Is It Him?

The Crystal Lantern that harbored indescribable horrors had actually been approached and contained with ease?

Having personally experienced the lantern's terror, David stood frozen as if struck by lightning!

His overwhelming shock even suppressed all his fear and despair back into the depths of his soul.

His pupils dilated as he turned his head stiffly, following the arm to look.

—A pale young man with black hair and black eyes stood there, his thin lips pressed together as he gently lifted the lantern.

Who was he?

Class D Personnel?

Endless questions swirled through David's mind, yet he also let out a long breath of relief.

Because the moment this mysterious man touched the lantern, the dread and terror churning his soul vanished abruptly.

In other words, he had been saved.

The relief and joy of surviving the disaster left David too excited for words.

Little did he know, he was far from the only one who felt that way.

Not far away, Ji Zijun's eyes were wide, her face still filled with lingering alarm and residual fear.

In her eyes, Arthur stood at the intersection with the lantern in hand, facing a pitch-black alley as though he meant to illuminate the road ahead.

With his back to everyone, no one could see his expression.

At his feet, Class D Personnel corpses lay scattered on their backs like withered yellow irises. The twisted terror frozen upon their bodies was a mark left behind by horrors unwilling to depart.

The bean-sized candle flame lit half the hem of his clothes, its glow blending seamlessly with the streetlights, with no distinction and no boundary.

The loathsome monsters hidden in the darkness, whether because the candlelight could not reach them or because they feared Arthur, Lord of the Lantern—

Never appeared again.

That made Arthur look like the leader of a cult: mysterious, terrifying, bloody, and utterly detached from the ordinary world.

"Have we been saved?"

Ji Zijun murmured softly, unsure whether she should hate Arthur for bringing this disaster or rejoice that the disaster had already been contained.

This scene was also transmitted into the eyes of Foundation high-level personnel through countless satellites, drones, street cameras, and even special containment objects.

It made countless people breathe a sigh of relief.

Dr. Kondersai was right. In the Space-Time Lantern Incident, Arthur was the main entity; the lantern was merely his subordinate—or rather, his weapon! Damn it, that bastard was hinting at weaponizing containment objects again...

Another humanoid containment object. Thank goodness he could communicate, or the consequences would be unimaginable.

Notify Intelligence to gather information about China as quickly as possible. Arthur had to be placated.

All departments, take note. The monitoring signal from the Absolute Repulsion Gear has not disappeared. Class D Personnel 555427 is suspected of transforming into a containment object. Contain them immediately.

"Tap tap tap..."

A burst of hurried footsteps rang out as a Mobile Task Force disguised as local guards rushed in.

They swiftly secured the scene, their dark gun barrels aimed at everyone present.

At this moment, Ji Zijun also received orders from headquarters. She hastily suppressed the countless emotions in her heart, carefully tiptoed past the corpses strewn across the ground, and walked up to Ning Xiuyuan.

"Mr. Arthur, thank you very much for your cooperation. The scene still needs to be cleaned up. If you do not mind, could you accompany us to the Foundation so we may discuss the China Plan in detail?"

Ning Xiuyuan swept his gaze over the people lying all over the ground, unsure whether they were playing dead or were actual corpses, then nodded lightly.

No one knew that beneath his expressionless face, the uncertainty in his heart was growing ever stronger.

—Could this be some kind of prank?

Ji Zijun was overjoyed. She promptly invited Ning Xiuyuan to head to one side, where a black business vehicle had long been waiting quietly.

Ning Xiuyuan lifted a foot and walked toward the business vehicle.

From beginning to end, he never noticed David nearby, whose body had become completely transparent.

Or rather, when he got out of the car, he had caught a fleeting glimpse of David before he became fully transparent. But the instant the car door opened, David vanished, and he had assumed that glimpse had merely been an illusion caused by the window's reflection.

After getting into the car, Ning Xiuyuan turned to look out the window, his expression calm. The Crystal Lantern from another realm rested lightly in his hand beside his knee.

The faint candle flame swayed, drifted, and burned...

Giving off a radiance that did not belong to the human world.

It was like Ning Xiuyuan's unruly, tangled thoughts at that moment, filled with confusion, bewilderment, and fear of the unknown!

When Ji Zijun had come to him and said his lantern was destroying the world, his first instinct deep down had been:

—This girl really is insane, isn't she?

No wonder she had gone on about Hell, R'lyeh, and the Mirror Fog Capital.

Yet when a high-end business sedan stopped before him, Ning Xiuyuan began to hesitate. How could a crazy person drive such a nice car?

In the end, he decided to go take a look.

His experiences could no longer be measured by common sense, so it was not impossible for something beyond common sense to happen again.

However, when he arrived at the destination, the sight before him left him utterly bewildered.

What had he seen?

Around the lantern, people lay scattered across the ground like rays of light.

Their limbs were twisted and their expressions horrified, like the strangest performance art—or some prank variety show.

Especially the terror frozen on their faces. It made one afraid just looking at it, sending chills through the heart.

If there had only been one or two of them, that would have been one thing. But as far as the eye could see, everyone was like this.

If this was performance art, where had the organizers found so many Oscar-worthy actors?

If it was not, what had happened here?

Were they dead or alive?

Had all this really been caused by the Crystal Lantern he had left behind?

Endless confusion sprouted, brewed, and fermented within Ning Xiuyuan's heart.

His bizarre experiences crossing three worlds had left him uncertain, but they had also quietly put him on guard.

For now, he could only speak less, watch more, listen more, figure out the situation, and act when the opportunity arose.

Brilliant neon lights streamed through the windows, coloring Ning Xiuyuan's face in shifting hues, just like the strange and kaleidoscopic thoughts in his heart.

After an unknown amount of time, the business vehicle drove into a complex of buildings nestled amid a sea of greenery, with "NERC" printed on their gates.

The instant the vehicle entered, a figure in black robes and a medieval plague mask suddenly raised his face in a standard secure humanoid containment unit on the sixth underground level of the complex.

Behind the crystal lenses covering the eye sockets of the plague mask, a pair of sickly eyes abruptly filled with bloodshot frenzy.

"Plague? A plague that does not belong to this world! Damn it, he will destroy this world! I have to do something. Yes, I have to kill him, then cure him!"

As his voice fell, he viciously plunged the Lancet in his hand into the heart of the cow corpse before him. The cow's closed eyes suddenly snapped open, revealing hollow sockets.

Containment Code: Plague Doctor.

Manifestation Characteristics: Plague Doctor is a humanoid entity resembling a medieval plague physician. Its mask and clothing are parts of its body. X-ray scans show that its plague mask grows from its skull, resembling an insect's exoskeleton.

Containment Level: Euclid.

Containment Description: Plague Doctor displays hostility toward all humans infected with "the plague" and attempts to kill them before curing them. The curing process involves using instruments from the medical bag it carries to transform victims' corpses into active zombie-like organisms. It is currently unknown what "plague" Plague Doctor perceives. In most cases, Plague Doctor is willing to cooperate with the Foundation.

Containment Procedures: Plague Doctor is a communicative humanoid containment object. An animal corpse must be provided every two weeks for its research. When it becomes frenzied after sensing the plague, lavender may be used to sedate and control it.