Susan raised her head, looking with a listless expression at Maki and Kaguya as they walked in.
Her appearance looked terrible; her clothes were tattered, covered in bruises and purple patches, as if she had just escaped from a refugee camp.
Not only that, if the woman Gao Hai had seen previously could at least run, jump, and think, then right now her eyes were almost completely glazed over. It was as if her inner soul had nearly dissipated, and her entire person was completely stiff, sitting motionless in place.
However, for Maki and Kaguya, they had never met Susan before. Therefore, at this moment, they were only comparing her appearance with the image described by Gao Hai to roughly guess this person's identity.
"Excuse me, are you Miss Susan?"
Maki took a step forward and crouched down in front of Susan, while Kaguya waved the scalpel twice, chopping apart the iron chains locking Susan's hands.
Because the Rescue Team member—an anomaly that could not be destroyed by conventional attacks—had physically withstood the explosion, it was currently standing at the door guarding the two of them, preventing anything from suddenly appearing to attack Kaguya and Maki.
[...]
Susan did not move.
She just sat on the ground, motionless, sitting blankly as if she were already dead.
What was going on?
Under the perception of the Blessing, one could sense that she was a living person. Had someone tortured her into this state?
Maki was pondering what was wrong with her, but at this moment, Gao Hai suddenly sent a communication, informing her of the confrontation with Lixer and the truth he had finally discovered.
"Great-Aunt, cut open her wrist. Be careful, her condition might not be right."
Maki, who had understood something from Gao Hai's intelligence, stepped back and spoke. Kaguya naturally stepped forward without hesitation, slicing the scalpel directly into Susan's arm, cutting deep, and then prying open the wound from which fresh blood surged to look inside.
Small black stones were faintly visible within the flesh and blood.
It was the same situation as Lixer.
This person had also undergone modification. However, unlike Lixer, the modification on Susan seemed to be not quite successful. Those black stones were almost embedded in the flesh; the bruises and purple marks that Kaguya and Maki originally thought were some kind of wounds were actually effects caused by these small stones inside the body.
Extending her hand, Maki touched these small stones.
In the next moment, she saw fragmented illusions.
Traces of time remaining within this body that had almost become an empty shell.
[Is this person a knower?]
Someone asked in a low voice outside the cell.
[Just like the man next door, she is a knower. Anyway, the higher-ups say to treat her as a test subject.]
[That works then. Since that's the case... hmm, it should be fine to be a little rougher.]
The lights went out, and everything returned to darkness.
In a trance, unknown amounts of time passed.
Pain and fear wore down the will, until finally, only a blank remained.
[Interesting phenomenon. Using the power of the anomaly to split into two different individuals—one retaining normal memory and personality, and one almost completely losing personality, leaving only a lump of meat with neural reactions. How exactly was this achieved?]
[Hmm, release the other one. No problem, just maintain a certain degree of surveillance. That individual doesn't remember anything anymore. Perfectly timed, I also need to test to what extent that individual can be "normal" after returning to normal life. After all, she has already lost quite a lot of memories.]
[By the way, that "important individual" has already been transported over, right? Let's go, let us take a good look at where exactly this individual is special, and what new breakthroughs she can bring to our experiments.]
A woman's screams and cries of pain mixed with a man's low laughter.
[Do not be angry, Ms. Hedal. Your child is dedicating themselves to the future of humanity.]
[Selfishness is quite a terrible character trait. You should learn to correct this point and not always think about your family's happiness. Soon, you will also become the next one, and human civilization will move towards a greater era because of sacrifices like you.]
[That's right, you should be grateful for this; this is your honor. Hmm, begin the Number 2 Modification Experiment. Directly suture the new fusion material into her body. Let us see just how deep Andres's obsession with his wife truly is.]
The smell of blood drifted out.
The woman's low moans of pain went from clear to gradually fading, eventually returning to silence.
The torture for this day had come to an end.
But when the next day came, when the lights lit up again, the hellish days continued as before.
[Sure enough, you are special.]
[A normal person would have died long ago bearing this dosage, yet you are the first one who can still maintain clarity up to now.]
