Black Gate City: Hell's Forbidden Zone (Six Thousand Words)

"Are we really going to detonate it?"

With Xiao Xiao giving the order, Mister Ye was caught in a deep dilemma.

Although he had said long ago that he would trust Xiao Xiao and obey his orders, Mister Ye had always had his own will. From the beginning, when he tried to keep Xiao Xiao in the sanatorium and prevent him from appearing, to now, regarding the detonation of the bomb, he also had different ideas. He believed that detonating the bomb was extremely dangerous, even more so now that his energy was diverted.

Even if one's attention is not diverted, there is no guarantee of controlling this bomb, let alone now.

However, he also had the ability to see the whole situation and knew that Black Gate City was now in danger.

So he was very conflicted, and kept thinking, could there be a better way?

But this dilemma didn't last long, and Black Gate City couldn't afford to delay any longer. In the small building left behind by the Old Chairman, the old steward Uncle Chen, who had been standing quietly like a puppet in the dark room when no one was around, suddenly opened his eyes at this delicate moment, staring intently at the darkness before him, and whispered:

"If you don't believe him, why did you bring him here?"

"..."

"Crack..."

Such a sound, like a thunderclap, pierced through space and instantly resounded in Mister Ye's mind.

In that room, where only a solitary brain sat in a glass case, amidst a jumble of wires and pipes, the voltage seemed to overload at that moment, dazzling sparks flying everywhere, as a command was released that put immense pressure on the brain to the point of almost shutting it down.

Lord's Order: Detonate the Death-Favored One

[Danger Level: Super Class A]

[Threat Coverage Percentage: 70% of Cities]

[...]

For Mister Ye, it was just a trivial matter.

To erase something repressed in a person's mind from their memory.

Not far from the Flesh and Blood Building, in an empty room, sat a person sitting quietly on a recliner. This was the person that Mister Ye had transported out of the sanatorium after Xiao Xiao gave the order. He was wearing a black dress and holding a radio in his hand. Whether he was being transported out of the sanatorium or now in the middle of the city where evil was erupting, he remained motionless.

His eyes stared blankly into the endless darkness before him, like a silent statue.

Until Mister Ye gave this instruction, his empty eyes seemed to suddenly regain their luster.

There was no joy in his expression; rather, it was as if a person, forever imprisoned at the bottom of the abyss, had suddenly seen a ray of light that gave him the possibility of leaving the abyss. Thus, the light was reflected in his eyes.

His lips moved weakly, his eyes unfocused, as if he were looking at a place further away in the city.

It seemed there was a lot to say, but when the words reached his lips, he only managed to utter two words:

"Thanks."

"..."

The next moment, he slowly closed his eyes, no longer struggling, letting the tide of darkness engulf him.

At the same moment he closed his eyes, the little black dress seemed to slowly disappear, and a pale hospital gown appeared on him. And the instant his eyes were completely closed, the black tide began to explode and spread outwards from the center of the room. Every second that passed, the black tide increased and spread exponentially.

A massive black tide, like a whirlpool, instantly engulfed the room where he was.

Then there's the building where he is.

Then it's his neighborhood, the city, the surrounding areas, and even the entire city.

Vast, silent, deathly still, and filled with despair.

"What happened?"

At this moment, everyone in Black Gate City felt the terrifying spiritual impact and turned their heads in panic.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing there.

But they all seemed to see a dark tide rolling towards them.

At this moment, several squad leaders of the Hell Organization, who were surrounding Ruan Ruan and asking her about her ultimate dream, were looking at the Serpent Sisters with cold eyes, ready to kill them at any time. There were also several fragmented people blocking the road for the Red Eyes Ling Ping, the Lady Black Wraith was confronting Mister Ye's power, and even Lin Bo, who had fainted but suddenly jumped up.

Their expressions changed drastically, completely bewildered.

"Holy crap..."

At that moment, Lin Bo mustered all his strength and shouted desperately, "You all have one bomb already, and you still want ours?"

His first thought was to slip away as fast as he could.

But looking at the vast and deep black tide, he was instantly plunged into despair.

After shouting, he rolled his eyes and fainted.

How could something like this exist in Black Gate City?

The members of the Hell Organization also sensed this intense threat and cried out in alarm, "What do they want to do?"

