Chapter 439: Collapse (4K)

"Oh?"

Truth by His Side grew interested. With a wave of his hand, he summoned two monobloc hawker-stall chairs made from giant bones, and invited Li Cheng and Grey Rain to sit.

With another wave, he conjured out of thin air a translucent sphere two meters in diameter, radiating a faint starlight.

"This is a Star-Realm Cocoon — essentially an independent demiplane. Even if a nuclear bomb went off inside, it wouldn't affect the outside world."

Truth by His Side said, "Put the thing inside."

"Mm." Li Cheng pressed his hand against the surface of the translucent sphere. With a single thought, the square cardboard box dropped into the Star-Realm Cocoon, floating lightly and slowly spinning.

"Mm."

Truth by His Side observed the cardboard box intently, turning the Star-Realm Cocoon over in both hands — enlarging it at times, shrinking it at others — and then conjured a number of bizarrely shaped star-realm creatures to assist in his analysis.

The analysis took a while. The succubus Hazelnut, trailing the seductive fragrance of her body, quietly drew close and offered a teacup. "Please have some tea."

"Thank you."

Li Cheng took the teacup on reflex. Inside the mutton-fat jade porcelain cup was a slightly viscous black-green liquid. A dozen or so tiny half-melted souls of little people struggled desperately within, weeping and crying out for help at the top of their lungs.

Ugh. Li Cheng had heard of this — the tea was called "Evil-Filled to the Brim," and it specifically collected hopelessly fallen souls, refining them into tea.

Drinking it could clear the mind, sharpen the wits, and to a certain extent even nourish the soul and extend one's lifespan.

A single cup sold for as much as 2,000 game coins.

Because the effects were so good and the cost of production so high, it had even caused ripples in the real world — Mexican drug-cartel bosses, Middle Eastern extremist organizations, snake-head human traffickers, even medical-insurance corporate executives and Wall Street elites, all of them had been precisely hunted down and packaged off to the Evil Science Alliance.

In theory, the same effect could be achieved using noble souls instead of squeezing fallen ones.

However, in this day and age, noble souls — those with unyielding wills that never broke, full of ideals and beliefs, burning like flames — were, first of all, extremely rare. Even when they existed, they were either hard to identify, or protected like giant pandas; killing one would bring serious consequences.

No matter how crazy the bounty hunters of the world got, they couldn't exactly go batch-shopping from the frontline staff of organizations like Médecins Sans Frontières or UNICEF, could they?

(GOC: You little punk, am I letting you off easy?! Keep showing off and I'll make you fly!)

Even if bounty hunters dared to sell noble souls, the Evil Science Alliance's procurement staff might not dare to buy them.

Therefore, it was still more time- and effort-efficient — and the consequences lighter — for big villains to squeeze the little ones.

"Save me, I don't want to die!"

"Little brother, I have sixty million in assets in a Swiss bank account. If you get me out of here, I'll give you all of it."

"If you dare drink me, you won't die a good death either! I'll be waiting for you down below!!"

The souls in the teacup, melted down to only their upper halves, either cursed or pleaded.

Li Cheng felt no sympathy for these people, but the sight of them with tears and snot streaming down their faces really did put him off his appetite.

Grey Rain, however, didn't mind at all. He grinned cheerfully at the spirits in his teacup and said, "You lot kill each other first. Whoever's the last one standing, I'll let him go. How about it?"

The spirits looked at one another, then without the slightest hesitation began attacking each other — strangling, drowning, gouging out eyes.

"Let me tidy that up a bit."

Hazelnut leaned in close, and using tweezers, snapped off the heads of every spirit in Li Cheng's teacup, melting them down into pure soul-liquid. "Please, enjoy."

At that moment, Truth by His Side let out an amused, interested chuckle. "So that's how it is."

He dispersed the Star-Realm Cocoon, set the cardboard box on the desk, and said casually, "This is a half-hidden chamber."

"A hidden chamber can be half of one?" Li Cheng took a sip of the tea. The soul-tea really was fresh and refreshing, penetrating straight to the heart, and he couldn't help but nod. "Full-bodied flavor."

"That requires defining what a hidden chamber is first."

Truth by His Side said offhandedly, "According to the GOC official dictionary, a hidden chamber is a building, facility, or structure within a Killing Ground that possesses special properties. Their functions vary, and their principles are difficult to comprehend.

Even within a Killing Ground of infinite possibilities, they count as miracles that cannot be replicated."

He paused, then smiled. "To put it as an analogy, a Killing Ground entity is like a luxury villa with no one living in it.

The owner of the villa has disappeared. Most of the appliances are old and broken down; only a few devices — like the robot vacuum — are still running on their own.

One day, an ant crawls in through the window. It can't understand what those appliances are actually for, so it can only press buttons and fumble clumsily along according to its own understanding.

In its understanding, the washing machine provides clean water, the open refrigerator brings a cold breeze, and the projector brings light."

