Eternal Night

Chapter 499 Approaching
Wu Pifu led seven members of the Ruoye unit, along with a resistance force of over a hundred men, towards the sea.

Wu Pifu could certainly leave them behind and go directly there. Given Wu Pifu's current condition, he could run at twelve times the speed of sound in the air, and there would be no place in the entire Earth Sphere that he couldn't go.

However, once he leaves, he cannot guarantee the survival of these androids; those things that attacked the various camps may already be eyeing them.

Although they are just artificial beings, and they consider themselves to be created beings, Wu Pifu does not think so when he interacts with them, so he is unwilling to abandon them.

Fortunately, it wasn't all done on foot.

These androids each possess unique skills. When they are created, they are programmed with different information according to various roles in human society. Their intelligent systems are relatively independent and individualized. For example, maintenance personnel are proficient in maintaining almost all equipment, while manufacturing personnel are proficient in manufacturing various tools.

With these capabilities, the team's skilled androids repaired three trailer vehicles using various materials found in the abandoned camp, which significantly improved their movement speed.

Even so, with transportation almost completely destroyed, it still takes about four days to get to the beach.

Fortunately, Wu Pifu could afford to waste this much time, so he remained calm and composed, staying in the group as they headed towards the sea.

The group encountered no attacks along the way and spent more than three days in peace. At this point, they were only about a day's journey away from the sea, and the artificial humans began to discuss how to cross the ocean.

Manufacturing ships and similar vehicles on the spot was simply not feasible. There weren't enough materials or enough time. After some discussion, all the androids decided to simply build wooden boats instead.

The Earth in this era has naturally recovered, with dense jungles and forests everywhere, and there are also many huge trees. Although they have not undergone the drying process, they are not a problem for short voyages. In particular, the artificial humans in related professions have a wealth of knowledge, and with the powerful work capacity of Wu Pifu and the seven Wakaba soldiers, they estimate that they can complete the manufacturing in a maximum of five days. As for things like maritime positioning, they will have no problem with that.

Wu Pifu wasn't too worried about these things; what worried him was something else entirely...

A strange sense of threat and shadow is approaching from the unknown.

Even though he was stationed in the ranks, as time passed and night fell, he did feel a faint sense of threat. At the same time, in the dead of night, when the androids were in a semi-standby state of simulated sleep, some shadows seemed to take on humanoid shapes beyond the reach of the firelight in the temporary camp.

The artificial humans naturally didn't notice, but Wu Pifu did, as did the three small animals, and even the Golden Tree seemed to have noticed. Normally, whenever Wu Pifu picked up the Golden Tree bonsai, she would wave her branches at Wu Pifu's face, but now she was as obedient as an ordinary tree.

A faint, supernatural sense of dread is gradually forming, and none of the artificial beings can sense it except for Wu Pifu and the accessories he carries.

“It’s undoubtedly resentment, a curse, a mutation at the soul level,” Beelzebub said privately to Wu Pifu.

Wu Pifu surveyed the forest before him. He swung his knife at a tree so large that it would take seven or eight people to encircle it, and the entire tree began to slowly tilt. Impatient, he simply reached out and grabbed the giant tree, lifting it up and walking towards the beach. As he walked, he asked, "I don't understand, get to the point."

Beelzebub was taken aback, then said angrily, "To put it simply, this thing might be more dangerous than you think! You might even get caught in it, or even find yourself in dire straits!!"

Wu Pifu paused for a moment and then said, "For example?"

Beelzebub quickly said, "Don't take this lightly. This involves power at the soul level... You should know that the extraordinary path can actually be divided into three domains: the physical body, the mind and consciousness, and the soul. Even in your personal information interface on the mainframe, the three basic attributes are these three. These are also components of life. But I'm telling you seriously, the extraordinary power in the soul domain, as well as the distortion and corruption in the soul domain, are completely different from the other two!"

Wu Pifu asked again, "What are the specifics?"

Beelzebub stammered, "I... I forgot... but I have this impression. You need to be vigilant, okay? Anyway, I vaguely remember that any extraordinary path involving the soul, and any kind of pollution involving the soul, is the most terrifying. Oh, right, the Heavenly Court, you know? The Heavenly Court, the source of 0.1% pollution. I vaguely remember that the reason it is so powerful and terrifying is because its extraordinary path is the power of the soul!"

"Oh."

