GRMFBS CH260

Zhan Yan turned his head to peek. Gu Jiancheng was sitting beside him, seemingly playing on his phone with a serious and solemn expression.

Hmph, hmph, hmph. You were constantly causing my brother trouble before, making me worry to death all day. Anxious now, aren’t you?

Having just finished coaxing Classmate Xiao Gu, Zhan Yan couldn’t resist the urge to be a little mischievous.

Approaching Science: “Weren’t you two cooperating quite well before?”

Ask him yourself~

I Just Saved the World!: “.”

Oh my… It’s rare to see Xiao Gu like this when he’s wearing his Deep Shadow identity.

Approaching Science: “What Ghost King Lin Yuan is currently most worried about is the problem with his divine power.”

“His inner core is with Ghost King Wan Yan, helping to stabilize Wan Yan’s soul, which makes his own divine power unstable.”

“If he wants to regain his divine power, he first has to heal Ghost King Wan Yan’s soul.”

Gu Jiancheng felt that Approaching Science really understood him well. He just asked about preferences, and Approaching Science immediately guessed what he was trying to do. Although the answer given wasn’t a preference, it was much more useful to him.

Hmm… healing a soul. Rong Sui is familiar with this.

But Rong Sui is Zhan Suiru. Do she and Zhan Jinli not know each other’s secret identities? Or do they know, but it’s useless?

Both seem possible… Earlier, when Rong Sui was trying to cure Yang Ran, she sought out many methods. She must have contacted the Ghost Kings, who understand souls the best. But in the end, she didn’t use a Ghost King’s help. It was probably because the soul compositions of the two worlds are somewhat different, and Yang Ran’s soul state couldn’t withstand the friction.

While Gu Jiancheng was deep in thought, another message arrived.

Approaching Science: “Ghost King Wan Yan’s soul cannot recover because he is missing his single horn, which contains his divine power.”

“I’ll send you the clues once I find them.”

Gu Jiancheng let out a sigh of relief.

Good, good. Helping to heal Ghost King Wan Yan’s soul so that Ghost King Lin Yuan can recover his divine power—this is definitely more important than treating Ghost King Lin Yuan as a wishing machine.

Furthermore… once Ghost King Lin Yuan’s divine power is restored and he can transfer blessings and disasters, couldn’t he just continue to use him as a wishing machine?

This second thought flashed briefly through Gu Jiancheng’s mind. Regardless, he had to raise his affection points first—raise them to the point where even if Ghost King Lin Yuan found him annoying, he couldn’t stop him!

Speaking of which, knowing Approaching Science was truly good luck. The opportunity to help Rong Sui heal Yang Ran earlier was also found by Approaching Science.

Did Approaching Science still need points? He could continue transferring points…

As for whether he should mention this to Zhan Suiru… forget it for now. The current situation is chaotic enough, and he didn’t think Zhan Suiru would help him grind Zhan Jinli’s affection points anyway.

With Approaching Science’s help, Gu Jiancheng shifted his focus to gathering information on Ghost King Lin Yuan from other angles. He couldn’t just rely on this one big move; he had to try his best to grind affection points in smaller ways too.

Gu Jiancheng began searching the forum for all sorts of news related to Ghost King Lin Yuan.

Unsurprisingly, he found fanfiction about Ghost King Lin Yuan written by someone on the forum.

Curious, Gu Jiancheng clicked on it.

Emmm… a bit weird. The first half of the fanfiction was very “Long Aotian” [overpowered protagonist], but in the middle, the tone suddenly shifted and began developing in a culinary direction.

The Ghost King Returns to Become a Chef God??? What kind of weird plot twist is this?

But Gu Jiancheng was able to keep reading because the story frequently contained unexpectedly accurate details. This author, “Five-Colored Auspiciousness,” was definitely not just an ordinary fanfiction writer.

I Just Saved the World!: “What is the relationship between this person ‘Five-Colored Auspiciousness’ and Ghost King Lin Yuan?”

Zhan Yan was busy working on the puzzle for the clues to Wan Yan’s horn. After receiving the message, he took a moment to look it up.

