Uncontrolled Crystal Lantern

The lantern stood on the tactile paving at the mouth of an alley. Its design was antique and standardized, its entire body made of purple copper and covered by a Crystal Lampshade. On closer inspection, hand-polishing marks were still visible.

It contained pale yellow grease. A rough wick burned quietly within, giving off a hazy glow.

Strangely enough,

the lantern's light seemed almost tangible. Not only could it not blend with the streetlamp's light, but a distinct boundary separated its glow from the streetlight at its edges.

On one side was the blazing white light of the streetlamp;

on the other was the oily yellow flame of the lantern.

It looked like a huge pale yellow bubble!

More importantly, the bubble was still expanding. It had already engulfed half the street and was expected to cover the entire city in four days at most.

By now, the authorities had long sealed off the area under the excuse of "road collapse causing a natural gas pipeline rupture."

All nearby civilians had also been evacuated.

The only people surrounding it were Foundation Tactical Response Members desperately setting up various detection devices and contingency measures.

"Sir, what should I call you? My name is David. Could you tell me more specifically what happened here? I'm an old hand, I know the rules. Just give me a few pointers. After all, I'm standing in front of you people, aren't I?"

Class D Personnel 555427, around thirty years old, unshaven and dressed in an orange uniform, shamelessly looked at the Tactical Response Member escorting him, his eyes carrying a trace of pleading.

His words had clearly been carefully considered, enough to make the Tactical Response Member turn his head.

"Ah—"

"Wh-what is that?"

At that moment, a sharp scream suddenly drew David's attention.

—The one screaming was a Class D Personnel in his twenties, preparing to enter the illuminated area.

His face was filled with terror as he tremblingly pointed toward the lantern.

In David's fleeting glance, a Black Shadow suddenly flashed past the lantern.

Though he had caught only a glimpse from the corner of his eye, those writhing tentacles and densely packed eyeballs still madly defiled human aesthetics, shattering the worldview built upon reason.

A chilling, furtive barking sound faintly came from within the light, making anyone who looked toward it tremble in fear, their soul quaking.

The mental preparation David had just managed to build collapsed by more than half the moment he saw that hateful, inhuman figure.

He staggered backward several steps in terror!

Only when he felt the muzzle of a gun pressed against his lower back did he barely stop.

"No, I don't want to go in! Kill me! Just kill me!"

The Class D Personnel who had screamed moments ago collapsed onto the ground in terror, begging the Tactical Response Members.

But the Tactical Response Members paid him no heed.

They directly restrained him and injected a mysterious drug into his neck.

As the drug entered his body, the Class D Personnel's violent struggles quickly subsided.

After a Tactical Response Member whispered a few words into his ear and activated a hypnotic memetic agent, he blankly accepted a tactical dagger, stabbed out his own eyes, then walked into the lantern's illuminated range with bloody holes in his face and a vacant expression.

Removing vision?

As an old hand, David watched the cruel scene and forced himself to remain calm. He observed the test subject while considering the logic behind it, fighting for the slightest chance of survival.

At this point, when that Class D Personnel came within five meters of the Spacetime Lantern, his previously vacant face abruptly showed fear.

His steps slowed as well.

Under the effects of hypnosis, struggle appeared on his face. In the end, he still stubbornly walked toward the lantern.

But the farther he went, the more terrified and twisted his expression became. Finally, after taking two more steps and entering within three meters, he suddenly froze in place.

"Geh, geh, geh—"

Though he had lost his eyes, his soul seemed to have still seen some unbearable, hateful sight. His hands desperately clawed at his own neck, until even his vocal cords collapsed, leaving him able to make only faint choking sounds to vent his terror.

Thud!

In just a single breath, he fell backward with a crash, sinking into unconsciousness—or death.

From above, dozens of bodies lay on their backs around the lantern, forming the petals of a dazzling yet monstrous corpse-flower.

"You're up!"

The voice by his ear made David's entire body jolt.

"Put it on!"

With a clang, a metal case opened before David, revealing an exquisitely crafted mechanical uniform.

At the sight of the uniform, David's eyes showed a measure of delight. Compared with the Class D Personnel who had just stabbed out his own eyes, his circumstances seemed far better.

"555427, you're smart. You didn't actually need to call yourself David, hinting that you're a living human being in exchange for our sympathy. Your past experience alone would have been enough for us to grant you preferential treatment."

"Look around the lantern. What do you see? Within a three-meter radius, it's cleaner than a dog's tongue could make it. Do you know what that means?"

"It means no one can reach that area—not even monsters, not even bullets."

"This is Absolute Repulsion Gear. In theory, it can defend against any attack. As long as you can rush within three meters and knock over the lantern, or cover it with this cloth, you might survive."

The Tactical Response Member escorting David hooked an arm around his shoulder, pointed at the distant lantern, and explained in a low voice.

David listened in silence, countless questions arising in his heart.

But he did not dare ask. There was no point in asking. Class D Personnel were not people; they were merely expendable items.

"Also, the monsters you see are either projections of your inner fears, or things drawn here by fear. Did you see that guy just now? His fear was castrated, so no monster attacked him. This is a powerful sedative. If you see a monster, remember to inject yourself immediately. It might save your life."