[Perhaps if I take you directly to the "Blood Vessel"... No, that won't do. If the obsession is satisfied, will the anomaly still continue to exist? Perhaps I can change my train of thought. Hmm, don't worry, I will think of how to properly dispose of you.]
That man was always laughing. When the woman started wailing and moaning in pain, he was always laughing incessantly.
The smell of blood had never truly dissipated.
That cell used to imprison the woman alone was called the Confinement Room. The walls and floor there were of soft material, and the woman would be firmly locked and fixed in place; food, water, and excretion were all handled through tubes connected to the body.
She constantly suffered various tortures and was not permitted to self-harm, just repeating this day after day.
Until that day, the woman's voice finally subsided.
[Dead?]
[Life signs confirmed ended. She really died? Just like this? It was just like this?]
[Useless thing. I clearly placed such high hopes on you, yet it ended at this level? Forget it, let it be. Hmm, her corpse is just like the previous people; just throw it directly into the Great Rift. Anyway, there are already plenty of corpses thrown in there.]
[Tsk, that rift too... the records clearly emphasize that place in various ways, so why haven't I seen any changes in that place? Could it be that not enough people have been sacrificed?]
[It seems I still have to change my train of thought. Perhaps the previous modification surgery needs to continue progressing.]
That room located in the middle of the Prison Area, used to imprison the woman, housed quite a few prisoners afterward.
It was just that these prisoners would often die within less than a day.
And when they died, the sound of that vanished woman's breathing would always ring out in the surroundings.
As if she had not died yet.
As if she was still lingering here.
Rage.
That voice was overflowing with rage.
An unextinguishable, blazing fire of fury.
Until this place was thoroughly destroyed, that rage would not have a moment of subsiding.
[Did I finally succeed?]
That man came to the cell once again.
He whispered to the Confinement Room that had been empty for a long time, which had already begun to undergo anomalous changes and had been simply welded shut for safety. No obvious emotion could be heard in his voice.
[After failing so many times, I finally successfully created an anomaly.]
[Is it because the spirit of this one was twisted enough? That shouldn't be it; there were plenty of people before her who were tortured to the point where death would be a relief.]
[Or is it because of her relationship with the previous anomaly, so her situation is special? If that's the case, perhaps adding test subjects with kinship relations would be better? But in that case, test subjects would not be easy to find... However, I can acquire this type of test subject from illegal immigrants.]
[Just how much further is the road to reach it... the road leading to God... I will not give up. I definitely will find it; I must find it...]
Amidst the murmuring voice, the man turned and left.
And what happened next was the endless spreading of fresh blood, and that figure walking slowly through the blood, emitting low laughter.
The screams never stopped.
The sound of hurriedly fleeing footsteps rang out, then stopped, and even the breathing vanished completely.
And that cold, gloomy laughter advanced step by step, finally penetrating deep into the base, its destination unknown.
And this was the terrifying history that happened in the past, recorded like a video recorder by this prisoner who was left as only an empty shell and had long lost herself.
Maki, who had felt those residual illusions through physical contact, closed her eyes and slowly released this woman's arm, then let out a long exhale. She had learned many things from those memories and understood the intense obsession possessed by that anomaly located beneath the Great Rift.
"Ugh..."
The somewhat exhausted girl slumped onto the ground.
Contacting memory fragments was not a relaxing task. Even though Maki Shijo's spirit had been strengthened by the Blessing and buffs, she couldn't help but feel somewhat mentally fatigued at this moment.
Hai-kun has done this kind of thing more than once; why can he ignore this kind of mental burden? If I could also possess resilient mental power like him, would I be able to help out more?
"Maki-san, are you alright?"
Kaguya helped Maki up and asked in a low voice.
"I'm fine..."
Maki shook her head gently, then turned to look outside the door at that sealed Confinement Room.
That welded door was currently deforming bit by bit. It looked as if it would soon be thoroughly destroyed, revealing the thing behind the door.
She could feel the other party's gaze.
At this moment, Maki, who knew the intelligence related to the core obsession, could already sense that cold gaze. Furthermore, it was right in front of them, right inside this Confinement Room.
Was it because obtaining information about the core obsession inside the Research Base caused its power to enter the release stage faster?
