“What the heck…” Atobe shuddered, muttering, “What’s with this inexplicable feeling of nausea…”

“Well… actually, it’s quite reasonable,” Feng Bujue replied, “Because silkworms are larvae.”

“Alright, this isn’t the time to popularize natural science knowledge,” Honghu interrupted them, raising his hand to point in the opposite direction of the Boss, “Let’s run first!” With that, he dashed forward.

“My Stamina Value is still decent, I’ll hold her off.” At that moment, Uncle Waste Chai faced the Boss, standing at the rear of the group, “You guys go on ahead, I’ll catch up in a bit.”

Judging from his tone, he wasn’t discussing it with his teammates, but had already made up his mind.

“Oh! As expected of a partner of justice, seems very reliable…” Tianma Xingkong began to spout some chuuni lines, but before he could finish, Jue-ge dragged him away.

Atobe took the opportunity to follow, turning his head back before leaving and saying, “No matter what you’re planning to do, be careful!”

“Hmph… it seems I’ve been underestimated…” Only after his teammates had run into the crystal pillar forest did Uncle Waste Chai coldly snort, reaching into the inside of his bathrobe to pull out a pack of cigarettes.

“Fuu—” He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled. Then, he looked at the giant silkworm with a lazy expression and muttered, “Escaping from this kind of situation is still easy for me.”

“It seems you don’t understand…” The giant silkworm’s moe voice rang out again, looking at the four players who had already fled. She just smiled dismissively, “Heh… very well…”

Before the words finished, the giant silkworm’s body suddenly shuddered. In the next second, the invisible web in mid-air was revealed. In an instant… the entire sky above the Crystal Labyrinth seemed to be covered in a layer of pinkish-white silk.

Then, she slowly lowered her giant silkworm head, passing through the silk web, and finally approached Uncle Waste Chai’s face, “You… why aren’t you running?”

“Fuu—I’m buying time for my companions.” Uncle Waste Chai remained standing proudly in the face of the giant creature’s scrutiny.

In this situation, he not only didn’t take a step back, but also calmly raised his head and blew smoke into the Boss’s face.

“You want to eat us, don’t you?” Uncle Waste Chai continued, “How could I let you have your way…”

“So… you want to resist?” The giant silkworm said, “Hmm… as expected, hee…” She laughed again, “I’ve encountered prey similar to you before… after you escape the silk web, you think you can run away, don’t you? Hahaha…”

Uncle Waste Chai caught a hint of danger in the other party’s words, and couldn’t help but feel a sense of urgency in his heart: “What do you mean?”

“Heh… take a good look at the top of your head…” the giant silkworm replied in a deep voice, “…ignorant travelers from another world.”

Upon hearing this, Uncle Waste Chai’s expression changed slightly, and his gaze quickly moved upward, then he saw…

…

Chew Demon Island, the eastern side of the “Reverse Island.”

Outside the boundaries of the Crystal Labyrinth, past a stretch of white salt flats, one could see a small wooden hut.

Squeak—creak—

Accompanied by the sound of metal axles turning, a mini tricycle arrived in front of the small wooden hut.

Riding the bike was a doll about the size of a child.

He wore a black suit and a bright red bow tie. On his white “mask face” were two spiral red cheeks, a pair of reddish-black eyes, and a thickly painted red mouth.

“I really want to pretend I’m not in the house,” a man’s voice came from inside the hut, “But unfortunately, even through a door, you and I can sense each other’s presence.”

“Hehe… long time no see, brother,” Billy said with a smile.

“We haven’t ‘seen’ each other yet,” the “brother” inside the house replied, “We’re just talking through the door.” He said loudly, “If you turn around and leave now, I can pretend you weren’t here, that would be good for everyone.”

“Alright, Bill, I know you’re emotional, but didn’t I come to save you?” Billy dismounted from his tricycle, taking small steps, struggling to climb the steps in front of the small wooden hut (there were only three steps in total, but for the small-sized Billy, climbing them was quite difficult), “You have to understand me, it’s hard for me to come save you when I can barely protect myself.”

“Yeah, yeah… then you might as well not have come,” Bill added, “Even if a insignificant violent person like me gets out, I’ll only become a burden to you…”

“Shut up, Bill.” Billy interrupted the other party with a serious tone.

“Alright.” Bill seemed to have vented enough of his complaints, and his tone immediately weakened.

“Hmm… let me see.” Billy tiptoed and leaned against the door of the small wooden hut, staring intently at the wood grain on the door panel.

After staring like that for a full ten minutes, Billy took two steps back, stood on the porch, and loudly chanted: “balabing~balaboom~balabingbangboom~”

Then, something amazing happened… the door panel of that wooden door instantly made the exact same sounds as the spell (if this could even be considered a spell) that Billy chanted, clanging and banging for a while…

Then, a “creak—” was heard, and the door opened.

Bang! Bang!

Inside the pitch-black house, heavy, powerful footsteps quickly echoed.

