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It's like he's exposed himself.
"If anything happens at the base, do not hesitate, attack Cao Tao!"
Last night, after finishing his night watch, the head of the Ability Control Bureau summoned three investigators and gave them this instruction.
Attacking Cao Tao?
The team members were puzzled, and Xiao Pei's eyes were unfathomable. "The Bandage Man's recovery went too smoothly. The key is that as soon as he woke up, he provided us with extremely important information—the monster's lair."
The monster we're facing is the most manipulative being imaginable, and I have a feeling it won't just stay outside the story it sets up.
He might get involved.
If the monster is involved, Cao Tao is the most suspicious.
... Of course, I hope I'm just overthinking it.
I didn't think much of it!
"Attack! Everyone attack! Attack this person! He's the enemy!"
The investigation team shouted.
"Cao Tao" stared menacingly at the three ability users who attacked him, as if he wanted to kill them with his eyes. The other ability users hesitated when they heard the shouts, but still obeyed the order and launched an attack. "Cao Tao's " face became even colder, and the simultaneous release of his abilities engulfed him.
"Ha."
"Ha ha!"
Laughter erupted from the cluster of supernatural beings, and then "Cao Tao" calmly emerged from the attack. Despite being attacked by so many people, he didn't even have a single scratch. His demeanor was so composed, his expression so disdainful. The look in his eyes slowed down the attacks of the supernatural beings, until they heard the investigation team shout, "Don't stop!"
"Laugh!"
Cao Tao scoffed, "Even ants dare to dream..."
Bang!
A loud thud sounded above his head. He froze, and after a long while, he raised his hand to touch the head where he had been hit. It hurt.
He can actually feel pain?
He slowly turned around, and behind him stood a person silently—a human woman holding a steel pipe bent at a right angle.
"..."
He actually felt pain from being attacked by a steel pipe?
An ordinary steel pipe?
Ye Jiang looked at the bent steel pipe in her hand, threw it away, and bent down to pick up a new one.
Because of the attacks by the superhumans, the room where the girl was resting had been reduced to an open-air structure, surrounded by exposed steel bars and pipes, making it very easy to obtain materials.
Ye Jiang just arrived. This morning, when the boss left, he entrusted her with the task of helping the base if a battle broke out.
Ye Jiang didn't know what the boss meant, but the boss's tone was so serious that she agreed.
Despite her physical discomfort, Ye Jiang was still able to dodge some supernatural attacks with ease. Because she dodged so quickly that she was out of human detection range, she appeared to have not moved at all amidst the dense supernatural attacks. Neither the supernatural beings nor "Cao Tao" noticed when she arrived, so she struck her target with ease.
The weapon wasn't very sturdy, and the man's head was too hard.
As Ye Jiang pondered this, she changed her weapon.
She changed and raised her hand to deliver another blow. "Cao Tao's" eye twitched, and he immediately dodged, but... but he didn't dodge completely! The steel pipe slammed into his shoulder with a thud, and half of his body went numb!
Wh-what?
How is that possible?!
He's a monster; humans are nothing but ants to him!
A storm raged in the monster's mind, but the steel pipe didn't stop for him. It came rushing back with the wind. "Cao Tao's " expression changed, and he took a step and ran. Even so, the steel pipe didn't miss. Instead, it hit his back. In that instant, he felt as if a mountain had pressed down on his back. He staggered a few steps and almost fell, but fortunately, he managed to get away.
What's going on?!
What's going on?!
What's going on?!
Cao Tao was filled with shock, and before he could even focus for a moment, the steel pipe came crashing down on his head.
I'm not going to get killed by a steel pipe in a human's hand, am I?
Cao Tao's face darkened. He was about to shed his cumbersome human skin to teach this person a lesson when the steel pipe that was about to strike him suddenly stopped for a moment, and he quickly dodged it.
Hmm.
A faint groan came from outside the circle of battle, barely noticeable amidst the sounds of fighting, but Ye Jiang heard it. She turned around and saw the little girl holding a scarlet knife, one end of the blade deeply embedded in the Nurse's chest.
The Nurse was still holding the little girl; she had stepped aside with the girl at the start of the battle, watching the human woman wield the steel pipe.
The pain came suddenly. She looked down and saw the little girl holding a knife, one end of the blade deeply embedded in her chest.
The Nurse did not loosen her grip on the girl; her face remained calm as she stared intently, seemingly pondering the situation.
