The Situation

Chapter 5: The Situation

Lu Yuanming returned home, his heart heavy.

Just in Building C, the deaths he witnessed alone exceeded a hundred. Some fell to their deaths, some were eaten by the Giant Octopus Monster, some were flattened in the corridors, dozens more were infected by the Unnamable on the rooftop, and others were blown to pieces by the Unnamable's final roar.

Even more terrifying was that the souls of these deceased did not descend into the Dark Matter World. Instead, some were absorbed and digested by the octopus monster, while even more were swallowed by the Red-clothed Monster and given to the Unnamable horror. This was equivalent to their souls being utterly annihilated, perhaps even more tragic than that. Lu Yuanming could not imagine how their souls would be treated in the hands of that Unnamable horror...

All of this happened in the real world!

To Lu Yuanming, the Dark Matter World was a dangerous and terrifying place, but the material world in 2024 should have been extremely safe, like a safe zone.

However, this incident made him realize that either the past known by Alfred and Tang Zhean was false, or the timeline had been altered. For some unknown reason, the monsters and curses that were supposed to begin in the latter half of 2027 had started in June 2024, and it was likely breaking out on a large scale across the globe. This was truly terrifying and had completely disrupted his original plan.

Before Lu Yuanming woke up from his vegetative state, he had a complete plan in mind, which he had discussed with Alfred and Tang Zhean.

According to the timeline they knew, the first wave of monsters and curses appeared in the latter half of 2027. In December 2027, governments worldwide officially acknowledged the existence of monsters and curses and confirmed that Human Civility was falling into the Dark Matter World. However, due to conflicts between nations in the real world, it wasn't until 2028 that countries secretly formed an alliance to jointly address the issue of Human Civility's fall.

Therefore, the plan Lu Yuanming and the two had devised was for him to awaken from his vegetative state, then secretly approach the aging Tycoons of the world. Using the information provided by Alfred, he would proselytize to these Tycoons, describing the horrors and dangers of the Dark Matter World. He would then create a virtual Deity and Lord, especially promoting the arrival of a doomsday Messiah, to gain their trust. This would allow him to leverage their connections, political power, and economic strength to develop a church, giving Lu Yuanming a team in the real world.

Although Lu Yuanming felt that the virtual Deity and Lord described by Alfred, especially the figure of the doomsday Messiah, seemed suspiciously like his soul in the Dark Matter World, he was truly unwilling to engage in such superstitious practices. However, considering that doing so could yield a massive amount of Colorless Light Particles, which could save more people in the Dark Matter World, he felt he had to be willing.

All of this had been meticulously planned. But an accident occurred when he woke up from his vegetative state, taking several months to fully recover. Then, his inability to travel back to the Dark Matter World in 2028 was another unexpected event. And now, the outbreak of monsters and curses in the real world was yet another accident, which had completely shattered his original plan.

Lu Yuanming sat at his desk in his room, recalling everything that had just happened. He then quietly tried to sense his soul, but unfortunately, with the monsters destroyed, he could no longer feel his soul. That immensely powerful force seemed to have completely vanished. However, he could sense the existence of two unknown entities.

These two unknown entities were merging. After being absorbed into his soul, the emotions of hatred and terror present in these unknown entities were dispelled, along with the lingering aura of the Unnamable horror. In their place was the aura of his soul attaching itself to them.

The two unknown entities were one large and one small. If the smaller one was considered a unit, then he now possessed three portions of the unknown entity.

Currently, Lu Yuanming knew that this unknown entity could "unfold."

This was an ability he instinctively knew upon contact with the unknown entity. As long as he completely infused his soul's aura onto the unknown entity, it could unfold according to his will, similar to a domain or field. Within this unfolded field, he could wield the power of his soul. He even felt he could do more, such as partially controlling the space within the field like those two monsters, or altering the perceptions of those who entered.

At the same time, he could "see" the Dark Matter World of 2028 through this unknown entity. However, the amount of unknown entity he currently possessed was too little. If the quantity was sufficient, he felt he could travel back to the Dark Matter World through the unknown entity.

"...Not enough, far from enough. Based on how I feel now, I need at least ten portions of the unknown entity to even attempt to travel back."

Lu Yuanming sensed the three portions of the unknown entity within him. He attempted to travel, but felt a sense of congestion, narrowness, and inability to travel. This extinguished his plan to immediately go back and discuss with Alfred and Tang Zhean.

Now, he could only face everything alone.

