Holy crap?!

This eyeball that suddenly detached itself and could talk truly startled Jiang Ye.

At the same time, he immediately sensed...

The connection between clones was indeed caused by this eyeball!

When it left Li Si's eye socket, Li Si was no longer a clone.

Instead, this eyeball alone became the clone!

Of course, there was still no memory synchronization.

If Jiang Ye was merely startled.

Then Li Si, Li Ku, and the others were downright frightened!

Especially Li Si. After losing that right eye, he seemed to revert to a blind state, unable to see anything clearly.

His originally somewhat composed face now clearly showed a stiff, shaken expression.

Li Ku was also shocked, but he quickly regained his composure and asked the detached eyeball:

"Are you Du Yuheng? Or... some strange thing?"

However, the eyeball did not respond to him.

Only, the scenes reflected deep within the eyeball's pupil seemed to have strange dark glimmers constantly flashing.

Like light dancing on gold, like weaving some special pattern.

And then...

The entire eyeball transformed into a pure black eyeball, no longer having any white!

At the same time, Li Si, who was restrained by Li Ku's black threads, suddenly let out a cry: "No!!"

This cry was abrupt and accompanied by an emotion of extreme fear.

Simultaneously, Jiang Ye saw—

The Glyph Pattern Tattoos on Li Si's body actually detached one by one from him...

Then, surged into that pure black eyeball!

This scene was all too familiar!

Jiang Ye remembered, when using the [Raven Feather] to extract the Glyph Pattern Abilities of dark-type players, the scene was exactly the same!

Only, one [Raven Feather] could only extract one Glyph Pattern.

But that pure black eyeball, akin to a [Raven Feather], seemed to directly suck away all of Li Si's Glyph Pattern Abilities in one go!

This sight...

Deeply shocked Li Ku.

Before he could recover from his shock, he heard that bizarre eyeball, having returned to a normal black-and-white state, emit that strange mechanical voice again:

"Alright, I've preserved your Glyph Pattern Abilities for you."

"Now, you can die in peace... oh no, you can peacefully... change to a different way of living :)"

However...

Li Ku, who indeed had reason to act, hesitated and did not strike at this moment.

He felt an indescribable fear...

Because before this, he believed in Darkness, and naturally revered the Glyph Pattern Abilities granted by the Exile Fruit.

All the scars covering his body were Glyph Pattern Abilities.

His current strength relied entirely on those Glyph Pattern Abilities all over his body...

But now... what was he seeing?!

An eyeball like that could directly absorb all of Li Si's Glyph Pattern Abilities!

If it could absorb Li Si's Glyph Patterns...

Then, couldn't it absorb his as well?!

And if all Glyph Pattern Abilities could be stripped away...

Li Ku inexplicably felt a despair akin to his faith collapsing!

He suddenly realized...

Why Sun People players always looked down on Glyph Pattern Abilities, no matter how powerful they were.

Because this kind of ability would never truly belong to a player!

It was like an item, something that could be plundered!

So in this world, perhaps only talent abilities were the true path?

Under extreme fear, worried about losing his own Glyph Pattern Abilities, Li Ku dared not directly defy what the bizarre eyeball said.

So, after just a few seconds of internal turmoil.

The black threads entwined around Li Si instantly shredded him!

In that instant, the black threads were almost entirely stained red.

However, not a single drop of blood dripped out.

As if Li Si's flesh and blood were completely absorbed by those black threads.

The blood-red threads soon returned to black.

Li Ku retracted them back into his body of dark scars.

He tentatively called out to the surroundings: "Li Si?"

That bizarre eyeball, however, said: "Monsters have their own rules of survival."

"A monster that has just been born naturally won't appear here."

Li Ku's heart tightened slightly, and he asked the eyeball in a deep voice:

"Then... where would a newly born monster appear?"

"Those monsters... are they truly, completely unable to die?"

If turning into a monster truly meant completely escaping death...

Then this "change to a different way of living" might indeed be a form of liberation?

The group of players including Lin Dong remained tense.

They could hear the shift in attitude within Li Ku's two questions.

If Li Ku's choice was truly to unify the world in a monstrous state...

Then the rest of them might have no choice at all!

This time, before the strange eyeball could answer.

The battered, pained Lin Dong suddenly grabbed the iron chain in his hand and slammed it hard against the ground.