"Ha ha ha ha..."

The one laughing Ruan Ruan was Red Eyes Ling Ping spitting blood, and the crazed Serpent Sisters. After a brief moment of madness, they witnessed the horror of the Hell Organization, and their minds were being shrouded in another shadow, plunging them into the abyss of despair once more. But at that very moment, they saw the fear on the faces of the Hell Organization members and burst into laughter:

"Aren't you not afraid?"

"And what are the expressions on your faces right now?"

"..."

The members of the Hell Organization felt a vague anger rising within them as they watched the crazed and gloating figures.

I wanted to rush up and shut them up.

But before they could do anything, the massive tide had already submerged everyone. They didn't even have the thought of arguing or rushing forward. They only felt a huge desolation and oppression looming over them, and felt something inside them shatter.

Pride, dignity, and desire are all delicate yet fragile things.

They usually occupy their hearts and their entire spiritual world, but when the black tide surges in, they shatter without a sound.

"The ultimate dream?"

Every member of the Hell Organization harbors a refined and beautiful vision of death, which sustains them through everything.

But now, even such a thought has been easily shattered.

Death is death, what's with all the fancy stuff?

Some people even thought of something deeper as they were being engulfed by the black tide, "Perhaps we don't want to die at all, but are just using this method to embolden ourselves and allow ourselves to survive in this bizarre world."

"True death is silent; it doesn't even bother to say goodbye."

"..."

"..."

It is certain that everyone experienced a clear change within themselves when they faced the dark tide.

But outsiders could not see this change, so all they could see was that the moment the black tide spread and covered everything, every person in Black Gate City, especially the members of the Hell Organization, whether they were strong or weak, and whether their Enhancement Element were magical or bizarre, showed shock, panic, loss, and finally numbness on their faces. Their expressions gradually became stiff, and they stood there blankly.

The next moment, the person clinging to the top of the hundred-meter-high building, thinking about what kind of fun to have, slowly let go.

There's no need to Enhancement Element to protect yourself; you can simply let your body enjoy the thrill of freefall.

"Bang bang bang bang..."

Like dumplings being dropped into boiling water, they were smashed into a pulp on the ground, their broken yet vivid faces bearing an expression of relief.

A man standing on the street, a strange smile on his face, slowly raised his gun and pointed it at his temple.

"Bang bang bang bang..."

The gunshots were strangely pleasant; heads exploded, and bodies fell straight to the ground.

Some were more ambitious and had a stronger desire to rebel, so they didn't want to die so easily. Some of them forced themselves to stay alive and ran to a street corner, wanting to eat one last serving of fried stinky tofu before death truly arrived. But as they rushed there, the shadow of death quickly enveloped them, and when they finally saw the stinky tofu stall, they despaired.

All desires were completely extinguished; I even lost interest in stinky tofu.

That's terrifying.

I don't even want to eat stinky tofu anymore...

With this thought in mind, a self-deprecating smile appeared on his face as he plunged his head into the frying pan.

This is just one example; not everyone dies in such a creative way. Some hang themselves from streetlights, some playfully kill themselves in front of a girl they like, and some suddenly want to experience what it feels like to be buried in cement by a cement mixer. One person put a red plastic bag over their head, danced in the street, and suffocated to death.

The members of Hell come from various cities and each has their own rich and colorful past.

Those recruited to the ship to serve under the three captains were all elites, yet now, in less than a minute, they were dying in various elaborate ways, one after another, making life seem so cheap...

"It's over, the situation is completely out of control..."

As the members of Hell frantically rushed towards their deaths, Mister Ye also felt despair.

The bomb was more powerful than he had calculated.

He wasn't excited by the deaths of Hell Organization members because he sensed that it wasn't just the Hell Organization members who were affected, but also the outsiders of Black Gate City and a large number of natives. They were also affected by the radiation, such as Ruan Ruan, who rushed towards an opponent stronger than herself with a Ruan Ruan, Red Eyes Ling Ping, Old Zhou Under the Bridge who put the gun in his mouth, etc.

Allowing this bomb to detonate in Black Gate City would be tantamount to pushing everyone to the brink of death.

If your foot slips, you'll fall in.

What are the consequences?

He couldn't calculate it because it far exceeded his estimate.

