The World Will's Struggle for Survival (Four Thousand Words)

"From now on, shall we go in through the back door?"

The people of Black Gate City, sullenly following Mister Ye's summons, all felt awkward when they arrived at the Iceberg Bar for a meeting.

From the moment they entered the bar, they felt the venomous gazes of the staff. Some had seen them the instant they entered, their stares direct and unabashed, as if they could tear their clothes apart. One person immediately tried to cover their face with their glass, but the cover was incomplete; through the dark green liquid, one could see them slowly licking their lips. Another suddenly chuckled, slowly picked up a cucumber, then slowly sucked it into their mouth, followed by a sharp crunch as they bit it off.

Where did all these monsters come from...?

Some of the people in Black Gate City couldn't help but take out their monitoring devices, but the results were very disappointing.

They didn't detect any signs of Aberrant Creature, which meant these weren't Aberrant Creature, but why did it feel like they might mutate at any moment?

Moreover, they had already seen these monsters on the battlefield chosen by the Branders not long ago.

I also saw them develop various mutated characteristics, but they were attacking those Branders. But since they had already mutated, why would they sit back in this bar perfectly fine?

"How on earth did this chairman manage to do so many incomprehensible things?"

Even Red Eyes Ling Ping, couldn't help but mutter to himself.

He was indeed speaking from the heart. From the beginning, he looked down on this newcomer, thinking he was just mentally unstable. But later, this very newcomer, with the help of Mister Ye and Yang Jia, was promoted to the position of president of Black Gate City.

He won a great victory in the duel with the Hell Organization, and after a trip to the Night's End City, he became the fourth stage.

Now, he has even killed another Mysterious Source...

This is so unreasonable, all of this is just so unreasonable.

Whether it's the astonishing things he did or the fact that he kept so many Aberrant Creature in the bar, it's all completely incomprehensible.

This question was just a monologue; I didn't expect anyone to answer it.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from beside him. "I know."

You know?

Red Eyes Ling Ping, was taken aback and looked at Little Four, who was following behind the man with a blank expression.

Little Four was originally the most inconspicuous one. She liked to hide and didn't talk much, so she was easily overlooked.

To this day, no one in Black Gate City knows his strength.

From what I sensed, during the recent battle with the Branders and the Mysterious Source, he didn't seem to have really put in much effort at all...

But then it suddenly occurred to me that he was the new president's assistant...

Maybe he really does know.

Swish Swish Swish

Not only Red Eyes Ling Ping, but also everyone including the Serpent Sisters and Old Zhou Under the Bridge, all focused their attention on him at once.

"Of course I know..."

Under so many gazes, Little Four shrank back slightly and said, "It must be from the materials left behind by the Old Chairman!"

Everyone was stunned for a moment. "Really?"

Little Four looked at everyone with surprise. "Don't you all think it's strange that the guild leader is so young and has only been awakened for such a short time, yet knows so many things?"

Everyone nodded slowly.

Little Four said, "What else could it be but what the Old Chairman taught us?"

Okay!

Let's just assume it was taught by the Old Chairman...

Somewhat helpless, the group forced themselves to endure their discomfort and nausea as they made their way through the strangely shaped patrons of the Iceberg Bar.

They walked towards the elevator, but many were secretly thinking that if everyone could vote on where to hold meetings in the future, they would all vote for the Red Eyes Club...

"You..."

Only after everyone had entered the elevator did a voice suddenly say, "Aren't you angry at all?"

Everyone turned around abruptly and saw that it was Ruan Ruan, who had been silent all along. Her eyes were red, and her voice was choked with sobs.

"He killed Jiajia-jie..."

"..."

Everyone's heart sank slightly, as if a secret had been revealed.

This is also why, after dealing with that Mysterious Source, everyone has been unable to feel happy, wanting to discuss it but not knowing where to begin.

"Cough!"

As the elevator ascended, Red Eyes Ling Ping his throat. He was probably worried that Ruan Ruan, in her current state, might anger Xiao Xiao if they encountered him upstairs, causing unnecessary trouble. He whispered a word of advice:

"He can't be blamed for this."

