Quadruple split.

Chapter 2781 It's all figured out, there's a solution!

"The joke wasn't funny."

Idon, who had casually overturned the table, sat back down on the sofa and said slowly to Ferry Rice and Joe Rice, "Although I am very, very, very grateful to you two, I really can't pretend I didn't hear about your arbitrary death sentence for this guy."

Ferry shrugged, then snapped his fingers to put the table back in place, and said softly, "I completely understand how you feel, Dongzi."

Yi Dong's face stiffened, and his lips twitched as he said, "Please... don't call me Dongzi, just call me by my name, Yi Dong."

"In short, Brother Yidong, we understand how you feel. Although this is our first meeting and our knowledge of you is limited to the time when your mother was heavily pregnant and beat people, anyone can see that your friendship with Brother Motan is quite extraordinary."

Joe gave Idon an approving thumbs-up and said in a light tone, "Actually, I think the bond between the two of you is comparable to that between us brothers, but—"

Ferry's gaze turned serious, and he said solemnly, "While we do like to joke, as friends of Brother Mo Tan, we would naturally prefer not to openly share this bad news with our long-time customer if there were a more tactful way."

"So you might as well try to understand it differently, little brother Yidong."

Qiao raised his index finger and shook his head gently, saying quietly, "The reason we explained the situation in a relatively direct way, instead of resorting to white lies, was never to make Brother Mo Tan give up hope and wait for the end in despair."

"You just want me to know..."

Mo Tan raised her head, calmly looking at the two 'old acquaintances' in front of her, and said softly, "My time is running out. If I want to save myself, I'd better hurry, right?"

Snapped--

Ferry snapped his fingers and laughed, “Absolutely right, buddy. Although I’m not sure if this can be solved by the ‘the one who tied the knot must untie it’ approach, at least one thing is certain: you, in your desperate situation, are more likely to see a glimmer of hope than we, who are knowledgeable enough but are true ‘outsiders’.”

"So I need some tension?"

Mo Tan chuckled and said mischievously to Ferry and Joe, "I'm the one who sought out 'experts' like you to solve the problem, and the way you solve it is by kicking the 'problem' back to me? Is that right?"

"That's absolutely right."

Ferry looked at Mo Tan seriously and said solemnly, "To be honest, I have never seen anyone in my life who can coexist with that kind of concept for more than 20 years, especially when you are a 'normal person' in principle."

Joe made a face and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Although you are not 'normal' in any sense, unfortunately, you also do not have the potential to become an 'abnormal'."

"Or rather, if you become an 'abnormal' person because you were born with that concept in your mind..."

Ferry shuddered and said in a dry voice, "Either you won't live long, or everything else will."

Mo Tan rolled her eyes and shook her head, saying, "Isn't it a bit too much to describe someone like a super villain?"

"We can talk about everyday things later."

Yi Dong interrupted Mo Tan's idle chatter with the twin shopkeepers, somewhat annoyed, and said irritably, "Can you get to the point already?"

The twin shop managers exchanged a glance, then nodded with smiles, and asked Mo Tan in unison, "How are you feeling right now?"

“As I said before, I am ‘Mo Tan’ now, and I will remain ‘Mo Tan’ after I return to normal. The difference is that my ‘uniformity’ is relatively high at this moment, while under normal circumstances, my personal ‘uniformity’ is far lower than that of a normal person.”

Mo Tan readily gave his answer, speaking in a tone that Yi Dong found somewhat incomprehensible, yet undeniably lighthearted: "However, if this continues, my previously stabilized 'unity' will inevitably continue to waver, ultimately leading to the disappearance of the existence of 'Mo Tan'."

Yi Dong frowned and pressed, "What do you mean by saying 'Mo Tan' will disappear?"

"literal meaning."

Mo Tan said in a light tone, explaining, "As I just said, this is actually a philosophical question. If we analyze it from the most abstract perspective, we can even ask 'Did the [Mo Tan] in Yi Dong's cognition really exist?' and give a relatively pessimistic answer, but in reality... it's meaningless."

Yi Dong chuckled dryly and asked succinctly, "Why?"

"Let's take you, a relatively normal person, as an example."

Mo Tan shrugged and said calmly, "To put it extremely, the you right now is completely different from the you who never went to the orphanage and grew up with your parents; to put it more simply, the you now is also a different person from the you an hour ago, and we can even specify this difference in units more precise than 'seconds'."

Yi Dong scoffed, somewhat impatiently urging, "Get to the point—"

"The key point is that the so-called 'real,' 'absolute,' 'unique,' 'perfect,' and 'orthodox' Mo Tan does not actually exist, because it is an ambiguous concept in itself. If I had to say something, it would be that I am more ambiguous than you relatively normal people."

Mo Tan spread his hands and shrugged, saying, "I firmly believe that everyone is mentally ill, it's just that I'm relatively more mentally ill."

Idon: "..."

It was clear that although Yi Dong felt something was wrong, he couldn't really refute it for the time being. This kind of situation had happened far, far, far too many times in the more than twenty years he had spent with Mo Tan.

"In conclusion, we can conclude that the so-called true 'Ink Sandalwood' is actually a false proposition."

Mo Tan smiled slightly and said, "The more we try to find it, hold onto it, and protect it, the more fragile it becomes. And letting it grow wildly seems a bit inappropriate. As Ferry and Joe just said, I might literally die."

Yi Dong sighed, no longer trying to keep up with Mo Tan's pace, and said irritably, "Just give me the conclusion. What do you want to do? What are you planning to do? What are you trying to say?"

