# Chapter 302: Four Personalities
Xu Huo arrived at this underground circular tower for the third time.
This time, the spiral staircase did not revert to its appearance from the first two descents but instead maintained the shape from his last departure. Following the white steps down to the base of the circular tower, he found the round table already placed in the center, with three black shadows sitting in their original positions. He walked over and took his seat.
After a moment of silence, the four of them simultaneously extended their hands. Xu Huo flipped open the white book before him, while the other three shadows respectively turned over playing cards, gripped a dagger, and pressed down on a black thin sheet.
White, orange, red, and black—four colors spread outward, rapidly covering the table, then flowing down the table legs to the floor. After swallowing the ground, they rose along the spiral of the circular tower. The colors sometimes mixed together, sometimes separated, each striving to occupy as much of the tower's area as possible.
Soon, black and white gained the upper hand. Orange and red were squeezed out and halted in their current positions, leaving black and white to contend. After devouring the entire circular tower, black turned to cover white.
As the white area shrank, it joined orange and red in being suppressed by black. The three colors were pushed back together to the tower's base. At the same time, changes occurred within the circular tower itself.
The round table deconstructed, splitting into four parts, but the section occupied by the black thin sheet continuously grew and extended, quickly surpassing the table's overall area. The spiral staircase, originally white, slowly stained black. Thorns and spikes grew on the steps, extending toward the surrounding tower walls. Countless black stone cones sprouted inside the circular tower, connecting with the spikes, gradually allowing black to invade even the space itself!
The circular tower shook. Cracks appeared on the white-shelled book placed before Xu Huo—his own spiritual world was being invaded by another personality!
Frowning, he turned the book forward one page. White flowed out again, and the cracks on the book's shell repaired themselves. The white area within the circular tower immediately stopped shrinking, joining orange and red to reclaim the territory black had seized.
The spiral staircase reverted to white. The thorns and stone cones on the tower walls shattered into fragments and vanished. After the bright tones once again occupied the entire circular tower, the split round table reconnected.
The four of them sat together again, and the colors returned to the objects placed on the table.
Xu Huo closed the book and looked to his left. The figure beside the playing cards gradually manifested color, transforming into a teenage version of himself. Shifting his gaze across, the figure beside the dagger turned into a young adult version of himself, slightly younger than his current age. As for the figure holding the black thin sheet on his right, it shrank to about one meter tall, remaining in its black shadow state, faceless.
The three figures around the round table all directed their gazes at the black shadow, but the child-sized shadow picked up the black thin sheet, jumped off the chair, and tried to run up the circular tower.
Xu Huo raised his hand, and the interior of the circular tower immediately became a triangle. The three tower walls rapidly converged inward, driving the shadow back.
The triangular tower was occupied by Xu Huo himself and his two personalities—the younger version and the teenage version. The shadow had nowhere to escape and finally had to return to the round table.
Tapping the tabletop, Xu Huo signaled for him to put down the black thin sheet.
The shadow turned toward him. Its pitch-black, hazy head couldn't express any expression, but the black mist continuously spreading outward symbolized its emotions.
The younger version of Xu Huo stood up, grabbed the back of its head, and pressed it onto the table. The shadow obediently let go.
As the triangular tower shifted back and reverted to a cylindrical shape, the black thin sheet floated to the center of the table.
Hundreds of floors flew in fragmented forms, creating brand-new curved bookshelves that concealed the empty circular corridor. The playing cards moved to cover the thin sheet.
As bookshelves separated from each other and doors were installed one after another in the gaps, the dagger stacked on top of the playing cards.
When the dozens of doors on each floor closed one by one, Xu Huo's white-shelled book was placed on top of the dagger, suppressing the black thin sheet while also suppressing the other two objects symbolizing his personalities.
With this, he had temporarily completed the control of his other three personalities and also achieved mastery over his own spiritual world.
"Click!" With the sound of a door opening, the teenage version of Xu Huo appeared on the fourth floor, pulled open one of the doors, and walked inside.
Then came the younger version of him, disappearing through a door on the twenty-third floor.
As for the child-sized shadow, it hid itself back into the circular tower simultaneously with the disappearance of the other two personalities.
The bottom of the spiral staircase grew to Xu Huo's feet, then lifted him upward. When he returned to the top of the circular tower, a door appeared before him. Turning the handle and stepping out, his vision first went black, then returned to normal.
Opening his eyes, he found himself inside a dilapidated building. Yan Jiayu lay beside him, breathing evenly, appearing to be asleep.
He called her name twice but couldn't wake her. Stepping out of the building, he saw the wall they had climbed over not far away. The xenomorphs that had been chasing them were completely gone. Looking around, this area seemed more like an abandoned city.
He hadn't gone far before he discovered Sima Xiao'er and the others in a nearby building. They were all lying scattered on the ground, but he didn't see Nie Xuan among them.
Additionally, there were some unfamiliar people, unclear whether they were from the Special Defense Department.
He patted each of them, but like Yan Jiayu, they couldn't be awakened. However, thinking about it, they weren't simply unconscious—they were trapped in their own spiritual worlds. Before they could realize they were caught in an illusion and take control of their spiritual worlds, even if awakened, they might end up insane.
Xu Huo moved Yan Jiayu over to where Sima Xiao'er was, then took out the "Awakening Puppet." He tapped the puppet's head. "I need to talk to you."
The puppet's eyes lit up, and then a hand reached out from inside. He quickly grabbed it. "Come out and let's talk."
"You don't have any candy!" a shrill voice came from inside the puppet. "Liar!"
"I just got trapped right after leaving the instance. You'll have to wait until I get out alive to eat candy, right?" Xu Huo didn't let go. "I'll double next month's candy for you, no problem?"
The struggling little hand stopped. Then the little girl in the pink hat jumped out of the puppet. As soon as she landed, her face pulled into a frown, and she turned to go back inside.
Xu Huo pressed her shoulder. "Since you're here..."
The little girl struggled as she said, "You adults are all liars! You clearly promised to give me candy before calling me, but instead you tricked me into coming to an unstable space!"
"I didn't trick you. I'm trapped." Xu Huo got straight to the point. "What do you mean by unstable space?"
"With so many wormhole points, what's so strange about a few unstable spaces?" The little girl looked around and said, "This should be a post-war ruin. The space hasn't completely collapsed, so it's drifting between different worlds."
"What kind of war could destroy a space?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
"A player war, of course." The little girl turned to look at him. "You're a player from Zone 014—don't you know that?"