In the midst of that overwhelming, swelling sensation, the entire world seed to rapidly fall into silence.
Only then did Ming Po realize that he had been trapped in a state of tinnitus, like endless white noise.
Ming Po blinked, his scarlet pupils slowly fading into a tranquil deep blue.
His brain, previously clouded by what felt like a thick white fog, quickly cleared.
As the irrational, imnse power was drawn out of his body bit by bit, Ming Po found his thoughts flowing smoother than ever before. The strange emptiness in his chest and abdon vanished.
The cheerful, hyperactive enthusiasm—that overwhelming urge to show off and be in the spotlight—was instantly doused, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head.
Taking its place was a sense of lethargy tinged with a faint arrogance.
'So the effect of enhancing Thought Speed... is actually this obvious...'
Ming Po pressed a hand against his forehead as his sowhat chaotic mories were rapidly sorted and organized.
Although the [Detective] title only ntioned a simple increase in thought speed, the actual effect it had on Ming Po was profoundly noticeable.
'No, that's not it.'
Ming Po imdiately realized the truth.
'It was because the title from the Domain of Force had been invisibly suppressing my intelligence.'
A title from the Domain of Force could overpower an equal-level title from the Domain of Slaughter in one-on-one combat. This was obviously unreasonable.
Activating a Domain of Slaughter title already ca with negative status effects. If its combat power was also suppressed, then the Domain of Slaughter would have no reason to exist—the Domain of Force would simply be its strictly superior version.
Connecting this to the common traits he had observed in all Deceivers from the Domain of Force, Ming Po felt he finally understood the hidden price of their power.
'It lowers intelligence and empathy.'
Perhaps the longer it was worn, the more intelligence declined. Or perhaps the more its power was used, the greater the drop in intellect.
Fortunately, this decline wasn't a permanent deduction of attributes, but rather an assimilation into the Domain. When Ming Po switched Domains, this influence on his personality was reset.
This phenonon seed universal, not limited to just the Domain of Force.
The more one resonated with the Domain of Force, the more they lost adaptability to other Domains. The influence of the other Domains likely worked the sa way.
The Domain of Virtue would gradually turn a person into a saint, while the Domain of Slaughter would drive them increasingly mad. Rather than saying their minds were being polluted by these emotions, it was more accurate to say their minds were being purified into single concepts.
No wonder the higher-ranking Deceivers and Hosts looked more and more like walking stereotypes.
'No wonder they sought the Bacchus Shrine with such fervor...'
Ming Po looked toward the wine cabinet.
Beyond simply storing and granting titles to others, its true value lay in its ability to purge this Domain assimilation effect!
Now that his cognitive abilities had fully recovered, Ming Po realized why he had suddenly been injured just monts ago.
Though Lin Ya was essentially executed by his own hands, Ming Po had forgiven her three tis prior to that.
Perhaps achieving this rare milestone had allowed him to et the requirents of a certain title.
However, Ming Po's body or soul was completely incapable of handling the power of the Domain of Virtue. When he switched from Werewolf to Frankenstein, he only felt a slight discomfort, like wearing a new pair of shoes. But this ti, it was like suffering a severe allergic reaction.
The powers of two conflicting Domains violently clashed within his body, ultimately fracturing his title.
"But, if my guess is correct..."
Ming Po muttered in a low voice. He took out a piece of Day's False Gold and brought it close to the cracked Frankenstein's Wine.
Just as he expected.
Like a magnet, a strong sense of attraction pulled at the chip as it got close enough to the cracked wine bottle.
Ming Po let go.
The Day's False Gold rapidly lted into a puddle of radiant liquid, perfectly coating the crack on the bottle.
With a sizzling sound, the Day's False Gold was gradually assimilated, turning into the exact sa texture as the glass.
Judging by the speed, the bottle would be fully healed in just a few hours.
After that, he just needed to enter another Ga of Deception to refill the liquid inside.
'Does this an I will not be able to use Frankenstein for one or two gas?'
That was not a huge problem.
Instead, the fact that he could not acquire titles from the Domain of Virtue bothered him far more.
'It cannot be that I am naturally devoid of virtue, right?'
'I used to be a Ti Gold rank Deceiver of the Domain of Virtue!'
An anomaly of this magnitude was likely tied to that Final Challenge.
But the good news was that the chips really could repair fractured titles.
If Wei Gu Qiong Chen could be repaired, Ming Po wouldn't really need other titles from the Domain of Virtue anyway.
