Salvaging

I hadn't expected Lock Mom to be so easy to talk to now. I'd thought she'd call me a delusional worm after I said that.

After bringing a case of Cogito back to his dorm, Shen Yu leaned against the sofa and sighed, recalling the extraction process he had witnessed earlier.

Yikes, injecting Cogito is pretty risky, especially once its grade has been adjusted. It becomes even more unstable.

How did A inject so much and end up with nothing worse than a split personality? Was it a different grade?

Shen Yu opened the case and successfully found the relevant instructions.

First, Cogito had five grades, just like Abnormalities. The instructions also noted that the stronger the recipient's mind, the more stable the process would be, and the greater their chances of survival.

A weight lifted from Shen Yu's heart when he read that. After all, his mental attribute was currently his highest, and he also had [Hornet's Protection].

But there's still a mass of flame from an ancient god inside me. If anything goes wrong, having it happen at the company would be a huge problem. Hmm, I need somewhere to experiment.

Just then, Shen Yu saw Little Knight walk past wearing a cat-eared Red Cloak, and immediately made up his mind.

Why not head straight into Little Red Riding Hood's mental world? I can see whether I can fix her mental issues while I'm at it.

With that thought, Shen Yu picked up Little Knight. After using his upgraded clearance to set up surveillance, he spoke with Viper as well, giving himself a second layer of protection. Then he hurried to Little Red Riding Hood's Containment Unit.

"Are you here to tell me where that bastard is?" Little Red Riding Hood asked, leaning against the wall and looking at Shen Yu.

"Wait a little longer. Today hasn't even started yet. I'm here to fix your mental issues."

"My mind? There's nothing wrong with my mind. But that teacher you found for me is pretty good. Remember to take me to see her next time."

"Sure, but crouch down first."

"Why?" Little Red Riding Hood crouched down in confusion, and Little Knight immediately stepped forward and struck her head with the Dream Nail.

With a ripping hiss, Little Red Riding Hood's shell of reality tore apart. A blood-red substance surged out, engulfing Shen Yu and Little Knight.

In that crimson ocean, Shen Yu caught a glimpse of a scene:

Old tables and chairs had been overturned, and bottles and jars had fallen to the floor, shattering into glittering fragments.

A creature with gray-blue fur crouched on the ground, chewing something. In front of it, a corpse lay limp on the floor, its old nightclothes soaked in blood.

The monster squatted beside it, making wet, gulping noises. Spattering blood stained the surrounding floor red. A nauseating bloody stench filled the air.

In the corner, an old, moldy wardrobe creaked in the wind. A few strips of red cloth slipped out through its gaps, seeming to tremble ever so slightly...

Then blood pouring down from above obscured his vision. When the curtain of blood cleared, the scene changed.

A little girl wearing a Red Cloak stood beside the enormous corpse of a gray-blue wolf covered in blood. Blood still dripped steadily from the axe in her hand.

Several normal-sized wolf corpses lay at her feet. Beyond them, human corpses littered the ground, all with terrible gashes in their necks. Some had been decapitated outright.

The blood flowing from the wolves and humans mingled, forming a dark red lake in which neither could be distinguished from the other.

At that moment, the little girl seemed to notice something and raised her head toward Shen Yu.

Shen Yu saw a yellow eye, with a blood-red pupil like a flame at its center.

Then the scene abruptly warped, and a bright beam of light struck his face, making Shen Yu instinctively close his eyes. When he adjusted to the light, he discovered that he had somehow arrived on a mountain.

The blazing sun hung high in the sky. Every tree on the mountain had withered, leaving only bare branches, while waves of heat swept up flakes of dead ash. Desolation stretched as far as the eye could see.

In the distance, he could vaguely make out the outlines of houses, but despite it being noon, not a wisp of cooking smoke rose from them.

Shen Yu immediately frowned. If Little Knight hadn't been standing beside him in the Red Cloak, he would have suspected that he had transmigrated again.

But... isn't Little Red Riding Hood's mental world a little too extravagant? Is it because she shares it with Wolf? Shen Yu looked up at the vast sky.

If that's the case, what would the mental worlds of those ALPHA-level Abnormalities look like?

Yikes, just how strong must Wolf be in here? Still, with Little Red Riding Hood helping, I just need to make sure I don't steal her kill.

Reassured by that thought, Shen Yu took the grade-three Cogito from his waist.

"Phew." Shen Yu let out a long breath and injected it into his body.

In an instant, Shen Yu felt his consciousness plummeting at tremendous speed into an unfathomable ocean.

Then the entire world twisted and warped. The surrounding scenery dissolved in an instant, replaced by countless indescribable patches of color. They flickered with chaotic light, motionless yet spinning at incredible speed.

Shen Yu found himself in a boundless space, surrounded by chaotic patches of color that rapidly spun, folded, and warped, as though the entire world had melted into color.

Enormous eyeballs emerged from the patches of color, their whites rolling, countless mangled, bloody hands reaching out of their pupils and clawing wildly.

A huge mouth opened and closed in empty space, spewing wisps of black smoke; twisted figures flitted back and forth through nothingness, uttering meaningless whispers like ghosts.

More tiny, insectlike eyes clustered and grew on the patches of color. Countless tentacles reached toward Shen Yu, while heads circled through the air, opening their bloody maws at him. Everything lunged toward him, surrounding him, devouring him...

Shen Yu immediately felt his soul being dragged down into the Abyss. Yet a single thread held him back, and an indescribable pain gradually spread through him.

Gritting his teeth, Shen Yu recalled Quirrel's figure, concentrating on his appearance, voice, and presence, filling that outline with every detail.

At that moment, the swirling mass of red paint in his chest gradually dissolved, replaced by deep Void. Then a speck of light emerged from nothingness and kept expanding, becoming an orb of light.

The orb slowly emerged from Shen Yu's mind, writhing and spreading out before him to form a humanoid shape.

The figure gradually took on detail. At last, a man wearing a dark blue Hood, with a Nail at his waist, fully materialized and surveyed his surroundings in confusion.

Then the nothingness in Shen Yu's chest filled with red again, finally returning to its original state. Shen Yu let out a long breath, sat down on the ground, and said to him:

"Welcome to the new world, Quirrel." (Image)