Arthur Had Appeared

Ning Xiuyuan was in terrible pain!

The torture inflicted on the puppet Daniel by the Unnameable was transmitted without the slightest deviation through Heart of the Beast, that kite string, to his true body, leaving him in agony.

The more he struggled, the tighter the kite string constricted, as if trying to drag his soul out of his body.

He could not even sever the connection.

Was it because Heart of the Beast had come from a Gift?

Or was the Unnameable simply too powerful?

All he could do was grit his teeth and endure.

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

But Daniel was dying too slowly.

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

Yet when the mysterious liquid injected into his body putrefied his flesh and pickled his soul, it also prolonged the vitality of his body to the greatest extent possible.

This made Daniel's death an extremely protracted process.

Ning Xiuyuan had reminded that D-Class personnel to go to the first floor and search for the altar precisely to break this process.

He did not know what that D-Class personnel had gone through.

The rat he had left on the first floor still saw nothing but an empty villa living room.

Only his raven witnessed the bloody scene of that D-Class personnel rushing out of the villa, only to be suddenly killed.

For some reason, this bizarre scene, so absurd and contrary to common sense, suddenly reminded Ning Xiuyuan of the fishing cage at his grandmother's house.

A fishing cage that let things in but never let them out.

At that thought, Ning Xiuyuan suddenly noticed that Daniel's vision was slowly clouding with a layer of white mist.

Was he going to die?

No!

Amid the enveloping white mist, Daniel suddenly broke free of the Unnameable's restraint and stepped into a white world.

The ground here was white, and the sky was white.

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

Amid this boundless white world, a huge and brilliantly scarlet flower suddenly bloomed before Daniel's eyes.

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

White spots splashed across its scarlet petals, like festering sores erupting across the skin of a skinned lamb.

Before he even drew near, a faint stench of decay, like a corpse that had fermented for centuries, made him nauseous and was almost impossible to bear.

Yet "Ning Xiuyuan" could not help approaching, because within the tubular stamen surrounded by five petals, countless supernatural characteristics flowed and shifted.

The sight made Ning Xiuyuan's entire body tremble.

He understood!

This was the divine gift of the great fair God of Abundance, Verdant Form.

Because he had offered an abundant sacrifice!

Ning Xiuyuan's breathing gradually quickened. He reached out both hands and was about to scoop up a handful of supernatural characteristics.

At that moment, a sharp sword suddenly pierced through his chest and emerged from the front.

"Great God of Abundance, Verdant Form, I am your most loyal servant! He is merely a lowly apostate. He was the one who brought those outsiders in. He is unworthy of your blessing!"

A young man stepped out from behind Ning Xiuyuan.

He spread his arms toward the white world and cried out in a hoarse, fervent, and devout voice, denouncing Ning Xiuyuan's betrayal and expressing his own loyalty.

"No, no—"

Ning Xiuyuan watched the supernatural characteristics spill through his palms, and his entire body began to tremble.

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

He died.

Amid that young vengeful spirit's declaration of loyalty, he crashed to the ground and died unwillingly.

"No—"

Far away, in Daniel's residence several kilometers away, Ning Xiuyuan, who had curled into a ball from the pain of the kite string, suddenly let out an angry growl.

"All those supernatural characteristics are mine! Mine! No one gets to take my things away!"

Ning Xiuyuan rose and paced back and forth like an agitated fanatic.

Suddenly, he stopped.

The plague antibodies that had grown inside him and covered his entire body quietly withdrew, revealing the robes of the Church of Dawn.

He picked up the lantern, pushed open the residence's door, and walked toward the villa with a resolute gaze.

He had had enough of weakness and powerlessness!

And he hated his uncontrollable fate with all his being!

He had to become stronger. Those supernatural characteristics were the fastest shortcut to power.

"Team Leader, the Ethics Committee has issued a warning. They believe that, against a containment that has not yet spread, we have already been suspected of overusing D-Class personnel. They demand that we stop the experiment immediately and submit an explanation!"

Inside the satellite vehicle parked by the country road, the liaison officer suddenly set down his work and looked at the several commanders in the vehicle.

"The Ethics Committee? Ha! When there's trouble, they make us take responsibility; when there's none, they come after us. How many D-Class personnel did the Space-Time Lantern Incident consume last time? Why didn't they come out and nag then? We've only used a few this time! If we don't use D-Class personnel, am I supposed to send my soldiers in?"

A bearded Team Leader angrily slapped the table.

"Tell them to get lost! If they've got the guts, they can complain to headquarters. I happen to be ready to retire anyway—I can finally enjoy some peace and quiet!"

The young liaison officer said nothing, not even looking afraid.

After working in this godforsaken place for long enough, one learned that, apart from containments, there was little worth fearing.

Compared with containments, even Site Supervisors seemed so kind and amiable!

Besides, he was used to the Team Leader losing his temper.

The pressure's just too much. It was understandable.

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

Seeing that the liaison officer remained unmoved, the bearded Team Leader was practically beside himself.

"Alright, alright. You've had your outburst, so say a little less. This isn't a spreading containment. It's normal for the Ethics Committee to intervene."

Another commander, a middle-aged man whose black hair was shot through with countless white strands, spoke up.

"Who says this isn't a spreading containment? They've already developed a heretical cult. How is that not spreading?"

The bearded Team Leader widened his eyes and argued shamelessly.

"Yes, yes, you're right. But if we defy the Ethics Committee now, what if they hold a grudge and put obstacles in our way later..."

The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly, voicing a problem that gave everyone a headache.

"They wouldn't dare!"

The bearded Team Leader glared furiously, but his expression already held a hint of bluster masking insecurity.

The Ethics Committee was only a minor department within the Foundation, mainly responsible for reviewing and supervising whether various departments and experiments were excessively wasting D-Class personnel.

Because it was not a core department, it controlled neither force nor finances nor resources. In many people's eyes, it was practically a joke.

But no one could deny that it actually wielded considerable influence.

An assessment report really could block the allocation of D-Class personnel to certain departments.

After all, which of the Foundation's bizarre containments had not been mapped out with the lives of D-Class personnel?

Without enough D-Class personnel, many containment experiments could only be suspended.

There was nothing to be done. There were too many wolves and too little meat. Everyone wanted to understand the properties of the containments in their hands, so internal competition was perfectly normal.

"Um, Becky, send a report and tell them that the experiment has reached a critical stage. We plan to attempt an unconventional containment... Forget it, I'll speak to them myself!"

The bearded Team Leader gritted his teeth and initiated an official communication with the Ethics Committee.

Before long, the image of a woman appeared on a display inside the satellite vehicle.

"Mr. Willard, I must remind you that even if you apply for unconventional containment, it cannot be approved. This is not a spreading containment. Also, don't forget the consequences of the Space-Time Lantern Incident last time."

The Ethics Committee's preemptive words left Willard looking somewhat awkward.

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

"We've already determined most of the properties of the murderous monster in this villa. Give us one more chance, and we guarantee we'll wipe out every last one of those charlatans inside! We've already sent in so many D-Class personnel. If we don't try this final time, I won't be able to accept it. Wouldn't all the D-Class personnel we sent before have been wasted?"

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

"Fine. One final chance. No more than five D-Class personnel!"

Willard was overjoyed.

Just then, the alarm inside the satellite vehicle suddenly blared. The warning lights mounted near the vehicle's lamps flashed frantically, as if afraid the commanders might not notice.

The woman on the screen also underwent a dramatic change of expression.

It was not just them. At that moment, the Foundation's higher-ups throughout the region were shaken almost as one.

"What happened?"

Willard was horrified and instinctively looked toward the satellite vehicle's main screen.

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

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