absurd deduction game.

The core mechanism emitted a final, ear-piercing shriek as its runes shattered one after another, and its metal shell twisted and deformed, as if it could not withstand the surging destructive energy within.

The memory images it projected were fragmented like a shattered mirror, only to be replaced in the next moment by more chaotic and abstract blocks of color and lines—a direct manifestation of Edgar's completely out-of-control storm of consciousness.

"Then...let's...destroy together!!"

Edgar's voice was indistinguishable, as if it came from every corner of the city, from every inch of flesh and blood.

His "form" began to disintegrate and reorganize—the metal parts spread and proliferated like living things, transforming into more ferocious and sharp bone spurs and armor; the flesh and blood parts expanded and mutated wildly, merging with the surging flesh and blood of the city around him; his eye, made of gears and blood vessels, suddenly bulged out and grew larger, hovering in mid-air, like a cold, chaotic, and malicious core, locking onto Yu Xing and the other two.

He was no longer a pitiful recorder trapped in machinery; he had truly become one with this terrifying city, transforming into the very will of this dying megacity, a colossal and twisted monster constructed of metal, flesh, madness, and resentment!

"Be careful, he has completely mutated!" Qu Xianqing's voice was cold and deep. He brandished his blood sword and severed several tentacles covered in viscous corrosive liquid that shot out from the churning flesh.

She could feel that every inch of the space around her was filled with Edgar’s insane hostility. The air was as thick as glue, and the omnipresent whispers had turned into tangible mental spikes, frantically drilling into the barriers of their consciousness.

The moss-covered area around the performer was drastically compressed due to the city's violent changes, but his face showed no panic; instead, it held an even stronger sense of interest.

Yu Xing, as Edgar's primary target, bears the most concentrated pressure.

Countless attacks materialized from the city's rules—distorted energy beams, mental shocks containing memory contamination, and bone blades piercing from the ground and walls—were rained down on him like a storm.

The deep blue light in Yu Xing's eyes intensified, no longer held back.

Countless illusory curse branches, like wildly dancing black pythons, surged wildly from the void behind him and beneath his feet!
They were entwined with the all-consuming black mist, precisely striking, entangling, and devouring attacks from all directions.

The energy beams were shattered and absorbed by the branches; the mental shocks crashed into the black mist and sank like stones into the sea; the bone blades pierced the branches, producing a metallic clang, before being snapped off by an even stronger force.

He was like a rock standing firm in the eye of a storm, unshaken by any attack, no matter how fierce.

But Yu Xing knew that such passive defense was meaningless. Edgar had become one with the City of Terror, and as long as the city remained standing, his attacks would be endless.

We must strike at the heart of it all—Edgar’s utter madness, yet still the very source of all this consciousness!

“His core consciousness is in that gear eye, or... it’s spread throughout the entire city.” Yu Xing’s voice clearly reached Qu Xianqing and Lingren through the raging energy turbulence. “Tsk, we must enter his consciousness level to dismantle him.”

Almost the instant he finished speaking, the giant gear eye floating in mid-air suddenly shot out a pale beam of light, which directly enveloped his figure!

In an instant, Yu Xing felt that everything around him—the surging flesh and blood, the frenzied attacks, the figures of Qu Xianqing and the actors—was rapidly blurring, receding, and disappearing like a faded oil painting.

He felt as if he had been thrown into a turbulent river of pure, chaotic information, with countless fragmented memories, distorted perceptions, and frantic thoughts washing over his consciousness like icy water.

He saw young Edgar listening to stories in his mother's arms, young Edgar diligently studying books, young Edgar's fear and curiosity when he first encountered esoteric symbols, his pain and numbness as he was trapped in the Coordination Core recording day after day, his despair and resentment when he learned the final truth, his last hope when he saw Yu Xing and the other two, and the dark resentment that devoured everything after that hope was shattered...

All of Edgar White's emotions and memories transformed into the most vicious weapons, attempting to assimilate, pollute, and drag Yu Xing's consciousness into this eternal abyss of madness.

"Get out! Get out of my head!" Edgar's frantic consciousness roared in the information stream, coalescing into countless twisted, malicious images that lunged at the core of Yu Xing's consciousness.

