Chapter 340: Light and Darkness

One punch thrown, all things stilled.

Wu Wu Pifu did not know what had attacked him, but when that liquid-like darkness surged in, more than ninety percent of the light sources in the room instantly shrank. Everything around them began to turn pitch black, and at the same time, Wu Wu Pifu's danger intuition flared—there was something in this darkness capable of threatening his life!

Almost instinctively, Wu Wu Pifu threw a punch. As the fist struck, it met no resistance; he had not hit any tangible entity, yet as the punch landed, the darkness before him shattered and vanished. Simultaneously, a brilliant light erupted ahead, so intense that it forced everyone to squint.

This light came and went in a flash, like a stun grenade. After one flare, it vanished rapidly, and before them appeared a gray, hazy street. It was neither dark nor bright, and the source of the light was unknown, with liquid-like darkness surging only a thousand meters away.

"Did we hit something?"

Wu Wu Pifu looked at his own fist, equally bewildered, but before he could ponder it, a wail erupted from behind him.

Three people lay on the ground, covered in wounds and gashes. They were mangled from head to toe; some areas had only skin abrasions, while in other places, large chunks of flesh were simply missing. Their clothing was similarly shredded.

All three wailed in agony. They were elite transcendents, each holding a title; under normal circumstances, even heavier injuries wouldn't have caused them to lose their composure like this. Yet, they wailed violently, and then, one of them stopped breathing mid-wail. Only then did the others crowd around to examine their injuries.

"What happened? When were they attacked?" Gao Zhanggong crouched beside the three, asking urgently.

Everyone shook their heads. At this moment, Wu Wu Pifu frowned and asked, "Just now... were there only seven of us?"

Everyone was shocked. They hadn't noticed until Wu Wu Pifu pointed it out, but once he did, they were struck by the realization that their group had indeed only consisted of seven people.

At this, the middle-aged woman—one of the two who held dual titles—silently placed her hands on the two fallen men. A stream of green light particles flowed from her arms into their bodies.

The wailing of the two men eased slightly, but the middle-aged woman's expression shifted drastically. Gritting her teeth, she pulled her hand away from one man and placed both hands on the other, pouring all her green light particles into him.

The others' faces changed. Wu Wu Pifu was about to ask, but Chu Yuyan reached out to stop him.

Ten seconds later, the man she had abandoned stopped breathing. Only the last one's wails faded into muffled groans before he finally fell unconscious.

The middle-aged woman sighed and stood up. "My healing arts have a daily limit. I've used them all; this is the best I could do. His life is saved, but he will remain in a coma for the rest of the day. There's nothing more I can do."

Everyone looked at her. She knew why—she had chosen to abandon one life to save the other. Regardless of the reason, in a situation involving unknown dangers, her choice was a major taboo.

The woman pulled a dagger from her robes and plunged it into the chest of the man who had died. Without hesitation, she tore his chest open. Everyone leaned in to look, and all were struck with horror.

One-fifth of the man's heart was missing, yet the blood vessels and membranes connected to it remained perfectly intact.

Wang Wang Yihui crouched beside the other corpse and reached out. "Room!"

In an instant, the corpse was sliced into several pieces. Curiously, no blood or flesh spilled out; the cuts were as smooth as mirrors, like a biological specimen.

Wu Wu Pifu watched Wang Wang Yihui's transcendent power, his mouth twitching again.

The others' eyes jumped at the sight, but this was no time to ask about Wang Wang Yihui's ability. They looked at the cross-sections and saw that parts of the man's internal organs were missing, while the surrounding areas were untouched. Specifically, a chunk of his brain stem was gone, which explained why he had died so quickly after a few wails.

Chu Yuyan said immediately, "Emma, you did the right thing! He was beyond saving; you saved the other one!"

The middle-aged woman nodded silently and stood to the side.

Chu Yuyan turned to Wu Wu Pifu. "Wu Wu Pifu, did you really not notice that there were only seven of us?"

Wu Wu Pifu didn't think Chu Yuyan was attacking him, but the fact that he, a transcendent with a super-brain, hadn't noticed three people missing was a bad sign.

He nodded. "Correct. I didn't notice. It wasn't until they reappeared that I remembered there were ten of us, and that those three had vanished."

"Anti-meme effect."

Chu Yuyan, Wang Wang Yihui, and Gao Zhanggong said in unison, their faces grim.

Chu Yuyan continued, "After those three vanished, we lost all memory of them. Wu Wu Pifu has the strongest resistance to anti-memes, which is why he was the first to react, yet even he couldn't perceive them while they were gone. The question is: what attacked them? Did they trigger a rule? Why did they vanish, and why did they reappear?"