That action clearly indicated he had something he wanted to say to Li Ku.

But his destroyed throat couldn't produce sound.

Li Ku naturally understood Lin Dong's intention and was thinking about how to restore his voice...

When he saw that strange eyeball fly straight towards Lin Dong's eyes!

Lin Dong's originally pure white, stone-like eyes, after merging with the bizarre eyeball, both eyes returned to normal.

Soon, it seemed the bizarre eyeball had healed Lin Dong's throat.

The area of his neck eroded by the black hand gradually restored to normal flesh and blood...

Even his physical and mental state seemed to have returned to normal!

Lin Dong touched his eyes in disbelief, then touched his throat.

Li Ku asked: "You..."

"Are you Lin Dong? Or Du Yuheng?"

Lin Dong looked at him, didn't answer, but instead used an extremely firm voice to say:

"If your choice is to let monsters unify the world in a monstrous form..."

"Then I'm sorry, even if I am forced to die and become a monster... we can only go our separate ways!"

Firm eyes, firm tone...

Li Ku knew, this was Lin Dong.

And what he wanted to say by attracting his attention by hitting the ground with the chain earlier was exactly this...

Li Ku fell silent.

Lin Dong continued:

"I don't understand life, I don't understand death, and I'm not clear about what those monsters really are."

"But I know, I am me, you are you, and my teammates here, they are them."

"I know the original form of life. You know it too, they know it too."

"Although I read a saying since childhood... we will eventually become the person our former selves would hate."

"Although this saying has also come true for me."

"Sometimes I even feel my former self was the one who was wrong."

"But—I cannot erase that former self."

"So this world cannot be without the original form of life!"

"Do you understand what I mean? That is hope!"

Lin Dong spoke these words with great force.

He stared directly into Li Ku's eyes.

It seemed besides these words, he had even firmer emotions he wanted to convey to him.

"So, even if I die and become a monster... I would not wish for the whole world to become monsters!"

"Even less would I wish for the ultimate unification of the world to be a unification of monsters!"

Li Ku seemed somewhat enlightened.

But a moment later, that scar-covered, expressionless face also showed a strange kind of firmness.

Just like the initial Li Ku mentioning his "dream."

He slowly nodded, assuring Lin Dong: "Yes, you are right."

"So, even if I also become a monster, the unification of the world will not be a unification of monsters."

"Hope..."

He murmured these two words, then took a deep breath and exhaled it faintly.

At the same time, he faintly uttered: "This world still has a bit of hope."

Saying this, Li Ku looked at Lin Dong's eyes.

This time, his dialogue target became that bizarre eyeball: "You think so too, which is why you haven't attacked us?"

However, the eyeball that had entered Lin Dong's eyes seemed to have lost its autonomous consciousness.

As if not hearing his voice, it did not respond.

Instead, it was Lin Dong...

He suddenly showed Li Ku his right hand.

In an instant, that hand turned into a pure black hand.

Lin Dong indicated: "The Glyph Pattern Abilities the eyeball absorbed from Li Si seem to have appeared on me through the eyeball..."

"Besides these—"

After demonstrating the Glyph Pattern Abilities, Lin Dong's right hand returned to normal.

But above his palm now appeared some things.

Densely packed dark purple crystal chips of [Target Anchor].

And several Exile Fruits.

And one item...

That shocked Jiang Ye!

It was a bizarre accessory depicting two infants embracing each other.

It looked like woodwork in texture.

But it wasn't wooden in color; instead, it was a charred black as if burned.

Two pitch-black infants, holding each other, presented a sleeping posture, exuding a strange sense of eeriness.

Jiang Ye's shock lay in...

He had seen this item before!

He could even say he had obtained this item!

This was the bizarre item he got when he killed Huang Qi and obtained the Clone Replica Mirror, the one his Detection Technique couldn't analyze! (Refer to Chapter 63)

Previously, because it couldn't be analyzed, this thing had been gathering dust in his Clone Shared Space.

But now...

It appeared here!

Jiang Ye felt puzzled.

Fortunately, Li Ku asked for him: "Is this... Li Si's item? Or does it belong to Du Yuheng's eyeball?"

However, Lin Dong shook his head: "I don't know either."

"These were stored in the eyeball's space. They might belong to the eyeball, or maybe to Li Si?"