As a top-tier powerhouse, the information Truth by His Side possessed was far beyond what could be compared to those boastful forum posts of the "my uncle's a high-up at the Clock Tower, and Hornheim personally delivers milk to our door every Christmas" variety.

Li Cheng sat up straight, listened attentively, thought for a moment, then said, "The ant is the player, the robot vacuum is the countless constructs wandering the Killing Ground, and the household appliances are the hidden chambers."

"Exactly."

Truth by His Side nodded. "The technological gap between players and the builders of the Killing Ground is even greater than that between ants and humans — so much so that the former can't comprehend the latter's creations at all.

The major guilds may appear to 'occupy' hidden chambers, but in reality they can't actually control them — they just know how to press the buttons.

The whole claim that 'major guilds are powerful because they occupy hidden chambers, and occupy hidden chambers because they're powerful' is nothing but a lie used to fool the transcedents below. The guilds themselves don't even necessarily know the correct way to use hidden chambers."

If these earth-shattering remarks were posted on the player forums, they'd surely cause an enormous uproar.

Truth by His Side paid it no mind and went on, "If the Bureau of Special Affairs' Imitation Stellar Corridor, the GOC's Horn Room — hidden chambers with complete functions, running well, usable at the push of a button — are like the villa's large appliances,

then there also exist many small, half-broken household appliances that need repair. These are the so-called half-hidden chambers.

The cardboard box you brought is one of them."

Having said that, he snapped his fingers with the hand hidden beneath his yellow robe, and the cardboard box sitting on the desk immediately began to shake violently, emitting a piercing, inhuman shriek layered a thousand times over.

"To explain it in terms humans can understand, the cardboard box's function is to purify souls and retain souls."

"Purify and retain."

Li Cheng exchanged a glance with Grey Rain, and vaguely understood.

Indeed, whether it was the Vietnamese woman they met on the surface, the patient with facial recognition distortion syndrome, or the wounded, hooded figure F in the underground inverted pyramid, all of them fit the bill of those with deep, bitter grievances.

Drop them into a horror-film set, and within minutes they'd brew up a vengeful ghost.

"If I'm not mistaken, in its complete state, the cardboard box can contain the souls of the dead, ferry and purify them, allowing them to exist for a long time within the sub-plane the box creates.

In fantasy terms, it's the divine kingdom believers go to after death.

In xianxia terms, it's a privately run little underworld, or a Human-Emperor Banner."

This explanation was fairly close to Li Cheng's earlier guess inside the secret realm,

Li Cheng sighed in relief and asked, "What about those anomalous entities inside the inverted pyramid? What are they? Where did the players' essence go after the Bai Ma Mu Bei and others lost theirs?"

"Those anomalous entities are likely spirits that have gained partial authority."

Truth's Side spread his hands and said, "In the sub-realm constructed by the cardboard box, the boundary between matter and will is not clear—will can influence, even determine matter."

Therefore, the stronger a spirit's will, the more it grows and strengthens. The most powerful of these anomalous entities may not fully comprehend the nature of the Hidden Space, but that doesn't stop them from competing with each other for control of the half-Hidden Space."

Their slaughter of Bai Ma Mu Bei and others was likely motivated by this very goal—players are special; possessing a player's essence allows one to better control the Hidden Space."

Ultimately, they seek to become Buddhas and ancestors within the sub-realm, acting as omnipotent gods."

As for what the 【Chayu Ji】 is, perhaps it is another spirit besides Mountain L, the Black-Clothed Woman H, and the Hooded Man F. You must know that the Killing Field Entity connects not only to our Earth, but to other worlds. 【Chayu Ji】 might be someone from a parallel world."

Most of the suspicious points were explained, but some still didn't add up.

If the ultimate goal of the anomalous entities is to trap and kill players to seize their essence, then when we first met, the Black-Clothed Woman should have killed us all."

Li Cheng held his teacup in both hands, his brow still furrowed; after a long while, he asked, "What should we do with this cardboard box now?"

"The choice is yours."

Truth's Side said, "The cardboard box, as a half-Hidden Space, must be placed within a Killing Field Entity to function, and it lacks obvious offensive or defensive properties."

"I recommend three options."

"One: you take control of the cardboard box, abandon your previous power system, and transform into a half-human, half-spirit form, walking the path of faith and deification."

The cardboard box is essentially a low-end, budget version of a divine domain; the spirits drawn inside become your petitioners."

As long as you offer sufficiently generous conditions, there are plenty of people in the real world willing to become your followers."

"Two: you control the cardboard box, but do not transform yourself into a half-human, half-spirit form; instead, you reach an agreement with the spirits residing within."

Let them fight for you in exchange for you not storing the box in your inventory slot."

(The inventory slot has a time-stasis function—placing the box inside puts all spirits within into temporal stasis.)"

"Three: abandon the cardboard box, sell or rent it to a major guild like GOC. You could also sell it to me—I guarantee a fair price."

