Chapter 451: Gao Yuan

The boss of the Great Spear Society has been around this long—what hasn’t he seen?

He’s seen at least eighty or a hundred corpses!

But now, a corpse is knocking on the door right before his eyes.

Even those eyes—only the dead possess them, still glazed with white sclera—are calmly staring at him.

Then, at the instant the door opened, an invisible rule immediately took effect.

In that moment, the Great Spear Society boss’s heart instantly stopped!

This isn’t metaphorical.

Visibly, the house remained unchanged, yet the dozen or so concerned citizens standing before the corpse seemed to have been instantly thrown back decades in time.

Hearts that should have been beating no longer pulsed; within just a few breaths, bodies began crashing to the floor.

Within the entire house, apart from Zhou Zhe, not a single living soul remained.

The assorted corpses—admittedly—lay on the ground with a certain wild, artistic flair.

Finally, the corpse capable of knocking turned its gaze toward the only living being left in the house—

Zhou Zhe!

“Knock, open the door… then trigger some rule that instantly erases everyone who hears the knock?”

Zhou Zhe’s smile deepened: “Door-knock kill?”

He glanced at Nantian Gate—coincidence? Or inevitability?

But…

“Thank Itachi.”

Zhou Zhe paid no heed to the eerie figure clad in a black-gray suit, its face covered in corpse-like spots like a ghost, but sincerely addressed the already-dead concerned citizen:

“Itachi’ve really been diligent.”

“I only paid a few hundred dao—yet Itachi’re willing to throw your lives on the line…”

“Worth every coin!”

With a sigh of emotion, Zhou Zhe was deeply moved—he never expected the social citizens of our Great Beacon Nation to be this dedicated to their posts!

But…

“Itachi make a few hundred a month—why risk your life?”

Zhou Zhe sighed in regret, then finally turned his gaze toward this uninvited guest.

No need for martial virtue toward a corpse—a towering gate, appearing out of thin air, instantly materialized behind the uninvited guest.

Then.

Zhou Zhe’s hand gently pushed the black-gray-suited figure, shoving him straight into Nantian Gate.

Grabbed—and instantly refined!

“Sure enough… it’s a Knocking Ghost!”

Good luck? Or perhaps… terrible luck?

How long has it been since Nantian Gate devoured something so substantial?

What will he feed it with from now on?

Could it be… that when there’s nothing left to eat…

He himself becomes the final meal?

“Nantian Gate… plus a Knocking Ghost…”

Zhou Zhe murmured softly: “Let me see what kind of foundation Nantian Gate truly is…”

“Are Itachi a pure product of this world? Or merely wearing a mask of its colors? Let me test Itachi now!”

Knock knock knock!

Zhou Zhe unleashed the power of the Knocking Ghost, striking Nantian Gate again and again.

If Itachi are a Ghost-God version of Nantian Gate, then Itachi will surely do this—but if Itachi are merely wearing a mask, and in essence remain the sacred, exalted Gate of Heaven’s Axis, then Itachi must also be able to show me a glimmer of hope to break this world’s deadlock!

The next moment, Zhou Zhe couldn’t hold himself together—he froze in place.

Because Nantian Gate had seemingly delivered something utterly unexpected—

【Ding! Gao Yuan’ai has successfully joined the chat group!】

【Ding! Zhou Zhe has successfully joined the chat group!】

“Chat group? Gao Yuan’ai?”

Zhou Zhe repeated those two familiar yet alien words slowly, staring at the mysteriously appearing chat group, his lips twitching, expression strange.

After arriving in this world, he had already done preliminary research—many works from his past life simply didn’t exist here—

Had it not been for his Nantian Gate, glaringly reminding him, he might already have embarked on the path of a literary plagiarist, becoming a legendary literary master!

So… Gao Yuan’ai?

The one from Detective Conan?

Or… is this chat group itself a ghost?

After all, even games had spawned a Game Ghost—so a Chat Group Ghost shouldn’t be surprising, right?

Without hesitation, he immediately summoned Nantian Gate again, paused slightly, then stepped directly inside.

As the legendary Gate of Heaven’s Axis, Zhou Zhe had full confidence in its ontological rank.

If this were merely a Chat Group Ghost, then within Nantian Gate, this ghost could never breach its barrier.

But if he was wrong…

Zhou Zhe’s heart began pounding uncontrollably.

Could it be… he wasn’t part of the Mystery or Erlang Shen lineage at all—but truly the orthodox, royal path of the Multiverse, specifically the Multiverse Chat Group school?

“Unaffected at all—this chat group’s ontological rank seems far above Nantian Gate?”

Realizing this, Zhou Zhe wasn’t alarmed—he was delighted.

But he still couldn’t be certain—he needed to probe further.

Nantian Gate trembled slightly; its position seemed to instantly ascend, and Zhou Zhe’s gaze rose with it—this was High-Dimensional Overlooking.

As the legendary Gate of Heaven’s Axis, this High-Dimensional Overlooking ability was merely basic equipment.

Nothing!

No matter what method he used, the chat group remained separated from him by two entirely different dimensions—no information about it could be glimpsed!

With that, Zhou Zhe no longer hesitated—he followed the prompt and clicked into the group chat interface.

But because he had delayed so long, Gao Yuan’ai, who had joined the group at the same time as him, had already posted first.

Gao Yuan’ai: “So, the little Nan in the chat group is the angel Nan from Naruto?”

Gao Yuan’ai: “Furuzawa is a character from Hunter x Hunter, Aozaki Orange is a legitimate Crown Puppeteer, and Index really is from A Certain Magical Index?”

Gao Yuan’ai: “Mutsuhara Retsu? From Bleach? Kuon Feiniao? The problem child from the Box World?”

Gao Yuan’ai: “Are Itachi all really characters from 2D media, or just a gathering of obsessive 2D fans?”

“Hehehe, interesting.”

Zhou Zhe chuckled softly: “Itachi clearly know something’s off about this chat group, yet Itachi’re acting like a naive idiot?”

If this Gao Yuan’ai truly was the one he remembered, with her intellect that earned her countless doctorates before she was even an adult, she would never act this foolishly.

Pretending not to notice anything abnormal, casually testing the waters?

So Zhou Zhe’s lips curled slightly, revealing a subtle smile…

Zhou Zhe: “@Gao Yuan’ai, so Itachi’re also cosplaying Miyano Shiho, Gao Yuan’ai from Detective Conan?”

Gao Yuan’ai: “Huh? Uh?!!”

The 2D character is me?

Gao Yuan’ai’s pupils contracted sharply—then…

She revealed an expression of sudden understanding—so, I’m the same too!