Chapter 650: Shattered Realms

“True Hometown?”

“Hell?”

……

Listening to Lu Xin’s slightly surprised tone, Number Two was silent for a long while.

He seemed unsure how to respond, or perhaps he was simply slow to react.

After a long pause, he spoke in an even, calm tone, “I’m familiar with True Hometown—many people mention it to me. As for Hell… someone once said something similar, but I hardly remember the details.”

Lu Xin lowered his gaze at Number Two, at a loss for words.

His emotions were incredibly complex, even tinged with sadness.

At first, he had thought that True Hometown was just a mysterious organization—a disorderly one at that—nothing more to worry about. And Hell, he’d never taken personally; he was deceived by Dracula into coming to Flame City and happened to meet Xia Chong and the others, so he helped out as a friend…

Yet, against all odds, he had ended up encountering Number Two during this ordeal…

Even more astonishing, Number Two turned out to be the core of the entire series of events…

He’d already learned that the creation of Hell was linked to True Hometown, and now that he knew Number Two was the source of True Hometown, it wasn’t hard to deduce that Hell might also be connected to his orphanage mates…

Sigh!

Former classmates—some became robbers in the Wasteland, others were lured into crime.

And now, unbelievably, one ended up as the leader of a cult?

Yet, judging by Number Two’s relationship with those three black-robed priests, they seemed intensely afraid of him.

This suggested he might not actually be the cult leader—and that he, too, was perhaps deceived…

……

……

After a long while, he let out a soft sigh, his gaze narrowing as he looked at Number Two and asked, “Who was that voice you mentioned?”

Number Two fell silent; after a moment he realized which voice Lu Xin meant.

In a low murmur he replied, “I don’t know. He never mentioned anything.”

Lu Xin exhaled softly.

It sounded as if Number Two was hiding something, yet Lu Xin had a gut feeling that he simply hadn’t been asked.

However, judging by the situation in Flame City, it wasn’t hard to tell.

In Flame City, all sorts of mysterious organizations were cropping up, and even the Flame higher-ups had been swept up in the chaos surrounding Hell’s creation.

It even appeared that the soul trade incident was directly linked to them.

Yet all of it seemed to be orchestrated by some hidden mastermind.

Although Number Two was at the center of it all, it was clear he had merely been used.

So, who was the true mastermind behind it all?

From the reactions of Flame City’s higher-ups during his conversation with the Hell Designer, it didn’t seem to be them.

Especially someone capable of speaking with Number Two within the Nightmare of God – what level of being does that imply?

Following these questions, Lu Xin couldn’t help but consider one possibility.

Previously, when he helped Xia Chong and the others capture the Hell’s Messenger, he even assisted in apprehending a member of Flame’s emergency team sent to back up the Hell’s Messenger; during a thorough interrogation, he learned one thing:

It seemed many on the Flame side were devoutly following a god known as Cangzhang.

Could it be that by conversing with Number Two—and even guiding him to establish the True Hometown Church—that god was none other than Cangzhang?

Viewed from that angle, if Hell was built using Flame’s vast resources and was designed single-handedly by the Hell Designer, and if Number Two was the ultimate source of it all, then what role did Cangzhang play?

Mentor?

He shook his head slightly.

The clues were too scattered—everything seemed interconnected, yet it was nearly impossible to piece them together systematically.

At that moment, he could only turn to Number Two, pondering deeply as he slowly asked:

“You just mentioned that he plans to drag the entire world into the Nightmare of God?”

“How exactly does he intend to do that?”

“……”

Number Two appeared momentarily stunned by Lu Xin’s words, then slowly shook his head, “I don’t know either.”

“Maybe he isn’t really going to do it. He just told me about the method.”

As he spoke, he looked up at Lu Xin and added, “Honestly, I’d rather not do it.”

Lu Xin frowned slightly and asked, “Why not?”

After a slow, thoughtful pause, Number Two murmured, “Because it wouldn’t really help anything.”

Lu Xin, clearly puzzled, asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“I’m afraid of staying here forever—it’s just too oppressive and empty. I can’t stand that feeling.”

Number Two continued slowly, “When I first brought others here, I thought maybe it meant we wouldn’t have to be lonely anymore. But I quickly realized nothing really changed. Everyone who came in just…”

At that point, he trailed off.

