[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-surviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c":3,"chapter-surviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c-surviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c-chapter-538":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Surviving the Doomsday Apartment—With Infinite Clones!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},950235,1242,"Chapter 538: The Hidden Player Behind the Chessboard","surviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c-chapter-538",538,"\u003Cp>The dead can... live.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If memory serves, the original phrasing should be—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The living can die, and the dead can live again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those who are born and cannot die, and those who die and cannot be reborn, are not subject to the extremes of feelings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Putting aside the original context of that line,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>its meaning here is—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People who are alive can die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People who are dead can be resurrected!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Does this, to some extent, eliminate \"death\"?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a moment, Lin Dong recalled the question Li Si had asked him before this chaos—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did Sisyphus ultimately eliminate death?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he placed that question into the present situation...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could it be understood that death in this world was erased by some absurd existence?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Dong couldn't help but exclaim, \"Those horrific sounds of wailing and howling just now... could they be the damned rushing out of hell, dead and revived demons?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Those people who were already dead... have they really come back to life?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From Lin Dong's tone, his inner shock was obvious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye, on the other hand, followed Li Si's line \"the dead can live\" and thought of a classic quote—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We can be both of God and the devil.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since we're trying to raise the dead against the stream of time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was a line from Detective Conan, spoken by Vermouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed to encapsulate the purpose of the Dark Organization.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Haibara Ai translated the line as—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We are simultaneously God and devil because we attempt to defy the torrent of time and make all the dead return from the yellow springs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bring the dead back to life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye suddenly thought of the room where Guiwen long dwelled—Room 2218 of Apartment 4869.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that room was filled with the scent of Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street, flat 221B.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Holmes...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>4869...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>APTX-4869.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This appeared to be a drug developed by a dark organization to enable \"revival of the dead.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The organization called it a failed product.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Gin used it as a poison and gave it to Kudou Shinichi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Shinichi's body regressed from seventeen to seven, becoming Detective Conan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Haibara Ai, and even Vermouth, also used the same drug to reverse aging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speaking of reversing age...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among players of this era, the phenomenon is common!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially Sun People players, who even use the degree of age regression to rank players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A newborn infant is regarded as the highest authority level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beyond this era, in the later Doomsday Apartment, cases of age regression also exist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That Evil Infant Wulie!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He even used the effect of age reversal to dodge Lightburn's lethal effect!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He survived from Day Seven of the Doomsday Apartment to Day Eight...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, Jiang Ye connected all these pieces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He suddenly realized...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There also seemed to be a mysterious \"Dark Organization\" in this world!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the extreme ideology of that \"Dark Organization\" strangely paralleled the one in Conan!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye's shock deepened—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why do those Sun People players exist at all?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, like the other Moon People players, he thought these Moon People had been forcibly drawn into this doomsday world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun People were thought to be natives of this world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps those Sun People players were not natives at all!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe they were experimental subjects, even without their own awareness!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not a single lab rat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a whole group—every last one!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The so-called Qiankun Land might actually be an experimental base!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the mastermind behind the entire base could be an existence akin to the \"Dark Organization\"!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the Sun People players' pursuit of age regression...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They thought it sprang from their own quest for \"authority,\" a self-generated life goal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in reality...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe it was all lies!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their life goals were assigned by the hidden player behind the chessboard!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So the \"rebirth state\" they sought...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps it was actually the hidden player's objective!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The goal of that Dark Organization-like entity!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly Jiang Ye thought of Lin Ling's chessboard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That gigantic chessboard floating above the Black Ice Domain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also remembered...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>how he had been sealed by Lin Ling as a chess piece—the ten thousand puppet clones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, those ten thousand puppet clones appeared above the rooftop of Sun and Moon Tower in Qiankun Land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the time, Jiang Ye sensed the ten thousand puppet clones and was puzzled, wondering why they appeared there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, looking back...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps it's because the entire Qiankun Land is a chess game!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye's mind swam, myriad thoughts flashing across his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If anyone in this era could play such a massive game...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the answer, with high probability, would be... a Reincarnator!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone like Jiang Wenxing the Reincarnator!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wenxing...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the Jiang Wenxing who vanished in the Formless Domain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later Zhou Yuling mentioned she had sensed Jiang Wenxing at the root of the Formless Tree!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So perhaps the root of the World Tree in this era also hides Reincarnator secrets!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After these thoughts, Jiang Ye suddenly considered...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the Reincarnation Mirror Palace and the Mysterious Existence of the underground Burial Ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Previously, he suspected these two mysterious presences might be Sun People players who hadn't died completely in the Doomsday Prison era.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>there remained a significant chance they really were Sun People players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>those two were pawns spanning from the Doomsday Prison to the Doomsday Apartment!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe in later times, all pawns, all experimental subjects, were destroyed...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but two test subjects were preserved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe even they didn't know they were test subjects?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They kept pursuing the fake lives and false goals the hidden player had set for them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An experiment that spanned an unknown number of years...?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was only Jiang Ye's conjecture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he suddenly remembered...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>as a light clone, he once asked Lin Ling about the mysterious presence in the Burial Ground's tombstone area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Ling had looked complicated and answered—illusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, in retrospect...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Ling very likely knew the truth about that presence!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet she told the light clone it was... an illusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These details deepened Jiang Ye's suspicion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if his guess was correct...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>those aloof Reincarnators who don't meddle in worldly affairs were indeed laying out a grand game...