Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 181 - 172 Tailoring Reality Devil Realm 1

Chapter 181: 172 Tailoring Reality Devil Realm 1

Indeed, the surgery room scene I had just hallucinated was worlds apart from this reality.

As I reopened my eyes, I found myself back in that room that resembled an interrogation chamber.

My body had once again shrunk to the form of a twelve-year-old, my wrists firmly shackled by wooden stocks. Standing barefoot on the slightly overheated wire mesh floor, the air was thick with heat and the stench of blood and decay. Occasionally, distant cries that seemed human echoed through the space.

It certainly wasn’t a scene worth complimenting, yet it was precisely this dangerous and terrifying atmosphere that gripped my soul, making me feel this was the place I was meant to explore.

The thought that this place might be a "Different Space" like the basement on the fifteenth floor made me all the more eager to act.

I turned my head to glance at the room next door, allowing my Perception to pass through the wall. The demon hunter I had freed was originally there, but now, there was no trace of them. The remains of the researcher I had burned to death had also disappeared without a trace, possibly cleaned up by their own.

I might as well try to activate my superpower.

Last time I was forcibly logged out at the same moment I activated my superpower, so there could be some causal relationship between "activating superpower" and "being forced to log out."

Lifting my shackled hands, I raised my right index finger, and a small flame, like that from a lighter, appeared above the fingertip.

Immediately, a sense of instability washed over me. Even though the wire mesh floor I stood on showed no signs of anomaly, I felt as though the ground underneath me was about to collapse.

Just this one attempt, coupled with my previous experience, made me realize the truth.

—This space simply couldn’t withstand my power!

In this state, I was like a guest in a paper-mâché house; merely existing here, the floor of the house could just about withstand my weight. But if I tried to do any vigorous movements, the floor would instantly break apart, and I would fall into the void or some other unknown place.

In fact, this space couldn’t even support the "weight" of my existence.

The evidence was in the state of my body... something that had puzzled me before now made sense. The reason my body had shrunk was that, instinctively, I had adjusted my "scale of existence" to find shelter here. My body is a Flame Aggregation, and my nineteen-year-old form just standing here would burn through the space directly, whereas my twelve-year-old form was still within the space’s tolerance.

It seemed that Mazao’s speculation was probably correct—this place truly was a "Different Space."

I wouldn’t encounter this situation in the real world, so I could discard the hypothesis that "this is two years ago." Even if it was a different time, it would still be the same space, and it wouldn’t make sense for the space strength from two years ago to be so much more fragile now.

Since this was "now," and Chen Long was here, it meant that Changan might have been captured here as well.

In my current state, which was not optimal for using my powers, it wouldn’t be easy to delve deeper into this perilous place. From another perspective, though, this was just what I wanted. Although my retreat wasn’t cut off, the challenge increased. I was forced to think of other methods of combat, and I took joy in being "forced to think" about such things.

At that moment, the iron door was opened from the outside, and a somewhat familiar figure sneaked into the cell.

It was the senior researcher who had spoken to me before.

He casually closed the iron door and then saw me, pausing in slight surprise, and asked, "How did you come down from the restraint device?"

"Dr. Silver Mask let me down." I replied.

"He actually... Is he planning to let you escape afterward? That hypocritical guy..."

The senior researcher spoke dismissively and looked me over with a lack of urgency.

I couldn’t sense the aura of a combatant from him, yet he showed not a hint of fear or tension in front of me. With the experimental subject free of restraint and still so relaxed, he must see me as merely a twelve-year-old child with bound hands.

Even without any combat training, it would be easy for an adult to overpower me with their wrist strength and weight at this particular moment.

He commanded, "Get back up on the restraint device."

"Are you planning to conduct human experiments on me?" I asked while considering my options, "Dr. Silver Mask has already forbidden you from doing so. Defying his wishes like this shouldn’t be easy to explain, right?"

"Reasons for that can be fabricated afterward as needed. Would he really punish me over you, a kid with no background?" He scoffed, "Stop asking questions already. You’re just an experiment subject, what’s with all the inquiries? Better to have the guards come over and subdue you, then remove your vocal cords. The upcoming experiments won’t be needing your voice anyway."

Saying this, he took out something resembling a car key from his pocket, apparently a device to summon the guards.

