Ma Youcai escaped all the way to Boston.

He tried to call Zhang Xinyuan and Heize Lianyue several times but couldn't get through.

He arrived in NY inexplicably and then escaped to Boston confusedly. Ma Youcai regretted it a bit. He felt that he shouldn't have fled so quickly in case there was a misunderstanding between Heize Lianyue and the association.

No matter how much he thought about it, Ma Youcai couldn't figure it out. He gave up thinking. He was quite optimistic. Since he had arrived in Boston, he might as well have a good time for a few days. After all, he couldn't spend all the money the association gave him so quickly. He would deal with it when the time came.

He found a barber shop and got a trendy hairstyle, dressing himself up as an adult, then checked into a hotel.

That evening, after finishing his meal at McDonald's, Ma Youcai was about to have a good night's sleep when he received a call from the association, and it was Kana on the other end.

"Hello, is this Sister Kana?"

"Ma Youcai, why did you leave Niu Yue? Both the chairman and I were worried about you."

Kana's gentle voice made Ma Youcai feel a little itchy. He scratched the new hairstyle he had just done and suddenly felt guilty, feeling like he had done something wrong to the association.

"Um...Sister Kana, I, I didn't mean to..."

Ma Youcai struggled to find the right words, not knowing what to say for a moment.

"It was Miss Heize who said something to you, right?" Kana's voice suddenly became low, and Ma Youcai seemed to see the disappointed expression on that blonde woman.

"Yeah, she said you are all bad people and told me to run as far as I could... But Sister Kana, don't be sad, I was just panicking for a moment, I didn't really think that way!"

"Ma Youcai, what I want to say is that Miss Heize may... may have already betrayed us. She killed Zhang Xinyuan and then took the opportunity to escape while we were not paying attention. She used you and wanted to attract our attention to delay our pursuit."

"What?! Zhang Da-ge is dead? No way? He was fine just a few days ago, how could he..."

"It's true, we find it hard to accept too. It seems that Miss Heize has firearms on her." Kana sighed and said, "The association is very worried about your safety. Come back, the chairman won't hold you accountable for leaving Niu Yue."

"Okay, I'll come back tomorrow morning."

Restless, Ma Youcai couldn't sleep.

He couldn't understand why Heize Lianyue would kill Zhang Xinyuan. Both of them seemed trustworthy.

Especially Zhang Xinyuan, who was not only his fellow townsman but also a friend. Ma Youcai felt a strong sense of closeness to him. They built a friendship through their interactions. Although they were both failures in life, it did not affect their mutual admiration and appreciation.

Unfortunately, everything is different now, and I don't know what to do.

...

Later in the evening, another call came, from an unfamiliar number.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Moses Moses, is it Youcai-jun? It's Heize Lianyue. We have something important to talk to you, sorry for disturbing your sleep~"

The voice on the other end of the phone was slightly playful and young, a familiar tone. Ma Youcai immediately recognized who was calling and his tired mind suddenly became alert.

"Heize Lianyue..." Ma Youcai suppressed his confusion and anger, and said with anger, "Have you betrayed the association? If you want to betray, just go by yourself. Why did you kill Zhang Da-ge? He didn't do anything wrong to us!"

"Wait, calm down, Youcai-jun. Yes, I have indeed betrayed the association, because everyone in the association is a bad person. But Xinyuan-jun is not dead, he is right next to me."

"Zhang Da-ge is still alive? Let me talk to him."

"Sure."

There were faint footsteps on the other end of the phone. After a few seconds of silence, a hoarse and weathered voice came through to Ma Youcai's ears, "Ma Youcai... cough... "

"Zhang Da-ge, you're still alive, are you okay?" Ma Youcai breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt puzzled, not knowing whom to believe. "I heard that you were killed by Heize Lianyue, it kept me up all night. What really happened?"

"No, I'm still alive and well." The "Zhang Xinyuan" on the other end of the phone said, "Kana told you, right? Listen to me, don't go back to Niu Yue. The association is like a pigsty, filled with wicked people. If you don't escape, you'll be killed by them sooner or later. Running away might give you a glimmer of hope..."

Immediately, "Zhang Xinyuan" told Ma Youcai about what had happened in the past two days, including the incident with the "speech ban curse". Ma Youcai was shocked and couldn't believe how deep the association's waters were. They had all been deceived as newcomers.

