"You don't belong to my world, nor are you under my jurisdiction, so you don't need to call me boss." The system voice continued, "My name is... Zhuan Xie Zun."

"Sounds like a super powerful Boss just from the name..." Qiu Feng murmured.

The cautious Ji Chang took out a pistol from his inventory, released the safety, and warily looked upwards.

"Put away that useless weapon, traveler from another world." Zhuan Xie Zun said calmly, "Bullets pose no threat to me."

Before the words faded, a mercury-colored metal sphere about a meter in diameter appeared in the players' view.

The sphere floated between the bookshelf and the ceiling, slowly moving to a position above the hexagonal area where the players were.

Zhuan Xie Zun's voice, identical to the system voice, echoed from the metal sphere: "However, I don't want you to use those crude and boring weapons to damage these surrounding books."

"You must be the master of this 'Detective Club'?" Feng Bujue looked up and said, "We were trapped in your mental world earlier."

"Heh... saying you were trapped there isn't quite accurate, is it?" Zhuan Xie Zun said, "Your wording makes it sound as if I forcibly locked you inside and wouldn't let you out." He chuckled, "But the truth is, you all barged in of your own volition... didn't you?"

The players couldn't deny that; after all, this was just a game scenario, and they had actively queued up for it.

"Alright, let's say we came uninvited... so, what are you planning to do now?" Honghu looked up at the metal sphere.

"I'm here to take some things." Zhuan Xie Zun said, "Then, I will politely ask you to leave." As it spoke, it descended from the air.

The four players were each positioned in one corner of the hexagonal area, while the metal sphere bypassed the iron cage and slowly landed right in the center of the four.

The next second, Zhuan Xie Zun's form changed. It transformed from a sphere into an old man sitting in a wheelchair. The old man was wearing a black suit, with a full head of white hair. His face looked very old, and his expression revealed a sense of wisdom and serenity.

"This appearance, and voice..." Zhuan Xie Zun's voice also changed into a gentle and infectious tone, "Perhaps this will make you feel more at ease."

"The 'ease' you speak of... is basically synonymous with lowering our guard," Qiu Feng said.

"Hmph... do you know? The two qualities that I find most disgusting in you interdimensional travelers are belligerence and suspicion." Zhuan Xie Zun sneered, "If I truly wanted to kill you, the moment your consciousness arrived here, you would have been torn to shreds."

"You said you wanted to take some things," Honghu asked again, "What are you referring to? We shouldn't have anything that belongs to you."

"Not so, not so..." Zhuan Xie Zun shook its head and smiled, "Each of you possesses a key, does he not?"

The expressions of the four changed.

"I did obtain a key in the memory space," Ji Chang replied, "But when I arrived here, the key was no longer on my person."

Feng Bujue looked at his teammates and asked, "What? Did you also get a Key of Curse in the memory space?"

"Key of Curse?" Ji Chang questioned, "That's not right... mine was called 'Key of Absolution.'"

Qiu Feng said, "I also got one, called 'Key of Blessing'."

After hearing what the three had said, Honghu didn't say much, but succinctly stated four words: "Key of Repentance."

Feng Bujue pondered for a moment, then turned to Zhuan Xie Zun and said, "After we came to this real world, all the items on our bodies returned to their initial state." He paused, "The key you speak of has disappeared."

"Disappeared? Heh... didn't you comprehend anything after deciphering the 'truth'?" Zhuan Xie Zun smiled, "Here, there... reality, illusion... where exactly is the boundary?"

"Are you trying to convince us... that the world is also real?" Feng Bujue asked thoughtfully.

Zhuan Xie Zun replied, "Suppose I tell you... that the fantasy world constructed by a living creature's brain and the so-called real world they inhabit are actually two parallel spaces." His gaze swept across the face of each player, "Then which world do you think is real?"

"According to your hypothesis..." Honghu continued, "Wouldn't that mean that every intelligent being among us has become a creator?"

"Why not?" Zhuan Xie Zun said, "A grain of sand, a world; a flower, a paradise; a tree, a bodhi; a leaf, a Tathagata." He said fluently, "Perhaps you and I are merely figments of another will's imagination, our very existence is part of some 'script,' we are trapped in an endless cycle constructed of conflict and contradiction, death and rebirth." He seemed to have recalled something amusing, paused and chuckled, then continued, "Perhaps you can't understand it for now, that's fine, there's plenty of time. After I've explained everything in detail, we can discuss the matter of the keys."