After a long moment, he suddenly looked up at Lu Xin and said, “Let me show you around!”

Lu Xin considered for a moment and then nodded.

Number Two stood up and draped Lu Xin’s jacket over himself.

Lu Xin recalled that back at the orphanage, Number Two was slightly older than he was.

But despite the years, it seemed he hadn’t grown much—still small and skinny.

Wearing Lu Xin’s jacket, it now fell just to his knees.

Yet, precisely because of that, one jacket was enough to cover him properly.

……

This was a realm where up and down seemed meaningless—a place where everything was fragmented and bizarre. Normal people, staring at this broken and abstract world, felt dizzy and struggled to understand its form.

Perhaps humans rely on logic to comprehend the world.

But what if this world has no logic at all?

Yet Number Two seemed to understand this illogical world perfectly. When he reached the edge of a shattered floor, he naturally stepped forward. One foot landed on a patch of floor above them, and before long his entire body had crossed over, appearing right above Lu Xin—head to head.

He even rolled his eyes upward and exchanged a glance with him.

Lu Xin felt uneasy but tentatively measured the gap before leaping forward from that edge.

Reaching the upper floor fragment, he passed through a crack in the center.

A strange panic suddenly gripped him; he instinctively peered into the depths of the crack.

For a moment, he thought he saw something—but then it faded from memory.

It was as if that rift contained something far beyond his understanding, something his mind couldn’t grasp.

Thus, he was left with an unsettling sense of forgotten terror.

Reaching another floor fragment, he stood side by side with Number Two; looking up, the spot where he had just stood had become the ceiling.

Lu Xin stood still for a while, absorbing the disorienting, surreal sensation.

Number Two, understanding his state, didn’t rush him—instead, he quietly waited by his side.

“Call over my companions first.”

Lu Xin glanced toward the distance where Xia Chong was and said to Number Two.

Once they arrived in this world, Sister and Father vanished without a trace. It wasn’t clear whether they hadn’t followed or were hiding somewhere. Lu Xin had seen this many times before and remained unfazed, but he still wanted to bring Xia Chong along.

Number Two nodded and waved at Xia Chong in the distance.

Lu Xin looked over to see Xia Chong, clutching her legs and wiping away tears on a distant floor fragment, suddenly rushing toward him. The fragment she was on spun wildly as she moved. Sensing something amiss, Xia Chong quickly grabbed a nearby table leg and, with her left hand, brandished the sharp dagger attached to her leg.

“Bang…”

The fragment Xia Chong was on collided with theirs, producing a hollow, echoing sound.

Lu Xin nearly lost his balance.

“Is it you?”

Xia Chong instantly looked around in alarm, tears still glistening on her face. In the next moment, she sharply spotted a figure nearby; clutching the black dagger in her hand, she was about to lunge at Number Two—until she caught sight of Lu Xin behind him.

Then she swiftly flipped over, using Lu Xin’s distraction to wipe the tears from her face.

Turning around, her expression turned serious, “What is this place?”

In the next moment, she looked at Number Two and asked, “Who is he?”

Lu Xin’s gaze lingered on her still-wet eyes for a moment before he pretended not to notice, casually introducing, “This is my guy—you can call him… Number Two.”

Glancing around, he added, “He brought us here. This is the Nightmare of God.”

“Nightmare of God?”

Xia Chong was suddenly struck as if by lightning; her eyes widened like copper bells.

In an instant, countless questions and fears welled up inside her.

At that moment, Number Two heard Lu Xin’s introduction and nodded softly, “Is this your significant other?”

Xia Chong’s attention immediately shifted, “What are you talking about?”

Lu Xin quickly laughed and explained, “No, no—she’s a friend of mine named Xia Chong.”

Number Two gave a soft “Oh” and nodded at Xia Chong, “Hello.”

Xia Chong suddenly felt an uncontrollable surge of anger, unable to quite pinpoint the reason for her irritation.

On closer reflection, she realized she’d been momentarily startled at being mistaken for a Single Soldier’s partner, and although Lu Xin’s quick explanation cleared the confusion, his rapid response left her even more annoyed.

…So, what exactly had frightened her just now?