Chapter 741: Han Fei's Plan
Han Fei had always been a loner. At least in the cryptic world, there were no living friends to help him. After staying with ghosts for so long, Han Fei acted more like ghosts, simple, direct, and effective. Face didn’t matter.
However, he couldn’t do everything on his own. He chose to open the black box from both sides. That was the most difficult path because he needed to maintain the balance of the two worlds so that they could slowly accept one another. This was easier said than done. If he were not careful, Han Fei would be the enemy of both worlds. The cryptic world would see him as the traitor, and the surface world would see him as the final boss. To prevent that from happening, Han Fei needed more people to understand his philosophy and not continue killing mindlessly. He wanted to create a special city that could bridge the two worlds. If he managed to do that, the distance between life and death would be greatly shortened. Many regrets could be rectified. People wouldn’t be bound by obsessions and bad memories of the past anymore. The souls he had rescued from Fu Sheng’s altar had experienced the overlapping of the two worlds. They were survivors who could understand Han Fei the most.
Fu Sheng was an irresponsible guider. He even wanted to replace Han Fei. Of the rewards he had given Han Fei, the most important one wasn’t the altar but these unique souls. They were the kindness Fu Sheng had encountered throughout his life, and Fu Sheng handed them over to Han Fei.
“Listen to me. Your original city has been destroyed, and we need to rebuild a home on this ruin. I don’t know when the sun will rise again, but I can guarantee that I’ll lead everyone to see the sun again.”
Han Fei had saved most of them. Han Fei had the souls he was most familiar with organize everyone so that he’d be familiar with each soul’s ability and power. After an hour, almost all the 10,000 souls had accepted the truth. Based on the categorization they used in the altar, they had been divided into five levels. The levels were not symbolic of status. It was just a clearer way to organize things based on contribution. People who had contributed more would have higher contributions and higher levels, but that was all. There was no special treatment. Han Fei saved a total of 14700 souls from Fu Sheng’s altar. 14000 of them were Animated Regrets, around 600 were normal Lingering Spirits, but the last 100 were special. 99 of them had special abilities, and three of them had the potential to become Large Lingering Spirits. As for the last person, he was the most unique Pure Hatred Han Fei had ever met!
No one expected him to be so powerful, not even himself. The patient called Liu Yingxiong had a black flame hidden deep inside his heart!
On the surface, Uncle Ying looked no different from other souls. If Xu Qin didn’t use her curse to investigate, they wouldn’t have known about this. Liu Yingxiong didn’t know about the black flame. In the memory world, whenever someone died, as long as he had once helped them, they would morph and join the black flame inside his heart. Liu Yingxiong didn’t know the theory behind this. When asked, he could only say that he had good karma. Based on Han Fei’s prediction, this had to do with Liu Yingxiong’s healing persona. After many trials, Han Fei also noticed that Liu Yingxiong’s black flame was different from the others. Other Pure Hatred’s black flame was filled with cruelty and hatred. However, Liu Yingxiong’s black flame would unite with other black flames to heal other Pure Hatreds!
Even Xu Qin couldn’t explain this.
After understanding every soul’s ability, Han Fei took out the map. They had the souls pick the spot they wanted to set up as their home. Counting Ol Liu, Han Fei had three Pure Hatreds and many Large Lingering Spirits. They were strong enough to deal with the plastic surgery hospital and the theme park at the same time. Furthermore, the clown and No. 4 were the managers left behind by Fu Sheng. They had the same experience as Han Fei, so they had no reason to fight him. With the common enemy in Dream, they agreed that it was better for them to unite against the outside threat. Han Fei wanted to build this city to unite all the resources and ghosts from these three areas. When they had a stable base, they could venture further. The cryptic world was too large. Even with the three areas, Han Fei only lit up a small part of the map.
“These souls would be the foundation of the city. Hopefully, they won’t be affected by the cryptic world but will affect the cryptic world.” The sparks had been spread. One day, they’d light up the night.
Two hours later, Han Fei found the painter and the clown at the end of the theme park parade path. The painter was painting eyeballs for the monster on the ground with blood. The clown sat on the kid’s wooden horse, insulting the painter, hoping to get a response out of him. Technically speaking, the painter should be much older than the clown. In real life, the painter had seen the young clown too. However, the painter was only paying attention to No. 4.
