Infinity: Our Zhongzhou team is really amazing!

Chapter 400 Rebooting the Paper Doll (2-in-1 6K)

"Don't be discouraged, everyone. The situation isn't as bad as you think."

"At least we now know why vengeful spirits have a revival cycle and why they can only be imprisoned by gold," Zhuang Boshi reassured everyone.

Even though I said that, I felt that the process was somewhat unreal.

It's like casually flipping through an extracurricular book to test the waters, and suddenly you see next year's college entrance exam essay topic and outline.

It was so straightforward that he genuinely suspected there was some hidden trap inside.

"With everyone being a double-B-level side quest, if it's about dealing with certain beings that even a High Saint can't handle, then I think it's still not enough," Zheng Zha said with a wry smile.

"There's no penalty for failure, which means failure means death." Cheng Xiao also said with a bitter face, "Can't we just not do it?"

"In the last world we fought an evil god, and in this world we have to confront a strange entity that can corrupt even a high saint. Why do you like to play with us so much, God?"

Zhuang Boshi no longer wanted to think about how strong that strange being was. It was at least a high-level Saint, and it had even possessed the Undying Rune, thus achieving immortality.

A super bizarre entity capable of destroying the entire universe!

If the God of War considers such an enemy as the Zhongzhou team's opponent, then the God of War is really giving the Zhongzhou team too much credit.

It should be noted that only he and Zheng Zha from the Zhongzhou team can barely reach the level of "exploding the city".

Limited by insufficient true energy, he unleashed the almost limitless energy within the Silmarillion in the previous world.

The true essence accumulated within the Myriad Tribulations Golden Core is now barely enough to destroy an island.

Zheng Zha was the same; his energy was insufficient and his physical condition was slightly lacking, making it impossible for him to sustain the long-term primordial creation of the world.

They are facing a bizarre entity capable of destroying the universe; they would probably be killed the moment they meet.

If you haven't reached the level of a saint, fighting a saint is tantamount to courting death.

Zhan Lan spoke first: "If the immortals have really been corrupted by the strange forces, then what we need to do is find the Ruins of Return."

“Awaken his true spirit, regardless of whether he can perish together with the source of the anomaly.”

"At least it can weaken it, giving us an opportunity to expel or seal it."

"It's not that simple."

Saito shook his head, his brows furrowed, his face full of worry.

"Don't even talk about whether we're qualified to get involved in a battle between saints. Have you forgotten that the first sentence written on the human skin paper just now was 'I am dead'? That Golden Immortal is already dead."

"Are you so sure that his last remaining trace of true spirit can wake up?"

"That passage is a dying message he left in the vengeful spirit runes thousands of years ago."

"Now, thousands of years have passed, and nobody knows what it's like now."

“No.” Ming Yanwei narrowed her eyes slightly and analyzed calmly.

"The way the evil spirits act is still within the limits of what Yan has restricted. The evil spirits can be imprisoned by gold, and they still have a resurrection cycle."

"This shows that the system he built to restrict vengeful ghosts is still in operation, and the situation is not as bad as imagined."

“I agree with Lao Qi’s idea.” Cheng Xiao looked somewhat anxious.

"Thousands of years have passed, and too many things have changed. What if we really stumble into that so-called Ruins of Return and find that it has become a paradise for vengeful ghosts? Wouldn't we have nowhere to turn to cry?"

"Therefore, I think we must be cautious about this side quest."

"If even Yan can't solve this, how can we possibly solve it?"

"Do you really believe the clues left by Yan?" Zhuang Boshi looked at Cheng Xiao with a half-smile.

Cheng Xiao said matter-of-factly, "We can only trust him now, can't we? I don't think a Golden Immortal would need to deceive us little shrimps."

Zhang Jie chimed in, "This side quest has no time limit and isn't a death mission."

"Our main mission is to survive for six months. If you want to explore more side quests, you can find other channels."

"It is not a good idea to rashly intervene in the debate over the sages."

"It's not that simple." Zero's expression was serious, and his tone was heavy.

“In the last world, regardless of whether we accepted the main god’s side quests or not, we ultimately had to confront the evil god.”

“If we don’t do it, the evil god will successfully invade Arda and wipe us all out.”

