Chapter 104

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Chapter 104: The Evolution of “Babel Tower”

Early morning.

Bai Yan woke up once again, calmly making his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth, wash his face, and tidy up his appearance.

The man reflected in the mirror was slender and handsome, with black hair. “Bai Yan” stared at his own reflection intently.

This is me.

“Hoo…”

Taking a deep breath, Bai Yan began talking to himself.

“No matter what happens, you are always yourself. Don’t overthink it.”

The events of the previous night had stirred up an inner conflict. Bai Yan was certain that a hidden secret lay deep within him. However, he quickly suppressed his emotions, focusing instead on his current plans and leaving thoughts of the future for later.

His ultimate goal was clear: to find a way to restore his distorted memories.

Thirteen years ago, something had twisted his memories. Bai Yan suspected it was linked to the Demon Hunt Agency. Perhaps they had done something to him.

He couldn’t confront the captain or the director directly about this—they might not want him to regain those memories. Instead, he decided to approach Alan for answers.

Yes, that’s the plan.

Bai Yan also wanted to reach the level of “awakening” as quickly as possible, to gain true power. His current “connection” and “game” offered no advantage in actual combat.

Then there was the matter at hand.

“First, I need to assign daily training to the Operators. Oh, but let’s watch the new video first,” he said to himself.

Squinting, Bai Yan took out his phone and saw that the latest video from Babel Tower had been released on schedule.

The imagery of “Cybertyrant” was shrouded in mystery. In the video, the visuals depicted her operating within cyberspace, effortlessly seizing core files while rendering her hacker opponents powerless against her overwhelming prowess.

The comment section was flooded with reactions:

Soul Cultivation Order: My goodness! Is that Night Union? I’ve only seen occasional reports on TV, and there’s hardly anything about other countries online.

Repairman: Babel Tower has joined Night Union? This organization is becoming more terrifying. Will they take over Tatsumi City one day?

Demon Leader: I feel like this organization could control the whole world someday…

I’m Lustful: Hehe, Babel Tower isn’t all that. They’re just a little stronger than other superhuman organizations… But the ones who can manipulate hearts? Those are the real beauties.

Autumncamesoon: Babel Tower is a truly great organization.

Bai Yan noticed the comment from “I’m Lustful” and couldn’t help but suspect that the user behind it might be Maryse.

“I can’t believe she chose such a ridiculous name…”

After thoroughly browsing the comments, Bai Yan closed the video.

While setting the timer on his rice cooker, he watched the steam rise from the rice. At the same time, he opened the interface for the game “Babel Tower.”

“Let’s just stir-fry some melon slices and eggs to make do,” he muttered.

Having lived alone for over a decade, Bai Yan had long mastered cooking. Stir-frying with one hand, he simultaneously navigated the Operator list in “Babel Tower,” assigning daily training to each member.

“Go for it.”

“The time for Babel Tower’s gathering has come again. And this time, there are new members,” Bai Yan said, sighing to himself.

Living alone for so long had made him increasingly fond of talking to himself. But under his current circumstances, finding a girlfriend didn’t seem practical…

If all else failed, perhaps he could adopt a cat.

Ideally, the cat would help with sweeping, cooking, and shopping. It felt absurd that the leader of a salvation organization had to do all of these chores himself.

“Unreasonable! Completely unreasonable!” Bai Yan grumbled as he finished assigning the Core Operators their tasks for the day.

He plated the fragrant scrambled eggs with preserved vegetables.

“Oh.”

He paused for a moment, lost in thought.

Wait, what’s going on here?

“What is this…”

Bai Yan suddenly noticed small red boxes resembling record buttons on the Core Operators’ avatars.

“Never before… this is something new.”

Whether during the first playthrough or the ongoing second, after months of gameplay, Bai Yan had never seen these “red boxes.”

However, considering how different the second playthrough of Babel Tower was from the first, and since this game defied normal conventions, Bai Yan wasn’t too surprised.

Calmly, he reached out and clicked on the red box labeled “Nightsaber.”

Click.

The video began playing. Bai Yan stared at the girl on the screen—it was undoubtedly Mu Ling. She wielded a black greatsword, repeatedly clashing with “Raven Reaper.”

She died time and time again, only to rise anew after each defeat.

“So this is… training? It seems operators gain combat experience through repeated deaths.”

The “Raven Reaper” in the video lacked the overwhelming strength of the original, as indicated by the “75%” label floating above his head.

