The colossal Ark began to compress, little by little.

The High Tower, standing tall in the Inner World, suddenly became riddled with holes and was decaying continually.

A foul smell of decay emanated from the farm, and those children with poker cards atop their heads seemed to be undergoing some sort of transformation into corpses, a process accompanied by obliteration.

Like all the buildings in the town... they began to disintegrate.

The town, centered around "Bai Wu," was constantly twisting and now was disintegrating on its own.

This scene shocked Alpha.

What kind of resolute person must one be to carry out such decisive destruction?

He had seen many people lose hope, eventually holding no more affection for life.

One could say they didn’t have the courage to continue living in this world, or that... there was nothing left to be fond of.

But at the moment of death, there was still an inner struggle and fear.

Bai Yuan was different, however.

The destruction of the Inner World was a destruction on a spiritual level.

How does one kill their own will and spirit? How does one personally and completely destroy all that one is attached to?

To destroy the Inner World, this was the first time Alpha had seen such a death.

If one were to say that death has its hierarchies, then the common understanding of death is the death of the body. But the death Bai Yuan chose was the death of the soul.

It was a death almost impossible to achieve, to counter.

To use one’s own will to destroy that will, as if standing opposite one’s own soul, as if at this moment, he was the absolute ruler of his own thoughts.

The body may resist physical death, but the nerves convey pain, flash one’s life before their eyes, persuading the person seeking death to relent.

These cells in the body, the neurons which carry all sorts of thoughts, are the foundation of the soul and intellect, following the instinct to survive.

And now what Bai Yuan was doing, was like a king, issuing an irrefutable command to his army—

Death.

It was an ultimate hypnosis that changed the very instincts of living beings.

Even though his opponent was seeking death, Alpha, who saw through it all, was still profoundly shaken.

He was even worried... before Bai Yuan completely dissipated, would Bai Yuan perceive that secret?

But shortly, he calculated the outcome; the Inner World was collapsing too quickly, Bai Yuan’s spiritual main body didn’t have enough time to complete the collection of intelligence.

Even if it did... all that awaited him was the scattering of the soul.

His voice could reach Bai Yuan, and at this moment, Bai Yuan could also converse with Alpha.

"This is my choice. If you want to assimilate me, you are not worthy," he said.

Unyielding unto death, huh?

Alpha watched this world falling to ruin in silence; he felt that such a trait shouldn’t belong to a person like Bai Yuan.

Especially the disdain and pride contained within Bai Yuan’s words; there was not a hint of anger.

He was simply pure pride. Such a proud man could only be destroyed, never conquered.

"What does this child symbolize?" Alpha asked, voicing his doubt.

The fact that a person like Bai Yuan would willingly annihilate his own Inner World might be related to this child seen as the "core" by the Red Pupil.

His understanding of the Inner World was never as profound as Bai Yuan’s. So he wanted to know, in this small town, this only child with a real face, what did he mean to Bai Yuan, really?

What did he mean?

When Alpha asked that question, Bai Yuan, amidst severe pain, suddenly laughed.

He did not answer Alpha’s question.

Because his consciousness was beginning to blur, the collapse of the Inner World also prevented this man, who always stood at the apex of spiritual power, from thinking clearly.

Or perhaps he himself didn’t know what Bai Wu truly meant to him.

Does it signify hope, or does it signify redemption?

Or does it truly just mean that this child holds a place in his heart?

Or does he represent his own yearning for freedom, the fear of the apocalypse?

Bai Yuan had no energy left to ponder these questions. His body had already begun to dissipate.

In the Outer World, he still stood proud between Alpha and Jing Si.

But in the Inner World, the spiritual essence that symbolized his true self, had already started to crumble continuously.

More and more neurons that governed memory began to burst like exploding planets, emitting a brilliant light.

All the memories of the past surfaced in Bai Yuan’s mind in the moment before their destruction.

In the vast whiteness, Bai Yuan’s spirit seemed to lack pupils, his gaze was nothing but emptiness.

This made him appear as if he had experienced immense sorrow, his eyes devoid of any sparkle.

In a world of blankness, Ten of Spades leaned against a large tree, with The First Generation standing right beside Bai Yuan.