Approaching Science: “Five little ghosts under Ghost King Lin Yuan’s command.”

“They’ve been following him all along.”

Five little ghosts who could constantly follow Ghost King Lin Yuan must, if nothing else, be deeply trusted by him and understand him very well.

That stroke-of-genius “Chef God” plot twist also fit the fact that Ghost King Lin Yuan ran a bakery—he had never been able to figure out why Ghost King Lin Yuan would want to open a bakery. He had looked into the bakery; business was actually quite good.

Could it be… that Ghost King Lin Yuan’s inner self and outward appearance contrasted so sharply, and these five little ghosts were the ones who truly understood him?

Gu Jiancheng stared at the Ghost King Returns fanfic and fell deep into thought.

After working on the puzzle for a while, Zhan Yan stopped. The further he got, the more energy it consumed. He planned to stop here for today.

When he went to sleep tonight, he could just go into the Dawn World to grind some new information words. Who knows, maybe upgrading a skill would be useful?

Zhan Yan closed his eyes and entered the Dawn World.

Having not been here for a few days, the core area had accumulated another batch of dumplings.

The number of dumplings was decreasing. Zhan Yan gathered them all together. Looking up at the sky, which was growing ever paler, he estimated he wouldn’t be able to eat many more dumplings.

The dumplings he could eat were just the remainders; the bulk had already merged into this world.

Just as Zhan Yan finished eating the last batch of dumplings, he suddenly heard a low rumble from the sky, as if the entire heavens were vibrating.

The calm sky suddenly rippled. Clouds surged and gathered towards the center, spiraling into an inverted tower that slowly descended to connect with the sea. The azure color of the sea rose up like a waterspout, blue streamers intertwining with the orange-red clouds.

Zhan Yan looked up in surprise.

What was happening? Did he eat so many dumplings that he collapsed the sky?

Wan Shitong, who was on duty, was also startled by the commotion and came over.

His mouth wide open, he asked: “What is this situation?”

Zhan Yan had just figured it out from the melon-eating system.

“The apocalypse is about to connect to this world’s cycle of reincarnation.”

Wan Shitong: “Connecting to reincarnation… oh right, it’s pretty much fully merged now, so we can start this step.”

Zhan Yan: “So next, these souls from the apocalypse will be able to reincarnate?”

Wan Shitong: “It should be possible, but I don’t know in what manner.”

Once they knew what was going on, the two relaxed.

Wan Shitong: “Maybe there are some who don’t want to reincarnate right away.”

Zhan Yan: “Why is that?”

Wan Shitong: “A couple of days ago, I met a dragon. He said he was going to seek revenge on a weirdo who stuck something under his eyelid while he was sleeping.”

Zhan Yan: “Ah…”

Wan Shitong observed for a while: “I feel like this game might be the first to connect to the Underworld.”

Zhan Yan: “Then do we need to contact Mount Chaofu for cooperation?”

Wan Shitong: “Definitely.”

With such a major event, who knows if Infinite would try to cause trouble again? Someone had to guard it the whole time.

Wan Shitong went to contact people, and Zhan Yan also logged out of the Dawn World.

He wouldn’t come back up to grind information words for the next few days to avoid causing trouble. He’d wait until the Dawn World had made proper arrangements.

After exiting the game world, Zhan Yan yawned, rolled over, and got ready to sleep.

Xingxing’s tail was squished; he let out a tiny meow from his throat, shifted a bit, and went back to sleep.

Gu Jiancheng hadn’t slept. He was still immersed in the shock of discovering that Zhan Yan’s brother was Ghost King Lin Yuan. Was Ghost King Lin Yuan suspected to be a closeted “Long Aotian” whose goal was to become a Chef God or a Cake King?

Because no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out why Ghost King Lin Yuan would want to open a bakery—it had nothing to do with his divine power or his original form in his past life. Gu Jiancheng had even looked it up specifically; Sweet Sweet Cake Shop’s initial reviews were all about how bad the food tasted, and early business seemed very poor.

To persist in opening a bakery despite all that could only be explained by personal passion or a dream, right?

Should he help invest in opening a chain?

