Chapter 178
But this place is different; there is no day or night, only a crimson and ominous sky.
"Perhaps we're on another planet?"
"I don't think astronomy matters in the Reincarnation Game. Humans are like frogs in a well; who knows what's outside the solar system?" Hiyori smiled gently and patted her cheek.
"I don't want to think about this pointless stuff anymore, let's clear the dungeon first. Senior, did you see that silver car? It passed by fifteen minutes ago; the cars on the road were just going in circles."
Mai Sakurajima turned her head. She did see it, but she didn't have the memory or observation skills. She just felt that it looked somewhat familiar, so she simply nodded and glanced at her watch.
In the 24 hours since she entered the instance, the city has remained unchanged, still bustling, noisy, and volatile. Sometimes she wonders what the people in these instances are even born for.
But Yuki told her that it was meaningless; each instance was a world with its own rules of operation, just like in reality, why people go to school, take exams, and work.
At that moment, cheers erupted from the deathmatch arena behind them, and a black sedan drove in from a distance, entering the passageway beneath their feet.
After each deathmatch, in addition to the arena automatically repairing itself, members of the Cult would come to clean up and remove the warriors' bodies. This was the only way for warriors to leave the deathmatch arena.
Their task was to find a breakthrough by examining this vehicle.
"The next match is with Yuki again. He'll give us an hour," Mai Sakurajima said softly, then couldn't help but laugh. "That idiot can be so cheeky sometimes, always trying to mess with people's mentality. Your reminder is also very important. If he gets affected by the atmosphere and kills his opponent in a few moves, we won't have time to use the rules."
Once the method is confirmed to be effective, the enthusiastic audience will then be treated to an hour of Black Egg, which is likely to be a very unpleasant experience.
"This is the meaning of my existence—to come up with a solution when Mr. Yuki is too busy to attend to other matters." Hiyori smiled gently, without any hint of arrogance. "If the Night Domain can be maintained for a longer period, Mr. Yuki will probably let them have a good look at the Black Egg for several days, which will reduce the frequency of battles."
I just don't know what kind of follow-up problems this confrontation with the Cult will cause.
"Senior, don't you think this dungeon feels a bit off?"
"The taste? Now that you mention it, it doesn't really have that terrifying, eerie feeling." Mai Sakurajima realized what she meant. Even in the midst of Battle on the Raging Seas battle on a stormy sea, when she deciphered the clues and discovered that everyone on the ship was a monster or a ghost, she still felt a chill run down her spine.
"This is too direct, the taste isn't right," Hiyori muttered to herself, just as she saw two men in black suits carrying a stretcher out of the passage.
The person on the stretcher was already dead; half of their body had been split open, leaving a clear trail of blood on the ground. In fact, there was no need for a stretcher at all; they could have just been stuffed into a bag and taken away.
Those people treated him like a wounded soldier, putting him in the car, closing the door—their movements were smooth and practiced.
Mai Sakurajima turned and walked towards the SUV parked by the roadside. Hiyori glanced at her deeply and hurriedly followed.
[When one player steps into the arena, it's equivalent to the entire team being in a deathmatch, and the player in this state will be respected.]
This was the most significant discovery of the first day of exploring the instance. After confirming it, Mai Sakurajima tested the limits and found the results to be surprisingly good.
She was able to borrow a car without needing a reason; after she made the request, the driver immediately handed over the keys, his respectful manner making her feel quite uncomfortable.
Throughout the day, they witnessed all sorts of road rage. In the past, let alone borrowing a car, if someone lingered in front of a car for a while, they would punch each other in the face and start a fight to the death.
But these citizens are quite normal; they have everything they need, from eating and drinking to using the toilet and sleeping. Apart from the lack of entertainment facilities, the city's infrastructure is quite modern. It's just a mystery what they're busy with all day long.
"This is absurd! How could he have discovered our identities?" Mai Sakurajima complained as she started the car and followed, noting that she herself wasn't glowing.
"You said they have strong intuition, and they could even detect your characteristics. Perhaps this is the reason."
"Based on intuition?"
"No, because the rules of the Reincarnation Game are superior to the rules of the instance; this doesn't require logic, so it seems absurd."
Hiyori kept her eyes fixed on the car in front of her, answering questions in a disjointed manner. The journey was excessively smooth, and no one dared to ram into her again.
She carefully examined all the details and discovered that no one was following them, nor could she detect any signs of conspiracy. It seemed that the Cult had no concept of counter-espionage whatsoever.
Everything was so 'open and aboveboard,' just like the fights that can be seen everywhere on the street. They all happened on the spot, and no one was bluffing or pretending to back down by calling a truckload of people.
They moved through the city with the same ease as the black sedan ahead, seeing other deathmatch arenas as they drove through the traffic.
Number II, Number III, and Number V all looked almost identical. The black sedan was like a garbage truck; it would stop at each deathmatch arena and collect the remains of the dead.
