Rules-related weird stories: 4016.

Chapter 606 Haidilao

And at this moment, time seems to have stood still!
He wasn't sure, and he didn't dare look at his watch, but his intuition told him that this was the truth!
At this moment, even if time had truly stood still, he wouldn't have a single spare moment to waste!
The "angel" had already seen him, but his time seemed to have reversed by a tiny bit, just like before. It was as if, in the instant before the "angel's" eyes were about to see him, that tiny bit of "time" had been infinitely stretched in a completely incomprehensible way!
As a result, the eyes of the "angel" are forever in a state of infinite extension but never intersecting.

But he knew very well that once the "angel" noticed him, death would be his only fate.

No, it might be a disaster even more terrible than death.

He no longer had time to think about how to save himself, nor could he consider any other factors. He knew perfectly well that the most important thing he should do, and the only way to break this deadlock, was not to save himself, but to cry for help.

"Help! Boss!!!!"

Lin Yi mustered all his strength and let out a cry for help that shook heaven and earth!
The moment he uttered those words, the black sea suddenly surged as if boiling, and time, which had seemed to stand still, came to an end in that instant!
One of the "angel's" heads... I think I saw him!
At that moment, Lin Yi felt a chill run through his body, and the Grim Reaper's scythe pressed against his throat finally moved!
【let me see……】

[Year X023...]

Lin Yi couldn't be sure if it was the voice of an "angel," but there was a terrifying will that couldn't be described in words, releasing signals into infinite dimensions, and he was merely capturing the information through his "wavelength."

"Oh no! It's stealing my 'coordinates' information?! It's locking onto the spacetime I'm in!"

"It's over! Everything is over!!"

Lin Yi felt an unprecedented sense of panic, but at that moment, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind—suicide!

Even suicide should not expose the coordinates of reality!
Tragically, he had no idea how to bypass the "angel's" gaze and kill himself!
[...May...]

The "angels" are constantly capturing information across infinite dimensions...

But at this crucial moment—

"null--!"

A powerful roar resounded throughout the world, and a dazzling light appeared in the once boiling black sea!

The next moment, Lin Yi was shocked to discover that the space where the black sea in front of him was located was directly split in two by the dazzling light!
The darkness suddenly split in two, and a slender, indistinct figure shrouded in a golden aura appeared above Lin Yi!
Lin Yi was slightly taken aback. He couldn't see the figure clearly, but he could vaguely sense an aura that was all too familiar from the blurry outline!

"Boss...?!"

The moment the figure appeared, the blue-gold aura ruthlessly tore through the entire space, constantly disrupting everything around it.

Before Lin Yi could react, a fair hand, as white as mutton fat jade, sprang down, grabbed his spine, and violently pulled him out of the layer containing the black sea!

In a daze, he seemed to see that the figure was the boss, but the figure's face was still blurry, as if shrouded in a layer of gray mist.

However, on the forehead of that figure, a burning golden crown, somewhere between illusion and reality, was faintly floating.

Behind that figure, more like a deity from mythology, floated a totem resembling a wheel—a black crescent moon, radiating a chilling, frosty aura.

"'Black Moon'..."

"Could it be... that Black Moon refers to the boss?!"

When the black moon fades, the mourners return from the endless depths of the sea.

[Let her die...]

In that instant, the commandment and the voice of Wei Liang's horde of corpses appeared in his mind at the same time.

If the leader is the "Black Moon," and the "Mourners" are those mysterious creatures that have been corrupted, then the meaning of the commandment can be explained to some extent!

As these thoughts entered his mind, everything around him began to appear unreal.

Lin Yi felt like someone who had been violently pulled from a two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional world. He was completely bewildered, and everything around him was distorted and changing, making it difficult for him to keep up...

The layer containing the black sea surged desperately behind him, trying to restore the disordered layer. The entire layer was like the writhing lining of a large intestine, trying to trap Lin Yi, but it was not as fast as its boss.

Even the gaze of the "angel's" head at that moment couldn't keep up with the leader's escape speed.

As the black sea layer gradually recovered, the enormous, gleaming golden pupils in the dark abyss slowly went out.

[May, X023...]

[Time is indeed unclear...]

It seems... this is where 'his' strength lies...

The voice of an "angel" slowly rose...

"Isn't it the year X999?" Another voice rang out in the darkness, the very voice of the "Mourner".

He deceived you.

Is this what they call 'trust'? I've heard that trust is the bridge between people. The voice of the "mourner" seemed to carry a hint of helplessness.

Trust and deception go hand in hand. Try to think positively; at least you told him a lot of the truth. It's just that he's still too cautious... After all, it's 'him,' isn't it? He wasn't on our side back then, and he still isn't now.

Still, so incredibly foolish.

"We've at least determined a portion of the time... Although we can't find the spatial coordinates and still can't go back... at least... there's been progress." The voice of the "Mourner" slowly rose.

These advances are far from enough... The "Time Gambler" has woven an infinite number of timelines and paradoxical loops. Even if we know the year X023, there are countless time dimensions of X023...

If Lin Yi were still here, upon hearing this conversation, he would be astonished to discover that the so-called "angel" would be plotting something about "returning" with the "mourner".

The only explanation is that this so-called "angel" is not an "angel" at all!
However, Lin Yi wasn't there at all, which meant he was missing this crucial piece of information.

There's always a way...

The one thing we have in abundance... is "time"...

[Infiltrate...]

[Starting from X999 and X023... they will summon us...]

[Connecting the summoning point...setting up the ritual...it's still quite easy to complete the creation...]

