absurd deduction game.

The memory did not continue.

Qu Xianqing caught a glimpse of what appeared to be many thick, alarming black tubes hanging outside the glass, but before he could get a closer look, the image gradually faded away, turning into a white blur.

"Do you understand now?"

Yu Xing—who was standing with her on the tower at this moment, waiting for the actor to process the latest version of the heart sac—her voice appeared in the white mist.

The tentacles can display memories and emotions, so they can naturally also perform small tasks like communication of consciousness. Qu Xianqing got used to it and commented, "He seems to have a real love for the profession of scientist."

By this point, she was no longer surprised by the various behaviors displayed by the actors.

Actors enjoy creating humanoid creatures, and deciphering either Edgar, who is integrated with the machinery at the foot of the clock tower, or the intricately constructed giant heart on the top floor, would provide more help in the creation process.

Regardless of the merit of the actor's claim of being "the most outstanding scientist of this era" in that memory, it can only be judged in the context of the real world. His science was achieved by combining the material foundation of the real world with his own bizarre abilities, and thus had great limitations.

In comparison, the mad scientists in the absurd deduction instance are countless, and their limitations are very small... After all, each world has a different setting, and the upper limit and types of things that can be done are also different.

If the actor wants to advance further in this field, the most effective way is to directly learn the relevant knowledge from the dungeon. And now it seems that he had already set his sights on the creation abilities of the Cthulhu God long before entering the City of Terror.

Thus, from the moment the actor stopped Yu Xing in the bookstore and invited him to share clues about his travelogue, the outcome that the actor was guiding towards had a smooth motivation.

Once the actor takes the heart back and studies it slowly, who knows what kind of thing he'll come up with next time.

But how did he know about these things in advance?

At this moment, Qu Xianqing and Yu Xing were communicating telepathically, and her thoughts were being transmitted to Yu Xing. After asking this question, Yu Xing pondered for a moment and then replied:
"Actually, I suspect that the actor has some kind of rule related to [time]. We can ask Carlos about it after we leave the instance."

Qu Xianqing pursed her lips: "Carlos? Does that husky have more clues than you?"

"Haha." Yu Xing knew that Carlos usually ran wild in the team, but he had to remind Qu Xianqing, "Maybe it's a wolf that has infiltrated the husky pack."

The presentation of memory fragments differs from the flow of time in reality. Qu Xianqing saw two complete scenes, which would only take two minutes in reality.

While using the tendrils of the branches to transmit information into Qu Xianqing's brain, Yu Xing kept his eyes on the performer.

The actor handled the heart remains much faster than Yu Xing had anticipated.

The oddly shaped scalpel danced between his fingers like a living fish, precisely peeling away any trace of life that might remain on the dried tissue.

In just a few minutes, the disgusting, enormous sac was broken down and categorized, eventually turning into several sample blocks that were enveloped by a special force field and kept shrinking, which he casually put into his sleeve.

After doing all this, he even leisurely took out a white handkerchief and wiped his hands, as if he had just dealt with the remains of some indescribable thing, but only a routine dissection.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." The actor turned around, a satisfied smile on his face, as if he had just tasted a delicious meal. But the smile didn't reach his eyes. His gaze lightly swept over Yu Xing, then lingered on Qu Xianqing for a moment. "We should go down now."

Qu Xianqing opened her eyes, and the branch disappeared into the void.

Because of the memories she had just seen, she felt even more physically uncomfortable with the performer in this state. She pursed her lips, said nothing, and simply turned her gaze to Yu Xing.

Yu Xing nodded, her face expressionless: "Let's go find Edgar. The key to the exit is likely still with him."

The three of them didn't linger any longer and returned along the elevator shaft they had come from.

The bioluminescence inside the channel seemed to have dimmed slightly, and the surging energy flow outside the tube wall became sluggish and chaotic, as if it had lost its core guidance.

When they stepped into that underground chamber again, the sight before them made all three of them pause in their tracks.

The situation is much worse than when they left.

