Chapter 185

Chapter 185

They were not the only ones affected. The vapor spread across Huicheng’s entire eastern district, triggering violent incidents everywhere.

Fortunately, the Fiend Investigation Bureau responded quickly. It developed specialized gas masks and finally brought the district’s chaos under control.

While turmoil raged outside, Liu Ye pushed open the gate before him. A rich fragrance rolled out the moment he entered.

Zhang Ru and Zhang Yanyan’s vision blurred. Violent emotions surged inside them.

Zhang Ru’s heart filled with fury. Why had she been the one to die? Why had any of this happened to her? And why did Wang Weiwei have to be such an idiot?

Zhang Yanyan, meanwhile, was overwhelmed by fear of death. She collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

Death was her deepest fear. She had already experienced it once, and that terror had nearly destroyed her.

Zhang Shun’s reaction was stranger still. Memories flooded continuously through his mind. He had indeed been here before. In fact, he knew every corner of the place, because all of it… had been created by him!

With that realization, he charged forward without regard for anything else.

Pink light filled Zhang Ru’s eyes. She drew a knife from behind her clothes and stared at Liu Ye’s back as violent impulses rose within her. Then she abruptly swung the blade.

Stab!

The sound of steel entering flesh rang out. Zhang Ru had driven the knife through her own palm.

“Brother Liu, go after him. He must have discovered something. I’ll take care of Zhang Yanyan!”

Zhang Ru hid her hand behind her back and spoke between ragged breaths.

“Are you all right?”

Liu Ye could tell something was wrong with her too.

“I’m fine, Brother Liu. Hurry and catch up to him. He may be the key to escaping this place. Once you’ve dealt with whatever is ahead, come back for me.” Zhang Ru smiled.

Liu Ye considered it. Her plan made sense, but her pale face still worried him.

He took out the revolver he had won from Big Gold Tooth and handed it to her for protection.

“All right. I’ll take a look ahead and come back soon.”

Liu Ye jogged away.

Once he was out of sight, Zhang Ru pulled a bottled drink from a nearby crate and emptied it. She pressed the revolver’s muzzle into the bottle opening and aimed at her own knees.

Bang! Bang!

The agony nearly made her black out, but it also cleared her head.

She had wounded herself because she feared she could not remain lucid. The injuries would not kill her in the short term, and clearing the level would restore her body.

Once she had chosen to cling to a powerful backer, she absolutely could not become a burden to him.

At the end of the passage, Liu Ye found a gigantic pool filled with revolting yellow liquid that churned incessantly.

A massive person stood directly ahead, three or four stories tall. Pustules covered his body. Whenever one burst, yellow fluid poured into the pool. A pipe sucked the liquid out and pumped it into bottles on the other side. Once packaged, each became an ordinary-looking beverage.

Liu Ye was speechless.

For once, he felt fortunate to be poor enough that he could not afford bottled drinks. If he ever consumed something like this, he would surely go insane.

The scene was certainly bizarre, but Liu Ye did not suspect anything sinister. Brother Guiwa had told him that combining living organisms with machinery was called biotechnology.
Back in the village, Liu Ye’s second aunt had apparently worked with something like this. He had heard it was extremely dangerous. One mistake, and someone could lose their life.

Zhang Shun stood before the giant.

“Liu Ye, I remember. I remember everything now.”

A bitter smile crossed Zhang Shun’s face.

“All of this is my dream! The sixth level is the Chamber of Pestilence, and I am its master. Every illness in Huicheng Hospital came from me.”

More precisely, they came from the Fiend attached to him. That Fiend was the entire Nightmare Prison.

Zhang Shun had been an exceptionally gifted doctor, skilled in many kinds of surgery. He had treated countless difficult and unusual diseases.

But he was still human. The field of medicine was simply too vast. No matter how talented he was, he could never master it all. When the people dearest to him fell ill, all he could do was pray desperately to God.

God did not hear him. Zhang Shun could only watch his loved ones die one after another.

“Liu Ye, do you understand that kind of despair?”

“Um… Is it possible you prayed to the wrong god? You’re from the Xia Kingdom. Why would a foreign god answer you?”

Zhang Shun was speechless.

“Do you want to hear the rest or not?”

“Um, go on.”

Zhang Shun looked at his hands. Scars covered them, marks he had carved into himself during the depths of his remorse.

Later, he learned that the world was not as simple as it appeared. Many things could not be explained by science.

He began deliberately seeking out supernatural locations, but found nothing.

Ironically, the things ordinary people desperately avoided clung to them like maggots in bone, while he, who actively sought those things, returned empty-handed.

In the end, he succeeded. Members of the Illuminati found him and implanted the Nightmare Prison within his body.

Time passed differently inside. Zhang Shun now had endless time to learn new medical knowledge.

But he underestimated just how terrifying the Fiend was. The dreams grew longer and longer and gradually slipped beyond his control. Eventually, many dangerous entities were born inside them.

The Illuminati also used the Fiend in his body to research countless diseases. They built level after level of trials to draw out people’s Desire and manufacture beverages and potions from it. Through those products, they intended to control most of the population.

“Liu Ye, I couldn’t stop them. My body-this entire space-contains an unknown number of viruses. If this place enters the real world, those viruses will erupt and destroy the entire world! So I’m sorry. You worked so hard to reach this place, but I cannot let you leave… Huh?”

He turned and found Liu Ye holding a vacuum cleaner. The entire room had been cleaned spotless. Even the pools of viruses had become clear water.

“What did you do?” Zhang Shun shouted, mouth hanging open in shock.

“It looked filthy, so I cleaned it. This is a beverage factory. How can they expect anyone to drink their products when the place is such a mess? Anyway, where were you? World peace? I’m telling you, I saw the news recently. Those old-those people over there really are awful.”

Zhang Shun was speechless.