As the footsteps grew closer and closer, a tall, muscular silhouette appeared in the doorway.

“Now…” Bill’s deep voice was already close at hand, “We can finally say we’ve met.”

Before the words finished, another “crack” was heard.

A giant armored puppet, two and a half meters tall and weighing a ton, smashed through the door frame and broke out of its cage.

This was Bill, his entire body made of an unknown dark blue metal, with a mahjong tile-like square head, a v-shaped torso, arms as thick as thighs, and legs as thick as thighs…

“You seem to have become even smaller than I remember, brother,” Bill said, looking down at Billy.

“That’s because you’ve grown taller again.” Billy shrugged, turned around, and carefully jumped down the steps, “At least when you were locked in this room, you could enter and exit that door normally.”

“Oh… is that so…” Bill scratched his head and said, “Whatever.” His face was quite unique. Compared to Billy, Bill’s expressions were much more diverse, because Bill’s face was a display screen. Although his “face” was a fixed, unchanging plane, the screen could display all sorts of emoticons.

“Many things have changed during the time you’ve been locked up,” Billy said, walking to the tricycle and looking back, “I’ll tell you about them one by one along the way.”

“Okay,” Bill said, “Where are we going now?”

“Crystal Labyrinth,” Billy replied.

“Ah?” Bill was stunned for a moment, “Aren’t we leaving Chew Demon Island directly?”

“No, I need you to help me move something,” Billy said, getting on the tricycle and pedaling with his short legs.

Bill followed behind with large strides, his walking speed about the same as Billy’s cycling speed, “Hey! Hey! What’s going on? You saved me just to use me as a mover?”

“Did I come all this way just to chat with you?” Billy retorted calmly.

“Hmph…” Bill snorted unhappily, “After leaving this broken island, I’m going my separate way.”

“Then you’ll be caught and brought back soon,” Billy replied, “Then they’ll design a bigger cage for you, and a more painful method of torture.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Bill replied, “Then what will you give me? A physically demanding job that requires sixty hours of work a week? And the reward is… hmm… let me think… a can of motor oil?”

“Actually, I have found a job for you,” Billy replied, “Working as a librarian at Zhuan Jiezun’s place.”

“What!” Bill was shocked, “Are you crazy? That old guy is a lunatic! He’ll spread me on a sandwich like jam and eat me!”

“No, he won’t, I’ve reached some agreements with him,” Billy said, “Currently, we have a very stable cooperative relationship, and I believe he’s a trustworthy person, much more reliable than you.”

“Oh… so… you had everything planned out before you even came here,” Bill’s face refreshed to a pouting expression, “And I can only accept everything?”

“Yes,” Billy replied. He paused, trying as best he could to use his terrifying raspy voice to express a gentle tone, “I’m sorry, Bill, I can’t let you stay by my side… at least not now. You’ll understand after I explain it to you, our universe is facing a crisis of complete disintegration, and I have many things to do, very important things…”

“Whatever, even if you explained it, I might not understand,” Bill said readily. Since his older brother was in trouble, he simply didn’t ask, “Let’s talk about the matter at hand, what do you want me to move?”

Billy sighed and replied, “The corpse of [Silkworm Mother].”

“What!” Bill was startled, “Silkworm Mother is dead? Who did it?”

“Not dead yet,” Billy said, looking down at the small watch on his wrist (Billy didn’t have this accessory before the Tower Climbing Arc), “But… soon.”

…

At the same time, in the Crystal Labyrinth…

“Hey, have we run far enough?” Atobe had been sprinting behind Honghu and the others for more than five minutes, and was panting again.

“Haa… I think… we’re about there.” Even Tianma Xingkong was a little out of breath; he had reserved too little Stamina Value for himself.

“Hoo… then let’s take a break for now.” Seeing that his teammates’ Stamina was almost at its limit, Honghu stopped, adjusting his breathing as he spoke, “Hoo… anyway, it seems the other party hasn’t caught up yet.”

“Ah—” Seeing Honghu stop ahead, Atobe immediately yelled and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, “Haa… I say… the web in the sky… haa… how did it suddenly become visible?”

“It’s probably the Boss activating some skill or something,” Feng Bujue replied, his breathing still relatively steady at this moment.

“I wonder if Uncle Waste Chai will be okay?” Tianma Xingkong added.

“Looking at the team interface…” As Feng Bujue replied, he glanced at the game menu, “Hmm… he’s still alive.”

“It’s okay, Brother Chai is still very reliable,” Honghu added, “With his abilities, he should be able to retreat safely…”

Honghu’s words were abruptly cut off halfway. His entire body froze in place, as if he had been paused, and his throat even made sounds like “ka—gu—“, his expression becoming extremely horrified.

“What’s wrong?” Feng Bujue immediately vigilantly stared at the other party, using his peripheral vision to scan the surroundings.

At that moment, Jue-ge’s first reaction was—Honghu had been hit by some kind of immobilization attack, rendering him unable to move.

