Looking at the mall-like building where Yama Tiger was imprisoned, the rash Shang Jianyao said excitedly, “This is what you call ‘searching high and low for something, only to find it effortlessly!'”
“But the truth is that we haven’t searched high and low at all when it comes to finding Yama Tiger,” the honest Shang Jianyao retorted his peer.
The rash Shang Jianyao felt justified about this. “We had considered it!”
Without giving the other Shang Jianyaos a chance to retort, he pointed at the mall and said, “Let’s go over now.”
“Are you crazy?” the ruthless Shang Jianyao blurted out. “Do you know what the situation inside is? Don’t implicate us even if you wish to die!”
The rash Shang Jianyao spoke eloquently. “We now have Xiaochong’s backing. Who dares to stop us and not cut us some slack?”
“How can you be sure that it wasn’t a particular Kalendaria that imprisoned Yama Tiger and the others?” the ruthless Shang Jianyao asked in return. Then, considering that he had become a minority, he suggested in a good-natured manner, “Even if you want to enter and find Yama Tiger, you have to find a few friendly New World experts nearby and ask about the building.”
The rash Shang Jianyao sneered. “You’re a coward! And it’s safe to find other New World experts nearby? They might be the guards of this building!”
As he spoke, he strode forward and ran to where Yama Tiger was imprisoned.
“You nincompoop, do you think you can do whatever you want just because you can ride the tailcoats of Xiaochong?” The ruthless Shang Jianyao couldn’t control himself anymore.
Under his desperate resistance, Shang Jianyao tripped himself with his feet, completing a flat fall.
“Coward!”
“Idiot!”
“Both of you, calm down.”
…
The Shang Jianyaos began an intense internal battle. He appeared alone, but he sometimes ran, sometimes rubbed the wall, sometimes did handstands, and sometimes crawled backward. He sometimes hugged a street lamp pole and was unwilling to move forward. It was as if many invisible enemies were fighting him.
Finally, the rash Shang Jianyao and his supporters clinched the final victory.
Shang Jianyao swaggered to the mall-like building and walked in with his head held high.
With a snap, a lamp inside the building lit up upon his arrival, sprinkling pure white light.
This was indeed a large mall. There were stairs, escalators, and areas where one could see a dome.
Shang Jianyao casually scanned the layout and easily walked to the escalator in front of him without making much observation.
The escalator was powered as it slowly brought him up.
…
In a building in the small city.
Jiang Baimian resisted the urge to raise her hand and rub her eyes.
As an Awakened in the Shattered Mirror domain, she confirmed that the Heartless from before weren’t her imagination and that their disappearance was real.
Jiang Baimian composed herself and continued her observation in an attempt to confirm. During this process, she also ‘observed’ the Heartless’s activities, wanting to determine which were ordinary and which had Awakened abilities.
What puzzled her was that the Heartless that had appeared were doing specific things. There were no so-called ‘supervisors,’ so she couldn’t tell who had a higher status.
After some observation, Jiang Baimian preliminarily divided the Heartless into two categories based on her analysis of their work: The first was to maintain the supply lines’ integrity and normality. The second was to ensure the current race’s livelihood and improve the surrounding environment.
At this thought, Jiang Baimian’s heart palpitated. The latter type is what these Heartless need to survive. It’s an additional product of their core work…
In other words, someone implanted the corresponding thoughts in them to ensure the normal operation of the power system… Does this mean that some important items that require electricity are hidden in the area where the tower is?
The reason Jiang Baimian used the term ‘items’ and not ‘machines’ was that she remembered that Swamp Ruin 1 had been powered for decades because Xiaochong wanted to play games.
Although the game console was also a machine, it was still different from the machines that Jiang Baimian subconsciously thought of.
As these thoughts raced through her mind, Jiang Baimian saw a few Heartless walk over. She immediately held her breath and focused.
Just like before, the Heartless disappeared without a trace as soon as they crossed an invisible boundary on their way to the tower.
…
In the mall where Yama Tiger was imprisoned in the New World.
Shang Jianyao walked in the darkness and watched the lights shimmer to life one after another with him before extinguishing one level after another.