"Women are all deceptive! Thinking back to Kana's gentle tone just now, Ma Youcai felt both angry and frustrated.

"Thank goodness you called in time. Otherwise, I would have listened to the advice from Bi Chi and returned to Twisted Fate tomorrow. What should I do next? Let's meet up. The outside world is too dangerous. I want to go back to my home country..."

"Where are you now?"

"I'm in Boston, not too far away."

"We're also near Boston. From now on, don't answer any calls except from this number, and don't accept any video calls. Let's meet up in Boston tomorrow."

"Alright, that sounds good."

"Take a good rest. I won't disturb your sleep."

"Hehe, see you tomorrow, Big Brother Zhang. Have a good time with Lianyue. Take it easy..."

Ma Youcai smirked. He didn't believe that two single men and women on the run wouldn't have any romantic moments. Clearly, he thought Zhang Xinyuan had already won over the neon girl.

"Don't waste your time thinking about useless things," said Zhang Xinyuan.

...

Suburbs of Boston, in the forest area.

Xu Fang, imitating Zhang Xinyuan's voice, hung up the phone and looked at Heize Lianyue, saying, "The association is one step ahead."

"I can't believe the Guild Master didn't kill Youcai Jun. Do they still want to continue using him?" Heize Lianyue furrowed her brows slightly, taking a bite of the wild fruits in her hand.

Her actions were subtle and elegant, as if she were not eating fruits picked from the roadside, but savoring expensive auctioned ruby grapes. Even though the fruits were sour and astringent, she had no expressions of displeasure. Compared to the nerve-wracking escape journey, being able to quietly fill her stomach was much better.

"It seems that the new recruits are more valuable than I imagined. Even in a 'semi-betrayal' state, the association doesn't want to give up," Xu Fang said.

"Do we really have to meet up with him? Even if he's not a spy, he doesn't know anything, and we are in danger..." Lianyue's meaning was clear. To win over Ma Youcai, they would have to take a big risk. After all, Ma Youcai was in downtown Boston, and there were surveillance cameras everywhere. If the association had skilled hackers or government personnel, they could easily monitor Ma Youcai through the cameras. If they suddenly appeared in front of Ma Youcai, they would likely fall into the sight of the Guild Master.

"Of course we have to. Why wouldn't we?" Xu Fang glanced at Lianyue. "Are you worried that your position will be threatened once Ma Youcai joins us?"

Lianyue smiled confidently. "Hehe, Xu Fang, besides the association's information, I have more value. I won't let you regret cooperating with me."

This confidence didn't seem fabricated. Only those truly outstanding and in high positions in a certain field had such self-assurance. She was implying to Xu Fang that she didn't escape by luck.

"I look forward to it. Besides, isn't this a good opportunity to test the association's capabilities?" Xu Fang smiled. "We don't have to approach Ma Youcai actively; instead, we will let him make the moves. According to what you said, the association can track Ma Youcai's location at any time. If they discover that Ma Youcai doesn't answer calls and moves to other places, they will definitely try to kill him. If he doesn't die... well, things will get interesting."

Lianyue's eyes lit up. "Yes, we not only let him act on his own, but also make him pass through the most monitored downtown area, actively providing the association with opportunities."

At this moment, Ma Youcai had become a guinea pig, blissfully unaware, lost in his dreams.

...

Before dawn, Xu Fang and Lianyue talked for a long time, learning a lot about the association.

Lianyue did not store the stolen information from the association on a USB drive but memorized the key data with her excellent memory.

Ever since she was a child, Lianyue had exceptionally good memory. Although she couldn't recall everything perfectly, remembering something for one or two weeks was no problem.

The reason she didn't copy the data was to avoid Xu Fang knowing all of the association's information at once. As long as Xu Fang had any uncertainties about the association or the online novel website, she would have valuable information. This way, as a newcomer, she had the right to negotiate with higher-level authors.

Karna's information is divided into two parts, one based on the chronicles of the Horror Novel Web, and the other is the "God Descent Project".

The chronicles revolve around various information collected from the Horror Novel Web, such as records of books serialized on the Horror Novel Web, compilation of bizarre events, question banks, and so on.

The author of the chronicles is credited as the "All-Seeing Eye," whether it is an individual or an organization is unknown.

This information is not organized by the association, and many parts are incomplete or abruptly cut off at crucial moments, as if the organizer of the information intentionally did so. The only thing that left a deep impression on Karna is the summary of the regularities of bizarre events.

