Rules-related weird stories: 4016.

Chapter 666: Still Infiltrated
Walking slowly along the corridor displaying various mythical beast sculptures, Kuai Hongji soon led Mao Feiyang back to the corridor of the art building.

Once back in the lobby of the art building, Mao Feiyang loosened his grip on the chains.

Kuai Hongji glanced at him: "Now it's your turn to lead the way."

Mao Feiyang nodded slightly: "Yes, when I went there last time, I secretly took a shortcut. The entrance is in the darkness of the gallery."

"Old Lin, how much time do we have left?"

Lin Yi glanced at his watch and said, "It's 3:12 now..."

"Then try to get it done before 4 o'clock. It's better to leave more time," Kuai Hongji said. He had to return to the dormitory manager's office before 6 o'clock, then give up his dormitory manager status and leave the dormitory building.

4 o'clock is the time to liberate "Master Difa", plus the time to leave the art building and return, so naturally more budget is needed.

"Yes, I'll try my best," Mao Feiyang said.

Seeing that the two had reached an agreement in just a few words, Lin Yi couldn't help but ask, "Is there anything I need to prepare?"

"You need to conserve your energy; the main event will depend on you later," Kuai Hongji said, and then he and Mao Feiyang slowly walked towards the gallery.

……

The journey was peaceful, and there seemed to be no nocturnal creatures in the art building.

This phenomenon was so strange that Lin Yi couldn't help but ask a question.

Kuai Hongji then explained, "With a kerosene lamp and a section of the 'Butcher's' spine, let alone low-level nocturnal creatures, even the Grimace of Laughter would have their eyes gouged out if they dared to take a single glance."

The two arrived at the gallery quickly.

Twisted darkness writhed menacingly at the gallery's entrance, like countless tentacles, making the gallery appear like a giant ammonite at the entrance.

Looking at this gallery, Lin Yi felt a shiver rise involuntarily in his soul. He quietly activated "Transcendental Perception," and countless layers seemed to be constantly iterating beneath the gallery, with a terrifying amount of information washing over him like a raging ocean.

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—"

It was as if the gallery wasn't a walkway, but a rushing ocean current.

Lin Yi sensed an ominous aura, carrying a strong sense of pollution, gradually spreading, yet lingering at the entrance of the gallery.

This pollution shows no sign of spreading further or dissipating; it's as if it's just lying there waiting for someone to come to it.

Kuai Hongji and Mao Feiyang stopped in their tracks simultaneously.

"We can't get any closer," Mao Feiyang said.

Kuai Hongji said grimly, "The 'angel's' contamination... has finally seeped into the art building..."

Lin Yi's heart tightened, and he said in a deep voice, "Could it be that the 'High-Rank Alien Angel' has lost its composure and is now trying to fight to the death?"

“No,” Kuai Hongji denied. “No matter how crazy the ants on the tree are, it has little to do with whether or not people cut down the tree… The power of the ‘angel’ permeates countless layers and dimensions. I think it must have ‘seen’ the ending, so it’s trying to ‘call for the kill’ in advance through the permeation of dimensions and layers…”

"Similar to... 'Dream Boundary' penetrating the time dimension?" Lin Yi narrowed his eyes.

“That’s right,” Mao Feiyang said. “On our side, there are three people who can penetrate time: Difa, who was banished by time; Wei Liang, who resides in the space between time; and… you.”

"Furthermore, with the 'Star Prison' in place, even if the 'Angels' contamination does infiltrate, it won't easily lock onto our spacetime. However... once the signs appear, it means the countdown to the destruction of this world has begun."

"Countdown... Does that mean we can only succeed, not fail? Otherwise, this world will cease to exist?" Lin Yi's expression was grim, feeling unprecedented pressure.

"The destruction of the world has nothing to do with you or me. Don't casually shoulder the burden of the world," Kuai Hongji said. "That's how 'Holy Sun' was crushed. Do you want to repeat its mistakes?"

“Being a little selfish... sometimes, can actually help you deal with problems from a clearer perspective.”

Mao Feiyang also said, "You have to know, Lao Lin, everyone has to die, and so does the world. The difference is whether our actions can bring this world to its natural end, or prevent it from dying prematurely."