"Let's go, we must leave immediately!"
Knowing the situation was wrong, Maki spoke quickly, forcing her body to start running.
The Rescue Team member cleared the path at the very front, with Maki and Kaguya following behind. Although Maki was exhausted at the start, she was recovering her stamina very quickly with the help of the badge's power.
This Obsession Item is really powerful. Such a convenient and practical effect, yet it almost never loses control.
Lowering her head to look at the badge pinned to her chest, Maki couldn't help but marvel at this thing's power in her heart.
And right at this moment, just as Kaguya and Maki were about to pass D6—the cell where Kaguya had been imprisoned before—and the Rescue Team member at the very front arrived at the D7 position, the door to D7 flew open violently. Then, an anomaly wearing a white coat popped out from inside.
Fulen.
Maki recognized the other party the instant she saw him, while Kaguya's eyes widened. She suddenly realized that the man who called himself "Howard," whom she had heard over the past two days, was likely this Fulen in disguise.
If she had responded to him back then...
It was too late to think carefully about more things.
Because this anomaly's target had already locked onto Maki and Kaguya, and he was striding towards the two of them.
Then, he was grabbed by the collar by the Rescue Team member at the side and pressed against the nearby wall.
[Initiating suppression of dangerous elements obstructing rescue.]
Accompanied by such cold words, the Rescue Team member's fist smashed into Fulen's face in the next moment, punching that face until it caved in from the middle.
The powers of anomalies formed a conflict with each other at this moment.
Fulen struggled but had no way to break free from the Rescue Team member. Although the Rescue Team member itself was also stalled by him and couldn't thoroughly suppress him, the balance formed by both sides in this moment was enough for Maki and Kaguya to act.
Striding forward, the two ran out of the Prison Area one after another and arrived at the Quarantine Zone.
At this time, the spreading water flow had already spread along the Quarantine Zone, and for some unknown reason, the doors leading from the Quarantine Zone to the Red Nut Gray Hole were all in an open state.
Vaguely, Maki and Kaguya could see that amidst the water flow spreading throughout the room, there seemed to be several firefighters standing there.
Were different spaces overlapping?
Thinking of this possibility, the two sped up their movements even more.
The soldiers who should have stayed behind in the Quarantine Zone had now all rushed into the Observation Area.
A large number of soldiers and researchers crowded the broken corridor, having already completely blocked the road. Facing such a situation, there was no way for Kaguya and Maki to pass through these things no matter what.
Could they only try digging through the wall with the scalpel? She didn't know if the two of them could hold out with such high-intensity usage.
Kaguya, holding the scalpel, had already begun to think of other methods.
But Maki just stood motionless on the spot, simply gazing at these anomalies crowding each other in the corridor, waiting without saying a word.
She soon waited until the event she was anticipating happened.
[Now notifying all members: In my capacity as the "Supreme Commander of the Cave Research Base," I order all research personnel, all soldiers, and all exploration personnel to obey my command. Proceed to the Quarantine Zone and block the main gate entering the Red Nut Gray Hole and the door to the Prison Area. Repeat, this is "General Shegera's" order. All members must execute it and must not do anything unrelated to this.]
Gao Hai's voice rang out from the broadcast.
And Maki had already taken Kaguya's hand and taken a step forward, stepping into the corridor of the Observation Area.
Amidst the gurgling sound of the water flow, these anomalies likewise took steps, walking out towards Kaguya and Maki.
Both parties' figures crossed paths in the corridor.
Clearly, two living people who weren't strictly wearing the uniform were right in front of them; clearly, both Kaguya and Maki's clothes were more or less damaged due to the previous explosion, so theoretically, it couldn't be counted as perfect role-playing. Yet not one of these things paid attention to the two of them; they just continued to advance silently.
Maki closed the door that was still letting water pour in, interrupting the effect of the Blood Key. However, the turbid sewage that had already poured into the base showed no sign of disappearing; instead, it seemed to have the appearance of expanding even further.
The different spacetimes within this instance, which were originally independent yet mutually connected, seemed to be showing signs of losing control and merging with each other following the players' actions.
