Chapter 651: Whispers of a Chaotic Realm

Countless questions crowded Xia Chong’s mind, but before she could voice one, she noticed that Single Soldier—with his so-called ‘classmate’—had already nonchalantly moved ahead, leaving him several dozen centimeters behind.

Hurriedly, she quickened her pace to catch up, wondering how to begin her inquiry.

In this world, Lu Xin and Number Two moved swiftly—or perhaps it wasn’t that they were fast, but that this realm changed too rapidly.

They stepped off the shattered floor and soon pushed open a door that was only half there. Beyond it, a massive black eye dominated the horizon—occupying nearly half the world—before they ventured inside, arriving at a lakeside.

They descended to the lakebed and discovered an elevator that carried them downward, until they reached a realm above the sun.

All around, black soil mixed with surging halos of raging flame.

They passed through the glow and entered a forest where towering, razor-sharp blades stood like trees. By tilting sideways and carefully threading between them, they saw the smooth surfaces of the blades distorting their own faces into twisted and bizarre shapes.

Especially when, after a long walk, their reflections still seemed to be smiling at them.

Experiencing it all, Xia Chong felt an unsettling and grotesque sensation of touch.

Everything was surreal yet brutally real.

She even felt as if her mind had been crammed into a kaleidoscope, caught in a fleeting glimpse of endless absurdity. But when trying to describe it, words failed her.

Oddly enough, she sensed that the two ahead appeared almost accustomed to it all.

That man, whom Single Soldier called ‘Old Two’, wasn’t the only one—Single Soldier himself seemed disinterested in everything.

Why wasn’t he panicking?

In such an eerie place, their calm made her feel even more anxious…

…Could it be that she was the abnormal one?

Amid an endless barrage of questions, they passed through surreal surroundings to reach a precipice whose depth was impossible to measure.

Without missing a beat, Number Two leapt off the edge, and after enduring a dizzying sensation of weightlessness, they found themselves on an endless bridge. They tread on wet planks for what felt like an eternity, yet the end remained unseen.

Xia Chong’s legs grew numb, and she was forced to break into sprints now and then to keep up with the two ahead, nearly on the verge of collapse.

“Where exactly is this place?”

“…”

Number Two paused, turned calmly to Xia Chong, and said, “It’s right here.”

“Because you asked, so it is here.”

“…”

Xia Chong couldn’t initially grasp his meaning, but then she saw Number Two nearing the bridge’s edge, peering down.

Lu Xin and Xia Chong rubbed their eyes to see a river—flowing from an unknown source—filled not with people, but with scores of vivid red figures of all ages and expressions. They tumbled from the far end of the river, nudged forward by an invisible force, churning past their feet…

Some cried out, yet no sound emerged.

Others struggled, but no one could find refuge on the bank.

They flowed like a relentless current, never ceasing their forward movement.

……

……

“They are all here,”

Number Two murmured quietly to Lu Xin and Xia Chong, “Everyone who enters ends up here.”

“I used to try to escape this place out of fear for its hollowness and vastness. That voice told me I could bring others here, but I never imagined that once they arrived, they’d gradually become assimilated—part of this world…”

“Yet I remain utterly alone. Nothing has changed.”

“Because I alone cannot enter this river…”

“…”

Lu Xin and Xia Chong stood silently on the bridge, watching the river roll in from a distant land, surging relentlessly into the horizon.

They beheld countless souls struggling, crying out in despair.

Even standing on the bank, one could almost feel the agony radiating from them.

But they could not utter a word; the madness and despair of those in the river wielded a force so profound it made hearts pound, urging them to flee at once.

“Is the Hell Regiment emerging from here?”

Lu Xin couldn’t fathom how outsiders entered this river, yet another problem became clear.

The river’s appearance differed greatly from that of the Hell Regiment he had encountered earlier in Flame City.

Strangely, though, facing the river reminded him of that regiment—

a boundless torrent of people, the “River of People,” that seemed capable of submerging everything.