"Isn't this still a world-class burden?" Kuai Hongji glanced at Mao Feiyang with disdain. "You've all been influenced by the 'Holy Sun' mentality. Old Lin, you need to think of it this way: we're all outsiders. In this death game, what we need to do is achieve the ultimate goal, not gain more 'achievements,' understand?"

"We need to stop at nothing to achieve our goals."

"As long as the goal is achieved, some achievements can be made... that's all."

Kuai Hongji paused, his expression cold: "...Even the life and death of others can be sacrificed."

Lin Yi was startled: "Including...the boss?"

“More than just the boss?” Kuai Hongji smiled sinisterly, his smile filled with malice…and unprecedented calmness. “Even me, all of us, are possible.”

"In the torrent of time, we are all just ants under the ruts; life and death are insignificant on an infinite macroscopic scale."

"But if we exhaust all our resources and can still overcome fate by a small margin, then... it's a different story."

“You understood it a long time ago, Lao Lin, it’s just that ‘you’ haven’t understood it yet.”

"Let's go into the gallery."

"If this place is locked down by the power of the 'angels,' then all the efforts of the 'First Apostles' over the years will have been in vain..."

Mao Feiyang said seriously, "I'll lead the way."

"Hmm." Kuai Hongji nodded.

After saying that, Mao Feiyang plunged into the mist floating at the entrance of the gallery.

Kuai Hongji quickly followed, carrying an old kerosene lamp.

Strangely, the last time he passed by here, the old kerosene lamp in Kuai Hongji's hand was able to create a field, but now, the light of the old kerosene lamp was suppressed on Kuai Hongji's body, unable to illuminate the surrounding environment at all, let alone create even half a field here.

“A very strong suppressive force,” Mao Feiyang said.

The lines of countless stars flowed in Kuai Hongji's deep-set eyes: "I understand!"

"The power of the 'angels' was the first to come into contact with the Creator within the Time Exile... They must have collided in the dimension of time!"

"The seal of time exile has loosened as a result, which is why that little girl appeared in the gallery—because that's a manifestation of part of the will of the Difa in this spacetime!" "Then... what about the 'Angel'?" Lin Yi asked in alarm, "The Difa's aura has seeped down; the 'Angel' will surely follow, right?"

“They definitely followed, but if two ‘angels’ appear in the same spacetime, then a spacetime paradox will definitely occur…” Mao Feiyang gestured with his hands folded in front of him. “If they were ordinary creatures, they would create ‘time remnants,’ but ‘angels’ are not simply extraordinary beings from a single dimension…”

"So what will happen? Quantum entanglement?" Lin Yi asked quickly.

"That's somewhat correct, but not quite enough," Mao Feiyang said. "To be precise, it's 'interference,' like two drops of ink in a bottle of ink."

"Normally, it takes a long time for ink to spread from one corner of the pool to another, but if someone adds another drop of ink along the way, then..."

"It will speed up the diffusion process!"

"Even the aura of the 'angel' can act like a coordinate, guiding its true form within its dimension."

Lin Yi felt increasingly uneasy: "Then do you think the little girl's appearance might also be one of the reasons why the 'Principal' chose to go to sea, perhaps as the final straw?"

"I don't know, but it's very possible," Mao Feiyang said. "We'll soon know the answer too."

As they talked, the two walked deeper and deeper into the gallery. Then, Mao Feiyang led Kuai Hongji around a corner and they immediately disappeared into the endless darkness...

Feeling the oppressive atmosphere around him, Lin Yi suddenly thought of a sentence: "I have a way in the gallery; the profits are high, but the risks are huge..."

The darkness was endless, and nothing could be seen around them. It was as if only Kuai Hongji and Mao Feiyang remained in the whole world.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Lin Yi looked down at his watch.

3:20, and his watch... seems to be stopped!
—No, it's still moving, but sometimes it moves very, very slowly, and sometimes it returns to a normal flow, like a mentally unstable madman playing a drum with drumsticks, creating a rhythm purely out of personal preference.

"The time here...?" Lin Yi asked in surprise.