Zhan Lan replied, "No, the situation is different. In the previous world, we had to sever the connection between the evil god and the world of Alda before we could return to the main god space."

"The main questline is in clear conflict with the evil god."

"But this world is different. Our main mission is to survive for 180 days, which means we may not necessarily have a direct conflict with the source of the ghost's eeriness."

"And is the source of this vengeful ghost really an intruder?" Zhan Lan looked at Zhuang Boshi.

"After all, we didn't receive any notification that we had triggered the salvation authority mission."

"The Zhongzhou Team's Enemy—"

"Who is it?"

"Um..." Haotian raised his hand somewhat embarrassedly, his voice tinged with nervousness, "Can I say a few words?"

Dr. Zhuang glanced at him and smiled encouragingly, "Of course, the Zhongzhou team allows newcomers to express their opinions."

"grateful."

Haotian quickly bowed, took a deep breath, and mustered his courage to say, "This is what I think: the main god used two different excuses when issuing the side quest."

"He didn't tell us to seal or expel the source of the evil; he didn't tell us to kill the source of the evil."

Everyone was taken aback; it was indeed true.

"But what the paper just said was to awaken Yan's true spirit, and then Yan would perish together with the source of the strangeness."

"I understand!"

Zhan Lan clapped her hands and said excitedly.

"The main god only instructed us to expel and imprison it, not to kill it. So there are two possibilities: one is that it thinks we have no ability to kill it, and the other is that we don't need to kill it at all."

"so--"

Haotian lowered his eyes and asked, "Is everything written on that piece of human skin necessarily true?"

Zheng Zha was taken aback. He quickly opened the gold box on the table, placed the knife against the human skin paper, and shouted angrily, "Tell me honestly, did you lie to us or not? What is the truth?"

The human skin paper lay there motionless, like a piece of waste paper.

"What backbone!"

Zheng Zha was about to stab downwards, but the human skin paper remained completely unchanged.

The scene was a little awkward.

"let me."

Zhuang Boshi looked at the paper doll and sneered, "Still pretending to be dead?"

"Even if you're torn in two, or even reduced to shreds, I can restore you to your original state!"

Zhuang Boshi took out the blood-stained pocket watch from his hand.

The landlord's pocket watch, a generous patron.

According to Brownie, the pocket watch was a family paranormal artifact belonging to his former landlady, Linda McKinney.

It has a special ability to restart time. If you turn it counterclockwise three times, time will restart for three minutes. However, there is a terrifying consequence: there is a 50% chance that it will attract a terrifying vengeful ghost that will attack indiscriminately.

Unlike other timepieces, this pocket watch can reset time for any object or person by placing its hour hand on them.

Zhuang Boshi inserted the hour hand into the parchment and then turned the knob of the pocket watch.

The pocket watch creaked and groaned, making an unpleasant sound like bones grinding together, before it began to tremble violently.

Zhang Jie quickly conjured a golden coffin, firmly protecting the Zhongzhou team members inside.

"Don't use such dangerous things in here," Zhang Jie complained.

"I'll pay attention next time," Zhuang Boshi replied casually, his eyes glued to the parchment, as if afraid of missing any information.

The paper seemed to be being pulled by a strange force.

Some characters began to reappear, as if they were trying to be refitted.

Then, after the first second when the text begins to appear.

Snapped!
The human skin paper was directly blasted into powder.

At the same time, a shrill scream rang out, as if a vengeful ghost was being torn apart alive.

Blood seeped from Zhuang Boshi's ears and eyes, and Zheng Zha coughed up blood from the shock of the scream.

That piercing scream was enough to kill anyone who heard it in an instant; it was a terrifying supernatural attack.

It sounded like the mournful wail of a vengeful ghost before its death.

Zhuang Boshi suddenly turned around and looked at Zheng Zha: "Did you see that?"

Zheng Zha wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, stood up, and nodded.

"Zhang Jie, Zhan Lan, did you both see that text?"

Zhan Lan shared that text again in the Mind Link.

"Sure enough, there are ghosts."

Unexpectedly, after the parchment was torn and placed into the gold box, another piece of text appeared.

This passage is different from the initial text on cultivation.

It is pure Chinese.

