The Rule-Breaker of the Doomsday Game

"The environment is getting worse and worse." Qi Suian’s eyes snapped open.

He’d had a nightmare. The problem was, he wasn’t even asleep—he’d had it while wide awake.

The only thing that could have caused this was the Blood Moon affliction he was suffering from.

Although he could purge the influence of the Blood Moon’s light by dying and reviving, he would just get infected again as soon as he came back to life. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

It was just like a zombie enveloped in a Divine Purification Force Field.

Abilities like immortality and resurrection weren’t a sign of invincibility. They just granted a high tolerance for error; they couldn’t solve every problem.

[Aside from nightmares, you are also experiencing delirium and hallucinations.]

[It seems you were unaware of these symptoms.]

The AI added a reminder.

"What’s the situation with the survivors?" Qi Suian asked, only after injecting himself with a death serum.

[The greatest danger comes from the zombies. The living can neutralize the Blood Moon Shadow with the Profound Virus, thus avoiding the symptoms of the Blood Moon affliction.]

Qi Suian’s heart sank. If he kept waiting like this, he feared the Blood Moon Shadow would turn him into a mindless monster before the event was over.

When this started, Qi Suian’s Blood Moon Shadow state was only at Tier One. Now, it had already reached Tier Three.

Moreover, it was continuously intensifying as the environment changed.

This was not good news.

The Blood Moon Shadow’s effect on zombies was immense, perhaps because zombies, like the Profound God, were considered ’dead’.

The living, on the other hand, didn’t have as many issues.

It was Qi Suian, trapped in the middle in his half-dead state, who was in a truly helpless position.

"I have to find a way to get rid of these symptoms as soon as possible. This thing’s effects on zombies might be positive, but its intentions are malicious."

Qi Suian felt helpless. When it came to zombies, the Blood Moon Shadow’s "side effects" were merely an extension of its primary effects; they couldn’t really be considered side effects at all.

It was like over-fortifying one’s body, which prevented him from triggering his own powered-up state or using the Profound Virus to purge the affliction.

Over the past two days, he had been researching the Blood Moon Shadow during his lucid moments, but it hadn’t been going well.

The Profound Virus, at least, was related to fields like biology and medicine, which allowed Qi Suian to study it thoroughly by leveraging the foundation of a civilization’s knowledge.

The Blood Moon Shadow, however, was more like some mythical artifact that defied scientific principles. With no data to speak of, Qi Suian had no way to even begin his research.

The AI had tried to assist, but it could only detect some form of unknown cosmic radiation, with the source being the moon that had turned blood-red.

Furthermore, there was no way to analyze the radiation’s composition.

However, this did indirectly confirm one thing: while the incident appeared to stem from the Blood Moon, its true source was likely the Mysterious Divine Corpse.

[Based on data calculations, the Blood Moon will make contact with the planet’s surface in twenty-seven days, resulting in a planetary impact.]

[As a result, the environment has undergone uncontrollable changes.]

Qi Suian glanced at the message, his expression turning a bit strange.

There were twenty-eight days left in the event, yet the Blood Moon was set to arrive on the twenty-seventh day. ’This must be a plan to drive the survivors to their deaths.’

The survivors’ main source of danger was indeed the zombies, but that didn’t mean there weren’t other threats.

"Tell me, do you think it’s possible to use the Blood Moon to destroy the entire planet, killing all the survivors in the process?"

Qi Suian said abruptly.

The survivors had always been a thorn in his side, and the planetary impact presented a perfect opportunity.

Even if it didn’t wipe them all out, severely crippling their numbers would be a victory in itself.

[The probability of implementing this plan is low. The Blood Moon is not under your control.]

The AI’s message was clear: it was a nice thought, but on what grounds could he command the enemy?

"True, I..." Qi Suian caught himself instantly. ’How could I not have thought of that?’ "Did it just try to dumb me down again?"

"But what was there to be dumbed down about in that..."

Qi Suian couldn’t figure it out, but he immediately locked onto a suspect: the consciousness lurking within Celestial Fate: Profound.

"Analyze the reason. If the consciousness within Celestial Fate is influencing me, what’s the most probable cause?" Qi Suian asked directly.

He had no intention of thinking it through himself—who knew if it would just try to dumb him down again. So, he had the AI handle the analysis.

[There are a number of possibilities. The two most likely are as follows:]

[First: Upon your death, Celestial Fate will be freed from you. Its goal is freedom.]

[Second: It’s possible that among the current group of survivors, there is one with a talent that could help you eliminate the consciousness within Celestial Fate.]

[Furthermore, your path is on a trajectory to intersect with this survivor’s. Once you become aware of them, it would mean the consciousness’s doom.]

[Therefore, its recent actions were not only meant to prevent you from meeting this survivor, but also to use your own hands to completely extinguish that hope.]

Reading the AI’s analysis, Qi Suian grew increasingly calm.

"So you believe the second possibility is more likely," Qi Suian said, able to see the AI’s bias.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t have explained the second possibility in such detail.

[Correct.]

[However, there is a third possibility: the Blood Moon itself represents a great opportunity, one that you must risk everything to obtain. This opportunity is also related to the destruction of the entire planet.]

[This possibility is linked to the first one. After all, whether you fail to obtain the opportunity, or even if you succeed, you will still have to face the Blood Moon directly.]

The logic was the same as why demons didn’t just go to Wuzhuang Temple to steal the Ginseng Fruit, but insisted on trying to capture Tang Monk.

Zhen Yuanzi may have been a vegetarian, but his methods were certainly not gentle.

"Proceed with the assumption that the second possibility is true, and begin preparing contingency plans for the first."

"At the same time, begin monitoring my mental state, logic, and related plans. Warn me the instant you detect any abnormalities."

"If the situation becomes uncontrollable, you have my authorization to forcibly deactivate and restart me," Qi Suian stated directly.

A protagonist’s plot armor, with its intertwined blessings and curses, was always a double-edged sword. Wield it well, and you could rise quickly; wield it poorly, and you would naturally suffer the consequences.

But the problem now wasn’t a matter of how Qi Suian used it, but that a consciousness was actively interfering. Fortunately, this entity couldn’t completely subvert his plot armor, only influence it to a limited degree.

Otherwise, this slip-up wouldn’t have been possible. Perhaps this was the plot armor helping him out.

The plot armor and the consciousness within Celestial Fate had to be seen as separate things; they could not be considered one and the same.

This was something Qi Suian could not tolerate.

"There’s no such thing as a free lunch. ’Free’ is always the most expensive."

Qi Suian could neither repay the debt nor afford the price, so his thinking was simple: if he just killed the creditor, he wouldn’t have to pay up.

Before the zombie apocalypse, such thinking would have made him an outlaw. But things were different now. No one cared if you committed murder or arson.

He was just going to kill a creditor, and his target wasn’t even human. It didn’t have human rights; it wasn’t even a protected animal. Therefore, he could kill it with a perfectly clear conscience.