It was as if this river, no matter how terrifying, had been distilled into what lay before them.

“Not just the Hell Regiment, I suppose?”

Midway through, Xia Chong suddenly spoke. All along, she had yearned to ask countless questions, yet when she finally did, it turned out they answered on her behalf: “Every midnight in Flame City, despairing entities appear, running rampant in the streets.”

“Their emergence is triggered by a mysterious feeling.”

“It bears an uncanny resemblance to this place…”

“…”

“Maybe…”

Number Two’s reply came as a dreamy, bewildered murmur: “Every person I brought here first experiences a surge of excitement at the sight of these higher entities—so moved by the eternal aura that some even fall to their knees, praying in gratitude for the opportunity…”

“But soon, they confront the true nature of this world…”

“And then, they are consumed by endless terror.”

“…”

Unable to contain herself, Xia Chong looked up, her eyes fixed on Number Two’s face, and asked, “Did you consume them?”

“No…”

Number Two shook his head and replied, “What’s even scarier than consuming them is what comes next.”

“This is the dream of God—a place where everyone senses a power beyond mortal existence. Many believe it to be the feeling they have always pursued, convinced they’ve reached their true home…”

“But they overlook one thing: this is indeed the dream of God.”

“Yet it is not a beautiful dream—it’s a nightmare.”

“…”

Listening, Lu Xin and Xia Chong shivered involuntarily.

They had only just arrived, not yet having experienced that transcendent sensation Number Two described.

But through his calm narration, they could faintly fathom what those people had endured.

They also sensed that beneath the oddity of this world lay lurking dangers.

Looking around, they saw that this shattered, bizarre realm always evoked a sense of discomfort and absurdity.

That feeling was much like trying to sleep restlessly during a high fever.

…What could be more terrifying than that?

……

……

“If you knew bringing these people in was useless from the start, then why did you still bring them?”

Unable to hold back any longer, Lu Xin asked Number Two, “Do you want to torture them?”

“Not at all.”

After a long pause, Number Two finally regained his composure, shook his head, and said, “Besides the first arrivals, some have pleaded with me to bring them in, while others were led by that voice.”

“Now, without my knowledge, many more have entered this world…”

“How can people come in without you noticing?”

Lu Xin paused, looking at Number Two.

After a long moment, Number Two nodded slightly and said, “Perhaps because I never paid attention.”

While Lu Xin was still parsing the differences, Xia Chong murmured softly, “I’ve heard of the Nightmare of God. No one can quite explain this place. In our investigations, we only learned that the Nightmare of God is a bizarre prison—many investigators, or others who infiltrated Flame, inexplicably vanished without a trace…”

“If the Nightmare of God refers to this place…”

She paused before continuing, “Maybe the key lies in why that voice sends these people in?”

“Perhaps…”

Listening to her, Number Two grew silent before softly adding, “Is it for what I take out?”

Lu Xin and Xia Chong abruptly turned to him.

After lingering in hesitation, Number Two whispered, “Every time that voice prompts me to bring in others—or their souls—I feel some change happening here. When I awaken, I notice changes in myself as well.”

“I can sense so much; I can even reshape things with my imagination.”

“At first I could only bring in one or two people, but later, it felt as though I could bring an entire city here.”

“When I’m awake, observing the people around, they seem almost mechanical.”

“I can alter their Mental Power at will—make it stronger, weaker, or even wipe it out entirely.”

“I can force everyone who senses this to shift according to my whims.”

“I tell them exactly what I want them to say and do, and they comply as if it were the natural order of things.”

“I can even reshape the surrounding world to mimic my desires…”

“…”

Number Two continued in an eerily calm tone, “I don’t know what it all signifies.”

“But that voice once congratulated me, saying that while others in this world were still holed up in their basements, worshipping the creation of the third tier of beings, I had easily reached the fifth tier…”

“It told me that if I wished, I could be a god roaming the city.”