Pillar

Pillar

Mu Sichen had thought applying a totem would require close contact. He had not expected the distance to widen instead.

Yao Wangping told him to close his eyes because he did not want him to see what happened. Mu Sichen did not think this was necessarily concealment. Given this world's features of things "not to be looked at directly" and "not to be understood," it might even be a form of protection.

Fortunately, Mu Sichen's left eye could see things too; it was only that what it saw was slightly different from what his right eye saw. His right eye saw appearances. His left eye saw things ordinary people could not see.

This was the ability he had gained from gazing upon Big Eye.

Mu Sichen had thought over the process by which he had obtained this ability: use the pickaxe, trigger the "Undermine" skill, obtain a Self Sticker, gaze upon Big Eye, a god-class monster, and thereby gain a little of that monster's power.

Combined with the name of the skill, "Undermine," Mu Sichen felt that this might be his real ability.

He could not help wondering what ability he would gain if he looked directly at Qin Zhou.

Of course, that was all he did: wonder.

Big Eye was only a god-class Hidden Star, the lowest level among god-class beings, while Qin Zhou felt stronger. One glance at a Hidden Star had nearly killed Mu Sichen. If he accidentally saw an existence of an even higher level, he might turn into a puddle of monster on the spot.

Mu Sichen obediently stood close to the corner of the wall, closed his eyes, tugged his shirt collar slightly open, and bared his shoulder.

At that moment, through a mass of fog, his left eye "saw" the chibi Little Octopus on Yao Wangping's shoulder spread countless tentacles and trap him firmly in place.

One tentacle stretched toward him and tapped him between the eyebrows.

Mu Sichen swallowed nervously.

Along with the tentacle's touch, a voice entered Mu Sichen's mind: "Your idea will work."

Those words made Mu Sichen realize that Qin Zhou had read his thoughts merely by touching the spot between his brows with a tentacle.

Mu Sichen had chosen to let Yao Wangping apply the totem because he had no other choice, but he also had his own calculations.

Qin Zhou's totem reminded Mu Sichen of his Self Stickers.

Mu Sichen had suddenly thought: were totems and Self Stickers the same kind of ability?

Both left certain patterns on the body, and whether it was mental contamination, maintaining clarity, or becoming a Follower, all of them were powers that could affect the mind to some degree. It was only that his Self Sticker was a temporary tattoo that could be washed off at any time, while Qin Zhou's totem was an actual tattoo that would be difficult to remove. Perhaps the only difference between them was strength.

That gave Mu Sichen an idea.

He felt he could temporarily accept Qin Zhou's totem, then use the totem's power to turn Big-Eye's followers into Qin Zhou's followers. During that process, as long as he used the pickaxe, he could obtain Self Stickers.

He would help poach Big-Eye's followers and hand them over to Qin Zhou while obtaining Self Stickers for himself. Once he saved up enough Self Stickers, he could stick them all onto Qin Zhou's totem. Maybe the two powers would cancel each other out and wash the totem away.

Mu Sichen thought this was a no-lose deal.

Unfortunately, ideals were full-bodied, while reality was all bones.

The gap in strength between him and Qin Zhou was still too great. Qin Zhou's true body was not even here, and with only a brief contact between their powers, he could read Mu Sichen's plan.

And yet Qin Zhou had said his idea "would work"?

This left Mu Sichen somewhat puzzled.

Under normal circumstances, after reading that kind of thought, should Qin Zhou not be angry? He had actually approved of his plan?

The tentacle seemed to sense Mu Sichen's confusion. The voice continued echoing in Mu Sichen's mind: "I can lend you power."

In other words, Qin Zhou had agreed to be fleeced by him? Mu Sichen fell into thought.

Ever since Mu Sichen had shouted Qin Zhou's name and been marked by him, Mu Sichen had known very well that Qin Zhou was no benign existence. He might not be as extreme and terrifying as Big Eye, but Qin Zhou's thoughts absolutely could not be measured from a normal person's perspective.

