Chapter 261: "Deadly Mail"
An indescribable feeling surged into his heart.
Bai Yan had never been so close, physically and emotionally, to the truth about the "Babel Tower" before!
"Is this the basic rule of the book called 'Babel Tower'?"
Bai Yan looked up and saw streams of black ribbons flowing out from the phone, hovering in mid-air.
Above them, there were many different characters, resembling drifting clouds. They moved slowly, following a certain pattern, as if they held some kind of rules within them.
Without a doubt!
This is the fundamental rule of "Babel Tower!"
"So, let's begin ..."
Bai Yan took a deep breath and prepared himself for another bout of unconsciousness. He focused all his attention on the characters, trying to understand their meaning.
Insightful Linking · Activate!
A splitting headache hit Bai Yan, catching him completely off guard. He had never expected his mental strength to drain even faster than before! It was becoming even more rapid and vigorous!
No, the two are definitely not even in the same league!
Bai Yan realized a frightening truth, that trying to uncover the underlying rules and truths of the "Babel Tower" would be even more challenging than trying to glimpse the laws of fate and the future!
Although it seems very unbelievable to think about, it was an undeniable fact!
He felt his body shaking violently, his vision shifting sideways, becoming blurry and dark, until everything suddenly started shaking violently.
"If I were to fall now, all my previous efforts would be in vain..."
Bai Yan, no longer speaking, summoned an immense strength of will that surpassed that of an ordinary person. He forcefully held back, refusing to let himself lose consciousness too quickly.
He opened his eyes wide, gazing at the many black ribbons floating in mid-air, trying to understand the meaning behind the symbols.
Gradually, Bai Yan began to understand.
"I...saw it, I saw it, so that's how it is!"
Before he lost consciousness again, he finally managed to understand a small part of the characters.
[If the operation 'Deadly Mail' is successfully completed, the difficulty of the First Doomsday Crisis will slightly decrease, or...]
--
--
--
Bai Yan felt like he had been asleep for a very long time.
I, just now, fainted...
Remembering, hmm, it was because of peeking at the Babel Tower...
Um, feeling unprecedented exhaustion, it had been so long since becoming extraordinary that I had felt this way...
Such unfamiliar feelings, as if experiencing all the sensations of an ordinary person...
Bai Yan's physical and mental strength were rapidly recovering, but still not reaching the most optimal state.
He realized that this time, when he peeked at the underlying rules of the Babel Tower, it not only drained his mental strength but also harmed his soul.
So, Bai Yan's power weakened slightly.
He realized that if it wasn't necessary, he should never do it too often... Perhaps he could try occasionally glimpsing destiny and the future, but he shouldn't attempt to peek into the Babel Tower game easily.
However, Bai Yan, lying on the ground, still felt a bit nostalgic.
He hadn't slept so comfortably for a very long time, and he simply lay there for a long period.
Speaking of which, actually, when Bai Yan slowly woke up, he had been feeling someone nearby staring at him. But because he didn't sense any hostility due to his intuition, he didn't pay much attention to it.
Clearly, the person was... Sylve.
He slowly opened his eyes and saw Sylve's face very close to his. The girl was lying on the floor, supporting her face with her hands, seemingly looking very intently.
She was gazing at the man who was "deeply asleep" on the floor of her own room.
"Sylve?" Bai Yan gently spoke up.
"Oh!"
Sylve paused for a moment, then she pulled her head back and hunched up, but instead of standing up, she remained lying on the ground.
She immediately asked, "Mr. Moriarty, how are you now? Are you okay?"
"I am fine, nothing happened."
Bai Yan smiled, feeling a slight headache and a bit of sadness in his heart. But other than that, he didn't have any major problems... well, the soul being hurt was actually quite serious.
The power of talent is the essential power of the soul.
The damage to the soul directly leads to a decrease in strength, and even a decrease in one's Plane.
Luckily, Bai Yan wasn't severely hurt. He only suffered the mildest form of soul damage.
