, Bai Wu’s mind fast-forwarded to the moment when Dwarf’s watch base value turned into 175, and he eventually became a super powerful Evil Fallen.

He had not only lost a godly ally but also gained a godly enemy. Without Dwarf’s help, a disadvantaged starting position meant he wouldn’t survive a minute.

This situation immediately made Bai Wu even more alert; his brain responded faster.

"From now on, every death must yield something, or I’m afraid Dwarf won’t last many more cycles."

Bai Wu didn’t bother with small talk and went straight to the point:

"Captain, during the past few cycles of combat, did you notice any oddly behaving Evil Fallen?"

Wu Jiu and Bai Wu were both in a corner of Cabin Three, with a watch value of 45, enough to attract the cabin’s Evil Fallen.

But this time, the two had an unspoken agreement: Bai Wu stood behind while Wu Jiu took the front.

"I didn’t notice... I must have killed about half of the Evil Fallen; a few were tough to kill, and a very few didn’t attack me at all."

"Right, those ones that didn’t attack you... Do you remember roughly where they were?"

"They should be in Cabin One." Wu Jiu said as he swung his blade, pondering.

"Then we need to head over to Cabin One first."

If the target changed from the environment to the Evil Fallen, then the most likely to be holding secrets were those with the most abnormal behavior.

Wu Jiu didn’t speak, his negative emotions disrupting his thoughts.

Although they weren’t enough to confuse his perceptions, when it came to figuring out how to break the cycle, he decided to become a ruthless Evil Fallen assassin, entrusting everything else entirely to Bai Wu.

"Captain, if possible, try not to kill them," Bai Wu urged.

"..."

Bai Wu had witnessed Wu Jiu’s terrifying speed; the remarks from Prayle’s Eye couldn’t keep up, and the opponent already had a uniform description—

[An Evil Fallen who must die at the hands of the Evil Fallen, he has been sliced into pieces by Little Dwarf, suggest giving him another look next cycle.]

In the last cycle, Bai Wu saw that many of the Evil Fallen had remarks like that.

Although he felt that Prayle’s Eye should also provide useful information about bodies, it seemed to depend on the integrity of the corpse.

And Dwarf’s sword technique... when rushing over long distances, it was quite stylish—a single cut. But at the moment, it seemed to be a death by a thousand cuts.

Asking Wu Jiu not to kill the Evil Fallen while still protecting Bai Wu was undoubtedly increasing Wu Jiu’s difficulty.

However, Wu Jiu nodded as always, without saying a word.

His figure flickered, becoming like a super shield around Bai Wu, protecting from all angles without a blind spot.

Shielded by a top fighter from High Tower, Bai Wu began to walk and observe these Evil Fallen.

[He won the lottery three times, but one expired, one was stolen, and one was lost. There were also several times he got the first six numbers right but missed the last one. He married the woman he had been in love with for eight years, shouting his happiness to the world, only to have a child born with black skin. Struck by lightning three times, he somehow didn’t die; involved in six fires, but he never burned to death. The ups and downs of his life brought him close to collapse, and then... boooom! A Tier 3 mutation, a rare Mutation Entry: Nine out of Ten Misses.]

Bai Wu saw an Evil Fallen, gaunt and skeletal, with the body of a human but the head of a crow, and red wings sprouted from its back.

It represented fortune and misfortune intertwined, but in the end, it still succumbed to doom.

Bai Wu sensed something was off and immediately turned his attention to another Evil Fallen.

"A writer, who spent nine years penning books, published fifteen works in total, but fourteen were plagiarized, and the plagiarist’s sales were booming. Interestingly, his own books were ignored until one day... he was sued by the person who copied him, for plagiarism. Before his hopes were completely dashed, he received an invitation to a vacation that promised to dispense with all of life’s ultimate worries during the journey. A third-degree mutation, Mutation Entry: Iron Cutting, foul gas."

It was the same familiar structure, and Bai Wu was convinced he had found a commonality among these monsters.

"The saying ’birds of a feather flock together’ is not absolutely correct because humans are bound by such ugly things as emotions, so this economy class passenger knew a second-generation rich kid who could lend out fifty million. When the apocalypse came, only the rich kid had tickets to the shelters. He desperately pleaded with the rich kid, who was mired in sorrow, and his last words were, ’Do you think I stand a chance?’ And so... he snatched the ticket, and the rich heir fell to his death from a cliff. But one should not force fate; upon learning the plane was about to explode, he lost his sanity. A second-degree mutation, Mutation Entry: Corrosive blood."