The same process: collect, load, and move on to the next location. The smell inside the vehicle must be quite unpleasant; I don't know how they endured it.
Then those deathmatch arenas were inaccessible, with no concept of tickets; only members of the Cult dressed in black suits guarded the single entrance.
Their expressionless faces and cold gazes intimidated the two men, making them back down.
His arms were thicker than both of their thighs, making it impossible for him to force his way in. After circling around a few times, Hiyori noticed that the deathmatch arena was strangely constructed:
It's a huge area, and many people have already seen how many are inside. Yet, with so many people, there's only one entrance, and it's just as narrow as the Arena IV.
The two guards blocked the door completely, making it virtually impregnable. Mai Sakurajima tried activating her special ability and approached, but the guards only glanced at her insincerely.
They didn't utter a word, only clenched their fists, and this sight immediately made Mai Sakurajima lose the desire to force her way through.
"No, I can't get in. The passage is too narrow." Mai Sakurajima retreated to the car, her back covered in cold sweat. "I should have borrowed Flying Boots from Hayasaka and flown up the outer wall to take a look."
"The Flying Boots can't stay airborne for long, and besides, there are guards inside. We don't have time to watch the battle slowly." Hiyori shook her head, lightly biting her fingertip. "And have you noticed? There's only one passage. How do so many spectators get in and out?"
It's true, I haven't seen any audience members entering or leaving.
Mai Sakurajima noticed this detail, exchanged a glance with Hiyori, and spoke in unison.
"Could it be that they don't need to leave at all?"
That's right, they had thoroughly investigated Arena IV. Besides the ring, the audience seating, and the lounge, there was nothing else inside. There wasn't even a popcorn stand, let alone a toilet.
Those tens of thousands of people seemed to have no physiological needs; their sole purpose in existence was to watch the fierce battle and cheer for the soldiers.
"A major discovery: there's definitely something wrong with these spectators; they're at least not normal beings."
Hiyori quickly jotted it down in her notebook, first writing 'puppet' and then quickly erasing it. A puppet doesn't have such intense emotions, but if it were a human, who would just watch a show without eating, drinking, or relieving themselves? A loud roar would at least make them thirsty.
Mai Sakurajima didn't interrupt the girl's thoughts. After a while, she patted her on the shoulder.
"Their car is almost full, let's follow them."
The tracking continued, and after blending into the traffic for about five minutes, the black sedan finally slowed down and stopped in front of a dark, tall building.
These buildings were noticed when the instance opened; they resembled black greatswords stuck in the ground, scattered throughout the residential area, making them the most prominent landmarks in this Bloodlight City.
The door on the first floor was pushed open, revealing a passageway wide enough for two cars to drive side by side. The black car restarted and drove straight in.
Squeak.
Mai Sakurajima stepped on the brakes. They were only respected, not invisible, so of course they couldn't follow her inside.
"This is a place Abate has been to." Mai Sakurajima recognized it at a glance, but didn't know which one it was. Moreover, the door was fully open, and there were no guards in sight. "Should I activate my special ability and go in to take a look?"
"No, that's too dangerous. I'll use the Void Puppet to test it out. You turn around first, and we'll be ready to run away at any time."
"Well... okay."
Having experienced the Battle on the Raging Seas, Hiyori was already quite skilled at using the Void Puppet. She snapped her fingers and immediately felt herself being split in two.
Her senses of sight, hearing, and smell were all separated, and because of the different locations, the sense of disconnect was severe. For a moment, she didn't even know if she was sitting in a car or standing on the side of the road.
The Void Puppet's duration is short and it cannot interfere with reality. Even if it has characteristics that are invisible in the material world, Mai Sakurajima's characteristics can still be noticed, so the puppet should not be much better.
However, this thing is a consumable item, so even if it causes a fight, the aggro won't be directed at you.
As the ghostly puppet moved silently, its line of sight extended, and it slipped into the building before the door closed. Hiyori activated its special ability, allowing its vision to rotate 360 degrees.
There were no windows, and the view wasn't dim; everything was tinged with a chilling blood red by the lamplight.
The interior was very large, with many members of the Cult dressed in black suits and wearing gold skulls on their chests coming and going; the structure was also very simple.
Behind the door was a large hall, at the far end of which were two elevators. Eight identical black cars were neatly parked in the hall, which made Hiyori raise her eyebrows.
It's very strange. This place doesn't look like a hospital or a cemetery. What's the point of collecting corpses here?
The Void Puppet stood in the darkest corner, watching the staff open the car door and gently unload the corpse. The body was badly damaged, and the blood that flowed out immediately stained the dark floor red.
But when dozens of corpses were laid out together, Hiyori noticed a common thread:
Whether they were cut in half or their bodies were torn apart, their heads remained relatively intact.
Wait, why keep the head? The head should be the best point of attack.
