Chapter 187: Despicable Me (Part 12)
Chapter 187: Despicable Me (Part 12)
"That's right", Ao Er Deng suddenly appeared behind Feng Bu Jue.
"At this point, I might as well speak plainly", Bi Li continued. "If you refuse to cooperate, your poison will flare up, resulting in mission failure. I know for you interdimensional travelers, this isn't a terrible consequence, but it's still something you'd desperately want to avoid."
"What about La Bit?" Feng Bu Jue asked. "I just blew your partner's head off with a single shot. Are you really going to let that slide?"
Bi Li replied, "No need to worry. You didn't truly kill it. That gun was merely an extension of my control over this space. The moment you pulled the trigger, I altered the bullet's nature. That shot couldn't kill La Bit."
"But it hurt", another voice chimed in.
Feng Bu Jue turned toward the sound. The voice came from the second Cell.
Although La Bit's decapitated body still lay on the floor, its distinctive voice echoed from the darkness.
"Oh, I see", Feng Bu Jue said casually, spinning his chair to face them fully and propping both feet on the table. "Let me think this over. You can use this time to tell me something interesting."
"You don't have much..." Bi Li began.
Feng Bu Jue chuckled, interrupting, "Actually, don't you mean you're the ones running out of time?" He glanced at the menu. "The ninety-two-minute toxin in my system wasn't something you gave me—it was set by a 'higher being.'" He clearly referred to the [system]. "Before 'it,' even you are mere flickering lives that can be erased with a single thought."
"True", Ao Er Deng countered. "But the being you mention follows rules even stricter than those of the Time Lord. It wouldn't do something without reason."
"I'm not saying it will erase you", Feng Bu Jue explained. "I'm saying even you can't stop it from erasing me. At least there's one undeniable fact—you three only have three doses."
"That's correct. The fourth is with [Fast]", Bi Li admitted.
"This 'Fast'... is he the prison warden here?" Feng Bu Jue asked.
"Yes."
"You're full of it!" Feng Bu Jue snapped. "How would you even know if he has the dose? Did he come in here and tell you himself?"
Bi Li had no response. He indeed didn't know whether Fast possessed the fourth dose. He'd said that only to pressure Feng Bu Jue into eliminating Fast.
"Though I suppose you could call it logical deduction", Feng Bu Jue continued. "The fourth dose clearly isn't in this space, or you'd have already taken it. Now, when did you receive your doses?"
"Before you entered this space, each of us received a dose, along with information about you and its effects", Ao Er Deng answered.
So they received their information through direct data implantation... Feng Bu Jue mused. Also, the ten seconds it took to generate this scenario for me must feel like a much longer time for them. Without a player present, these scenario worlds process time much faster.
"Let me piece this together from the beginning..." Feng Bu Jue stretched lazily in his chair. This moment of relaxation signaled his thoughts had crystallized. "Before I entered this prison, you'd already woven this space and finalized your strategy. When I appeared, Bi Li contacted me through the starting point's broadcast.
When I reached the first sector's fan-shaped room, you put on quite a show. That illusion was..." He paused, glancing at Bi Li and Ao Er Deng for confirmation.
"The one I created", La Bit answered from the second Cell.
"Good job", Feng Bu Jue actually praised. "Then I entered the third corridor, encountered Ao Er Deng, and eventually reached the end. Then I met La Bit and saw Bi Li in the Cell. You three put on quite the act, guiding my path while making it seem like my own choice.
Next, I came to the second corridor, faced *-173, and the one who contained it was..."
"Me", Bi Li confirmed. "After you shattered it, I was the one who placed the dose on the ground."
"Hmm... So you not only manipulate space but also control objects here", Feng Bu Jue observed. "Here's a question—why imprison 173 instead of killing it?"
"Every time we kill one of these creatures, another appears after twenty-four hours", Bi Li explained. "And each new species is different—some truly horrifying." His voice actually carried a hint of distress as he used the foreign adjective "horrific", emphasizing how difficult these creatures were to handle. "173 was relatively easy to control and simple to contain. Keeping it was easier than killing it."
"One time", La Bit added, "a mummified old man appeared who could use spatial rifts for short-distance dimension jumps. Physical attacks were useless. We were helpless when he hid in dimensional holes. In the end, Bi Li had to create massive, complex, randomly arranged structures to trap him while we bypassed him to eliminate Fast."
"That sounds like 106..." Feng Bu Jue muttered, shifting focus. "After handling the second corridor, I'd already developed serious doubts about your story. But at that point, I didn't want to risk causing space-time paradoxes or expose my thoughts through abnormal actions. So I followed your plan, entering the fourth corridor."
Looking at Bi Li, he continued, "You moved from this Cell to the fourth corridor, contacting me casually. That game looked challenging, but when I actually played it, you let me get the dose so easily."
"Did my actions seem unnatural?" Bi Li asked.
"Not at all", Feng Bu Jue replied. "If you understood my character, you'd know your move benefited everyone." He paused. "By the way, could you clean off this gasoline and blood on me?"
As he spoke, Bi Li's eyes flashed. Instantly, Feng Bu Jue's discomfort vanished, the gasoline evaporating completely from his skin.
