Yi Chen and William’s shared Memory Palace—[Library]

There was no one sitting here anymore;

the once neat library now permeated with silver seawater, and even in those dark corners, ghostly appendages floated.

Books placed at the very bottom had been soaked, with appendages resembling bamboo worms growing from inside them, gliding across the water’s surface, their covers even reflecting twisted human faces.

However,

the sea water had just seeped into the library and had not yet discovered the secret door hidden behind the last bookshelf,

beyond that door and secret passage, deep within the Memory Palace where deep memories are buried—the [Aquarium]... once an area that had locked away Yi Chen’s consciousness, now roles had switched.

William had confined himself in the deepest part of the Aquarium, even locking himself in a treasure chest and burying it underwater to minimize his presence as much as possible.

There was also a parasite inside the chest.

"Boss, do we really need to hide like this? Shouldn’t we care about Mr. Yi’s situation? He leans towards physical killing, probably not well-suited for handling the Moonlight Illusion Technique, what if something happens to him?"

William, curled up in the chest, did not respond, only raised his index finger to his lips, signaling Nash to stay silent—not even to communicate through consciousness;

they simply needed to wait.

...

An unnamed island surrounded by the Silver Sea.

Yi Chen had been delving deeper here for an hour, but his own concept of time had long since blurred,

he saw not only lush trees and thick undergrowth,

but tracks slowly appearing among the wild grass, and a tram entwined in vines, lying across the wilderness,

or a towering lighthouse suddenly appearing in a clearing in the woods, devoid of power supply,

or a desolate village suddenly coming into view, inhabited entirely by mannequins with moon-shaped heads,

or seeing a group of youths singing and dancing around a bonfire, pulling off each other’s moon heads revealing monstrous true forms, not attacking Yi Chen but engaging in incomprehensible, bizarre couplings.

Such convoluted and absurd sceneries could appear behind the next tree,

bizarre and grotesque, yet feeling logically consistent.

Yi Chen had been engaging in the killings he was best at, and his body was also transforming with each monster killed;

he had more than once removed his own bones, excised organs from within his body, or cut off a large part of his body.

But Yi Chen was still Yi Chen, no matter what, he would not ask for help, and definitely would not beg William to lend a hand.

He would find out the island’s secrets according to his own thoughts and resolve this matter.

However... chaos was still birthing chaos, its intensity gradually reaching a level even Yi Chen could not control.

Time passed unknowingly,

after passing through a stretch of forest, Yi Chen arrived at a deserted town with no monsters in sight.

Since arriving at the town, Yi Chen felt discomfort on a physical level,

his clothes became tight and suffocating, especially a clear oppressive sensation around his neck, uncomfortable even after untying his tie.

Unluckily, there was an abandoned clothing store right next to him.

As Yi Chen stepped into the store, he noticed all the mannequins inside watching, or perhaps coveting, his clothing.

When he found a dressing mirror, the reflection stunned him for a moment! The collar of the clothing had turned into fingers, clutching tightly around his neck.

He violently tore off the gentleman’s clothes and slashed it midair.

The beheaded clothing twitched like a living thing on the ground, and silver liquid flowed from the lining,

even the gentleman’s clothing controlled by Yellow Skin had become ’fake’;

Yi Chen himself did not know when his clothing was replaced—it seemed to be when the mannequins in some village touched his clothing, or maybe when a tree branch scraped his clothes.

Turning around,

and looking again at his naked self reflected in the mirror, a voice came through his mind.

"Yi Chen, let’s switch to me! This island, shrouded in moonlight, obfuscating the boundaries of reality, is not suited for you;

my judgment was wrong, I really apologize... Let me take over the body now. If Lorrian appears directly due to this, I will handle the conversation.

There’s no need to keep pushing on;

you’ll only sink deeper and possibly become assimilated by the chaos."

"Are you suddenly asking to switch with me now?" Yi Chen clearly disapproved.

"I’ve said it before, you aren’t suited for this place... After all, who could have anticipated the trouble here while on the ship? Step back, Yi Chen."

"William, I suggest you get a dog~ They’re a more docile species and obedient. They do whatever you say."

Yi Chen abruptly cut off the consciousness link with William and even blocked some functions of Madness Brain, picked up the hand axe, and prepared to continue exploring the island bare-chested.

Strangely, despite the blockade, William’s voice continued to emanate from the silenced Madness Brain.

"Hahaha! You hit the nail on the head, Yi Chen!

Aren’t you just a dog? Orphanage raised nothing but a bunch of obedient dogs, and you’re just the finest of them all.

Since you couldn’t stay in that world, you came here to be my dog.

Since you’re a dog, be obedient. Do as you’re told~ You can’t even distinguish reality from illusions, so why are you still putting up a fight here? Worthless trash, just get lost."

After a burst of full-scale mockery, the body began to split.

The ’Second Body’ embedded in the spine and the ’Main Body’ tore apart front and back, and the Abyss Mask consequently faded away.

The main body was William, sturdy, perfect, and full of confidence,

The second body was where Yi Chen’s consciousness resided, emaciated and misshapen, even lacking a mouth, curled up on the back and hunched over,

"Look at yourself, Yi Chen! Utterly hideous, the picture of defeat... Since you’re so useless, I might as well kill you right here!

As for the deep memories you’ve locked away, I’ll come and explore them slowly after you’re dead."

As soon as he finished speaking,

William directly pulled out an armor-piercing bullet from the gun, Bartosz, aiming it at Yi Chen’s forehead.

However,

The seemingly underdeveloped Yi Chen materialized his killing intent, constructing a set of pure black exoskeleton armor for himself, capable of normal movement.

Yi Chen also reached out, and the spine hand axe worn at William’s waist was now in his hand, slicing the bullet in two in mid-air.

William, shocked, used Instant Step to quickly put some distance between them, firing several more shots.

Ding ding ding!

Each bullet was accurately chopped in half,

The murderous incarnation of Yi Chen closed the gap in front of William using the same technique in an instant,

Making a swift move,

Five withered fingers like black snakes darted out, hooked onto William’s face, and pressed him hard against the wall, slowly lifting him.

Even so, William still kept his smile.

"Oh! Truly the finest dog from the orphanage, Director Cao would be so pleased to see how well you kill!"

William, through Madness Brain, delivered devastating words and then threw a kick at Yi Chen’s head, trying to escape.

But... the speed of the axe was faster,

Or rather, as soon as William’s face was held, it was already set up on the guillotine.

Swipe!

[Beheading]

William’s head slowly slid down along the neck, the assault of death completely destroying Madness Brain, and his gaze dimming steadily.

But... strangely enough...

As William’s head dropped, Yi Chen’s vision also fell, the two almost parallelly crashing hard onto the ground.

The concept of [Death] was implanted, and vision gradually faded to black. Yi Chen couldn’t understand why he too was dying when it obviously should have been William.

The last image froze at the mirror in the gentleman’s clothes, everything reverting to peace.

A few minutes later

The two wooden models in the clothing store began to tremble and eventually came to life,

They approached the mirror, one responsible for carrying the body, the other for picking up the head, taking this self-beheaded outsider deep into the island...