Lending him power would definitely not be for any reason like "I see potential in him and have decided to nurture him."

Looking back on everything he had done since arriving in this world, Mu Sichen felt the only thing about him that Qin Zhou would find worth caring about was his "Undermine" ability.

He had once poached one of Big Eye's Followers for Qin Zhou.

Big Eye spread his own deeds everywhere, scattering mental contamination throughout the Town of the Eye. Qin Zhou, on the other hand, had his people lie low inside the Town of the Eye and act in secret.

At present, it seemed both of them needed Followers.

Qin Zhou must have taken a liking to his ability to poach Followers. Even knowing Mu Sichen harbored ulterior motives, he was still willing to lend him power.

This counted as a win-win situation, right? But Mu Sichen was not sure whether, after accepting Qin Zhou's totem, his mind would be contaminated or his thoughts altered.

Originally, he had not thought of this point. Now, however, Qin Zhou was far away, yet with only a totem tentacle touching the spot between his brows, he had guessed Mu Sichen's thoughts. That mental perception ability was too strong. Mu Sichen could not resist it.

"I permit you to retain your Self," the tentacle transmitted again after reading his thoughts. "Only by retaining your Self can you use that ability."

So that was it. Mu Sichen relaxed slightly.

He did not suspect Qin Zhou was lying to him. After all, the difference in their strength was currently enormous. Qin Zhou had no need to deceive him.

"All right. I will get you enough Followers," Mu Sichen thought, sending the thought over.

"Not merely Followers. There is something in the sanatorium more important than Followers. Assist Yao Wangping in finding it." The tentacle passed a task to Mu Sichen.

Before Mu Sichen could ask Qin Zhou what he wanted found, the tentacle left the spot between his brows and rested on his exposed left shoulder.

Mu Sichen waited for a while, but no totem appeared. Just as he was wondering what was going on, he saw the tentacle slide beneath his collar and land on the left side of his chest, right over his heart.

A burning sensation came. Mu Sichen felt as if countless dense needles were stabbing into the left side of his chest. It hurt, but only for an instant.

Then he heard Yao Wangping say, "You can open your eyes now."

Mu Sichen opened his eyes, pulled his collar aside, and looked down. A tattoo had appeared on the left side of his chest.

The tattoo looked like a person spreading their arms, guarding a spherical object within their embrace, like someone protecting the Earth with their own arms.

It was just that this person had a few too many arms. They wrapped the Earth densely inside them, looking less like protection and more like possession.

Mu Sichen buttoned his shirt and met Yao Wangping's gaze. He saw a trace of envy flash through the man's eyes.

"General Qin actually placed the totem over your heart," Yao Wangping said.

Expressionless, Mu Sichen asked, "Is that supposed to be a good thing? What's the difference between the shoulder and the heart?"

"Not everyone can receive General Qin's totem. The people of Xiangping Town must pass layer after layer of evaluation before they earn the right to be granted a totem. Even after gaining that right, different locations represent different duties. The shoulder connects to the arm, representing General Qin's left and right arms."

After Mu Sichen received the totem, Yao Wangping trusted him much more and was willing to reveal some intelligence about Xiangping Town.

"Very few people can directly receive a totem granted by General Qin. Generally speaking, General Qin chooses certain people and grants them totems. Those who receive totems then choose their own designs and gift them to others.

"I was the one who led you into Xiangping Town, so logically, I should have left a tattoo of a sword-bearing arm on your left shoulder. But I did not expect General Qin to grant you the complete totem directly just now, and even leave it over your heart. Why would that happen?"

Mu Sichen felt that Xiangping Town's model for developing downlines was especially like a pyramid scheme. Once he thought of it that way, he could guess why Qin Zhou had done this.

It was simple. Mu Sichen could clearly bring Qin Zhou more downlines than Yao Wangping could, so Qin Zhou would naturally treat Mu Sichen as a key target for cultivation, even to the point of granting him a certain degree of freedom.

