Chapter 400: Stitching the Death Realm, Crippling the Doomsday Game in Three Seconds

After trembling, the entire universe fell into an eerie silence.

The Grox Empire seemed to have been erased from existence itself, and the elite Grox Empire Warrior who had been hunting Qi Suian vanished along with it.

The war, it seemed, was over in an instant.

This had little to do with Qi Suian, however. His attention was captivated by a colossal shadow.

It was this shadow that had collided with the universe, causing the massive tremor.

At the same time, it was slowly fusing with the wound in the universe, giving him the impression of a corpse being stitched onto a living body.

"That’s... the Truth Layer." Qi Suian suddenly realized what it was. ’Only the Truth Layer of the Ghost World could do something like this.’

At that moment, Qi Suian finally understood. There was no "truth" or "reality"—only death and life.

The so-called Truth Layer was most likely a region of a world that had died long ago, now being repurposed by the Ghost World.

"That’s right. It is the Truth Layer." A figure materialized, his voice laced with what sounded like exhaustion. "It is the old era, the forgotten ones, a past that has long lost all life."

"That is why I am grafting it onto this universe. I will also leave all the ghosts in this world, allowing them to become entirely new life forms."

Qi Suian didn’t quite understand. "Then what do you get out of it?"

"If you just wanted to sever the dead region, you could have done it directly."

"And if you wanted to invade this universe, there was no need to go to all this trouble," Qi Suian asked, puzzled.

"To create a better environment for humanity, of course."

"What do you think I was before?" the figure said suddenly.

Qi Suian fell silent. ’Of course he knew. He had to be human. What else could he be?’

’Otherwise, why would he go to such great lengths to protect humanity?’

"Can a person... really become a world?" Qi Suian asked the question that was weighing on his mind.

’He was mainly asking because he wanted to, as well.’

"’I am not a world. I have merged with the Way,’ the figure said languidly. ’But what you’re suggesting... is indeed possible.’"

"’It’s just that my path is different from yours, so I can’t help you.’"

Qi Suian had never considered that. He’d always assumed the figure was the world itself. ’Now it seems he’s more like... the software?’

’And that’s why he can’t effectively control the hardware—the world itself—and needs my help.’

"What about this universe, then?" Instead of asking how to become a world, Qi Suian asked what the figure planned to do next.

"I never intended to invade or occupy it. I just wanted to take some of this world’s humans and dump the dead region here."

"This thing is well and truly dead, but if I don’t stitch it up properly, it’ll just find me again. It sticks to you like glue."

"Such a mama’s boy, hah," the figure couldn’t help but mutter.

Qi Suian was speechless. Still, he vaguely guessed that this dead world was likely some sort of subsidiary entity, one with a locking capability.

’That would explain why he had to take such measures.’

"So you’re just making it someone else’s problem," Qi Suian remarked, then asked, "Are you saying there are humans on other planets besides this one?"

He had clearly heard the figure say "some" of the humans, but the survivors from the Doomsday Game had all been accounted for.

’That meant they had to be on other planets in the universe.’

"That’s right. I didn’t touch those humans," the figure confirmed. "Once this thing is stitched up, I’m leaving. What about you?"

"Is there still something in this universe that can threaten you?" Qi Suian asked instead of answering.

"No, but it’s dangerous. I have no intention of sticking around."

"My world and my people need me. As nice as this universe is, it’s not mine," the figure stated bluntly.

’After all, he’d already achieved his goal, so of course he wouldn’t care.’

Qi Suian watched as the vast, dead world was stitched bit by bit onto the edge of the universe, like a giant tumor.

Waves of death battered the cosmos, rendering the entire universe extremely unstable.

Resolving the conflict between life and death was never going to be easy.

’If this were a story with a proper protagonist, they might have comprehended the laws of life and death or the balance of yin and yang by now.’

But this was a vast universe, and its will had first been viciously beaten, then imprisoned.

Who knew where it was locked away. Even if it wanted to fight back, it lacked the necessary strength.

The fact that the Ghost World’s will dared to stand here chatting with Qi Suian meant that it had already eliminated any potential consequences.

"You’re quite the homebody. A shame. My home universe probably wasn’t a friendly place, and the planets are all gone now. It’d be hard to go back even if I wanted to." Qi Suian found himself missing his old life and its million-a-year salary.

The figure gave him a slightly odd look, then said, "My condolences."

What else was there to say? He then asked, "How badly do you want me to beat up the Doomsday Game?"

"It’s not nice to bully an idiot, but since I made you a promise, I have to keep it."

’Honestly,’ Qi Suian thought, ’the Ghost World’s will was a surprisingly trustworthy guy. When he made a promise, he actually kept it.’

