In the early morning of the next day, to prevent decay and infection caused by the remains, Guy's corpse was scheduled to be collected and cremated by the Red Cross. So before dawn, Bai Liu gathered all of Guy's body parts and waited quietly for Alex, who was still struggling to make up his mind.
"Have you thought it through?" Bai Liu asked.
The emotions in Alex's eyes were extremely complicated. "…If the resurrection is just a body—a monster—what should I do?"
Bai Liu glanced sideways at Spades, who was standing next to him. "It depends on how much emotion you're willing to invest in that body."
Alex gritted his teeth, as if reaching some kind of resolve. "Okay. I agree to your proposal. Let's go!"
Bai Liu glanced at Alex's legs, took a potion bottle from his pocket, and tossed it to him. "Use the potion to deal with your leg first."
Alex caught the bottle, looked at Bai Liu, then took a deep breath and poured the liquid over his injured leg. The wound did not heal; instead, it turned a corpse-like gray.
He stood up quickly, picked up the backpack filled with body parts, and looked at Bai Liu. "What's your next plan?"
Bai Liu smiled. "Do you want to end this war?"
Alex was startled but quickly retorted, "After things have escalated this far—and with the disastrous sneak attack this morning hurting both sides—it's impossible to stop now."
"Of course." Bai Liu looked at Alex evenly. "Unless a common third-party enemy appears—one that frightens them more than each other. In that case, they could cease fighting and cooperate."
Alex froze. "Where would such a powerful third-party enemy come from?"
Bai Liu glanced at the backpack in Alex's hands. "Would the army of the living dead you once imagined count?"
Alex fell silent for a long time before speaking in a hoarse voice. "…I know what you want me to do. But I don't have enough potions or corpses to create a third-party army."
"You don't need to worry about that." Bai Liu smiled and pointed at the ground beneath them. "Isn't the Red Cross camp we're in the perfect production site for potions and corpses? There will be a steady stream delivered here for you to use."
Alex lowered his voice in rebuttal. "But the Red Cross won't hand over corpses and potions to an ordinary soldier like me to use at will. Listen, Bai Liu—I know what you want to do, but it's impossible. You're just an ordinary soldier. The Red Cross isn't your backyard. It's heavily guarded, and only insiders can access the potion warehouse…"
"I agree with you." Bai Liu pointed behind Alex and said meaningfully, "Why don't you turn around and take a look?"
Liu Jiayi, dressed in a nurse's uniform, leaned against a tent while twirling a set of keys around her finger. She raised an eyebrow at Alex. "I've already taken care of the corpse and potion issue. I'm in charge of the potion warehouse key and corpse disposal. Use whatever you need."
Alex stared at Bai Liu as if he'd seen a ghost. A chill crept uncontrollably down his spine. "…When did you plan all of this?"
Guy's death, his own collapse and compromise, the subsequent supply of potions and corpses—this guy had arranged everything in advance!
Bai Liu even had time to get married! He had never left Alex's sight from beginning to end, and yet Alex hadn't seen him do anything.
God, how did Bai Liu pull this off?
Bai Liu smirked. "Do you really want to know? Trust me—you won't like the answer."
Alex rubbed the goosebumps on his arms and swallowed. "…I swear, you're one of the best time managers I've ever met."
While cleaning his gun, Tang Erda asked curiously, "One? Is there someone even better at managing time than Bai Liu?"
"It's Guy…" Alex sighed faintly. "When I first met him, he could maintain 'good' relationships with seven or eight guys at the same time. He could even have private contact with at least three of them in one day without the others finding out."
He spat out the word "good" with particular force.
Alex's gaze deepened as he cast a meaningful look at Spades beside Bai Liu. "You know, Bai Liu, I've found something you and Guy have in common. Both of you can contact others right under your partner's nose without being discovered."
Bai Liu, who had contacted team members many times behind Spades' back: "…"
Tang Erda, who had been contacted: "…"
Liu Jiayi, who had also been contacted: "…"
Spades narrowed his eyes and stared at Bai Liu suspiciously.
Far away, the Reverse God—who had also been privately contacted by Bai Liu—suddenly sneezed and rubbed his nose in confusion. "Who's cursing me?"
"There are too many people who want to curse you. Want me to filter them for you on the spot?" Bai Yi suggested eagerly.
The Reverse God waved a hand. "Thank you for your kindness, but I'd rather not hear anything that'll break my heart while I'm playing."
Beside him, Bai Jiamu rested his chin in his hand thoughtfully. "Judge, do you think Bai Liu tricked you? Alex hasn't defected, and our main storyline NPC Guy is already dead. The traditionalist faction is about to cause trouble."
"Let them." The Reverse God replied indifferently. "The more noise they make, the quieter it'll be here. Guy's death was clearly brought forward deliberately, but it's not a big issue."
