Infinite Terror: Infinite Reversal

Chapter 101 Stitching
“You’re not the Chu Xuan I know,” Mu Xiang said calmly, adjusting his glasses.

Chu Xuan waved his hand: "A very familiar opening line... but this time what you said is true."

Mu Xiang smiled and said, "Then I'll assume you're Chu Xuan from the Zhongzhou team... Your appearance is easily misunderstood."

“Sticky thinking is unacceptable.” Chu Xuan waved the newspaper in his hand. “You definitely recognize this and know the price of using it… and I am paying the ultimate price, so let’s keep it short.”

"Is this the result of paying the price?" Mu Xiang asked, puzzled.

Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses: "You should know the principle of the causal weapon... It turns disorder into order, but time itself has inertia, which will reverse the changes after a certain point, unless the wielder of the causal weapon pays an even greater price to continue modifying it. My ultimate price, or rather the Central Continent Team's price, is a predetermined effect, while the causes can be many..."

"For example, the aftershocks of my fight with Zheng Zha caused a spacetime rift that sucked you in... or you slipped on a banana peel and slid all the way out of the plane... a Final Destination-style ending." Mu Xiang seemed to understand something, and he pushed up his glasses.

Chu Xuan snapped his fingers: "That's right... and if we pay more, we can guide the cause to a certain extent. Of course, the consequence is that the final price will be greater."

"You've already planned out the details of the cause... to meet me during your exile and then inform me?" Mu Xiang frowned. "Can you bear the ultimate consequences?"

Chu Xuan shook his head: "No, so you'll still need to find me then... I'll barely survive for the time being. I know you still have many questions, but I can't say them outright."

"This riddle sounds so familiar... Is it not that I don't want to, but that I can't?" Mu Xiang sighed and chuckled bitterly. "What, is the situation the same as during the Primordial Era?"

“It’s not that bad, but it’s bad enough,” Chu Xuan said. “You can assume that the enemy’s strongest combat force still exists in our timeline.”

Mu Xiang pushed up his glasses: "But you can still put it this way... Let me guess, the other party is no longer bound to the Heavenly Dao of the multiverse, and the Heavenly Dao is gone. This is consistent with what I know?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, Mu Xiang continued, "I had previously suspected that we were in a novel, but the author's writing skills weren't focused on this... If they were, 'he' certainly wouldn't have made us say these things. Is that 'author' the mastermind behind it all?"

"No. The 'author' we're facing isn't the 'author' they faced in that timeline. This 'author' is just the mastermind's... ghostwriter in this timeline." Chu Xuan glanced down at his watch; his God Watch was now a jumble of gibberish.

"Ghostwriting?" Mu Xiang frowned.

Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses: "He thought he wrote it, but he was just being used to alter the legitimacy of the world in order to achieve the mastermind's goal. The mastermind no longer has that legitimacy and can only precisely monitor his writing... so we are basically safe for now."

“Basic…” Mu Xiang sighed, “It’s such an annoying qualifier.”

As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and adjusted his glasses: "I don't know how much information you've obtained... but you seem to already know the plot of the so-called 'original work.' So, is the current 'author' inside the box, or outside the box?"

"Outside the box... you were originally, no, you were once on the same level as me," Chu Xuan said calmly. "Have any questions as soon as possible. Also, I only know a very small part about your origins, or rather, most of your related memories have been sealed away, so don't try to ask."

Mu Xiang remembered all the details Chu Xuan mentioned, then pushed up his glasses: "I should be able to figure it out... There's still one more question. You must have a plan that spans across time points, right? How did you know that during the Ju-on era?"

“I can tell you clearly that this plan is not only my doing… but also yours.” Chu Xuan said calmly, and Mu Xiang, reflected in his glasses, raised an eyebrow. “Just as you told me some details about the past, I am here to tell you some details… Only by weaving together parts of the past, present, and future can the plan be complete and feasible.”

“When did I tell you the details… You should know that the first effective information I revealed to you was hidden within a false framework.” Mu Xiang stared intently at Chu Xuan, as if he had realized something, and felt a slight chill run down his spine… not fear, but excitement.

