The Key

A few days ago.

The morgue at Derry Town Central Hospital is located on a secluded floor.

The sound of metal trolley wheels came from the Deep Corridor, as if another body was being transported... However, according to hospital regulations, this was not the time to transport bodies.

The person in charge of guarding the morgue is an elderly man with only one arm.

Black eyes

Something was wriggling within the emaciated body; it seemed the old man's digestive system could function autonomously.

At the same time, there was an exceptionally sharp shovel leaning against the back of the chair.

Strange sounds emanated from the depths of the mouth filled with black teeth:

"Now is not the time to transport corpses. Please go back... Violating hospital rules will result in immediate execution."

However, the 'thing' in the passage ignored the old man's warnings, and the rolling sound continued.

Finally, a cart carrying Corpse Bag slid out from the depths of the dark passage.

However, no one pushed the vehicle... To be honest, only the hospital staff who are specifically responsible for transporting corpses would know where the morgue is located.

The current driverless pushcart is clearly problematic.

The old man grabbed the shovel behind him and chopped vertically.

The body, along with the cart, was cut in two.

Hiss hiss~

However, what fell out from between the severed Corpse Bag were countless bizarre spiders made of fingers... far exceeding the volume of the Corpse Bag themselves.

No matter how skillfully the old man used his abilities—whether by wildly swinging a shovel, growing numerous tentacles from his abdomen to aid in the attack, or spraying a corrosive bile—he couldn't keep up with the sheer number of these finger spiders.

The old man was quickly devoured.

After experiencing the Affliction of being swallowed up... the scene shifts, and the old man, as if waking from a dream, continues to sit at his post at the entrance of the morgue.

It seems he just fell asleep and had a nightmare.

However, the sound of rolling wheels came again from the dark passageway, and the same Corpse Cart appeared as before.

The old man continued to destroy the cart and the body, but this time countless black hairs grew out of the Corpse Bag, instantly wrapping around and cutting the old man to pieces.

I woke up again a few minutes later.

He kept repeating this process, but the old man dutifully guarded the morgue... No matter how many times he died, Even Though fear made him tremble, he would still immediately cut up the trolleys that were delivered outside of designated times.

Until the tenth death.

Black Liquid overflowed from the ceiling directly above the old man's head, landing squarely on his bald head.

The old man did not attack the cart as it slid over.

Instead, he blocked her with his Withered Arm.

Wow~~

The Corpse Bag slid open on its own.

A fair-skinned, flawless female corpse suddenly sat up and tried to reach out to grab the old gatekeeper.

At the same moment, a large number of strange tentacles, composed of fleshy bubbles of varying sizes, suddenly extended from the gap in the one-armed old man's arm, directly wrapping around the woman's arm.

The old man's aura had completely changed.

With a series of gurgling sounds, tentacles sprouted from his mouth.

A voice that didn't belong to him was heard.

It is a deep, profound sound that transcends human perception.

"Jane, I remember telling you before that if you were to come to my hospital... remember to let me know in advance."

The female corpse appeared silent, but she was actually communicating with the person in another way.

"Hmm... that's interesting. But next time you come, remember to let me know... even though the mayor allows you to use the hospital morgue."

But no matter what, this is still my territory.

Crunch crunch!

Tentacles grew from the old man's back, intertwined, and converged into a special fleshy key, which was inserted into the lock of the morgue... The seemingly ordinary door required several turns.

Click, click, click~ It seems there are multiple mechanisms set inside the door, including some living creature mechanisms.

It seems the morgue is a rather important area, otherwise the mayor wouldn't have allowed the female corpse to assist in its management.

After the key was removed, a layer of viscous fluid remained on the keyhole... This viscous fluid would not be present if the normal unlocking method was used.

Now that the matter has been clarified, the person in charge of controlling the elderly person has left.

Unable to bear the arrival of such a 'noble' consciousness, the old gatekeeper disintegrated into mincemeat as the main body departed... Soon, an elderly hospital worker arrived to take over the gatekeeper's job.

At this point, the female corpse had already been placed on a trolley and entered the morgue area on its own.

Inside its mouth was a viscous key module, which slowly formed a rusty iron key through the structure of its internal substances, with the mark "- [VOID]" on it.

This key was the special reward that the female corpse gave to Han Dong a few days later.

Timeline regression.

When Han Dong approached the Central Hospital.

The fog couldn't penetrate this area, and a hospital that Han Dong had never seen before in the "Table of Contents" appeared before him.

It wasn't a modern, comprehensive hospital, but rather an old-fashioned hospital building with only five floors, which was more in line with the rural Derry Town.

At that moment, Nicole's voice echoed in Han Dong's mind.

"My Lord Emissary, there seems to be someone here who is like me, a [family]! And their aura is very strange, as if there is something odd mixed in with them."

"Hmm... what are your chances of winning if you fight him one-on-one?"

"I haven't seen its true form yet, so it's hard to say for sure... Judging from my current feeling, I have no chance against it."

Just then, the Third voice came from inside his head, and Togu interrupted.

Upon seeing the hospital, Togu's memories of Derry Town were briefly rekindled.

"Master, I've remembered something about the hospital."

"Oh! Tell me quickly."

"Richard Powell... the extremist in Derry Town, unlike the people of our [Hell Cult], he worships a different, more extreme, more twisted, more insane god."

His own "divinity" is also the highest in the Derry Town.

However, I can't recall his face no matter what I try... It seems I couldn't remember his appearance even before I lost my memory. He himself already has one foot in the void, and his true form is known to very few.

"Divinity... Hmm, very important information."

"Richard Powell is a terrifying figure."

Even if you were to use all the forces of our containment personnel, along with that Ultimate Human Demon, to launch a direct assault on this hospital, we might not have more than a 50% chance of victory.

"Hmm... However, we don't need to launch a direct attack, nor do we need to go all out from the start."

First, we need to verify something. If the verification is successful, we can then use another method to obtain important brain material.

Han Dong entered the hospital alone without summoning any Contained Object.

"You have entered [Derry Town Central Hospital]... Please be careful!"

Thank you all for your blessings! Wishing you all a prosperous Year of the Rat! (Just to make up for it, I forgot before, haha!)