Chapter 203: The Wise Man on the Ark

Mysterious Tower, unknown city.

Everything in the city gave Wen Xishu a huge sense of incongruity.

Wrapped in this sense of incongruity, the sky where Wen Xishu was always seemed a bit gloomy.

But under this gloomy sky, everything was a bit—strange.

Wen Xishu walked in the city, preparing to follow the nearest path to find the teenager in the wheelchair, Horn, but coincidentally, he passed through the red-light district of this city.

This place gave Wen Xishu a huge visual impact. The world presented in Wen Xishu's eyes was probably like this—

The peeling sign of "Beauty Health Spa" was plated with a gold rim, and a strong man in a pink nurse uniform pushed open the glass door.

He tucked a thermos cup with goji berries under his arm, a lace headpiece tilted on his crew cut, and shouted to the other side of the street in a broadcasting tone: "Renault! Your No. 68 technician stole the hair growth essential oil again!"

The "Blue Moon Health Club" converted from a hair salon had an acrylic light box lit up, and the glass revolving door reflected a security guard wearing fishnet stockings—

That was a middle-aged man with a beard, who was tucking the hem of his cheongsam into his belt, and the white socks on his calves had been raised from the ankles to the absolute territory.

The window of the adult products store next door was very creative—a silicone doll in the shape of a muscular man was wearing a Hello Kitty apron, holding a foam board saying "Buy two get one free."

The boss was squatting at the door applying makeup to the inflatable doll, and when he looked up, his false eyelashes almost poked the patrol officer's chin: "Officer, this simulation degree definitely exceeds the Civil Affairs Bureau standard."

Wen Xishu was amazed, but everything was not over yet.

A mix of grilled gluten and men's perfume drifted from the depths of the alley.

On the reception desk of the "Princess Arrival" KTV, a young man wearing a fluffy skirt was bargaining with a bald guest.

Wen Xishu felt the sense of incongruity increase a bit when he saw the word "Princess"... but whether it was princess or prince, it seemed there was nothing wrong.

He pricked up his ears to feel some sounds around him.

He saw the young man wearing a fluffy skirt say: "Add 50 for rabbit ears, add money for throat lozenges if you want to learn child voice!"

The barrier-free passage at the street corner was converted into "Beauty Academy," and the curriculum was written on the dressing mirror with lipstick: 9:00 Orchid finger crash course, 10:30 High heels obstacle race, 13:30 Crying makeup teaching.

The cleaning uncle was practicing catwalking unscrupulously, and there was a "Ultra-thin" label that hadn't been torn off on the broom handle.

The bus ran over promotional flyers all over the floor, and the bus body was printed with an advertisement for "Painless Hair Removal."

Both the visual and auditory impact kept Wen Xishu from ever being freed from that sense of incongruity.

He only felt that his world incongruity would never be lower than eighty. This also led to the sky being gloomy wherever he walked.

Fortunately, after passing through the red-light district, this sense of strangeness decreased a lot.

Wen Xishu finally arrived at the library.

In the library in the center of the city, there were many people, and Wen Xishu had to admit that the scene that appeared at the beginning was actually the most normal scene.

Once he left his home, even the library looked eye-stinging.

If it weren't for the fact that he had just passed through the red-light district and his resistance was already maxed out, he might have complained about the bizarre art style.

He saw a fitness coach holding "Domineering CEO, Touch Lightly" reading and doing squats by the bookshelf in the popular novel section, with a body fat caliper clamped between the pages.

In the parent-child reading area, a father was reading "The Little Gray Boy" to his son. When he read that the little boy was wearing crystal shoes and looking for the prince, this big brother suddenly took out a body fat caliper: "Remember son, 38-size feet matching 1.78 meters height is the golden ratio!"

Wen Xishu was a bit uncomfortable, and he quickened his pace. Fortunately, Horn also sent a message at this time—

"I am here at the bookshelf related to animals and poultry and livestock."

Wen Xishu looked for a while, and not long after, he saw Horn, who had blonde hair and was sitting in a wheelchair, reading a book.

The art style was normal, but the book in his hand was a bit destructive to the art style—"Postpartum Care for Sows."

Horn smiled:

"Ability user, Mr. Wen Xishu, thank you for coming."

Wen Xishu still wanted to say something, but Horn suddenly became serious:

"Small talk is over, next let's start the main topic, what do you think of this book?"

Horn handed the "Postpartum Care for Sows" in his hand to Wen Xishu.

Wen Xishu was certain that the other party shouldn't be testing him on the content of the book, but simply thinking about the title of this book.

Thinking about this, Wen Xishu really noticed something wrong.

Horn suddenly raised his finger, leaned against his lips, and made a silent: Shh.

"Don't think too deeply, you will be targeted."

Wen Xishu said:

"Just say your conclusion directly."

Horn said:

"I already know what this world has lost, but what is strange is that I know it, but I have no way to wake up."

Wen Xishu was puzzled:

"So what has this world lost?"

Horn thought carefully, still unable to say those two words, but he soon thought of another word:

"Opposite sex."

Wen Xishu paused slightly. The sky began to turn dark suddenly.

