Diluting Pain

Memories, endless memories!

Before personally experiencing such a taste, Xiao Xiao never knew that memories could actually be as sharp as a knife.

It instantly surged from the depths of his heart, tearing him to pieces, leaving him battered and bruised. The consciousness that maintained his human facade began to crack, then silently collapsed.

At that moment, Xiao Xiao felt as if he had been struck in the heart, and he almost clutched his chest and collapsed.

Why did it have to be this way?

Many of these memories, he thought he had forgotten, but he never expected they were just buried deep within his mind, ambushing him by suddenly surfacing at this moment.

An indescribable sense of frustration and despair suddenly descended, like a long-healed wound bursting open again.

Before him, the viscous mass of blood and flesh had already filled the entire coffee shop.

Unknown chunks of decaying, fleshy matter covered the walls, with more pieces falling from the ceiling.

Between the seats were listless, vacant-eyed passersby, emitting low sobs in the crowded coffee shop.

It was as if he had arrived in a crimson hell.

Twisted and grotesque vines of flesh writhed within the confined space. Upon the faces of those ensnared, flashes of agony flickered intermittently.

They screamed, panicked, and fled, but couldn't truly escape the coffee shop, only circling around it like headless flies.

Seeing Xiao Xiao approach, they instinctively moved towards him, extending their blood-red palms, much like a person in pain always seeks someone to confide in about their misfortune.

Pain has an instinct to be shared, and this moment was no exception.

"Huff..."

But just as those spasming hands grabbed onto Xiao Xiao, he, who had been immersed in endless painful memories and could barely move, suddenly raised his head.

Thump, thump. His heart pounded like thunder.

But in Xiao Xiao's perception, the interval between this heartbeat was almost a full minute.

The onslaught of these memory fragments caused him immense pain, but it also immediately triggered his tension, instantly activating his Mind Burst ability.

He darted left and right, dodging a hand reaching for him, then spun halfway around, slamming the butt of his rifle hard against the head of the person in front of him.

The person screamed and fainted. As they lay on the ground, the wriggling red tendrils on their body had mostly disappeared.

"Is this what it feels like to be close to an Aberrant Creature?"

Xiao Xiao gritted his teeth and looked around.

The feeling of my body being cut by the memory fragments just now was exceptionally clear and deeply imprinted.

Actually, all those memories were things I had experienced myself, unpleasant things, but they had been instinctively suppressed deep within my memory, things I didn't usually think about.

Before, they would occasionally pop up suddenly, instantly killing his good mood.

But that was only occasional, just a few sudden attacks in a long life.

But now, as he approached these painfully writhing vines and tendrils, those memories seemed to come alive, surging forth tenfold, assaulting his mind.

This should be the ability of this type of Aberrant Creature, just like how the Suffocation Puppet can deprive people of their ability to breathe.

Normally, being subjected to such a strong influence at this moment, Xiao Xiao might have already lost the ability to think. After all, his brain had been cut by fragments of memory, almost completely losing the ability to construct complete thoughts and actions.

However, even Xiao Xiao hadn't anticipated that when he was in a state of tension, his mind's explosive capabilities would pull him out of that chaotic and painful state.

The effect of this Aberrant Creature is to instantly flood your mind with a multitude of unfortunate memories, causing you to lose your autonomy for a short period.

Even losing oneself in these memories, losing autonomy.

But the ability of a mind-explosion allows Xiao Xiao to infinitely stretch time on a mental level.

This significantly diluted the ability's impact on him.

It's like discussing toxicity without considering dosage is nonsense. A single drop of pufferfish toxin can kill an adult, but what if that adult's mass was that of ten people, or even a hundred?

With his thought processing speed increased tenfold or twentyfold, his resistance to these negative effects was also ten or twenty times stronger than that of ordinary people.

Xiao Xiao endured all the negative effects of being near the coffee shop, but still barely managed to maintain his sanity.

Therefore, he was able to react in time and avoid being caught by that person, preventing more Pain Substance from entering his body.

Taking a deep breath, he saw the bizarre scene before him. Countless people had already been captured by the Aberrant Creatures in the coffee shop, running around it in pain and panic, like twisted, grotesque beings.

Everyone who gets close ends up like this, almost without exception.

Looking at the pained and confused expressions on their faces, Xiao Xiao felt as if their brains had been dissected into pieces, a chaotic mess.