However, the brushstrokes are distorted, and the writing doesn't look like it was done by a human.

Zhang Jie took back the materialized gold, and everyone's expressions turned grim.

"I knew it! Yan was the mastermind!" Cheng Xiao was practically jumping up and down in frustration.

He had just been so confident that he would believe in this immortal, but he was immediately proven wrong.

"To actually play word games, a dignified Golden Immortal, how despicable!" Zhan Lan was also quite angry.

"Don't get so agitated," Dr. Zhuang said coldly. "Do you really think this second paragraph is definitely true?"

"They're all lying to us?!" Zheng Zha said angrily.

Zheng Zha had clearly already considered the second perspective, but after Zhuang Boshi pointed it out, he realized there was no way to prove which one was true.

Are you kidding me?!

"All the information we obtained came from parchment."

“We are being led by the nose by them,” Zhuang Boshi said.

"So, which one should we believe?" Zhu Wen asked cautiously.

Zhuang Boshi said, "The only thing that can be confirmed now is that there are two opposing forces in this world: one is the source of the strangeness, and the other is the force that suppresses it."

"They fought, competed, and suppressed each other for thousands of years in the long river of history, which is why the evil spirits sometimes revived and sometimes fell silent."

Wang Xia said with some distress, "Could it be that the Golden Immortal who created the Immortal Rune is the source of the evil spirits and the mastermind behind our deception?!"

"You've gone in circles again."

Zhuang Boshi shook his head: "It could be that the source of the strangeness is disguised as leaving a message, or there might not even be any strange source at all."

"It was all that Golden Immortal's own doing. He split himself during cultivation, one being a ghost and the other an immortal."

"But that doesn't matter."

"Regardless of which side is the Golden Immortal of Creative Runes and which side is the source of the strangeness, we must pay attention to one thing."

"They are still around, in a stalemate, and they might know exactly what we are doing and saying."

Everyone gasped, suddenly getting goosebumps all over their bodies, a chill running up their spines.

"Why?" Zheng Zha asked, puzzled.

Zhan Lan's eyes lit up and she said, "They want to take us away!"

"Let's strive to have this third force, which doesn't exist in this world but comes from the main divine space, stand on one side against the other!"

"To become the key X factor that determines their victory or defeat!"

"This..." Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. "There's a way to verify this," Zhuang Boshi said to himself, tapping the God's Watch.

"God, using F-level privileges, tell me the most valuable side quest in the current world and share it with your teammates."

The voice of the Supreme God resounded in Dr. Zhuang's mind.

[Using the F-level permission information exploration function will not result in the loss of permissions.]

Currently, there are two side quests with the highest rewards in the world.

[First, expel or seal the source of the strange phenomenon; all members will be rewarded with two B-level side quests and 10,000 reward points.]

[Second, kill all humans who encounter ghosts, completely kill Yang Jian, awaken the source of the strangeness to destroy humanity, reward: one S-level storyline, 50,000 points]

The first task is the one that was just triggered, while the second task greatly refreshed everyone's understanding.

There really is a subplot about destroying humanity!
Zhuang Boshi was also surprised, because the main god was responsible for maintaining the principles of civilization.

Destroying a city and killing hundreds of thousands of humans is something the main god might not take too seriously.

But the task of wiping out humanity would clearly be the end of civilization.

Does the Supreme God believe that the principles of civilization here are not worth saving?

Or are all humans in this world invaders?!

Zhuang Boshi felt a chill run down his spine.

The teammates were clearly not expecting the main god to issue such a task.

"One side wants to find Yang Jian to expel the source of the evil, while the other side wants to kill Yang Jian and wipe out humanity," Zhan Lan said softly.

"Therefore, the key lies with Yang Jian."

"Then who is Yang Jian?" Zero asked softly.

Zhuang Boshi said, "He should be the strongest force on the side of humanity, a god powerful enough to suppress evil spirits."

"It is very likely that they are still fighting against the source of the strangeness on the timeline of history."

"Now we are faced with a choice: stand with the humans, or stand with the vengeful spirits?"

Bosch looked at everyone.

"pick one of two."

"How to choose?"

“That goes without saying, of course it’s people…” Zheng Zha was interrupted by Zhuang Boshi before he could finish speaking.

