Chapter 180: The Despicable Me (V)
Chapter 180: The Despicable Me (V)
Feng Bu Jue stood in a perfectly circular room illuminated by soft yet bright artificial light. Facing him were four iron-barred doors, each leading to pitch-black prison cells whose occupancy remained unknown. Behind him, another set of four doors mirrored the fan-shaped area he’d seen at the passage’s far end. A sense of being toyed with crept over him—could it be that no matter which path he chose, they all led to the same place? Were these four corridors merely routes to this "prison"?
"Ahhh, you're back", a voice chimed.
At the center of the circular room, between the four prison doors, sat a large wooden desk. The speaker lounged in the chair behind it, watching Feng Bu Jue with an inscrutable gaze.
The desk was crafted from what appeared to be ten-point-grade timber. Its intricate details—the rounded corners, polished drawer handles, and delicate carvings along the edges—spoke of refined artistry and noble elegance.
In the real world, Feng Bu Jue could never have afforded such a luxury. Its price would likely dwarf that of a Gaming Pod by twice or more. By the early 21st century, pure wooden furniture had already become a rarity. Most available furniture was made from compressed wood chips, often laced with toxic or carcinogenic materials that merchants brazenly sold as genuine wood. By Feng Bu Jue’s era, oil crises, environmental pollution, and desertification had rendered natural-resource-based goods into rare luxuries. This desk was akin to a dinosaur, a Ufo, or a beauty without makeup—something one could only hope to see in a game.
"What do you mean, 'back'?" Feng Bu Jue glared at the figure. "And why can you even talk?"
"Can’t I?" the figure shot back.
"Let me think… Because you’re a rabbit!" Feng Bu Jue pointed at the creature’s hare-faced visage, muttering theatrically before barking the last words.
The entity sitting behind the desk was indeed a rabbit—a colossal one, the size of a kangaroo. Its joints were unlike a normal rabbit’s, its form clearly anthropomorphized. It could "sit" upright on a chair, grasp objects with its stubby hands, and wore a white shirt, black suit vest, and bowtie—though it lacked pants.
"Otherworldly traveler, you’re terribly rude", the rabbit said, sporting two small mustaches curling from its nose and wearing spectacles. "I am the loyal servant of the great Time Lord, a guardian of punctuality, wisdom, elegance, and handsomeness—the fearsome Bitlord!"
Feng Bu Jue slapped his forehead and dragged his hand down his face. "Heh… What an honor for a rabbit to claim such a title."
"Bitlord! Not a rabbit!" La Bit corrected.
"Fine, fine", Feng Bu Jue sighed, unwilling to bicker. "Bitlord, do you have any potions?"
"Are you sick?"
Feng Bu Jue’s temple throbbed, caught between amusement and fury. "I’m poisoned! I need four potions. Do you have any?"
"Of course."
La Bit’s reply came too quickly. Feng Bu Jue opened his mouth to ask the price when—
"But I won’t give them to you."
"What do you want?" Feng Bu Jue asked flatly. "I don’t have carrots, by the way."
"Who said anything about carrots!"
"Or cabbage either."
"You’re pushing it, kid!"
"If you’d like to experience being yanked from a hat", Feng Bu Jue smirked, leaning on a well-worn rabbit trope, "I can oblige—if you can find a top hat big enough to fit yourself."
La Bit tried to look menacing, but his face lacked intimidation. "If my cousin were here, you’d have two detonator cords up your nostrils by now."
"Is your cousin Bugs Bunny?" Feng Bu Jue retorted.
La Bit clenched his fists, grinding his rabbit teeth. "Ao Er Deng!"
The Dark Shadow from the earlier cell—its eyes glowing blue, veins exposed—materialized beside La Bit. "What is it?"
"This one arrived at seventy-seven minutes. It came through your end, right?" La Bit asked.
"Yes", Ao Er Deng replied.
"Explain the corridor mechanics to it."
"Understood", Ao Er Deng acknowledged, turning to Feng Bu Jue.
The mention of "seventy-seven minutes" made Feng Bu Jue’s heart skip. That can’t be right! Even accounting for the running and cold environment messing with my internal clock, I’ve only been here around thirty minutes. Where’s seventy-seven coming from?
Ao Er Deng’s face had no mouth; its voice emerged directly from its shadowy form. "Crossing from the 'primary end' room through the door to the corridor’s terminal end causes unexpected time shifts." It raised a hand, pointing at the second door on Feng Bu Jue’s left. "This second door here corresponds to the third door at the primary end. Entering that third corridor brings you to sixty-nine minutes, plus the time spent traversing the corridor."
Feng Bu Jue’s eyes lit up. "What about the other three?"
"The second corridor leads to forty-six minutes plus traversal time", Ao Er Deng replied. "The first and fourth corridors both lead to twenty-three minutes plus traversal time."
Feng Bu Jue’s mind raced. "So… I’ve been here before?"
"Of course", La Bit interjected. "You already took the medicine from my hand!" He checked his pocket watch. "But this version of you has only lived thirty minutes. So explaining once should suffice."
"So… there are two kinds of time? One I experience, and one tied to this place?" Feng Bu Jue asked.
"Regardless of which timeline reaches ninety-two minutes, the poison will kill you", La Bit added.
Feng Bu Jue was silent for a full minute. "What if I go back through the corridors?"
"Returning to the primary end from the terminal end subtracts twenty-three minutes from the prison time, but adds traversal time", Ao Er Deng explained.
"Prison time is at seventy-nine now. If a corridor takes fifteen minutes, going back to the primary end would bring me to… seventy-one minutes?"
"Correct", La Bit confirmed. "But the primary end’s time doesn’t matter. Entering any corridor from there synchronizes your time with the terminal end. For instance, even if you reach a primary end room at ninety minutes, entering the first corridor will sync you to the terminal end’s twenty-three minutes. However, if you retreat before completing the corridor, your time resets from the moment you left the primary end room, adding the traversal time."
"You rabbits devised this twisted system?" Feng Bu Jue asked.
La Bit slammed the desk. "I warn you, thirty-two-minute Mad Bu Jue! You’re wasting your time!"
Feng Bu Jue now understood the rules: according to prison time, he wouldn’t die. By running back and forth, he could reach twenty-three, forty-six, or sixty-nine minutes plus traversal. But his experienced time remained the critical factor. The poison still killed him at ninety-two minutes.
La Bit continued, "Obviously, Ao Er Deng and I are helping you. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have explained this." He pressed a switch under the desk. "The one who designed this game… is him!"
Instantly, artificial light blazed in one of the four prison cells behind La Bit. A white conical beam descended from the ceiling, illuminating the cell’s interior.
The cell’s floor and three walls were concrete. Through the iron bars, a wooden stool stood at its center, occupied by a puppet wearing a suit and red bowtie.
The puppet’s face was pale and sinister, shaped like the Chinese character shen. Black hair framed its head. With red-and-black eyes, it stared at the trio outside—man, rabbit, and shadow.
Feng Bu Jue drew his handgun, approached the iron bars, and aimed at the Saw-style puppet. "Give me one reason not to pull this trigger."
The puppet’s voice emerged, rasping and hollow like a recording, though its lips moved: "Pull the trigger, and you won’t truly kill me. It won’t help your game either." Its neck twisted, turning toward La Bit. "Even as a prisoner, you lack the authority to judge me. Isn’t that right, La Bit?"
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
