"Uh, you..."

When it came to Jiang Ye, He Yuliang's expression turned rather complicated.

He first raised his head to glance at the giant beast reliefs on the auditorium ceiling.

After a moment of silence, he looked at Du Yuheng again before hesitantly saying:

"The situation at the time was too chaotic. You had a pair of wings on your back, burning like the sun, wildly releasing heat..."

"The entire auditorium was filled with blinding light. I was so dazzled I couldn't open my eyes at all, and I didn't see clearly what exactly happened to you."

"I only heard about it afterwards from Du Yuheng. He said those burning wings seemed to have been pierced by something."

"Du Yuheng said he didn't see clearly either, only vaguely seeing that the burning wings had gained a pair of pierced black holes."

"According to his speculation, it might have been..." He Yuliang pointed at the giant Deer-Elephant relief at the very center of the giant beast reliefs, "pierced by the elephant tusks extending from that Deer-Elephant relief."

"Or it could have been pierced by some kind of arrow shot from the void?"

"I directly questioned the 'void arrow' theory at the time, finding it unbelievable."

"But then Du Yuheng said that the scene he vaguely saw reminded him of 'Hou Yi Shooting the Suns.' That's why he had the speculation about a void arrow."

"However, Du Yuheng himself questioned his own analysis as he made it—the legendary 'Hou Yi Shooting the Suns' from mythology should have only been one arrow, and it didn't shoot the Golden Crow's wings, but its heart."

"Yet the scene he vaguely saw was two arrows, each piercing the burning wings."

"Li Ku noticed at the time that Du Yuheng's expression was odd while analyzing this, so he aggressively pressed him for answers."

"Du Yuheng finally revealed that during his 9th Reincarnation dream, he had used his [Mind Reading] talent to secretly peek at the inner thoughts of that 'Dreamland Boss.'"

"This action was truly outrageous, but since it was in a dream, Du Yuheng was quite bold. He used [Heart's Voice Externalized] on the 'Boss' a full 6 times..."

"The first 3 times all failed. The 4th and 5th times displayed as garbled code."

"It wasn't until the 6th time that he read a single, pure sentence."

"According to Du Yuheng's description, he felt that sentence was intentionally revealed to him by the Boss."

"Because every time he used [Heart's Voice Externalized], it was inevitably mixed with garbled code, requiring him to decipher it."

"But that sentence from the Boss's externalized inner thoughts that one time was completely intact, not mixed with any garbled code."

He Yuliang described all this with a rather solemn expression.

Countless thoughts flashed through Jiang Ye's mind again.

However, he didn't directly ask He Yuliang.

Because Du Yuheng's 9th dream—he himself possessed that memory.

So, Jiang Ye turned to Du Yuheng and asked: "So, what was that inner thought sentence?"

Du Yuheng looked utterly bewildered, but after a moment's hesitation, he proactively said: "Indeed, during my 9th Reincarnation dream, I used [Heart's Voice Externalized] on the Boss 6 times."

"After that, I never dared to use it again."

"Because that only successful 6th time, I truly felt the 'Boss' intentionally showed me his inner thoughts."

"And that one successful time, the complete sentence I saw was—"

"'Fortunately, the arrow hit my heart, not my wings.'"

After saying this, and combining it with He Yuliang's earlier description, Du Yuheng quickly fell into deep thought.

He Yuliang then followed up, confirming:

"Yes, Du Yuheng from the 'previous life' said the same sentence."

"Then he analyzed that the Boss intentionally letting him see this inner thought might be a kind of foreshadowing."

"That's why he suspected that the two pierced places on the burning wings might have come from 'void arrows'..."

"Finally, the conclusion Du Yuheng reached was—"

He Yuliang looked at Jiang Ye: "Your act of using a skill on the wings at the time might have caused a major disaster."

"And you probably anticipated this, which is why you had me use [Reroll Life] before that."

"When Li Ku learned this at the time, his first instinct was to kill me. But later, Du Yuheng and I together persuaded him that an SSS-grade skill couldn't possibly be wasted just like that."

"Later, the three of us together absorbed the dark energy overflowing from the reliefs. However, the dark energy from those pierced wings was all absorbed by Li Ku alone."

