Can they merge into any world?
Or is there a single true world of truth among these five worlds, and they must merge into that world?
Translated, these two scenarios mean:
in this instance, will they face five main monsters, or four secondary monsters and one main monster?
This question momentarily stumped everyone.
Xia Jing drew another "5" and another "4+1" on the ground, representing the two scenarios.
After a brief moment of thought, Song Yang and his parallel-world counterpart's eyes shifted their gazes, turning to face the latter.
Simultaneously, another pair of eyes appeared in the cave.
These eyes had an odd shape—certainly the result of the human skin mask's distorted features—but the clarity and calmness in them quickly made Song Yang recognize them.
These were the eyes of Xia Jing from one of the parallel worlds.
After appearing, these eyes scanned the numbers Xia Jing had drawn on the ground with interest.
The next second, the firewood in Xia Jing's hand moved.
Xia Jing looked up and exchanged a glance with his parallel self, quite interested.
He let the stick tap the "4+1" a little. The others gave him strange looks, but Xia Jing smiled. "Yes, I thought so too."
Lu Chenfei pondered, "What's the basis for this judgment?"
Xia Jing replied calmly, "Because we can't destroy the main monster."
Everyone was stunned.
Inside the cave, due to the ten-second time limit, pairs of eyes repeatedly closed and opened, as everyone in the parallel world took turns participating in this discussion.
"How can we destroy the 'world'? I've been thinking about it all night, and I've come to the conclusion that it's impossible without the use of spatial items,"
Xia Jing stated calmly. "But a dungeon can't possibly tie the sole method of killing the main monster to a specific item, unless we can obtain that item within the dungeon."
"As you all know, we haven't encountered an opportunity to obtain such a special item yet. This dungeon doesn't have such a setting."
"Then perhaps this is the most unique dungeon we've all encountered—to clear it, we don't actually need to kill the main monster."
Xia Jing casually stated this, shocking the others.
Before anyone could react, he changed the subject a second later:
"—but that doesn't mean the main monster won't die."
Everyone was stunned again.
"Let's do a test."
Xia Jing was about to move when he suddenly tilted his head and said, "By the way, in your parallel world, can you perceive anything by sight?"
Soon, another pair of Xia Jing's eyes opened.
Before anyone knew how to respond, Xia Jing's parallel world's gaze took the stick in his hand and drew a few characters on the ground. Jiang Shuye asked, puzzled, "What does this mean?" Song Yang quickly understood, explaining, "Everyone can move the helicopter fragments with their eyes.
Apart from that, each person can only move their own belongings from the parallel world."
In other words, the helicopter fragments are a public good for everyone. As for personal belongings, they can only move them one-on-one.
"No wonder..." Xi Nuanyang muttered, "Yaya was stabbed to death by her own dagger." It must have been her alter-ego in the parallel world who killed her.
Before they understood the truth, they in the parallel world must have discovered the rules of retrieving objects. If they had stopped and thought about why they could only move the belongings of certain players, perhaps they would have solved the mystery much sooner! Xi Nuanyang's eyes reddened, and she lowered her head.
Meanwhile, Xia Jing, having grasped the answer, threw a piece of firewood to everyone, urging them to pick it up.
Picking up the item meant it had a designated owner. Xia Jing said, "Now, listen carefully, everyone in the other four parallel worlds. Those of you who have experienced thunderstorms in your worlds, please mark the numbers of your worlds.
" Step by step, Xia Jing gradually laid out a plan for everyone. Everyone focused intently. Soon, Li Mian, Xi Nuanyang, Song Yang, and Lu Chenfei moved the sticks in their hands, marking "2," "3," "4," and "5," respectively.
Sun Qian realized, saying, "All worlds have experienced thunderstorms." Xia Jing nodded, quickly proceeding with the next step: "Next, worlds that have experienced insect plagues, please mark the numbers."
This time, it was "3" and "5." "Worlds that have experienced heavy snow, please mark the numbers." This time, it was "2" and "4."
"Worlds that have experienced volcanic eruptions, please mark the numbers." No one answered. Lu Chenfei immediately understood and shouted, "The order of disasters in each world is different!" This is similar to the order in which their clones opened their eyes in each of the five worlds.