These remarks were just some of the more representative ones among the Evil Fallen that Bai Wu saw.

To sum it up, it was simply tragic. freewebnσvel.cѳm

Now Bai Wu was certain there was something wrong with the passengers on this plane.

A series of deductions surged in his mind:

"Dwarf’s emotional threshold is getting higher and higher. I originally thought that the people in the plane had all experienced an explosion and gradually turned into Evil Fallen. But now it seems that dying amplifies the lower bound of their negative emotions, a setting that is actually aimed at the High Tower people, and they... are not people from the High Tower."

"These Evil Fallen must have come from seven hundred years ago because very few people from the High Tower have ever ventured into the purple zone. Since this flight number has not been invalidated, it means that as of three days ago, no High Tower people had set foot here. Hence, these passengers on the plane are all ’natives’ from seven hundred years ago."

"Previously, the remarks would first mention the Evil Fallen’s combat attributes, followed by other aspects. But this time it’s the other way round, indicating that the focus is not on their combat capabilities but on their experiences."

"These people all harbor immense resentment towards life. Someone is observing them, as if collecting experimental data, and storing them together. As for the final destination of this journey, it will not be surprising if it’s the High Tower."

In the remarks, Bai Wu saw the phrase ’end-of-days shelters,’ and there was none other than the High Tower.

"So the plane crash happened after the birth of the High Tower. Everyone wanted to seek refuge in the High Tower, but the population base at that time meant very few could ’board the boat.’ Hence, did the master of this flight give these unfortunate people a chance?"

"If the outskirts of the High Tower are the black zone... then inside this plane might actually be the safest place."

Jumping from the plane would lead to the red zone, and if one arrived safely, they would go on to the black zone. Normal circumstances meant direct explosion, a veritable death flight.

"So was the explosion arranged by the flight master? If the intention of the flight master was to draw in a group of people who could potentially become Evil Fallen, why then would they need to kill them in an explosion?"

"Something’s wrong, I’ve overlooked something. Indeed these people have the conditions to become Evil Fallen, but how many more people are there in the world who are even more miserable? Those who are worse off haven’t all turned into Evil Fallen."

"Besides, the flight master couldn’t possibly rank the misery of people, find three hundred and fifty tragic passengers – he’s not omniscient and omnipotent. So these people are just a group of rather unfortunate civilians... They’re more like fillers at short notice, meeting just a low threshold of misery."

"The remarks mentioned a point, they all collapsed after learning the plane was about to explode, which is somewhat far-fetched... Like that writer, slandered by the plagiarist for plagiarism, he was already resentful towards the world. Suddenly learning the plane was going to explode, his desolation could instead serve as a sort of buffer."

Bai Wu’s eyes widened, and after a series of analyses, he formulated a new hypothesis:

"So... there must be something else at play, amplifying these people’s resentment."

"As long as it’s not a scene set by Cain, there is generally a Fragment Guardian, perhaps the clue lies with the Guardian of the fragment!"

With his reasoning complete, Bai Wu realized Wu Jiu was gradually feeling the pressure.

Having to protect him while also unable to kill the Evil Fallen meant that their attacks remained at their maximum number.

Fortunately, at this time, Bai Wu and Wu Jiu had both arrived at the entrance to the next cabin.

"Captain, you’ve worked hard. There’s no need to hold back anymore, I’ve almost gathered all the clues on them," Bai Wu said.

Wu Jiu nodded, as always, cool and silent, the only change was the fierce surge in his blade technique.

He didn’t ask Bai Wu how he collected the information or how he observed it. Everyone has the right to keep secrets, just like himself.

Once they unleashed their full strength in slaughter, the situation instantly turned around.

Bai Wu couldn’t help but marvel, this ’big thigh’ was just too sturdy.

Now they had arrived at the Economy Class Cabin Number Two.

Moving from Cabin Three to Two took two minutes, and the time it should take to move from Cabin Two to One should have greatly decreased because there were no more killing restrictions.

But during this process, an accident happened.

Bai Wu now fully understood the meaning of the world outside the Tower being a world of randomness, where no one dared to claim with absolute certainty what would happen in the next second...

"Your wristwatch has become a Spirit Possession. Others’ wristwatches fluctuate at will; who wouldn’t want to press the throttle outside the Tower and shoot their negative emotions up to 180? But not yours! Its owner is a monster without emotions, existing only for decoration! It’s an insult to the wristwatch! It wants to show you that a wristwatch can also steal the spotlight. Spirit Possession level: 3s."

