Chapter 520: Information World

A Meng tugged at the corner of his mouth, half sighing, half probing, and said:

"I guess, no matter what the prophecy's outcome is, you won't refuse my proposal."

Without waiting for Lei Kedun's reply, he raised his hand and pinched the monocle at his right eye, and a blinding white instantly engulfed everything.

This state lasted less than a second; the blazing white light gradually faded, revealing a sky where stars, sun, and moon coexisted, appearing extremely chaotic.

Beneath the chaotic sky lay an ancient-style, ornately decorated architectural complex, the buildings arranged in a staggered yet orderly fashion, somewhat resembling the layout of the real-world Sai Xiting, yet completely different in many details.

On the city's streets, many pedestrians in ancient attire came and went, looking lively, yet not a sound was emitted—an eerie silence.

They were like puppets on strings, able only to move according to fixed procedures, their faces numb and stiff, devoid of any lively spirit.

Besides their numb, stiff expressions and movements, they bore many signs of mutation: some grew fish-like scales on their skin, some eyes turned into cold vertical pupils, and some sprouted tails, ears, and short, coarse, thick fur. Standing beside Lei Kedun, A Meng spoke like a tour guide, describing the situation here: "This is a manifestation of their spiritual pollution."

"They?" Lei Kedun keenly noticed A Meng's wording.

A Meng lightly nodded and said: "Yes, although what you see of them still barely retains some human form, this is merely a calm facade; they have long since completely mutated into monsters over a long time, and even the slightest stimulus will instantly reveal their true monstrous appearance."

Seeking to verify his words, A Meng smiled and walked up to a man dressed like a sailor, lightly patted his shoulder, and asked: "Did you see the fish I placed here?"

The man with a numb, stiff expression slowly turned his neck, emitting creaking sounds, as if his head might fall off at any moment.

"Fish"

"Fish fish."

He repeated A Meng's words over and over, but could only utter the syllable 'fish'.

As he opened his mouth, the dense beard covering half his face shifted up and down, revealing the inner mouthparts full of transparent, viscous slime and sharp teeth.

This no longer resembled human lips at all; it was more like the mouthparts of some marine creature, the slick, transparent slime continually dripping, and his dense beard began to writhe as if alive.

"Fish I see. See"

"Huh-huh."

Its speech gradually became slurred, leaving only the hoarse sound of air friction.

More slick tentacles slid out from under his clothing; his whole body instantly slumped into a mass, and numerous brightly colored tentacles, pieced together from chunks of flesh, extended from the gaps in his garments, oozing a pale yellow pus-like viscous fluid.

The surrounding light suddenly dimmed, the air seeming to take on a sea-blue hue as if submerged underwater, with fine droplets continually seeping out.

Lei Kedun unconsciously raised his hand to cover his mouth and nose; he felt a strange suffocation, a salty dampness in his mouth, as if he had suddenly been plunged into the deep sea.

A Meng raised his hand and pinched the monocle at his right eye; the anomalous visions around him vanished instantly, and the surrounding space turned into a hollow gray-black.

Only that brightly colored mass of tentacles, pieced together from many chunks of flesh, continued to writhe, driven by a mad, destructive primal urge, lashing its tendrils toward Lei Kedun and A Meng.

The deep blue flowing in Lei Kedun's eyes paused for an instant; before he could raise his hand to act, specks of brilliant gold starlight emerged, radiating unmatched light and heat, instantly filling the entire space.

The tentacles that had been writhing instantly melted like wax into droplets that continually dripped down.

The frenzy and destructive primal urge exuded from the tentacles also swiftly subsided, while an extreme fervor, an extreme ardor, began to rise.

Lei Kedun's face suddenly grew grave; he felt his spirituality rapidly draining, and even a bit of his will merged into this false world, evolving toward an extreme, twisted, heretical direction, while forging some connection between himself and this false world.

Without hesitation, he followed his intuition, reaching out with his right hand to grasp the void, and seized a layer of dark mist bearing a 'hidden' effect.

The surrounding light and heat quickly dimmed, and the nascent connection between him and this false world was instantly severed.

A Meng raised his right-eye monocle, speaking with a belated realization: 'This world built from information is incomplete; its low-level rules are too crude, with too many logical loopholes, causing any extraordinary power here to be infinitely amplified.'