Living in this world, over the course of decades, who doesn't have a few wounds buried deep in the recesses of their memory?

Perhaps it never truly healed, but I simply stopped thinking about it.

"Then let's go!"

Having figured all this out, Xiao Xiao took a deep breath and began to let his mind run wild, exploding with thoughts.

The faster one's mind works, the more diluted these negative effects become, and the more rational one is.

From another perspective, having endured endless torment and oppression during those four years, Xiao Xiao had persevered in an environment where he could have collapsed at any moment. He had even learned to focus his attention and force himself to remain calm. The negative impact he was feeling now was far less severe than back then. Xiao Xiao didn't think he had suddenly become weak, unable to withstand even this little bit of pain...

It's like a person who died by slow slicing meeting someone in hell who died by beheading, constantly crying about how miserable they are, and throwing them a disdainful look:

"Brother, you've only just arrived?"

"Just one cut..."

"..."

His mind was racing with thoughts, but Xiao Xiao's actions showed no hesitation or sluggishness.

To outsiders, he simply strode towards the cafe. Facing the countless bloody hands reaching out from the entrance, he frowned slightly, dodged through, casually swung his gunstock to knock down a charging figure, then calmly scanned the surroundings, taking in the entire environment. He then looked at the three hounds beside him, pointed at the swirling, frenzied crowd, and said softly, "Tear me a path through."

"Woof..."

The Three Adorable Hounds seemed affected as they approached, each tucking their tails between their legs and drooping their ears.

However, as Xiao Xiao quickly overcame the influence of the pain, they visibly relaxed. Now, they cautiously raised their heads, and upon hearing the command, immediately let out low growls and lunged forward.

The chaotic and tormented crowd before them was forced open, and Xiao Xiao strode into the gap.

The power of Thought Detonation not only helped him resist the influence of the dark red tentacles, but also allowed him to find gaps to dodge and evade in the cafe filled with swaying figures.

And the three brave hounds beside him were already rushing forward fiercely, tearing a bloody path for him.

Interspersed with the high-pitched dog soprano of a certain black and white hound...

...The fierce black dog had already rushed forward, biting frantically, while the big yellow one loyally stayed by Xiao Xiao's side, blocking any hand or dark red tentacle that reached towards him.

...Only it jumped onto the cafe table, singing excitedly.

"Still a bit tricky..."

Even as this was happening, Xiao Xiao was feeling the pressure.

Although the Thought Detonation ability helped him figure out how to dodge the attacks of the frenzied crowd, and the three brave hounds were taking care of one enemy after another, he still felt like he was reaching his limit. The Thought Detonation ability could help him find a safe spot, but there was no such thing as a safe spot in this cafe. He could only keep fighting.

He had only been inside for half a minute, and he had already been grabbed several times.

Each time he was grabbed, it felt like invisible spikes were being driven into his mind, causing excruciating pain.

Each time, the pain would increase, and he didn't know how much more of the Pain Substance's influence his Thought Detonation ability could dilute.

He had even considered retreating several times.

However, in this dizzying and chaotic situation, another piece of information invigorated him.

The Three Adorable Hounds were very loyal, desperately biting at all the enemies that approached Xiao Xiao, not caring even when their fur was being torn to shreds.

And as they instinctively bit and swallowed, more and more bizarre flesh was being consumed.

In the midst of extreme tension, Xiao Xiao felt as if some mysterious information was being directly imprinted into his somewhat dazed mind:

[Item Name: Three Adorable Hounds]
[Pain Substance detected increasing, Enhance? Y/N]
[Enhancement Cost: 70 Points]
[Enhancement Cost: 50 Points]
[Enhancement Cost: 30 Points]
[...]
[Item Pain Substance at maximum, Enhance? Y/N]
[Enhancement Cost: 0 Points]
[...]

"It actually works?"

Xiao Xiao's previous conjecture was confirmed, and a strong sense of excitement arose in his heart, even diluting the torment of the ever-present painful memories.

He blurted out, "Enhance."

Of course, he had to enhance them.

He was already thinking about enhancing them when it cost a hundred Points, let alone now that it was free?

As soon as he said that, the Three Adorable Hounds suddenly seemed to sense something. They stopped biting at the surrounding crowd.

Xiao Xiao even felt as if some gaze from the depths of the city was being cast in this direction.

The Three Adorable Hounds were at the center of that gaze.