Bai Zhi's Guesses and Speculations

"Not the Core Zone?"

Looking at Bai Zhi standing on the table and gazing outside, Fireworks of Romance was clearly even more confused by Bai Zhi's words.

"But when we were outside, you clearly said this was the Core Zone, so why are you suddenly saying this now..."

"Updates in intelligence leads to slight deviations in one's deductions, which is quite normal."

His gaze swept across the outside of the castle as if searching for something, and Bai Zhi answered without turning his head.

"Also, do you know what mental inertia is?"

"Thought... inertia?"

"The castle inside and the castle outside have one striking similarity. Have you noticed what it is?"

"Uh... what is it?"

"Tentacles and dolls."

Exhaling, Bai Zhi jumped off the table and began to speak.

"Inside the castle, there are doll-related elements everywhere, but inside the castle, I didn't find any doll-related elements."

"Isn't this normal?"

After hearing Bai Zhi's answer, Fireworks of Romance became even more puzzled.

"The inside and outside are completely different, how could they possibly be the same..."

"You saw that oil painting in the corridor earlier, didn't you? [The Colorful Black] was tied to the altar and Human Sacrifice. That altar wasn't located inside the castle."

Bai Zhi casually found a spot indoors and sat down against the wall, then patiently began to explain.

"The [Colorful Black] Doll we found in the outer Castle Hall showed no signs of mutation whatsoever. Also, do you remember what Anna said to that Doll at the time?"

"Curse... Doll?"

After a moment's thought, the Fireworks of Romance seemed somewhat uncertain.

"But what does this title represent? And in that surviving Notebook, there was also Doll appearing in the hall..."

"The two are different. [The Colorful Black] was turned into Doll and then burned as a Human Sacrifice, but the unfortunate one who was torn apart by Five-Horse Dismemberment didn't even step into this world. He was probably killed by the invisible guards inside the castle..."

As he said this, Bai Zhi narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Inside the castle, the guards and Maid are mutated Monster, while outside the castle, Anna forbids the guards and Maid from meeting with guests... Don't you think that's interesting?"

"... I don't find it interesting at all."

Seeing that the more the other person talked, the more confused she became, and she couldn't keep up with their jumping thoughts at all, Fireworks of Romance's lips twitched violently.

"Can you stop playing games? I don't want to know the reasoning process, just tell me the result."

"... The puzzle is almost complete; I haven't been able to piece it together to get the final result, but I've roughly figured out some things."

Rolling his eyes, Bai Zhi looked utterly disgusted.

"To put it another way, is the Doll Curse we carry really Curse? Why can't we interpret it as protection?"

"Protection... turning into Doll is protection?"

With his eyes half-closed, Fireworks of Romance stared at the other person as if he had already given up.

"Fine, I give up. Could you please explain your reasoning process to me in detail? Otherwise, I feel like an idiot listening to gibberish... You've successfully given me the feeling of having dozed off in math class and then looking up at the blackboard again."

"The altar is located outside the Castle Perimeter, but definitely within this Rose Manor. Those captured by the guards are taken there as Human Sacrifice, but because they are all burdened with the Doll Curse, as long as they cross a certain boundary of the Castle Perimeter, they will turn into Doll, thus interrupting the Human Sacrifice... What is this if not protection?"

As he said this, Bai Zhi glanced at the other person deliberately.

"This explains why the [Colorful Black] Doll didn't undergo that terrifying transformation. However, since it was ultimately bound to the altar and burned as a doll, it was tainted with some kind of Curse, which is why Anna called it Cursed Doll."

"... How did you connect these scattered clues?"

After a moment of silence, Fireworks of Romance asked the person in front of her with some hesitation.

"You took every single thing Anna said offhand to heart? So, according to you, the Doll Curse on us is actually protecting us, preventing us from turning into Monster after death... Don't you think that's a lame joke?"

"When did I say it was there to protect us?"

He pursed his lips, his mouth a little dry from talking for so long, so Bai Zhi took out a bottle of Mineral Water from his Inventory, unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and then continued talking.

"Furthermore, isn't there speculation that after fully Walkthrough this Dungeon, those well-preserved Doll might come back to life?"

"So even if you deduce all of this, what's the use?"

Fireworks of Romance seemed to have a bit of a headache, rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"You say this isn't the Core Area, so killing Anna here is pointless. Then where is the real Core Area?"

"Have no idea."

Bai Zhi simply spread his hands out.

"... have no idea?"

"Nonsense, I'm not a god. Do you really think I'm some omniscient and omnipotent Laplace Demon? Even a skilled cook can't make a meal without ingredients. Without enough clues, how am I supposed to deduce anything?"

Then he took out a bottle of Mineral Water from his Inventory and threw it at the other person. Bai Zhi rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Inside this castle, there are two bosses, representing Anna's Parents. I guess we need to thwart their plot or even kill them to find the path to the Core Area."

"That's easy for you to say. How are you expecting us to actually kill them?"

Taking the bottle of Mineral Water, Fireworks of Romance curled his lip.

"Anna's Father possesses the ability to seal our Skill, Anna's Mother has some strange abilities we don't even know about. Add to that the hundreds of Monsters in the castle, how are the two of us supposed to do this?"

"Therefore, we must now find a way to save Steel Bones first."

Exhaling, Bai Zhi spoke heavily.

"He's a pure melee fighter, so the sealing of his Skill doesn't affect him much. In fact, as long as we can conceal the Special Effect of our Skill, we can still fight him... We need help."