Chapter 260 |
Three completely different ghostly figures surrounded Bai Yan.
Bai Yan couldn't see their faces clearly, but he knew exactly who these people were.
"They are me."
Each and every person was involved.
They are respectively the mysterious and unpredictable "Savior", "Profligate" Moriarty, and "Keeper of Secrets" Viscount Edmond.
Just at that moment, Bai Yan suddenly felt an incredibly strong force, pushing the ghostly figures around him away from his body and into the air.
"Indeed, the moment has arrived, the true challenge of the Crown Ceremony's Fictional Enactment..."
The overwhelming power caused every person's shadow to continuously move away from his body.
During this moment, Bai Yan felt as if the entire world was falling. The unimaginable weight of mental pressure made him instantly lose consciousness, only to awaken in the next moment.
"Is this the Crown Ceremony? It's indeed quite challenging."
Very different from before, it gave a feeling that is hard to describe.
Bai Yan took a deep breath and gently shook his head. His vision became blurry once again, as if he was witnessing the illusions turning into reality with his own eyes.
They were within his soul, and every shadow of "himself" was engaging in a conversation with him.
"All that I do, I do to save all the worlds that need saving."
"I like to see people struggling without being able to do anything, just out of pure interest!"
"Mmm, you've done well, and I have high hopes for your future."
Bai Yan could see scenes of his past as shadows, all of which were his own acting experiences. Some were serene, some were crazy, and some were calm... but one thing was always clear to him!
Every imaginary identity was just Bai Yan himself, not anyone else!
Even though it was the third Crown Ceremony that suited Bai Yan the best, it still presented considerable challenges.
The flaw in the Fictional Enactment rests in the fact that, if the promotion attempt fails, the person attempting it has a very high chance of ending up with a shattered mind and a broken personality.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!"
The immense mental pressure made Bai Yan's head ache terribly. In this extreme misery, he felt as if every single cell in his body was being crushed and rearranged.
Scenes of acting experiences kept flashing in his eyes, as if they were about to burst out from deep within his soul!
I am not someone else, I am simply Bai Yan!
"Just like you said, I became ordinary... more like myself."
He mumbled to himself.
The next moment.
Everything seemed to vanish.
In his surroundings, everything turned into a completely blank space.
White.
Apart from that, there was nothing else in the world.
He sat on an old chair, looking down. In the sky, a massive silver tower emerged, reaching up to the heavens.
Every shadow stood behind him, quietly standing in this place.
Bai Yan slowly lifted his head and saw, right in front of him, another person sitting whose face he couldn't see.
That "person"... made Bai Yan feel an extremely familiar and comforting sensation, one that he couldn't be more familiar with. Yet, he also confirmed that he had never seen the other person before.
Who are you?
Even though they were sitting face to face, Bai Yan couldn't know the true identity of the person in front of him.
This "person" was like a black hole itself, absolutely impossible for anyone to see their face clearly.
Just at that moment, a lot of thick, dark mist emerged from beside Bai Yan.
Bai Yan sat calmly in the chair, feeling that he couldn't do anything, completely unable to move.
That person resembling a black hole began to speak.
Next, Bai Yan heard a few sentences, and he always felt like the other person was talking to him, but it also seemed like that wasn't the case.
"Whatever the outcome may be..."
"Your fate has already been determined."
"Our goals are different, but our thoughts are the same."
"With the past and the future, everything and anything at stake, this most magnificent game begins..."
Just as a shadow resembling a "black hole" stood up, it quickly approached Bai Yan. In the next moment, they were already merged together.
All those illusions returned into Bai Yan's body.
He felt completely consumed.
Slowly fading away, disappearing from sight...
Time seemed to have passed for a very, very long time, so long that Bai Yan couldn't tell whether he was in a dream or in reality.
It felt as if the world had changed completely, as if everything in existence had disappeared and started anew. No matter how many times destruction and rebirth occurred, everything ultimately returned to its original state.