'Just like before, clearly just an ordinary out-of-control monster, its aura spreading out directly formed a half-real, half-false ocean.'

'Although this is merely a false world constructed from information, the dangers encountered here still feed back to some extent onto our true spiritual selves.'

Lei Kedun glanced thoughtfully at A Meng and added in a flat tone: 'This city constantly erodes the spirituality and will of intruders, especially when they use extraordinary abilities, making the situation even more severe.'

'I'm curious: if I cannot properly restrain myself and timely sever my connection to this world, what will the final result be?'

A Meng, with a reminiscent expression, lightly laughed and said:

'I once conducted an experiment: once spirituality and will are completely eroded, this world automatically generates a new you, truly becoming part of this place, just like the person I greeted earlier.'

Lei Kedun nodded thoughtfully and said: 'No wonder you said the people here have long since mutated into monsters.'

A Meng spoke with a sigh:

'In the midst of despairing darkness, this false world becomes their sole light and salvation; when they become immersed in it, they have already cast danger behind them.'

While speaking, he reached out and gently pulled forward.

With a tearing sound, the area shrouded in dark mist was pulled by him into an exaggerated rift.

As the rift appeared, Lei Kedun felt the previously dim light and heat around him revive, and extreme fervor and excitement began to spread.

Restraining the impulse to use extraordinary abilities, Lei Kedun followed behind A Meng, stepping away from this area through the rift.

Just after stepping out of the rift, he noticed the surroundings had changed; he and A Meng had arrived before a magnificent, splendid palace complex.

Lei Kedun calmly glanced at A Meng, realizing that he had altered the position of the rift's other end just moments before.

Feeling his gaze, A Meng turned back, raised his hand, and pointed to the magnificent, ancient-style palace complex behind him, saying:

'This is the manifestation of the temple of Sai Xiting from reality here; it is alive, crafted by the artisans here using the heart left by the Secret Angel, and simultaneously serves as the hub of this information world.'

'There is still some time before it becomes active; we need to speed it up a bit.'

As he spoke, A Meng lightly shook the crystal monocle in his right hand, and suddenly an ancient, mottled giant phantom appeared above his head.

This phantom resembled the face of a stone-carved wall clock, divided into twelve sections, each either grayish-white or bluish-black, intermingled with clear boundaries, each bearing different symbols.

Within the giant phantom, an indescribable intangible surge suddenly welled up, as if crossing vast ages; everything around was swept up by this surge, surging forward on the scale of time.

To him, this information-constructed world was merely a toy to play with at will. Lei Kedun, meanwhile, sighed in his heart while staring fixedly ahead, at the palace buildings that rose and fell like a heart.

The decorative gears on the walls all began to turn, continuously emitting clacking sounds, and the staggered palaces kept rising and falling, adjusting their positions.

The sun, moon, and stars simultaneously appearing in the sky also began to oscillate, sending out ripples as they sought their respective places.

During this process, Lei Kedun's eyes once again became extremely deep, losing focus, a vast blank.

In his mind, blurry human silhouettes continually flashed, interconnected yet separate, like different facets of a single person's personality.

It had gone mad. The consciousness of numerous natives, together with the pollution they bore, formed various personality facets here; no wonder the resurrected Secret Angel would fail. Once revived, it would become this, turning into a monster of pure mad instinct; self-imposed slumber would be the best choice—unfortunately, he encountered A Meng.

While sighing, Lei Kedun raised his hand and condensed eye after eye containing countless stars, flashing with icy pure light, cold and aloof.

These eyes had no eyelashes; they blinked and merged into this world of information, turning into dim points of light that drifted outward, gathering information here.

A Meng finished stealing time, arms crossed over his chest, and said calmly:

"Turns out you were eyeing this information world itself; I thought you wanted the relic of the 'Secret Angel,' and I've already awakened it for you."

Lei Kedun tilted his head to look at A Meng, spoke flatly: "What do you want to get from it"

He hadn't finished speaking when this world suddenly trembled; huge fissures spread outward from the center, from the tallest, most splendid palace, like a dense, huge spiderweb.

(End of chapter)