Chapter 194: Pesticide

"You can name me, which means you've already found the grave I set for Bismuth Yellow and know about the mercury alloy—so I'll cut to the chase."

Silver rasped: "To break the Corpse Web Curse, my companions and I ventured deep into the Killing Ground, searching for the legendary Retrospection Chamber."

I trained in both Psychic Prophecy and Psychic Enchantment; my psychic prophecy revealed that this patch of grass could completely erase my curse."

So I led the team into the grass—and indeed found a power conduit buried underground, leading to the Retrospection Chamber, its flow filled with solidified time streams."

Had everything been normal, we could have followed the conduit upward to reach the Retrospection Chamber."

But the prophecy failed to reveal that before our arrival, the conduit had already been damaged and leaking."

Even though a year—or perhaps countless years—had passed, Silver's voice still brimmed with pain and regret as he spoke."

"The temporal chaos leaking from the conduit formed a natural labyrinth around this patch of grass. No matter what method you use, you cannot escape."

At the same time, no technique can penetrate the golden energy flow to seal the conduit's breach."

Although we had prepared enough food to last many years, everyone in the guild gradually broke down mentally and began killing each other."

I was forced to use my Psychic Enchantment abilities to erase my companions' memories, over and over, making them believe they were entering the grass for the first time."

Over time, Cliff's memory became chaotic, and he was the first to go mad."

Silver said bitterly: "He ambushed and killed two companions, severely wounded me, then fled into the grass, launching continuous attacks."

Over the long passage of time, everyone in the guild—including myself—was killed by him."

He left me alive last, and told me he had uncovered the truth—the grass cycles infinitely; no matter who dies, a new group is always replenished."

Only by killing everyone—including oneself—can the cycle be broken."

Zhao Zijing frowned: "What do you mean? You repeatedly brainwashed and erased Cliff's memories, causing him to believe the cyclical memories were real and invent his own rule?"

"I don't know."

Silver admitted frankly: "Cliff told me that after killing me, the grass would send in a new Mercury Alloy Guild."

He would ambush and kill each member of the new guild, then leave behind a new version of himself as the sole survivor, initiating the second cycle."

"Wait, that doesn't make sense."

Li Cheng interrupted: "Assuming Cliff is telling the truth, how could a Lv20 version of him kill an entire Mercury Alloy Guild filled with Lv30 transcenders in the new cycle?"

We just encountered him—he's still at Lv20."

Second, if he knew killing everyone could break the cycle, why doesn't he just do it? Isn't escaping the grass better than dying trapped here?"

Third, if the infinite cycle exists, the grass should already be piled high with Mercury Alloy Guild corpses."

Silver replied: "The Mercury Alloy Guild wasn't that strong. I specialized in psychic abilities; my close-combat skill was nearly equal to Cliff's."

If he struck first, he could kill me unprepared, then pick off the others one by one."

As for why he didn't kill everyone and then kill himself to escape the grass—"

It might be impossible, or he might be unwilling."

If he escaped the grass, he'd still face the Corpse Web Curse—and die quickly."

As for your last question—why the grass isn't filled with Mercury Alloy Guild corpses—"

Perhaps because we are the beginning of the cycle and possess a certain uniqueness, preserved like these empty batteries."

Corpses from subsequent cycles are erased by the grass's own properties."

Silver strained to dry out his fingers, pointing at the nearly a hundred empty batteries in the mud pit."

"From the number of these batteries, this should be our ninety-somethingth repetition of this conversation."

I'm sorry—each cycle resets my memory to its initial state, so I hold no recollection of past conversations."

Silver looked at Zhao Zijing and rasped: "The last thing I remember is being revived by the previous you."

At her request, I recounted what I knew—then she killed herself."

Zhao Zijing's expression darkened; she murmured: "Why did the previous version of me—or the future me—kill herself?"

Huiyu rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then raised his hand: "Maybe to fulfill the prophecy painting."

Li Cheng's eye twitched; he scoffed: "Who would kill themselves just to fulfill a prophecy painting?"

"Huh? Not really?"

Huiyu exclaimed: "I saw on Douyin that a fortune-teller calculated his own fate and learned he'd die tomorrow."

To protect his reputation, he guzzled dichlorvos, paraquat, hexachlorocyclohexane, trichlorfon, aldicarb, phorate, carbofuran, and dieldrin."

Holy crap—they're all deadly pesticides, right?"

Wouldn't that fortune-teller have been poisoned to death before he even choked on the poison?"

And you, girl—you can't memorize your textbooks, but you remember pesticide brand names like they're scripture. Is your limited brain capacity just for storing this junk?"

Li Cheng clicked his tongue and silently added Huiyu to his list—extra homework, doubled, when they got back."

On the surface, he showed no expression, but his mind raced, analyzing the situation."

The known facts: the Mercury Alloy Guild's time loop has ended; the new loop now begins with Li Cheng and his group."

At the start of this loop, Zhao Zijing acquired some knowledge and discovered she could use mission batteries to revive Silver, who had been dead for a long time."

That itself is strange—according to the system's notes, these batteries use vacuum zero-point energy, designed solely for the Retrospection Chamber's conduit. Why can they revive the dead?"

Unless… all of this is within the Killing Ground's calculations."

"The Killing Ground's batteries were designed from the start to revive the dead."

Li Cheng narrowed his eyes and said to Silver: "The battery just infused into you has less than 40% charge remaining."

If the battery's charge were higher, would you regain more of your strength?"

Silver nodded. "Probably."

"I understand."

Li Cheng said calmly to Silver: "In the Mercury Alloy Guild's time loop, every cycle after the first was identical—no variation whatsoever."

But this time is different; with the introduction of the batteries, each revival and each charge you receive accumulates gradually."

until the quantitative change brings about a qualitative change."

"You mean—"

Zhao Zijing reacted instantly, grasping Li Cheng's meaning in a flash, and said with a frown: "The 'electricity' fed into Argent's body will accumulate in small amounts.

Every cycle, I come with a battery under 40% to charge Argent.

Until some cycle, the electricity stored inside Argent reaches a threshold, enough to restore his original Lv30 strength.

Then he kills Cliff, kills us, and kills himself too, breaking the cycle."

"Exactly."

Li Cheng nodded and said: "The only problem is that our battery for this round is already spent, which means it's time to start the next cycle."

(End of chapter)