“Zheng Zha, we should abandon our likes and dislikes and analyze things objectively.”

"The two are different in difficulty and the rewards are also different. Judging from the level of reward, the human side is now at a disadvantage."

"Then the vengeful ghost is the stronger one."

"If we stand on the side of humanity, we will gain more, but the risks will also be greater."

“Aren’t we human? Of course we should stand on the side of humans,” Zheng Zha said, somewhat aggrieved.

Zhuang Boshi rolled his eyes at him and said, "Don't forget, the number of vengeful ghosts who died at our hands is far less than the number of ghost encounters and humans."

"This……"

Zheng Zha felt a little embarrassed; it seemed that was indeed the case.

Because of the theft of a vengeful ghost, the Zhongzhou team unilaterally declared that "the King's Organization has found a way to die."

They acted irrationally, wreaking havoc across North America, killing countless humans and demon tamers.

The massacres have nearly paralyzed the Ghost Rider faction in North America.

From a human perspective, isn't this blatant treachery?
From the perspective of the vengeful ghosts, the Central Plains Team's decision to cripple half of the King's Organization without hesitation is exactly the kind of infighting among the ghost tamers that the captain has been trying to instigate.

The most crucial message from the two mission prompts is that the current situation has deviated significantly from the original storyline.

Judging from the ending of the original work, it was humanity that ultimately prevailed.

Although the vengeful spirit was not completely killed.

But Yang Jian ended the supernatural in his own way, and humanity remains the ruler of this land.

Although Yang Jian's whereabouts are unknown, supernatural events occur frequently, and people die one after another, the population has not yet reached the point of extinction.

A large number of ghost tamers were born, and a large number of vengeful ghosts were also imprisoned; the vengeful ghosts did not achieve victory.

Moreover, throughout history, every time a vengeful ghost revives, it is suppressed, and Yang Jian's involvement in this process is not uncommon.

In the long run, humanity is the victor.

But now it is clear that Yang Jian is in an unknown disadvantage, and humanity will face severe tests in the future. The evil spirits have gained the upper hand and may even wipe out humanity.

After all, according to the God's mission assessment, Yang Jian can be killed, and humanity can be wiped out.

Perhaps this is also a major reason why Yang Jian could not appear.

"So what should we do next?" Zheng Zha asked Zhuang Boshi.

"No matter what we choose, we need to understand three things." Zhuang Boshi tapped the blackboard and wrote down three points.

"First, we need to determine the exact location of the Ruins."

“Guixu Guixu, could it be some deep-seated ghost realm?” Zhao Yingkong analyzed calmly.

“If ‘it’ is hiding somewhere in this world, I think it can only be there.” Zhuang Boshi’s eyes darkened.

To be honest, that place isn't far; it's also in Dachang City, and it's only a few kilometers away from them as the crow flies.

The world at the end of the Yin-Yang Road is the source of the invasion of reality by countless ghosts.

However, other logical relationships still need to be clarified; the Zhongzhou team cannot simply rush in on a whim.

That's really asking for trouble.

"Second, try to ascertain the status and information of the mastermind behind the scenes."

"If we don't know who the enemy is or what their capabilities are, and we just rush in headfirst, we'll be in real danger."

Neither the Golden Immortal named Yan nor it should listen to the words of the one person on the human skin paper.

The Zhongzhou team's current strength is not even as good as when the three fourth-tier heroes of the previous world, Lord of the Rings, were able to carry the team together. Chu Xuan's brain damage prevented him from fully utilizing his abilities.

Ming Yanwei is at level three, Zhang Jie is at level three, and Cheng Xiao is at level three but close to level four.

Zhuang Boshi and Zheng Zha have improved, but the improvement of the Zhongzhou team cannot possibly cover that of a fourth-tier powerhouse.

Moreover, he is a fourth-tier powerhouse with the ability to manipulate cause and effect.

"Third, find Yang Jian."

Zhuang Boshi continued, "Actually, as long as we find Yang Jian, the first two questions will also become clear."

No matter how much you talk, it's better to see Yang Jian's condition with your own eyes and find this key figure who can determine victory or defeat.

After all, if the Zhongzhou team gets carried away and sides with humanity, only to find out later that humanity is the invader, wouldn't that be a complete joke?

