"Being able to call out my name proves that you’ve found the tomb I set up for Bismuth Yellow and learned about the Mercury Alloy Guild, so I’ll cut to the chase."
Mithril said hoarsely: "To solve the Corpse Net Curse, my companions and I ventured deep into the killing field in search of the Legendary Retrospection Room.
I have cultivated abilities from both the Spirit Prophecy System and the Spirit Enchantment System, and Spiritual Prophecy told me that this patch of grass could completely remove the curse from me.
So, I led the team into the grass, and indeed found a conduit leading to the Retrospection Room buried underground, with the flow of tangible time within it.
If everything went as planned, we could follow the conduit all the way up to find the Retrospection Room.
But, what the prophecy did not show was that before we arrived, the conduit had already been damaged and leaking."
Even though a year, or possibly countless years, had passed, Mithril’s tone was still filled with pain and regret when he spoke of these events.
"The time turbulence leaking from the conduit enveloped the grass patch, forming a natural Mystery Lock. No matter what we did, we couldn’t leave.
At the same time, the golden energy flow was impenetrable by any means; we couldn’t block the breach in the conduit.
Despite having enough food prepared in advance to last for many years, the mental state of everyone in the guild gradually deteriorated, leading to murderous infighting.
I had no choice but to use my Spirit Enchantment System abilities to wipe my companions’ memories, making them believe time and again that it was their first time stepping into the grass.
As this continued, Cliff’s memory became confused, and he went mad first."
Mithril continued bitterly: "He stealthily attacked and killed two companions, severely injured me, and then fled into the grass, continuously launching attacks.
Over a long period of time, everyone in the guild, myself included, was killed by him.
He left me for last and told me he had come to understand the truth—that the grass would endlessly repeat in a loop, and new people would always replace those who were killed.
Only by killing everyone, including himself, might it be possible to break the loop."
Zhao Zijing frowned and asked: "What do you mean, you repeatedly brainwashed and wiped Cliff’s memory, causing him to take the looping memories seriously? Did he concoct a rule of his own?"
Mithril replied frankly: "Cliff told me, after he had killed me, the grass would bring in a new team from the Mercury Alloy Guild.
He would stealthily attack and kill the new members of the guild, one by one, and then keep a new version of himself as the survivor, thereby starting a second cycle."
"Wait, that’s not right, is it?"
Li Cheng interjected: "Assuming what Cliff says is true, how could a level 20 him kill all the members of the Mercury Alloy Guild who have level 30 Transcendents?
We encountered him just now, and his strength is still at the level 20.
Moreover, if he knew that killing everyone would allow him to escape the loop, why doesn’t he just do that? Isn’t leaving the grass better than being trapped to death here?
Furthermore, if the infinite loop exists, the grass patch should be filled with the corpses of the Mercury Alloy Guild by now."
Mithril replied: "The Mercury Alloy Guild isn’t that strong. My main expertise is in Spiritual Energy abilities, and my close combat level isn’t much different from Cliff’s.
If he takes the initiative and attacks by surprise, he could possibly kill an unguarded me and take down the others one by one.
As for why he doesn’t kill everyone and then himself to leave the grass patch,
It’s possible that he either can’t or doesn’t want to.
Even if he leaves the grass patch, he would still face the Corpse Net Curse and would die quickly.
Regarding your last question, why isn’t the grass patch filled with the corpses of the Mercury Alloy Guild.
Perhaps it’s because we are the beginning of the cycle, enjoying certain uniqueness, allowing us to be preserved. Just like these empty Task Batteries.
The corpses from subsequent cycles, however, might be erased by the intrinsic traits of the grass itself."
Mithril’s extremely dry fingers struggled to point towards the nearly a hundred empty Task Batteries in the mud pit. Find the newest release on NoveI(F)ire.net
"Judging by the number of these batteries, this must be around the ninety-something time we’ve repeated this conversation.
I’m sorry, each loop resets my memory back to the initial state, so there’s no information from past conversations in my mind."
Mithril looked at Zhao Zijing, and said hoarsely, "The last thing I remember is being awakened by a previous you, resurrected,
and at her request, I conveyed everything I knew, after which she committed suicide."
Zhao Zijing’s expression turned ugly, and she muttered to herself, "Why would the previous me, or rather, the future me commit suicide..."
Gray Rain stroked his chin thoughtfully and raised his hand to say, "Maybe it’s to fulfill the prophecy painting."
Li Cheng twitched the corner of his eye and complained, "Who would commit suicide just for a prophecy painting?"
Gray Rain looked surprised and said, "I saw on TikTok, a fortune-teller who made a prediction for himself, foretelling that he would surely die tomorrow.
For the sake of his business reputation, he then forcefully ingested Chlorpyrifos, Carbofuran, Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, Chlorpyrifos, Carbofuran, Phorate, Carbofuran, Rodenticide..."
What a collection of highly toxic pesticides, right?
Wouldn’t this fortune-teller have died from poisoning even before he could die from being overstuffed?
And you, you can’t memorize a proper text, but you remember pesticide brands so accurately. Is that what you use your limited brain capacity for?
Li Cheng smacked his lips, silently took note of this matter for Gray Rain, and decided to give her doubled homework when they got back.
He remained composed on the surface while his brain worked rapidly to think through the situation.
The known information was that the time loop of the Mercury Alloy Guild had ended, and a new one had started for Li Cheng and his group.
At the beginning of this new loop, Zhao Zijing had come into possession of some information, discovering that Mithril, who had been dead for a long time, could be resurrected with Task Batteries.
This was strange because, according to the system note, the batteries used zero-point vacuum energy specifically for Retrospection Room pipelines. Why could they resurrect the dead?
Unless all this was within the calculations of the killing field.
"The batteries given by the killing field could resurrect the dead from the start."
Li Cheng squinted his eyes and said to Mithril, "The battery just infused into you has less than 40% remaining charge.
If the battery had more energy, would you be able to recover more strength?"
Mithril nodded, "I should be able to."
Li Cheng said calmly to Mithril: "In the Mercury Alloy’s time loop timeline, except for the first time, the subsequent loops’ processes and outcomes remained the same without any change.
But this time it’s different; after introducing the battery variable, each resurrection, each charging, will gradually accumulate.
Until the accumulation causes a qualitative change."
Zhao Zijing caught on quickly, grasping Li Cheng’s meaning in an instant, and said with a frown, "The ’energy’ infused into Mithril’s body will accumulate, albeit in tiny amounts.
Every cycle, I come with a battery that has less than 40% charge to recharge Mithril.
Until one loop, the accumulated charge in Mithril’s body reaches a threshold sufficient for him to regain his original Lv30 strength.
Then, he will kill Cliff, kill us, and himself as well, thereby breaking the cycle."
Li Cheng nodded and said, "The only problem is that our battery for this round is already depleted, which means it’s time to start the next loop."