From the time they entered the dungeon until now, their experiences in each world have been different. Li Mian said seriously, "But the disaster that's supposed to happen will happen." So— Xia Jing looked at Fei Shengxiao and said, "Your idea yesterday wasn't wrong, but we don't need to 'induce' a volcanic eruption." "Because as long as the volcano exists, it will definitely erupt. It's just a matter of when in each world it will erupt."
"And once the volcano erupts, regardless of whether we can use items to survive, it will mean the end of the world for this dungeon."
Everyone finally understood. Although this dungeon features a boundless ocean, the actual map is ultimately concentrated on a small island. If the volcano erupts, how could this island possibly survive? Then, with the spread of volcanic ash and climate change, it's highly likely that no life in the dungeon world will survive, and the "world" will naturally be dead. Song Yang had actually considered this yesterday. He said, "That's the problem. If the main monster will self-destruct no matter what, then can players just find a random world to merge with and spend the rest of the time waiting to clear the level? That's obviously impossible."
Everyone's expression grew serious. "The most difficult level of this dungeon might be here." "—Of these five worlds, there's likely only one world of truth, the main monster world. Only in the main monster world can players gain access to a passage out of the dungeon."
After the words fell, the cave fell silent for a second, everyone lost in deep thought.
Then, the ground beneath their feet suddenly shook slightly.
Everyone started, and at the same time, they heard a rumbling sound outside the cave, like muffled thunder.
Fei Shengxiao grew uneasy: "What's that noise? An earthquake?"
Xia Jing and Song Yang hurried to the cave entrance, parted the branches, and gazed toward the volcano.
The heavy snow outside had long since stopped, and the heavy snow had cleared away much of the floating catkins in the air.
They had no idea what a real-life volcanic eruption would look like. The malicious dungeon world, designed to intimidate and kill players, never adhered strictly to the laws of the real world.
The Smiley City dungeon exaggerated and distorted everything.
At that moment, they could clearly see that the smoke rising from the crater was much thicker and bolder than before.
The volcano might actually be about to erupt!
Lu Chen quickly walked over, took a look, and frowned. "So, should we first gather the helicopter fragments from the five worlds and piece them together, then leave the island?"
Song Yang said calmly, "There's a certain amount of time between the volcanic eruption and the destruction of the world, but we don't know how long this process will take. If we don't leave this world before the time is up, we'll be dead."
Everyone's expression changed.
Although players would only be marked with an X when only two of their clones remained, effectively marking them dead, they couldn't just use up their clones.
Avoiding the disaster wasn't an option after all. They had to find a way to find the True World as soon as possible!
Xia Jing lowered his eyes, thinking for a moment, then turned and said to the four pairs of eyes in the cave, "You've also seen signs of a volcanic eruption over there. Please move the wood."
There was no movement, and the four pairs of eyes looked at each other in confusion.
-- Currently, only their world was about to erupt.
Jiang Shuye had a thought and quickly said, "Will the True World be the first to self-destruct?"
Generally speaking, the main monster wouldn't die before the secondary monster!
If we follow this logic, then their world can't be the main monster. There's no need for them to linger here any longer. Couldn't they just head straight for another world?
Song Yang shook his head and said, "We can't use assumptions to think about this. If this world is truly the world of truth, once we leave, there's no way we can return. We must verify it."
Sun Qian: "How do we verify it?"
Fei Shengxiao swallowed nervously, "Isn't the difference between the main monster world and the secondary monster world the same as the difference between the real world and the fake world? If it's a fake world, then we should be able to find clues!"
But what could these clues be? The
ground beneath their feet suddenly shook more violently, and everyone's heart skipped a beat!
They could barely stand. With a nearly deafening explosion, a distant volcano spewed lava and smoke into the sky, and lightning struck!
For a second or two, everyone's ears were filled with a buzzing sound, and all other sounds were inaudible. Fei Shengxiao and Xi Nuanyang even felt briefly dizzy.
The volcano erupted with such force that a dark mushroom cloud formed in the sky.
Flame-like projections hurled themselves toward the jungle, leaving trails of black smoke in the air.
Bright, incandescent lava began to flow from the crater, and a fierce wind swept through. The sky began to shroud in thick smoke, rapidly evaporating the light!