The real “Raven Reaper” was one of the top three members of the Demon Hunt Agency, with the power of a Potential Crown. He had once teamed up with the “ace” Lin Bian to force Pastor into a desperate situation.

For now, Mu Ling, who had only just reached the upper levels of the Awakening Stage, was no match for such a foe.

In the video, Mu Ling maintained a solemn expression, her demeanor remarkably calm, as if she had grown accustomed to the agony of repeated deaths.

She launched another attack!

After a few brief clashes, the battle once again ended in her defeat.

Death awaited her at every turn.

Yet finally, a moment arrived.

Mu Ling succeeded.

Her sword slashed through Raven Reaper’s body.

This time, before he could liquefy himself using “Flow of the Heart,” fresh red blood spurted out.

Without liquefaction, he was just a mortal—not a monster. Under her powerful blow, he collapsed to the ground and gradually vanished.

Mu Ling, victorious at last, took a deep breath and leaned on her black greatsword, panting heavily.

The video ended.

Bai Yan muttered, “Babel Tower has changed again. It’s completely different from the previous version. Looks like the first playthrough was just an EA test version—not the real thing.”

Next, the focus shifted to “Psychic Dancer.” Her silver-white eyes glowed as she waved her arms, controlling twenty rats arranged in a military formation to fight off several attacking orange cats.

She was clearly training hard, but the strain showed—her silver-white eyes had turned red.

Then came “Mysterious Magic” Alan, battling two of his own projections. He died repeatedly, only to rise and fight again.

Both projections bore “65%” tags, but the two-on-one situation was visibly wearing Alan out.

Bai Yan shook his head, unable to watch any longer.

Next was “Cybertyrant,” a new recruit to Babel Tower.

Her training ground was a stark white platform, where she had to continuously manipulate a swarm of incoming robots. Any lapse in concentration led to immediate death at their hands.

“It turns out their training is this brutal… but it’s better than dying in real combat,” Bai Yan murmured.

As he pondered this, a thought struck him.

He quickly opened the intelligence log and made a startling discovery: all the entries had video icons that could be played.

“Red boxes,” Bai Yan mused.

With mixed emotions, he clicked on an entry in Nightsaber’s log titled “ate barbecue for supper, Mood +1.”

The video played from a bird’s-eye view.

Mu Ling lounged on her dark couch, dressed in a white bathrobe, surrounded by a considerable pile of barbecue takeout on the coffee table in front of her.

Enough to feed five people until they’re full.

At that time, she had just been forcibly recruited into Babel Tower. Feeling dazed and out of sorts, she continuously stuffed her mouth with food.

“This video… the quality is quite good. The viewing is so clear, and you can zoom in with three fingers,” Bai Yan mused.

He scrolled through the list and clicked on a video titled “Nightsaber’s Figure Shook Me Again, Mood -1” and opened it.

In the video, Maryse appeared serious, staring intently at her phone. Slowly, her mouth puckered in disapproval. After touching her chest, she angrily flung her phone aside.

Bai Yan couldn’t help but laugh.

“Haha, Babel Tower is truly a game of super-evolution, completely beyond the level of ordinary games,” he said, thoroughly entertained.

Impressed, Bai Yan patiently watched the video logs of several Core Operators from start to finish. Each one offered him a clearer understanding of their personalities.

“This feels oddly fascinating,” Bai Yan thought after finishing the logs. Watching these video logs felt more engaging than anime or movies.

For example, before Mu Ling went to sleep, she always wore an eye mask and drank a cup of warm milk.

Maryse, surprisingly, was afraid of the dark. She insisted the lights stay on until she fell asleep, after which a servant would turn them off.

Alan? He slept without clothes.

Previously, Bai Yan regarded the Core Operators of Babel Tower as mere “peers,” but his sense of intimacy with them was not particularly strong—especially with Alan. Watching these logs, however, was helping him bridge that emotional gap.

At that moment, Bai Yan noticed the scrambled eggs with squash had cooled slightly.

“Uh…”

With a resigned sigh, Bai Yan reheated the dish. Instead of serving it at the table, he stood in front of the stove, eating his rice directly from the bowl. It was easier to avoid washing one more dish this way.

As he ate, Bai Yan continued browsing the features of “Babel Tower,” curious to see if there were any other changes.

Before long, he realized that the evolution of “Babel Tower” extended far beyond what he had initially thought.