"..."
When Bai Yan opened his eyes once again, he found himself back in the real world, peacefully lying on the magical circle of the Crown Ceremony.
In his hands, the highly precious Essence of the Void had turned into mere dust a long time ago.
Bai Yan's mind felt fuzzy and heavy, and he lay on the ground for a long time before gradually regaining his normal thinking process.
"This Crown Ceremony feels very different from what is written in the description... Everything that happened in that white world is not mentioned in the Fictional Enactment materials... It was never mentioned at all."
What did those scenes seen during the Crown Ceremony actually mean...
I'm not sure...
Bai Yan closed his eyes and felt that his memories were starting to become blurry.
Perhaps this scene is very important.
Bai Yan remembered seeing a huge tower that was shiny and silver inside. Maybe that was actually the real look of the Babel Tower. And then, who was that dark, hole-like figure?
Was he talking to himself?
After some time had passed, Bai Yan finally regained his senses and slowly stood up from the ground.
He could feel a tremendous, unprecedented power surging within his body.
Bai Yan's eyes once again became like the vast universe, portraying infinite landscapes. Shimmering with gentle silver and black light, they sparkled like two completely different stars.
The extraordinary power has taken another step in its "evolution".
The difference between "Crown" and "Awakening" was evidently larger than the difference between "Awakening" and "Origin".
He took a deep breath and felt the all-encompassing changes happening within him.
"The person I am now is completely different from the past."
Bai Yan, feeling the surge of new power, suddenly made a startling discovery!
"Oh, so that's how it is... I can't believe it!"
Usually, extraordinary individuals experience certain changes at each small level. The most common thing is continuously unlocking sub-level abilities that possess extraordinary powers.
But he was different.
From the moment Bai Yan awakened and became a Crown, his journey was unlike that of any other extraordinary individual. Throughout this process, he didn't unlock sub-level abilities with extraordinary powers like others did.
Bai Yan nodded and looked at his hand, talking to himself, "It seems like this, as long as I reach this higher level, I will directly gain all the powers of this higher level."
In other words, even though Bai Yan has just arrived in Crown, he has unlocked all the abilities of the sub-levels - lower, middle, upper, and even the Potential Apocalypse - within the extraordinary powers of Crown.
He could feel that he now possessed a considerable amount of extraordinary power, unlike anything he had ever experienced before.
Bai Yan shook his head and exclaimed with a smile, "Now, I truly feel invincible below the level of Apocalypse!"
Boasting about oneself might not be a good thing... he suddenly realized this.
"Hmm, next time, I'll find someone to cheer for me on the side."
Bai Yan decided to actively correct his tendency to boast about himself.
Bai Yan had unique powers that set him apart from others. He possessed two special powers called "Connection" and "Game".
First, there was the power of "Connection".
First, after Bai Yan's power of "Connection" reached the Crown level, it underwent significant improvements, building upon his existing abilities.
The first subset of abilities was still about "gaining information".
Now, when he gathers information about something, he no longer randomly receives one-third of the information pieces. Instead, he directly connects and finds the answers he needs.
Bai Yan took a slow breath and gently reached out to touch the walls of the house. Soon, he vividly saw a vision of Sylve's ancestors.
Those scenes seemed to be ablaze, revealing how her ancestors had obtained the "ancient magic" from the cult. Since then, they relied on smuggling and illegal immigration to make a living.
However, Bai Yan tried to touch his own face, hoping to gather relevant information, but all he could find was meaningless details. He attempted to touch the "Babel Tower" with his fingertips, wanting to learn about its origins and consequences, but it proved to be ineffective.
"It seems like it's still not possible..."
Bai Yan shook his head gently. Honestly, he really wanted to find out what exactly the Babel Tower was through this ability.
Now it seems that maybe because he wasn't strong enough, his ability couldn't work.
"And then... there was this amazing ability to analyze."