As he spoke, the Tactical Response Member stuffed another needleless injector into David's hand and patted his shoulder.

"Go!"

David gripped the needleless injector tightly and nodded with a deathly pale face.

—He had no way back. Turning around meant certain death; moving forward still offered a sliver of survival.

After putting on the Absolute Repulsion Gear and barely preparing himself mentally, David took a deep breath and walked toward the pale yellow halo with trembling legs.

The moment he stepped into the yellow glow, his vision suddenly blurred, as though he had barged into a Crystal Lampshade.

The once clearly visible street now seemed covered by frosted glass, blurred and abstract.

His surroundings also fell quiet. He could no longer hear the noisy footsteps and shouted orders of the Tactical Response Members moving back and forth.

At the same time, David was surprised to discover that several Class D Personnel had entered the pale yellow halo from different directions.

Some walked backward;

some wore night-vision goggles;

some carried firearms;

others carried bronze lanterns...

Using all sorts of methods, they slowly approached the lantern from every direction.

The scene was eerie, absurd, bizarre, and strange, like a hundred ghosts traveling at night or ghost soldiers borrowing the road.

David was no longer surprised by such things. In this damned mysterious organization, he had seen things even stranger than this.

No!

Before David's thoughts could continue, his eyes suddenly widened in fury and terror.

He saw countless tentacles, enough to fill the very limits of what a soul could endure, shoot out through the darkness toward every Class D Personnel involved in the containment operation.

"Ah—Monster—"

Rat-tat-tat!

Blinding muzzle flashes, accompanied by terrified screams, sent a mist of blood into the air.

The monsters were slaughtering every Class D Personnel!

"Huff..."

David's eyes nearly split open. He did not dare look at the horrific fate of the attacked Class D Personnel any longer. He clenched his teeth until his gums bled and charged madly toward the Crystal Lantern.

Closer!

The Crystal Lantern in his vision grew clearer and clearer. He could even see the antique patterns on its bronze frame.

He reached out like a madman toward the lantern.

Bzzzz—

At that moment, an indescribable ringing sound, like solid steel nails, pierced his eardrums and violently stirred his soul, turning all his fears inside out.

A faint stench also drifted through the air, like a corpse that had rotted and fermented for ten thousand years, boring into his nostrils.

Uncontrollable fear madly washed over and eroded his will!

As the pungent stench grew increasingly unbearable, he suddenly felt warmth and dampness on his back.

His bloodshot eyes rolled, and he saw an indescribable slimy tentacle pass over his shoulder, wrap around his neck, and suddenly tighten.

"Pop, pop, pop..."

Amid a string of strange sounds, eyeballs squeezed out from the tentacle's surface one by one, reflecting his face.

The sight made him feel as though he had fallen into an ice cave, his soul trembling.

"Geh, geh—"

David felt as if every bone in his body were rusting, creaking as they did. His body could no longer bear the strain, and blood flowed from all seven of his orifices.

"Hallucination! It's all a hallucination!"

The despair of falling into an abyss shrouded David's soul.

He frantically hypnotized himself. With the last trace of reason he had left, he suddenly drove the needleless injector clenched in his hand into his neck.

A nearly imperceptible prick of pain struck his nerve endings, like a needle piercing him.

The monster did not disappear!

David's pupils dilated. Countless thoughts ravaged his mind, twisting his face into something savage.

Why hadn't the monster disappeared?

Had the sedative not taken effect yet?

No!

They lied to me!

That's right. If the sedative worked, why hadn't they injected it beforehand?

Damn it!

Endless terror filled David's heart. The tentacle covered in eyeballs had already seized his neck and was dragging him backward with wild force.

He finally understood why every corpse around the lantern lay in a radial pattern!

Overwhelmed by terror, he could only desperately reach for the Crystal Lantern.

Because he knew full well that only by containing the lantern before him could he possibly fight for his final chance at life.

No, no, no, no—

His bloodshot eyeballs nearly burst from their sockets as David discovered in horror that his outstretched arm had vanished.

"Transparency" spread like a plague from his arm to his chest, eventually covering his entire body.

"Look around the lantern. What do you see? Within a three-meter radius, it's cleaner than a dog's tongue could make it. Do you know what that means?"

"It means no one can reach that area—not even monsters, not even bullets."

The Tactical Response Member's words surfaced in David's heart, bringing with them only endless despair.

"Save me! Save me! I don't want to die!"

David roared madly, but the sound forced from his throat became only hoarse, choking croaks, like low murmurs from the depths of Hell.

"Why did you lie to me? Why did you send me to my death?"

"Mom—Mom—"

"I was wrong! I'll never commit crimes again! I won't kill anyone anymore, I'll never kill anyone again! Save me, save me!"

"God, I repent! I repent!"

If David had still possessed a physical form, tears and snot would have been streaming down his face, and regret would have consumed him;

if regret could become seawater, it would have been enough to drown this entire street.

Unfortunately, his body was gradually turning transparent, and regret could not become seawater. Yet just as his consciousness was about to vanish, Heaven seemed to have heard his repentance.

Who?!

David, whose consciousness was on the verge of collapse, suddenly widened his eyes in shock.

An arm abruptly reached out from beside him, effortlessly extending into the realm of absolute "transparency" and gently grasping the lantern's handle.