Outside, Qu Xianqing saw Yu Xing standing frozen in place after being enveloped in white light, his eyes closed and his aura fluctuating, clearly engaged in a battle of wits with Edgar on a spiritual level.

The attacks on the entire city did not stop; instead, they surged towards her and the performer with even greater ferocity.

"...You won't take this opportunity to do something bad, will you?" Qu Xianqing asked the actor with a question that seemed to have an answer in mind. Then, she stopped holding back and the crimson on her blood sword surged. Her entire aura merged with the sword, transforming into a blood-red lightning bolt that tore through the darkness. She took the initiative to meet the huge city monster head-on, shattering all the tentacles, blades, and energy impacts that attacked Yu Xing!
The performer glanced at the frozen Yu Xing, then at Qu Xianqing who was struggling to defend against the city's attack, and a cryptic smile appeared on his lips.

Instead of joining the fight against the city monsters, he snapped his fingers again.

This time, the moss, as if alive, gathered directly at Yu Xing's feet, forming a strange rune that spun continuously and emitted a faint green light. The moment the rune formed, Yu Xing's aura, which had been slightly fluctuating due to the impact on his consciousness, noticeably stabilized.

"That's all I can do to help you, young master," the actor muttered to himself, then looked leisurely at Qu Xianqing, who was dealing with the city monsters, as if he were watching a wonderful performance.

Within the space of consciousness, Yu Xing remained as steadfast as a rock in the face of Edgar's frenzied mental onslaught.

His core consciousness emitted a ghostly blue light, and the cursed black mist transformed into the strongest barrier, isolating and devouring all the invading negative emotions and fragments of memory.

He did not passively defend himself.

His consciousness, like the most sensitive probe, calmly searched for the core, the most essential "obsession" in this information storm frantically constructed by Edgar—the source that had sustained Edgar for thirty years and ultimately led to his complete collapse.

It wasn't a fear of the starry sky, a hatred of Tantric Buddhism, or even a desire to survive.

Yes……

"Lina..."

A name, like a faint candle flickering in the wind, flashes by in the depths of endless madness and resentment.

Yu Xing's consciousness instantly locked onto this glimmer of light.

He ignored the frenzied illusions raging around him, and all his conscious power, following that faint lingering attachment to his sister "Lina" that was almost completely overwhelmed by resentment, pierced the deepest part of Edgar's consciousness like a sharp sword.

"No—!! Don't touch her!!" Edgar's consciousness screamed in terror and rage, all his frenzied attacks instantly receding as he tried to protect that last bit of softness, that part of him that belonged to "humanity." But it was too late.

Yu Xing's consciousness, as if traversing the thickest darkness, finally "saw"—at the very core of that consciousness, there was not some powerful energy node, but a fragile yet clear soul imprint belonging to that young travel writer from thirty years ago, locked away by heavy chains and curled up.

It was enveloped and eroded by endless darkness and resentment, yet it still emitted a faint light belonging to "Edgar White" himself.

This is the core!
Destroy it, and Edgar's consciousness will vanish completely, causing the City of Terror to collapse.

But at the same time, Yu Xing also "heard" the barely audible plea from that soul imprint:

"Help her... Tell Lina... Brother... can't go back... but... loves her..."

Yu Xing: "..."

“Okay,” he said.

Outside, the enormous city monster let out an extremely mournful howl. All attacks stopped instantly, and its massive body began to collapse and disintegrate uncontrollably!

Almost the instant Yu Xing touched the heavily sealed soul imprint belonging to "Edgar White" deep within his consciousness and sensed the final concern for his sister Lina within it, the collapse of the outside world reached its peak.

The colossal city monster, formed from metal, flesh, and mad resentment, let out a final, soul-rending wail.

This howl was a pure lament when the rules collapsed and existence crumbled. Its ferocious body was like a sandcastle being smashed by an invisible giant hammer, and it began to crumble and collapse inch by inch from its core!
boom! ! !
The enormous gear-shaped eye exploded first, scattering countless tiny parts and shattered blood vessels like a torrential rain. The stubborn light of rationality at its core flickered rapidly and unsteadily before being extinguished completely, like a burnt-out filament.

Immediately afterwards, the metal parts that made up the monster's body quickly lost their luster, were covered with thick rust, and then collapsed amidst a tooth-grinding, twisting sound.