The second sub-ability of the Crown level "Connection" talent is called "Insightful Linking."
Bai Yan, known as Bai Yan, gazed at the scene around him. He effortlessly noticed the weaknesses, flaws, strengths, and how everything was connected to each other.
For example, when he saw fire, he naturally gained a lot of related information. He learned that "wind can help fire" and "water can extinguish fire," and so on.
Bai Yan, also known as Bai Yan, knew that this was actually a very powerful ability, especially when dealing with various "strange" creatures that belonged to the category of mechanical monsters.
Ordinary people need to guess and reason in order to understand the "strange" creatures' patterns of behavior and attack methods. However, most of the time, these "strange" creatures attack immediately upon first encounter, leaving you with no time for trial and error.
"However, having the ability of "Insightful Linking" is different. When facing all sorts of "strange" creatures, you can directly see relevant clues and even the answers."
There is no doubt about it, this is a tremendous advantage.
He nodded gently, a noticeably relaxed smile appearing on his face.
"It's still the ability of intelligence gathering, but it's very practical, especially when dealing with 'strange' things."
Now, Bai Yan possesses extraordinary power of multiple Core Operators. It can be said that he has an abundance of strength for direct combat.
What he might need is perhaps an extraordinary power in gathering information.
The third ability under "Connection" is... a power that Bai Yan could never have imagined.
Perhaps, it could be called "The Arrival."
"Oh, I see now! There is such incredible power! Let's give it a try, right away."
In the darkness, Bai Yan closes his eyes and stands still in the same spot.
But little did anyone know, he had already begun to gradually unleash his extraordinary power known as "The Arrival."
Soon, in Bai Yan's mind, some shadowy figures began to appear. It was like a series of different choices, and Bai Yan had to pick one in order to fully unleash "The Arrival."
All of these shadows were actually the Core Operators of the Babel Tower.
He initially wanted to choose Mu Ling, but then he realized that at this time she must have already fallen asleep, so he changed his decision.
"Psychic Dancer"
Connection and Arrival.
Unleash!
Gradually, Bai Yan started to see some completely different scenes and hear completely different sounds.
He gained a new perspective.
A TV that occupied a large part of the wall, along with a soft pink bed. There were quite a few snacks around the face, and not far away on the ground were freshly taken off white stockings. The sound from the TV was very loud, even deafening, and from time to time you could hear the laughter of a young girl...
"Hmm, is this the little one's first-person perspective?"
Bai Yan pondered for a moment and spoke to Maryse in his mind.
[Psychic Dancer.]
[Something important is about to happen, and a difficult future awaits. It must be shattered by the strongest and most resilient.]
He spoke a meaningless but seemingly meaningful "riddle."
For the sake of it, it was just to test his own abilities.
In reality, Bai Yan felt a surge of emotions.
"The power that can be used directly is completely different now..."
Although he could do similar things using the Babel Tower app on his phone, like speaking in their minds, this time it was completely different.
It was something he accomplished by avoiding the Babel Tower app on his phone!
"What on earth is happening? My powers, can they really affect the Babel Tower?"
In a dark room, he looked at his reflection in the mirror and fell into deep thought.
--
Maryse was actually quite happy today.
She found a movie that she really enjoyed, and then she bought a huge TV screen. So, late at night, she relaxed on her bed, snacking and watching the movie.
"That's so funny, hahaha!"
Maryse had a big smile on her face as she lay on the bed, swinging her little legs. She picked up a cold cola and started drinking it eagerly.
Boo-boo-boo-boo-boo!
"Burp!"
That feels absolutely amazing!
Maryse rolled over a few times on the big bed, planning to pick another new movie to watch.
Although the Doomsday Crisis seemed like it was about to happen soon, the closer she got to the critical moment, the more she wanted to relax and have fun. She couldn't control herself at all.
"Anyway, even if I slack off for a while, nothing will happen."