In other words, Wei Gu Qiong Chen could be fixed. It was just that fixing a re crack in the False Gold rank Frankenstein required an entire piece of Day's False Gold. To fix the True Gold rank Wei Gu Qiong Chen, he would undoubtedly need True Gold rank chips.
And that title was practically shattered into dust.
'How many years will it take to repair that...'
Seeing that Frankenstein had entered a state of self-repair, Ming Po let out a sigh of relief and looked back at the countdown tir in the living room.
—126:51:03
—126:51:02
—126:51:01
This ti, only twenty minutes had ticked away on the countdown.
The ga itself had lasted about ten minutes. If he factored in the ti it took for him to wake up...
'It seems my previous judgnt was correct. This countdown represents real ti.'
Or rather, the ti Ming Po experienced.
'Five and a half days left... What exactly does this an?'
Ming Po rubbed his chin in thought.
Moreover, Lin Ya really did not seem to be the one who murdered Ai Shiping.
Both Lin Ya and Chen Bingwen were ruled out. This ant that Ai Shiping was not murdered by a Deceiver because Ming Po leaked his real na. But why, then?
'Could that transport truck have been the corrected history?'
'Ai Shiping was murdered in the past, and then he beca a Deceiver—so the twisted history returned to its original state. The death sent into the past fell upon reality in a logical way.'
'That is a possibility...'
'If only I could ask Ai Shiping.'
Right at that mont.
Click.
The door to the guest bedroom suddenly opened.
A black-haired man wearing a fox mask stood silently in the doorway, staring at him.
Ming Po turned his head, eting his gaze.
Suddenly, Ming Po thought of sothing.
He reached up, peeled off his human skin mask, placed it on the table, and looked at the man once more.
In that instant, genuine terror surfaced in Ming Po's heart.
Up until now, no Ga of Deception had ever instilled such dread in him.
It was the fear of being forgotten. For Ming Po, who naturally enjoyed the concept of death, this was the one thing that truly terrified him.
He imdiately thought of Naless, recalling the fragnted mories that had just resurfaced in his mind.
If Ai Shiping forgot about him, just like he had forgotten about the others...
"Yo."
The man in the white fox mask stared at Ming Po, who was sitting on the living room sofa drinking wine. After a long silence, he suddenly raised a hand and greeted, "Son, how did you die too?"
Ming Po said absolutely nothing.
Instead, he instantly grabbed the heavy glass ashtray next to him and hurled it straight at Ai Shiping. Neither of them smoked; Ming Po kept it solely for visiting guests.
Startled, Ai Shiping hastily slamd the bedroom door shut.
Only after the ashtray shattered into pieces across the floor did Ai Shiping push the door open again. He ripped off the mask and yelled, "Holy shit, are you trying to kill a ghost?!"
Beneath the mask was a frivolous and handso face.
It was a stark contrast to Ming Po's calm, reliable, researcher-like aura. If Ai Shiping dyed his hair and got a perm, anyone would mistake him for a nightclub host.
This was the brother Ming Po knew, his only friend.
An old friend he had known for over ten years, sharing a bond as tight as father and son.
He was also the only person left in the world whom Ming Po could trust.
Nothing had changed.
This was simply fantastic.
"The only thing I am killing is you, you disrespectful bastard..."
Ming Po exhaled deeply, a faint smile unconsciously creeping onto his face. "Do you rember whose house this is?"
"What, are you trying to collect rent? The best I can give you right now is ghost money. Do you want ten billion or a hundred billion? I heard the Heaven and Earth Bank just issued infinite denomination bills..."
"You wandering spirit, I highly doubt anyone is actually burning paper money for you."
Ming Po breathed a sigh of relief. He placed the bottle back into the wine cabinet, his tone growing serious as he warned, "Whatever you do, do not drink the wine in here."
"Got it."
Seeing Ming Po act so seriously, Ai Shiping dropped his playful deanor. "When I ca out yesterday, I realized you had beco a Deceiver too. With your skills, you must be a big shot by now, right?"
"Hm?"
Ming Po gave a noncommittal hum.
"In that case..."
Ai Shiping practically danced over the broken glass and sprinted to the sofa.
With a small leap, he lunged like a starving tiger and fell to his knees on the soft cushions.
"Bro! Boss! Master! Dad! Save !"
"Lend that disguise mask of yours! I cannot even go outside right now!"
Ai Shiping let out an utterly undignified wail, "I do not know why, but a whole pack of Deceivers from the Domain of Slaughter are hunting down! Ahhhh!"
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