The air was filled with an even stronger, pungent smell, a mixture of burning engine oil and rotting flesh.

The hum of the ancient "coordination core" mechanism became intermittent, like the gasps of a dying man.

The most shocking sight was Edgar White leaning against the machinery.

He had previously maintained a human form with half of his body remaining, but now that fragile balance seemed to have been completely shattered.

The dark metallic luster, like spreading moss, had already invaded his neck, and beneath the skin of his left cheek, the faint outline of tiny gears could be seen turning in vain.

His right eye—the one that still belonged to humanity and had once shown clarity and struggle—was now filled with murky blood vessels, its pupil dilating and contracting irregularly, its gaze unfocused and frantic, as if it were enduring unspeakable, immense pain.

His remaining right hand's five fingers dug deeply into the hardened organic matter of the ground, leaving five deep scratches. The veins on his arm bulged like twisted earthworms. With each difficult breath, his left half, fused with the machine, emitted a teeth-grinding "crunching" friction sound.

"Uh...ah..." He made an unintelligible hoarse sound from his throat, mixed with the metallic scraping noise.

When the figures of Yu Xing and the other two came into view through his cloudy right eye, Edgar's body convulsed violently. As if using all his strength, he raised his head, his unfocused gaze struggling to focus on them.

"It's...it's you..." His voice was hoarse and dry to the extreme, as if his vocal cords had become semi-metallic, "You've...you're back..."

He tried to move his body, but this tiny movement triggered a chain reaction.

The blood vessels and wires connecting him to the machine suddenly tightened, shooting out a few tiny sparks of electricity, and the surrounding fleshy walls convulsed violently.

"Are you... leaving?" he asked.

Yu Xing smiled at him: "Yes, we've already destroyed the coordinates on the top floor. Now, we need to find a way out."

“Take me…with you…” Edgar stared intently at Yu Xing, his intact right eye blazing with an almost frantic plea, a light that contrasted heartbreakingly with his twisted and terrifying face. “Please…take me away from…this…hell…”

His words were broken and fragmented, yet they carried a soul-stirring power: "Thirty years... I endured... thirty years... the record... the warning... I did it... I can't... die here... Lina... my sister... is still waiting for me..."

Tears mixed with the black, oily substance seeping from his eyes slid down his stiff cheeks.

Qu Xianqing gripped the sword hilt tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white due to physiological reactions.

Even knowing that the man before her might have become a cornerstone of the city, the tragic scene still evoked complex emotions within her. After all, they had followed in his footsteps and even received his help, which led them to the truth. Edgar was a remarkable travel writer, yet he did not have a happy ending.

She subconsciously looked at Yu Xing.

Yu Xing's gaze was calm to the point of being cruel.

He did not respond to Edgar's pleas, but slowly walked forward, stopped a few steps away from him, squatted down, and carefully examined the details of Edgar's connection with the machine with his deep eyes.

He even reached out, a wisp of extremely fine black cursed mist swirling around his fingertips, and gently touched the boundary of the fusion.

"Fuck-"

A soft sound, like cold water dripping into hot oil, rang out. The metal and flesh around the point of contact instantly and briefly shrank.

Edgar let out a painful groan, his body trembling violently.

Yu Xing withdrew his hand, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.

The situation was worse than he had anticipated.

Edgar's vital signs have become completely intertwined with the underlying rules of this coordinating core, and even the entire city of terror, forming a symbiotic, or even parasitic, relationship.

His consciousness may still be struggling, but his "existence" itself has become an indispensable part of maintaining the current form of this city.

Forcibly separating them is tantamount to killing him outright.

The actor stood a little distance away, his hands tucked into his sleeves, observing quietly with a focused expression that resembled research, as if he were recording an interesting experimental phenomenon.

"How is it?" Qu Xianqing asked in a low voice, even though she already knew the answer in her heart.

Yu Xing stood up, shook her head, and said in a steady but undeniable voice, "He can't leave."

These words, like a final judgment, shattered the last glimmer of hope in Edgar's eyes.