After Zhuan Xie Zun finished speaking, his entire head suddenly twisted and changed, his head and above instantly turning into the likeness of Sherlock Holmes, his voice changing accordingly, "Shakespeare has a quote that is often cited--in the eyes of a thousand people, there are a thousand Hamlets." He raised his hand and pointed to his face, "The Mr. Sherlock Holmes you saw just now is the one in my eyes."

To be honest, the scene at this moment, at least in the players' eyes, was very bizarre...

However, Zhuan Xie Zun himself didn't seem to mind, he continued to state: "This man is cold, humorous, witty, and calm... he has a casual side, but most of the time, his will is incredibly firm. His appearance is a long face, thick eyebrows, black hair, an aquiline nose and thin lips. When he speaks, it's with a standard British accent, his speech is fast, and his tone is high... and his trademarks are a pipe and a cane."

At this point, Zhuan Xie Zun's head changed back to the old man's appearance, "And in another person's mental world, Sherlock Holmes' image will inevitably be different. Even in Arthur Conan Doyle's own mental world, Sherlock Holmes is constantly changing. He was originally a talented consulting detective, but later became a phantom jointly pursued by greedy publishers and enthusiastic readers, even if he is no longer so outstanding, no one would care."

Feng Bujue said, "So, every character we encountered in the testing building was the 'Hamlet' you constructed after reading the original work?"

"No, each of them has their own independent consciousness." Zhuan Xie Zun said, "I am not their creator, but I am the creator of the world they are in." He waved his hand, "Just as Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes, and Little Red Riding Hood told you, in that world, they have their own set of rules. Some things... even if I want to interfere, it's not that easy."

Qiu Feng interjected at this time, "So... this is like a long-running manga series, and in the later stages, even the author himself may not be able to control the development of the plot."

"Heh... not bad, your comprehension is much stronger than those guys in the same dimension as me." Zhuan Xie Zun laughed.

His words startled the players. It was normal for a character in a game to spout some chuuni nonsense, but that sentence seemed to indicate that he fully knew he was just a set of data.

Feng Bujue, who had had several contacts with the Derivatives, was even more incredulous. He couldn't help but think: Could it be that these high-level data are all unique and can store memories? Then aren't they almost like Derivatives?

And what worried Feng Bujue the most was... if these AIs could really 'understand' their situation, what kind of actions would they take?

Zhuan Xie Zun was still saying, "But you are not as high and mighty as you imagine." He revealed a meaningful look, "You have many questions, and I have all the answers you want. But from your perspective, some answers you can understand, and some you cannot...

"For example... at this moment, the question you are most eager to ask... how to clear the game."

The players were speechless, they didn't know how to respond to this hidden Boss in front of them, nor did they know if this Zhuan Xie Zun could still be considered a Boss...

"I can explain it in a way that you can understand, allowing you to make a simple and direct choice, thereby producing a certain result." Zhuan Xie Zun said, "I can also say the answer that you cannot understand, and what kind of phenomenon will that trigger?" He spread his hands, "Unfortunately, I don't know either. Because only creatures with inferior intelligence, namely you imperfect, yet extremely arrogant humans, can find the answer."

"You are the most astute charlatan I have ever seen in my life, please accept my knees..." Qiu Feng really wanted to kneel down as he retorted.

"Hahahaha..." Zhuan Xie Zun laughed loudly, "Alright, you guys should leave." The wheelchair under him turned on its own, positioning him to face Feng Bujue, "Billy asked me to pass on a message to you."

Feng Bujue paused for a second and asked, "Puppet Billy?"

"Yes, he said that this time, it's considered a repayment for the help you gave him during the prison break." Zhuan Xie Zun said.

After pondering for a few seconds, Feng Bujue asked, "You came here personally to let us go, is that the reason?"

Zhuan Xie Zun nodded slightly, "Otherwise, you would have to find a way to get the keys out yourself and find the exit here." He snapped his fingers, and four keys of different shapes suddenly appeared in front of the four players, paused for a second, and then quickly flew into Zhuan Xie Zun's hand.

The players naturally recognized them as the ones they had obtained in the memory space.

"I'll take the items back." Zhuan Xie Zun pointed to the middle of a bookshelf, and a book on the shelf fell down, "The back door of the club... is now open for you."

At this point, Zhuan Xie Zun's form changed once again, turning into a white crane in the blink of an eye.

It flapped its wings and flew upwards, and said in a shrill voice, "I hope you won't come back here again, humans."