13 Chapter 13: 1 boss battle

Ninth Psychiatric Hospital, Building Two, subterranean level fifteen.

Compared to the levels above, the fifteenth level had fewer signs of battle. However, the bloodstains and skeletons were varied and plentiful.

Bai Wu was once again certain that the evolution of the Evil Fallen did not have a specific form. Some retained the appearance of humans, while others resembled demons from the abyss.

There were also some whose monstrous mutations took on the shapes of ferocious beasts or giant insects.

On the fifteenth level, there were many skeletal remains of creatures that were bizarre in appearance, and not just their shapes were mutated—their blood colors were no longer simply red.

By the time one reached the fifteenth level, the grade of the Evil Fallen had increased, and they had almost become a different species. Purple, blue, and green blood could be seen all over the walls.

Bai Wu wasn't surprised. He knew that in the era of his previous life, blood that wasn't red was all but certain to be a sign of pollution.

His gaze fell upon the twelfth room; the minor bosses of the lower levels seemed to have a particular fondness for this number:

"One hand, two hands, three hands, four hands, five hands, six hands, seven hands, eight hands... Okay, the count is endless; let's omit eight thousand words here."

The remark was somewhat puzzling.

After giving it some thought, Bai Wu had a clue.

"Previously, we saw the inner thoughts of this Evil Fallen. It's probably no exception this time. It must have been beaten into autism."

"Hatred transformed into arms... It seems to be one of Little Pitiful's attack methods. The walls of this level have no cracks, the doors are not twisted, it's not that the Evil Fallen aren't strong, it's very likely that the battles ended too quickly..."

The little mischief-makers of Building Two, as arrogant as they were before, became equally withdrawn when faced with truly terrifying opponents.

Bai Wu felt a bit like laughing.

He could almost see a little goblin crouching in a corner, drawing circles, having suffered a psychological blow from a little girl and then continuously counting.

When he was seven, he also had this experience. He had been beaten severely by his father and was extremely sad. He'd hug his knees and keep muttering:

"Skelton, Xibos, Salagas, Jeronimon... Bermuda, Baltan Alien, Nelonga, Ragon, Greenmons..."

These were the names of monsters from the Ultraman series that appeared in sequence. Muttering the monster names over and over, he would gradually emerge from his mental shadow.

However, the following year, when Bai Wu was eight, this symptom was cured with a more violent method.

"This is the first time I've encountered such an aura... It's... it's terrifying..."

Shang Xiaoyi was truly scared this time, with his wristwatch for emotional fluctuation showing a value of 14 due to fear.

The others also manifested this to an extent, nearly all reaching double digits, except for Wu Jiu, whose wristwatch value always remained between 2 and 5.

"The target must be on a lower level. We have sensed it, and it has sensed us," Wang Shi was already prepared for battle.

"Could it be that the Evil Fallen aura we felt before all came from a single Evil Fallen? We've been walking down these empty levels," Lin Wurou furrowed her brows.

Bai Wu knew the answer:

"Because the other Evil Fallen were eaten."

"Eaten? Do Evil Fallen attack each other?" Shang Xiaoyi asked, confused.

"Yes, Evil Fallen will devour other Evil Fallen to become stronger. Their food is not limited to us; in some cases, their own kind can be more valuable as prey than we humans."

Bai Wu continued:

"This place is essentially a prison, but also an arena. The Evil Fallen who live here far surpass the security level of the rooftop. And those capable of devouring them are what we are about to face in the first boss battle."

Everyone had developed an indescribable sense of trust in Bai Wu, even the sarcastic Lin Wurou.

After Bai Wu finished speaking, they all became alert. There was almost no chance of encountering a level four or higher Evil Fallen in the white area.

However, one of the most important experiences from surviving outside the tower is summarized by Wu Jiu:

"Never use past experience to predict the next crisis that will occur."

This is the most terrifying aspect of the world outside the tower; one can have experience, but one cannot have inertial thinking.

In the white area, it's not impossible to encounter high-level Evil Fallen. And about the high-level Evil Fallen, Bai Wu had a question.

He looked at Wu Jiu:

"Captain, do high-level Evil Fallen have human intelligence?"

Bai Wu suspected that high-level Evil Fallen might retain the wisdom they had before their Evil Fallen Transformation.

Wu Jiu recalled an Evil Fallen he had once encountered, which looked indistinguishable from a human yet was exceptionally powerful.