Bai Jiamu frowned. "The situation is this chaotic—how is that not a big issue?"
"No." The Reverse God answered firmly. "The more chaotic it is, the easier it is to reshuffle the deck and regain control. Players who use this approach tend to be greedy. Although the probability isn't more than eighty percent, I don't usually take risks lightly. I have to make a judgment. After contacting him, I believe the one who disrupted the situation is Bai Liu. This is how he played before."
Bai Jiamu frowned deeper. "Then why did you cooperate with him so easily?"
"I've seen the footage from his small TV. His skill is related to monetary transactions," the Reverse God explained. "It seems the higher the points involved in a transaction, the more strictly he must fulfill it."
Bai Yi suddenly realized. "So when we cooperated, you gave him five million points because of that?"
"Partly for that reason. The other part…" The Reverse God's gaze wandered. He clenched his fists and coughed lightly. "He married Spades for the sake of money. As a tactician, I should give a wedding gift on behalf of the team."
He counted solemnly on his fingers. "Except for Xiao Bai, who is underage and refused to contribute, the four adult members should give 1.2 million points each—that makes 4.8 million. Add the transaction payment, and five million is just right."
Bai Jiamu: "…You're very good at calculating, Judge."
The Reverse God continued calmly, "However, did you notice something? Bai Liu said he would help us make Spades lose—but he never said he would help us win."
"Alex's so-called defection was merely a smokescreen proposed by Bai Liu. Since he didn't tell us the truth, it cannot be considered part of the transaction."
Bai Jiamu stood up, looking displeased. "He lied to us?"
The Reverse God glanced at him. "More precisely, we were deceived. Deception has always been a crucial part of this game. The real test for players is whether they can avoid being deceived."
"There's nothing inherently wrong with lying. If we were deceived, then we're the ones at fault."
Bai Yi muttered, "Judge, you've got quite the temper. Aren't you angry about being tricked?"
The Reverse God gave him a meaningful smile. "If I got angry every time I was deceived, shouldn't I have been furious the moment I entered this game?"
"This entire game is one massive scam."
The sky was beginning to brighten.
Stiff figures moved through the woods. Their faces were crisscrossed with stitched seams, and glimpses of flesh and bone showed as they walked. They let out strange, whining sounds—like puppets crafted from real corpses—twisting their unfamiliar limbs as they lurched forward.
Bai Liu and his group trailed far behind the marching corpses.
Liu Jiayi couldn't help complaining, "I only just realized this is actually a zombie novel."
"But it's not about fighting zombies," Tang Erda added. "We're the sweepers responsible for creating them. Once the war starts, we'll be collecting plenty of corpses."
"There are still too few corpses from the Red Cross," Liu Jiayi said, staring at the figures ahead. "I don't know how long we can hold out with just these, especially with the two camps effectively keeping us hostage."
Bai Liu remained calm. "Don't worry. As long as the war between the two sides doesn't stop, our camp will keep expanding."
"Yes." Liu Jiayi narrowed her eyes at him. "You're counting on casualties from both sides to continuously enlarge our zombie army. Eventually, they'll do everything they can to minimize losses just to stop us from growing. That way, the war ends."
"That's how you convinced that indecisive mainline NPC, isn't it?"
She withdrew her gaze. "Bai Liu, sometimes I really don't understand what you're thinking. You can always achieve peace through the most extreme and ruthless methods."
"You call yourself a good person, but what you do is completely anti-human. You have no compassion for these innocent soldiers. You're willing to use them—even in death—to achieve your goals." She looked at the broken zombie soldiers ahead. "But if I call you a bad person, the results speak for themselves. You've accomplished what countless 'good' people failed to do."
Liu Jiayi asked quietly, "Sometimes I wonder… why do you do this?"
Bai Liu smiled. "Because I'm curious."
"Curious about what?"
He lowered his eyes. "I was curious what kind of ending Alex truly wanted—peace or endless war. So I incorporated both possibilities into the plan."
"The ending Alex wants?" Liu Jiayi frowned. Sensing something beneath his words, she pressed, "What do you mean?"
Bai Liu looked at her. "Don't you think Alex accepted our proposal to form a third camp and attack the other two too quickly?"
"That's not how someone who opposes harming others should behave. He agreed to my offer with almost no internal struggle. That's strange."
"Given his earlier behavior, Guy's death should have hit him hard emotionally. But he calmed down almost immediately and threw himself into producing the living dead." Bai Liu lifted his gaze to the massive army ahead. "And they're being produced far too quickly."
"Alex's identity is that of a medical student who hasn't even completed his internship. Yet he can skillfully locate matching body parts from piles of severed limbs and stitch them together."
