Large and Small Pearls Falling on a Jade Plate
At the edge of an area recently teeming with Blood Moon monsters, dark red dust gathered and swirled with unusual density.
Gradually, a blurry, ethereal figure emerged from it. It hovered Jingjing, as if adjusting.
A few seconds later, the surface of the phantom, like a rotten fruit bursting open from a pustule, suddenly split open with dozens of bright red "eyes" of varying sizes, densely packed together.
These lifeless eyes rolled and scanned the surroundings. Then, the overall color of the phantom began to fade, as if it had merged into the air, and slowly disappeared without a trace.
Ghost tales! Ghost tales born from the Blood Moon! New ghost tales born among monsters!
The strange creature waited in place for a moment, then eerie, bright red eyes appeared out of thin air on its body before its form slowly faded away.
Several kilometers away, in an Elite squad tasked with conducting close reconnaissance and sample collection in a Dangerous Terrain, a burly man put down his recording equipment:
How is the data collection going?
Beside him, a tall, thin man asked, while simultaneously maintaining a massive energy shield, with three teammates beside him handling other tasks.
This is a standard five-person professional team, with an average mental Attribute of 18 points, and they were specially dispatched to gather information.
"The monsters in this area are strengthened to a greater extent than in other places... at least three times, and it's still going on, practically endless. Some force links them to the Blood Moon, and the Blood Moon grows stronger along with them. Furthermore, the Blood Moon monsters will actively leave [Dangerous Terrain] and move towards the various Safe Zones."
"More than that," a woman beside her added, "The Blood Moon, hanging in the sky, also acts as a satellite, possibly providing some degree of global awareness sharing capabilities to all units affected by it."
"Alright, after we've recorded the information on this group of monsters, let's go back. I have a bad feeling about this."
Ding Lexin, watching her teammates work, frowned.
Since his last investigation of Consultant Su's experimental site resulted in him being burned and losing control of his bladder and bowels, his strength has improved by leaps and bounds, propelling him into the top thirty in the district.
Not only did he receive compensation for Su Luo's physical modifications, but he was also the first Survivor in the district, besides Song Shige and Su Luo, to master [Martial Will].
With the essence of Martial Dao combined with Mana Side techniques, along with the Talent [Spirit Fortress] and the resource-intensive training from the Mutual Aid Association, one is highly sought after and can stand alone.
"Check your cognition," Ding Lexin reminded him again, looking down at the rugged metal watch on her left wrist—a mass-produced [Sanity Monitoring Wristwatch], extremely durable, though its strength was practically Perfect.
This is a mental state monitoring device manufactured based on a certain principle and combined with preliminary Industrialization production capabilities. Users need to complete a complex psychological benchmark test with thousands of questions beforehand, and the watch will establish a dynamic "rationality benchmark value" based on this.
I heard that this method was a way that Consultant Su used to test his own mental state in the early days, and this watch is also a replica of the Perfect prop [Sanity Pocket Watch].
At that moment, on the rough digital screen, the number jumped a few times before finally stabilizing at "90".
This is based on the wearer's initial self-awareness and real-time rationality. The rationality of an average person is between 80 and 95; those outside this range are not considered normal.
The team members all lowered their heads and tested their rationality. All of them passed the rationality test, and no obvious signs of cognitive distortion or mental Contamination were found.
"Remain vigilant and prepare for evacuation."
Ding Lexin Diffusion her [Martial Will], like an invisible radar, carefully scanning every energy flow and mental ripple in the surrounding environment to confirm that there were no hidden traps or impending attacks.
However, just as he relaxed slightly and looked up—
"Tick-tock."
A very faint sound, like the dripping of liquid.
Ding Lexin suddenly looked up, her gaze sharp as lightning, instantly Lock-On onto the face of the burly man who was bending down to tidy up the equipment.
Without warning, a thick, dark red tear of blood welled up from the man's left eye, slid down his cheek, and dripped onto the cold casing of the instrument.
Then, something even more horrifying happened—his left eyeball, along with the optic nerve behind it, seemed to be pulled by invisible threads and Shedding on its own, falling to the ground with a soft "plop," even bobbing slightly.
The man himself seemed oblivious to this, continuing to look down at the instruments, his remaining right eye still fixed on the data on the screen.
What were you looking at just now?
Ding Lexin remained expressionless, leading the team directly outside while asking a question.
The other three teammates also noticed that the burly man's eyeballs had rolled out. They were slightly startled, but their good composure allowed them to follow Ding Lexin's lead.
"Huh? What are you looking at? I'm taking notes..." The burly man asked in confusion, but quickly realized why Ding Lexin was asking that.
Something must have gone wrong. Since he didn't find anything wrong with anyone else, the problem must lie with himself.
Looking down, he saw blood and an eyeball on the ground not far away.
The burly man subconsciously reached out and touched his left eye, where he found an empty eye socket and warm liquid.
"Holy crap!"
He quickly pressed down on the other eyeball that was about to fall out.
"Is my mental defense system useless? My eyeballs have fallen out, but it doesn't affect my original vision or perception at all. Quickly, help me rule out the possibility of an illusion!"
The five calmly left the scene, then sped away, simultaneously launching into multitasking operations.
"You can leave the [Dangerous Terrain] within two minutes. Support has been called in; we will rendezvous in five minutes."
The team member in charge of communication provided information, one team member cast a healing Spell while checking the burly man's body and mind, another team member was highly alert to the surroundings while guiding the team to escape, and Ding Lexin quickly took out several mental items, activated them directly on herself, and then took out a potion.
[Mental Berserk Agent) ], [Mental Tranquilizer) ], [Anti-Interference Agent) ]...
This combination was discovered by the Mutual Aid Association's research department. Using it together will give you a great feeling and make you exceptionally strong.
Subsequently, Ding Lexin activated her skill, linking the minds of the five members of the team together, and then taking the brunt of most possible mental attacks and Contamination herself.
However, it was useless; there was no psychological attack.
Right before everyone's eyes, the burly man's right eyeball, like a ripe fruit, slowly detached from its socket and fell to the ground with a "thud".
Ding Lexin pulled away her teammate who was in charge of treatment and stared directly into the burly man's empty eye sockets.
In that deep darkness, he saw—a blurry, slightly wriggling humanoid silhouette. The head of the silhouette was covered with densely packed red dots, like... eyes.
A strange tale has taken the place of the burly man's eyes.
At this moment, the female team member patted Ding Lexin.
Ding Lexin turned her head to look, and her heart sank suddenly.
The music played a cacophony of notes, like pearls of all sizes falling onto a jade plate.