The apocalypse begins with a dungeon game.

Chapter 107 I'm really not a human being.

"What's wrong? Where did your courage go? Didn't you want me to tell you the truth, the past, and the secrets so you could know everything and accept the City Lord's mansion with peace of mind?"

The old man's words were aggressive, forcing Yang Mo to retreat step by step until his back was against the wall. The cold light pierced through the cement and wood, making a cutting and cracking sound.

Yang Mo was clearly the one in control, and the old city lord was already at his limit. Yet, during the conversation, the identities and positions of others shifted so subtly and strangely.

"I don't believe you. There are obvious flaws in what you're saying."

"Oh? Where's the loophole?"

"If everything is really as you say, and the people of both cities are completely reversed, why didn't you kill them all after your successful rebellion, but instead kept them in captivity like this?" Yang Mo himself had realized the problem.

His rebuttal had lost all its credibility at this moment.

But he insisted on finishing his statement, waiting for the old city lord to give him the final, definitive answer.

With the last of his strength, he asked, "What's the difference between what you're doing now and what you call the old Upper Town people?"

"Child, some pain cannot be fully released in one moment. The right way is to fight back with their own methods, otherwise it will be too painful."

The old city lord paused and then said, "Letting them die so easily is too lenient for them. That is not punishment, but a reward. Why should I go to the last step and reward them?"

"I'll make them taste the bitter fruit of our mistakes, repaying us a hundredfold, a thousandfold, ten thousandfold."

"You..." Yang Mo was speechless. He seemed to have been persuaded by the old city lord, but then he remembered something and launched another counterattack.

"But why didn't they tell us about this history? Otherwise, we wouldn't have this misunderstanding today! Also, not a single resident in the entire Upper Town knows about the past history, yet you're the only one who's lived this long?"

"Because all those who lived through the transition between the two cities in my time have passed away, and you who are now in the Upper City are all their descendants."

"It's sad that so much time has passed that I can't even remember which of you is which generation they belong to."

"Your lives are too short, why should I tell you about the bitter and hateful history of the past? Just add a little hatred between the two cities to your genes, and I won't have to keep mentioning the trauma of the past."

"I have too many scars on this old man's body. I don't want to have my scars reopened and irritated with salt water every few days. Why bother? I got to where I am today just to live comfortably."

"But who would have thought that the genes I implanted would go wrong in your generation, which led to my current predicament. But it doesn't matter, I've lived long enough and want to find a successor to inherit the city lord's mansion."

"Even if no one asks me the truth, I will tell that person everything in detail before I die."

The old city lord was indeed somewhat sentimental, no longer laughing so boisterously, which made him even more convincing.

"Okay, you have your reasons, and I understand them now. But you also mentioned something yourself." Yang Mo took a deep breath, the stench of blood and decay in the air fermenting and mixing together as he inhaled it into his lungs.

He didn't care.

The old city lord raised one of his gray eyebrows. "Oh? What?"

"Since you and we were all once people of the Lower City, and now you have changed your identities, why is it that only you will live forever, while the rest of us will experience normal birth, aging, sickness and death?"

"I even want to ask, isn't immortality a trait of the people of the Lower City now? Could it be that you are not one of us at all...? Why are you pretending to be one of us?"

"Actually, those people in the lower city now are your relatives, right? None of you will die of old age, which is why you have lived in the lower city for so long and never leave, and you are not usually in the city lord's mansion."

"Am I right?"

Yang Mo wasn't stupid at all. Although he was initially intimidated by the old city lord's words, he quickly recovered and began to analyze and think extensively.

Li Lan and Li Lan, who came to this [Mysterious City] instance world to do game quests, treated their conversation as if it were a game story they used to play on Earth, gossiping and following the plot like crazy.

The brother and sister stood in the corner, far enough away that they could observe without accidentally hurting themselves.

Shen Yuan and Yang Mo stood together, close to the old city lord.

Li Lan tugged at Li Can's sleeve and whispered, "Brother, this is all the background of the dungeon world. It's quite complicated, going around in circles. So that's how it is."

"Yeah, yeah, it hurts so much." Li Can was practically stuffing some sunflower seeds in his pocket to share with his sister.

In the distance, the old city lord choked up as he listened to Yang Mo's words, "No, I was born this way. I am different from them, and I have even been called a monster ever since, which is why I have this nickname."

"Do you think I want to live in the current downtown? Only there can I see my old enemies suffering every day, living like walking corpses."

"Through their shadows, I can recall the people I used to know. It's been so long that I've started to forget what my old friends look like."

Silence fell over the air. The old city lord's words were sincere and didn't seem fabricated, leaving one with a strange sense of unease.

Li Can thought to himself, "That's why he said his name is 'Little Monster,' a nickname given to him by his friends. But that's not true at all; it's just a nickname he got after being bullied for so long."

He was filled with regret, thinking to himself that he was really not a good person, having been laughing and joking around when he was writing the family genealogy.

Li Can touched the homework book on her chest, her face looking like she was constipated.

The storyline of this dungeon is absolutely insane, a complete mess. Let's drink it while it's hot.

"Is...is that why?" Shen Yuan, who had remained silent, hesitated for a moment. "Lord City Lord, I also have a question."

She still deeply respected the old man.

Shen Yuan asked cautiously, "But why are your punishments so harsh? Why do you kill people and dump them in the mass graves in the lower city, where they are then dismembered..."

"I really can't understand this. If everything is as you say, I have no questions about anything else, but how do you explain this?"

After all, Shen Yuan was indeed killed by the people of the city lord's mansion, who pierced her chest with a spear and then threw her into a mass grave.

If Li Can hadn't saved her life, she wouldn't be standing here now, back in the upper city.

Shen Yuan is no longer a person in this world; who would remember her?

When this question was brought up, the old city lord fell into reminiscence and remained silent for a long time.