Sylve nodded quickly, like the rapid falling of beans from a bamboo tube, and said:
"That's good, that's good, Mr. Moriarty. When I woke up, I saw you lying here. At first, someone in the room scared me, but when I realized it was you, I felt relieved. But later, I got scared again, thinking you might have been attacked, and I even thought I might die with you. But after looking closely, I realized you were sleeping and not in trouble. So I didn't dare to wake you up and just... watched you for a little while."
Of course, Sylve wouldn't admit to being fascinated by herself like that.
Bai Yan listened attentively and then slowly stood up from the ground, extending a hand with a smile to help Sylve up.
As she got up, she asked with a puzzled expression, "Why were you lying by my bedside, and why were you lying on the ground? Aren't you cold?"
This kind of question is simply too innocent and naive.
"It was a little cold, but you were in bed, so I had to sleep on the floor."
Bai Yan had a completely gentle smile on his face, without any intention of revealing the true reason why he was lying here.
"But, my bed is actually very big...uh, I mean, I can sleep on the floor."
Sylve stammered and finally lowered her head.
Bai Yan suddenly felt that Sylve had a kind of... cuteness? innocence? girlishness? that other girls didn't have.
In conclusion, all of those things seemed out of place in the world he was in, a world filled with madness and violence.
However, even so... the Sylve of the past used to be a fierce and mischievous child who bullied others under the influence of her classmates' teasing.
This is something Bai Yan would never forget.
She would never show such a "girlish" attitude in front of others.
The previous Sylve used to often tease kids her own age.
Now, she has forcefully undergone adjusted training.
However, when certain things are done, there is no way to completely make up for them.
I'm sorry, but saying sorry will never be enough, no matter how much you try.
For example, that girl might not always care about what happened at school, but she should never forgive Sylve.
Bai Yan gently shook his head, stopping himself from getting lost in his thoughts.
Before I became Profligate, wasn't I that ordinary person Bai Yan first?
Then, just don't worry about it so much.
He gazed at the young girl in front of him, instinctively activating his extraordinary power of "Connection". He could even perceive the changes in her emotions as if they were shown through a curve.
"Sylve."
"Hm?"
Sylve looked at him, wanting to know what this man had to say, wanting to understand what was going on in his mind.
Bai Yan simply said calmly, "The tree outside is one that I planted, it was planted to save the world."
"One day, a magical gateway would connect the sky, opening a pathway for Noah to travel to different worlds... When that time comes, even you will be able to visit other worlds and see what they are like."
Bai Yan paused for a moment, and with a smile, he said, "Let's go together then, and see what the other worlds are like."
Sylve gazed at the World Tree, which still appeared "young," with a hopeful expression, nodding enthusiastically.
"Okay, Mr. Moriarty, I want to..."
She froze in place.
At some unknown time, Mr. Moriarty had disappeared and was nowhere to be found.
--
Bai Yan had many other important things to take care of, which made it impossible for him to continue playing "everyday games" with Sylve.
The world was still waiting for him to save it.
If someone else says that, it would be considered pretentious, but when Bai Yan says it, he is simply stating a fact.
The sky had already become bright.
The sun had risen three poles high.
The gentle and cool sunlight shone on their faces, while the slightly chilly air made Tatsumi City feel somewhat solemn and eerie.
He arrived on the rooftop of the mansion and took out his phone. He looked down and checked the first boss of the strange activity.
When Bai Yan saw the game interface of Babel Tower, he couldn't help but remember the scene he had witnessed a few hours ago.
In the sky, black ribbons were flying all around, giving off a strange feeling that had never been experienced before.
He knew it very well.
Now, no matter how much thinking there is, it doesn't serve any purpose.
To do more things, he has to further strengthen the power of "connection" and "game".
"If destiny and the future could be changed, perhaps one day, I could even modify the basic rules of the Babel Tower."
"When that time comes, everything can change."
He muttered to himself:
"The mysterious leader of the Babel Tower will no longer be confined by 'Babel Tower'."