"It's not that we've become slower, but rather that we're moving in the dark at a speed beyond our comprehension. Every movement involves traversing layers," Mao Feiyang said. "Layers are sometimes like a layered cake. When things are structured, you just need to follow the logic between the layers to 'climb the stairs'..."

"But more often than not, the layers are irregular, like a mille-feuille that's been kneaded after it's made. We're quickly navigating through these layers, and as long as we're fast enough, we won't get tangled up in them..."

"It sounds like his micro-management skills are maxed out..." Lin Yi exclaimed in amazement.

But before he could finish speaking, the entire dark world suddenly jolted violently, as if it had bumped into something.

“Damn!” Mao Feiyang shouted.

Kuai Hongji chuckled sinisterly: "You're really not good at being praised. Looks like your micro-management skills have backfired."

"Get out, get out, get out...!" Mao Feiyang barked like a dog. "All the advanced operations involving secret runes are on your end. I've already done so much, it's like Jesus giving the middle finger—Harry's mother Luya. This path is also very risky, so don't place such high demands on me, okay?"

“Heh…” Kuai Hongji smiled without saying a word.

"Alright, alright, stop yelling, I can do it again!" Mao Feiyang barked like a dog, "Watch me open the gates of heaven with one thrust!"

He quickly tried to steady himself and, sure enough, readjusted his rhythm after a few breaths.

"How is it? Not bad... Oh no!!"

Mao Feiyang had just wiped the sweat from his forehead when he suddenly lost his footing and fell into the void, plummeting headlong into some abyss of nothingness!
"Maozi!!" Lin Yi shouted, only to find that the connection between his will and Mao Feiyang had been severed.

All that remained around him was endless darkness and emptiness.

He quickly glanced at his watch.

Although he was blind in the dark and theoretically couldn't see anything, when he tried to check his watch, he actually saw the time on it in his mind—3:20.

Time seemed to stand still!
This time, even the second hand came to a complete stop!
"Has time frozen? Or... have I been pulled into the depths of a layer?!"

Lin Yi was on high alert, preparing to deal with the completely unknown layer changes here.

Because this place is no longer just a gallery. If it has really been corrupted by the "angels," then he may have to face the power of the "angels" sooner rather than later!
"etc!"

"Facing the angels?!"

"Time stands still!!"

An extremely crazy thought flashed through his mind: he might have already been noticed by the power of the "angels"...

The moment this thought crossed his mind, he felt as if he were in an ice cellar, trembling uncontrollably.

"No, no, no! This thought must not even cross my mind!"

Lin Yi shuddered and quickly banished any thoughts about "angels" from his mind, because this place was extraordinary and could truly be a contaminated area where "angels" might exist.

Here, every thought you have will be truly perceived by the "angels"!
Gradually, Lin Yi noticed a faint, eerie light appearing in the endless darkness, followed by a second, a third… and countless more…

Countless points of light appeared from the distant void, then rapidly magnified in his field of vision, as if countless high-speed trains were rapidly approaching.

When the point of light rushed towards him, Lin Yi finally realized that it contained a dynamic image.

The image was incredibly clear, but because it was moving so fast, all he saw was a fleeting, static image.

That still image clearly shows the art building.

The image is taken from a low angle, as if looking up from a cliff below the art building. The entire art building is only visible from the front in the view, with the straight clock tower piercing the sky like a bamboo shoot, directly approaching the center of the perspective point of the image.

The whole scene was extremely oppressive, because the sky was like a huge vortex, with flowing clouds swirling in the mist like ribbons. The clouds, storm, tsunami connecting the sky, and surging thunder intertwined to form a terrifying spiral, covering the art building like a dome.

Suddenly, the image began to move slowly. Then, the sounds of swirling winds, roaring seas, and thunderclaps erupted all at once, as if Lin Yi had fallen into the scene!
"Boom—Crack!!"

A thick bolt of lightning burst forth from the depths of the storm sky, like a thunder dragon, and struck the art building fiercely!

"Duang—!!"

"Roar——!!!"

The chimes of the quantum giant clock "Sanctuary" merged with the roar of "Night Watchman-02," echoing amidst the torrential rain and tsunami!
"You beast! Get out of this world!!!"

(End of this chapter)