Chapter 649 Pre-War Preparations 4

Chapter 649: Pre-Battle Preparations 4

As Wind Chime said earlier, if Su Bai really meant them harm, he wouldn't have gone through so many complicated steps.

Moreover, the Nameless Society players living in the Nightmare World had long since developed a mindset unlike ordinary humans. As long as Wind Chime nodded, the others had no objections.

Still, Wind Chime spoke up first, "Su Bai, I trust you. But for the sake of the other members in the organization, please make me a puzzle piece first, and then let the others join."

Su Bai had no problem with that either.

In truth, even though Wu Hang seemed totally confident in him, Su Bai himself wasn't a hundred percent sure if he could actually take that crucial step forward with his puzzle power. Even if he pulled it off, no one could guarantee that this new power could really spread outward the way Wu Hang guessed—to wrap around things, connect to the outside world, and even transform living humans, to say nothing of the cold, rundown buildings and land beneath their feet.

It all sounded too ideal, too ahead of its time.

But now was not the time for hesitation.

Su Bai knew very well that indecision and hesitation would only lead to nothing. Only by making a decision and taking action could there be a chance of success.

He took a deep breath, his fingertips tightening slightly, then slowly closed his eyes. In his mind, a familiar door slowly emerged—the door he knew all too well.

At first, the puzzle pieces were the ones who went in and out of this door with Su Bai's permission, lending him their power through that door.

Not long ago, Su Bai had finally learned to grasp the door handle himself and take the initiative to open the door.

Now, Su Bai was attempting something different—he would try to walk through that door.

Su Bai had never seen the world behind the door. His only idea of what was inside came from what the puzzle pieces had told him. The puzzle pieces said they loved the world behind the door, a place that seemed to be the embodiment of their spirits, presenting the scenes they most longed for or cherished.

It could be the most peaceful courtyard from their past lives, an old wooden window left open, a wind chime swaying and letting out a crisp ring.

Or it could be an abandoned wasteland, where tiny flowers and grass that had long since withered in the real world still grew—some stubborn memory detail.

Maybe it was a blue sky and ocean, grasslands and sunlight they thought they'd never see again. There, the wind was always gentle, the clouds always pure white.

Some puzzle pieces even told him it was a three-story building almost identical to the Su family home—not large, but warm, making them feel closer to their Puzzle Master.

There were also doors between the puzzle pieces themselves.

In their leisure time, they would visit each other, drop by, or even temporarily reside with one another. Someone would run over to a neighbor's herb garden and pick a few leaves, not sure if they were poisonous, to brew tea; another would head to the neighboring wasteland to help turn the soil and plant some aggressively growing invasive species.

Su Bai had always known that the world of the puzzle pieces was vast. Those small worlds seemed independent but were all connected and woven together. But perhaps because the power supporting these worlds originated from the Eerie Entities themselves, Su Bai, in his past life and even now, had never been able to open that door or establish even the slightest connection to these small worlds.

Before, Su Bai understood that he himself was just one piece of the Evil Ghost Puzzle. That puzzle had always been deep in his spirit, living in his shadow, inside his very body.

But now, he was going to open that door.

To let the puzzle pieces and those small worlds come out of the door, spread out, and reach into the outside world.

What Su Bai wanted to achieve was to truly become an insignificant yet crucial piece of this puzzle, to fully link himself with each of these worlds and the outside areas.

When Su Bai reached for the door, that familiar feeling of distance was still there at first. The door was right there, yet seemed unreachable—just like every previous attempt, untouchable, unreachable.

But soon, the seemingly ordinary door quietly transformed. The plain door handle changed before him into the handle of the giant scythe he knew so well—black with gold patterns, ancient and solemn.

At that moment, Su Bai easily grabbed the door handle that seemed to have become part of him.

An inexpressible sensation spread from his palm throughout his body. It was no longer borrowing, no longer a temporary permission, but a complete "possession."

This door now belonged to him.

Su Bai didn't hesitate. He took a deep breath and pulled the door open with a jerk.

In an instant, a distorted light surged toward him—a light that was neither white nor black, neither cold nor warm, like a torrent formed by countless colors compressed and crushed, carrying a force dazzling enough to make one dizzy.

Su Bai's "sight" almost got torn apart by that torrent. It was the light of the puzzle world, a world he had never truly entered.

He almost got lost in that stream of light.

Just then, familiar figures emerged from the depths of the light stream.

They stood on either side of the passage that stretched through his mind, shadowy and indistinct.

The puzzle pieces seemed to have been waiting for a long time, standing quietly there, gazing at Su Bai, as if they were saying—"You're finally here. We've been waiting."

From among these figures, Su Bai even saw some puzzle pieces that always remained deep within. In his past life, Su Bai never had enough power to borrow strength from these puzzle pieces, let alone summon them. In this life, they had stayed quietly in the depths, as if their purpose for being there was simply to find a more comfortable dwelling than the Nightmare World.

"Come with me," Su Bai said. His voice spread through the torrent of light, gentle yet firm.

He looked at them, speaking each word clearly: "Not just a quick trip out, not loaning me power and then going back... but please, come with me to leave this place, to fight a battle, to take over a new world."

He extended his hand, waiting for a response.

"With pleasure."

"Wherever Xiao Bai goes, I go!"

"After all these years, you're finally starting to think about doing something interesting?"

"Indeed, living is about making a big scene!"

"We're with you."

"Go for it!"

"Before the big battle, are you sure you don't want to get the most luxurious outfit?"

"Mm."

"Let's go. We're right behind you."

"Don't worry, go for it." Wu Hang's voice also came through, and then Su Bai felt a hand—cold, yet as reassuring as ever—grab hold of his own.

After a strange dizzy spell, the chaotic light and the thick fog that had blocked everything in Su Bai's "vision"—he'd been meditating with his eyes closed—gradually faded away. Su Bai suddenly found himself seeing from high up—it was as if he had flown high into the sky.

Though he couldn't see the whole world like the Red Moon did, it was enough to survey the entire base of the Nameless Society.

He saw the Mist Store on the playground, the members of the Nameless Society waiting quietly, and even Wu Hang and... himself, standing there hand in hand.

What was different from his real vision was that in Su Bai's "eyes," he himself had become a small piece of the puzzle. Then, under his gaze, the entire school area of the Nameless Society also showed faint puzzle edges.

To Su Bai's surprise, changing the whole school area wasn't as hard as he'd thought. So he turned his "gaze" to the small grocery store, which looked tiny compared to the whole school area...