After thinking it over, Bai Yan began to carefully observe the new event called "Deadly Mail". The game's background was a black mail that constantly emitted an ominous vibe.
In the introduction, it mentioned that there were a total of four bosses present.
"So, you mean, four different strange things?"
He quickly noticed something. The starting options for all four bosses' quests were still in the countdown phase.
So, do I still have time to stop them from killing people?
Bai Yan thought for a moment. The starting times for the four bosses' quests were not exactly the same, but they were close enough.
In short, they would all appear within the same "two hours".
Bai Yan understood now, it was actually this kind of system, "Since that's the case, I should divide the team and send different core operators to deal with different strange things."
Then, there was a delay in the "Babel Tower" game.
Bai Yan started the game here and it would only affect reality after a few hours.
"That means, I can try to stop the 'crisis' before it even starts by putting an end to the 'crisis' directly."
The wind on the rooftop gently blew, causing Bai Yan's black cloak to flutter.
"This time, the activity must be completed perfectly, at least reaching an SS-level evaluation."
He still remembered the message he had exhausted all his energy to see.
It must be true.
If he can perfectly complete the "Babel Tower" Deadly Mail activity, then the difficulty of the First Doomsday Crisis will become slightly easier.
For this reason, Bai Yan would definitely try his best to come up with a solution.
By the way, he knew that receiving an "SS" level evaluation in the activity meant receiving a "perfect" evaluation.
And receiving an "SSS" level evaluation was actually considered "unbelievable."
Indeed, it was truly unbelievable to receive an "SSS" level evaluation. During the first playthrough, Bai Yan could only achieve such a high task evaluation by sheer luck, like a lucky coincidence or happening upon it by chance, just once.
As for the "SS" level evaluation, in each round of the game, he could only manage to achieve it once or twice, which was already considered quite good.
Even in the second playthrough, despite having the help of external factors, Bai Yan couldn't achieve an "SSS" level evaluation for every activity. In fact, it was quite challenging for him to even strive for an "SS" level evaluation.
--
An Yang was an ordinary student at Herendor University.
Her most beloved thing used to be a famous celebrity from Tatsumi City, the noble young lady from a prominent family. It is said that she is the granddaughter of Count Gallard.
Now, An Yang's most favorite thing is the well-known "Babel Tower".
Babel Tower was like a dream come true for her!
These people, these heroes, these incredibly, incredibly powerful members of Babel Tower! Without a doubt, they were the guardians of Tatsumi City, shining like gods!
She had watched all the Babel Tower videos that were released, remembering every characteristic and symbol of each member. She decorated her dorm room with all sorts of Babel Tower merchandise as a display of her love for the series.
On her bed, there was even a cute little doll of Nightsaber!
Bai Yan hadn't been paying much attention for a while, so there was something he wasn't quite aware of - there had been some recent changes in how the Babel Tower videos were being shared.
For example, the videos would display the "nicknames" of each Core Operator.
So, the nicknames that the fans had given to the various members of Babel Tower started to become less popular, and more and more people began using the official titles to refer to these Babel Tower members.
When Nightsaber first became popular in Tatsumi City, people didn't know what to call her, so they gave her a nickname.
Her original nickname was also known as "Nightshade Girl," "Dirge," "Black Blade" and so on...
Among them, the nickname "Dirge" makes no sense at all. It was only because of a funny comic strip drawn by a devoted fan that became popular, where Nightsaber was referred to as "Dirge." That's how this nickname came about.
While the official title of "Psychic Dancer" was not officially announced, fans came up with nicknames for her like "Mind-control Loli," "Manipulative Maiden," "Flat," and so on... Later, even after the official name for "Psychic Dancer" was revealed, everyone still preferred to affectionately call her by the catchy and friendly nickname "Flat."
But it's strange how sometimes, for no apparent reason, people who called her "Flat" too often would experience inexplicable misfortunes for several days. After that, they were too afraid to call her "Flat" anymore and started referring to her as "Psychic Princess," "Psychic Queen," or "Psychic Lady" instead.
