Chapter 675: Chaotic Space

I don't know which later sequence the ability we just manifested through the paper‑angel belongs to?

While pondering, the starlight covering the city sky suddenly became unstable; one by one, discordant golden stars flashed into view, then quickly extinguished.

The movement overhead made Ai Mulin subconsciously hunch, and he hurried to keep up with the forward "World" Ge Er Man·Si Pa Luo.

After walking for a few minutes, Ke Lai En suddenly stopped, stood still to scan the surroundings, then murmured:

"We are isolated by this city; if we don't interact with it, we can't even leave our spot."

"Ah? Haven't we already moved a good distance away?" Ai Mulin was startled for a moment, then blurted out.

When he looked ahead and to the sides again, the surrounding scene had somehow reverted from the street entrance back to where they started.

Ai Mulin swallowed, moved a little closer to Ke Lai En, and said:

"What's going on? Haven't we already escaped the illusion just now?"

Ke Lai En kept Ge Er Man·Si Pa Luo's cold tone, chuckled lightly and said, "Did you think those were all hallucinations?"

"Or not?" Ai Mulin replied hesitantly.

"The anomaly here should stem from a high‑sequence entity of the 'Judger' path; that thing can peculiarly split space and power."

"What we just encountered should all be dangers hidden somewhere in this city."

While speaking, Ke Lai En kept scanning the surroundings, trying to spot hidden details or clues.

Ai Mulin followed his gaze and also surveyed the area; in a moment, he inexplicably felt the city becoming more discordant, as if every corner exuded disharmony and asymmetry.

He swallowed again and said in a frightened tone:

"Have you noticed the city changing?"

"Hmm." Ke Lai En nodded, paused a second, then continued, "It should be the 'White Tower' that is opposing this city on some level; what we see are merely the aftershocks it creates."

"Then what should we do now?" Ai Mulin asked with some worry.

Ke Lai En replied calmly, "Pray."

"…Pray?"

Ai Mulin was stunned for a moment, then recalling something, closed his eyes and began praying to Mr. 'Fool'.

This time no prayer echoed in Ke Lai En's ears, and everything around remained unchanged.

Sure enough, the Ghost Empire's link to the outside has been completely severed; does this mean I have the ability to resolve the remaining dangers here?

While pondering, Ke Lai En saw streams of clear starlight pouring from midair, magically forming a transparent, radiant long bridge before him and Ai Mulin.

Ke Lai En looked up at the still flickering, shifting starry sky overhead and suddenly asked, "It seems you've already taken the advantage?"

Without waiting for a reply, he stepped onto the star‑woven long bridge and hurried forward.

Ai Mulin hesitated briefly behind, then also stepped onto the bridge.

Following the transparent bridge into midair, standing above all the buildings, Ke Lai En suddenly realized the city was a massive emblem, seemingly strictly symmetrical, yet with subtle discordant gaps or redundancies.

Behind Ke Lai En, Ai Mulin also noticed the city's layout below and said hesitantly:

"It doesn't seem to be any church, secret organization, or angelic family's crest; it does resemble the emblem of the Trolosost Empire, but it's not quite the same."

"Its original form may have belonged to the Terunsost Empire's emblem, but an accident later altered it; the 'Night Emperor's' resurrected hand and arrangement were affected, even polluted, resulting in what is now the 'Ghost Empire'."

While speaking, Ke Lai En took a few more steps forward; the surrounding space grew chaotic—though only three or five steps away, the gap between him and Ai Mulin stretched to hundreds of meters, and even the direction shifted.

Sensing something wrong, Ke Lai En hurriedly stopped. "I was clearly moving forward—how could this happen?" He and Ai Mulin, who was now about a hundred meters to his right, stared at each other for a moment; then he suddenly turned to look behind himself, where Ai Mulin lingered a few steps back, staring blankly to the left.

"The city's basic concepts of direction and distance are chaotic; no wonder we, even after breaking free of its influence, can't even leave our spot."

Only on this star‑light long bridge, protected by a same‑level force, can one avoid getting lost in the city. While pondering, Ke Lai En noticed that parts of the star‑light long bridge beneath him and Ai Mulin were already covered by shadows.

Does any subjective thought, or even an inadvertent glance, count as interacting with the city? It's somewhat like the distortion and amplification of the Black Emperor path.