As Yang Jian is capable of traveling through the past and future, he must have done something on the timeline to suppress the resurgence of the evil spirits, thus causing the mastermind behind the scenes to fall into slumber.

Of course, there was one more thing that Zhuang Boshi didn't make clear: since the main god issued missions for two different positions at the same time, it means that the Zhongzhou team can choose a position.

At the same time, they can also unite with the weaker party to fight the stronger party to the death.

Then eliminate the weaker party.

Maximize profits.

"How can we find Yang Jian?" All the team members looked at Zhuang Boshi.

After becoming the team captain, Zhuang Boshi felt the pressure for the first time, taking on the heavy responsibility of the entire team.

He looked at Chu Xuan, sincerely hoping that Chu Xuan could give him some advice.

If only he weren't so brain-dead.

"Let's go find Wang Xiaoming first to get some information. If that doesn't work, we can contact that old man at headquarters through him."

"Hahaha--"

Chu Xuan couldn't help but laugh as he held the comic book.

That laugh wiped away all the oppressive atmosphere that had been painstakingly created.

Zhuang Boshi looked annoyed; he had just been feeling sad about his injury.

This guy is reading comic books without a care in the world.

Zhan Lan looked at Chu Xuan with some annoyance and said, "Chu Xuan, don't make a sound while I'm in a meeting!"

Chu Xuan closed the comic book in his hand with an innocent look in his eyes: "What are you talking about, ghosts and immortals? I don't understand."

"It's so boring here, I want to go out."

"Okay, you'll come with us to meet Wang Xiaoming later."

"Wang Xiaoming?"

Chu Xuan looked thoughtful, as if he had returned to his normal self.

"Do you remember anything?" Zhuang Boshi asked with a hint of hope.

"Is it Wang Xiaoming from the Cardcaptor Sakura anime?" Chu Xuan asked excitedly, his innocent eyes wide.

"I really like him."

“You—” Zhuang Boshi almost couldn’t catch his breath.

"Na'er, how many anime series aimed at girls did you show Chu Xuan?!"

Na'er said innocently, "Doctor, the fact that you reacted so quickly means you've seen it, doesn't it?"

"Hahaha--"

Everyone was amused, but Haotian kept his head down, his face full of panic.

He gave the hint earlier because he caught a glimpse of the comic book Chu Xuan was reading, "True Lies".

Haotian immediately realized that this clue might be hiding some kind of conspiracy.

Back then, Chu Xuan would flip through comic books backwards from the back.

Isn't this a blatant hint at a reboot?
Chu Xuan was definitely not as severely injured and lost his wisdom as others claimed.

But why doesn't he just say it directly and instead continues to pretend?

Did he sense the danger?
Danger to immortals?
Danger from vengeful ghosts?
Or are there other unspeakable dangers?

But why didn't he communicate and discuss it with his teammates? Instead, he hinted at it to me in this veiled way!
Was it that he couldn't say it himself, or was it something about the team—

Haotian's pupils dilated as he instantly conjured up a terrifying thought.

Could it be within the group?

There are ghosts! !
Haotian quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at his teammates from the Central Plains team.

Once this hypothesis is accepted, many of the previous doubts can be explained!
Chu Xuan would only act so foolishly if a real ghost had infiltrated the team, and that ghost must represent the ultimate source of the strangeness.

Could it be Yang Jian?
Haotian suddenly thought of the name mentioned in the human skin paper and the main god's mission. Why would Yang Jian, the Erlang God, appear in a world of vengeful ghosts?
He silently looked up at Zhuang Boshi. If there was anyone in the Zhongzhou team who could be associated with Erlang Shen...

That's him!
The captain of the Zhongzhou team.

The divine eye between the brows!

A fourth-tier powerhouse!
It’s over!

Haotian suddenly saw Zhuang Boshi turn his head to look at him with a half-smile.

He was so frightened that he immediately lowered his head.

He felt a chill run down his spine, as if some malevolent being was constantly scrutinizing him with strange, greedy eyes.

Zhuang Boshi glanced at Haotian strangely. After speaking just now, the kid was trembling like a leaf, covered in cold sweat, and didn't say a word.

Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?

are you sick?

(End of this chapter)