"What do you suggest?" Qi Suian tossed the question back to him.

"My suggestion?" The figure thought for a moment. "Leave it barely breathing."

"The advantage is that once you’re strong enough, you can overthrow it yourself."

"The disadvantage is that if it ever runs into another entity on my level, it’ll be easily finished off."

"You wouldn’t necessarily be affected, but you might lose the ability to travel between worlds," the figure advised.

Hearing this, Qi Suian abruptly changed his mind. "Then why not just give me the Doomsday Game’s world-traveling ability?"

"Can’t. That’s its core ability. I’d have to package the whole thing and give it to you."

"And with your current strength, you wouldn’t be able to handle it at all."

"It would just be a waste, and then I’d have to see you off. Too much trouble." The figure shut him down immediately.

It wasn’t that the Ghost World’s will was incapable, but that Qi Suian himself was too weak to handle all of the Doomsday Game’s abilities.

Qi Suian didn’t feel any regret, simply accepting the explanation.

"In that case, don’t leave it barely breathing. Just beat it half to death," Qi Suian said. "Preferably so it can still twitch a few times and get me out of there if things go south."

"Alright. To that extent, then."

"But you still need to be careful," the figure added. "Don’t let it take you to any particularly dangerous worlds, or it won’t last more than a few hits."

"Uh, I can’t control where the Doomsday Game goes," Qi Suian retorted. "I’m just a Violator, not an Admin. I don’t have those kinds of privileges."

"A pity you’re so weak. Otherwise, I’d give you the privileges," the figure said regretfully.

That single sentence completely shut down any hope Qi Suian had of asking for those privileges.

"Alright, it’s done."

Not even three seconds had passed before the figure spoke.

Qi Suian pulled up his various system panels. Aside from his attribute panel, which was still a mess of garbled code, the others were all just fake, decorative projections.

"I don’t see any change," Qi Suian said. ’Shouldn’t there be some garbled code, some cracks? At the very least, a few special effects or something?’

"That’s normal. I struck the core of the Doomsday Game. What you use is just the periphery."

"Even if you could see internal injuries from the outside, you’d have to be on the same level to perceive them."

"A mayfly gazing at the vast blue sky sees nothing of its true scale," the figure said nonchalantly. "But rest assured, you’ll feel it in the next world."

Qi Suian didn’t question it. ’The guy is powerful, so the guy must be right.’

’Even if the figure claimed flowers were green, grass was red, the sea was in the sky, and fish swam in the clouds, Qi Suian would have nodded along.’

"Alright. So when can I leave?" Qi Suian asked.

"Soon. I have to finish stitching this up, otherwise the Doomsday Game will be sealed in this universe too, unable to leave." The figure clearly had no intention of stopping him.

At the edge of the universe, the colossal dead world finished latching on.

Although Qi Suian couldn’t see what the Ghost World’s will was actually doing, he could tell it was nearing completion.

An hour passed in a flash. The suturing of the dead world was complete, and it was now a permanent part of this universe.

Upon completion, however, the entire dead world seemed to have an instinctive reaction, attempting to break free from the universe.

The figure’s stitches were too strong, however. There was no possibility of escape. It could only emit ceaseless, formless wails, ultimately forced to remain at the edge of the universe.

It then began to expand its domain of death in retaliation, hoping to break free.

But this very expansion caused the wound of the original stitched area to fuse completely, making the dead world grow right onto the edge of the universe instead.

"I was ready for that move. See? You just played yourself," the figure chuckled slyly.

This confirmed it for Qi Suian: the will of the Ghost World was truly a human who had merged with the Way. It had somehow managed to retain its human ego and personality.

And even its human cunning.

"That’s about it. I should be heading back."

"Take care of yourself." The figure’s laughter vanished, and he spoke to Qi Suian. "Farewell."

With that, the distorted figure dissipated before Qi Suian’s very eyes, leaving nothing behind.

The barren planet fell silent, as if everything that had just happened was nothing but a hallucination.

Several minutes later, the panel for the Doomsday Game’s "New World Pass Limited-Time Event" finally reactivated.

The thirty-minute countdown resumed. Apparently, even the Doomsday Game couldn’t withdraw instantly; it needed time to prepare its departure.

"It’s back." Qi Suian watched as the rift connecting to the Ghost World was swiftly smoothed over. ’Apparently, the world will was afraid the dead world might follow it, so it patched things up before leaving.’

’It really doesn’t look like anything’s changed. Did he just pull a fast one on me?’

Qi Suian grumbled internally, then watched as the thirty-minute countdown hit zero.

And then, the phantom pain at the back of his head struck.

’Damn it, why is it getting stronger every time? My skull must have a hairline fracture by now!’ That was Qi Suian’s last thought before he lost consciousness.