Thinking back on it now, the whole thing is drenched in weirdness.
The Heart of Fusion felt like some ultimate answer, something that could solve everything—it could break the fate of mutual slaughter between the constellations, it could solve Longxia’s problem...
But Mr. Jin abandoned the Dragon Hide Plan, and Aries and Libra showed no interest in Xiaojin at all.
Think about it carefully: even if Xiaojin split into two, back then the ones guarding Xiaojin were Aries, Libra, and Mr. Jin. Logically speaking, Xiaojin shouldn’t have been able to leave.
Something strange must have happened at that time.
And now, looking at it, both the birth of the Heart of Fusion and the way I obtained it... are inexplicable.
It’s practically like a trap.
"I’ve already used the Heart of Fusion once, I’ve already bound my fate to Sagittarius. Is something bad going to happen?"
Wen Xishu asked 001.
said:
"Don’t use it anymore. Let it stop right here. Before it’s fused enough bait, you and Sagittarius will be fine."
"I’m sorry, but this is all I can tell you. Beyond this, even I don’t know. But what I’m very sure of is that the Heart of Fusion is not the right answer."
"If it were, this thing would never have fallen into your hands. Aries is very smart, she saw something was off."
Wen Xishu said:
"So the constellations... really have to hunt and kill each other? There’s no other way?"
shook his head:
"In my universe, they couldn’t escape their fate. At first, everyone thought it’d be enough if one or two constellations died, that way everyone else could grow stronger and face the Outer Gods."
"But the more constellations died, the more Outer Gods were unsealed."
"Yet if they didn’t kill each other, they seemed unable to resist the Outer God Power."
"It’s a dead-end with no solution. I see no hope. For this cursed fate hanging over the constellations, we still haven’t found any way out."
"In your universe, those constellations may not be ignorant of the Outer Gods’ existence. Some of them might have already started laying out plans to deal with the Outer Gods."
"But the situation will only get harder, and in the end they’ll still think of hunting each other to complete their evolution."
"However, in your universe, there might be hope. Maybe the correct answer to all of this lies somewhere in your climb through the Deceit Tower."
"Go change more people. Let the constellations gain more Resonant Belonging, or let more people find their own humanity and not be controlled by the Outer Gods."
"That’s the biggest difference between your board and mine."
Wen Xishu still felt somewhat regretful.
This 001 was a product simulated by the Deceit Tower, but he truly had no difference from the real other me.
His disposition was in no way inferior to mine.
But some answers still had to be groped for on my own.
The game continued. More and more versions of Wen Xishu were eliminated, while 001 and Wen Xishu drew closer and closer to the central throne.
When there was only one last dice throw left before the throne, 001 raised his hand.
"I forfeit. I request to withdraw. I accept any punishment that comes with withdrawing."
All the Wen Xishus were stunned.
said:
"This Deceit Tower journey should come to an end. I kind of miss the moment of returning to the Land of Reception. I hope you’ve gained enough. Finally, I hope my exit can give you something."
Those were 001’s last words. Forfeiting meant giving up his universe and his own existence; every Wen Xishu understood that.
[Universe of Wen Xishu No. 001 has been destroyed. Based on causal relations, Wen Xishu of Universe No. 046 has obtained the special relic ’Outer Domain Killer’ from Wen Xishu of Universe No. 001.]
[Outer Domain Killer: Your Anti-Magic Value will grant you extra resistance to Outer Domain abilities, as well as enhanced interpretation and identification of Outer Domain products. Your Slaughter Value cap will grant additional damage and resistance bonuses against Outer Domain creatures.]
Wen Xishu suddenly really wanted to see whether the Heart of Fusion came with any other notes.
He didn’t dwell on 001’s sacrifice, he just became even more aware of how hard his future enemies would be to face.
Under the countless bewildered gazes of other Wen Xishus, Wen Xishu threw the dice and stepped toward the throne.
He finally walked onto the central throne.
At that moment, the central throne presented a special explanation of the rules:
[Within your team, your degree of sacrifice is higher. You will be acknowledged by the throne. Congratulations, you are the throne’s sole owner.]
Wen Xishu wasn’t surprised.
The reason he’d agreed to take the Evil Road in the first place was because there was a line in the game rules—
[I hope your teammates weren’t chosen just for being the weakest. Of course, here’s a piece of advice—you’d better contribute more than your teammates.]
Those who take the Evil Road naturally pay more than those who take the Lucky Road.
But those who chose the Lucky Road wouldn’t necessarily lose. After all, halfway through, it was entirely possible that the one on the Evil Road would die.
[Congratulations on completing the third-round challenge. After this round ends, the remaining ’me’ is one. The Battle of a Hundred Mes has ended. You are about to proceed to the Land of Reception.]
The board was cleared. Wen Xishu had at least not been eliminated by those fake versions of us.
He let out a long breath, then felt a sudden sense of emptiness.
Strictly speaking, the normal floor he’d reached in the tower was only around the fifties or sixties, mid-game at best. But now he felt that what he was touching on already involved the Origin Core.
And the difficulty was spiking sharply.
Wen Xishu grew more curious about whether there would be more special stages like this later on.
But for the moment, he was much more relaxed.
"I keep feeling like the Heart Inquiry will ask some really strange questions. Just as well—I’m also very curious what exactly this Heart Inquiry really is."