Containment Breach

Had He left?

As that foolish, frenzied gaze gradually withdrew, the Rootless Soul's body twisted and convulsed almost madly before suddenly returning to calm.

An indescribable pleasure welled up from the depths of its being, relaxing and soothing it.

Like the relief of someone tortured for ages finally being granted a moment to catch their breath.

After a long while, its indescribable body began to tremble violently again.

"He will come back, He will come back, boohoohoo..."

Its trembling mutters echoed mournfully through the sea of lamp oil, like the sorrowful murmurs of countless wronged souls.

It was terrified and uneasy about its future fate.

Ning Xiuyuan was also at a loss over his future fate. He only half believed what the "Rootless Soul" had said.

It was far too insane, and its words were often contradictory.

But that did not mean its words held no value.

Based on his own circumstances and logical deductions, most of what it had described about the Foundation should be true.

In a human world containing anomalous objects, it was hardly surprising that a special organization dedicated to containing them had emerged.

What he needed to be wary of was the purpose behind this organization's containment of anomalous objects.

And its attitude toward contained objects.

Those two points concerned his personal fate!

Because... if he had guessed correctly, he himself had already become a contained object of the Foundation.

Put myself in their shoes. If I were the Foundation, how would I handle this incident?

Ning Xiuyuan half-closed his eyes and slowly exhaled, easing the shock brought by the Rootless Soul as he tried his best to remain calm and analyze his current situation.

First, one thing is certain: this horse lamp of mine is indeed extraordinary. Then the bizarre scene I saw earlier was probably the corpses left behind by the Class D Personnel sent by the Foundation to attempt containment. Of course, it is also possible that they merely fainted.

But considering Ji Zijun's claim that it would destroy the world, those people are probably dead, aren't they?

Whenever he thought of those Class D Personnel lying around the horse lamp, terror frozen on their faces, Ning Xiuyuan still found it hard to believe.

In any case, whether those people are dead or alive, the horse lamp has displayed a truly terrifying ability.

If I were the Foundation, my first priority would definitely be determining the horse lamp's killing principle and mechanism. At the very least, I would need to figure out its superficial rules to avoid harm, perhaps even exploit it, just like the Vitality Pin.

—Although the Foundation had not understood that the Vitality Pin's essence was a strand of soul software capable of driving all matter, that did not prevent them from understanding and using it through another framework of logic.

So what role would I play in this process?

If they discover that I am merely an ordinary mortal incapable of even trussing up a chicken, how would they deal with me?

Imprisonment? Erasure? Putting waste to use and turning me into Class D Personnel?

Right. Judging from what happened earlier, once the horse lamp leaves me, it will lose control and attack all people and objects indiscriminately. Based on that, can it be understood that the horse lamp has already bound itself to me? That only I can approach and contain it?

Could the Church of Dawn truly be a True God church? Am I the officially appointed Lamplighter?

That is possible! But it cannot be confirmed completely. It needs testing.

Unfortunately, this is not the right environment for experiments!

"It seems that from now on, I should try my best not to let them take the horse lamp away, much less let them discover that I am just an ordinary mortal."

Even if they forcibly take the horse lamp, figure out its rules, or even master it and no longer need me, how can I preserve my life?

Should I confess about the Church of Dawn?

Or use the Church of Dawn to threaten them?

Wait. Could the reason I appeared in this world be the Church of Dawn's secret manipulation?

By this point, stormy waves had long risen in Ning Xiuyuan's heart. At last, he understood the Rootless Soul's horror and confusion when facing him.

It was fear of an unknown higher dimension!

Especially when one knew only fragments, the terrifying prospect pieced together from scattered knowledge was enough to drive a person mad.

Beep!

The abruptly sliding door interrupted Ning Xiuyuan's thoughts.

He looked up, and his pupils contracted sharply.

A fully armed security officer stood there, covered in blood and staring at him.

Time returned to half a moment earlier.

"Doctor, I do not understand. It has only been four days. You have never gone through research materials this quickly before."

On the monitor outside the humanoid containment unit, Dr. Sherman wore a puzzled expression.

"My research has made new progress. Cow corpses can no longer satisfy my research. I need human corpses. No, Cadaver Teachers."

The Plague Doctor, shrouded from head to toe in a black robe and wearing a bird-beak mask, spoke in a heavily suppressed tone.

"Cadaver Teachers? No, no, no. We cannot provide you with Cadaver Teachers..."

"Why can't you?! How many times have I said it? You simply cannot see the horrors I see! Every one of you is infected with the plague. I alone am the only cure! Your ignorance and stupidity will destroy all of humanity! Quickly, provide me with Cadaver Teachers!"

"Doctor, you need to calm down..."