Each of these three options has pros and cons, depending entirely on your personal development plan and your assessment of future Killing Field dynamics."

Truth's Side was open and sincere—a half-logistics-type Hidden Space held some value for him, but not enough to make him violate his principles—even if he himself might no longer be human, that's hard to say."

Li Cheng pondered for a long time, until the tea in his cup turned cold, then looked up and asked, "I still want to know first—is this an illusion?"

"Hmm, good question." Truth's Side didn't show impatience; instead, he leaned back and sank into a monobloc outdoor chair.

"From your description, the Hooded Man F's ability is Infinite Fear—pulling people into an illusion where truth and falsehood are indistinguishable."

Such illusion techniques have three tiers. The lowest tier: a person cannot imagine anything they have never seen or heard."

Simply picking up a book you've never read within the illusion is enough to discern truth from falsehood."

You've already performed this check—you can rule it out."

The next tier fully exploits human imagination, constructing illusions from scratch."

Like in dreams, even if the dream is absurd, you remain unaware within it due to cognitive blind spots—only upon waking do you sense something's off."

You said you carry an Epic-quality item capable of dispelling illusions—so this tier can also be ruled out."

As for the highest tier of illusion," Truth's Side's tone grew slightly more serious, "it no longer relies on the human brain's operation, but on the power of cosmic laws."

"When false becomes true, truth becomes false; where nothing exists, something still exists."

Harder to break than the brain-in-a-vat scenario—infinitely extending, infinitely compiling, it is nearly another possible version of reality, bordering on the Dao."

Under such circumstances, the illusion itself cannot escape the illusion."

Li Cheng asked instinctively, "Including you?"

"Including me."

Truth's Side's voice carried a hint of amusement: "If Master Pi Fu is still within the illusion, then I am your imagination, a product forged by the power of cosmic laws."

Like a multiplayer online game—no matter how powerful or advanced an NPC's data, it remains data, incapable of freeing itself on its own."

"Still, I'm not worried about myself."

The version of me you imagine should be just as confident as the real Truth's Side—never plagued by self-doubt."

For me, life goes on as usual."

Hui Yu couldn't help asking, "So does that mean we, as the origin, still can't tell if this is an illusion? Are our real selves still inside the inverted pyramid's secret realm, about to have our eyes gouged out by the Hooded Man?"

"Hard to say."

Truth's Side chuckled lightly: "But one thing is certain: in nature, creatures that evolved venom glands are nowhere near as large or ecologically dominant as lions, tigers, or elephants."

Any mechanism-based monster's true body is usually weak."

If this is still an illusion, then the Hooded Man F must wait until you've completely gouged out your own eyes and fully submitted to him before he dares to relax."

In other words—you still have time to wake up. Maybe a year. Maybe decades."

This answer didn't dispel their doubts. Li Cheng and Hui Yu exchanged glances, seeing mutual worry in each other's eyes. They rose silently, set down their teacups, and left the headquarters of the Evil Science Alliance."

Back on Shabby Street, the clamor of voices and the blaring ads from giant screens filled the air with the scent of life."

Li Cheng took Hui Yu to several of the most expensive restaurants on Shabby Street, ordered a pile of rare ingredients they'd never tasted, and devoured them like a storm."

Taste, touch, smell—all felt utterly real. Not a single flaw could be detected."

"."

Even after returning home at night, Li Cheng's brow remained furrowed. If the entire world was an interpretation based on his cognition and the power of cosmic laws, then it was indeed a more despairing scenario than the brain-in-a-vat."

Seeing his worry, Hui Yu shrugged and said casually, "Don't be so anxious. Didn't Truth's Side say it? Even if this is an illusion, we still have at least a year to slowly look for flaws."

Besides, even if it's an illusion, can it even simulate this?"

Hui Yu picked up his phone—the screen displayed the latest, hottest mobile game:

Honkai: Fengtian Railway.

The game's cover featured Big Boss, giving a thumbs-up: "Fam, this game is insane!"

???

Li Cheng's eye twitched; ever since Jingge's AI technology emerged, everything from art to programming, level design to balance planning, could be handed over to AI.

Users only needed to come up with ideas; anyone could make their own game now. The final products grew more absurd one after another.

Just based on Breaking Bad, there were already several licensed mobile games: "Pound-Drop, Buy It All," "God Ice Salesman," "Ice and Goods of Song," "Addiction: Little Dumpling," "New Reagent Suit Warrior," "Wu's Special Ice," and "Wu Poison Self-Upgrades."

Licensed adaptations of Hannibal included "Time Eater Agent," "Decapitated Kitchen," and "Scent-Eater of Women."

A normal illusion truly couldn't replicate these things.

Forget it, he sighed and said to Hui Yu, "Go sleep first. I'll think some more."

"Oh." Hui Yu nodded, hesitated a moment, then gently ruffled Li Cheng's hair, as he often did to her.

Then she yanked out a large handful of his hair.

Damn, I forgot his hair isn't like mine—it's not made of metal filaments.