Unexpectedly, almost in the same second…

“Ka—ah—” Atobe, who was sitting on the ground, and Tianma Xingkong, who was supporting himself with his hands on his knees, also showed similar reactions.

“What’s going on now…” Feng Bujue muttered. Although he also wanted to do something, it was not wise to act rashly before figuring out the situation.

After a brief moment of silence, a bizarre scene appeared…

Honghu, Atobe, and Tianma Xingkong all stood up straight, their limbs moving stiffly like machines.

They were like three funny toy soldiers, all with their limbs stretched straight, swinging their arms and legs in unison, and starting to walk forward…

“Controlled by something…” Watching his teammates’ actions, Feng Bujue quickly deduced the situation, “So… the problem is the principle of control…”

While he was thinking, the three had already turned around and were striding back toward the place they had struggled to escape from.

“Is it mental manipulation or physical interference…” Feng Bujue could only think of countermeasures while following behind them back, “Hmm… judging from their unnatural movements, it seems physical interference is more likely.” He touched his chin and muttered, “But if it’s physical interference, why am I okay?” He scanned all directions, up, down, left, right, front, and back, “I was just with them, and I didn’t detect any signs of enemy attacks… there’s no reason why only I would be spared.”

“Ka—ge—” At this time, Honghu struggled to utter two strange groans from his throat, seemingly trying to remind Jue-ge of something.

“Save it, I can’t understand you,” Feng Bujue replied unappreciatively.

“Gege—gu—” Atobe and Little Ma-ge also said a few words in an unclear voice.

“Same goes for you two,” Feng Bujue added, “Save your energy, your zombie-like way of speaking will only distract me.”

But the three of them still didn’t stop, trying their best to say something.

“Eh? That’s right!” Suddenly, Jue-ge’s mind flashed, “You’re not trying to tell me something specific, because you know you can’t speak clearly, you’re trying to remind me…”

Having figured this out, Jue-ge’s train of thought instantly became clear. He looked at Honghu’s back and said, “So the problem lies in… ‘only I was spared’?”

Honghu immediately responded with several ka-ka-ge-ge sounds.

“Okay… let me think.” Feng Bujue replied, and then thought to himself: only I was spared… only I…

Just three seconds later, he came to a conclusion.

“I see…” Jue-ge immediately stopped being wary of his surroundings, stepped forward, and muttered, “No one attacked us just now…” He paused, “The attack was already completed when you were stuck to the web.”

As he said this, Feng Bujue had walked to Atobe’s side, “Where is it…” He squinted, looking Atobe up and down, carefully searching for something.

“Found it!” About half a minute later, Jue-ge’s eyes lit up.

On the back of Atobe’s head, there was actually a strand of extremely thin, extremely difficult-to-detect pinkish-white silkworm silk. One end of the silkworm silk was hidden inside Atobe’s hair, reaching deep into his brainstem; while the other end… extended all the way to the sky.

“You really can’t be careless at all…” As Feng Bujue spoke, he took out [Must Break Defense Blade], “This thin silk thread must be different from the other silk threads on the web, so it hasn’t fallen off and has been well hidden here.”

Ding—

When Jue-ge’s kitchen knife chopped at that strand of thin silk, it made a sound like a rubber band snapping.

In the next second, Atobe fell forward and knelt on the ground. He gasped violently as if he had lost all his strength, his face covered in cold sweat.

“Haa… haa… that scared me to death…” Atobe said as he panted, “Too terrifying!”

Feng Bujue ignored him and continued forward, repeating the process, quickly finding and cutting the silkworm silk behind the other two people’s heads. This time… he had completely rescued his teammates from the silk web.

“If you had acted ten seconds later, my Stamina Value might have reached zero…” Tianma Xingkong muttered with lingering fear after being rescued and falling to the ground,

Honghu sighed, “Alas… even if we clear this, the scare value rating will definitely be the worst.”

“What?” Feng Bujue asked, “Did you see some terrifying images when you were controlled?”

“Hard to describe in a few words,” Honghu replied.

His answer… was very apt.

In those two minutes, Honghu and the others had experienced a very terrifying experience. At that time… the bodies of the three of them were not under their own control, and they couldn’t make a sound from their throats, but their five senses still existed, and had become countless times more sensitive than usual… They heard the most subtle sounds inside their “bodies”, such as the beating of their hearts, the peristalsis of their intestines and stomachs, the flow of their blood, and the contraction of their lungs. They saw all the details of the distant scenery, such as the cracks on the crystals, the fungi on the surfaces of objects, and the fibers on the silk web. They also smelled some unforgettable odors, such as the smell of their own nasal cavities…

“Well, anyway… the three of you rest here for a while, I’ll go ahead.” Feng Bujue responded, then turned to leave.

“Huh? Where are you going?” Tianma Xingkong asked suspiciously.

“Is there any need to ask…” Feng Bujue replied with a serious expression, “Don’t forget…” He pointed to the back of his head, “Uncle Waste Chai is in the same situation as you.”