Chapter 449: Chapter 447 Self-Division

When Yi Chen saw that the being modeled after the “First Dead Man” had appeared in the aquarium and was swimming in the Black Liquid, he was not only shocked but also immediately fell into deep self-reflection. It was apparent that Deep Death had a significant impact on him, even affecting his most crucial memory layer.

“Could it be that the death I brought from the Original World shares the same origin with the ‘Deep Death’ explored by the First Dead Man?

Therefore, I remain unaffected by ‘decay’ on the surface, but because of this sameness, Deep Death penetrates directly into my Madness Brain, reacting with the Death Black Liquid hidden in the deepest part.

It leverages my nature, affecting my pre-life memory.”

As Yi Chen thought this, he approached the tank and placed his entire palm against the glass surface,

Snap!

The half-headed ‘Death Construct’ with a halo also swam over, extending its own palm, separated by glass, both palms aligned perfectly, even down to the length and thickness of each finger.

Continuing to look at the construct inside the tank, its half-head’s corresponding jaw, mouth, and nose structure were almost identical to Yi Chen’s.

But just almost identical, there were still some differences,

The skin tone of the Death Construct was yellowish, and its physical features were more akin to those of Asian descent, or rather, those of ‘Yi Chen as an Asian before his death’.

The young man standing between the aquarium passages, who was also the ‘Master’ of this Memory Palace, was a laborer in the Seven-Day Cemetery, a typical Caucasian, named William Behrens.

At that moment,

The construct’s mouth began to wriggle, bubbles emerging one by one, and from the simple shape of its mouth one could directly read its meaning – it was repeatedly uttering a phrase.

SSYi Chen is me, and you are WilliamSS

Constantly repeating, to emphasize the difference between them and their inseparable close connection, it also seemed to be urging William to smash the glass and achieve their fusion.

The repetitive phrases gradually produced a hypnotic effect, so much so that William outside drew a pistol and aimed it at the already severely damaged glass surface.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger,

Hum! A wave of brain waves spread through his brain, and William’s skull directly flipped open, revealing that beautiful, pitch-black, and dignified Madness Brain structure, symbolizing the craving for endless knowledge and madness.

A full-body epileptic seizure twisted William’s body and also brought him back to consciousness.

He fell to the ground, convulsing madly while muttering, “No… It’s not the time yet! I am myself… Don’t affect my thinking!”

After the seizure ended, all was silent.

William quickly repaired the cracks in the aquarium, then impersonated a janitor to clean up the Black Liquid on the floor, igniting the candles between the corridors,

allowing the candlelight, glass, and the piled bodies in the tanks to block the ‘spillover’ of the past.

As William turned to leave, the humanoid body resembling the First Dead Man pressed against the glass, a near-mad, pitch-black smile curling its lips.

Then, it pressed its mouth completely against the glass, its tongue licking and trembling, making a sound that made William’s skin crawl.

“Still afraid to face the [Ego]? Really now… Well then, if you encounter real danger outside, the kind of danger that can lead to certain death, the kind of danger you can’t face alone, then come in and release me.

Don’t be too brave, William.”

As the voice faded… Bang! A heavy door slamming echoed through the aquarium.

William had re-closed the dark iron door, and was taking out a special ‘Memory Gel’ to repair the holes in the door, he was about to complete filling the final hole, and softly said:

“Stay put inside there, Yi Chen.”

…This text begins here, with the protagonist’s name officially changed to William by intermixing Yi Chen and William…

Exiting and closing the “Memory Palace”, William’s consciousness returned from deep within the brain to the surface, awakening in the reality of physical perception, in the midst of a high-speed traveling Ascaris Car.

A soft, warm massage with a steady rhythm was felt on his head,

Thirteen, with wax continuously flowing from the corners of her eyes, was sitting behind William’s seat, providing a simple head massage, having silently observed the attendants serving the teacher on previous occasions. Now, with the attendants forced to leave, she wanted to try it herself.

Such proactive behavior was impossible for an ordinary Candle Puppet.

“Thirteen, what a trouble you’ve taken… By the way, how long have I slept?”

“Teacher, you’re awake~ Let me see, it seems quite a while.”

Thirteen gently unbuttoned her neckline to reveal a delicate hourglass at her chest, “It’s been three days and two hours. I’ve been touching your head with my fingers the entire time. From last night, the death Sensing responses in your brain started to diminish, and now it has returned to its original state, congratulations, teacher.”

“Hmm.”

William stood up and used the ‘convenience’ of the living train to retract all the blood and flesh seats into the carriage cavity, creating free space for movement, and even customized the growth of some bar structures in the carriage.

He began to perform some exaggerated stretching exercises such as hanging his waist on a bar, folding his body, and pressing his back and legs tightly together,

then took out pain needles for effective puncturing of all the body’s joint nodes and acupoints,

finally, he also took out the firearm “Bartosz” for a comprehensive check, while asking Little Grape to act as the workshop supervisor, responsible for producing bullets suitable for combating skin-like organisms, as a preparation for unexpected needs.

The weapon of the dead, sealed in shrouds, was still left in the suitcase, to be taken out only at the correct and necessary moments.

Throughout the journey, rumors about the ‘Mysterious Skin Factory anomaly’ had been heard no less than ten times, even William himself had personally experienced the anomaly during the selection period of the First Gentleman.

When he fell into the bottom along the “Skin Bag Channel” of the First Gentleman, not only did he fail to reach the Skin Factory, but he was also sprayed out by a strange and unknown stream of blood.

Several organizations in the Old World, which had cooperational relationships with the Skin Factory, and the Source Epidemic Area, had also temporarily cut off contact, all related production orders were scrapped, and the entire Skin Factory seemed to be completely isolated from the outside.

Even the Duke intentionally played coy, hoping William would see for himself.

By the time the warm-up exercises ended, William also called over the attendant to inquire about the remaining journey time, being told that it would still take a full three days.

Because the Mysterious Skin Factory was also located in a corner of the Old World, a special and different corner from the Original Tomb, a corner abundant in resources and most suitable for factory operation.

Seeing there was still plenty of time remaining, William took out the “Skin Sack Bible” from the closet to reread,

Since gentleman’s clothes correspond to low skin, he had not opened this book for a long time due to being unable to read the formal content in the Bible.

When the mutant Bible, tainted by death and with a cover showing sinister white bones, was taken out again, the entire train segment was covered with a layer of rotting, dark skin, and William remembered an issue.

“Since I absorbed the ‘Skin Bag Guest’, completing the production of Black Death Skin and the accidental transformation of the Skin Sack Bible, it seems I forgot to reread it, completely immersed in exploring the Original Tomb and obtaining the Wedge-shaped Stone… Luckily, there is still time, let’s start reading now.”

When William opened the blackened Bible and started rereading the Prologue, an entirely different image of the Skin Factory emerged in his mind.

This differed vastly from the image of the Skin Factory he saw when he first read the book,

It was a facility dyed black, with particles of death drifting through the air, and the skin-like products on the production lines also covered in black spots, even the bearings between some biotechnical machinery could be seen having lubricant made from Black Liquid.

Dead stillness, desolation, yet as if hiding something.

“Is this… the Skin Factory suitable for my future?”