No one understood Lin Ye better than himself, so he quickly followed his 'other self's' train of thought.

A Mobius Strip is a topological structure of an infinite loop. Lin Ye didn't actually have a deep understanding of it, so his 'other self' must have simply felt the current situation was similar to a Mobius Strip.

The three Mobius Strips represented the three D-Class Personnel.

'So we didn't enter the same tunnel? It's just that the strips have points of intersection?'

Lin Ye thought of the strange phenomenon where the lights went out. Perhaps that was a special effect caused by the intersection of two Mobius Strips.

'If I don't move forward, the lights stay off. The moment I take a step, the lights immediately illuminate the tunnel, and at that very instant, I'm bound to meet someone from another strip...'

'If I don't advance, we'll never meet.'

Lin Ye glanced down at his feet.

'So, are we walking on a loop of time?'

'As long as I don't move forward, I'll remain at a specific point in time, which is why the lights stay off...'

'The moment I move forward, I leave the intersection point, and the other person vanishes...'

'So direction is meaningless. My only choices are to stay put or move forward...'

'Not long after I came in, I ran into the version of myself who had turned into a monster and completed his first loop.'

'Three strips intersecting. Each strip has an intersection point with the other two. The Number 2 and Number 3 I met before weren't the ones behind me, but rather the ones who had looped back around and were about to complete a full circle, yet to meet their own selves.'

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

'But why did the next 'me' want me to kill him?'

'Why not go through a few more loops? Shouldn't we be looking for a way to break the cycle? Going back now just means starting over. Could it be that 'he' already found a way to break the loop but didn't tell me?'

'No, 'he' would never fail to mention something so important. 'He' only left the Mobius Strip as a hint, which means 'he' hadn't figured out how to break the loop.'

'Then why the rush to get out?'

'The last chance... can't hold on... unable to perform the next simulation...'

'Is there something that could prevent me from running the next simulation?'

'Is there something that would make it impossible for me to even kill myself?'

'The Abyssal Egg.'

'The Abyssal Egg is causing my body's Aberration. If this continues, I'll lose control—lose so much control that I won't even be able to commit suicide.'

'A monster that has lost control will loop forever, and I'll be trapped here for eternity.'

'But wouldn't the monster kill its looping self?'

'No. With each loop, the monster grows stronger. Without my 'other self's' cooperation, I can't kill the me from the next loop.'

'And 'he' can't kill me either, because without me, 'he' wouldn't exist.'

'So if I find a way to let 'him' kill me, would that end the loop?'

'No, the risk is too great. My understanding of time is too shallow. A reckless attempt could trigger unknown dangers.'

'Right now, there's still a semblance of order here. If I trigger a time paradox, I might become completely lost in this time tunnel.'

Lin Ye didn't stop walking. The severe Aberration of his body was already starting to affect his mental state. It was as if someone was whispering in his ear—he couldn't make out the words, but they never ceased.

Flickers of light and shadow occasionally flashed in his vision, but when he tried to look closely, there was nothing there.

If this continued, it wouldn't be long before he became a true madman.

'Forget it. I won't overthink it. I'll leave solving the loop to the me in the next simulation. For now, I just need to walk toward the predetermined ending.'

Lin Ye relaxed his body as he walked, checking his condition. He suddenly realized that his current self seemed to have far fewer Aberrant Organs than the self from the next loop.

'Did they develop later? But why did they all grow on the surface of my body?'

'Something's not right. The Blood Corpse's Aberrant Organs were internal. Is this because of the Abyssal Egg's unique properties?'

'But what kind of creature grows its vital spots on its skin? They're not decorations...'

'Ah! Could it be... that I willed them to grow there myself?'

'But why would I force Aberrant Organs to grow on my body's surface?'

'...To kill myself.'

'That's it. Aberrant Creatures have abnormally tenacious life force. If I don't come up with a plan, I might not be able to kill 'my other self' at all.'

'So I have to move the Aberrant Organs that are about to grow to the surface of my body.'

Lin Ye began to study his own body.

Only after he started studying it did he realize that, after turning into a monster, he seemed to have gained a perceptive ability beyond the five senses.

This perception was exceptionally powerful. Without using his eyes, he could sense his surroundings and even directly perceive the conditions inside his body.

Relying on this perception, Lin Ye began to study and influence his own Aberration Process.

………………

An unknown amount of time passed before Lin Ye finally encountered the self from the previous loop again.

Along the way, Lin Ye had also run into Number 2 and Number 3. This time, they turned and fled the moment they saw him. After all, the current Lin Ye looked terrifying.

After meeting his other self, Lin Ye re-enacted the scene from their previous encounter according to the script: the Aberrant Organs on his skin, the mark of the Mobius Strip, the words written in blood, tearing open his own chest cavity... and waiting for death.

The process went very smoothly. After all, this was the predetermined ending.

By this point, Lin Ye was already losing control of himself. The Abyssal Egg had a will of its own, and Lin Ye couldn't bypass its consciousness to commit suicide. Tearing open his chest was the absolute limit of what he could do.

On his way, he had focused all his energy into his heart, catalyzing the growth of a deformed yet powerful Aberrant Heart. Without a doubt, this heart was his vital spot.

Through this simulation, Lin Ye's understanding of Aberrant Creatures and Aberrant Organs had deepened by several levels. He even began to consider whether he should try inducing Aberration in his real body.

It wasn't that he wanted to become a monster; he coveted the power of Aberrant Creatures.

The human body has its limits. No matter how much one trained their body or practiced their skills, they could only ever approach that limit, never break through it.

And Aberration was the key to breaking through that limit.

In truth, the word 'Aberration' wasn't entirely accurate. It was a form of evolution on a biological level, but one that required precise control over the dosage. Once a certain threshold was crossed, one would turn into a monster.

Becoming a monster wasn't just about physical deformity; it also had a tremendous impact on the mind.

………………

Bzzzz...

Lin Ye opened his eyes. He was sitting in the familiar prison transport, across from the D-Class Personnel, Number 2.

【Simulations Remaining: 9】

'Nine simulations left. If I weren't afraid that spending too much time would cause problems for my real body, perhaps I should have run a few more simulations in there to study the Aberration Process in detail.'

Lin Ye suddenly realized that the true power of his Innate Ability wasn't in acquiring resources, but in allowing him to experience anomalous events to gain experience, and to use his simulated body to research Aberration.

---

Proofreader: Peter Pan