Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 590 - 553 Crisis Arrives

Chapter 590: 553 Crisis Arrives

"Evil will... intruder..." I said, "Why did you come to such a conclusion?"

"The source of the gospel is the evil will worshipped by the Evangelical Institute. Those who can hear the gospel are either on the verge of sin demonization or are blessed monks. They can also see the moon of the Post-mortem World." Little Bowl continued to gaze at the huge and bright full moon, "The commonality between the gospel and the moon is that they can only be perceived by humans in a certain mental state.

"From another perspective, their image information is ’signals’ that humans cannot receive under normal circumstances. This aligns with Brother Zhuang Cheng’s definition of other aspects of the Post-mortem World. The simultaneous appearance of the gospel and the moon indicates that they are ’things on the same channel.’

"Therefore, I believe the gospel and the moon are of the same origin. Since the source of the former is evil will, the latter must be as well.

"The evil will is an alien object that has invaded from another channel."

I understood her logic and then asked, "But from what you’re saying, the moon hanging in the sky seems not to be something ’exuded by the evil will,’ but the evil will itself?"

"Because this moon doesn’t show any influence over the Post-mortem World, it merely exists." Little Bowl said clearly, "The gospel, at least, incites Sin Demons and blessed monks to kill, but the moon shows no such sign. I believe this shows that the gospel is the means of evil will, while the moon is not.

"The fact that it exists without any meaning signifies that existence itself is the purpose. In other words, it may symbolize the entity of the evil will."

Hearing this, my first reaction was to fire a Flame Light Cannon at that moon in the sky to see what would happen.

Seeing me raise my hand, with flames gathering in my palm, Little Bowl was startled, "Brother Zhuang Cheng, are you thinking of attacking that moon?"

"Hmm..."

I aimed seriously in the direction of the moon but eventually lowered my hand, "...No, let’s not."

I realized that my spirit couldn’t lock onto that gigantic and terrifying full moon at all.

It’s not because the target is too far from the surface. In the real world, even standing on the Earth’s surface, it’s not impossible to snipe a cosmic target four hundred thousand kilometers away. Furthermore, based on my disregard for spatial distance due to my Divine Skills, the attack’s power wouldn’t diminish much. I could even pierce through the moon.

But this moon in the Post-mortem World is entirely different. In reality, there isn’t a moon physically hanging there, but for those receiving specific ’signals,’ they can hallucinate its existence.

Of course, Impermanence does not follow logic. "Because what one perceives is just the opponent’s Mirror Flowers and Water Moon, hitting it doesn’t count," this kind of common sense cannot stop the Power of Great Impermanence. Through one’s perception, transforming an objectively unmodifiable target into a shape and state one can interfere with is something Zhu Shi’s ’Buzhou Mountain’ can achieve, and now I can forcibly simulate the same effect.

However, this time, the opponent is ultimately in a different league in terms of scale. The opponent has replaced Naraku’s will to reign over the Post-mortem World, which can be viewed as embodying the current mimicry of the ’Doomsday Era’ within the Post-mortem World. Such an attack would probably be trivial to the opponent.

To truly damage the opponent, one would need power capable of destroying the entire Post-mortem World.

It’s not entirely impossible to achieve this, but doing so would mean single-handedly declaring war against all the human gods at the Evangelical Institute and the evil will occupying the Post-mortem World. If it came to such a desperate situation, I would muster all my courage to face it; however, I’m not foolish enough to incite a battle that couldn’t possibly be won.

It would be best to focus on the forthcoming operation... Speaking of which, when I carry out my raid on the Yellow Springs Evangelical Institute, I hope the moon won’t suddenly shoot some beams at me from the sky.

When I canceled the flames in my palm, Little Bowl heaved a sigh of relief. I turned my attention back to observing the moon.

Since the world we are currently in is a product of two worlds stitched together, I pondered which side this thing originally came from. Was it the product of World B—the abnormal world as Lady No. 7 described?

Is the primal form of our world truly the abnormal world?

What exactly is the worldview of the primal form of the abnormal world? Perhaps, it’s not necessarily Earth, but a worldview like certain fantasy novels where the heavens and earth are round and square, with a size large enough to reasonably accommodate all of Impermanence. In that worldview, there might not be just one moon in the sky, and the moon could be as gigantic as the one we see now.

Also, why does the evil will choose the form of the moon as a symbol for itself?

Since the opponent is an alien matter invading from another aspect of the Post-mortem World into ours, which aspect did it invade from? And which aspect harbors such intense malice towards humans?