Horn made the shh gesture again:

"Please shift your thoughts, think about this book. I envy you, Mr. Wen Xishu, you have rich emotions, the flaws of this world make you feel uncomfortable, make you disgusted..."

"This kind of emotion might be the way to break through the Sin Soil Fragments."

This was the first time Wen Xishu found that he was not the calmest one; Horn was actually calmer than him.

Horn said:

"Inability to move my legs is just the least worth mentioning of my physical defects. I also have emotional deficiency."

Wen Xishu didn't know whether to comfort him, because people with emotional deficiency probably couldn't understand comfort.

He thought for a while and said:

"Continue."

Horn nodded:

"But I know what expression to use to deal with everyone. Although I can't feel it, I can figure out the logic, I can imitate."

After Horn finished speaking, he looked at Wen Xishu with a very understanding smile.

At this moment, Wen Xishu noticed that Horn's eyes were absolutely calm, without any smile.

All his expressions were just changes in appearance.

Horn continued:

"Mr. Wen Xishu, what do you think is the dilemma we are facing?"

Wen Xishu didn't fall behind:

"I have already contacted others, I think... the places where each of us feels uncomfortable in life—have all been optimized in this world."

"Sickly old people have people to take care of, black muscular men are no longer despised, people who have no one to love have a yandere lover whose eyes are full of him, people who have no money and power have gained money and power."

"The start is very beautiful, if it weren't for the fact that they lost some extremely important, very present thing... perhaps it is the opposite sex you mentioned, I think, this Sin Soil Fragment is essentially trying to keep us."

Horn clapped:

"Very good, your thinking is even deeper than mine."

"The reason I read this book is because the 'mother' character in this book attracted me at a glance."

"Animals have females and males, females and males have great physiological differences, but humans actually have no distinction between females and males..."

"But look, the dressing style of people here presents two factions, one is relatively consistent with our normal aesthetics."

"The other looks... delicate, charming, cute. Although I feel it has no attraction to me, it looks like many people in this world eat this set."

"So I am thinking, is there no opposite sex in this world? What we lost is the opposite sex."

"Perhaps, there is still a specific way of saying it, such as male corresponds to female, male corresponds to female, and man, corresponds to..."

Horn, like Wen Xishu at the beginning, had a headache. He pressed his temples:

"The answer is on the tip of my tongue, but I can't think of it."

Wen Xishu said:

"Perhaps the answer is not important, after all, it is just a title."

Horn nodded:

"Yes, not important, what is important is how to get rid of this place, how to detach from the rule of losing something."

"This point, it seems only you, Mr. Wen Xishu, can do it."

Wen Xishu didn't ask why.

Horn said directly:

"You can see the synchronization rate and world incongruity. But I can't, you must have verified it with others, proving that it is only something you can see."

Wen Xishu nodded:

"Yes."

Horn said again:

"So, synchronization means assimilation, and the synchronization rate reaching one hundred percent—is equal to you being one hundred percent assimilated."

"You will feel that everything is reasonable, everything is acceptable."

"Soldiers, old people, people who crave power, seem to have been assimilated."

"But Mr. Wen Xishu, you don't seem to be. Can I understand that there is an opposite sex you love deeply in your world? So that you are disgusted with this world."

Wen Xishu shook his head:

"No. I am very certain that there is no such existence in my life. And I don't need this kind of existence at all. But I don't accept my cognition being tampered with."

Horn nodded:

"Actually, I am the same. But it is a pity, I don't have that kind of emotion that wants to change everything, so I gradually recognized this world."

"I feel that what is lost is dispensable to me, but I don't hope that I can accept it, but can't generate a huge sense of incongruity to change all this."

Wen Xishu felt very contradictory; if what is lost is dispensable, for a person without emotion, why not follow this loss?

Wen Xishu asked his doubt:

"Why don't you hope you accept it?"

Horn said:

"The Ark at the beginning... actually wasn't as cold-blooded as it is now, and didn't have such a clear class distinction."

"The captain made people numb bit by bit."

The topic turned a bit big, but Wen Xishu listened carefully.

Horn said:

"At first, the captain deprived the old people of their interests."

"Everyone was thinking, old people, getting old is a trouble anyway, it doesn't matter. Although many people out of humanitarianism felt that old people should be taken care of..."

"But as the propaganda that old people shouldn't add trouble to young people became louder and louder—old people were gradually abandoned."

"In the ecological circulation system, before the infinite energy construction, many old people... were energy."

Wen Xishu was slightly moved.

Horn said again:

"Later, there were no old people, so it started with the patients."

"Old, weak, sick, disabled... then middle-aged people, then poor people, then young people."

"Because everyone needed to live, and because one group lost their interests, it didn't affect other groups... so many people didn't speak up."

"But in the end, when it was their turn, they suddenly realized—there was no one left to speak for them."

"The Ark changed from an environment that loved everyone and preserved the last civilization for humanity at the beginning, into a cruel environment of 'the capable live, the incapable die'."

Wen Xishu understood:

"You think, the Sin Soil Fragments and the Ark are the same?"