According to his previous guess and Jiang Baimian’s calculations, he knew that Yama Tiger was on the fourth floor. A weak lamp that was about to go out was situated there.
Before long, Shang Jianyao arrived at his destination and saw a grayish-white shutter sealing the entrance.
“Nothing happened.” The rash Shang Jianyao looked around and smiled smugly. “Didn’t I say so. Who would dare stop Xiaochong’s good friend?”
The others chose to remain silent.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Shang Jianyao slammed the shutters.
“Is there anyone? Is there anyone?” he shouted as he slapped.
After shouting many times, he shook his head in disappointment. “Was Yama Tiger deprived of his senses? He actually didn’t react…”
When he knocked on the door, he noticed that the situation here was indeed very similar to his previous encounter.
The door seemed to be welded to the wall, and the wall was indestructible! In other words, he couldn’t barge by force.
The ruthless Shang Jianyao coldly replied to his peer, “You’re so noisy that you’ve drowned out every sound.”
“That’s right!” Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and punched his left palm. He then quietened down and placed his ear against the shutter.
In the silence, Shang Jianyao heard a weak voice. “Save me…”
“It’s indeed you, Yama Tiger!” Shang Jianyao replied excitedly as if he had met an old friend in a foreign land.
“Save me…” Yama Tiger’s cry for help was as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.
Shang Jianyao stroked his chin and smiled. “I can’t open this door now. If I want to save you, I’m afraid I have to understand the entire matter and find the problem.”
The shutter seemed to have a certain shielding effect. Logically speaking, Yama Tiger was weak, hungry, and close to fainting. He would instinctively attempt to extract the human consciousness around him, but Shang Jianyao didn’t feel anything.
After Shang Jianyao repeated his words a few times, Yama Tiger finally reacted. “Who are you… You know me?”
“I saw your body on Lake Heart Island.” The honest Shang Jianyao never lied. “I have to know what you encountered before I can think of a way to save you.”
In the current situation, Yama Tiger had to make a Hail Mary effort, especially when the other party had expressed his willingness to help him.
Even if this was a trap, he would jump in without hesitation. Therefore, he forced himself to focus and intermittently said, “Back then, I entered this place. Not long after, my wits suddenly became dull, and I couldn’t think. Then, a voice told me to come here. I came over in a daze and was locked in this room.
“In the beginning, I was too anxious. I extracted consciousness from a large number of my believers and fed on them to replenish my expenditure. This resulted in them either dying or becoming Heartless—they couldn’t provide me with food anymore. Later, every time I was about to starve to death, someone would provide me with some food so that I remained in this limbo of life and death. I remained in this weak state the entire time.”
“Who’s providing you with food?” Shang Jianyao asked.
“I’ve never seen him. I don’t know who he is,” Yama Tiger replied weakly.
Shang Jianyao changed his angle. “Who made you dim-witted?”
“I don’t know.” Yama Tiger couldn’t hide the hatred in his tone.
“This is very similar to Moron Halo, an Awakened ability in the Master Zhuang domain,” Shang Jianyao said to himself.
He didn’t let Yama Tiger waste too much energy on this meaningless question and sincerely asked, “Why do you think that person locked you up? Yes, we can lock onto the corresponding suspect once we find the motive for the crime.”
Yama Tiger ignored his strange analogy and fell silent for a while. “I suspect that he wants my body.”
“What?” Shang Jianyao was shocked. “He’s a rapist?”
As for whether it was a man or a woman, that didn’t matter.
Yama Tiger spoke for a while before his words became a little smoother. “No, I didn’t mean that. When I still had enough food, I observed the situation here from the window—the lights here rarely disappear. This means that it’s very difficult for them to return to reality. Th-this might be a mental prison.”
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Shang Jianyao applauded Yama Tiger. “It’s really impressive that you can come to such a conclusion based on observation.”
Yama Tiger didn’t have the energy to be polite and continued, “The person who dealt with me might want to transfer their consciousness into my body when an opportunity presents itself and escape to reality. My neighbor, Modeus, has such an ability. Even if that person doesn’t have it himself, he can achieve his goal by obtaining the corresponding items.
“If I’m not wrong, that person has several people like me locked up in different places. Having more choices is never a bad thing.”