Saying this, Lin Dong tentatively asked Li Ku: "After you killed Li Si, didn't any other items drop?"

Li Ku was silent for a moment, then with a flip of his large hand, some items appeared on his palm.

Several stacks of talismans, a few strange Array Disks, and some other miscellaneous small things...

And Jiang Ye recognized again—

Among those stacks of talismans, there was clearly the special immobilizing talisman that had once appeared in Lin Ling's hands!

The kind that could immobilize players into Small Wooden Dolls!

Also the kind of talisman paper that immobilized Jiang Ye's ten thousand puppet clones when they acted as small wooden doll pieces on the giant chessboard!

Besides that, Jiang Ye saw another familiar thing—

Clear Conscience Tea!

The tea he and Lin Ling agreed to use to ask each other questions!

Lin Ling's talisman, Lin Ling's tea...

So Li Si absolutely had some relationship with Lin Ling!

Actually, this conclusion wasn't that surprising.

After all, it was known that Li Si had many connections with Chen Ji from the abandoned mental hospital.

And that Chen Ji was a Researcher from the Defenders' Alliance in later times.

Lin Ling also came from the Defenders' Alliance.

So...

Lin Ling, who lost contact in the red-lit elevator, had likely also come to this era!

It was even likely...

That so-called "abandoned mental hospital" was the predecessor of the later "Defenders' Alliance"?

While Jiang Ye pondered this in his heart.

Li Ku and Lin Dong also sorted through their gains.

Those of Li Si's items whose uses could be determined, they divided between themselves.

Those that couldn't be analyzed...

Remained with whoever took them out.

That bizarre accessory of the two embracing infants naturally attracted their attention.

Lin Dong directly speculated: "Could the two infants in this accessory be related to the sun infant and moon infant?"

Li Ku shook his head: "No idea. You keep it for now. If we encounter Li Si who has turned into a monster later, maybe we can ask him again."

"Let's leave this floor first and continue exploring downwards."

Saying this, Li Ku looked at Lin Dong's other teammates:

"Your blindness is probably only temporary. Now, continue holding the iron chains and follow me."

They naturally didn't dare question and followed Li Ku and Lin Dong, walking back the way they came.

Lin Dong could see now, so he took the opportunity to explain the environment of this place to his teammates.

Actually, there wasn't much to explain; it was just an empty hexagonal Ice Crystal Palace.

This hexagon was quite similar to the hexagon of the Reincarnation Mirror Palace.

However, there were no Ice Coffins here.

Jiang Ye suspected...

The "next floor" Li Ku mentioned might also be a hexagonal space.

He thought for a moment, then directly, in his state as a Conscious Soul Body, quietly followed this group.

The direction they came from was one face of this six-sided space.

To the normal naked eye, ahead was a wall like ice crystal.

However, the group holding the iron chains passed through that wall one by one.

Witch Gui Jiang Ye originally wondered if he should also grab an iron chain?

But, thinking of those monsters scattering everywhere...

They all seemed able to directly penetrate the walls of this six-sided space.

He tried and found that as a Witch Gui, he could indeed pass directly through the wall.

At the same time, he thought again...

Why did those monsters, whose seals were broken, all uniformly leave this six-sided palace that sealed them?

Why didn't even a single monster choose to stay?

And why could he stay?

These doubts were temporarily stored in his mind.

Passing through the wall, Witch Gui Jiang Ye found himself, along with Li Ku, Lin Dong, and the others, entering a familiar space—

The red-lit elevator!

It looked exactly the same as the red-lit elevator!

Only, the elevator button panel showed no numbers.

Until Li Ku pressed one of the buttons, a number lit up on it, displaying—19.

19...

So, that six-sided space just now, within the Blood Pool's red-lit elevator, was displayed as the 18th floor?

Huh?

Wait!

Jiang Ye realized, if following the operation rules of the apartment's red-lit elevator from later times...

Below the 20th floor would be the 19th floor.

And he seemed to have subconsciously used the opposite rule of the red-lit elevator.

Perhaps because...

The apartment's red-lit elevator moved upward.

But after entering the Blood Pool space, he subconsciously assumed he was moving downward.

So he subconsciously thought increasing numbers meant down.

Meaning the 19th floor was below the 18th floor...

Of course, it might also be because he subconsciously felt that an environment of the dead reviving and monsters awakening would be more fitting with the number 18?