So, the Su Ming'an who participated in The Third Tower is indeed himself.

And the Su Ming'an who is imprisoned in Nine Serenities, is also himself.

He temporarily replaced the self-awareness of his Cloning using "Soul Ferry," so both bodies are controlled by one consciousness. No matter which one encounters an incident, according to the Rules of the World Game, he will return to the other body.

Before entering Nine Serenities, Su Ming'an used Soul Ferry at the command station. When he transferred his consciousness to the Cloning, in the eyes of people, it was like the Old God suddenly standing up at the command station.

Dieying boredly stared at Su Ming'an on the throne, suddenly saying: "… but you can still hear me talking, right."

Since there are two bodies, it means both are Su Ming'an, and the five senses are interconnected.

Su Ming'an hung his head low, not moving.

Dieying laughed, like a mischievous child, grabbing Su Ming'an's arm, trying to pull it off. Su Ming'an's whole body temperature was extremely low, covered in frost; a little force could snap the arm like breaking an ice pillar.

At this moment, Su Ming'an suddenly opened his eyes.

"..." He calmly stared at Dieying.

Dieying released his hand, sat back: "Sure enough, you can perceive it. Then we will have fun next."

Su Ming'an had anticipated this situation. In Nine Serenities, there were only Dieying and him; since he left his body here, Dieying could easily do anything she wanted. Although Su Ming'an's body was important to Dieying and could not be wantonly destroyed, actions like pulling the arm off to cause him pain, Dieying could completely do.

Thinking back to previous Players being killed by Dieying, Dieying actually had a sense of mischievous fun. Su Ming'an's actions were equivalent to turning his body into meat on a cutting board, what he suffered only depended on Dieying's goodwill.

So when he decided to activate this trump card, he made psychological preparation.

... Is it about to begin?

Su Ming'an didn't speak, his consciousness didn't want to stay on this body for too long, too easily devoured. So he glanced at Dieying, wanting to switch back.

As for what Dieying wanted to do next, breaking his arm or cutting his flesh, he'd endure from afar, and sooner or later, he'd retaliate. Even if he surpassed his pain threshold...

Dieying extended a hand, the surrounding scene suddenly changed.

Su Ming'an thought it would be a torturous scene, was about to take away his consciousness, but saw a large dance floor.

Brilliance lit up, stars twinkled, the blue-purple Star Sea floated beneath their feet. Dieying floated in mid-air, eyes like flowing Morning Stars.

"… do you think I'm really that bad?" Dieying stared at him: "So bad as to torture your body to make you yield? Maybe you've met bad people before, but I'm not one. I'm just thinking, since it's destined for The World of Old Days to be destroyed, why not try and resolve some misunderstandings in the remaining ten days, and try to be friends?"

"Now you're going to participate in The Third Tower, what can it change? Do you think you can truly succeed in the end?"

"I'm indeed very interested in your Authority, but I'm actually also very interested in you. I'm curious why you've been chosen by Destiny. The World of Old Days is destined to be destroyed, but you're special. Long ago at the Star Sea dance, I already expressed goodwill to you."

"In my memory, there's a very elegant Dance that I've rehearsed alone over a billion times in the Starry Sky, but no one has ever been able to be my audience. Now this world has finally quietened... can you watch for a while?"

Dieying slightly moved her fingers, surrounding starlight surrounding, aggregating, figures formed by stars swirled into the dance floor, dressed in suits and gowns embroidered with the Star Sea.

No music, no scent of sweet treats, within the silent Nine Serenities. Only this ball staged in the sky high above. Participants aren't even life, just manipulated starlight forming human figures. They silently gaze, brush cheek to cheek, step by shoulder, spin, stepping silently timed beat, hand in hand, move, sharing in a waltz.

Dieying stood at the edge of the dance floor, controlling it all. Whether the rotating lights on the dance floor, the silent beats, every inch of dress, every fine dance step of the figures, all were created by her.

That not-quite-human visage in this vast and hollow space, showed a touch of loneliness.

That was the loneliness of a high-dimensional being.

It made one think of the profound and vast Universe.

Thump, cha, cha.

Thump, scrape, cha.

Su Ming'an seemed to hear such beats, he saw the silence in Dieying's eyes, without a hint of Emotion.

