Horn retaliated:
"I can't possibly start from when the Free State massacred the Native Americans, or when they discovered the Free Continent during the Age of Exploration, right? Or do you want me to start from the apocalypse, when the Free State built the Ark?"
Wen Xishu responded:
"Alright, it's my turn. This prisoner has a very powerful ability, perhaps surpassing all other Ability Users on the Ark, but overall, he simply longs to escape the apocalypse on the Ark."
Horn nodded:
"Although I don't know why you have this assumption, it does not conflict with the story I am about to tell."
"He longs to escape the apocalypse and has always been hiding his ability."
"But he was still discovered by other Ability Users. The captain of the Ark, possibly fearing his power, or driven by some greedy desire, joined forces with the other Ability Users to imprison him."
Wen Xishu continued:
"But after that, strange things started happening on the Ark. The imprisoned Ability User was so powerful, beyond anyone's imagination."
"And the original sea area suddenly turned into a red sea on that day."
"The Scarlet Sea was named by your captain as the Sea of Evil. Of course, if we had more details, we could know why he called this sea area the Sea of Evil."
"Then, the Ark started being attacked by mysterious creatures—the Sea Beast."
"To stop the Sea Beast's attack, there was only one way—to send people into the fragments of the Evil Land. Once eight people went in, the Sea Beast's fury would be temporarily appeased."
Horn felt increasingly comfortable, realizing that Wen Xishu and he shared the same thoughts. He felt a sense of kindred spirit, a feeling he had never experienced before.
"My turn? Okay, actually everyone was deceived, thinking the Sea of Evil was a real sea. But the truth might be different, maybe the Sea of Evil... and the fragments of the Evil Land, are not real."
"No matter how far the Ark sailed in the Sea of Evil... the Sea Beast could always suddenly catch up with the Ark."
"Perhaps, the Sea Beast never left the Ark, the Sea Beast was actually summoned by someone on the Ark."
"That person was the one imprisoned by the captain and many Ability Users."
Wen Xishu immediately responded:
"Yes, it wasn't the beast that invaded; it's because the master of the beast was on the Ark from the start."
"The Sea Beast attacked the Ark because it wanted to rescue that person."
This time, Horn did not respond immediately. He pondered for a while before slowly speaking:
"That imprisoned person has a powerful ability. He wants to save himself. But he can only be saved through the Sea Beast."
"Originally, we thought that only by approaching the fragments of the Evil Land, that is, landing on the island, could we avoid the Sea Beast..."
"But now it seems that landing on the island is a way to eliminate the Sea Beast's desire to attack? Or a way to sever the connection between that person and the Sea Beast?"
"Let me indulge in a conspiracy theory: suppose the sacrifice of some concept by the eight people can appease the Sea Beast's desire to attack—"
"Here lies the contradiction."
Wen Xishu nodded:
"Yes, I can't understand this either. If we all lost the concept of women, it could make the Sea Beast stay calm and not attack us the next day."
"So why does it attack us when we refuse to lose this concept?"
Their story-piecing suddenly halted.
Because they were both stuck. After a while, Wen Xishu said:
"Is it possible... that the two kinds of Sea Beasts are not part of the same system?"
"Is it possible, the Sea Beast in the Sea of Evil is the manifestation of the imprisoned person's desire to save himself."
"And the Sea Beast in the fragments of the Evil Land symbolizes... some kind of correction mechanism?"
Horn immediately understood what Wen Xishu was implying, he showed a hint of astonishment:
"You mean... there is no Sea of Evil? And no island called the fragments of the Evil Land?"
Wen Xishu said:
"Have you heard of 'brain in a vat'?"
Horn's face turned somewhat pale.
"You should remember? Once we reach a certain stage, the beast will induce illusions in everyone," Wen Xishu asked again.
Horn nodded:
"Yes... yes, I understand, Wen Xishu, I understand everything now!"
"So that's how it is... so that's how everything is?"
Horn truly understood, and Wen Xishu understood too.
Horn started speaking continuously:
"If we never land on the island, we will see rotten flesh appear on the cabin walls. It's like... we are inside the belly of the Sea Beast."
"Also, each island is different. On some islands, the concept lost is children, on others, it's the elderly. And some islands... like ours, the concept lost is women."
"Moreover, the fragments of the Evil Land, that is, these islands, some are cities, some are deserts, and some are small towns..."
"Ever-changing, messy. At first, I thought of it as a game setting... this is the game setting."
"But now I realize, it's not like that!"
"It's consciousness! It's a habitat of consciousness!"
"Remember our way of leaving?"
Wen Xishu certainly remembered:
"The scarlet sea fog blocked the view, and the sea monster kept attacking from outside. No one could see the scene outside the sea fog, and no one dared to open the window to face the sea monster."
"So no one saw... there were no islands around the Ark!"
"And so-called landing on the island was not the Ark stopping by an island at all!"