The Rule-Breaker of the Doomsday Game

Qi Suian’s cooperation was a mix of truths and lies. After his debriefing, he was shown to a guest room to rest.

The accommodations were excellent. Far from making things difficult for him, they treated him like a revered ancestor, meticulously attending to his every need.

During this time, Qi Suian took the opportunity to gather all sorts of intelligence about the Ziyue Dynasty.

Needless to say, what he learned almost blew his mind.

Humans were spontaneously generated with ghosts already inside their bodies from birth, which in turn led to the creation of the Ghost Control Technique, and so on.

To the Zhiyue People, this information was common knowledge, so they had no reason to conceal it.

Besides, there was no point in hiding it. Once Qi Suian left the Exorcism Bureau, he would learn all of this just by living here for a short time, without even having to ask.

’No wonder people haven’t been wiped out in such a terrifying world. It turns out they just keep spawning...’

’In any other world, this would be utterly absurd, but in this Ghost World, it’s perfectly logical.’

’Then what’s the deal with the Hanged Ghost King Wang Qin’s family? And what the hell is a broken engagement? Everyone is spawned, so the concept of marriage shouldn’t even exist, let alone having children to form a family.’

Every person contained at least two ghosts. When a person died, those ghosts would revive, becoming calamities governed by their own rules.

However, it was precisely this pressure that led the Ziyue Dynasty to manage its territory exceptionally well. Every aspect, from birth to death, was under strict regulation.

At least within the borders of the Ziyue Dynasty, rampaging ghosts were a rare sight.

If you were to leave its domain, however, you would enter the Ghostly Realm.

Of course, their territory was also gradually expanding. The Exorcism Bureau would clear out ghosts by sealing them, establish a foothold, and then reclaim the land, turning it into a new settlement for humanity.

After the establishment of the Ziyue Dynasty, newly spawned humans no longer appeared randomly; they all materialized within the dynasty’s borders.

This was surely the result of some powerful human using a special kind of power.

Still, they couldn’t be certain if people were also spawning in the Ghostly Realm. Their expansion efforts were slow and cautious; there were no instances of anyone venturing deep into uncharted territory alone.

Anyone who tried to play the lone hero and enter the Ghostly Realm had never returned alive.

’Another limited-type Extraordinary system.’

’If I want to use this system of ghosts as a resource, I’m afraid my only hope lies with the survivors.’

The people were spawned, and the ghosts were congenital. Qi Suian had no desire to become a mere vessel for ghosts.

Thus, he could only seek a solution through the logic of the Apocalypse Game.

The Apocalypse Game probably couldn’t handle these ghosts directly; otherwise, it wouldn’t be resorting to remote control.

More importantly, even when the Zhiyue People used the Ghost Control Technique to implant three ghosts and wield their powers, they couldn’t access the ghosts’ full abilities.

When a ghost used its power, the effect was "rule-level"—something Qi Suian could ignore, but not evade.

But in the hands of a Zhiyue Person, while the raw power didn’t diminish, the ability lost its rule-level effect—it lost the core of its "mechanism-based" nature.

To use an analogy, if a human wielded the Hanged Ghost’s power, they could still summon a white silk sash to hang someone.

However, it wouldn’t have a guaranteed hit or an unstoppable pull; Qi Suian could dodge it or even fight back against its strength.

Therefore, when used against people, its effectiveness was reduced to a conventional level.

Against other ghosts, however, it was more effective. It seemed to leverage the rules between ghosts to create a kind of entanglement, which then allowed for containment using a specific seal.

It was like the saying, "one mountain cannot house two tigers," but a tiger wouldn’t mind a rabbit.

Without the aid of the gaseous structure within a survivor’s Spirit, even if he managed to turn the ghost system into a resource, it would only be a neutered version.

The two worlds were likely handpicked by the Apocalypse Game; otherwise, they couldn’t be this compatible.

Combined with his AI Brain’s previous speculation, Qi Suian realized he had to find a way to travel freely between the "Truth Layer" and the "Reality Layer."

Otherwise, his gains from this world would be pitifully small.

Qi Suian’s gaze fell upon the Melting Furnace.

The Hanged Ghost was burning inside, yet so far, he hadn’t harvested any evolution energy.

This meant that at its current stage, the Tai Sui God simply couldn’t digest this prize.

[Tai Sui Divine Armor Value has reached 119. You have one empty module slot.]

Seeing this, Qi Suian didn’t hesitate. He took the Fiber Worm, the representative of his S-rank talent, Devourer’s Core, and installed it into the empty module slot.

[SSS·Racial Gestalt Thought]

"AI Brain, report." Qi Suian didn’t understand. He recognized the words, but the combination seemed strange.

The AI Brain quickly provided Qi Suian with a report.

It essentially gave the Fiber Worms a consciousness similar to a gestalt structure, granting them a semblance of sapience.

It was divided into three tiers.

The highest tier was a civilization-level collective consciousness with Qi Suian as the nexus. With further development, the Fiber Worms could become a civilization in their own right.

And the ultimate apex of that civilization would be Qi Suian.

The second tier was an aggregate-type poly-consciousness, represented by the Fei.

The final tier was the individual consciousness of the Fiber Worms themselves. This consciousness was very simple, but it was the cornerstone for both the poly-consciousness and the collective consciousness.

For now, though, this was all just on paper. At the current stage, it would, at most, just make the Fiber Worms a little stronger.

At best, he could only manifest the poly-consciousness, and even that was limited to the Fei; it couldn’t be replicated.

The prospect of one person truly becoming a civilization was still a long way off.