"...They should be able to find me. Even if I wore a mask, from my height to my clothing, and especially with the surveillance cameras all over the residential area, they should be able to find me easily."

Lu Yuanming was certain of this. He never doubted the strength of a nation. If needed, information about him, his family, and even his ancestors for eight generations could be laid out on the desks of relevant individuals.

Although Lu Yuanming was personally reluctant to expose himself like this, his mind conjured various possibilities, such as secret laboratories, dissection slices, or lifelong imprisonment. However, he truly could not stand by and watch hundreds, even thousands, of people die during the monster rampage.

Moreover, the current situation had completely exceeded his expectations. He had too many questions. Why were monsters and curses rampant in 2024? And from the conversations between the police and experts, this did not seem to be an isolated incident, but rather a similar disaster occurring nationwide.

He needed to understand what exactly had happened. The country was undoubtedly the largest organization and power. If he wanted to obtain information, getting it from the state would be the fastest and most accurate.

And just as Lu Yuanming was filled with anxiety, ready to receive visitors from the state at any moment.

In a smoke-filled conference room in a municipal building in CQ City, a group of people were arguing.

"...Disorganized and undisciplined, is this how you do things!? You just watched him leave like that!?" a middle-aged man in a military uniform roared, his eyes red. "Do you know how many soldiers died in WH? Three fields, thousands of people sent in without a single response, all gone. And these three fields are still expanding. There's also a field in CD that covers one square kilometer, swallowing over ten thousand civilians... Since you discovered the Special Ability User, you should have brought him back immediately!!"

Captain Wang silently smoked his cigarette. After the middle-aged soldier finished his tirade, he said in a low voice, "I was unconscious at the time, I couldn't help it. If you want someone brought back, your military can send people to do it."

The middle-aged soldier's expression stiffened. He slammed the table forcefully, "How do we send them? Dispatch the army directly? What if this Special Ability User overthinks it? What if he can also deploy a field? Wouldn't that provoke the only Special Ability User we've found!? Is this how you do things!?"

Captain Wang fiercely threw his cigarette butt down and roared, his eyes red, "This is how I do things! So many people went in, only six survived, and five are still in critical condition, their lives hanging by a thread. They are alive, but where are they!? They were taken away by you in biohazard suits, where are they!?"

The middle-aged soldier was instantly speechless. Beside him, an elderly man who often appeared on television sighed, "Their body tissues have mutated. The research team believes it might be related to some kind of radiation, or perhaps a virus. This mutation is contagious. Several cases in BJ have already proven this, so they must be quarantined. Little Wang, don't worry, our country will not disregard human lives like Europe and America. They won't conduct biological experiments on them. This is for the safety of more people..."

Captain Wang remained silent. Someone else next to him was about to speak when suddenly, there was a knock on the conference room door. Soon, someone went to open it. Captain Wang saw a woman walk in, and this woman was the head of the expert team.

Captain Wang immediately roared, "She mutated too! Why can she come out, but my team members can't!?"

The woman directly lifted the gauze covering half her face and said, "I had all the mutated tissue removed. After examination, it was confirmed that there is no more mutation in my body. Most of your team members even had internal organ mutations, and these tissues and organs cannot be completely removed."

Captain Wang stared blankly at the woman's empty left eye socket and then lowered his head, saying nothing.

As soon as the woman entered, she immediately saluted the elder at the head of the table and said urgently, "I will go contact this Special Ability User! Although his impression of me must be bad, compared to a stranger or the military, at least I fought alongside him! He most likely won't attack me directly. Don't worry, I was too eager in the field before, I shouldn't have treated him like that. I will explain the current situation our country is facing to him in detail."

Everyone fell silent for a moment. The middle-aged soldier immediately said, "I need to report this upwards!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the elder immediately said, "Then report to me now... Time waits for no one. The field in CD is in the city center. Little Xu, you've never worked at the grassroots level, so you always speak with official jargon. This is not good. We need to be close to the people, understand the worries and needs of the masses, not suppress them with righteousness and the state. This is very bad."

The woman lowered her head, but still said, "But so many people have died. So many of us rushed into the field, trying light and heavy weapons, but we couldn't do anything. We even tried launching missiles from outside, but we couldn't do anything to these things. We finally found a power that can fight these monsters, I really..."

The elder directly stood up and said, "I've worked in the countryside, and I've also gone among the people to talk with them, so..."

"Let's go, I'll go meet this young man myself, listen to his needs, ask about his concerns. A Stand User, huh..."

"I watched them when I was young too."