Horn clapped again, expressing his appreciation for Wen Xishu:

"Yes, I said these things because—the things abandoned at the beginning are all irrelevant."

"An apple bitten by a worm, a dam invaded by ants, old people abandoned by the Ark, some concept deprived by the Sin Soil Fragments..."

"These things are all irrelevant at first, but they often have some incremental effect later."

"My desire is very simple, to become someone who can make the Ark better, so I cannot lose any concept."

Wen Xishu said:

"Thank you for telling me these things."

He immediately had a good impression of Horn. It was too good to have someone who could explain the truth and also popularize the history of the Ark.

And Wen Xishu could hear the deeper meaning of Horn's expression—

The dilemma of the Sin Soil Fragments was very similar to the dilemma of the Ark.

The Ark abandoned many people, finally turning the cradle of human civilization into a purgatory for humanity.

Then if more concepts were abandoned, perhaps each time it was painless, but in the end, it would become a demon, a monster.

Wen Xishu looked at Horn:

"Speaking of which, you wouldn't be expressing... that there is some connection between the Ark and the Sin Soil Fragments?"

Horn shook his head:

"Just a guess, but no evidence. I also often think, why sacrifice so many people, it has only been a few years... clearly the Ark's energy reserves are counted in decades."

"In addition, we suddenly entered the Sea of Sin, suddenly were targeted by a group of strange sea beasts, this always makes me feel a bit strange."

"But at the moment, we must escape this world without the opposite sex. Mr. Wen Xishu. Can I ask you to take me to find Judy and Mia next?"

Horn's idea was exactly the same as Wen Xishu's. He also planned to find Judy and Mia.

Wen Xishu suddenly thought, assuming this was a game... assuming some item gave him key information like "world incongruity" and "synchronization rate"—

Then what should he do?

Perhaps this time's breakthrough point, or rather the breakthrough point for other ordinary tower climbers, other players—was to cooperate well with Horn.

"You should have noticed. Once you start to resist, start to oppose accepting this world, realize that this world has lost something, and have a huge sense of absurdity, the sky will become gloomy."

"Something will approach you silently. I think this is the anti-clearance mechanism. That is, the final boss."

"Once your synchronization rate tends to 0, then some thing will want to approach you, perhaps kill you, perhaps brainwash you."

Wen Xishu said:

"So... you hope to use Mia and Judy as experiments? As shields?"

Horn nodded, expressing his appreciation for Wen Xishu again:

"Talking to you is really comfortable. Although I believe you already have a way to lower your synchronization rate to 0... but I don't hope you do it immediately."

"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Mr. Wen Xishu. Judy and Mia are just ordinary people, and you are an ability user."

"You have the ability to change all this, among Judy and Mia, I think at least one person will be extremely disgusted with this world, and very likely break through to the extreme, attracting that thing."

"If it doesn't attract it, we can also use verbal stimulation to help them attract it. By this, we can know what that thing is."

"In this way, the possibility of us defeating it is also higher, although Mia and Judy might die, at least you won't die."

"If you don't die, we have hope. If you can defeat that thing... perhaps, the secrets of the Sin Soil Fragments, the Sea of Sin, and the Ark can all be solved."

Finding the missing things, discovering the current dilemma, determining the current enemy, and formulating combat strategies, finding the person to break the situation, and associating all information.

Horn could be said to be done in one go. The only thing that was not very friendly was that in Horn's eyes, Judy and Mia seemed to be just props used to attract the boss and obtain boss data.

They were sacrifices.

"Mr. Wen Xishu, I know where they are, but I don't have the ability to observe alone."

"I hope you don't have a moral dilemma, because perhaps one of them has already attracted that thing... go late, perhaps they will die in vain."

Wen Xishu really didn't have a moral dilemma like this.

He could be very concerned about friends, and maintain a neutral and friendly attitude towards strangers.

In Hujiang, if he encountered a poor person, Wen Xishu didn't mind helping. But after becoming a ghost groom and killing many passersby... he didn't feel particularly guilty.

Because Xiaoxing and Xiaotong were alive, the final result would be better than before he arrived. And that was enough.

This time was the same.

Horn thought Wen Xishu had a moral dilemma... but in fact, what Wen Xishu was thinking was—this Horn is good, if only he could be put into the Bunker, it's a pity he can't be exchanged.

Wen Xishu pushed Horn's wheelchair, and he said:

"Are you sure you have emotional deficiency?"

Horn had a bad premonition:

"Are you... going to do some very exaggerated behavior?"

Wen Xishu said:

"As you said, Mia and Judy might have been targeted, so we have to hurry."

Horn was very smart, he understood Wen Xishu's meaning in seconds:

"Okay... since I don't get seasick, theoretically, I won't get carsick either."

Wen Xishu smiled:

"That's good."

Blood fog rose, and the terrifying foot strength of the Extreme Kick erupted in an instant.

A second ago, Horn was still full of confidence, his handsome face set off by blonde hair, giving him a bit of aristocratic temperament.

But the next second, the terrifying push-back force made Horn subconsciously open his mouth wide. The powerful airflow directly blew over countless bookshelves.

And Wen Xishu and Horn had already moved away from the library in one start.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 204 =====