【Um……】

After the discussion, the two wills slowly faded into the darkness, leaving only the dry, empty gurgling sound of the black sea. As the presence of the so-called "angel" and the voice of the "mourner" disappeared, the giant ash crystal began to ripple slightly…

"X023... May... isn't that...?" A part of the giant ash crystal began to wriggle little by little, as if it had come to life.

The jellyfish-like nocturnal creatures that had devoured Lin Yi's flesh and blood seemed to be summoned by some force, and they all gathered together like symbionts. In the end, a portion of the ash crystals separated from the surface of the giant ash crystal and merged with the jellyfish-like nocturnal creatures, forming a humanoid outline.

From a distance, it looks like a humanoid silhouette made up of countless glass shards, much like the "original Ash Apostle," or... it might be.

"Year X023...May..." It seemed to have a mind of its own, repeating these words over and over, before finally leaving the surface of the giant ash crystal, leaving the area of ​​the mysterious grid, and disappearing into the endless black waters...

……

the other side.

After being rescued by the boss, Lin Yi gradually discovered that the distorted light and shadow became clear, and there were also some shadows of lamplight.

Is that... the surface of the swimming pool?
He really did sink into the pool...

Huh, what's that...?
He then realized that when his boss rescued him, he had also quietly slipped into the pool.

The eldest brother wasn't wearing a swimming cap either; his long, silky hair flowed freely in the water, like dancing black silk.

The light from the LED lights shone into the pool, creating a hazy halo around the leader's body.

Lin Yi stared blankly, then subconsciously uttered, "Old gurgle gurgle... gurgle gurgle..."

His expression changed slightly, and he subconsciously broke free from his boss's help, suddenly bursting out of the water and then coughing violently.

"Cough cough!! Cough cough—cough cough cough—"

Like a submarine, he actually coughed up all the water in his body.

On the other side, the eldest brother emerged from the water.

"Wow——"

The eldest brother tilted his head back, his wet hair arcing through the air, and glistening water droplets splashed everywhere, creating a beautiful scene.

Lin Yi was stunned for a moment, forgetting to cough. When he saw his boss looking at him, he immediately started coughing again.

The eldest brother gently paddled the water and swam back to the shore in a few strokes.

Looking at his boss's back, Lin Yi felt a slight flutter in his heart. He looked around and realized that he had already swum to the center of the pool.

He suddenly remembered something, quickly raised his hand, and glanced at the time.

17: 23.

"It's only 17:23?" Lin Yi was extremely surprised. He looked at the clock on the wall again and found that the time was the same, so he was certain.

He checked the time once when he fell into the black sea, it was about 16:40, and only 40 minutes have passed since then?

"Oh no, that's not right... I can't think like that..."

Beneath the layer, even time seemed to be distorted... 40 minutes was just real time; in that layer, he had no idea how much time had passed.

The scale of time was severely distorted there; he didn't even know how much time had passed while he was in a daze, let alone the time it took to slowly grind away the bone fragments covered with flocculent material with the secret-patterned steel saw.

He swam towards the shore, but before he got close, he suddenly smelled a sour odor.

He raised an eyebrow slightly and subconsciously looked toward the source of the vinegar smell.

There sat a jealous girl by the pool, pouting, splashing water with her feet, each stomp as if she wanted to crush him.

"Uh, Li Hui... Huihui, did the boss let you go into the water?" Lin Yi swam to the edge of the non-slip rubber floor, lay down on the edge of the pool and looked at Li Huiyuan. His survival instinct was immediately apparent as soon as he spoke.

Although he didn't know why he subconsciously pulled on one hand out of a survival instinct, his intuition told him that pulling on it was definitely the right thing to do.

"I didn't go into the water. I was just wading around," Li Huiyuan mumbled.

Lin Yi shrank back, not daring to continue talking to the jealous girl, and looked at his boss: "Boss... I just encountered a lot of things!"

He looked closely at the eldest sister's face, but he still couldn't recall what the crown-like thing that had been floating on her forehead looked like.

"Your progress is much greater than I expected," the leader said slowly, before adding, "You can tell me what you still remember."

As the eldest brother spoke, he stepped out of the pool and onto the shore.

Lin Yi nodded and followed him out of the pool. But as soon as he stood up, his boss's smooth feet stepped on his shoulder and pushed him back into the pool.

"Don't bother coming ashore, just stay in the water a little longer," the eldest brother said casually.

Looking up from Lin Yi's perspective, the boss seemed incredibly aloof.

"Is it pretty?" A sour voice rang out from beside him, and Li Huiyuan's face was full of resentment.

Lin Yi quickly fell silent, thinking to himself, "It's only been less than an hour! What's wrong with you? Why did you suddenly eat so many vinegar dumplings?"
But he knew the importance and urgency of the matter, so he said, "I was swimming when I lost my layer of skin and ended up in the sea outside that city wall..."

He recounted without reservation his experience of sinking into a black sea, losing his sense of space and time, being devoured by jellyfish-like nocturnal creatures, having his skeletal golden body shattered by fluffy substances, and then being rebuilt into a crystal body.

After hearing this, the eldest brother nodded slightly: "Is there anything else?"

Lin Yi's expression changed slightly: "What else?"

"Of course, it's because you provoked the attack bit by bit," the leader said calmly, crossing his arms and looking at Lin Yi with a hint of speechlessness.

Lin Yi slapped his forehead: "Oh no, I almost forgot!"

He subconsciously touched his head a few more times; the texture of the flesh and fur was much more comfortable than the texture of his palm bones rubbing against his skull.

"I seem to have encountered a being that calls itself the 'Mourner'..." Lin Yi recounted his encounter with the crystal skeleton "Mourner," "but what I find strange is that the 'Mourner' seemed to be bound by an iron chain around its waist, and the other end of that chain was being held in the hand of another skeleton."

(End of this chapter)