The green-headed fly suddenly spoke: "Darkness and light."

Wang Wang Yihui nodded immediately. "Right, their appearance must have something to do with..." Everyone stared at Wu Wu Pifu's waist. At the same time, the "bafflement index" in the corner of Wu Wu Pifu's vision spiked to over a hundred.

The green-headed fly ignored their reaction. "Except for Wu Wu Pifu, you all did the same thing."

The group set aside their eerie feelings. They were all in danger, so they couldn't afford to dwell on a talking fly.

Chu Yuyan and Wang Wang Yihui's eyes lit up. Chu Yuyan said, "Right! Taking out the light sources!"

Yes, when they entered this world, it was pitch black. Aside from the blood-red lightning outside the window, there wasn't a shred of light. So, except for Wu Wu Pifu, who went to the window, everyone had taken out light sources from their personal storage—gelatinous crystals made of organic structures that emitted light when struck.

Without light, they couldn't see anything. To search the room or check the dust, they had to take out the light sources.

Wang Wang Yihui added, "Right! Light sources. If we reverse-engineer the time they reappeared, Wu Wu Pifu attacked an unknown target, triggering a violent flash of light, and then they reappeared in the team... Shadows! They reappeared because they had shadows again!"

Chu Yuyan nodded. "So, we can infer that they vanished because their shadows vanished. During the search, the overlapping light sources created a shadowless space, causing their shadows to disappear, and thus, the people themselves vanished."

Everyone looked at the light sources in their hands.

These were supplies prepared specifically for exploring the darkness. The 29th-century scientists of the Redemption Land had used organic structures to create a diffuse cold light. It looked soft, but it radiated in all directions, and to avoid blind spots, the light could be stacked to create a shadowless environment similar to an operating room. When multiple sources existed, they could indeed create large shadowless zones.

A chill ran through everyone.

Two elite transcendents had died the moment they entered, without a single chance to resist. If not for Wu Wu Pifu's punch triggering an inexplicable flash, they might have vanished entirely without anyone ever knowing. The rest of them, save for Wu Wu Pifu, had likely survived only by luck.

Wu Wu Pifu looked at the hazy gray world outside. "Since the darkness was broken, it's been in this gray state. It's hard to tell if there's light or shadows anymore."

The other dual-title man grunted, "I'll test it!"

He stepped out the door and instantly vanished. Everyone except Wu Wu Pifu, who kept his eyes locked on the doorway, began looking around in confusion. Wang Wang Yihui said, "It seems we need to test if the environment outside creates shadowless spaces."

Wu Wu Pifu was about to rush out to see if he could save the man by creating a shadow, when the man suddenly reappeared in the ranks. He looked unharmed, but his face was ghastly pale.

Everyone was shocked. They recalled the man rushing out, and the man said with a bitter smile, "My title ability allows me to return to my state and position from five seconds ago once every twenty-four hours. Did I vanish just now?"

Chu Yuyan asked urgently, "Yes, you vanished! Did you see what happened?"

"I saw it..."

The man shuddered. "Countless twisted people were crowded into the street, the rooms, and every inch of space. I suddenly appeared in the middle of them... literally in the middle. Parts of them were inside me, and parts of me were inside them. Then they started attacking, biting, and devouring me..."

"That's how those two died. Their organs and brains were embedded into those things and then devoured!"

(End of chapter)

The other tall man with two titles said in a muffled voice, "Let me try!"

After speaking, he walked directly out of the door. In an instant, he disappeared outside the door. And everyone present, except Wu Wu Pifu who had been staring at the door, actually started looking around. Wang Wang Yihui even said, "It seems we have to test whether the environment outside will cause a shadowless space."

Wu Wu Pifu was about to rush out of the door to see if he could save the tall man by creating shadows, but he suddenly appeared in the team. He looked unharmed, but his face was ugly.

Everyone was shocked. They recalled the scene of this man rushing to the outside of the house, and this man smiled bitterly, "My title ability, can be activated once every 24 hours, allowing me to return to the state and position five seconds ago. Just now, did I disappear?"

Chu Yuyan immediately asked, "Yes, you disappeared. Can you see the situation after disappearing!?"

"Saw it..."

The man shivered and said, "Countless twisted people squeezed on the street, in the room, and in everything around the space. I suddenly appeared in the middle of them... the middle in the literal sense. Part of them was in my body, and part of me was in their body. Then they started attacking me, biting me, devouring me..."

"This is the reason for the death of those two people. Their internal organs and brains were embedded in those things, and then devoured!"

(End of chapter)