"…It feels like this isn't his first time doing something like this."
Liu Jiayi slowed to a halt and suddenly turned to him. "Do you remember what Alex's potion actually does?"
Bai Liu answered evenly, "Yes. It freezes a person in the state they were in before death."
"…The state before death." Liu Jiayi repeated it twice under her breath. Then she abruptly looked up at the army ahead, her expression shifting. "That potion isn't a biological healing agent at all. It's a time-based potion—it rewinds an organism to its pre-death state! It's resurrection in the truest sense!"
"These aren't zombies. They're the living dead, cycling back toward the moment before death!"
Before Tang Erda could fully process it, he leaned closer and asked, confused, "A time potion?"
Liu Jiayi took a deep breath and grabbed his head, turning it forward. "Just watch."
As the swaying, stitched corpses continued marching, the fractures in their limbs began to open and close rhythmically. Gunshot wounds that had riddled their bodies slowly split open—then sealed shut. Torn flesh reformed. Bloodied injuries regressed into fresh wounds, then healed in unnatural succession.
Their pale skin gradually regained color. Their movements grew steadier, more coordinated.
They looked alive.
Tang Erda was stunned. "What the hell is going on?!"
Bai Liu wasn't surprised. He watched the "reviving" corpses calmly. "Just as I thought."
Tang Erda whipped around. "You already knew?!"
Liu Jiayi rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Of course he did."
Tang Erda pointed accusingly at Bai Liu. "Then why didn't you tell us? You're the tactician—why keep this from us?!"
Liu Jiayi pressed a hand to her forehead. "Because he wants to play. Didn't you notice he's been in a bad mood? You've been treating this like a serious mission from start to finish. But to him, it's a game. If he doesn't tell you, it's because he's playing with his teammates."
"Tang Erda." Bai Liu cut in smoothly before she could continue. His tone was serious. "It's not always a good thing to rely entirely on a tactician. I'd rather you, as my strongest main attacker, try to process new information on your own first."
Tang Erda's gaze shifted between Liu Jiayi and Bai Liu. He cautiously stepped back, folded his arms, and stared at Bai Liu. "Fine. Then explain what's going on in this game."
Bai Liu asked, "Do you remember the time limit?"
"Seven days," Tang Erda answered immediately.
"And what day is it now?"
"Early morning of the third day."
Bai Liu smiled faintly. "Don't you find it strange? A seven-day game is nearly halfway over, yet none of the players have earned any points."
Tang Erda replied carefully, "That's not impossible."
"Yes—but not for top-tier players." Bai Liu's gaze sharpened. "You, me, Liu Jiayi, Killer Sequence—we're among the top players in the entire system. If we haven't gained a single point by the halfway mark, it can only mean one thing."
He met Tang Erda's eyes.
"Either the game design is flawed and offers no sense of progression…"
"Or these three days aren't truly three days at all. The game isn't halfway over—we've misidentified the time reference."
"Then what's the real reference point?" Tang Erda asked.
"I gave my radio equipment to Spades and asked him to investigate. If he finds the answer, he'll use it to send you a message."
Liu Jiayi stared at him in disbelief. "Bai Liu, did you just say you gave our team's communication equipment to an outsider?!"
"It wasn't free," Bai Liu replied calmly. "I sold it to him. Seventy-three points for ten thousand. It's a profitable trade."
Liu Jiayi: "…"
Tang Erda: "…"
Yes. Only you would do something like that.
Not long after, Tang Erda's radio crackled to life. He lowered his head to check it, then looked up at Bai Liu. "He says he found it."
"Where?" Bai Liu asked.
Tang Erda replied into the device, "The military mass cemetery behind the town."
Bai Liu found a broken-down truck abandoned in the mud along the road. Tang Erda hauled it out by brute force and crawled underneath to repair it. The three of them then tied up the pile of living dead and loaded them onto the truck.
"The road here is rough," Tang Erda said from the driver's seat. He lifted his vest and wiped the mud off his face, his expression serious. "I'll drive faster to reduce the chance of getting stuck. Hold on."
From polar aircraft to battlefield tanks to this old truck…
Bai Liu looked at Tang Erda slowly. "I'm curious—what kind of vehicle can't you drive?"
Tang Erda thought seriously for a few seconds before answering, "If it fits your definition of 'vehicle,' then I won't use Mu Sicheng."
Bai Liu: "…"
Liu Jiayi: "…"
Who taught Tang Erda to tell deadpan jokes?
It took a few hours to drive from the Red Cross camp to the town. Fortunately, Tang Erda drove quickly, and they soon arrived near their destination.
He got out of the truck, covered the writhing living dead in the back with a tarp, and hid the vehicle. Just as he was about to take out his skill revolver, he paused and poked his head out from behind the truck.