And at that moment, I launched my own counterattack.

Without the convenience of using superpowers, how should I initiate an attack? Normally, I would use my fists and feet, but I had another card up my sleeve—the "Outer Path Impermanence Sword."

As my thoughts shifted, the Outer Path Impermanence Sword was summoned. With my bound right hand, I managed to grasp the hilt and channel my Mana into it.

My Flame Transmission can transport external objects. Last time, because I left my original body at the Human Bureau Office, I didn’t bring many things with me; this time, anticipating difficulties in using superpowers, I intentionally brought some tools along. Although the Outer Path Impermanence Sword was usually concealed by my side, it could be disassembled and reassembled directly through Flame Transmission, a fact I had already confirmed.

In the blink of an eye, as if the density of my own flames had increased, I distinctly felt an overall enhancement of my physical attributes.

During this process, I didn’t fall out of this space. Perhaps because the Outer Path Impermanence Sword was an external object, the pressure it exerted on this space was calculated separately from my own.

Even though I had anticipated this outcome, there was still something I didn’t understand. Even if this approach failed, it would have been within my range of acceptance, because ultimately the force driving the Outer Path Impermanence Sword was my own Mana, and the enhancement effect was applied to myself. It would have been completely reasonable to calculate it as "the pressure I exerted on the space increased."

While puzzled, I had already reached the senior researcher’s side and swept the sword diagonally in a quick slash. There was no swordsmanship skill in the movement, and the posture was indecent, a mere flash of speed. The sword light passed, blood erupted. Both the severed hand and the summoned tool fell to the ground.

The senior researcher stepped back twice, fell against the iron door, and sat down. He looked at the spurting stump of his wrist for three or four seconds before finally opening his mouth. I thought about whether I should cut his vocal cords as he intended to do to me, but I had many questions I wanted to ask him, such as the matter concerning the "girl Lu Chan." Amidst that brief pause, a horrific scream erupted from him.

Would his screams call the "prison guards"—or rather, guards over? But in a place like this, screams were the most common occurrences. Even if the guards heard, they would probably assume it was from an experimental subject.

Ignoring his howls, I stepped forward, severed the tendons and muscles of his limbs, and then searched his body, finding an iron key.

The key looked just like the one for the wooden stocks’ keyhole. I tried to use it to unlock my stocks, and it worked. The stocks split into two pieces and fell from my wrists.

I could have used the Outer Path Impermanence Sword to cut the stocks, but Dr. Silver Mask had said that if the stocks were struck with force, they would trigger an alarm. While curious as to how such a thing could emit an alarm, it was better to keep a low profile for now.

"You, you actually..." the senior researcher looked at me in shock, "you actually used a door card to unlock the Magic Seal Lock? Impossible, that’s not the intended use for that tool at all... Ah..."

Uncontrollable severe pain in his limbs drowned out the rest of his words.

Door card... this iron key doesn’t look like a "card" at all. Could it be that what others see is indeed different from what I see?

I became even more intrigued.

First, I concealed the Outer Path Impermanence Sword, then took out the Black Rope Heart-locking Ring and put it on my left hand. Next, I squatted in front of the senior researcher and reached for his chest.

My hand in its shadowy form plunged directly into his chest, seizing his beating heart.

"Uh—" He instantly became immobilized.

Now, he could only answer my questions and was unable to remain silent.

I was actually curious about the sensation of being compelled to speak the truth. Although it is said that seizing the target’s heart can force them to spill the truth, grabbing my own heart is fruitless, at most feeling a touch to the heart. The ring’s effect doesn’t seem to apply to the user themselves.

"What exactly is this place?" I asked.

He stared at me in terror, seemingly wanting to counter-question me, but under the ring’s power, he was forced to respond, "This is... the Human Bureau, our stronghold."

"I’m not asking about that." I thought for a moment before saying, "What year and month is it now?"

"2023, October," he replied.

It was the same time as the real world, the "present."

"Yet the attitude of those demon hunters I saw before made it seem like it was two years ago. What’s going on with that?" I asked.

"Because... this space has been like this, looping back and forth from its inception..." He seemed unsure of how to explain it to me from any perspective.

"Put it simply, what exactly is this space?" I asked.

He paused, then said, "This is where Silver Mask cut away from, a reality outside of reality."