Madman's Knowledge

"Different places like Harmony Island, the Night Country, and the Ruined City probably aren't part of this world, are they?"

"Then they're other realms?"

Lu Ban found that quite reasonable.

Take his suona, for example. If it had originally existed in this world, it definitely would have caused a commotion and left records behind.

But in reality, there were no relevant descriptions.

Through his research into the items sold by the Silence Department Store, Lu Ban could roughly summarize that there were several other realms.

One was Harmony Island. It seemed to be made up of islands, with the sea as its main territory. Pirates ran rampant there, and monsters lurked within the sea fog.

Another was the Night Country. Most of it lay within the Black Forest. Two organizations, the Gray Tower and the Black Tower, held power there, and it also possessed supernatural forces resembling magic.

Another was the Ruined City. Judging by appearances, its civilization was close to the modern level. It had cars, trains, and gangs—and, of course, monsters and gods as well.

There was also the Wasteland. The descriptions of the Wasteland were somewhat complicated. It had statues of gods as well as modern tools, faith as well as science. Since it wasn't one of the three regions involved in Lu Ban's current missions, he hadn't studied it in detail.

There was one more part whose descriptions were too vague to determine which region it came from.

"Regardless, I'll do today's single draw first and make a judgment based on the knowledge I get."

Lu Ban spent fifty Silence Points to exchange for Madman's Knowledge.

A strangely shaped skull suddenly appeared in his hand.

It resembled a human skull, but the shape of its teeth and eye sockets was clearly different. The entire head was more like that of some kind of rodent—sharp and elongated.

A pale flame burned within the skull. It wasn't hot; rather, it was cold. When his fingers touched it, it felt as though they had passed through extremely cold water, making his teeth chatter.

"How am I supposed to use this?"

Lu Ban held the skull in his hand. He didn't find it frightening, but he was extremely puzzled.

"Grind it into powder and eat it? Brew it with goji berries? Surely I don't have to heat it in the microwave for three minutes and eat it straight out of the bag?"

He examined the skull.

On the back of the bone, at the back of the head, was a line of small gilt characters.

Crush to use.

"Crush it?"

Lu Ban exerted force with his hand.

Crack—

The skull, which looked half like a rat's and half like a human's, turned into powder under Lu Ban's slight pressure. The pale flame within it transformed into Gray Fog and flowed into his brain through Lu Ban's nose, mouth, ears, and eyes.

Lu Ban leaned back against the chair.

Some kind of knowledge broke through the surface of the earth like a drill and was forcefully stuffed into Lu Ban's skull. It spread through the grooves of his cerebral cortex and stirred within the neurons of his hippocampus.

Countless mutterings rang out beside Lu Ban's ears.

The mutterings came from different languages and were spoken by people of different ages, genders, and identities. Most of the languages were ones whose origins Lu Ban couldn't distinguish.

He only caught a few fragments.

".They dug downward, and finally unearthed the treasure, as well as evil dating back to primordial times."

".It's all fake, all hallucinations. Hahahaha, I've got it! Hahahaha."

".Gangs are to the Ruined City what white blood cells are to humans. Do you understand what I mean?"

".Those flowers—they're inside my body, wandering and growing through every blood vessel and every muscle, drawing on my life, and then being born."

".Hey, buddy, when you see fish in the desert, you know what I'm talking about. Then you'd better run!"

Along with the mutterings, Lu Ban also saw a towering, gloomy, densely packed city; a resplendently beautiful field of flowers; gangsters in suits and sunglasses fighting with weapons in damp, chilly alleys; whales singing loudly above the desert; beggars struggling on the brink of death; an upper class drowning in luxury and indulgence; and those eyes high above.

Eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes.

Countless eyes, denser than the stars filling the sky, hung high above Lu Ban's head.

Lu Ban's body trembled slightly. Blood trickled from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, while his joints twisted into angles utterly impossible for humans. His entire body contorted and convulsed grotesquely for a full five minutes.

Suddenly, everything came to an abrupt halt.

The entire room was deathly quiet, as if there were no living people inside. Even the sound of breathing was nowhere to be heard.

The cabinet door moved slightly, but didn't open.

The curtains fluttered, as if someone were standing behind the plain cloth.

Scratching sounds came from beneath the bed for a moment before falling silent again.

Lu Ban's body suddenly jolted.

"Huff—"

He took a deep breath and finally sat up.

Without bothering to wipe the blood, which had already grown sticky on his face, Lu Ban first looked at the familiar ceiling.

There was nothing on the plain ceiling.

No.

Just as Lu Ban focused on it, an eye abruptly opened in the wall.

One eye, then two, then three. In an instant, eyes opened everywhere—from the ceiling to the walls, and even on the computer, desk, cabinet, curtains, and finally Lu Ban's own hands. Countless eyes gazed around in every direction.

In the end, all those eyes turned toward Lu Ban.

Blood began gushing from Lu Ban's nose again, dripping onto his clothes and pants and soaking a large area.

He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, everything had returned to normal.

".I just changed these clothes."

He looked at his crimson-stained shirt and jeans, silently stood up, and opened the wardrobe.

Some kind of darkness seemed to have gathered in one corner of the wardrobe. Lu Ban paid it no attention. Instead, he took out a change of clothes, immediately removed his shirt and trousers, revealing his trained six-pack, and changed.

After throwing the bloodstained clothes into the washing machine, Lu Ban washed the blood from his face and returned to the computer.

His vision was still somewhat blurry, but it would recover soon.

It wasn't a major problem.

"This is knowledge from the Ruined City."

Lu Ban opened a document and briefly summarized what he had gained.

"The Ruined City's level of civilization is roughly equivalent to that of the 1920s or 1930s, with a blend of Eastern and Western characteristics. Outside the densely populated megacity are deserts and wastelands."

"The disparity between rich and poor in the city is enormous. The poor are crammed into the cramped old districts, while the central districts belong exclusively to the wealthy."

"Gangs hold an important position in the Ruined City and have even become the judicial representatives of certain areas."

"Large numbers of monsters are hidden in the deserts beyond the city, including writhing, infectious flowers and flying whales."

"Even the desert contains wealth, attracting people to venture out and explore."

"And then there's the ruler of the entire city—the master of those eyes, who may also be a god equal to the existence on Aldebaran."

"Now that I've obtained knowledge of the Ruined City, this place doesn't seem all that dangerous."

Lu Ban seemed to have made a decision.

*

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