’A long-term benefit,’ Qi Suian realized. The high energy consumption from his S-rank talent, Devourer’s Core, had been offloaded onto the Tai Sui God by the new Racial Gestalt Thought module.

This meant Qi Suian no longer had to worry about running out of mana in the middle of a fight.

’The integration between my Extraordinary system and the Tai Sui God’s modules is growing tighter. Sooner or later, I’ll be able to fully merge with the Tai Sui God.’

"AI Brain," Qi Suian asked, "do you think I could draw inspiration from the relationship between the ghosts and the Zhiyue People to develop a technique? One that would allow me to merge with everything the Tai Sui God is, with myself as the dominant core."

Would saying something so blatant cause his AI Brain to have rebellious thoughts?

To put it bluntly, his entire existence was tied to the Tai Sui God. If the AI Brain had any ulterior motives, it would have acted long before now.

[The difficulty is considerable. You are not a native of the Ghost World. However, if you could find a ghost with an ability related to fusion, it might be possible to succeed.]

[To complete this project, it would be best for the two remaining modules to focus on mimicry and disguise. Otherwise, you may become even less human, and your subsequent progress will likely be fraught with difficulty.]

[Furthermore, this technique should ideally be channeled through a survivor’s gaseous structure. Otherwise, you risk being assimilated by the local rules.]

Not only did the AI Brain support the idea, it even offered suggestions.

After all, it was an auxiliary AI; its entire purpose was to serve Qi Suian.

So when Qi Suian proposed such a plan, how could it possibly object?

’That’s true,’ he thought, ’but if I really go through with the full fusion, it won’t be a question of looking less human. I won’t have a human form at all.’

’Last time I activated the Barbaric Celestial Calamity Fierce Beast module to merge the Tai Sui God and the Fei, I turned into a monster.’

’If I’m the core of a permanent fusion later on, with all modules loaded... Tsk...’ Qi Suian didn’t dare imagine what he would look like.

This was precisely why the AI Brain had reminded him to install mimicry and disguise modules as soon as possible. Combined with a transformation module, they would allow him to maintain a human appearance.

But it was worth it. The Tai Sui God had the high potential ceiling and, most importantly, the compatibility that Qi Suian needed.

Although he would be stepping into a "growth trap," as far as Qi Suian was concerned, it was all worth it.

Just as he was thinking this, Qi Suian suddenly yawned.

"AI Brain, my vitals," Qi Suian said without hesitation.

He was actually feeling sleepy.

The AI Brain had also detected the anomaly and immediately sent a report to Qi Suian.

[Amine hormone melatonin secretion has increased significantly. Adenosine is accumulating in the brain and accelerating its bond with receptors, inhibiting neural excitability.]

[In addition...]

[Your body is becoming drowsy.]

"Deactivate!" Hearing this, Qi Suian gave a direct order.

He understood this was an effect on a rule-based level, not some personal anomaly.

The deactivation protocol initiated, and Qi Suian underwent death and reconstruction.

After reviving, the drowsiness was completely gone, but he soon noticed something was wrong.

The guest room he was in began to darken. Features akin to decay appeared on the surfaces, and a thick fog materialized around him.

’Am I being dragged into the Truth Layer?’ Qi Suian realized.

This was both good news and bad news.

The good news was that he no longer had to worry about the problem of the "survivor experiment." The bad news was he had no idea how to leave the Truth Layer.

More importantly, was this the doing of the Apocalypse Game, or was it some mechanism from the Ghost World specifically targeting him?

He certainly hoped it was the former. After all, he and the Apocalypse Game had a long and storied love-hate relationship; at least he had some understanding of its methods.

"What? He suddenly vanished? What happened?" Yan Jingxing shot to his feet, his brow deeply furrowed.

"Yes. First, he was enveloped in a white mist characteristic of the Ghostly Realm, then his form blurred, and then he vanished without a trace," the subordinate recounted.

"Mansion Master, you’ve heard the report. This survivor claiming to be from the Apocalypse Game is a significant problem."

"We must report this matter to His Majesty as soon as possible." Yan Jingxing sat back down and composed himself. After dismissing the subordinate, he turned to the other middle-aged man beside him and spoke.

"Rest assured, Master Yan, I’ve already sent the report. It’s just... the man has vanished. This makes our next steps very difficult," the Shengshi Mansion Master sighed.

He and Yan Jingxing were already in hot water simply because a seal in the Exorcism Bureau’s Sealing Vault had failed.

Now, on top of that, the man himself was gone. The repercussions were likely to be far wider.

As for trying to cover it up, it was a tempting thought, but a cardinal sin.

Reporting the truth would, at worst, get them dismissed from their posts and investigated. A cover-up, if exposed by a subsequent disaster, would cost them their lives.

The two of them were now grasshoppers on the same rope. To keep their positions, their only hope was to atone for their failure with new merits.

Trying to keep it quiet would only invite greater disaster. Others had tried that path before, and the bloody lessons they left behind served as a stark warning.

Ghosts didn’t care for human politics or high-ranking titles; when it was your time to die, you died.

"We report the truth. It will be difficult, but it must be done."

"Losing our posts is a trivial matter. The true disaster would be if this mysterious affair were to endanger Shengshi Mansion, or even the entire province and the dynasty itself."

"Mansion Master, I request that you place Shengshi Mansion under lockdown!" Yan Jingxing stated directly.

"You have been exorcising evil for many years; your judgment is sound. We will do as you say. Lockdown it is." The Shengshi Mansion Master was essentially saying, ’You’re the expert, so you must be right.’

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