Bizarre events are a collection of consistent rules that deviate from the reality of the universe. Every bizarre event has a convergent solution.

Many authors think that bizarre events are created by the Horror Novel Web, but that's not the case. The novel website only serves as an "intermediary." Bizarre events are not exclusive to authors; many ordinary people also encounter bizarre events.

The classification of bizarre events is extremely complex. According to difficulty, they can be divided into three categories: full-information, semi-information, and no-information.

In full-information bizarre events, the starting point tells you how to complete them, like having half a walkthrough. However, the death rate is still very high. It only explains the route to survival but does not indicate where the deadly paths lie.

Even if authors know the walkthrough, they may not necessarily pass, because many events maliciously test people's moral bottom line and mental endurance. Those with weak willpower are easily eliminated.

Some bizarre events even cause irreparable trauma to people's minds. Many survivors of bizarre events have mental problems and ultimately choose to commit suicide.

Semi-information bizarre events are the kind that give people headaches. They only reveal the conditions for completion, and how to complete them needs to be explored independently. Without a walkthrough, they are one level harder than full-information events.

As for no-information events... if it weren't for life-saving items, authors probably wouldn't even discover these absurd bizarre events. There is not the slightest hint in such events, and they don't even know how they died.

Of course, there are other classification methods for bizarre events, such as "realistic" and "non-realistic," "single-type" and "nested-type," and so on.

"How do you explain the existence of that website?" Xu Fang asked. "Since it is a chronicle, how can they forget about the protagonist?"

Karna brushed her hair behind her ears, tidying up her slightly messy hair, and said:

"The... existence of that website is still a mystery to this day. People have tried to explain that website from scientific, mathematical, and even philosophical perspectives, but all attempts have failed. If we ignore Occam's Razor, people can easily attribute countless identities to that website. It can be a manager breeding humans, an evil demon lord, a Laplace's demon, a super bizarre event... but despite all the talk, what is the motive of that website? Is it just for authors to finish their novels? But what benefits can that website gain from completed novels?"

"If an author finishes their novel, can they leave?" Xu Fang asked.

Karna shook her head solemnly, "No, according to the records of the 'All-Seeing Eye,' the authors of all completed works, along with their novels, have disappeared, with their life and death unknown. It is assumed that they died."

"Oh, I see," Xu Fang nodded indifferently.

Karna continued, "Now there is a division in the author community regarding the definition of that website. Some think it belongs to 'living organisms' with self-awareness, while others think it belongs to 'machines' that only follow programs. However, I think it is just a macro-quantum state phenomenon—it exists and doesn't exist at the same time. If the observer is an author, this state collapses into existence, but if the observer is an ordinary person, it collapses into non-existence. As for its essence, I am more inclined to see it as a kind of real illusion."

Xu Fang said, "But for ordinary people, the website does exist, it's just that they can't observe it. The website can not only influence authors but also ordinary people. Maybe it's a projection of a higher-dimensional space... In any case, no matter how people doubt the nature of that website, it truly exists. Some things are recognized as true but not necessarily provable."

Speaking of which, Xu Fang recalled the five-dimensional space once controlled by the K Organization. This magical and stable space, like a strand of hair that connects the earth and the moon, floats above the heads of humans. This strand of hair could possibly split the moon in half or peel off a layer of skin from the earth like peeling an apple. Despite its danger, the majority of people are completely unaware of it. Except for the Horror Novel Web, there are still many strange things in this world.

"It's not necessarily provable... it's the incompleteness theorem of Gödel, hehe, unfortunately, we can't even achieve the most basic 'consistency' at the moment." Yue Lian brought her fingers together and smiled slighty.

"How long has that website been around? And how did it develop authors in the era before the internet?" Xu Fang asked.

"Well... let's save that question for later, shall we, Xu Fang-kun?" Yue Lian winked, deliberately piquing his curiosity.

Xu Fang shrugged and didn't press further.

"Then, tell me about this so-called 'God's Descent Plan.' It sounds very dangerous, and it relates to our future strategic plans."

"The Association wants to create a 'god' in the real world, and they have already succeeded halfway. His name is... the god of destruction. In order to perfect this plan, they need numerous authors to collectively refine the god of destruction's settings. That's why the Association keeps recruiting new authors as cannon fodder. If this plan is exposed, no new authors will be willing to join them, and they might even face disgust from veteran authors. That's also the reason why the Association is hunting us down."