Speaking of this part, He Yuliang's gaze toward Li Ku was quite complex.

Li Ku, listening to this description, seemed thoughtful.

Jiang Ye looked somewhat surprised at He Yuliang: "Then what about me? Did I die so completely that not even a corpse remained?"

"And, you shouldn't have consumed an Exile Fruit, right? Could you also absorb that so-called dark energy?"

He Yuliang nodded: "Didn't I just say? Our three bodies had turned into pure black versions. And these pure black version bodies themselves seemed to be forged from pure dark energy, so I at that time could also absorb the dark energy from the reliefs."

"And in this version, the three of us were ridiculously strong. Facing other dark-type players with Glyph Pattern Abilities, it was a complete curbstomp, because those Glyph Pattern Abilities simply didn't work on us."

"As for you, you really did seem to be burned to the point that not even a corpse remained..."

"But you dropped a black scale, which was picked up by Li Ku after he absorbed the wing's dark energy."

"Then he used that scale to get a spot for Exile City from the old man responsible for selling blood."

"While Du Yuheng and I stayed at this school, and we stayed for a full month."

"And during this month, the school's enrollment suddenly skyrocketed, as if deliberately replenishing the numbers of those who died in the auditorium explosion."

"But according to Du Yuheng's observations using his Mind Reading talent, a significant portion of those suddenly increased enrollees should have been mechanical entities similar to 'Zhou Qun.'"

"Their true identities might be Enforcers carrying mechanical eyeballs!"

"These Enforcers also attended classes together with ordinary sinners every day, participating in Labor Reform and Ideological Reform."

"They appeared completely normal, with normal players' fear, numbness, and some individuals even retained some personality."

"In short, if not for Du Yuheng's talent, it would have been impossible to tell they were soulless robots."

"Du Yuheng and I at the time, because our bodies had turned into pure black versions, were too afraid to use our own Flesh and Blood to power the Giant Turtle Sewing Machine, so we would specifically select other players to provide Flesh and Blood for us."

"Using Du Yuheng's ability, when we exploited other players, we deliberately avoided those robots."

"But we observed that those robots also showed no abnormalities during the sewing machine pedaling session."

"It seemed as if they were truly using their own Flesh and Blood to nourish the Giant Turtle, as if they really possessed flesh-and-blood bodies."

Speaking of this phenomenon, He Yuliang clearly showed a puzzled emotion.

He then continued: "About a month later, Li Ku, who had already obtained the Exile City spot, for some reason returned."

"But he was no longer in the pure black version. Instead, he had a robot's body."

"Not the kind pretending to be living humans, but the kind that looked like a mechanical body to the naked eye. To distinguish from those disguised robots, let's call him a Mecha Unit for now."

"That Mecha Unit version of him, active among a group of living humans, looked very out of place. But because of his unique appearance, neither new nor veteran players dared to provoke him."

"I only recognized him as Li Ku because of Du Yuheng's Mind Reading talent."

"The Mecha Unit version of Li Ku, upon returning to the school, went on a massive killing spree."

"He slaughtered the non-robot living humans to near extinction."

"Almost all the living humans in the entire school were left with just me, Du Yuheng, and a few former subordinates who had been loyal to Li Ku."

"Our remaining group of living humans was granted Exile City spots by Li Ku and then left the school."

"But Li Ku stayed at the school, doing who knows what."

"According to Du Yuheng's description, he had also been to Exile City in his Reincarnation dreams."

"But Exile City isn't actually friendly to newcomers either."

"Du Yuheng at the time wasn't that willing to go to Exile City originally."

"But as it turned out, after the two of us arrived at Exile City, other players treated us like gods. The reason was our pure black bodies, which were almost Immune to all dark-type damage."

"Also because of our pure black bodies, our days in Exile City went quite smoothly. We also acquired Mecha bodies, just like Li Ku."

"After living in Exile City like this for a while, the vanished Li Ku returned again, but he only sought out Du Yuheng. After that, the two of them frequently held secret talks."

"Based on my speculation, Li Ku was probably getting information from Du Yuheng that he had obtained in his Reincarnation dreams."

"Judging by what happened later, what Li Ku obtained should have been information related to the 「solar eclipse」."