Halting the scattered thoughts in his mind, Ke Lai En looked at Ai Mulin behind him and said:

"Go straight ahead, try not to look, and don't think about anything related to this city."

"I understand."

Ai Mulin nodded; he also realized that the distance between him and Mr. World had never actually changed—everything was an illusion imposed by the city.

He tried to think of something else; he couldn't keep pondering the city, or else he'd be subtly affected again. Gold‑bordered sunflower powder 30 g, Sunia Island golden spring water 10 ml, two drops of rosemary essential oil—so as not to subconsciously observe and contemplate city‑related matters, Ai Mulin simply recited the potion formulas he knew in his mind to divert his attention.

Ke Lai En and Ai Mulin advanced one after another on the semi‑transparent star‑light long bridge; behind them, twisted, chaotic shadows gradually ate away at the bridge.

After walking forward for nearly half an hour, Ke Lai En and Ai Mulin finally reached the city's center.

Ai Mulin surveyed the massive iron‑black palace ahead and subconsciously said, "That palace really looks like an ancient, grand 'Throne'."

Ke Lai En was stunned, a foreboding feeling welling up inside.

The next second, his footing vanished and he fell straight down; the transparent long bridge woven from hazy starlight had been completely covered by shadows while they weren't looking.

Fine scales surfaced on the glove of Ke Lai En's right hand, his eyes turning a deep blue, and a howling gale suddenly rose around him.

Under his control, the gale swirled in midair, trying to lift his and Ai Mulin's bodies.

The next second, the howling wind became chaotic, no longer obeying Ke Lai En, and whistled away in all directions.

Ke Lai En was stunned; he hadn't expected his extraordinary ability to malfunction within this city, and could only cast a pleading glance toward the brilliant starry sky above.

Ai Mulin adjusted his posture in midair; dense black mist swirled behind him, forming a pair of illusory bat wings that granted him brief flight.

He tried to approach and catch Ke Lai En, but found that the harder he tried, the farther away he became.

Ke Lai En also saw this, shook his head at Ai Mulin helplessly, and again summoned a swirling wind by herding the hungry, wandering souls around, lifting his falling body.

In less than two seconds, the surrounding howling wind turned chaotic again, rushing away in all directions.

At the moment he was about to hit the ground, a star‑woven "door" materialized, instantly transporting Ke Lai En into the interior of the throne‑like palace at the city's center.

Simultaneously, a vague silhouette appeared on that iron‑black "Throne"; its body was extremely indistinct, only a faint golden humanoid outline, but the golden crown atop its head was crystal clear.

When the golden silhouette emerged, the starlight covering the sky suddenly tilted, shedding massive sheets of "radiance" that formed a torrent of chaotic, terrifying information, an illusory form cascading like a waterfall.

These "radiances" intertwined into a similarly towering figure clad in a hooded black robe; beneath the hood there was no face or flesh, only a slowly rotating mass of Star Sand, like a cold, indifferent eye.

Below the black robe, the exposed arms were withered and slender, blackened, etched with one complex three‑dimensional mysterious symbol after another, interwoven into patterns of eyes.

Relying on the "Dark Wing" to fly in midair, Ai Mu Lin's golden light shadow appearing on the iron-black throne instantly made him fall into a dazed state.

The bat wings condensed from the thick black mist behind him instantly dissipated, his body underwent an uncontrolled mutation, and he fell downwards.

Lei Kedun's enlarged left index finger flicked in midair, releasing specks of blue stardust that quickly wrapped around Ai Mu Lin's body, transforming him into an information torrent state and sending him into the starry sky above.

After doing that, he turned his gaze to the opposite pale golden humanoid wearing a magnificent crown made of gold and inlaid with many gems; from his body continuously drifted black mist, from which eyes sprouted, flashing pure light, appearing sacred, extremely rational and cold.

Around him, pale golden chains representing order and rules also appeared, constantly intertwining, attempting to construct a strict, seamless rule system that would completely destroy anything not belonging here.

Lei Kedun looked at the opposite golden light shadow that seemed to have no self and lightly laughed, saying:

"You should already have basic wisdom, aren't you in a hurry? The arrangements in this palace cannot block the aura of the Source Fort."

As he spoke, the eyes that had sprouted around him stared unblinkingly at the constantly intertwining pale golden chains, quickly analyzing the surrounding rules and calculating the loopholes and weaknesses in the constantly modified rules and order.

(End of chapter)