Just at that moment, she suddenly heard a familiar and chilling voice in her mind.
[Psychic Dancer.]
[Something important is about to happen, and a difficult future awaits. It must be shattered by the strongest and most resilient.]
Damn it!
Savior!
Maryse, who was lazily daydreaming, was startled and trembled all over, her smile frozen on her face.
She immediately sat up straight from the bed.
"What, what is this? I didn't slack off, I will quickly do the training on my own!"
She couldn't quite understand the meaning of what the "Savior" was saying, but she felt it must be some kind of prophecy.
Is the important thing referring to the Doomsday Crisis? Could it be that the Resilient One is referring to herself?
I couldn't understand it.
Hmm, well, the Savior must have his own careful plans and strategies, that's for sure.
At the same time, Bai Yan happily observed Maryse's various reactions.
"Sure enough, it worked! Now I can play the role of a 'Savior' in their hearts anytime and anywhere, even when I'm actually there... I won't have to take out my phone to pretend to be the 'Savior' and speak."
Bai Yan didn't constantly stare at Maryse. Calmly, he switched to the personal perspective of each Core Operator.
As expected, when Bai Yan looked through Mu Ling's perspective, everything was pitch black. It seemed that she was wearing a sleeping mask and sleeping peacefully.
Then, surprisingly, none of the Core Operators except Mu Ling had gone to bed early.
"Fist of Duel" was secretly drawing a map of the room, while Alan was still writing documents in his office. The Scarlet Moon was taking a bath with her otter, Amy was communicating with the hacker organization she had built, and even the Slime was crazily eating.
Above, those were all the new powers Bai Yan had discovered about "Connection".
Although none of them were directly related to combat ability, Bai Yan was already very satisfied.
He believed that these powers would provide him with many unexpected advantages.
"Unfortunately, the power of the 'parasite incarnation' didn't improve at all."
Bai Yan shook his head gently, but he didn't feel too regretful. The current "incarnation" was already completely sufficient for his needs.
Then, there was another special power.
"Game."
Most people only have one special power, but Bai Yan has two.
This was a very strange thing.
In the beginning, the "game" had only two powers, namely "improving game skills" and "Digital World."
If it weren't for Bai Yan having the "Babel Tower," which made it useful, the former could have been the worst extraordinary power... That's what he initially thought, but later realized that the so-called "game" is a broad category, and even rituals can be considered games.
And the latter allowed Bai Yan to turn the things he saw into digital data.
At that moment, the ability to "improve game skills" evolved into a magical effect known as "games becoming rituals."
He looked at the enchantment beneath his feet and thought, "If only I could have another Crown Ceremony, I would definitely complete it much more easily."
"Alan is right, the essence of a ceremony is like a kind of game... Now, I can truly understand."
At this very moment, Bai Yan had a brand new understanding of the essence of the ceremony.
From then on, whenever he used a certain ceremony, he would become more relaxed and feel safer.
Even Bai Yan could find ways to repair, complete, and improve some broken ceremonies.
Then, a whole new set of abilities was unlocked.
"The game becomes real."
This is a very interesting ability.
Bai Yan found wooden chopsticks and an iron plate in the villa. After activating the power of "game becomes real", the wooden chopsticks turned into "pieces of wood" and the iron plate turned into "a block of iron" in his eyes.
Then, he used his power of "game becomes real" on both of them.
They merged together!
In Bai Yan's hand, an iron axe suddenly appeared!
"A genuine and reliable iron axe, oh!"
Hmm, theoretically speaking, this axe is indeed made up of wood and pieces of iron.
But even young children understand that it's absolutely impossible to create it in the real world by combining "wooden chopsticks" and "iron plates".
"I can replace the underlying logic of the real world... Interesting."
After gaining the ability of "game reality," Bai Yan could even activate his own "health bar."
As long as his "health bar" isn't empty, he cannot die, even if his head explodes.
The final new power is the upgrade of the "Digital World."