"Thanks", Feng Bu Jue said politely. "Originally, you planned for me to find the dose and die in the Gasoline Pool, consuming one medal to teleport back to the corridor's start, making the game's difficulty and process seem more realistic. But you didn't expect that a non-swimmer like me would escape before the floor closed, giving me a few minutes' advantage over your plan.
To maintain your time theory, you had to extend the fourth corridor's second half, making me spend eighteen minutes reaching the end."
"When you reached the end, you deliberately avoided mentioning 'the dose' and acted overly anxious to make me slip up", La Bit added. The second Cell's artificial light brightened, revealing La Bit whole inside while the corpse on the floor vanished.
"There's one more thing I need to confirm", Feng Bu Jue said. "Was giving me the medal to prevent 173 from killing me?"
Bi Li explained, "As long as your death wasn't from 'poison,' we could revive you endlessly. But then you'd question the game's nature and investigate relentlessly."
"At that moment, Feng Bu Jue knitted his brows in thought, his index finger tapping beneath his lip. 'Alright, I’ve pieced most of this together.' He lowered his feet and sat upright, his tone sharpening. 'I’ll admit—your intricate, meticulously crafted [induction plan] was impressive. Too bad it’s already collapsed. Still… I’m feeling generous. I’ll lend you a hand.'"
At his words, the three prisoners froze. Their expressions weren't expressive, but if they had human faces, their gazes would be sharp and intense.
"I have two conditions", Feng Bu Jue raised two fingers. "If you meet them... you help me, I help you."
"Conditions?" Ao Er Deng repeated, slightly surprised.
"Of course. While I'm not exactly a lawful good type, helping you would make me an enemy of the Time Lord", Feng Bu Jue said seriously. "The risk depends on the reward. If you don't want to negotiate, I'm fine with that. But consider carefully—breaking off would be harder for you to accept."
"Speak", Bi Li, clearly the spokesperson, said firmly. As the strategist and strongest, he took charge during negotiations.
"First condition." Feng Bu Jue's gaze swept over them. "Tell me truthfully—why are you three, or more politely, you three monsters, imprisoned here? And what exactly is this Time Lord?"
"Why ask?" Bi Li questioned. "Our existence and past shouldn't matter much to interdimensional travelers."
"Then you should be happy to share these 'trivial' details", Feng Bu Jue countered. "Consider yourself lucky my first condition is so simple."
Bi Li hesitated for about ten seconds, silently consulting La Bit and Ao Er Deng through unknown means before answering, "The Time Lord is one of the Four Pillar Gods. All orderly space-time territories fall under his rule."
"What are the Four Pillar Gods?" Feng Bu Jue asked, his curiosity genuine.
"The Time Lord governs the River of Order, the Lord of Demons dominates the Chaos Wasteland, the Lord of the Nether Abyss rules the Realm of the Dead, and the Tribunal of Truth judges all worlds' morality. This phrase spreads across worlds—no self-respecting demonic entity doesn't know it", Bi Li explained.
"Hmm... Continue." Feng Bu Jue memorized the four lines thoroughly...
Bi Li continued, "For long, the Four Pillar Gods maintained balance, deliberately avoiding conflicts.
War is something none wish to see, as none are certain of victory against another. If two gods warred, the other two's stance would be unknown.
This prison, though under the Time Lord's jurisdiction, was judged by the Tribunal of Truth.
My core power is space manipulation, Ao Er Deng's is fear manipulation, and La Bit's is illusion creation. I and Ao Er Deng were imprisoned for 'spreading chaos.' As for La Bit..."
At his unnatural pause, Feng Bu Jue pressed, "What happened?"
"His cousin and he were jury members who committed contempt of court", Bi Li said.
"What about his cousin? Imprisoned elsewhere?" Feng Bu Jue asked.
"They couldn't even catch his cousin in court", La Bit said.
"You're saying a rabbit actually escaped under the Tribunal of Truth's nose?" Feng Bu Jue laughed.
La Bit shrugged. "My cousin can escape anywhere. Just needs to draw a black hole on the wall and crawl through..."
"Haha..." Feng Bu Jue's forced laughter twitched at his lips.
Bi Li redirected, "Before Fast, our warden was Siamo di Er. Before defecting from the Time Lord, he released us. It was during that time we briefly met you."
"Wasn't that just five or six days ago?" Feng Bu Jue recalled.
"For you, yes", Bi Li said. "But Siamo di Er didn't stay free long. The Time Lord captured him. He quickly revealed our whereabouts to commute his death sentence. I heard he was exiled to the Demon Beast Island...
We were re-imprisoned with Fast as the new warden, our sentences multiplied. Time here is unstable—far more elongated than elsewhere. You consider our meeting five or six days ago, but for me, this prison's endless nightmare has lasted at least a year, maybe longer."
Processing this, Feng Bu Jue connected the gloomy phantom city and hunter's island events. Time did align—perhaps the fake general Lei Ensi Fude encountered in the hunter's island scenario had somehow drifted to Demon Beast Island, becoming Siamo di Er's subordinate there.
"Alright, sounds like you're not lying", Feng Bu Jue said, licking his lips for his second condition. "My second condition is..." He patted his chest, pointing at the table's gun. "After this, I want to take the remaining two [Contra Medals] and the [one-shot pistol] out of this space."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
