Chapter 928: Deep Inside the Black Box
Fragments of the black box floated everywhere. Han Fei stayed at the top of the box and stared at the faces inside the box. Without Mad Laughter's massacre and the sacrifice of the thirty other children, he'd be one of them. The numbers branded on the flesh reflected in Han Fei's eyes and woke up his past. The pain from the back of his head intensified. Han Fei had difficulty breathing.
"I should save you, but I don't have the ability. I'm sorry to have shown you the light and then have to kill you." Han Fei was familiar with one thing. In the altar world, this was a critical moment. If he wanted to save these kids in real life, he couldn't show mercy. Han Fei raised the blade again, and something unexpected happened.
The faces of the children started to change as they turned to look at Han Fei. They slowly became Han Fei. Their faces, gazes, and bodies became Han Fei. It was as if Han Fei was trapped inside the box. All the despair weaved together. Invisible chains of despair came out of the box. They connected Han Fei and the kids. If Han Fei had killed the children, he would have killed himself too. This appeared to be the box's defense mechanism. Han Fei had no way back. If he killed the kids, he'd die too; If he didn't kill the kids, he'd be drawn into the box.
"Why are you hesitating?" Ah Nian shouted. Destroying the black box meant that his sons would be dead too. However, he still urged Han Fei because only by destroying this thing that humans have a chance at survival.
"I..." Han Fei looked at the kids and grabbed the knife. He would never injure the innocent. From the first time he held the knife, he only murdered when he was forced to. "I'll save you in real life." The blade swung downward. The blinding light tore apart the despair formed by the children. Han Fei's faces shattered in the light. The chains from the box tightened. Han Fei's body started to crack as well. His body was connected to the children. When he killed the children, he was killing himself too. The thick despair oozed out of the children and Han Fei as it covered everything.
Ah Nian and the worker finally noticed something was wrong. They climbed up the black box. "Gao Cheng!"
Blood flowed out of Han Fei, but he didn't stop. "If I am despair, then I'll kill myself too." Ever since he entered Gao Xing's altar world, this was his first time not holding back. Even if he died, he wanted to see the thing inside the black box. He would pay with his life.
The healing starlight leaked out of the wounds. It glowed along with the humanity within Rest in Peace. Han Fei's blade shone like the galaxy as it cut open the black box. The night was cut in half. The numbered children were sliced apart. When Han Fei killed them, his body was torn apart by the chains as well. Han Fei stood on the box with blood flowing down his body. His Life Points drained away, but he didn't fall. The followers inside Rest in Peace stood behind him, giving him support.
The children started to disintegrate. The chains fell from their bodies, and Han Fei finally saw the thing inside the black box. All the children were bound by despair to create a black dream. There was no love and hope in this dream. The existence of light was to highlight the ugliness of the darkness.
Scary monsters, murderous ghosts, this black dream was like a small cryptic world.
The machine whirred. There were endless machines working inside the black box. In the middle of the machines was an altar.
"The fake black box contains a dream of the cryptic world. Does this mean that the cryptic world is inside the real black box?" Han Fei didn't know what was inside the black box. Gao Xing didn't seem to know any better. It was why he had placed his most important stuff inside it. Perhaps for Gao Xing, his altar was already the most precious thing in this altar world.
"Notification for Player 0000! You're close to death. Your third life will be activated! You now have three lives! Please locate a body recovery chamber in the next five minutes, or you'll die again!" Han Fei snapped out of it. He fell down from the box. Ah Nian and the worker saved him.
"We need to find a body recovery chamber to put him in it!" The worker had seen Han Fei 'come back to life' before. He carried Han Fei and prepared to leave but was stopped by Han Fei.
"Gao Xing knows that the black box has been destroyed. He'll rush back here. We need to destroy the altar before he does!" The situation was bad for Han Fei. He needed time to recover, but Han Fei wouldn't give him the time.
"You can't even carry your knife. How do you plan to destroy the altar?" Ah Nian wanted to help Han Fei, but only Han Fei could carry Rest in Peace.
"There's still a chance." Han Fei calculated the time. He had Ah Nian, and the worker let go. He handed the control of his body over to the paper doll. Han Fei was very lucky because, at that moment, the system rang out to tell him that Gao Xing's wife had destroyed the fifth figurine. The starlight oozed out even more. With the starlight's protection, Han Fei fell into the children's nightmare. Just like how he had changed the cryptic world, he would change this dark nightmare as well.
Han Fei got a better view as he got closer. The altar inside the nightmare was different from the altars in the city. It was real and made up of despair and sins.
"Nightmare, flesh, technology, which madman created this black box?" Before Han Fei could study it closer, all the children tried to crawl out of the altar foundation. When Han Fei approached, they tried to bite Han Fei.
"Rest in Peace!" Han Fei knew that he couldn't cut through the horde of children. He aimed the blade at the altar and threw it. "If I fall, I hope one of you can continue my journey." The light of humanity pierced through the altar and cut the fleshy figurine. The whole building shook. An accident happened on Gao Xing's most anticipatory day. The altar was used to maintain the altar world. Once the main altar was attacked, the operation of the altar world would be affected.
Time was bent. Gao Xing's oppression of everyone else lightened. Giant hands tore Han Fei apart. His broken body fell inside the box. Ah Nian's eyes bled, and he screamed.
"Notification for Player 0000! You're close to death. Fourth life activated! You have two lives!" Han Fei used his remaining arm to grab the edge of the box. He crawled towards Ah Nian. "We're still alive. We need to find the body recovery chambers!"
The paper doll took Rest in Peace and ran away. Ah Nian and the worker carried Han Fei and returned to underground 18th floor. They all hid inside a chamber.
"Gao Xing might come at any moment. Is it okay for us to hide here?" Ah Nian was worried.
"My blade is marked by Gao Xing because it has injured the figurines. The paper doll will help us distract Gao Xing." Han Fei tried his best to answer despite the pain tearing through his body. "There are other enemies inside the building that Gao Xing has to be careful of."
The world was still changing. Han Fei's destruction of the altar caused a chain effect. Gao Xing had to push his plan forward. All the machines in the box turned at high speed. At the center of the box, the nightmare of the children morphed into a long bridge.
"Where does this bridge leads to? Another world or deeper nightmare?" Ah Nian's hands shook. He turned to look at Han Fei but the latter had already fainted.
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