A young Bai Wu was tugging at the hem of his clothes, Xiaoyugan waving goodbye from behind.

But in the next second, he clenched his teeth and erased all the scenes before him.

"Disappear..."

All the beauty in his memories vanished like smoke, and his figure suddenly became more lonely than ever before.

"Let me go, ha, I’m not in the mood to confess to you guys..."

A quality that never belonged to Bai Yuan was now in full bloom.

It was a sense of heroic tragedy.

In his life, Bai Yuan never deigned to do anything grandiose yet futile.

He resisted all the tragic elements in his fate.

But at this moment, he just kept moving forward, the things he loathed, the things he feared, had already begun to fade away.

Each step he took was steeped in tragic heroism.

Alpha suddenly felt a bit of sympathy for the man.

He was so ruthless to himself, perhaps he wouldn’t even allow himself to look back at all the beautiful moments in life, showing no willingness to reconcile with the past even in the face of death...

He abandoned everything to keep moving forward, just to glimpse the secret of his Inner World.

But what would it matter even if he glimpsed it?

His mind was dead, his soul was gone, what more could he convey?

Once he returned to the Outer World, he and Jing Si would experience true annihilation of body and spirit.

Or is this the tenacity of life unique to low-dimensional creatures like ants?

"Such a meaningless death, how pitiful."

Bai Yuan seemed no longer able to hear such mockery.

With the collapse of the Inner World, it was as if he was struck by the Reverse Dimension, the messages in his mind growing fewer and fewer.

The First Generation, Ten of Spades, fish, Jing Yi, even Bai Wu...

All memories, like fireworks flickering before their end, quickly turned into invisible darkness.

The things he could choose from kept disappearing, as if in a game, more and more side threads were being completely erased by a mysterious force.

Only one thought sustained that broken spirit as it moved into the deepest part of the purple house.

His hand touched the mysterious curtain.

When he wanted to say something... he found he had no extra strength left.

All he could do in the end was to point with his index finger, unable to straighten, through the mysterious curtain towards the presence behind it.

And the whole Inner World had become a true void, with Alpha standing as if in the midst of Chaos.

Time passed, and at some point, Alpha had returned to his own Inner World.

He closed the door again.

Reflecting on this battle, Alpha felt a tinge of regret,

"An interesting fight, what a pity."

The third battle ensnaring Alpha thus came to an end.

The combatant Bai Yuan, fallen in battle.

...

...

In the northern part of Denglin City, within a space that was originally silent, a twisting aura suddenly surged.

Upside-down red pupils at this moment opened.

Hand-to-hand, domain, spiritual power, Alpha, who won all three battles, looked at the soulless body before him and Jing Si still trapped behind him, and revealed a mocking smile.

He had already felt it, the huge stele was gathering the power needed to seal his soul.

That tower containing reverse dimension and rule binding was actually a tool left behind by the Master of High Tower.

Once such a tool was summoned, without mastering Temporal Return and Ten Thousand Phantasmal Bodies, he absolutely could not break out from the inside.

But at this moment, he was very clear, humans were running out of time.

Alpha’s gaze shifted to Jing Si.

He bypassed Bai Yuan’s body because Bai Yuan’s spirit had completely perished.

If anyone could still stall him, it would only be Jing Si.

Now, it was time to reclaim the biggest chess piece of the Lord of Order.

Alpha’s footsteps moved forward, coming in front of Jing Si, but just as he was about to destroy Jing Si...

There suddenly came a noise from behind him.

In that instant, Alpha turned around in surprise, as if he thought of something, his eyes showing fear.

A temporal rift appeared behind him, and before "Bai Yuan."

That body, devoid of a soul, actually began to move!

"How is this possible? How is this possible!"

Even Alpha panicked at that moment, frantically attempting to swallow the rift that could allow Bai Yuan to escape with the Power of Twist.

But in that instant, "Bai Yuan" also unleashed the Power of Twist.

Alpha’s offense was like a spear.

And intercepting in front of Alpha’s attack were several "shields."

The Power of Life and Death gathered a Nether River.

But the barrier of life and death was pierced in an instant...

The spear capable of piercing the Underworld relentlessly closed in on its opponent, but in the next instant, it was caught by a powerful Power of Twist.