A wristwatch that had just been Spirit Possessed for three seconds, Bai Wu still hadn’t figured out the attributes of its Spirit Possession.

But he suddenly had a feeling he was about to be tricked...

Sure enough, as he subconsciously raised his wristwatch to see what had changed, Wu Jiu noticed the scene as well.

The hands of the wristwatch began to move wildly! One moment it was in single digits, the next it soared to over one hundred and fifty.

At times, for a second or two, the wristwatch’s readings shot past one hundred and seventy-five all the way to a terrifying two hundred and ninety-four.

Wu Jiu originally thought the watch was broken, because up to this point, he had never seen Bai Wu’s wristwatch fluctuate even the slightest bit.

But the next scene put Wu Jiu on edge as well.

An eye began to grow out of Bai Wu’s arm.

Bai Wu looked at the eye:

"That eye is not within my jurisdiction. I’m only responsible for the two on top of your head, but it can bring you a rare Mutation Entry: Phantom Gaze."

Bai Wu frowned, as the numbers on the wristwatch went down, the mutation of his body also began to cease.

But from time to time, the wristwatch would surge, and he felt like a Schrödinger’s Evil Fallen.

Wu Jiu thought such a scene was impossible and even Bai Wu’s facial expression remained unchanged.

"This watch has become Spirit Possessed..." Bai Wu said calmly.

Now, it was an unforeseen event.

The Spirit Possession ability of the watch was simple. Although Bai Wu didn’t feel the corresponding negative emotions of the numbers, the wristwatch would ignore that and directly cause his body to undergo changes related to the values.

Not all item Spirit Possessions would bring beneficial attributes. Like Bai Wu this time.

"My rationality doesn’t seem affected, hmm... If I’m to become an Evil Fallen, I’d prefer to look handsome..."

"Wait, why is it not my fault!"

It seemed that the most grievous thing was not that he might become an Evil Fallen, but that the rice cooker remained a regular item.

Bai Wu’s inner thoughts were actually much calmer than Wu Jiu assumed.

"What should we do now?" Wu Jiu’s wristwatch reading had reached fifty-four.

The additional number represented his concern for Bai Wu. If Bai Wu hadn’t been so eerily calm, the number would likely have been even higher.

"Continue scouting. Wait for the time to rewind."

Wu Jiu gave Bai Wu a deep look, and during this process, Bai Wu noticed that another arm had sprouted a horn.

"Xie Mo Horn, a weapon capable of piercing the toughest defenses, usually seen among Evil Fallen of combat level seven or above."

It was quite cool, and becoming an Evil Fallen might not be so bad if it didn’t affect his rationality... Bai Wu even felt the enhancement from his Innate Force.

But the biggest problem was—he couldn’t return to town.

If he went back to the High Tower carrying the scent of an Evil Fallen, he would be immediately annihilated.

He didn’t want to think about this problem for the moment. After all, whether or not he had the chance to return to the High Tower was still an unknown.

He and Wu Jiu pressed on towards Cabin One.

In Economy Class Cabin One, the Evil Fallen continued to charge at Wu Jiu, but three of them coldly observed Bai Wu and Wu Jiu.

Evil Fallen actually no longer have a gender distinction, Hong Yin, Dandelion, Jing, Elijah—they had no concept of gender anymore.

At least the changes within were gone, but they could still discern exterior male and female forms.

Because Bai Wu was mindful of Yan Jiu’s mission, he kept an eye out for Evil Fallen whose contours closely resembled that of a woman.

And among the three Evil Fallen, one was clearly recognizable as a woman.

She looked almost indistinguishable from a human, except for a gaping hole in her abdomen with no organs or stomach inside, only a half-beating heart.

As Bai Wu observed her, she also raised her head and revealed a creepy and disturbing smile to Bai Wu.

"This person must have been a very beautiful woman before becoming an Evil Fallen... it’s just the smile is a bit odd."

Normally, the smile of such a monstrous face would make anyone feel uncomfortable...

Bai Wu didn’t, he courteously returned the smile, and even cocked an eyebrow with the eye on his arm, sending a clear flirtatious signal.

This reaction caused the Evil Fallen to pause for a moment.

(My book will hit the shelves the day after tomorrow, and I hope this time I’ll have a powerful first order~)