Now, Bai Yan can see more numbers. He is not only observing the surface-level "digitized" world anymore.
An even higher level of the "Digital World"... It has unbelievably strange effects.
Bai Yan quietly entered Sylve's bedroom.
On the big bed, a girl dressed in pajamas was fast asleep, with a subtle smile on her lips.
Bai Yan looked at Sylve and stayed silent for a long while.
He muttered to himself, "Hmm, there aren't any other subjects nearby for now, Sylve. Besides, you're quite familiar with being experimented on, so let me have a little playtime."
Bai Yan took a deep breath and gazed at Sylve, beginning to unleash the very first ability of the Digital World.
The whole world changed before his eyes.
Everything appeared in a game-like way, with numbers and values.
In Bai Yan's eyes, Sylve revealed various kinds of numbers, and these numbers were more comprehensive than the ones displayed when Bai Yan was only at the "awakening" level.
Bai Yan sat at the edge of the bed and silently watched the young girl, his expression going through noticeable changes.
"This... This is... I can't believe it! It's a completely unexpected situation..."
His pupils slightly contracted, feeling a sudden shock at that moment.
The numbers that appeared on Sylve were something he was very familiar with!
They floated silently in the air, resembling subtitles made up of countless dots, continuously fluctuating and twinkling.
"The person to contact:"
"Title: ???"
"Gender: Female"
"Plane: Material Realm"
"Level: Original point (medium)"
"Race: Human species."
"Milestone: None"
"Primary Attributes:"
"Physical Strength: 12 (a little bit stronger than an average adult)"
"Intelligence (INT): 14 (almost no intelligence)"
"Tip: Skill Level 18 (considered excellent compared to the average person)."
"Secondary Attributes:"
"Charm: 8 (She is undoubtedly the most beautiful girl in school, no one can compare to her)"
"Loyalty: 8 (She can do most things for you)"
"Feeling: 8 (The girl started to dive into that kind of emotion gradually)"
"Trait:"
"She has a sensitive body (drinking milk will make her have diarrhea)."
"Ability: Some basic magic spells"
"Secondary information:"
"Height: 158cm, bust: 79cm, waist: 58cm, hips: 80cm."
"Likes: rewards and praise, a certain man."
"Disliked: the person I used to be, pain."
"Items: Protective Green Stone, Star Reversal"
"Description: She is the heir of the Helen family. She used to be mean, but then she changed and became a good girl."
Although there are some differences in the details, the character card and the Core Operator card are almost the same in format!
For some unknown reason, Bai Yan felt an overwhelming sense of horror deep within his heart at this moment.
Bai Yan wasn't foolish. It was clear to him that everything about the Babel Tower had intentional patterns and designs.
He didn't know who the person behind all these designs was. Were they meant to be kind or malicious towards him? Or perhaps, the person who designed the Babel Tower was himself all along?
"What on earth is going on? It seems like my extraordinary powers and the Babel Tower are indeed from the same source. Could it be that this thing was sent to me from my future self?"
At this point, Bai Yan was completely certain.
The Babel Tower and Bai Yan's special powers were deeply connected and couldn't be separated.
And the special powers were a manifestation of the essence of his soul...
"..."
Bai Yan pondered for a while, shaking his head softly.
If the Babel Tower was most likely created by himself, then there was no need to be afraid of it.
He started testing his final new ability on Sylve.
Actually, it's the upgraded power of the "Digital World."
Simply put, it can be called the "Real Digital World."
The way he performed it was by tapping.
Bai Yan reached out and gently tapped Sylve on the head.
The values he wanted to see were not limited to the surface alone.
In the next moment, something magical happened.
Sylve, who was lying on the bed, suddenly shattered into pieces.
She seemed like a toy building block that had been forcefully scattered, transforming into dozens of tiny fragments that twinkled and floated in mid-air.
