/
Fei explains their chain of logic to Mu Jiashi, who is surprised, but able to understand in spite of a sense of wonderment. The point now, though, is——
“If NE is against us, then why did it give its authority to Xü Beijin?”
They do not have an answer.
Of course, it’s a given that Xü Beijin is on their side, since the very beginning.
And the fact that he was given authority by NE seem to be incontrovertible proof that NE is also on their side. Otherwise, why would something as important as management of the whole Tower be handed to him?
Fei has no answers either, but Ye Lan helps by saying, “whatever the case, we still need to do something rather than nothing.”
Mu Jiashi pauses.
Ye Lan continues, “I would rather my own fate is in my own two hands,” she says, somewhat coldly, “I want to be the one to decide whether I give up or fight on. I don’t want to just end up a sitting duck, waiting——For mercy from fate, for mercy from others. I don’t want that.”
The somewhat distant but resolute woman’s speech has Mu Jiashi say, “then, let’s go.”
Hesitation and doubts seem needless at this point.
It’s the bitter end, so they should just do what their heart desires. Do not be bogged down, and whether it succeeds or fails, at least there won’t be regret.
So the seven of them are moving forward.
Pushing the matter of NE’s stance and their destination aside, something else has been bugging Mu Jiashi now.
“Do you feel like it’s too easy to run into people we know in this Ultimate Nightmare?”
The others look at each other, nonplussed; Fei replies hesitantly but affirmatively, “it does feel… quite that way?”
They run into their other companions as soon as they left their starting scenes. A whole three groups of them have managed to converge.
It sounds quite implausible to happen for such a big scene.
Mu Jiashi says, “this also felt like the case in Xü Beijin’s Nightmare. We met up soon enough, and recovered our memories quickly, but not instantaneously… Even the encounters in that labyrinth in the end. It all felt… almost intentional.”
“Ten people in the labyrinth… So you mean…” Fei asks, “NE? Xü Beijin?”
Mu Jiashi sighs, saying, “I can’t tell. The premise is basically a probability space. The probability of each of us being spread in distant areas as opposed to areas close by when we enter the Nightmare…”
“What if Missiontakers end up nearby if they were close together in the Tower?” Asks Jiang Shuangmei, “that might explain why we met up so quickly.”
Mu Jiashi refutes immediately, “that would make the Nightmare far too simple…”
But he trails off.
They look at each other, with shock on their faces.
Wu Jian yells out, “but say… the difficulty of this Nightmare!”
Fei turns around, looking at the fog obscuring their forms surrounding them, saying, “it definitely is odd… The Nightmare actually doesn’t feel like it would be an Ultimate Nightmare-level difficulty… It’s not even as difficult as other normal Nightmares on other floors…”
“The difficulty is drastically reduced due to the grey fog and the madmen not being mentally subversive and aggressive as we should expect them to be,” Mu Jiashi declares confidently, “this Nightmare’s difficulty is skewed.”
“Are you suggesting that Xü Beijin has tuned the difficulty of the Ultimate Nightmare down?” Ye Lan comes to the logical conclusion, “he does have NE’s authority with him.”
That sounds plausible enough. If someone could tamper with the Ultimate Nightmare’s difficulty, it must be Xü Beijin.
This is quite the relief to actually know, like becoming aware that they have a reliable, formidable force supporting and helping them.
Mu Jiashi ponders, “is this why he said we only need to stay awake in the Nightmare? Because he already has everything else arranged for us,” his tone is one hinting at both adoration and respect.
Everyone else nods approvingly.
Though that is when Fei suddenly asks, “where’s lao-Xie?”
Everyone, surprised, starts looking around for his silhouette.
Xie Zhijin didn’t have much of a presence here, since he couldn’t join in the conversation much, with his amnesia about the Tower and what they’re talking about.
Even though he’s decided to join the Missiontakers due to… a motivation to look for the truth, or something similar, but he is definitely a misfit among them.
They weren’t counting on Xie Zhijin to join their discussions either.
But right now, Xie Zhijin has gone missing.
Everyone is looking around, and Wu Jian cries out, “it can’t be! He was just here! We didn’t even walk a step!”
Since Wu Jian just introduced Xie Zhijin to Mu Jiashi and Shen YĂźnjĂź when they appeared.
Now, among the thick fog, they can only see each other’s confused form, save for Xie Zhijin.
The thickness of the fog means that, despite the seven of them being there, looking around, they can at best identify three clear silhouettes in their field of vision, unlike when normally, they won’t even have to count to verify that everyone is there.
They are unable to keep track of where everyone is at the same time.
They aren’t even sure since when Xie Zhijin slinked away, because they weren’t paying attention to his particular silhouette. He could have disappeared at any time.
The Missiontakers still blame themselves a little, though.
Fei takes a deep breath, and says, “it’s likely he went right through a door in the grey fog.”
Actually, that is the most likely explanation.
Having to keep track of a conversation between six people on an unfamiliar topic, Xie Zhijin might have become unaware of his surroundings, and went right through an invisible door frame.
What’s there beyond the door?
“If he ended up in the grey fog… I mean, outside the Tower…” Wu Jian says, clearly uneasy, “would he end up trapped?”
Mu Jiashi is knitting his brows, analysing, “he doesn’t remember anything about the Tower… He would not know what those scenes represent, so he…”
He will become a prisoner to the grey fog, entirely unaware, too.
Someone gasps. It sounds like Jiang Shuangmei.
Fei and Wu Jian are looking in each other’s direction, blaming themselves.
Soon, though, Fei forces herself to calm down, biting her lips, with a trembling, but adamant tone, “we, we need to keep going.”
Wu Jian also nods, how ever hard it was to do so, “we need to keep pressing on. Only if we escape the Tower successfully, can we have a final resolution to all… all this…”
Mu Jiashi felt like pointing out what they elected to do in the first place wasn’t going to guarantee helping out the current situation – he is still unconvinced NE is undeniably their enemy right now.
He can’t see any other signs than the earlier deductive work, sound as it was, which was why he did not raise further objections.
And there might also be the factor of wanting to know the truth, that pushed Fei and Wu Jian to go to the first place where the fog was known to appear, more so than the point of having to do something than nothing that is driving Ye Lan forward.
And that resonates with the purpose that Xie Zhijin, the founder of their organisation, founded the organisation for.
So, after momentarily stopping in the grey fog, they continue to move forward.
At the same time, Xie Zhijin, who did accidentally bump right through an invisible door in the grey fog, felt the fog roll more intensely than usual, until it suddenly thins out a little.
He lifts his head up to look, almost by reflex.
He can see a rundown, tall building right in front of him – like a tower.
Having been through no actual danger or struggles, he has ended up outside the Tower. Just behind him is a visible door, from which endless insane-looking people are pouring out and pushing their way past him.
He is back in the Tower——And so are his memories back. At the same time, he is ‘awake’ – lucid.
So Xie Zhijin, shocked, yells out, “how is this possible?!”