Hiyori didn't quite understand. Yuki had told her that even Transcendental Grade skills like Vitality Shift were most vulnerable to being hit on the head. Then, something even more incomprehensible happened.
Puff, puff, puff.
The black-clad employees took out huge cleavers and chopped off the heads one by one, then placed them into trays.
Huh? What's the point of cutting off a corpse's head? To prevent resurrection?
Hiyori was even more puzzled. Hearing the 'ding' sound, she turned her head.
The elevator doors opened, and a group of even taller, more robust men, dressed in blood-red suits and wearing skull masks, stepped out.
They were menacing, their masks consisting of one gold and three black. They slowly walked to the car, took the tray from the man in black, and as they handed it over, it was as if they were chanting some kind of incantation.
The syllables were short, more like a code, but Hiyori couldn't understand them. Fortunately, 'Reality Reading' allowed her to see all the movements in the entire hall in a very short time.
Blood pooled, reaching past their feet, as if these people were standing in a sea of blood completing the handover; each person recited a spell, their expressions fervent and resolute; finally, there was a distinction in treatment between the heads.
Some were simply tossed into pockets and packed away, while those placed on trays were warrior heads collected from the deathmatch arena.
Hmm, why is that? Do the skulls serve some special purpose? Why are the Cult collecting them?
Hiyori's little head was filled with question marks; she couldn't understand what she was seeing at all, but she knew it must be related to that ultimate secret.
Just then, she heard a deep, hoarse, and irritable voice.
What are you looking at?
The fragmented senses left the girl momentarily bewildered, then goosebumps rose all over her body.
We've been discovered!
Both of her visions turned blood red, and she smelled an overwhelming, nauseating stench of blood, feeling a maddening, tearing sensation.
The side effect of the Void Puppet is sensory feedback, and this time it's even more than that. A cruel and tyrannical feeling surged up in my heart, getting closer and closer, as if it were slowly crawling over me along the connection between the puppet and the original body.
"Senior, run!"
The girl in the car screamed, and Mai Sakurajima, who was next to her, didn't hesitate for a second. She immediately released the handbrake and stepped on the gas.
Ugh--
The engine the Roar, and the car shot off like an arrow, colliding with several other vehicles. Normally, this would have been enough to start a bloody fight, but these cars simply stopped and did not give chase.
"Are you alright? What did you see?" Mai Sakurajima turned her head and saw the girl in the passenger seat with her arms crossed over her chest, shaking uncontrollably as if she were seriously ill.
Her teeth were chattering, and her eyes were darting around uncontrollably. Fortunately, as the distance increased, the Void Puppet lost control and disintegrated automatically. She quickly swallowed several Comfort Pills, which helped her recover from the severe mental breakdown.
"I... I... I..." Hiyori opened her trembling mouth, unable to describe the strange phenomenon she was seeing. Countless pieces of information flashed through her mind, eventually converging into a single sentence.
"I saw Corpse Mountain, Blood Sea!"
Chapter Eight: The Apostles (4K)
The doors of the black building were open.
A figure, about two meters tall, wearing a blood-red skull mask and a crimson trench coat, stood at the doorway.
The oversized trench coat concealed the body's specific features, and could only be judged from the standing posture, where the person's body was slightly leaning forward.
The golden skull mask only revealed its eye sockets, inside which were a pair of crimson eyes that emitted an eerie light, like two blazing flames.
The 'flame' stared at the street in front of it, leaving two black skid marks on the ground, which slowly moved upwards before being blocked by the rolling traffic.
Passersby detoured, casting complex glances, each conveying the following emotions:
Respect, fear, longing, and eagerness.
The figure didn't care what others thought; it would only kill anyone who stared at it for more than three seconds, but unfortunately, no one could stay in that position for more than a second.
"Your Excellency, is someone spying on the sacred ceremony?" A burly man in a red suit stepped forward, clearly of higher status.
"Yes, just like before, these seeds are dishonest, lacking both honor and the despicable nature of bedbugs, always doing meaningless things."
A deep, hoarse, and brutal voice rang out, laced with mockery.
In its view, how could it escape after being caught spying? It should turn around, yell "What are you looking at?" and have a good fight.
Then they ran away. Well, so be it. If I find them again, I'll just punch them to death.
"Seeds are like this; they don't know why they are born, nor why they die; all their struggles are for survival."
"But once you come to this city, no one leaves alive. Their struggles are both pathetic and pitiful." The crimson figure shook his head slightly. This was the norm; their very existence was an insult, yet also incredibly precious.
"So how are the seeds this time? To be frank, I don't have high expectations."
"As before, there are eight groups in total. Three groups have already been sacrificed, leaving five groups remaining."
"Weak. In such a short time, nearly half of them have been killed or wounded." The apostle scoffed, his eyes blazing with fury, as if he wanted to end the struggle of these worthless creatures.