The frantically proliferating flesh and blood tissues shrank, dried up, and rotted at an even faster rate, emitting an extremely strong stench, turning into a viscous black liquid that merged into the churning flesh and blood foundation below.

The entire underground chamber, no, the entire city of terror as far as the eye could see, was plunged into a complete and irreversible end in the chain reaction of this core collapse.

The dripping, melting fleshy dome overhead resembled a flaming film, its edges curled and charred, turning into ashes in large swaths, revealing the constantly writhing and shifting dark purple sky behind it—at this moment, this sky, too, was like a shattered mirror, covered with spiderweb-like cracks, and the pale white "stars" embedded in it dimmed and fell one after another, leaving brief, desperate trails in the void.

The ground shook violently and cracked. The dark red, fleshy foundation seemed to have lost all vitality, quickly turning gray and hardening, and then collapsing like rocks weathered over millions of years.

Countless pale arms and distorted faces emerged from the cracks, turning to dust in a silent shriek.

The ancient mechanical structure of the Coordination Core emitted a final, brief, and rapid hum, as if in its death throes, before falling completely silent amidst a blinding spark, turning into a pile of lifeless scrap metal.

The cage and pillars that had once bound Edgar and supported his remaining consciousness vanished in this moment.

Qu Xianqing felt relieved and cautiously retreated while holding her sword.

The actor raised an eyebrow, seemingly slightly disappointed that the clash of ideologies had ended so quickly.

The pale beam of light that enveloped Yu Xing suddenly dissipated.

The collapse of space brought about terrifying turbulence.

The raging energy tore everything apart, and shattered fragments of rules swirled through the air like sharp blades, slicing the few remaining, still-formed, twisted structures to pieces. The entire world was collapsing inward, like a crumpled piece of paper thrown into a fire.

"The city is being annihilated! Find a stable point!" Qu Xianqing shouted to Yu Xing and Lingren as she cleaved open a spatial rift with her sword. Blood energy swirled around her, forming a shield to resist the omnipresent energy impacts and fragments of rules.

The actor had already abandoned his theatrical expression. His mossy domain was also in jeopardy under such a massive spatial collapse, but he still maintained a relatively stable area, enveloping himself and Yu Xing nearby.

He glanced at the city monster's core, which was completely collapsing, and at Yu Xing, who stood frozen in place with his eyes closed, and frowned slightly: "Hmm? What is he still doing?"

The tone was gentle, yet carried a hint of danger: "Could it be that our young master has suddenly taken a liking to Edgar again and decided to help him out? I've said it before... ill-timed kindness will not earn the enemy's gratitude, but will only give them an opportunity."

Just as the actor finished speaking, the last remaining wisp of dark energy from the enormous monster, which had not yet completely dissipated and was condensed from the purest resentment and despair, seemed to sense the brief separation between Yu Xing's consciousness and reality. Like a venomous snake in its final moments, it let out a sharp screech, suddenly broke free from the shackles of collapse, and transformed into an incredibly swift black streak that shot straight at Yu Xing's brow!

This attack contained all of Edgar's negative emotions before his death, vicious and concentrated. If it were to invade his consciousness, even Yu Xing would have to pay a heavy price!

"Watch out!" Qu Xianqing was too far away to be able to help.

The actor's gaze sharpened, and his hand, hidden in his sleeve, seemed to twitch slightly, but he ultimately did not make a move. He simply watched silently, a glint of unfathomable brilliance flashing deep within his eyes.

However, just as the black shadow was about to touch Yu Xing's skin—

Yu Xing, who had been standing still, quietly opened her eyes.

His eyes were icy blue, and beneath the misty ice, there seemed to be a kind of almost divine calm that came from seeing through endless madness and sorrow.

He made no defensive or evasive moves, but calmly watched the attack that contained boundless resentment.

Under his gaze, the dark shadow that was powerful enough to corrupt the soul of a legendary expert suddenly stopped less than an inch from his brow, as if it had crashed into an invisible, absolutely silent wall!
The shadowy figure twisted and thrashed wildly, trying to break through the invisible barrier, but it couldn't budge it an inch.

Yu Xing slowly raised her hand, her fingertips devoid of any energy fluctuation, and gently touched the solidified darkness. (End of Chapter)