On the monitor, Dr. Sherman suddenly tilted his head, seemingly listening to an order through his earpiece. After a moment, he said helplessly,

"Fine. We can provide you with one Rhesus Monkey, alive. This is the greatest sincerity we can offer."

"A monkey? Fine. It will barely suffice for my research."

"The usual rules. Please return to the inner chamber. Our personnel will soon deliver a Rhesus Monkey and remove the cow corpse."

At those words, the bird-beak doctor turned around cleanly and retreated into the inner chamber.

The door automatically locked, sealing it tightly inside.

Before long, the containment unit's security door opened. Several security personnel entered with firearms in hand, their faces full of vigilance.

After confirming that it was safe, Class D Personnel wearing protective suits immediately wheeled away the massive cow corpse resting on a transport cart.

As they left, the humanoid containment unit's main door promptly closed, leaving behind the Rhesus Monkey in its cage, chattering and screeching.

Strangely, the Plague Doctor, which had always regarded humans and even humanoid creatures as the best experimental materials, did not hurry out to collect its research material.

Scrape, scrape, scrape!

The medical transport cart made a rhythmic scraping sound in the corridor.

Staff along the route had already received notice and avoided the personnel carrying out this seemingly unremarkable recovery task.

The Class D Personnel pushing the cart were tense to the extreme.

Through their transparent face shields, one could even see large beads of sweat forming on their faces.

—Everyone working at this site knew that any carbon-based organism the Plague Doctor had touched directly, dead or alive, could become one of its zombie puppets.

Beep-beep—

The alarm that suddenly blared through the corridor made the Class D Personnel pushing the cart shudder. They instinctively stumbled three steps backward. One of them was so terrified that he wet himself.

Bang—

The ceiling sprinkler heads abruptly activated, spraying fine droplets that filled the air with a choking lavender scent.

Recovery team, be advised: all monitoring in the Plague Doctor's containment unit has failed. The Plague Doctor may escape at any time. Watch the recovered item. Watch every living thing along the route. Deliver the recovered item to the incineration room as soon as possible!

The order coming through their earpieces left the recovery team pale with alarm.

After exchanging glances, they dared not delay any longer. They pushed the cow corpse forward and broke into a run beneath the lavender mixture.

By then, the entire site had entered a state of alert.

Countless staff members took shelter in nearby safe rooms, praying that the situation would not turn into a containment breach. Large numbers of security personnel received orders to head toward the humanoid containment unit holding the Plague Doctor.

"Firing restrictions lifted. Watch out for the monkey!"

Before the Plague Doctor's humanoid containment unit, the security personnel who had come as reinforcements communicated tensely.

Click!

As the security door opened, several miniature drones rushed in first.

The security personnel followed immediately afterward.

Laser sights cast countless scarlet dots across the room, agitating the Rhesus Monkey in its cage until it leaped and shrieked wildly.

"Reporting to Zoo: no target found in the outer chamber. Over."

"Nightingale, be advised. The inner chamber door will be opened shortly. I repeat, the inner chamber door will be opened shortly. Prepare for combat."

"Nightingale received. Over. Nightingale received. Over."

As they communicated, two security personnel set up a heavy machine gun aimed at the inner chamber door.

Another two members held flamethrowers, one on each side, pointed at the door.

Although the site already knew lavender could calm it, lavender was useless against the living dead modified by the Plague Doctor.

The best way to deal with these living dead was still physical salvation.

Click!

As the motor emitted a faint hum, the inner chamber door slowly slid open. The Plague Doctor, entirely shrouded in black robes, sat on the Single Bed and raised its enormous beak toward the security personnel.

Other than it, the inner chamber was clean and transparent, completely visible at a glance, bare enough to call it four empty walls.

That eased the security personnel's nerves slightly.

Open fire! Open fire!

But at that moment, furious roars suddenly came through their earpieces.

The security personnel froze in astonishment, their fingers instinctively tightening around their triggers.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat—

Deafening thunder erupted, unleashing a storm of metal that passed through the half-open doorway with Death's chattering laughter and filled the inner chamber's living space.

Boom—boom—

The two flamethrowers suddenly spewed flames of death as well, completely filling the last slivers of space left by the doorway.

Everyone's hearts rose into their throats alongside the roaring weapons.

The heavy machine gun, firing at a rate of five hundred rounds per minute, emptied an entire drum magazine in the blink of an eye.

Smoke spread, and the lights flickered hazily.

A pungent smell of scorching flesh drifted over, but the faces of the security personnel suddenly went pale.

Beneath a wall riddled with dense bullet holes like a honeycomb, the Plague Doctor had become a puddle of flesh and blood, wisps of smoke rising from its charred surface.

"The Plague Doctor's containment... has failed!!!"