"Hey," he called to Bai Liu.
Bai Liu turned around.
Tang Erda hesitated for two seconds. "Do you want to use my skill weapon? If you do, I won't draw it."
Bai Liu raised his eyebrows in surprise. "No. But I'm curious—why did you suddenly think of that?"
Tang Erda had fought with his skill weapon for so long that using it was as natural as breathing. For him to consider Bai Liu, who shared the skill, before drawing it was honestly rare.
At least within Wandering Circus, only Mu Ke would usually think that far.
Tang Erda paused awkwardly for a few seconds, then seemed to realize something from Bai Liu's reaction. "You didn't tell Spades about your skill?"
Bai Liu lifted an eyebrow. "Why would I?"
Tang Erda hesitated again. "Spades and I have been cooperating for a while. He forbade me from using skill weapons. He said you might want to use them—and that he'd beat me up if I drew the revolver."
"…I thought you told him."
Bai Liu was silent for a moment. "I didn't. Did you ask him how he knew?"
Tang Erda nodded. "I did. He said he didn't know. It was just intuition."
"Let's ignore that for now," Bai Liu said calmly, brushing off the topic. "Find the cemetery first."
The cemetery should have been easy to locate—every sign in town pointed toward it. But strangely, whenever Bai Liu's group headed in that direction, they ran into an unusually thick fog. After passing through it, they always ended up back at the same intersection.
"Is this some kind of ghostly barrier?" Liu Jiayi raised her poison spray vigilantly. "No matter which way we go, we return to the same spot."
Tang Erda drew the Rose Revolver and stood behind Bai Liu. "Do we need to trigger something to break out?"
"There are probably specific conditions required," Bai Liu said. "According to the usual process, we'd have to solve some kind of puzzle first." He glanced at Liu Jiayi. "But there's a more direct method."
Liu Jiayi immediately lowered the spray and switched on the radio. "Ask Spades how he got out, right?"
The reply came quickly. Liu Jiayi frowned as she read it aloud. "—' Can't you just use a whip to disperse the fog and walk out?'"
"A weapon attack?" Tang Erda cautiously fired two shots straight ahead into the fog.
A crackling sound erupted behind them.
His pupils shrank as he lunged forward, shoving Bai Liu down.
The bullets whistled over their heads and slammed into the signpost with a deafening bang, blasting a massive hole through it.
"The spaces are overlapping," Tang Erda said gravely. "Weapon attacks are ineffective—they loop back to the same location."
Liu Jiayi frowned. "Then how did Spades break through? Is it possible his whip can even tear through space—"
She stopped mid-sentence and looked up at Bai Liu, who was brushing dirt off his knees.
Bai Liu stood and met her gaze calmly. "—Or perhaps it can cut through time."
Liu Jiayi pressed her lips together. "Like the bone whip you destroyed before."
"Then how do we get out?" Tang Erda asked.
Bai Liu looked at Liu Jiayi. "Tell Spades to come pick us up."
The moment he finished speaking, a needle sliced across Bai Liu's cheek, drawing a thin line of blood.
It fell to the ground, its curved end still threaded with silk—a hooked suture needle.
Tang Erda spun around. Just as he was about to fire, he remembered the overlapping space. Gritting his teeth, he holstered the gun and switched to a military knife.
"Who's there?!"
Through the white mist, several figures emerged—shapes resembling women in wide skirts. They closed in from all directions toward the center of the intersection where Bai Liu and the others stood. Long rifles dragged along the gravel in their hands, making harsh scraping sounds.
Liu Jiayi and Tang Erda shifted to either side, shielding Bai Liu in the center, both scowling.
Tang Erda took a deep breath. "We can't attack recklessly here. The spaces are connected—we don't know where our attacks will land. We'll have to fight hand-to-hand."
"—You two aren't good at close combat. I'll count to three. When the fight starts, you run."
Liu Jiayi nodded and tossed two bottles of antidote to him. "Be careful."
The figures drew closer.
Only then did Tang Erda clearly see what they were wearing.
They weren't ordinary dresses—they were exquisitely tailored old white wedding gowns, splattered with blood.
The sight stirred a strange sense of familiarity in him.
He looked up at the faces beneath the veils and froze.
They weren't women. They were all Guy.
Each one was stitched together with surgical sutures. Countless scars covered their faces, some threads not yet trimmed. The smile at the corners of their mouths was twisted yet sickly sweet. Their skin was gray. Their eyes were entirely black, without a trace of white. The wedding gowns they wore were soaked in bloodstains.
A system notification rang out:
[Congratulations to player Tang Erda for triggering the second page of the "Monster Book of the Dense Forest Frontier" — Corpse Bride.]
-----------------
Little Bai, a nickname for Bai Jiamu