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then their goal might be exactly the lifelong pursuit the Sun People test subjects were given—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the rebirth state?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A newborn infant?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps the Sun People players' ultimate pursuit was more extreme than \"rebirth\"!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What exists more extreme than a newborn infant?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A prior life!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe what they hoped to achieve by defying time's torrent was not merely to resurrect the dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But to...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>return to a previous life!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From a Reincarnator's perspective...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Return to the previous reincarnation cycle!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hiss...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye realized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps it wasn't only the endlessly reincarnating \"Jiang Ye\" who wanted to escape the cycle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those ancient Reincarnators...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>even if they hadn't reached the Nomadic Merchant's level of infinite reincarnation,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>as long as the number of cycles was large enough...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>they would inevitably develop different ambitions!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So returning to the previous cycle might be the way they imagined to break free from reincarnation?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the Doomsday Apartment looping from the tail end of Day Eight back to the prison era of Day One or Two...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is that an intrinsic mechanism of the Doomsday Apartment?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or did those Reincarnators actually defy the torrent of time and achieve such traversal?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a flash, Jiang Ye felt...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>compared to Li Ku's idea of \"unification,\" perhaps the Reincarnators' grand cause was the real world-changing ambition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Witch Gui Jiang Ye mulled over these shocking thoughts,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Dong snapped out of his stupor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was still in tatters, gripping the iron chain with one hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His blinded eyes groped for Li Si's direction, then gave up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He suddenly spoke into the air with resolute certainty:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If I'm not mistaken... you never intended to stop this so-called 'curse'!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Before the bell struck the eighth time, stopping me from closing the iron chain would have been the real prevention.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When the chaos began, you told me to close the iron chain...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don't believe you didn't know—it was already too late by then!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"With us alone, we couldn't stop that onslaught!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So this curse named 'the dead can live'... you deliberately caused it!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After saying this, Lin Dong waited for Li Si's response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li Si did not answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Dong inhaled deeply and continued in a low voice:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Curse... the Curse of Despair...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are He Yuliang's and Chen Cang's Curses of Despair the same kind?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The dead can live... were they replaced by some 'dead' entity?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And you, you actually want this curse to spread across the world!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time Lin Dong's tone grew more certain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if, in blindness, he had seen Li Si's true intentions more clearly than ever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Witch Gui Jiang Ye also realized this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Dong probably wasn't wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if Li Si acted solemn, as if the curse was a terrifying unforeseen threat,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>his behavior revealed he never intended to stop the curse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, he anticipated it!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He may even have facilitated it!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure enough...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment of silence, Jiang Ye saw the one-eyed Li Si curl the corner of his mouth into a faint smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He chuckled, his voice brightening: \"Yes, I did it on purpose.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The dead can live... how can that be a curse?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He Yuliang and Chen Cang, are they dead? No, they are not.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They merely assumed a different form and continue to live.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not only them... all those who died can live again in another form!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Even...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your eyes cannot see, your body is in agony...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What meaning is there for you to suffer living like this?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why not... let me give you a different way to live!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, Li Si waved his large hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That Hidden Hand detached from his body and clamped toward Lin Dong's throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, Lin Dong's throat seemed invaded by a strange corrupting force!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that same moment, the usually expressionless Li Ku suddenly leapt up in fury: \"Are you insane?! You dare harm someone from my people?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that shout, from the split scars on Li Ku's face, hairlike thin threads shot out and instantly wrapped around Li Si's entire body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time he bellowed, \"Let go of Lin Dong!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that instant, Li Si's pure-black hand had to release Lin Dong's throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he obviously wasn't willing to give up, and retorted to Li Ku: \"I'm not crazy!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I spelled it out clearly! I'm merely giving them another way to live!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Those guiwus, they have minds and Glyph Pattern Abilities! They are alive!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Actually, they are even more reliable than ordinary players!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don't forget the darkness you worship!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As players, even if they awaken Glyph Pattern Abilities and become dark-type creatures...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you one hundred percent sure they won't betray the darkness?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can tell you for sure—there's only one species that will never betray the darkness!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That is the guiwus! They are one hundred percent, pure dark creatures!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Only they will never turn against us!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Turning Lin Dong and the others into guiwus, giving them another way to live... not only solves their present suffering, it benefits our grand cause even more!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Si spoke grandly; Lin Dong felt like swearing!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfortunately, the black hand had damaged his throat; he could barely breathe and couldn't make a sound...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Surprisingly, Li Ku seemed somewhat swayed by Li Si's words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, Lin Dong still had other underlings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though sightless, they could tell what had happened from the sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One underling couldn't help but roar in anger:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Save your pretty words! If turning into a guiwus and 'another way to live' are so good, why don't you turn yourself into a guiwus first?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ku approved of this retort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes, formed by abyssal cracks, turned to Li Si again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even without expression, his doubt was clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He even said bluntly: \"He makes sense.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I now think it would be better for you to become a guiwus for my grand cause.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying that, Li Ku tightened those hairlike black threads coiling around Li Si, as if to change Li Si's mode of life as well...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No!\" Li Si naturally rejected, \"A guiwus can only possess a single Glyph Pattern Ability!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If I become a guiwus, wouldn't all my Glyph Pattern Abilities be wasted?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This argument indeed persuaded Li Ku.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, the right eye that belonged to Du Yuheng flew out from its socket!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That detached right eye emitted an odd mechanical voice:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course not, it won't be wasted:)\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You know I can store your Glyph Pattern Abilities for you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you obediently become a guiwus, this eye of mine can still lend itself to you. Wouldn't that mean you retain all your Glyph Pattern Abilities?\"\u003C\u002Fp>",2126,"2026-06-03T07:17:57.310Z","2026-06-03T07:18:01.092Z",1,"novelbin.me","e939bda873a6e00f50b3919957b80d1df8a8abde895381c844d295c2ac7ffde0","surviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c-chapter-539","surviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c-chapter-537",575,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsurviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c-cover.jpg"]