As if for thousands of years, Dieying had been living like this.

Above the starry sky, long loneliness played out in silent Waltz. Though in group, truly a solo dance.

Now, the thoroughly sealed Nine Serenities was void of people. If Su Ming'an moved his consciousness, this vast space would again only leave Dieying watching the dance alone.

Heavy snow fell, touching her pale brows, she covered half her face with a hand, a seemingly casual action, brows lowered, as if immersed in a half-dream, half-awake state, surrounded by piercing loneliness.

Yet Su Ming'an would not empathize with Invaders.

He decisively withdrew his consciousness, instantly, Su Ming'an's body again slumped lifelessly on the throne, head lowered, limbs powerless, like a puppet with its control strings cut.

The dance on the starry sky stopped.

Dieying's hands hovered, still maintaining the gestures of controlling starlight. But the audience was gone, what significance did practicing the billion and first time have?

One by one, figures shattered consecutively, and beneath the feet, the Star Sea returned to dimness, the dance floor dissipated, reverted back to a sky void of anything.

Dieying glanced at Su Ming'an on the throne, lowered her hand, then suddenly laughed.

She shrugged, whispered to herself.

"Alright, alright."

"It's fine, there's still plenty of time, once you have even a flicker of hesitation..."

What she didn't see was, inside Su Ming'an's body, Chang Ge was panicking.

... Su Ming'an, where did you go?

Su Ming'an's Soul could locate Cloning, but he couldn't! He's not Su Ming'an's Cloning, once Su Ming'an's consciousness left, he didn't dare move at all, fearing Dieying would target him.

... Following Number One Player was really too difficult.

Chang Ge could only play dead, feeling he was practically like a resentful woman waiting for a family member to return home.

So cold... so cold...

The Nine Serenities is really cold, Su Ming'an...

...

Su Ming'an's consciousness returned.

Only then did he realize that everyone was staring at him. In the dim candlelight, pairs of eyes gleamed with different expressions.

"...Are you alright?" Yuanyuan asked with concern.

"Just now, you suddenly looked like you'd lost your soul, motionless. Did something happen?" Noel said.

"I'm fine." Su Ming'an replied, spreading open the parchment in his hand. These were the rules of The Third Tower, which he was responsible for reading aloud.

He read through it once, then recited it to everyone:

"The Third Tower is divided into a night phase and a day phase. During the night phase, everyone sits together to participate in the game, obtaining props that can be used during the day phase. We are currently in the night phase."

"After the night phase ends, everyone will enter the corridors around the chapel, where the content of the day phase takes place. When the day phase ends, it's the night phase again, until a winner is decided."

"Now, I will announce the content of the night phase."

"Identity game. Identities include: the Dark Camp's [Witches], and the Light Camp's [Judgment Angel], [Order Angel], [Slaughter Angel], as well as the third party [Puppet Master]."

"Among the twelve people present, there are three [Witches]. The witches' task is to kill everyone. But currently, only one witch knows their identity. When this witch dies, the second witch will then know they are a witch and switch to the witch camp, and so on. The witches have special skills known only to themselves."

"At the same time, there is one [Judgment Angel], one [Order Angel], and one [Slaughter Angel]. The Judgment Angel's ability is to have one opportunity to judge another. If the person judged is a witch, the Judgment Angel lives, and the witch dies. If the person judged is not a witch, the Judgment Angel will be punished."

When Su Ming'an read this, he realized what kind of game this was.

He continued reading:

"The Order Angel's ability is to choose one person each round to 'pardon.' If this player is attacked fatally, they will be spared from death. This ability cannot be used on oneself."

"The Slaughter Angel's ability is to be unaffected by the witches' skills."

"Additionally, there is one player with the identity [Puppet Master]. The Puppet Master can select any two players to form a third party with themselves. No matter which camp the chosen players originally belong to, they will immediately leave their original camp. The victory condition is aligned with the third party, which is to kill everyone except the third party."

"Besides the special identities mentioned above, the other five people are [Saints] with no special abilities."

"No forceful conflicts are allowed during the night phase, nor is there a fixed vote exile. If you want to eliminate a player, you can earn a voting opportunity through the upcoming 'Word Spirit Phase.' The rules of the 'Word Spirit Phase' will be announced later."