"That was Gao-kun's voice just now. Did he do something?"
Kaguya looked at the broadcast on one side of the corridor, the expression on her face appearing somewhat complex.
"It is Hai-kun, after all. Although that guy's personality isn't exactly good, there's really nothing bad to say about his ability."
Maki spoke, revealing a somewhat proud expression, as if she were discussing someone very amazing from her own family.
What she didn't notice was that after she said this, the expression on Kaguya's face became a bit more complex than before. There was even a bit of hesitation, like the tangled feeling of struggling to do something but being unable to do it due to reasons like conscience.
And at the same time the two were approaching the Research Zone step by step on this side, Gao Hai, who was in [General Shegera's Office], was sitting wordlessly in front of the desk. He reached out and tapped the desktop gently, his gaze falling on a document on the table.
[Strategic Plan No. 1 - Extinction Operation]
[Through the experimental verification of the Red Nut Gray Hole, select specific occasions to manufacture tragedies, allowing victims to die under extreme emotions and endure prolonged torture during the process, potentially nurturing and producing new anomalies. Furthermore, for family members with harmonious relationships, the method of torturing and killing them one by one can be adopted to continuously enhance the torture on the final person, perhaps offering a greater hope of manufacturing a new anomaly.]
[As long as specific personnel are arranged to infiltrate enemy nations and choose targets meeting the requirements within important cities of the enemy nation for torture, once successful, an anomalous event affecting a large number of personnel can be manufactured, effectively weakening the enemy nation's strength.]
[This plan has been approved.]
[Strategic Plan No. 2 - Angel Operation]
[Through human experiments in the Prison Area, it has been confirmed that anomalous power can be combined with the human body to a certain degree. If the plan goes smoothly, perhaps true eternal humans can be created, specifically gods on earth mastering extraordinary power.]
[After long-term experiments, this plan has a great possibility of success, but it still requires a test subject to accept implantation to verify its success rate. Considering that once successful, the test subject is very likely to become an uncontrollable factor, if this plan is approved, a test subject worthy of everyone's trust must be carefully selected.]
[Dr. Fulen has voluntarily applied to become the test subject.]
[This plan is not approved.]
[Regardless of whether this plan succeeds or not, Fulen is no longer needed. It is time to dispose of this unstable factor, General Shegera.]
Bloodstains were splattered at the end of the document.
And on the floor on one side of the room lay a man's corpse... No, it was merely a set of clothes.
Gao Hai could see what happened that day.
Shegera put down the document he had just received, prepared to give the order, and was already ready to resolve Fulen.
But what he didn't expect was that Fulen had long anticipated the arrival of this moment. He stepped into the office one step ahead, shooting directly at Shegera, then used his authority to issue a lockdown command to the base, causing the entire base to cut off contact with the outside.
Then, knowing that he could only delay for a very short time this way, Fulen made the only decision he could think of, the only one he could make.
[Lift the quarantine zone lockdown. You want to leave me behind after I tried my best to achieve all these results?]
[Don't even think about it. Next, let this base sink into hell together with your despicable sweet dreams.]
[And I will ascend to the divine throne and become the only God of the new world!]
Amidst low laughter, the entire Research Base completely lost power.
Terror overflowing with resentment and rage swept towards the research institute.
And that man who caused all of this ran stumbling, leaping quickly down from the stairs, dashing towards the Research Zone, towards the direction of the Freezing Zone.
He opened the heavy blast door.
Disregarding the despairing wails of those researchers and soldiers outside the door, he continued advancing, scrambling and crawling.
Finally, he arrived at the Freezing Zone and looked at the instrument he had prepared long ago, the instrument he actually didn't know would succeed or not.
Stepping out, he lay into the instrument.
Injection tubes injected those black filthy blood and ground stone powder into his body.
The blood-red long dress was already walking forward step by step.
And Maki and Kaguya, relying on the power of the scalpel Obsession Item to cut open the protective door, entered the Freezing Zone just like that.
"Mr. Fulen, stop hiding. You are right here, aren't you?"
Gazing at the darkness ahead, Maki spoke calmly, her tone containing not a trace of ripples.
________________________________________
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