Even if the consequences were reduced by half, it would still be far beyond what Black Gate City could bear. So what's the point of further calculations?

But just as this feeling of despair crept into his heart, he suddenly paused for a moment.

Something's not right...

He tried his best to project his spiritual power and, through the perspective of the natives, saw a strange scene. The strangers of Black Gate City did not actually allow themselves to die. They just rushed towards their opponents with the thought of death in mind. When they saw their opponents die without hesitation, they stood there blankly, as if they had lost their goal, motionless for a long, long time.

The affected indigenous people also felt a strong sense of gloom wash over them in an instant.

But just before truly despairing, it slightly tilted its ear, as if listening to something.

"This..."

The shock Mister Ye felt was even stronger than seeing the entire Black Gate City die.

That tide of death did not indiscriminately sweep over everyone.

It has been divided.

There is some force guiding the direction and target of the tide of death...

But what power can direct the tide of death, and who can control that power?

Now caught in a massive panic, he didn't even dare to face the center of that tide of death, fearing that its influence would directly impact his brain. So he overlooked a tiny detail: after Xiao Xiao went to the hospital, a dark silver radio was placed in the hands of the man who was pursuing death, and he held it the whole time.

As he slid toward death, a faint voice came from the radio, accompanying him in his passing.

"That was in the bleak month of December,"

"Each ember, as it was about to die out, cast Ghost Shadow on the floor."

"Eagerly, I long for the dawn."

"..."

The gentle female voice accompanied the Death-Favored One in his final moments, not even caring whether he heard it or not.

Meanwhile, cheerful music also rang out to the ears of both the natives and strangers of Black Gate City, attracting their attention.

"Fake cigarettes, fake alcohol, fake friends, fake friends,"

"Fake affection, fake tenderness,"

"Trick me into coming to your house,"

"They chased me away in the middle of the night."

"..."

"It's not that I want to get rid of you—I want to get rid of you,"

"My husband hit me as soon as he saw it,"

"You're so small, and he's so big,"

"Hitting you is like hitting a dog."

"..."

"..."

"Betting on the Record Player Miss was definitely the right choice."

Xiao Xiao silently pondered, withdrawing his gaze from the city. He didn't know how much of a mental impact this would have on Mister Ye, nor had he told him beforehand, because he wasn't sure himself. However, when he decided to detonate that bomb, he did carefully consider how to get that person to leave and avoid causing too many consequences that he himself didn't want to see.

The answer is, of course, Record Player Miss.

Of all the special things around her, she was the only one who was good at regulating her emotions.

So she went to the sanatorium and placed the radio on the windowsill into the man's hands.

Waiting for that moment to arrive.

Using the abilities of the third stage of the Insightful One, she grasped the location of all the members of the Hell Organization in the city. Then, using Record Player Miss's abilities, she gave the Death-Favored One a final act of tenderness, giving his immense and desperate death some layers and depth.

In this way, it becomes possible to have some control over this power of death.

Of course, the Record Player Miss did a little better than she had imagined, but not by much, just a hundred times better.

He was processing the shock internally, but his expression remained calm.

It was as if everything was going according to plan.

He simply took a few steps forward and placed the White Devil's head on a step in front of him.

"So, that's the power of the Mysterious Guidepost?"

The voice of an unknown will rang out, seemingly carrying a deep sense of powerlessness.

He fell silent after witnessing the mass deaths of members of the Hell Organization, until this moment when the dust settled.

"I have no idea..."

Xiao Xiao shook his head and forced a smile, "But if I told you that I bought this power for only fifty points..."

"... No, it's fifty-one points."

Do you believe it or not?

"..."

The mysterious will fell silent. "Do you think I believe you?"

Xiao Xiao shrugged helplessly. "Actually, I know this is outrageous."

He didn't intend to explain further, but instead looked at the White Devil's head with some curiosity and asked, "What kind of ability is this?"

"Enhancement route, bipolar human."

The unknown will slowly said, "The first stage of enhancement is to give yourself another way of thinking. If you are calm, it will be furious; if you are aggressive, it will be composed. It will always be in your mind from time to time reminding you whether something is right or wrong, reducing the possibility of you making certain mistakes. The second stage of enhancement is to give it a certain degree of autonomous control over its body."