"No...impossible!"

Edgar's voice suddenly rose, becoming sharp and distorted, filled with the harsh noise of metal scraping.

He suddenly raised his only remaining right hand, pointing it at Yu Xing, his fingers trembling violently from the extreme force.

“You…you can destroy the ‘heart’…you possess…such immense power!” he roared, his cloudy right eye bulging, blood vessels almost bursting. “Why…why couldn’t you save me?! I helped you! I gave you clues! Without me…you wouldn’t have found this place at all! Let alone destroyed it!”

His emotions surged like a flood bursting its banks.

Clearly, just now, the gaze that descended from the sky, along with the disappearance of the heart coordinates, had stared at this tower. The pitiful man only had time to erase the presence of the three of them, while Edgar, who was a whole tower away from them, was not protected.

Or perhaps the actors simply weren't interested in doing this extra act of kindness.

In short, whether it was due to the damage to the heart coordinates or the starry gaze imbued with the aura of a god, Edgar had become even more monstrous.

At this moment, his human thoughts were rapidly disappearing, replaced by obsession and madness.

He's going mad, he's rapidly heading towards madness.

As he became excited, the entire underground chamber began to shake noticeably.

The fleshy dome above his head writhed restlessly, and the pulsating blood vessels contracted rapidly, emitting muffled "thump-thump" sounds, as if the entire city was resonating with his anger.

Even the ancient coordinating core mechanism emitted an overload-like, unstable roar.

“There must be a way! There must be!” Edgar practically roared, the tiny gears on his half-metal face spinning wildly and making a jarring noise. “Get me... off this damn machine! Cut it off! I know you can do it!”

Qu Xianqing stepped forward, her blood-red sword slightly raised, a dangerous glint in its blade: "Forceful separation? Are you sure you won't immediately..."

“No! I can feel it… my consciousness… can still exist independently!” Edgar interrupted her, his tone fanatical and obsessive, clearly no longer listening to any rational analysis. “As long as I leave this cage… I can recover… I definitely can!”

The actor, who had been observing silently, finally chuckled softly. The laughter sounded exceptionally clear and cold in the oppressive and restless space.

“Restore?” He stepped forward slowly, his gaze falling on the intricate, almost intertwined connection between Edgar and the machine, his tone carrying a cruel, factual tone. “Mr. White, you don’t seem to have fully grasped your own situation. Your so-called ‘independent consciousness’ is nothing more than a ‘user interface’ that this ‘coordination core’ has reserved for you to record and operate more efficiently.”

He extended his long, slender fingers, tracing the intertwined veins and lines: "Your thoughts, your memories, even your current 'anger,' have become part of the city's operating logic. Forcibly severing the connection will only result in one outcome—"

The performer paused deliberately, then clearly uttered two words:

"Disintegration".

“It’s not just the demise of the physical body; your consciousness, your soul, all the information that constitutes the existence of ‘Edgar White’ will be instantly assimilated and erased by the city’s underlying rules because you’ve lost your carrier and energy source. It’s like…” He tilted his head, as if thinking of a suitable analogy, “…deleting a running core system file. What do you think would happen to the computer?”

It's unclear whether computers existed in this fictional era of the game. Yu Xing guessed they didn't, since they had never even used telephones.

However, Edgar seemed to magically understand what the musician was saying, perhaps thanks to the endless pollution of knowledge from the stars.

He was struck dumb, frozen in place.

The actor's words were like the sharpest scalpel, dissecting his last self-deceiving illusions.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out; only a gurgling, rattling sound, like gears jamming, came from his throat.

In his remaining right eye, the rage extinguished as quickly as a candle flickering in the wind, replaced by a deeper, suffocating despair, and... a gradually spreading madness of utter betrayal and abandonment.

“…So.” After a long silence, Edgar’s voice was so low it was almost inaudible, yet it carried a chilling calmness, “You…never intended…to take me away.”

The monster born from his skin, unaware of its own existence, finally bared its fangs. (End of Chapter)