Creatures other than humans that could use the moon as a symbol are not unimaginable—if anything, there are too many such possibilities to pinpoint one.

Since ancient times, the moon has been seen as a representative of femininity and magic, closely associated with many types of animals, monsters, and ghosts.

The essence of moonlight is also called "Emperor’s Nectar," bestowing blessings upon grass and trees, turning them into monsters, and allowing spirits and ghosts to manifest Divine Skills upon consuming it. Yet, moonlight is also surrounded by many legends of bewitching people and driving them mad. Recent surveys even suggest that during a full moon, human crime rates have a subtle increase compared to normal days.

Humans becoming Sin Demons or blessed monks under the illumination of moonlight might also be subject to the moonlight’s curse and blessing.

Seeing my contemplative expression, Little Bowl seemed to guess what I was thinking and said, "If I could recover my past memories, perhaps I’d know more."

"Do you think your past self knew the truth about the evil will?" I asked curiously.

"No, it’s not like that," Little Bowl shook her head. "It’s related to the Power of Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena. I think that the current me hasn’t fully exercised the complete power that I should have, including perception capabilities.

"Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena is essentially the power that emulates the heavens and the earth. In other words, to properly wield this power, one must know their position between heaven and earth. But right now, I don’t even know who I am, which is quite strange.

"It’s supposed to be my power, but it feels somehow out of place when I use it. Seeing it as a part of myself seems too close; seeing it as an external tool seems too far. I think I must remember who I truly am to let the gears of my power align correctly.

"Brother Zhuang Cheng, do you remember what I said before? As long as you can further strengthen the connection between you and the candle flames in the basement of the fifteenth floor, we could pinpoint the junction between the fifteenth-floor basement and the ’Doomsday Era’—the Post-mortem World.

"And as I regain my memory, this should become achievable."

She glanced toward the direction of the former conference room and continued, "I don’t think Lady No. 7 was deceiving us before. Her method should indeed help you return to the Living World. But no matter what, putting all your eggs in one basket is unwise. We must also have our own way back."

That is the fifteenth-floor basement.

Even talking about retrieving memories and finding oneself, Little Bowl didn’t suggest any guesses regarding her true identity. I think it’s not because she lacks clues. As our information increases, the circle of suspicion surrounding Little Bowl’s real identity is narrowing.

Since "Doomsday Era" isn’t the future but the Post-mortem World, firstly, the notion that "Little Bowl is the daughter of me and Zhu Shi in the future" can be completely ruled out with 100% certainty.

Similarly, the notion that Little Bowl is "Zhu Shi somehow transformed into a young girl in the future" can also be ruled out.

And due to the information of "soul-loss patients’ souls being transferred to the Post-mortem World," it’s pretty much confirmed that Zhu Jiu’s soul was transferred to the Post-mortem World. If Little Bowl is neither the daughter of me and Zhu Shi nor Zhu Shi herself, the probability of her being Zhu Jiu significantly increases.

Combining this with the fact that Little Bowl can’t find Zhu Jiu’s whereabouts in the Post-mortem World, the conclusion that "Little Bowl is Zhu Jiu herself" can almost be incorporated into future analyses.

If that’s true, how should I reckon the relationship between me and Little Bowl? Considering that I will marry Zhu Shi later on, and that sometimes the man would call the woman’s parents mom and dad... in a certain sense, Little Bowl might potentially be a woman who would become my mother?

Wait, calm down... things haven’t been completely settled just yet.

There’s still a flaw in the reasoning. For example, why doesn’t Little Bowl’s appearance match Zhu Jiu’s, and instead resembles a young Zhu Shi perfectly? I have investigated Zhu Jiu’s childhood appearance; although similar to young Zhu Shi, it’s not to the point of indistinguishability.

If Little Bowl were Zhu Shi’s Dream Avatar, that would explain this contradiction, but the Post-mortem World is a place Ming Zhuo has tried countless times to infiltrate and failed, so how could Zhu Shi’s Dream Avatar come here? And if so, it cannot explain why Little Bowl couldn’t investigate Zhu Jiu’s whereabouts in the Post-mortem World...

While I was racking my brains, suddenly, distant hurried and panicked footsteps could be heard.

Turning my head, I saw Lady No. 7 running toward Little Bowl and me with a face full of urgency, shouting loudly, "It’s not good, Zhuang Cheng, they—"

Almost at the same time, two overwhelming mana fluctuations simultaneously swept through the Tai Sui Army’s stronghold.