After Su Ming'an finished reading the rules, everyone took a moment to digest them.

There were six doors on the surrounding walls; it seemed that after the night phase ended, they would have to choose a door to enter, leading to the day phase. Interestingly, each door had rules posted on it—only pairs could enter, no single entries. And depending on their companions, the day phase encountered would also be different.

If the [Witches] wanted to kill, it would happen in the corridor. When entering in pairs, if your companion turns out to be a witch, it's over. Additionally, the third party might also take the chance to kill, creating confusion.

"What do you think?" Yuanyuan leaned in to ask.

"Although it resembles Werewolf Killing Game a bit, it differs significantly; it's better described as a 'spy game.'" Su Ming'an said: "Anything that involves opposing camp identities and relies on lies and deception to win can be classified as a 'spy game.' Firstly, everyone has knives, not just witches can kill; witches merely have the best opportunities to do so. Secondly, there is a 'Word Spirit Phase,' where exile voting depends on this phase, suggesting the rules themselves aren't fixed. Thirdly, there's also a 'day phase,' making it even more complex."

Yuanyuan nodded, seeming to understand, although there was still some confusion in her eyes.

Su Ming'an smiled: "We will win."

The probability that Yuanyuan was drawn into The Third Tower was very high because of his Old God identity.

Yuanyuan's eyes crinkled as she smiled in response: "Okay."

She always believed in him.

Meanwhile, Noel and Lv Shu were also discussing.

"Tracing history with the game, accelerating fusion with the game, guiding destiny with the game—both Dieying and Deity are adept. By simply utilizing the rules, they can make people slaughter each other in the game without spilling any blood. This is the 'authority of Word Spirit.'" Noel said lightly: "I bet our game identities are related to millennium-long causality. It's truly fascinating; to be able to create a game oneself. Surely, Dieying has experienced the World Game... The principles likely share a similarity with the World Game."

Lv Shu said: "Yes."

Noel continued thinking: "Since Su Ming'an has come to participate in The Third Tower, it indicates he's planning to take the 'Dieying Line' route first, to raise his own positional rank. He certainly won't give up those six Dream Touring Games either, since wrapping those up is straightforward. In other words, this competition has already become equivalent to the final match."

Lv Shu said: "Correct."

Noel analyzed: "From the game rules, the good men identity is slightly advantageous, but the third party can easily break the balance. So, analyzing it is very intricate and mysterious..."

Lv Shu nodded again, appearing entirely disinterested in speaking.

Noel looked at Lv Shu.

Noel fell silent.

In fact, Noel didn't want to analyze with Lv Shu either. But regrettably, Lv Shu was on his right and Mizushima Kawa Sora on his left, truly caught in a dilemma.

He believed he understood the current situation: factions were divided into four categories. The first category included Number One Su Ming'an, Number Two Yuanyuan, Number Three Lv Shu, Number Four Noel, and Number Twelve Lu Meng—these people were clearly tied together. The second category included Number Five Mizushima Kawa Sora, Number Six Xue Qixia, and Number Nine Zhang Daoxuan in an alliance, suggesting they leaned towards helping Mizushima Kawa Sora win but would also fight for themselves if necessary. The third category included Number Seven Eli and Number Eight Agnes, who acted as lone wolves, only caring about their win or loss. Lastly, Number Ten Alger and Number Eleven Boris, whose stances were indeterminate. No one knew which side they would support, although Alger was part of the Peak Alliance, he had never proactively interacted with Su Ming'an. Boris was even more unpredictable, his state fluctuating capriciously.

Even though Su Ming'an was the Number One Player, these people were not weak players. Without understanding the dangers, they wouldn't sacrifice themselves to let Su Ming'an win but would rather engage in fair competition.

The situation was obscure and difficult to unravel, making identity and camp crucial.

...

[Below identities will be distributed to everyone present.]

[Please note, even if you are a "witch," you won't know it until the previous witch dies. Your identity will display as another until then. When the previous witch dies, you will immediately switch to the witch camp, gain the killing skills of a witch, and your victory condition will become to kill everyone.]

...

Twelve cards appeared in the hands of the twelve people, shimmering with the colors of the star sea.

Su Ming'an rubbed the card and looked down.

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