At this moment, the person in her arms trembled. The trembling started from the girl's bloodstained hand and slowly spread to her whole body. Her small body trembled like a withered leaf in the wind.
"Heh."
"Well."
The little girl let out a dying, animal-like cry, as if her throat was injured. The scarlet knife, once out of her hand, turned into an ominous wisp of smoke, branding itself onto her finger as a Blood Moon symbol. It was as if mocking her, something that had no awakening, no Blood Moon, and was a deceptive conspiracy.
The Nurse lost the scalpel and used it to stop the wound; blood gushed from her chest, splattering all over the little girl's face.
"Heh."
The little girl struggled as if she had been scalded, her eyes wide open and trembling violently.
Seeing this, Cao Tao's gloomy face was instantly replaced by an evil smile. Oh, he was so stunned by the steel pipe that he almost forgot about his role in this scene!
Wonderful!
Absolutely brilliant!
Human betrayal is always so delightful!
Don't be afraid.
The Nurse suddenly spoke, blood still flowing from the hole in her chest, as she spoke these words to the convulsing little girl in her arms.
The Nurse was unusually calm.
The girl froze, her unfocused eyes wide open, tears streaming down her face, mingling with blood.
Just like the first time we met.
A kind of drowning sorrow spread from the Nurse and the little girl, not intense, but a dull, sticky feeling that slowed the attacks of the superhumans, causing them to glance at the Nurse and the little girl. In fact, their attacks were ineffective against the monster, and this turn of events only made them more discouraged.
As soon as the Nurse said "Don't be afraid," the girl's skin suddenly cracked open, peeling off layer by layer, like the armor of Blood Knight or the bandages of an avenger. Her skin had split open, revealing that there was another layer of skin on top of her skin—a costume made up by the monster.
The little girl was dressed in a costume at some point.
My dream tells me something's wrong. The ordinary middle-aged man beneath the bandages of the Avenger... he's a monster!
He came disguised in falsehood, taking advantage of people's sympathy to infiltrate our ranks!
Monsters, monsters can shape stories!
We must expose him, we absolutely must expose him.
The monster will drag everyone into his story.
expose...
expose...
Ah, so I was already part of the story all along.
There are no Precognitive Dream; it's all the work of monsters, a part of a story written by the monster with a stroke of its pen.
Monster stories
Down:
In the first act, humanity's protectors transform into the strongest Grim Reapers and engage in mutual slaughter with humanity.
In the second act, the monster enters the human base in the body of the Avenger.
In the third act, the prophet exposes the monster's true nature. Just as humans, believing they have uncovered the monster's plot, enthusiastically throw themselves into the battle against it, the prophet betrays the very human she trusts most.
There is also a fourth act.
The fourth act is...
The girl's character outfit fell off, but unlike the other characters created by the monster, she didn't return to normal. Her own skin was only visible for a few seconds before suddenly exploding. Blood Knight, Magician, Clown, Princess of a Fallen Kingdom, and so on... all the characters created by the monster had superhuman abilities beneath their outfits, because only superhumans could withstand the power the monster injected into creating the characters. The girl was an ordinary person, so...
She is being destroyed by the monster's power.
Her skin festered and crumbled, her eyes became cloudy, her bones shattered into fragments, and she turned into a rag doll.
Her consciousness is returning, and her clouded, blind eyes are searching everywhere for the person she hurt.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Sister, I'm so sorry... Waaah..."
She sobbed as she apologized, repeatedly saying "I'm sorry."
The Nurse's composure faltered for a moment, and her hands holding the little girl trembled.
The monster withdrew his gaze, feeling no sympathy for the characters he had used, and recalled the ending of the story he had written.
The story has a fourth act, and the fourth act is--
The monster, having tormented humanity to its heart's content, mercifully bestowed death upon everyone, thus bringing to life the prophetic ending it had orchestrated.
The monster abandoned its disguise, and with a flick of its hand, all the attacks from the superhumans were swept away. The superhumans were hit by their own attacks and sent flying, falling to the ground. The monster looked down at the ants below.
"It's time to end it."
He declared himself high above, as if he were a god who controlled destiny.
As the words fell, pieces of skin and flesh fell off his face. Without the skin covering him, the skull on his neck turned into a pitch-black skull. The skull had no bone structure and was as ethereal as smoke. The smoke seemed to be the embodiment of evil. The superhumans who were struggling to get up and launch another attack suddenly became dazed, terrified, and confused. In an instant, they lost themselves.
The monster was enjoying the scene when suddenly—