Inside Sylve's body, many long strips of light floated around. They were covered in countless symbols, and there were also numerous wavy lines of movement.
Bai Yan had no idea what those symbols meant.
"Wait a moment, let's give this a try..."
Connection, Insightful Linking!
Bai Yan gazed at the many long, pale blue glowing strips floating in mid-air. Finally, he slowly began to understand the meaning of the symbols on them.
"If, if, if... What do these words mean?"
Bai Yan counted and realized that there were a total of twelve pale blue glowing strips. Each strip held something different inside.
"On December 13th, at 9:39:28, if I decided to leave at this moment, I wouldn't have eaten lunch at home. Or if I chose to take a shower at this moment, I would have eaten lunch at home. Or if I..."
Bai Yan quickly realized that Sylve had many possible choices at this moment, and they kept adding one after another. It seemed like the number of "or" options would keep increasing.
In theory, she should be able to have an unlimited number of choices.
He even encountered some incredibly unbelievable choices inside, which were so astonishing to see. But clearly, they also held the potential for "possibility"!
Bai Yan was completely speechless.
Oh dear, today is... Today is December 12th!
In the Real Digital World, insight is no longer about surface things, but about destiny itself!
He was certain that this was not the power of an ordinary supreme ruler, but the terrifying power possessed only by those who are "Potential Apocalypse"!
This glowing ribbon here shows "everyday choices," while the glowing ribbon over there shows "emotional choices." And look, this glowing ribbon displays "life and death choices"...
Bai Yan couldn't resist and reached out his hand, wanting to touch those glowing ribbons.
INT had already told him that doing so wouldn't harm Sylve, otherwise he wouldn't have touched it recklessly.
At the next moment, Bai Yan was filled with astonishment!
On the ribbon, there suddenly appeared black letters that said, "No access, changing forbidden!"
A thought crossed his mind.
So, what if someone, or let's say there exists some extraordinary being, who has the ability to modify them?
"Will everything in the future become different?"
Bai Yan understood very well that these things were just a manifestation of his extraordinary powers, and they appeared in the form of words for the convenience of human understanding.
If Bai Yan was an alien who had no knowledge of Earth games and computers, the various scenes in front of him would not be presented in this way.
The magical sights made him unable to resist the temptation to see more.
But in the next moment, Bai Yan felt an intense headache, and his vision became blurry.
His mental power was already being exhausted...
Bai Yan knew this feeling very well, and then he completely passed out.
In the past few months, perhaps only today, Bai Yan has been frequently completely losing consciousness.
"Um... My head still hurts a lot."
When he woke up again, he noticed that the sky outside was still dark.
And Sylve, who had been "broken" before, had returned to her original state.
Bai Yan could feel something, that he not only exhausted his energy, but his lifespan also greatly decreased.
He could sense that his lifespan had decreased by about a hundred years. If he were an ordinary person, he would probably pass away on the spot.
"Gazing into fate, it indeed comes with a price... This doesn't come as much of a surprise, luckily for me at this moment, I can still bear this cost."
Bai Yan's heart was still stuck in the scene from just now, unable to calm down for a long time.
"By the way, this ability should not only be useful for people, right? The ordinary 'Digital World' can also be applied to objects. So what if I use it on objects or, let's say, 'that'?"
He suddenly had a very bold idea!
Bai Yan took out his phone, took a deep breath, and gently tapped on the game "Babel Tower".
"So, what will I see?"
He took a deep breath and tapped on the phone in his hand once again!
Activate, the Real Digital World!
Nothing happened... Several seconds passed, but still, nothing happened at all.
Bai Yan fell silent for a while, wondering if it was because he didn't have enough power.
"If I become stronger, will I be able to see the hidden secrets about the 'Babel Tower'?"
Just then, Bai Yan felt a sudden burst of inspiration, as if something was about to arrive!
"Hmm?"
In the next moment, countless black ribbons suddenly emerged from the "Babel Tower"!
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