"You can study while you sleep, or let him ponder another problem while you are doing something else. Your time will be doubled. And by the third stage of enhancement, he has become another you, a mirror image of you."

"And the fourth stage... is twins."

There will always be another person who is at the same point in time as you, but in a different time and space, and can switch between them at will.

"Therefore, the opponent will never know who he is fighting against or making contact with."

"You appear to be chatting with a very peaceful person, but little do you know that he is a monster who wants to kill you."

"You see tenderness in her eyes, but little do you know she's secretly counting how many prey you've become..."

"..."

As he spoke these words, the white bandages that had been flying around him ceased their frenzy, and another man wrapped in white bandages emerged. He was also White Devil, but his face no longer bore the paper strips; instead, he exuded calmness and mystery. He walked over slowly, and the fragments of the White Devil's body on the ground merged with his own, including his head.

Before the fusion was fully completed, two heads appeared on his neck.

He used his hand to turn the head, the face with the note stuck to it, towards Xiao Xiao, and a smile appeared in his voice:

"One body, two phases; one life, two births."

"Even the strongest opponent can only kill half of me, so I never mind using that half as bait."

"..."

"Understood..."

Xiao Xiao sighed softly and said, "So, you are both cruel and naive."

"You are confused, and you are determined."

"You are just like your Hell Organization. Because you have no direction of your own, you also make it difficult for others to figure out your direction."

"You always say you don't care about anything, but in reality you care about too many things."

"..."

White Devil asked with slight curiosity, "What do you care about? I don't even care about the deaths of my men, nor do I care about winning or losing the bet..."

"You're just telling yourselves over and over that you don't care..."

Xiao Xiao smiled and said, "From the very beginning, I knew that you actually cared."

"After all, if he really didn't care, why would he have created that artwork full of confrontational spirit?"

"..."

White Devil suddenly froze, remaining silent for a long while before picking up the note in front of him and asking curiously, "What route are you on?"

Xiao Xiao said, "The Insightful One."

"I can sense other people's inner emotions, so I can also discover another version of yourself within you."

"Of course, I only had a third-stage enhancement. I wasn't confident at first, but I tried my best."

"And so, I saw the real you, and even while seeing another you, I saw a..."

"..."

He paused slightly, unsure whether he should continue.

The White Devil suddenly felt a pang of interest and asked, "What?"

"Starting point."

Xiao Xiao still said it aloud, "Or rather, it's the end."

He didn't say much, because he wasn't sure what what he saw meant, and he needed to investigate it thoroughly. Any conclusion he made now would be an uncertain question. However, he told White Devil because Bai Mo was indeed a good friend. Bai Mo was probably the craziest guy he had ever met, but he was also a bipolar person.

Therefore, he is the most rational person.

Xiao Xiao wasn't sure if White Devil could understand these words, but White Devil's eyes seemed to light up slightly upon hearing them.

"You also saw what our president saw?"

"..."

Xiao Xiao was taken aback and looked at him in disbelief.

White Devil laughed and said, "Our guild leader once said the same thing as you."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but now I understand why the guild master was willing to leave the Mysterious Guidepost at the Black Gate..."

"..."

Xiao Xiao's eyes also showed some confusion, but he vaguely realized something.

"You don't really think that our Hell Organization cares about things like bets, do you?"

White Devil laughed and said, "Indeed, we wrote the bet on the skin of that Mysterious Source. Anyone who breaks the bet will be punished by that Mysterious Source. But there's one thing I forgot to tell you: that Mysterious Source itself was killed by the Guild Master. That parchment was personally peeled off by the Guild Master to deceive people..."

Xiao Xiao's expression showed a slight sense of horror.

"But don't worry, Chairman Xiao, we'll concede defeat in this bet."

White Devil looked at Xiao Xiao and couldn't help but laugh, "We've already obtained three Mysterious Guidepost, so one more or one less won't make much difference. What we really want to see is what interesting developments might occur if these things stay in Black Gate City..."

"We've lost. I'll take the rest of us and leave Black Gate City."

"The other two warships waiting outside the city don't need to be summoned in..."

"And from the moment we leave, the whole world will know that Black Gate City is a forbidden zone of hell."

"And you are my friend!"