Chu Xuan smiled. "At the time, we should have understood each other without saying a word... You know I don't completely believe what you said, but you yourself are credible. Even if I don't believe you, I can't disprove it, just as I can't completely prove it, only prove part of it. But once I learned the details of the plan, your useful information became completely credible."

"So, the 'me' who told you about this plan isn't the current me. Just like you're not the Chu Xuan from before, right?" Mu Xiang asked, but his tone was incredibly certain.

“That’s right.” Chu Xuan said calmly, “I have about three to five minutes left to stay. Make sure to time it according to the worst-case scenario.” Mu Xiang nodded: “I understand… Although the future has such a plan, if I make a mistake in execution, the established future may change, right? Or rather, we may not be able to reach that future.”

Chu Xuan nodded: "That's right, that's why it's necessary to inform you of this information. If there are no other questions, I'll get straight to the point."

Mu Xiang nodded.

"First of all, given that the Central Continent team's current rating is too high, the next match won't be 'The Mummy.' To prevent you from resurrecting me, or rather, from resurrecting me for the first time, some causal points have already been used to change the next horror movie, while also excluding planes with resurrection scenes," Chu Xuan said.

"Hmm?" Mu Xiang frowned, but immediately quieted down.

"This is related to what I'm about to say... Strictly speaking, the 'present' me isn't dead yet. He's already brought what we need for the future to the battlefield, and it's been compensated for with a portion of causal points, which is actually a small expense. But soon after, to you now, Chu Xuan is dead." Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses. Although it was strange to describe his past self's death in this way, he wasn't surprised and knew Mu Xiang could understand.

[What's needed... a half-finished Ju-on meme? The final step that the Investiture of the Gods could never complete, even with the polar day?]

“I cannot be resurrected until you surpass my clone from Resident Evil 2,” Chu Xuan said calmly. “Because my clone and I cannot meet until you complete the key tasks of Resident Evil 2. Otherwise, even if we win, we will only be doing the work for someone else… This has happened more than once, and then we have to pay a high price to start all over again.”

Mu Xiang frowned, listened to Chu Xuan's words, and then smiled wryly, "You really know how to give me a difficult problem."

Chu Xuan waved his hand: "That's not the hardest part... the key is. You need to make the author lose control of the 'story' while temporarily obscuring the mastermind behind it all. This can only be done in 'Resident Evil 2' when they unsuspectingly turned their attention to Team Central!"

"How do we cover it up?" Mu Xiang pushed up his glasses.

Chu Xuan sneered: "This is the problem I'm leaving you with... In fact, I don't know how to truly succeed either."

Mu Xiang wanted to curse, but still said, "Fine, I'll take it. But I have a question. Hasn't the 'story' already progressed beyond the events of Resident Evil 2?"

"So this actually splits into another timeline... There will be another battle in the future to determine the truth of each other," Chu Xuan said.

"Okay." Mu Xiang nodded.

Chu Xuan glanced at his watch, which was covered in gibberish, and it was unclear what he was looking at: "The reason for using the temporal turbulence of two horror movies to stitch together this plot is essentially because the time scale of the Main God Space is inconsistent with the time conversion of various planes. That's why my first death won't cause any major problems and prevent you from resurrecting me. But there is something that anchors these causes and effects, and you must obtain it... Only after that can you resurrect me for the first time."

"This?" Mu Xiang pointed to the newspaper in Chu Xuan's hand.

Chu Xuan nodded: "That's right. Probably after Resident Evil 2, you will encounter the ruins of the yellow-skinned saint in a horror movie. At that time, there will be clues pointing to its existence. You need to pay attention and get this thing... Otherwise, this series of cause and effect changes will be impossible. If you can't get it at all, I will be in a state of being dead but unable to be resurrected by you."

“Because we’ve lost the causal anchor and temporal connection, from our perspective, you just died in the future… Since you’re not dead now, we obviously can’t revive you, right?” Mu Xiang pushed up his glasses.

Chu Xuan nodded: "Yes... Judging from my premonition, my time is running out. If I don't have absolute bad luck, I might be able to let you ask more questions... The last thing I must tell you is to pay attention to the person who is most likely to become the final villain."

"Who?" Mu Xiang had a bad feeling.

"Zheng Zha."

(End of this chapter)