"You and I both know that those Branders cannot escape, and Yang Jia is no exception. In that situation, perhaps... perhaps he had no other choice?"

"We shouldn't blame him now; instead, we should comfort him and tell him not to be too upset..."

"..."

The Serpent Sisters and the honest Old Zhou Under the Bridge couldn't help but nod in agreement, though they were somewhat confused:

"He looked so cheerful when he left, did he seem sad?"

"..."

"You..."

As Ruan Ruan spoke, she paused, her eyes still red and tears welling up, and suddenly said, "What you said might make sense."

"But I just don't like this kind of logic."

"..."

She was fuming. Seeing the elevator arrive and the doors opening, she immediately stepped out. "I still need to go find him, Jiajia-jie, she..."

"Jiajia-jie..."

"..."

"Um?"

She was speaking angrily, looking down and rushing out, when she suddenly heard a surprised voice. "What's wrong?"

Ruan Ruan was completely stunned. She looked up blankly at the outside of the elevator and saw Yang Jia standing secretly next to the trash can and ashtray outside the elevator, holding a half-smoked menthol cigarette, about to crush it into the gravel.

"A ghost..."

Ruan Ruan was startled and jumped back into the elevator with a whoosh.

Everyone was startled. Ruan Ruan rushed back like Ruan Ruan cannonball, and the force caused some confusion in their positions. When they looked up, they saw Yang Jia, whose face still had a faint smoke dissipating. Their pupils dilated in shock, and their expressions were filled with surprise and fear.

Feeling a little flustered under so many eyes, Yang Jia awkwardly waved her hand to disperse the smell of smoke.

"That..."

"It's just a cigarette, you guys don't need to be so nervous, do you?"

"... Don't tell him either!"

"..."

Everyone was stunned for a moment before realizing that Yang Jia might, possibly, or perhaps was a living person.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Ruan Ruan burst out of the elevator again with a Ruan Ruan wail, leaping into Yang Jia's arms and sobbing uncontrollably.

The crowd was already quite surprised, and they all got out of the elevator and surrounded Yang Jia to ask her questions.

Bite!

At the same moment, Xiao Xiao came up the stairs next to him, carrying two late-night snacks he had brought from the bar staff's kitchen. Seeing everyone gathered together, he asked curiously:

What are you doing here?

"... Why does it smell like smoke?"

"..."

"..."

The group exchanged bewildered glances. This sudden change, along with the composed expressions of Yang Jia and Xiao Xiao, left them momentarily at a loss for words.

Yang Jia paused for a moment, then said calmly, "If you don't like it, just tell the waiters not to smoke when they pass the third floor."

"So all of this was fake?"

Everyone followed Xiao Xiao into the office and listened to him recount what had happened before they finally understood.

She was so confused that she didn't know where to begin. Only Little Four, who had been listening attentively for a while, said, "It's all fake?"

"What about your marriage proposal..."

"..."

Yang Jia blushed slightly and said coldly, "Of course it's fake too."

Xiao Xiao glanced coldly at Little Four, who immediately trembled and cautiously pointed to Yang Jia's left ring finger, saying, "I'm just curious, if it's fake, why is she still wearing the ring..."

This time, Yang Jia's face turned bright red, and she said stiffly, "I don't know why I can't take it off."

Everyone looked at Xiao Xiao again, Xiao Xiao said awkwardly, "I don't know why the ring was left behind when all the others have already been taken back..."

At this point, the people around them wisely stopped asking about the topic.

You don't know, she doesn't know, so who can you blame?

Of course, it's the Old Chairman's problem!

To put it bluntly, this misunderstanding was caused by mindset. For Xiao Xiao, seeing that Yang Jia was not dead was already very reassuring, and he had no intention of hiding it from the team members, so there was no need to tell them in advance. As for Yang Jia, she was a little surprised at first, because she had been by Xiao Xiao's side the whole time, not far from the team members. Rationally, she knew that these people could not see her, but emotionally, she was thinking about many things and did not notice their reaction when they suddenly saw her.