In order to cooperate amicably with Yao Wangping, Mu Sichen comforted him. "When I received the totem just now, I received an order from General Qin. He wants me to help you find something very important."

"That's right." Yao Wangping's expression firmed. "The location of the totem is not important. What matters is to find the "Pillar" and liberate Pupil Town!"

""Pillar"?" Hearing that word, Mu Sichen almost shouted in surprise and delight. It took all his rationality to make his voice sound calm and normal. "What is that? A literal pillar?"

"The Pillar that supports.

"Among the existing towns, Xiangping Town is the strongest. General Qin can absolutely defeat any monster.

"But at present, every town has its own domain support. They do not interfere with one another. Even General Qin cannot break through from the outside. He can only dismantle a town's Pillars from within and destroy the town's domain.

"Only then can General Qin personally take action, remove Big Eye, and liberate the survivors in this town."

Only now did Mu Sichen roughly understand the outline of this world.

On the System's initial map, there had been many towns. Each town had clear boundaries and did not interfere with the others; they did not even seem to share borders.

So these towns were not towns in the geographical sense, but independent spaces. Each space was supported by so-called "Pillars." Destroy those "Pillars," and the space would no longer be able to sustain itself.

And the System's mission was to have him find the "Pillars."

For now, his and Qin Zhou's goals were aligned. But after finding the "Pillars"...

Mu Sichen pressed a hand over his heart and worked hard to suppress his thoughts. He did not know whether his thoughts would be transmitted to Qin Zhou through the totem, so for now, he could only avoid thinking about what came afterward.

In any case, he did not know what use the System had for the "Pillars." For now, he would stop thinking about anything beyond that and put his attention on the search.

"Does the fact that you found this sanatorium mean the Town of the Eye's "Pillar" is here?" Mu Sichen asked.

"I've been lying low in the Town of the Eye for a month. Every time 'Night' falls, I come out to search. I checked several locations before finally locking on to this sanatorium. This place should be one of the 'Pillars,'" Yao Wangping said.

"One of them?"

"Of course. A domain cannot possibly have only one Pillar. If one Pillar is destroyed, it will not affect the operation of the entire domain. It will only cause a certain degree of domain collapse," Yao Wangping said. "Big Eye is very weak. We estimate that the Town of the Eye has roughly three to four 'Pillars,' not many."

"How many would count as a lot?" Mu Sichen asked.

"From what we know, Xiangping Town has at least eight 'Pillars' supporting it. General Qin is extremely powerful. Even if four 'Pillars' were destroyed, our town would still be able to operate normally." Yao Wangping's eyes were full of longing and worship.

Eight "Pillars." Exactly the number of tentacles on an octopus...

Mu Sichen could not help forming a thought that blasphemed a god-class monster. Just then, pain struck his heart.

It was not severe. It was like someone had lightly thumped him in the chest.

"Since the sanatorium is one of the 'Pillars,' we must find the "Pillar"s' location as quickly as possible. Medical staff can move through the sanatorium more conveniently. Become medical staff as soon as you can so our movements will be easier," Yao Wangping said.

Finally, they had reached the main point. Mu Sichen's spirits lifted, and he asked, "How do I change identities?"

"Treat a patient," Yao Wangping said calmly. "Aren't you responsible for one patient? Turn him into one of Big Eye's Followers and discharge him. Then you can become a doctor."

Mu Sichen paused slightly. He looked at Yao Wangping. "I came into contact with that patient. He is clear-headed, and even with his body mutated, he can still hold on to his original heart."

"So what?" Yao Wangping said.

"He is also one of Xiangping Town's people," Mu Sichen emphasized again.

Yao Wangping said, "Then that makes it even easier. Go persuade him. He will understand."

Mu Sichen could not help frowning.

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Author's Note:

Qin Zhou: Snuggling up to your chest, tiny fists thumping on your chest!

Mu Sichen: Have some restraint. Don't put your hands everywhere.