That 24-day survival journey should have ended on the sixth day, but the Evil Fallen chose not to kill Wu Jiu; instead, after tormenting him, it left.

Before that, Wu Jiu had thought that Evil Fallen should not have much intelligence, or at least their rationality couldn't suppress the impulse to rip humans apart.

"A few Evil Fallen retain some characteristics from their human days, such as language. A rare few are not so much Evil Fallen as they are…evolvers."

"Evolvers..."

Bai Wu was slightly surprised; this was a critically important discovery.

If only their appearance had become ugly but their intelligence remained unaffected, capable of suppressing the murderous desires inherent to being an Evil Fallen...

Then Evil Fallen Transformation could be seen as a form of evolution. Just as some individuals may be bald but can punch out a Boros with one fist. In comparison with absolute power, ugliness becomes entirely insignificant.

This information was a bit too terrifying.

Guessing Bai Wu's thoughts, Wu Jiu said:

"There are many Evil Fallen outside the tower; it's extremely rare for any to reach that degree. Don't entertain the idea of evolution; more often than not, such evolution brings destruction."

Bai Wu agreed with Wu Jiu's thinking. The High Tower, the world outside the tower—he still had much to explore.

Merely a hospital had provided so much information; the vast world outside and the mysterious top floors of the High Tower likely held even more shocking truths.

Wu Jiu's words also made Bai Wu dimly connect certain events.

"Could it be that this psychiatric hospital's true research is finding a way to stabilize the Evil Fallen? I must organize the previous clues."

The group began to head towards the sixteenth floor; the closer they got to the bottom levels, the more they could sense the powerful aura of high-level Evil Fallen.

Apart from the energy fluctuations undetectable by the five senses, there were also audible whimpers.

The sixteenth floor.

It was vastly different from the fifteenth; the sixteenth floor was completely destroyed, having witnessed a gruesome battle.

Numerous bloodied bones were scattered in various places on this level; prison walls were breached, and cell doors dismantled by the terrifying power of Evil Fallen.

Where did a hospital get so many Evil Fallen?

Were these Evil Fallen like the pitiful creature on the eleventh floor, transformed after being injected with some serum?

If not, could it mean the hospital was actually conducting two types of experiments?

Bai Wu was ready to look towards room twelve, but before he did, a note popped up inexplicably.

[Finding lost money and not keeping it is good character, but are you sure you want to give away the camera? Although I'm your little darling, with the camera, you can see much more precise images. Both it and I are your wings.]

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This message was puzzlingly abrupt.

Bai Wu pondered briefly and then it dawned on him, the camera... had become a Spirit Possession?

He fished the camera out of his backpack.

"The ignorant youth, let me tell you, there are very few items that can truly become vessels for spirits, and you might not come across one even if you left the tower a hundred times. Africans shouldn't carry so much stuff; it's all dead weight when you're running for your life."

Lin Wurou started up again.

Bai Wu ignored him and focused on the camera when he saw that the information in the remark had changed.

"Although it has become possessed in a way that's different from what we expected, it can still be of help to you. If it remains outside the tower, it might develop even more functions. You can use it only twice within seven days; now, in your mind, silently recall 20270702141525 and aim it at cell number twelve for a surprise."

2027, July 2nd, 14:15:25? Bai Wu guessed the meaning of the numbers and took out the camera, aiming it at cell number twelve.

Click.

The flash from the camera took everyone aback.

All technological items were useless outside of the tower, except for those that were Spirit-Possessed.

If the camera could be used, it meant it had indeed become possessed.

Lin Wurou's expression froze. He suddenly felt like he was being eclipsed by this kid.

A photo slowly slid out from the camera.

Wu Jiu very tacitly shone the searchlight on it.

The scene in the photo wasn't much different from the present, but there was an extra person in it.

A young boy, who appeared to be looking straight into the lens from the center of the frame, his expression crazed. Half of his face was covered with eerie Cursed Runes.

"This... what the hell, this camera can actually be used? There's clearly no one here; why did you get a picture of a person?" Wang Shi was stunned.

Wu Jiu asked with a questioning tone,

"Can it capture the past?"

Bai Wu nodded slightly, confirming it directly.

"This..."

Even the usually timid Shang Xiaoyi had no idea how to describe this item.

Wu Jiu didn't ask for more details; the true abilities of a Spirit-Possessed item were known only to the one who first contacted it.

