"Everyone, I have some bad news to tell you. Just now my duplicate met with the high-level members of the Eternal Life Church."

The authors all knew that duplicates were authors themselves, so this came as no surprise.

"I wanted to find out the purpose of the Eternal Life Church and tried to negotiate with them, but they refused. They believe authors have no right to negotiate with them unless..."

"To tackle the bizarre event, is there any shortcut?" Old Mo asked.

"Unless I tell the Eternal Life Church the locations of all the authors."

Ji Shuyu and the others couldn't stay calm. "Could it be..."

"I refused them."

"My child, next time, can you just say it all at once? My old heart can't take it," Empty sweated profusely.

"Hehehe, what a waste of a good opportunity, but I like it," Owen remarked.

Xu Fang said, "Due to what happened with Bernice, there may be a breach of trust between us, but I still want to tell you all about this."

Ji Shuyu understood the point that the rules wanted to make. If the rules reached an agreement with the Eternal Life Church, they could simply say nothing and pretend as if nothing happened, or even take action directly, since the other authors were powerless to resist. On the other hand, if they shared this information with the authors, they would need to weave more lies to dispel others' suspicions. Besides alerting the group, what benefit would it bring?

Ji Shuyu said, "Thank you for your trust, rules, but I am worried that your mental state may be affected by the Eternal Life Church."

"I have checked, and for now, I haven't noticed any emotional or cognitive abnormalities. Of course, if I exhibit any unusual behavior, please remind me at any time."

"Okay, what else did the Eternal Life Church say?"

"Eliminate Moulin within 24 hours."

The atmosphere fell into silence.

Moulin knelt where Bernice had disappeared, praying softly. She raised her head in confusion, looking at the other authors around her.

The expressions of the group were extremely complex. Some were skeptical, some frowned, and some looked worried.

The nun realized that everyone's gaze was on her, realizing what Xu Fang had just said.

"Now everyone is in jeopardy," Old Mo said. "Miss Moulin, I hope you can document everything happening around you. We will help you remotely."

With that, Old Mo hurriedly left.

The Anonymous One left without saying a word.

Ji Shuyu sympathetically glanced at Moulin, then looked at Xu Fang. "Rules, the Eternal Life Church may be able to track the nun's location. It's no longer safe here. I have no combat power, so I'm leaving first."

"I'll take my leave as well. Take care, everyone."

"Good luck, poor nun!" Yoriko casually left the room.

"Find a safe place to hide and stay connected," Xu Fang told Black Frame.

Black Frame agreed and also left.

The authors were rational beings. Except for Bernice, who let her emotions overwhelm her, no one stayed to accompany Moulin. They knew that dispersing was more conducive to survival, and those painful feelings would always come after survival.

Emotions make people romantic, while rationality can make people cruel. In the face of survival, there is no choice. Eventually, only Xu Fang, Owen, and Moulin were left on the scene.

“Why aren't you leaving?” Xu Fang looked at Owen.

“You should remember I said I wanted to capture a living member of the Eternal Life Church for experimentation. Isn't now a perfect opportunity?... Don't worry, although I am not afraid of death, I won't blindly throw my life away.”

“Owen, after you become a digital life, will you still browse the internet frequently?”

“Of course, I often search for others like me on various forums, but no one ever replies to me. Why do you ask? Did you see my posts?”

Xu Fang: “...It's nothing.”

“Is my life finally coming to an end? Hahaha!” Moulin accepted her fate, she laughed happily and hysterically for a moment, then sighed in resignation. "Eliminated by the Eternal Life Church, great, I can be free.”

“Hey, your delusions are truly ridiculous. Will the Eternal Life Church really let you die peacefully? Bernice from the previous round has already been brainwashed into a faithful member of the Eternal Life Church. With that mindset, you might as well commit suicide now, perhaps the real Bernice is waiting for you in hell,” Owen said jokingly.

Owen doesn't sympathize with the weak; instead, he taunts those who give up on themselves. Emotions are contagious, and it's because of these emotionally fragile people that they ruin the gaming experience for others.