However, the attack from Alpha was simply too powerful, that horrifying Twisted Spear absorbed the opponent’s Power of Twist in an instant, becoming even sharper!

It came piercing through with an unstoppable momentum!

Yet ultimately it was a step too slow.

The two powers, which were never meant to stop Alpha’s tactics, managed to buy some time for "Bai Yuan."

"Bai Yuan’s" body eventually vanished into the temporal rift. In the instant the spear reached the rift, his figure had already disappeared, appearing in another time and space, temporarily beyond reach.

At that moment, Alpha’s gaze met with "Bai Yuan’s."

In that moment, he finally understood what had happened. From the tears in the other’s eyes... he saw the truth.

"Did his body still harbor another soul?"

A feeling of being scared after the fact enveloped him for the first time.

Could that man have truly succeeded in bringing out information from the Inner World?

His death... was not without meaning.

In that body, two rare wills were hidden!

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Alpha had the power to absolutely surpass his opponent, but for the first time... he felt a rage at being outmaneuvered.

For the price of soul disintegration, he brought information to another will.

That empty world was not meant to hide Bai Yuan’s own Inner World; it was to numb himself, to make him believe that this carefully concealed world was the only one.

That layer of emptiness... was actually meant to protect another person’s Inner World from his own sight!

This series of calculations made Alpha realize for the first time that he was not facing a low-dimensional creature but an opponent that demanded his full effort!

...

...

Inner World.

Under the big tree in the farm, The Ten of Spades flipped through the pages of a book.

When he thought he would never be able to take control and become Bai Yuan’s "captive" for a very, very long time, he suddenly felt a tremor.

After the completion of the Parasitic Heart Demon, the Inner World, which originally had boundaries, seemed to have been expanded.

In the farthest reaches of the farm, a small town appeared, a coast, a High Tower.

But now, that world was collapsing.

The Ten of Spades certainly knew what this meant, he even felt that his Inner World was rejecting him.

Aside from those who possess the relevant Sequence or ability, few can enter their own Inner World.

Being repelled meant that The Ten of Spades was about to take back control of this body.

He had too many questions in his heart. Had Bai Yuan been defeated?

Or did Bai Yuan have other plans?

How could someone’s Inner World be destroyed? Based on what he knew about Alpha, Bai Yuan was someone that Alpha would surely try to conquer and win over, not destroy.

Killing Bai Yuan’s spiritual main body would be easier than destroying the entire Inner World.

He could not understand. At this moment, it was unlikely that Bai Yuan could appear by his side and recount with his usual leisurely tone those unpredictable schemes.

Just as The Ten of Spades was completely confused... a gust of wind suddenly blew through the farm in the Inner World, and the pages of "Crime and Punishment" rustled and fluttered.

The Ten of Spades’ gaze suddenly fell upon the book.

This book, which he had read countless times, contained content he had never seen before.

Without a doubt, it was a testament.

"Deceitful, cruel, perverted, violent; these are all methods for survival in this world, all codes for living. Indeed, I am a fake person... but repaying kindness with kindness is my last piece of truth in this twisted world. Tell K that I don’t owe him anymore."

"As for you, carry my legend, whether it’s the humiliation of being deceived or the camaraderie of kindred spirits, please struggle to survive and spread the information I brought."

The information about Alpha was already written in the book that symbolized the "core" of the Inner World.

A great sense of loss suddenly emerged in The Ten of Spades’ heart, he did not want to care about the information that Bai Yuan had exchanged with his life at this moment.

Whether being taken over or used as a tool, seeing an old friend again filled him with joy.

He even fantasized that perhaps this perfect fellow could truly defeat the opponent.

Perhaps the peaceful life in the small town could be realized in this world.

But suddenly... everything was collapsing.

The last page of the book belonged to "The Gamer" Bai Yuan’s final mad ramblings.

"Without emotion, existing only for fun, my true self. Dancing in the endless Twisted, laughing amidst contradictions and dead-ends, my life has not been in vain."

"I have perfectly played out my role, I hope that the grand play after me does not come to an end."

"The final Chapter of Crime and Punishment—Bai Yuan."