"I want to address a philosophical question first: the friend you know well doesn't disappear just because of a deteriorating mental state."

Mo Tan turned to look at Yi Dong and said in a light tone, "For example, suppose that one day in the future, a person named 'Mo Tan' inevitably loses their 'identity', then you need to understand that the person named 'Mo Tan' did not die, but rather, under irreconcilable contradictions, 'each' chose to face reality and live on in a 'completely different' way, either voluntarily or involuntarily."

Yi Dong: "...Could you be more specific?"

"idiot."

Mo Tan covered the upper half of her face and said irritably, "You can understand it as, as a lucky person with extraordinary talent, I am fortunate enough to personally experience multiple 'possibilities.' The end of the divergence is not the demise of 'Mo Tan' as an individual, but the ultimate liberation of multifacetedness. In short, from the beginning, I have never been like you foolish mortals who only have one path to take. However, as a small price to pay for this luck, once the possibilities are liberated, I naturally have to bear some risks that are insignificant compared to this gain..." Yi Dong, who caught the key word 'risk,' sneered: "For example?"

"For example, I might be destroyed by my own potential; for example, that 'gift' that makes me so unique, that crucial piece of the puzzle that I can't understand, might show its harsh side and put me to death."

Mo Tan clicked his tongue and sighed, "At the same time, I also want to thank the game [The Realm of Innocence]. Although it may be the mastermind behind my descent into utter ruin, it is precisely because of the existence of this game that I have always been restrained. Only then did the pale and numb 'Mo Tan' have the opportunity to live for myself once, and its brilliance is four times that of you nobodies."

[Four times?]

Yi Dong blinked as the names 'Hei Fan', 'Tan Mo', and 'Mo' flashed through his mind. Then he remembered the guy who had just chatted with him behind the mirror and shrugged, saying, "Maybe. I have to say, you've been having a pretty wild time these past six months."

Mo Tan grinned and said merrily, "Right, right? Don't you think I felt more like a walking corpse before compared to this period of time?"

"No, I think you lived a pretty exciting life before."

Yi Dong rolled his eyes and shook his head, saying, "But there is indeed a big difference."

"very good."

Mo Tan whistled and asked, "So do you think 'Mo Tan' died after I lay down in the game pod every night and appeared in the [Innocent Realm]?"

Yi Dong continued to shake his head: "No, it's actually noisier and more annoying."

"OK, that solves the core problem."

Despite Yi Dong's still somewhat confused expression, he gave a smile that was enigmatic yet reflected his shared state of mind. Mo Tan, who was still in complete harmony with 'himself' at this moment, took a deep breath and turned to the Rice brothers: "Now, could you two please give me a little explanation of what that thing, which I can't explain with common sense and which is hidden outside the understanding of a 'mortal like me', is?"

"You really want to know?"

Ferry nervously pinched his bangs and hesitated, "I mean, you certainly have the right to know, buddy, but I really don't think it's a good idea... Of course, if you want to know, Joe and I should tell you, but many times... listen, I mean many times, it's probably better to live a little more oblivious."

“I know that very well, man.”

Mo Tan smiled slightly, then changed the subject and said softly, "But the problem is, I've been confused for over twenty years, and now... I think I have enough reason to face some things, especially since my friends do know the answer."

Joe sighed and said helplessly, "Your so-called reason isn't that you've had enough of life, is it?"

"On the contrary, my reason is that I want to continue living."

Mo Tan shook his head, looking firmly at the Rice brothers: "That's precisely why I need to know what I'm facing. Don't forget, you just said that 'I' might be able to find a solution, and now, it's precisely to solve that I'm turning to you for help."

Yi Dong, standing next to Ferry and Joe, bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle and said solemnly, "I'm also asking for your help. Although we don't have much ability, my dad and mom seem to be in the same circle as you. If you two are willing to help, our whole family will owe you a life-saving favor!"

"Uh...no need for that."

Ferry scratched his cheek and said with a subtle expression, "If we're talking about favors, we survivors basically owe each other dozens or even hundreds of lives."

"And we originally intended to keep it a secret, but... sigh, we didn't really want Mo Tan's connection with that thing to deepen further."

Joe sighed and said with a wry smile, "This is nothing to be surprised about. You know, sometimes, the 'name' itself has a kind of power. In other words, when you know 'it,' your connection with 'it' becomes deeper than before."

Ferry spread his hands: "So we just don't want you to take any risks."

"I understand, but... I appreciate the good intentions."

Mo Tan leaned back in his chair and said softly, "I have reasons why I absolutely must know about it, and if we're talking about 'connection' alone, my connection with the thing you two are talking about is probably much deeper than you imagine."

"Alright, if you insist, young brother Mo Tan..."

“I insist, and we really need to hurry. I can feel that I am gradually losing our ‘chemistry,’ and if we delay any longer, it may hinder my next arrangements.”

"Okay, let's get straight to the point. There's something that exists, and its name is..."

……

twenty minutes later

"Outrageous."

Yi Dong shook his head in disbelief, gritting his teeth, "This is too outrageous! How can there be such an unreasonable thing in this world!"

"So that's how it is... it's [sin]."

Throughout the entire process, Mo Tan listened attentively to the explanations and only occasionally asked a few questions. He nodded slightly, a smile that Ferry and Joe found unbelievable and completely incomprehensible. He said softly, "Now, I finally understand."

"What?"

Startled by the word "sin," Yi Dong abruptly turned to look at Mo Tan, exclaiming, "What have you figured out?!"

"To figure out a lot of things, a lot of things."

"so what?"

"So... I have a solution."

"You have a plan!?" *3
Chapter 2772: The End