“The Eternal Life Church doesn't care if the author kills themselves. Suicide is inescapable for them; they only care about the 'second-stage death' of the author.”

【What are you looking at me for, expecting me to give you the answer? If I say no, will you believe me?】

“I'm just speculating. Whatever your answer, it won't affect my judgment.”

【Is that so? Haha.】

“We should move to another location,” Xu Fang said to Moulin. “I don't want to be blocked by the Eternal Life Church's army at the door.”

The three found a car in the city and drove towards the outskirts. An hour later, they were gradually getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

“Are we going to the forest?” Owen looked out the window, trying to spot members of the Eternal Life Church.

“It's a place far from civilization and with complex terrain, even if we're discovered, it'll be difficult to track us down.”

Xu Fang was driving with Moulin in the front passenger seat.

“Alright, but no matter what, I still want to go back to the city and capture some subjects, or better yet, capture a live person now!” Owen in the backseat targeted a vagrant lying next to a dilapidated house.

“Don't cause trouble now.”

“Hahaha, no one can restrain me, not even the Eternal Life Church, and certainly not you!” Owen laughed and kicked open the car door, jumping out.

Xu Fang glanced at Owen and slowly stopped the car at the corner of the street.

Owen landed and rolled to dissipate the momentum, then drew the ** from his waist and walked towards the vagrant.

“Member of the Eternal Life Church, reveal your true face! Admit that this world is false!”

The homeless man lifted his drunken, blurry eyes and wondered where this sudden madness had come from. Owen grabbed the homeless man's ear and shouted, "Don't you remember me? Who are you?!"

Terrified, the homeless man took out a bottle of alcohol from his pocket and waved Owen away, ranting angrily in unintelligible gibberish.

"You're quite the actor!" Owen scoffed, before injecting a tranquilizer into the homeless man's neck.

Already heavily intoxicated, the homeless man sank into a deep slumber.

Owen dragged the man over.

"Just an ordinary person," the nun whispered softly, "shouldn't involve the innocent."

"Think about yourself first, Miss Moulin, who will die within 24 hours," Owen retorted.

"What are you planning to do?" Xu Fang asked.

"An inductive experiment," Owen said with a smile. "I want to see if this guy can be turned into a follower of the Eternal Life Church under my deliberate manipulation! Quite interesting, isn't it?"

"Between eternal life or endless cycles, this world, falling apart, on the edge of the abyss... Ah-ah-ah!! Cough, cough, cough!!" Moulin started speaking nonsense again and ended up spitting out blood.

"Just a small experiment, look at how worked up you've become!" Owen pointed at Moulin and laughed heartily.

"No, her condition is rather unusual," Xu Fang unfolded the passenger seat back, made Moulin lie on her side, and used a damp cloth to clean the blood between her mouth and nose.

Xu Fang examined the bloodstains on the cloth.

Black blood, with tiny lumps.

Xu Fang's gaze sharpened as a familiar memory emerged; he had experienced similar symptoms before.

These were signs of complete bodily breakdown.

Moulin trembled all over, unable to even sit up.

"Is there a possibility? Is the Eternal Life Church trying to eliminate Moulin in this way?" Owen took out a small medical kit, "Shall we perform a little surgery on her? See how her organs are doing inside? If it doesn't work out, we can just swap them out. Even though I study biology, I have plenty of clinical experience as well."

"You won't gain anything by killing her."

"Tsk, I'm out of here. You can contact me anytime~" Owen shook his head disinterestedly, lifted the anesthetized homeless man, and headed into the forest beside the road.

Initially, Owen thought he could assist the army of the Eternal Life Church when they arrived to attack, but seeing Moulin's condition made him realize that the Church didn't necessarily need to physically eliminate her; they had more efficient methods. Despite his interest in anatomy, the rules wouldn't allow him to act on it.

It was better to research other matters.

Xu Fang watched Owen leave, closed the car door, and drove to a remote, uninhabited place nearby.

