Chapter 2: Morning Blossoms, Evening Trees

Page (1/3)

Wen Xishu suddenly felt like laughing.

He thought of a certain joke—perhaps the main villain had also crossed over, and so at the start, they blocked all possible paths for the protagonist to survive.

What was originally death followed by crossing over had become crossing over followed by death.

No new accounts, please.

Because the authorities demanded the execution be carried out promptly, Wen Xishu couldn’t leisurely finish his last meal.

First, he was taken to the injection room, then tied up and fed by a court bailiff.

Wen Xishu strongly discouraged pairing compressed biscuits with cola; both were filling on their own.

He felt somewhat uncomfortable from overeating, especially since the bailiff fed him very quickly.

Still, Wen Xishu found this moment rather interesting.

After all, no living person had ever experienced what he was going through.

After the meal, his posture shifted from sitting to lying down. A court worker asked:

“Would you like to listen to a song?”

This was the protocol for lethal injection; besides the last meal, there was also an “execution song” to send the condemned off in good spirits.

“All right, play Stephen Chow’s ‘Shaolin Kung Fu Is Great,’” Wen Xishu said.

The court worker looked puzzled:

“Sorry, that song isn’t in the bunker’s music library. But after you die, we’ll do our best to find it.”

Wen Xishu showed a disappointed expression:

“What a dull world.”

Clearly, the staff wanted to finish their work quickly and chose a light instrumental piece fitting the mood: “The Exile.”

The staff began the procedure:

“The first injection is anesthesia; you will lose consciousness quickly.”

“The second is a muscle relaxant. Of course… by then, you will already be asleep.”

“The third is potassium chloride; death will occur within thirty to sixty seconds.”

“We will determine death based on your heart rate and pupil changes.”

The court bailiffs from the bunker security bureau prepared to connect the injection pump to Wen Xishu’s veins.

His heartbeat quickened.

Years of courting death had sharpened his mind at this moment.

“Once asleep, it’s like receiving a boxed meal. I have to find a way to survive before I fall asleep.”

“The key information I have is that the Wen family are heinous criminals.”

“Their crimes are so severe that, even in this world that at least superficially emphasizes human rights… they face potential extermination.”

“But here’s the strange part.”

“The new laws prevent me from acting, yet they haven’t revoked my right to act under the old laws.”

“They rejected my request to explore the Tower of Mysteries, yet truly waited until I turned eighteen before carrying out the execution.”

“The staff earlier used the word ‘tolerance,’ which means—minors who commit grievous crimes can be sentenced to death.”

“But even after I turned eighteen, the execution was not immediate; they waited a long time.”

“That’s illogical. For some reason… they are deliberately dragging their feet, not killing me.”

“Also, that officer seemed very concerned about my mental state.”

Page (2/3)

Wen Xishu quickly formed a guess.

Logic told him that besides himself, there was another person still alive in the Wen family—

A person who committed astonishing crimes.

This individual’s importance far outweighed his own and that of other Wen family members.

He himself very likely held clues about this person.

That was why the bunker’s higher-ups had not killed him.

But his previous erratic behavior made it difficult to provide useful information, which wore down their patience and led to the decision to execute him.

As he pondered this, a name suddenly appeared in his mind.

“Wait, hold off on the injection.”

The bailiff didn’t stop, fastening the tube to Wen Xishu’s wrist.

They were skilled; it was normal for prisoners to make requests at this moment, all attempts to stall, and were generally ignored.

Death was frightening, but the waiting and torment before death were even worse.

The court officer said:

“If you have any additional instructions for your will, please speak quickly. The bailiffs will not stop.”

Wen Xishu lifted his head:

“I have clues about Wen Chaohua.”

Time seemed to freeze.

The moment that name was uttered, all hands stopped.

The expressions of the two armed police stiffened noticeably; the court officer’s eyes instantly widened.

Wen Chaohua.

The worst criminal in the bunker era, infamous enough to be recorded in history.

If the Wen family’s villains were measured in eight parts, Wen Chaohua alone accounted for one full part, while the others owed two parts.

Also, he was Wen Xishu’s elder brother—they were biological siblings.

The court officer immediately signaled to halt the execution:

“This is too important. I need to consult with my superiors.”

He then asked:

“Your behavior today was unexpected. Your madness… seems much improved?”

Wen Xishu answered cleverly:

“Either I’m going mad now, or I’m just temporarily lucid.”

Memory is a fascinating thing.

The phrase “following the vine to find the melon” suits the realm of memory especially well.

Through thought and reasoning, he recalled Wen Chaohua.

And once Wen Chaohua came to mind, something even more important surfaced.

“Xishu, I’m about to leave on a long journey. Before I go, let me give you a gift.”

“This is something that can overturn the Three Towers game. It lets you experience a completely different Three Towers game.”

“Remember, none of the known rules can bind us. We will meet again someday, but I hope it’s not inside the bunker.”

This memory had occurred before the Wen family’s downfall.

Page (3/3)

As the memory surfaced, a strange image appeared in Wen Xishu’s mind.

“Whoa, so the standard cheat code for crossovers really exists.”

Despite this, his expression was far from optimistic, for he could not shout “Deep Blue, level up” at the cheat.

He didn’t even know how to use it.

What filled his mind were three dice of different colors.

…

…

Bunker.

Judging by the classification level of the policy documents on the desk, the person answering the call was highly ranked.

“He has clues about Wen Chaohua?”

“Yes, sir. Wen Xishu is currently lucid. I’m thinking maybe we can try re-interrogating him.” The voice on the other end spoke respectfully.

The man by the desk said:

“Interrogate him immediately. This time, we must extract the clues about Wen Chaohua.”

Previously, because Wen Xishu was erratic and insane, every interrogation had yielded nothing.

This time, perhaps the fear of death had finally brought the “madman” of the Wen family to clarity.

The senior official was visibly excited, pacing back and forth.

Wen Chaohua represented tremendous political achievement, but he cared little for politics.

Capturing the criminal who committed “crimes against humanity” was not about justice.

He soon found a document in the safe—the highest-level classified file.

[File No. 0112, Classification: Top Secret.]

The contents read:

[In the Tower of Slaughter, people can acquire various combat tools and combat sequences.]

[But once transferred to the Tower of Desire, none of the Slaughter Tower’s sequences or tools can be used.]

[Upon entering the Tower of Desire, one reverts entirely to an ordinary person. No killing or even violent behavior is possible.]

[And vice versa. Sequences from the Tower of Desire cannot be brought into the Tower of Slaughter.]

[The independence of the Three Towers’ abilities is ironclad, with no exceptions.]

The Tower of Desire was like a romantic dating sim game—no fighting or killing functions.

The Tower of Slaughter was purely a fighting game, with no mechanics for gifting flowers to monsters or raising affection.

The Three Towers’ abilities were independent and isolated.

This common knowledge was well known among bunker citizens and should never have been classified as “top secret.”

It shouldn’t have been here at all.

What truly made this file top secret were the final three sentences:

[We still do not know how Wen Chaohua managed this, or if anyone else can do the same. The rules of the Three Towers seem to be misaligned.]

[Wen Chaohua actually controlled the monsters in the Tower of Slaughter, and what shocked us even more was that, in the Tower of Desire, where killing is forbidden—]

[He exterminated every single Three Towers inhabitant on an entire floor!]