Wu Pifu gave an "oh" and continued carrying the giant log.

Beelzebub cursed and swore, but because of his incomplete memory, he had no idea how to persuade Wu Pifu.

Time passed day by day, and with the efforts of the android engineers, a giant wooden ship was beginning to take shape, and the progress was getting faster and faster. It could be completed in two days at most.

Then, the faint shadow, the very presence of that fear, drew ever closer day by day. Finally, on this night, something indescribable to Wu Pifu seemed to break through the critical point, spreading from the shadows outside the firelight toward the camp and surging toward the outermost artificial humans.

Wu Pifu suddenly flipped himself up, then touched the ground with his body, landing on the path from which the unknown thing was spreading.

These movements were incredibly light and silent. Even as his feet touched the air, the gentle force he applied produced only a faint rustling sound. His landing was equally silent, like a feather falling to the ground. There was nothing on the ground beneath him—nothing concrete, no threat whatsoever—as if the sensation he had just experienced was a mere illusion.

But this was definitely not a misperception. Just now, Wu Pifu's sense of danger suddenly jolted him. It was an absolutely real threat, but when he arrived, he didn't sense anything at all.

"...The soul?"

Wu Pifu paused for a moment, then stepped directly into the shadows outside the camp.

The moment Wu Pifu stepped into the shadows, he immediately sensed the difference. It was only a step away, just the boundary between light and darkness, but it felt as if he had entered another world. A large amount of naked malice surged from all around. There was nothing in sight, but his sense of threat had reached its peak.

"It hurts……"

A child's voice reached Wu Pifu's ears. He turned his head sharply, but couldn't see anything.

"It hurts……"

Another man's scream rang in his ears. He turned his head quickly again, but still couldn't see anything.

The sound came from all directions, so he simply stood still, his blood and qi surging, his body like a furnace. This did slightly alleviate the chill and supernatural fear, but the fundamental threat remained unresolved.

"It really is pollution and corruption at the soul level!"

Beelzebub, clinging to his waist, said urgently, "This is not the physical body, nor is it the realm of consciousness; it is a corrupting and destructive force originating from the soul. Be careful! This is completely different from everything you have encountered before!"

Wu Pifu also sensed the difference.

Back when he was in the Zero Point Nine Dream World, he had seen so-called ghosts, spirits, and vengeful spirits. Even the nightmare that wiped out his predecessors existed in the form of invisible ghosts.

After that, whether it was the Song Dynasty world of Zero Point Seven Dream World, or other dream worlds, including Heavy Armor Super Soldier, Buddha Against, Castlevania, etc., he had seen so-called undead creatures, souls and other beings.

Therefore, he was somewhat indifferent to Beelzebub's earlier warning.

You make him sound like a complete novice. What kind of storms hasn't he weathered?

But only at this moment did he truly realize that he had never seen this form of pollution before...

Do not!
Wait a minute, he vaguely thinks he's seen it before...

That was during the battle to redeem the world; the form of the demon's beckoning hand that caused the corruption was very similar to the situation before us.

At that time, Beelzebub had not yet become his accessory, so he naturally did not know what Wu Pifu was thinking. Beelzebub continued, "You have indeed witnessed some spiritual pollution or distortion of the Yin realm, whose appearance is very similar to many legendary ghosts and spirits, such as skeletons, transparent human bodies, and those with polluting characteristics... But those are not actually true souls; they are merely negative aspects of the spiritual consciousness. Even the negative aspects in your sea of ​​consciousness do not involve the soul level. Apart from the Lost Realm and a very few Roots, only the Heavenly Court and the New Heaven have true, systematic extraordinary paths at the soul level!"

"Watch out! This place... might no longer be the present world!"

Wu Pifu quickly verified that this place was not the real world. No matter what he did, he could not step back into the area of ​​light, even if it was only a hair's breadth away. Whether he rushed, crashed, walked, or flew, he could not get back into the camp's light from the shadows.

Moreover, even if he made a huge noise, the androids nearby did not hear it at all, and the entire camp remained silent.

This is not a ghost wall, nor is it a so-called mental influence. It directly changes even the physical laws. In this area, the entire world seems to have been cut off and separated.

Then, Wu Pifu noticed that his surroundings were becoming increasingly dark, and his field of vision was rapidly shrinking.

Something...

Something terrifying was emerging from the unknown and approaching him!

(End of this chapter)