He forced open the door and laid Moulin on the bed. Xu Fang decided not to take Moulin to the hospital. Besides the possibility of Eternal Life Church ambushing them near the hospital, Moulin's internal organs were deteriorating at a terrifying speed, and she didn't seem likely to survive much longer.

"Moulin, is Eternal Life Church poisoning you? How are they doing it?"

"I don't know, I know nothing... It's dark, I've fallen into the abyss again." Moulin opened his eyes and gazed into the void above, speaking gibberish, his clothes stained black with blood.

【Haha, you don't believe my words anyway, so does it make a difference whether I speak or not?】

Even without getting an answer, Xu Fang had some guesses. Last week, the Eternal Life Church from the previous level had captured Bernice, so naturally they would not let Moulin, who was with Bernice, go.

Perhaps everyone still held onto a glimmer of hope, thinking Bernice's death wouldn't affect others, but Moulin was already deeply involved.

【How does it feel to watch your teammate die in front of your eyes? Here's a clue: whether it's organ transplantation or blood exchange, neither can alleviate this symptom. Its fatality rate is 100%.】

天灾攻略组 (Disaster Strategy Group).

Owen: "@Rules, is the nun dead?"

Empty: "What happened?"

Owen: "Oh, I was driving with Rules to take the nun to the outskirts, and then inexplicably that woman started coughing up blood like crazy, death is imminent."

Yoriko: "Such ill-fortune, first thing I see upon joining the group."

Ji Shuyu: "Owen, aren't you with Rules?"

Owen: "Can't even spot a shadow of the Eternal Life Church's army, why would I stay there, might as well catch a few living people for research."

Rules: "Right now I'm alone with the nun, her condition is very bad, she may not last an hour. Specific symptoms include: cell disintegration in visceral tissues, organ failure, elevated body temperature, unable to determine if it's a virus, bacteria, or toxin."

Ji Shuyu: "This... looks like a viral infection!"

Owen: "Ebola virus on fast forward? Heh, everyone should check their bodies. "

老莫 (Old Mo): "It shouldn't be a virus, at least for now, my body doesn't feel anything strange, don't easily go to the hospital, you might be discovered by the Eternal Life Church. People feeling unwell should report in the group promptly!"

Empty: "This poor daoist has a sore back and leg cramps."

Yoriko: "Neko is so heavy, my shoulders ache!"

Ji Shuyu: "Get serious, everyone, we need to discuss how to save people now."

Owen: "No saving, the Eternal Life Church has already sentenced her to death, oh, the sentence of eternal life."

Ji Shuyu: "There's no healing magic... I truly feel so powerless right now, sigh..."

Xu Fang turned off his phone, he had just given Moulin some antibiotics, but they had no effect. Moulin's life was slipping away at a steady pace, soon reaching its end, perhaps due to too much pain, her mental state was also extremely unstable.

"I... I can see it again, it's also looking at me." Moulin weakly waved her arms, struggling to speak, "Please, let me die, don't torture me anymore!"

"Who is it?"

"It's all a dream, still in reincarnation, still in reincarnation, I'm going to die hahahahah!!" She stuck her fingers into her eye sockets.

"Calm down... Who is it?" Xu Fang held her hand.

"Rules... It just... said to me... give you the eyes, so I can rest assured... goodbye... Thank you for caring, may God guide you in the right direction..."

Xu Fang fell silent for a few seconds and let go of the hand.

The nun used all her remaining strength to pull out her own eyeball, then revealed a satisfied smile.

Her body turned into fragments and disappeared in this absurd world, leaving no trace behind except for those pair of eyeballs.

...

Was "it" truly existing or just a product of the nun's imagination?

Xu Fang picked up the eyeball and observed it.

Grey-blue irises, smooth sclera. Due to Moulin's disappearance, the connected blood vessels and bloodstains had vanished, making the vitreous body translucent.

Suddenly, he saw himself in the eyeball, and he felt an inexplicable connection established between himself and this eyeball.

Xu Fang slowly shifted the eyeball's gaze elsewhere.

In that instant, the destructive perspective of the mosaic spread throughout the world.

Finally, Xu Fang saw "it."