Chapter 348: The Reality Layer, Truly Lost Contact This Time...

KLANG, KLANG, KLANG~

Qi Suian hammered at the crack, a look of disbelief on his face.

"No, what the hell is this thing? How is it repairing itself so fast?" Qi Suian stared at the crack, growing more exhausted with every strike.

Qi Suian had originally planned to wait for the crack to widen on its own before leaving.

But then he discovered it was actually shrinking.

This infuriated Qi Suian. He immediately fused with the Fei and the Tai Sui God, raising a bovine hoof and slamming it into the crack.

But the harder he struck, the faster it recovered. It was like dealing with a protagonist—the more you suppressed it, the stronger it bounced back.

"Fine, fine, fine. Today, I’ll show you the true power of technology."

"I may not be able to kill ghosts, but I’ll be damned if I can’t kill a stupid piece of space."

As he spoke, Qi Suian pulled out all his Floating Cannons.

He hadn’t used them before because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to get out, but things were different now.

This thing was really trying to trap him in here for good.

Qi Suian assembled the Floating Cannons with extreme speed, then aimed them at the crack and fired.

The Dark Energy Beams struck the crack, rapidly affecting the space around it, and the fissure began to widen.

’Looks like this space used to seal the Hanged Ghost, while utilizing rules, isn’t a rule itself. It’s a kind of static space.’

’So this is a three-layered structure.’

’The first layer is the "truth layer" I first arrived in, the region that contains the true rules of the Hanged Ghost.’

’The second layer is the Sealing Layer I’m in now, used to stagnate and contain the Hanged Ghost.’

’And if this isn’t some endless nesting doll situation, then the outside should be the third layer: reality.’

Just as Qi Suian finished his thought, the space shattered, and he was violently squeezed out of the Sealing Layer.

He was immediately met with a chaotic barrage of all sorts of things flying toward his face.

Fortunately, Qi Suian had maxed out his agility and speed, allowing him to dodge with incredible quickness.

He then saw a person in ancient-style clothing, emanating a strange aura.

"It’s not the Hanged Ghost?" Yan Jingxing also looked baffled.

How could he not recognize what the Hanged Ghost looked like?

Well, even if he didn’t, the Hanged Ghost definitely wouldn’t be clad in a suit of iron armor.

"Who are you people? What are you doing in my house?" Qi Suian immediately seized the initiative.

It didn’t matter where this was; claiming it as his own was the first step.

"He can communicate? So he’s not a ghost?" Hearing Qi Suian speak, Yan Jingxing grew even more confused.

On the other hand, Qi Suian found it strange to hear that ghosts couldn’t communicate.

Back in the "truth layer," he had encountered conscious ghosts that could communicate.

Why couldn’t they? He didn’t say this out loud, however, instead landing on the ground.

It was simple. The other party hadn’t launched a second attack, seemingly because Qi Suian could talk.

"What’s going on with you guys? This doesn’t look like my living room. Who are you?" Qi Suian asked directly.

Yan Jingxing sized Qi Suian up and down, immediately determining that he was not from the Ziyue Dynasty.

There was no other reason than the fact that even someone who had just materialized out of thin air would be able to recognize the uniform of their Exorcism Bureau.

Since he didn’t know, it meant he wasn’t even aware of the Exorcism Bureau. How could he possibly be from the Ziyue Dynasty?

"Yan Jingxing, Master of the Shengshi Mansion’s Exorcism Bureau," Yan Jingxing introduced himself.

"Master Yan, a pleasure." Qi Suian didn’t give his own name, instead asking, "So, where is this place?"

"It’s polite to introduce yourself before questioning others," Yan Jingxing said, still very wary of Qi Suian.

Especially Qi Suian’s speed—the fact that he could dodge their attacks so easily was truly extraordinary.

"Oh, I’m a survivor from the Doomsday Game." Qi Suian sold out the Doomsday Game without a second thought.

The Doomsday Game wasn’t like those other "Spaces" or "Paradises" with high-level secrecy protocols that would erase you for revealing information.

But even if it did, Qi Suian wasn’t afraid. The Doomsday Game couldn’t erase him before, and now that the heavens were high and the Emperor was far away, it had even less of a chance.

Hearing this, Yan Jingxing grumbled to himself, ’Doomsday this, survivor that... just another unlucky soul, I suppose.’

"Then how did you get out of the Hanged Ghost’s seal?" Yan Jingxing didn’t ask what the Doomsday Game was. The urgent matter was figuring out how this person got in.

And second, where the Hanged Ghost had gone.

"The Doomsday Game threw me in there directly. I have no idea," Qi Suian said, spreading his hands.

This made Yan Jingxing even more vigilant towards Qi Suian and this so-called Doomsday Game.

Qi Suian was lying. He had actually entered the Sealing Layer through the "truth layer," and the two places were likely not on the same level of existence.

The "truth layer" was a greater world, similar to the Netherworld, while the Sealing Layer was an artificial pocket dimension, like a Secret Realm.

Obviously, this Master of the Exorcism Bureau didn’t know about the "truth layer." His rank was not low, which meant the humans of this world were likely unaware of its existence.

More importantly, judging from the other party’s attitude, the reality layer Qi Suian had entered was not the same world as Pan Fan and the other survivors.