"Because after another period of time, the entire atmosphere of Exile City clearly became somewhat off."

"Even I vaguely heard some news about the solar eclipse."

"Oh right, to add, during the initial period after arriving at Exile City, I was quite active, diligently farming Merit, striving to become stronger..."

"Also because of my [Luck] talent, plus the pure black version body, my growth speed should have far surpassed that of ordinary players."

"But as time passed, my [Danger Sense] made me feel uncomfortable, and this discomfort almost grew stronger day by day."

"I wasn't sure if this premonition was related to the solar eclipse, or if my [Paradox Protection] was nearing the trigger standard for the 'Confusion state'."

"In any case, because I sensed intense danger, I was practically in a reclusive state during that period, shutting out the outside world."

"But even in that reclusive state, I heard the news about the solar eclipse..."

"And the day after hearing this news, Li Ku found me again."

"According to Li Ku's words at the time, the three of us with pure black bodies could receive a powerful supplement of dark energy during the 「solar eclipse」 state."

"In short, just like when we absorbed the dark energy from the reliefs in this auditorium, we could absorb another wave of dark energy from the solar eclipse and become stronger again."

"What Li Ku said was very tempting, but I'm not stupid."

"First, I didn't believe that someone as ambitious as Li Ku would truly share good fortune with me."

"If I remember correctly..."

He Yuliang gave Li Ku a meaningful look before continuing: "Before I used the [Reroll Life] skill, wasn't Li Ku planning to follow the development in Du Yuheng's dream and absorb all the dark energy from the entire auditorium reliefs alone?"

"Someone like that, how could I possibly believe he would share the so-called solar eclipse dark energy with me?"

"Moreover, although the 「solar eclipse」 phenomenon would cover the entire world."

"The 'sun' itself actually only exists in normal cities. The Land of Exile itself isn't covered by the sun."

"That is to say, to absorb the so-called solar eclipse dark energy, I would need to take the risk of going to a normal city!"

"Plus, at that time, I already sensed terrifying danger approaching, so naturally, I firmly refused Li Ku's invitation."

"But this guy didn't leave me any way out!"

"For a full week afterwards, he frantically pestered me!"

"My residence, initially, would have someone disturbing me every 2 hours for all sorts of bizarre reasons."

"Later, this interval became every 1 hour!"

"I realized this guy wanted to force me to agree by triggering probability events on me."

"I chose to run away at the time, but it turned out I couldn't escape at all. This jerk stuck to me like a stubborn plaster, all kinds of troubles constantly pestering me, continuously triggering probability events on me!"

"It can be said that me falling into the Confusion state later was directly caused by Li Ku!"

Clearly, because of his "previous life" experience, He Yuliang held a big grudge against Li Ku.

And this sentence also directly revealed that He Yuliang from the previous life did indeed fall into the Confusion state!

Jiang Ye was somewhat surprised and couldn't help but press: "And then? To get rid of the pestering, you agreed to absorb the solar eclipse dark energy with Li Ku?"

At this point, Li Ku and He Yuliang's emotions clearly changed somewhat.

Li Ku's emotion became somewhat anxious.

He was already prepared to absorb the dark energy from the auditorium reliefs.

But now, with He Yuliang revealing the "previous life information"...

He could basically be certain that Jiang Ye wouldn't follow the path of "He Yuliang's previous life" anymore.

Then, his path to becoming stronger, that powerful pure black version body, probably wouldn't be available to him...

It might even be that because of He Yuliang's description, Jiang Ye would also dislike him...

Li Ku's whole body was somewhat stiff.

He Yuliang, on the other hand, was blazing with anger as he continued: "Yeah, what else could I do besides agree?"

"But the result! I thought it was because I didn't agree to his request that this jerk deliberately had people pester me..."

"Turns out, even after I agreed, this jerk still had people pester me!"

"Later I found out from Du Yuheng—"

"Li Ku's original plan wasn't simply to have me absorb some solar eclipse dark energy..."

"What he needed was a me in the Confusion state!"

"So, whether I agreed or not, he would deliberately keep triggering probability events on me, deliberately pushing me into the Confusion state before the solar eclipse!"