Arthur Appears

Ning Xiuyuan was in agony!

The torment inflicted by the unnamable upon the puppet Daniel was transmitted without any loss to his true body through the Heart of the Beast, like a kite string, causing him immense suffering.

The more he struggled, the tighter the kite string pulled, as if trying to drag his soul from his body.

He couldn't even interrupt it.

Was it because the Heart of the Beast was a gift?

Or was the unnamable entity too powerful?

He could only grit his teeth and endure.

He had a premonition: the moment Daniel died completely, the Heart of the Beast would be severed.

But Daniel was dying too slowly.

He looked as if his internal organs had been hollowed out, like a corpse.

However, the mysterious liquid injected into his body, while rotting his flesh and soul, also extended his physical vitality to the maximum.

This made Daniel's death an extremely prolonged process.

Ning Xiuyuan's reminder to the Class D Personnel to go to the first floor to find the altar was precisely to break this process.

He didn't know what that Class D Personnel had experienced.

The rat he had placed on the first floor still saw only an empty villa living room.

Only his raven witnessed the bloody scene of the Class D Personnel being suddenly killed as they rushed out of the villa.

This absurd and common-sense-defying bizarre scene, for some reason, suddenly reminded Ning Xiuyuan of his grandmother's fishing cage.

—A fishing cage that only allowed entry, not exit.

With this thought, Ning Xiuyuan suddenly noticed Daniel's vision slowly being covered by a layer of white mist.

Was he going to die?

No!

As the white mist enveloped him, Daniel suddenly broke free from the unnamable's restraint and stepped into a white world.

Here, the ground was white, and the sky was white.

Looking as far as the eye could see, everything was white, as if shrouded in a thin mist.

In this vast expanse of white, a huge and gorgeously scarlet flower suddenly bloomed before Daniel's eyes.

It was a Corpse Flower, also known as a Corpse Flower.

White spots were sprinkled on the scarlet petals, like pustules and ulcers growing on the skin of a flayed lamb.

Even before getting close, a faint stench, like a corpse fermented for centuries, was nauseating and unbearable.

But "Ning Xiuyuan" couldn't help but approach, because within the tubular pistil surrounded by five petals, countless extraordinary characteristics flowed unstably.

This sight made Ning Xiuyuan tremble all over.

He understood!

This was a divine gift from the great and fair "God of Abundance, Form of Verdancy."

Because he had offered a sacrifice of abundance!

Ning Xiuyuan's breathing gradually quickened. He extended his hands, about to scoop up a handful of extraordinary characteristics.

Just then, a sharp sword suddenly pierced his chest, emerging from his sternum.

"Great God of Abundance, Form of Verdancy, I am your most loyal servant. He is merely a lowly apostate. It was he who brought those outsiders in; he is not worthy of your blessings!"

A young man emerged from behind Ning Xiuyuan.

He spread his arms, facing the vast white world, shouting his devotion with all his might, denouncing Ning Xiuyuan's betrayal and expressing his own loyalty.

"No, no, no—"

Ning Xiuyuan trembled as he watched the extraordinary characteristics slip through his fingers.

He frantically tried to scoop up another handful, but the sword piercing his chest devoured all his life.

He died.

Amidst the young ghoul's declaration of loyalty, he crashed to the ground with a thud, dying unwillingly.

"No—"

Miles away, in Daniel's residence, Ning Xiuyuan, curled up in pain from the kite string, suddenly roared in anger.

"Those extraordinary characteristics are mine! All mine! No one will take my things!"

Ning Xiuyuan stood up and paced back and forth like a restless fanatic.

Suddenly, he stopped.

The plague antibody that had emerged from his body and covered him silently retracted, revealing the Church of Dawn attire.

He picked up the Lantern, pushed open the door of the residence, and walked towards the villa with determined eyes.

He was sick of being weak and powerless!

He also hated his uncontrollable fate!

He wanted to become stronger, and those extraordinary characteristics were his fastest path to power.

"Team Leader, the Ethics Committee has sent a warning. They believe we've already exceeded the acceptable use of Class D Personnel for an anomaly that hasn't even spread yet. They're demanding an immediate halt to the experiment and a full report!"