This time, he was well and truly disconnected.

Unless he could return to the "truth layer," he could forget about ever contacting the other survivors.

Qi Suian felt terrible.

He also discovered that the people of this world were very strange.

The Exorcism Bureau members in front of him all had ghosts inside them. Regardless of rank, not a single one had fewer than three ghosts within their body.

Especially Yan Jingxing, the Master of the Exorcism Bureau—he had six ghosts inside him.

And they were all currently active. However, because the six ghosts were both counterbalancing and fusing with each other, it granted them Extraordinary power.

However, in Qi Suian’s eyes, this behavior was even more suicidal than that of the Spirit Root World.

The crisis of the Mages’ origins in the Spirit Root World was at least due to external factors, but these people were literally drinking poison to quench their thirst.

Qi Suian had no idea how they could be so daring.

"We need to conduct a certain inspection, so we’ll need you to remove your iron armor and..." Yan Jingxing continued.

"That’s impossible," Qi Suian refused flatly.

His entire net worth was basically the Tai Sui God. How could he hand it over to someone else?

Arriving in a strange new place, how could he hand his equipment over to strangers?

"The fact that I haven’t just killed you all is already a show of great sincerity."

"Do you really think you’re some kind of powerhouses?" Qi Suian glanced around and said bluntly, "I have plenty of ways to destroy the seals and awaken every ghost in this place."

He wasn’t bluffing. In the "truth layer," rules were supreme, so the Floating Cannons were useless.

But this was reality. The buildings and equipment didn’t have any invincible protection.

This made Yan Jingxing’s eyes narrow. Based on those few sentences alone, Qi Suian could already be classified as a dangerous individual.

It was just that their current location was extremely inconvenient for a fight. Moreover, the opponent’s strength was considerable; he couldn’t be dealt with rashly.

They knew nothing about Qi Suian. Their only choice was to temporarily back down. It wouldn’t be too late to make a move after they had gathered more information about him.

"I was too abrupt. A survivor from the Doomsday Game must be constantly on guard. Asking you to remove your armor was indeed my mistake."

"I don’t think an inspection is necessary, but I will still require some cooperation from you."

"After all, this is a restricted area of the Exorcism Bureau. I hope we can move to another location to talk." Yan Jingxing’s plan was simple: get the man out of the Sealing Vault first.

Otherwise, if the seals of the other ghosts were affected, just as Qi Suian had threatened, the problem would become immense.

Qi Suian, for his part, took the out he was given and didn’t press the issue.

Despite his "let’s perish together" attitude, he was actually a bit intimidated by so many sealed ghosts.

The Hanged Ghost only wanted to hang him, but who knew if there were even more terrifying ghosts in here?

What if there was some ghost with an instant-kill or lethal ability that he couldn’t withstand?

"Fine. I’m just a survivor. My only goal is to stay alive."

"Everything else is negotiable," Qi Suian said, his words half-truth, half-lie.

Facing strangers—and strange ones at that, who were carrying what amounted to superweapons inside their bodies—Qi Suian naturally had to be on his guard.

"This way, please," Yan Jingxing said, leading the way for Qi Suian.

The remaining men didn’t move, seeming to intend to bring up the rear.

Seeing this, Qi Suian naturally followed.

The other members of the Exorcism Bureau then cautiously closed in, forming a seemingly loose but actually tight encirclement.

If Qi Suian made any sudden moves, they would be able to react instantly.

Whether it would be effective or not was another matter entirely.

They could only guarantee they would do their best, not what the result would be.

"No need to be so defensive. Killing you would be quite simple," Qi Suian said with a dismissive curl of his lip.

However, the members of the Exorcism Bureau had strong mental fortitude and paid no mind to Qi Suian’s words.

"Just some necessary precautions. I hope you can understand."

"Just as we understand that you’re a survivor and didn’t demand you disarm or submit to an inspection," Yan Jingxing said, smoothing things over.

Of course, Qi Suian understood. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have just been running his mouth.

He would have already made a move. Even if he didn’t kill them, he had other ways to subdue them.

Of course, Qi Suian had his own concerns. For example, could they voluntarily release the ghosts inside them for a mutual-destruction gambit, or could they directly control them?

If it was the former, Qi Suian could still run. If it was the latter, he would have to re-evaluate the Exorcism Bureau’s combat strength.

’AI, how’s the data collection going?’ Qi Suian asked his AI inwardly.

[Progress is smooth. We can indirectly acquire partial data on the ghosts through the members of the Exorcism Bureau.]

[Comparative analysis indicates that the "contamination" survivors endure is, in essence, the rule-based data of the ghosts themselves.]

[Prolonged exposure to this rule-based contamination, combined with the unique structure of a survivor, will cause the survivor to develop rule-level innate abilities.]

[Enhanced by the universality and permanence of the Doomsday Game, the survivors produced by this Doomsday World are guaranteed to be top-tier.]

[However, the corresponding death rate is extremely high. Out of twelve billion survivors, having even one million survive would be considered a high number.]

’Well, damn. They’ve gone straight to culling the weak,’ Qi Suian thought as he read the AI’s report. It was clear the Doomsday Game’s evolution was accelerating.