Chapter 189 The Way to Break the Deadlock

Chapter 189: The Way to Break the Situation

"Because of this dense fog." Although the ThreadWrapped Doll's face was devoid of expression, its lowered head and the slight movement of its tiny hands still conveyed Xiao Wu's dejection.

"Perhaps the shop has been in the fog for too long, and now the fog in the area where the shop is located has become extremely chaotic. It feels... well, in human terms, like there are signal reception issues, so I can't transform into human form for the time being."

"Signal reception?" Su Bai sat at the desk and gently poked the ThreadWrapped Doll's little belly with his finger—it was hard. "In the human world, signal reception is only needed when two devices are very far apart, right? I remember you said this doll is your true form. Why would it need to receive a signal?"

Xiao Wu: "..."

The little creature before him seemed to be struggling to formulate an answer, but Su Bai merely smiled, as if unconcerned with the reply, or perhaps as if he had already anticipated something.

"But you still woke up," Su Bai tapped the ThreadWrapped Doll’s small head and said with a smile. "Even with the fog interfering, you still managed to wake up. Thank you."

The doll on the table leaned closer to Su Bai’s finger, and its small, round arms clamped around his finger, as if "hugging" it. Only after seeing Su Bai’s slightly stunned expression did it hurriedly let go.

"This is the first time you’ve opened the shop’s door in such a difficult situation, Madam... boss. How could Xiao Wu possibly sleep through it?"

"I remember you said you are very familiar with the Nightmare World. So, do you know what’s really going on with this dense fog?" Su Bai’s expression turned serious. "I still find it hard to imagine what kind of immense power the Fog City Lord must possess to isolate the entire Fog City from the red moon. After all, in my memory, no human or supernatural entity has ever been able to escape the influence of the red moon in the Nightmare World."

"Could it be that the Fog City Lord is simply too terrifying?" Su Bai added, giving the little creature a meaningful glance. "More terrifying than Xiao Wu’s master?"

"How could that be?!" The ThreadWrapped Doll, which had been sitting on the table, clumsily stood up and put its hands on its hips to make itself seem more imposing. "That thing can’t even be compared to my... master. In terms of rank, the gap between them is insurmountable. This fog might look intimidating, but its operating principle is actually very simple."

"Oh?" Su Bai stopped teasing the little creature and began to ask seriously, "What principle?"

"The fog is that guy’s true form. In other words, he has enveloped the entire Fog City within his own body," Xiao Wu said in a casual tone. "This ability is indeed special and can even affect time to some extent, but it’s not very sustainable, nor is it particularly powerful."

"Claiming to isolate the red moon from this city is pure nonsense." Xiao Wu clumsily made a motion of spreading its hands, though the stiff body and limbs of the ThreadWrapped Doll made it look more like it was asking Su Bai for a hug. "All that guy did was use his own body to shield the entire city. The power of the red moon outside is naturally absorbed by his body, making it difficult to reach the Fog City within his body. That’s all."

The fog is the Fog City Lord’s body?

Hearing Xiao Wu’s explanation, the fragmented clues in Su Bai’s mind finally coalesced. Though some minor details were still missing, the puzzle surrounding the Fog City Lord was nearly complete.

Controlling an entire city might be incredibly difficult, but controlling one’s own body is much simpler.

"Xiao Wu, you just said the Fog City Lord’s ability isn’t very sustainable?" Su Bai recalled the information Xiao Wu had mentioned earlier.

"Right. That guy’s ability essentially involves controlling the inside of his own body. It doesn't threaten anything outside, but it allows him to control the structure and the flow of time within the fog-enveloped city. He can even keep other ghosts alive inside his body. However, even his control over the inside of his own body has strict time limits. Even if no humans calling themselves 'players' had entered Fog City, the city’s collapse was already at its critical point."

Xiao Wu’s tone grew heavier.

"All humans can do in this city is either accelerate or delay the city’s collapse and the awakening of the ghosts, or give him some amusement. Beyond that, there’s nothing they can do." As he spoke, the ThreadWrapped Doll looked up at Su Bai. "Of course, Madam, you're not included in that."

"It seems there isn’t much I can do either." Su Bai now knew that the fog was the Fog City Lord’s true form. The guy in the white suit he had encountered earlier might just be a puppet the Fog City Lord placed inside his own body.

Perhaps if Su Bai encountered the puppet again, he would be able to punch it hard, but how could he attack the fog, which was practically everywhere?

Su Bai’s desire to take action against the Fog City Lord wasn’t to save the other players trapped in Fog City. He didn't have such noble character or ideals. He simply knew that the appearance of the fog meant time was beginning to pass in Fog City again. If he didn’t do something, both his mother lying in the hospital and his studies that just started again would be affected.

He had to do something for himself.

"That guy has done so much inside his own body; he must also enter Fog City in some way to immerse himself in and admire everything he’s created, right? If I’m not mistaken, he might use the same method he used to create the Fog City people to create a body for himself." Although Xiao Wu claimed it was just a guess, he was almost certainly right.

"You seem to know him quite well?" Su Bai couldn’t help but pat the ThreadWrapped Doll’s round head again. It sounded like Xiao Wu was also aware that the Fog City Lord was particularly fond of studying puppet techniques.

"I’ve heard from people around... ahem, from people around my master mention this guy. He’s nothing but a clumsy copycat." The ThreadWrapped Doll added specifically, "So he’s not even close to my... master. He’s definitely not some terrifying figure."

It seemed the little creature was still bothered by Su Bai’s earlier suggestion that the Fog City Lord might be more terrifying than his master, the Ghost Witch.

"Clumsy, as in his puppet-making technique?" Su Bai couldn’t help but make the connection. After all, the fog was the Fog City Lord’s innate ability and not an imitation of anyone. The other ability the Fog City Lord had demonstrated was stuffing ghosts into the puppets he created. Even the City Lord himself had admitted that his techniques were crude compared to those of a supernatural being known as the "Puppeteer."

Those clay shells were indeed very clumsy.

The ThreadWrapped Doll didn’t deny it but continued, "Because his technique is clumsy, the connection between the puppet and his true form is very strong. It becomes a weakness he created for himself. However, if the puppet is taken care of elsewhere in Fog City, the consciousness within it would likely immediately escape back to the true form. So..."

"So?" Su Bai followed Xiao Wu’s train of thought and suddenly realized something.

In Fog City, almost every corner is created by the Fog City Lord. If there’s a place where the Fog City Lord might be caught, it would have to be...

"So, Madam, you need to invite him into the shop." Xiao Wu’s words confirmed Su Bai’s guess.