Bengtie: My death fueled their madness.

At this point, Qi Zhimu turned his gaze back to Black Tower and looked it up and down.

"But now is not the time for you to act. Wait until you have fulfilled your wish, then pay the price and thank me with interest."

Hei Ta swallowed her thanks, nodded silently, and her small face returned to its usual expression.

"When my spaceship crashed, all the emergency supplies were destroyed, and there are no medicines here to help you with your injuries," she stated.

"If you can't find it, then look for it."

Qi Zhimu didn't care, his gaze sweeping over the desolate scenery around him.

"The labyrinth area also contains worlds materialized from stories of peace; perhaps nearby... um?"

His gaze was fixed on a roadside not far away, where there was a crooked green road sign with the words still faintly legible.

[35 km from Grizzly City]

"Grizzly City? That sounds like a place with lots of bears that eat people. Never heard of it..."

Qi Zhimu casually remarked, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that when Hei Ta saw those three words, his expression froze, and he fell into an eerie silence.

uh-huh?

Noticing her unusual behavior, Qi Zhimu tilted his head and asked with interest.

"It seems you know which work the Grizzly City concept originated from."

"…Um."

The Black Tower's voice unconsciously lowered, pointing towards the distant, hazy horizon.

"If it's not an extremely rare coincidence, it should be the apocalyptic film 'Disorder' released in the year 2139 of the Azure Calendar."

"Tell me more about it."

"A post-apocalyptic disaster movie. The city has more than 20 million permanent residents. Within three days after the disaster, most of them have become zombies, with only the most primitive instincts of killing and eating remaining."

"Oh, I get it. Zombies are so ugly they make people feel physically uncomfortable and nauseous. Can't we avoid them?"

Black Tower didn't answer, her gaze sweeping around as she examined the surroundings in her preferred manner.

After a moment, he slowly shook his head, his tone revealing helplessness.

"No, just like the previous Deadly Mirror, we are now in a world that has been materialized from the movie. Our spatial coordinates are locked. If we want to leave, we have to complete the plot."

"You mean: we're going to have to travel through a city with nearly 20 million zombies?" Qi Zhimu raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Black Tower nodded.

Instead of showing any fear after hearing this, Qi Zhimu curled up the corners of his mouth, revealing an arrogant, even somewhat eager, smile.

Just like someone who's having fun discovering a new toy.

"interesting."

Although both arms were severed and the abdominal wound had not yet healed, Qi Zhimu summoned his staff.

"My food supply... a powerful magician appears in a zombie-themed story. You know what that means, right?"

His gaze toward the Black Tower gleamed with excitement.

"...A max-level character going into the newbie village to slaughter people?" Black Tower tilted his head.

"Good analogy. Elbow, go to the city, first find a hospital to stitch my hand back up, and while I'm at it, let these brainless bastards see what it means for times to change."

……

That being said, Qi Zhimu did not forget a potential problem.

—Limitations related to rules.

The maze area contains countless independent mini-worlds formed by novels, movies, and even anime/manga works.

The settings are different for each.

If a region has rules governing its worldview, such as the invincibility of a mirror ghost's avatar or its ability to split upon being killed, it will often adhere to the principle that even a powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake.

Of course, the inherent settings of outsiders will not be taken away.

Unless there is a separate setting similar to the second level of Deadly Mirror, you can only walk and cannot use special abilities.

Qi Zhimu's magic was not restricted in the disordered world.

Inside a large, top-tier hospital.

Many zombies blocked the entrance to the medicine warehouse, but they were unable to break through the thick ice in front of the gate.

The air inside the pharmacy warehouse was filled with a distinctive hospital smell.

Qi Zhimu sat there casually, his two clean severed arms placed on the medical hand pad, fitting against the cut surfaces of his elbows.

Hei Ta picked up the medical scissors and cut the thread.

"Hey Little Black Tower, can you hold the needle a little more deftly?"

Qi Zhimu stared intently at the needle and thread in Hei Ta's hands, a cigarette he'd taken from the doctor's office dangling from his mouth as a distraction.

However, the cigarette was not lit.

"Although I am a formless being, I am still a human, made of flesh and blood. Don't be so stabgy, like you're sewing shoe soles, okay?"

Hei Ta put down the scissors, his usually calm face now filled with seriousness.

"I have not studied surgical suturing."

"You don't need to have studied it, I just want you to... just start sewing, don't worry about being a professional or not, I won't scream in pain because of it."

Qi Zhimu was speechless:

"Just connect the skin and flesh and align the bones. You know how regenerative some ethereal beings are. Stop dawdling and come on."

Black Tower pursed his lips and said nothing more.

Under the light, a silver curved needle pierced the skin, and with surgical sutures, it penetrated the muscle fibers, pulling the severed forearm back together with the upper arm.

hiss--

The pain he felt made Qi Zhimu's lips twitch.

The sound of a soft inhale is very subtle, but it is particularly noticeable in a quiet room.

Qi Zhimu almost dropped the cigarette he was holding. He instinctively wanted to pull his hand back, but he managed to hold back.

Black Tower's movements were indeed clumsy and awkward.

Each time a needle is threaded, it is accompanied by a slight deformation of the skin and flesh due to the pulling.

But at this moment, her expression was extremely focused.

A pair of beautiful purple eyes were fixed on the stitched surface. Stray hairs fell down her forehead, partially obscuring her vision, but she didn't bother to brush them aside and obediently followed Qi Zhimu's instructions.

Insert the needle and withdraw it, repeating this process continuously.

Occasionally, she would glance at Qi Zhimu out of the corner of her eye, her eyes hiding a strange emotion that even she herself was unaware of.

A moment later.

The left hand was half-stitched.

Qi Zhimu broke out in a cold sweat, which slid down his cheeks and dripped onto his collar.

The body is stiff, and some muscles tremble uncontrollably.

The feeling of needle and thread cutting through flesh is more agonizing than being cut off.

"call……"

The black tower cut a wire and suddenly stopped moving.

Looking at the crooked, centipede-like stitches and taking in Qi Zhimu's somewhat distorted expression, she couldn't help but sigh.

"I told you I'd give you anesthesia, but you wouldn't listen."

She glanced at the tray beside her, where there was an unopened bottle of lidocaine.

"I just found this, and local anesthesia isn't complicated."

"Huh? Anesthesia?"

Qi Zhimu forced a stiff smile and gestured with his chin toward his arm.

"You underestimate me. This is nothing. Back in the day, I... well, anyway! A real man doesn't need anesthesia."

Hei Ta watched his performance quietly, without exposing him, and simply picked up his needle to continue sewing.

"And besides, I don't feel any pain."

To save face, Qi Zhimu added another sentence.

"Really, I don't feel anything at all, it's just a little itchy."

"I don't think I ever told you you were in pain."

Black Tower replied casually, then the needle pierced the flesh again.

Uh… Qi Zhimu was momentarily speechless, his eyes widening.

Staring at the little brat in front of him who was diligently stitching him up, he actually felt a bit choked up.

Is this what people call "confessing without being asked"?