"Alright, the Dante Organization's Revival Gold Coin, by dying once, breaks free from the shackles of the Mysterious Source. Because of the Chairman's power, we can't see you..."

Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, Red Eyes Ling Ping awkwardly spoke up, "We understand these principles, but..."

"... Why did you fake your death and hide?"

"..."

"..."

Finally, they got to this crucial question. Xiao Xiao and Yang Jia exchanged a glance, indicating that it was her turn to speak.

He had already discussed this issue with Yang Jia, and the reason he gathered everyone here was also to tell them about it.

"Because I was scared, I was worried that a lot of people would be eager to find me."

Yang Jia nodded to Xiao Xiao before looking at the others and said in a deep voice, "The reason I want you to know that I am still alive is because you trust me, and also because we need to work together on what comes next."

"Right."

Xiao Xiao nodded slightly beside him. "Moreover, I am an observer, so if anyone leaks this secret, I can tell."

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines, but Yang Jia's words still carried a hint of warmth.

When it came to Xiao Xiao, it just sounded inexplicably awkward.

"So..."

Under the Old Zhou Under the Bridge, in the silence, asked in a low voice, "What exactly did you see?"

"I have seen the truth of this world."

Yang Jia frowned slightly, looked at everyone present seriously, and said in a deep voice, "I saw some foreign things. You can understand them as Outer Gods or as some kind of strange creatures. They came to our world and are devouring it."

"I saw our world, which has been largely devoured, and it is struggling painfully."

"I see this world divided into two parts. Its essence is being devoured, harvested and eaten as painful fruits."

"But her will awakened as it was being eroded; she struggled, she cried out to us for help..."

"..."

"A world being devoured, strange phenomena from outside?"

This sudden statement left everyone somewhat bewildered and unable to process it.

Someone instinctively said, "Then what about us outsiders, and the natives..."

"There are no strangers, and no natives."

Yang Jia shook his head and said seriously, "Only the ignorant, and the bound."

She slowly and earnestly looked into everyone's eyes and uttered words that sent chills down everyone's spines. "It is not the indigenous people who are confused, but us."

"The Branders are bound, imprisoned, and their emotions and will are constantly distorted. Other strangers are the same. We are all bound by Mysterious Source, farmers who reap the fruits of suffering for them."

"Those Mysterious Source cannot directly devour this world, nor can they directly enslave everyone. So they chose us, chose to influence this city, this world. If all the spiritual power in our world has constructed a complete world, then what they want is to divide this world, influence its underlying nature, make it distorted, painful, and collapsing, giving birth to bizarre fruits, which will then be devoured one by one by the Mysterious Source..."

"We Branders are people who are bound and enslaved."

"The other strangers are the same; their perceptions have been distorted by the Mysterious Source."

"..."

Such a theory was something that no one present had ever heard of before, or perhaps some had heard bits and pieces of the theory but never heard such a complete explanation, or perhaps they had heard it but could not understand it.

They found it bizarre and grotesque, as if ants were crawling on their skin.

After a long pause, Red Eyes Ling Ping suddenly said, "You just said that our World Will is struggling? Crying for help..."

"How come we've never felt this before?"

"..."

"That's exactly what I wanted to tell you."

Yang Jia slowly said, "The will of our world has been crying for help for a long time."

"Her will has transformed into Twelve Guideposts, awaiting our awakening."

"..."

"Twelve Guideposts?"

The crowd erupted into chaos. They might be unfamiliar with other things, but this was all too familiar to them.

Wasn't this the source of Black Gate City's first great calamity?

They had thought that the Mysterious Guidepost was just some powerful and special Enhancement Element, but now they heard Yang Jia say that it was actually related to the so-called original World Will.

The world's will to survive has transformed into the Twelve Guideposts?

"The most crucial issue lies precisely here..."

It was only at this moment that Xiao Xiao took over the conversation, slowly saying, "We only obtained a Mysterious Guidepost, yet we became aware of the struggles of this world."

"So, the Dante Organization got four, and the Hell Organization got three..."

What are they doing now?

Haha, that's all for now!