Inside the satellite vehicle parked on the side of the rural road, the liaison officer suddenly put down his work and looked at the commanders inside.

"The Ethics Committee? Ha! So when there's trouble, we're the ones who go, and when there's nothing, they're the ones who show up? How many Class D Personnel did the spacetime lantern incident consume? Why didn't they say anything then? We've only used a few so far. If we don't use Class D Personnel, are you expecting my soldiers to charge in?"

A bearded team leader slammed his fist on the table in anger.

"Tell them to get lost! If they have the guts, let them report me to headquarters. I'm ready to retire anyway, might as well enjoy some peace and quiet!"

The young liaison officer remained silent, not even showing a hint of fear.

After working in this godforsaken place for a while, you'd learn that nothing was worth fearing except for the anomalies.

Compared to the anomalies, the Site Supervisors were practically as kind as can be!

Besides, he was used to the team leader throwing tantrums.

—The pressure is too high, I get it.

"Didn't you hear what I said? What are you standing there for? Go curse them back!"

Seeing the liaison officer unmoved, the bearded team leader became utterly exasperated.

"Alright, alright, you've vented your anger. Let's say a few less words. This isn't a spreading anomaly, so it's normal for the Ethics Committee to intervene."

Another middle-aged commander, with black hair interspersed with countless white strands, spoke up.

"Who says it's not spreading? They've already developed a cult, isn't that spreading?"

The bearded team leader's eyes widened as he argued stubbornly.

"Yes, yes, you're right. But if we defy the Ethics Committee now, what if they hold a grudge later and start causing problems for us..."

The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly, bringing up an issue that troubled everyone.

"How dare they?!"

The bearded team leader puffed out his chest and glared, but his expression already showed a hint of bluster.

The Ethics Committee, though a small department within the Foundation, was primarily responsible for reviewing and supervising all departments and experiments to prevent the excessive waste of Class D Personnel.

Because it wasn't a core department, it wielded neither force nor financial power, nor did it control resources. In the eyes of many, it was a joke.

However, everyone had to admit that they actually possessed considerable influence.

An evaluation report could very well halt the allocation of Class D Personnel to certain departments.

After all, those bizarre anomalies contained by the Foundation, which ones weren't discovered through the lives of countless Class D Personnel?

Without sufficient Class D Personnel, many anomaly experiments could only be forcibly suspended.

It was a case of too many wolves and not enough meat; everyone wanted to understand the characteristics of the anomalies they were in charge of, and internal competition was perfectly normal.

"Uh, Becky, send a report saying the experiment has reached a critical stage and we plan to attempt a non-standard containment... Never mind, I'll speak to them myself!"

The bearded team leader gritted his teeth and initiated formal communication with the Ethics Committee.

Not long after, a woman's image appeared on a display screen inside the satellite vehicle.

"Mr. Willard, I must remind you that even if you apply for non-standard containment, it will not be approved. This is not a spreading anomaly. Also, don't forget the consequences of the last spacetime lantern incident."

The Ethics Committee member's preemptive statement made Willard's expression a bit awkward.

He remained silent for a while, then took a deep breath and said:

"We have already determined most of the characteristics of the murderous monster in this villa. Give us one more chance, and we promise to capture all the tricksters inside! We've already dispatched so many Class D Personnel. If we don't try this last time, I won't be satisfied, and all the Class D Personnel sent before would have been wasted, wouldn't they?"

The woman on the screen fell silent, seemingly weighing the pros and cons.

"Fine, one last chance. No more than five Class D Personnel!"

Willard was overjoyed at the news!

Just then, alarms suddenly blared inside the satellite vehicle, and the warning lights installed on the headlights flashed frantically, as if afraid the commanders wouldn't see them.

The woman on the screen's expression changed drastically.

Let alone them, at this moment, the high-ranking officials of the Foundation in this entire area were almost collectively shaken.

"What happened?"

Willard exclaimed in shock, instinctively looking at the main screen inside the satellite vehicle.

Before his gaze could focus, his colleague, the middle-aged man, said with an extremely grave expression:

"Lord of the Lantern, Arthur, has appeared in Commus Town."