Some people jokingly said, perhaps Psychic Dancer followed the internet cables all the way here!
And these people remained silent about the reasons behind their sudden change of heart, refusing to provide any answers.
"I am really angry!"
An Yang is burning with anger right now!
Recently, there have been many people who have been gossiping about the members of Babel Tower in secret. Some of these people even went as far as saying that both Nightsaber and Psychic Dancer are two-faced individuals.
In front of others, they would save the world, but who knows what they might be up to behind everyone's back.
An Yang immediately spoke up in disagreement, saying that this was impossible. She knew very well that Babel Tower had saved Tatsumi City many times!
Actually, if she didn't respond, it would have been fine. But as soon as she responded, those people immediately became interested.
"But you have to understand, knowing someone's face doesn't mean knowing their heart. Although there is no evidence, I feel like there is reason to suspect that they may secretly do some very unpleasant things. You also don't have any evidence to completely rule out this possibility."
"Right, I think that makes sense. Look at that 'Nightsaber', she looks really scary. In several battles, Tatsumi City lost so many people, and yet she still wears black stockings... When I think about it, if she could take each battle more seriously, maybe she could save more people, don't you think?"
"When you say that, I also feel sick. The people at Babel Tower didn't show heroic qualities, because they didn't pay attention to stop many criminals… It would be better if heroes didn't exist with this kind of attitude, it really disgusts people."
"And they enjoyed our praises and admiration, but they didn't do their best. That's too unfair."
After reading these comments, An Yang suddenly felt that all the people around her were foolish.
Completely unable to understand.
Why do these people think like this?
No, actually Babel Tower isn't responsible for saving us, right?
Your way of thinking is really strange!
An Yang quickly retorted, "Um, actually, their superhuman battles, whether in black stockings or armor, wouldn't be affected too much."
"Humph, since you said it, just believe in it. After all, you're completely obsessed with your favorite idol. Maybe this is what they call a devoted fan of the Babel Tower. We just can't seem to have a conversation."
"Hahaha, it's just talking, isn't it? Look, she's taking it seriously."
An Yang fell into deep thought, and then she became furious!
Actually, she is the person who draws funny comics for the members of the "Babel Tower"!
Then, with a not-so-stubborn temperament, she vented her anger online in a big way!
Now, An Yang has already received a lot of mean messages from people, and the more she responds, the worse the insults become.
"Ugh, ugh, ugh, so frustrating! But it seems like there's nothing I can do..."
And right at that moment, another email appeared in An Yang's mailbox.
Could it be another message to scold me?
"Why won't these people stop bothering me day and night?"
An Yang sighed and, feeling helpless, subconsciously tried to click on the email, but someone suddenly grabbed her hand that was reaching for the mouse.
"Don't move."
She was slightly startled, and then she felt a sudden chill run down her spine.
My dorm room is a double room, but my other roommate has clearly taken a leave of absence recently... And the most important thing is, I've always been locking the door!
Whose hand is this, after all?
How did they manage to come in?
Could it be... the infamous cult member from the legends?
Taking a deep breath, An Yang followed the fair arm with her eyes, and she was completely stunned by what she saw.
Damn it!
She could hardly believe her eyes!
It's 'Dirge'! Oh, no, I mean, it's 'Nightsaber'!
The hero of the Babel Tower! The strongest and most beautiful, the beloved "Nightsaber"!
Mu Ling curiously looked at the girl beside her. She had never seen this person before. Why was she feeling an extraordinary surge of excitement and her heart racing so fast?
"Do not make a mess."
She stared at the mail in the mailbox and continued, "If you open this mail casually, the entire university could be destroyed."
An Yang suddenly became stunned. She looked at the mail with fear and dared not touch it at all.
"What is this?"
Mu Ling didn't answer, but An Yang suddenly realized that the mouse on the table seemed to move on its own. It really moved!
It quickly clicked on the mail on the computer screen!