“No. 4 is combined with the theme park. If you want to save him, why didn’t you destroy the theme park when Dream descended? Haven’t you been protecting him?”
“Actually, he didn’t want to come out. He didn’t want people to see his ugly form. He didn’t want his death presence to scare anyone either.”
“He has become a monster, a giant monster. Have you seen a whale? He’s bigger than a whale. He’s about 1/3 the size of the theme park. He’s the largest Pure Hatred I’ve ever seen.”
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Didn’t you promise you’d come back to save us? How come all of us still fall into despair?”
“Don’t think we’ll forgive you by acting all regretful. You’re the same as those people.”
The clown sat on the wooden horse. He had an adult body, but he acted like a child.
The painter kept his head lowered. He poured blood on the monster’s eyes. The blurry picture became slightly clearer. When the paint was dry, the painter peeled off his skin and used his soul to make new paint.
“You two do look like old friends.” Han Fei didn’t feel fear conversing with the Pure Hatreds. It was not because he was not afraid but because Xu Qin was standing behind him.
“Han Fei, I didn’t expect you to survive. I was ready to welcome… that old bastard already.” The clown paused in the middle. “Why would I call him an old bastard? How come I can’t remember his name?”
“His name is Fu Sheng?”
“Is it? What a familiar name.” The clown rode the wooden horse toward Han Fei. “It doesn’t matter. Based on my deal with him, you’re now the theme park’s new manager, and I’m free.”
“Are you going to leave?” Han Fei had interacted with the clown inside the altar. He believed the clown was a good person.
“No one can limit me anymore. I will become a fearful clown. I want those happy kids to cry when they hear my name!” The clown’s smile became exaggerated. He was never a good person, and he didn’t want to be. He didn’t have a conflict with Han Fei because they had the same enemy.
“The theme park can’t survive without you.”
“No. 4 will stay to be the theme park’s foundation. If the theme park is threatened, you can release him.” The clown stomped and smiled wickedly. “No. 4 is a lot more powerful than I am. He and I are two extremes. I’m very weak but clever. He’s the opposite. He’s impossibly strong, but he traded that with his intelligence.”
As Fu Sheng’s memory shattered, no one knew what the deal he had with the clown. Nothing could stop the clown from leaving.
“Where do you plan to go next?”
“Ziggurat and the theme park are considered the weakest fringe of the cryptic world. I want to move to the core to see what real despair looks like.” The clown leaped and sat on the wooden horse. “My ideal despair is a tree with blood-red flowers and dark black fruits. Its roots eat into the ground, and the canopy blocks out all the light. I will build a small house on the tree or become a part of it.”
“Despair is not so colorful. It’s just silence.” Han Fei stared at the clown. “I hope you can show me around the theme park before you leave.”
“Actually, you should know this place better than I do. After all, this place was built for you.” The clown laughed crazily like the Mad Laughter. “I’m lucky compared to you. At least I know I’m crazy.”
“Lead the way.” Han Fei didn’t care what the clown said.
The nameless theme park was much larger than the theme park in real life. All the large rides were scary and more than what they appeared. With the explanation from the clown, Han Fei understood how scary the theme park was. The place was more like an executioner’s field.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve gained the temporary approval of the theme park manager. You’ll replace him as the manager for now!
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve obtained a unique building, the Ferris Wheel of Happiness—Every booth is filled with happiness. Looking at the Ferris Wheel is no different from looking at happiness. The happier one is, the higher the Ferris Wheel.
“Ferris Wheel of Happiness (Grade D Unique Building): When you ride the Ferris Wheel, you have a chance to see the future.
“You’ve obtained a unique building, Love’s Merry-go-round—chase and wait. Love is right before you, but you can never touch it.
“Love’s Merry-go-round (Grade E): Get on the horse and start spinning. It might bring you to heaven or to hell.
“You’ve obtained a unique building, The House of Clowns—Everyone at the theme park is smiling, but the clown is crying.
“The House of Clowns (Grade E): The clown shoved everyone who laughed at him into the House of Clowns. No living person can survive there. The building can lower the attributes of any player.”