This was the secret of every owner of a Spirit-Possessed item.

This camera, akin to seeing the scenes of the past, was extremely useful for investigations outside of the tower. Inside the tower, it would definitely be a priceless item.

Even if Wu Jiu could guess that such ability must be limited, he was still astonished by Bai Wu's luck.

This wasn't being Unlucky, this was being the King of Fortune.

Bai Wu also felt like he had stumbled upon a treasure, but he wished even more that it was an electric rice cooker that had become possessed, preferably one that could make glowing dishes.

Lin Wurou cleared his throat with a customary scoff and asked,

"What information can this photo bring us?"

"The young boy in the photo is the guardian at the very bottom. According to the captain, he's likely a highly ranked Evil Fallen. We haven't encountered any Evil Fallen before, so it's highly probable that this kid gobbled them up."

Based on Bai Wu's deduction, if this hospital appeared before The Era of the High Tower, then the Evil Fallen inside must have lived for at least seven hundred years.

Who knows what kind of mutations he went through in seven hundred years?

The others seemed to have thought of this too. Even though they didn't know the era, a hospital is a type of building that should date from before The Era of the High Tower.

"Are we... still going to continue?" Yin Shuang looked at Wu Jiu.

"Yes." Before Wu Jiu could respond, Bai Wu spoke first.

"Tell us your thoughts."

Wu Jiu was quite calm and not intimidated by the Evil Fallen below.

"The third building, as the bridge linking the second and the fourth, is very likely to be different from the second. Its purpose might not be to contain Evil Fallen. The third building could bring about some breakthrough progress, like the real purpose of this hospital. Perhaps it will help us understand what happened outside of the tower."

Bai Wu's judgment was based on evidence.

The first building was a laboratory, the second a prison and an arena, and the fourth held Little Pitiful.

Why keep them isolated? Is it related to Little Pitiful's abilities? For safety reasons, the third building shouldn't be used for containing creatures; it's better suited for storing information.

If they went to the third building, perhaps they could understand what happened in this hospital.

Bai Wu looked again at cell number twelve.

"So it's not that I'm weak; it's just that I haven't consumed enough food yet. There are so many interesting ingredients on the sixteenth floor; with these buddies, I can definitely defeat her! Because my pain is greater than hers!"

Tch, a brat tormented by adolescent fantasies. Judging by the text, it certainly fit the crazed expression on the kid's face.

Bai Wu could somewhat understand.

The little boss was one of those extremely adolescent people at heart. With a unique enough experience, he might have posed those classic conundrums like how many stories up to carry a bag of rice.

On the fifteenth floor, he had been beaten by Little Pitiful to the point of becoming withdrawn; on the sixteenth, having absorbed the power of stronger monsters, he regained his confidence.

This confidence was very unstable. If he were defeated again by Little Pitiful, his confidence would completely crumble. Little Pitiful would undoubtedly become his inner demon, an inescapable shadow.

Win or lose, the answer would be revealed on the next floor.

Bai Wu and Wu Jiu quickly proceeded to the seventeenth floor.

The seventeenth floor, like the fifteenth, didn't show much sign of destruction, but there were many skeletons on the ground.

Looking again at cell number twelve, Bai Wu knew the outcome of the battle.

"After swallowing that Spider Woman on the sixteenth floor, I've been able to control them with my spider silk. Now, not only am I the most powerful being, but I also have twenty-three obedient servants. They are all my trump cards. Can you kill me in an instant with twenty-three cards? If you can, I'll swallow the key to the third building right on the spot."

Game over.

With such a famous flag displayed, Bai Wu knew the outcome without having to guess.

It was around this time that everyone heard footsteps coming from the lower floor. The sound came with the odd cries from the monsters' throats, like the rusted friction of metal or the wails of agony.

Wu Jiu's hand rested on the weapon known as Evil Fallen Must Die, his demeanor unruffled.

Bai Wu remembered the note mentioned that they could either use brute force by the team leader or cleverly wield the comb in their hands.

There were still many mysteries Bai Wu had yet to unravel, but he was very confident about how to face the first boss battle outside of the tower.

So, under the puzzled gazes of the rest, Bai Wu walked to the front of Wu Jiu.

"Captain, let me handle it."

(Please give me a recommendation ticket, it's my first time writing a book as a newcomer, sniffle sniffle)

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