While Gu Jiancheng was pondering, he suddenly felt a change in Zhan Yan’s breathing, as if he had woken up halfway through his sleep.

Yanyan’s sleep quality recently didn’t seem as good as before. He often slept for a bit, woke up, and then went back to sleep.

He adjusted his pillow, gently leaned over, and placed an arm over Zhan Yan’s back.

Zhan Yan instinctively snuggled closer. Surrounded by a reassuring scent, he quickly fell back asleep.

The night draped softly over them, from reality into dreams.

Like the weight of a blanket, heavy and steady, it was relaxing. Gradually, the air seemed to grow heavier and colder, like cold, damp water vapor gathered before a rainstorm—stifling and oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

A cold light hit his face. Zhan Yan looked up and saw circular seating rising around him like a mountain. The seats seemed crowded with shadowy figures, but looking closer, it appeared there was no one there at all.

The cold light in front of him was like a projection playing a scene, but Zhan Yan couldn’t make it out no matter how hard he tried.

Judgment Court. These three words suddenly popped into Zhan Yan’s mind.

This was a dungeon Xiao Gu had experienced.

The dream was like a videotape playing at fast forward on an old television. Many parts couldn’t be heard or seen clearly, as if the owner of the memory was unwilling to recall them. Yet Zhan Yan could understand everything that was happening.

Only when the accused appeared would the Judgment Court manifest. Part of the Judgment Court’s rules was determined by the accused, but this wouldn’t significantly impact the final verdict.

Gu Jiancheng only changed one rule: he dragged Infinite onto the plaintiff’s stand.

Zhan Yan’s mind drifted within the dream, completely unable to recall that this was an event that had already occurred in the past.

He held his breath.

If the rule allowed for a plaintiff, why choose Infinite?

If there was anyone who best understood what Deep Shadow had done and could produce the most evidence, it was Infinite! If it were any other player, perhaps they wouldn’t be able to do anything to Deep Shadow in the end. Even if there was a price to pay, he probably could have withstood it.

No one can be found innocent in the Judgment Court.

Zhan Yan seemed to hear Deep Shadow’s inner voice.

It was lower and hoarser than the voice he was used to, suffused with a congealed chill, stiff and cold like deadwood sunk to the bottom of a deep pool.

—Even among ordinary people who had never experienced Infinite, there was no one who had never made a mistake in their entire life.

Infinite wouldn’t let him escape the Judgment Court so easily. Choosing the Judgment Court was to use the rules to drag Infinite onto the stand with him.

The projection started from the moment he entered Infinite, flipping through every dungeon he had experienced: dripping blood, piercing wails, scorching flames, rotten stench, collapsing ruins…

Guilty, guilty… all grave crimes.

Gu Jiancheng unhurriedly dragged out the trial process. Every rebuttal was methodical. Some succeeded, some failed, but no matter what, he calmly faced the next judgment, as if those replayed memories couldn’t stir any emotion within him.

Zhan Yan, however, felt a terrible tightness in his chest, aching from the weight of surging emotions.

Gu Jiancheng never expected to receive a “not guilty” verdict without a price in the Judgment Court. He was dragging out the trial; as long as the trial didn’t end, the verdict would not be delivered.

He wasn’t just stalling; he was waiting.

Infinite was so greedy, unwilling to give up any advantage. It brought out everything he had ever experienced as evidence, and Gu Jiancheng entangled them until it became impossible to judge. When the backlog of files grew so large that the Judgment Court was powerless to conclude the trial, the Supreme Balance hidden in this dungeon finally appeared.

On either end of the scale: plaintiff and defendant. All inquiries were fair and just.

“Bring it.” Gu Jiancheng grinned, revealing a completely emotionless smile. Sparks exploded in the depths of his desolate eyes.

He never planned to pass this dungeon. He only needed the Supreme Balance within it.

Using the bloody footprints of his crawl out of hell, he exchanged them for an opportunity to drag Infinite onto the Supreme Balance.

“I have nothing left to hide. Now it’s your turn.”

Gu Jiancheng licked the tips of his teeth, tasting metallic blood on his tongue.

He was going to see where Infinite’s core was.

Zhan Yan suddenly opened his eyes.