No one here had ever witnessed a volcanic eruption, let alone one so distorted by the malicious power of a dungeon world.
They were momentarily horrified, but soon the cave began to collapse, forcing them to rush out!
The moment they left the cave, it was blocked by tumbling rubble. Meanwhile, countless more rubble tumbled from the mountain behind them. A second later, they would have been buried!
The ground beneath their feet shook, and the projections from the air hurtled straight toward them!
Song Yang scowled and threw an item. It collided with the projections, exploding in the air. They ducked, dodging the wave!
Li Mian shouted, "It's too late! We need to make a decision quickly. Time is running out in this world!"
Is this the real world, or a fake one?!
Should they stay here, or leave?!
Almost everyone was defending themselves against the volcanic eruption. Xia Jing, steadying himself, narrowed his eyes and surveyed his surroundings.
A strong wind whipped his hair and clothes, filling his nose with a pungent smell. In the distance, waves surged high, crashing towards the island from all directions, intent on engulfing it.
The eyes of the other four parallel worlds watched them anxiously.
Suddenly, Xia Jing's gaze shifted slightly.
He turned and said to Sun Qian, "When you first logged into the dungeon, you used your supernatural powers to observe this world. Our world isn't spherical, right?"
Sun Qian paused at the question and said, "My powers aren't powerful enough to circle the Earth, so I can't tell you. All I can see is... a flat ocean."
At this, Sun Qian seemed to notice something was amiss and frowned. "Wait, it really seems to be completely flat. My line of sight hasn't changed at all as I'm traveling through it."
Song Yang deflected a jet of air and said in a deep voice, "Can you compare the feeling you get when you use your supernatural powers in the real world with the feeling you get when you use them in this world?"
Sun Qian thought quickly, then shook his head firmly. "I'm sure it's different. I can feel the curvature of my vision when I look out in the real world!"
At this, the others realized something.
To distinguish between the real world and the fake world, they naturally needed a benchmark.
And what was the benchmark for "truth"?
It was obvious: the real world. The world
closest to the real world was the world of truth.
Then, "plane" and "sphere" are probably the key points they use to identify the true and false worlds!
Thinking of this, Xia Jing immediately said to the four pairs of eyes in the air: "If Sun Qian in your world has also verified it, but the answer is different from ours, then use your sight to pull the corner of your clothes in this world!"
The "world" will block the names of people in their words and change their appearance.
But after becoming familiar with the rules of this copy, by memorizing the shape of each person's eyes, reading lips, or through context, these eyes can already understand words and distinguish people.
The next second, Lu Chenfei shouted: "Mine was pulled!"
Sun Qian and the others were delighted. They found the world of truth?!
But then, shocking things happened one after another.
Li Mian shouted: "Mine was pulled too!"
Jiang Shuye: "Me too!"
Fei Shengxiao: "Me too!"
Sun Qian exclaimed in astonishment, "What does this mean? The worlds I've verified in the other four worlds are all spherical? There are four worlds of truth?!"
Lu Chenfei was so shaken that he could barely stand. He thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "No, this means we need more than one clue to determine the world of truth! Simply 'plane or sphere' can only be a process of elimination, eliminating our current world!"
"What the hell," Lu Chenfei gasped. "So which world are we going to now?!"
He tilted his head, practically shouting to be heard.
"Any one will do. Let's get out of here first," Xia Jing quickly judged and addressed the four pairs of eyes. "People in World 2, please go back and notify everyone to take us to your world, and take away the helicopter debris."
With that, Xia Jing raised his arm, pointed at Xi Nuanyang, and gave a clear command: "She only has one clone left. People in her corresponding world, please go back and notify her to take her from our world."
Regardless of whether it made sense, let's first let the two remaining Xi Nuanyangs reunite.
Time was running out, and at Xia Jing's words, the four pairs of eyes vanished.
The next second, eight pairs of eyes appeared around them.
Each of these eyes, each of varying shapes and heights, fixed their gazes on them in this world.
They, in turn, froze, tensed, and braced themselves.
As the volcano erupted for the second time, cascading lava down upon them from the sky, Xia Jing and the others felt as if they had been plunged into a toilet bowl. A powerful suction surged overhead!
Everything went black, and they all lost consciousness!