Chapter 797: No. 2
The media reported heavily that Immortal Pharma was willing to treat these kids for free. No one suspected them of having ulterior motives. The kidnapped children were forced to work when they were young. Their minds and bodies were broken. They were the perfect experiments for Immortal Pharma. Immortal Pharma tried various ‘treatments’ on the kids.
Some of them were cured physically, but their minds became even more twisted. One of the kids eventually became a card featured on the Ghost Card Case. Under extreme pressure, the victim became the perpetrator. These things were discovered years later when technology was more advanced. However, too much time had passed since then.
“If I can capture her alive, I should be able to get a lot more info.” Han Fei activated Soul Mist, and then he used Art Appraisal on Auntie Qing. The human trafficker looked frail, but that was just a front. Auntie Qing’s clothes were sewn with children’s supple skin. The skin was written with the children’s names. She was mimicking the power of a Sin Seeker. She carved the children’s names on her body so that their children’s lives would be connected to her. If she died, all the children would die too.
Before Han Fei could find a loophole, Big Sin had killed one of Auntie Qing’s idiot sons. When other parents’ children were dismembered or had their eyes gauged out, Auntie Qing didn’t even flinch. But when her own son was killed, the old lady went insane. She scolded Big Sin angrily. Soon the human names on her body faded away. More innocent children crawled out of the wall. Their mutated bodies could melt into the floor, and walls like their flesh had made up this building.
“Auntie Qing has buried the children she kidnapped alive. It’s natural that these children are able to move underground.” Han Fei suddenly was reminded of something. In the outer region of the black rain zone, when he observed the elder dance at the club, he saw an altar made from dead bodies in the mirror. The altar was gigantic, like this skyscraper! “Perhaps the skyscraper is the altar.”
The names on Auntie Qing’s skin dwindled, and her true weakness was exposed. The witch held a bell always. It was a puppy bell. At first, Han Fei thought the witch was just holding the bell tightly. But with Art Appraisal, he noticed that the bell had grown into her skin, becoming a part of her body. “She probably used the bell to train the children.”
Han Fei slowly approached. His body was shrouded in the mist. Big Sin kept rampaging in the corridor. The children were not its match. Auntie Qing felt great pressure. The rhythm with which she shook the bell changed. It sounded like she was planning to escape.
“Not so fast.” Han Fei stuck close to Big Sin. When Big Sin charged ahead, Han Fei aimed in the direction where Auntie Qing was running to. Rest in Peace glowed in a blinding light. The blade made from humanity was angered by Auntie Qing. It had never burned so bright before. Auntie Qing’s attention was on Big Sin. She didn’t realize Han Fei’s approach. When she wanted to react, it was already too late. Han Fei, with only 1 Life Point, fought for this chance. He became a part of Rest in Peace and became the brightest light in the dark.
“Die!” The butcher’s knife shattered Auntie Qing’s bell. Then, the blade continued to cut through her arm!
The suffering of the kidnapped children resonated deeply with Han Fei. He roared and used the knife to cut Auntie Qing in half!
The two idiot sons and the crawling children who were fighting Big Sin all stopped after the bell was crushed. They stood there in a daze.
“You even had to use the bell to control your own sons. This is sad. Even your own sons have no consciousness of their own.” Han Fei wanted to say something more, but Big Sin trampled over and stomped Auntie Qing. Like a crushed watermelon, the black blood splattered on the children. The black names on the old lady’s skin slowly disappeared. Big Sin rubbed its legs as if wondering what it had stepped on.
Auntie Qing’s two sons had no idea what had happened. They knelt beside Auntie Qing’s smattered carcass and started to play with their mother’s guts. They giggled happily.
“You’re free.” Han Fei turned to the children. Their eyes slowly turned blood red. Hatred and pain filled their souls. They rushed at Auntie Qing’s body and unleashed their resentment on the two sons. In less than a minute, Auntie Qing and her three sons were gone. Not even a single piece of skin was left. Han Fei searched for a long time in the pool of ‘dead bodies’ before he found a normal-looking poker card.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve found a Ghost Card, Diamond Ace. You’ve completed the first part of the mission. Next, you need to find one of the Kings. Only the four of them know the identity of the Big Ghost and the Small Ghost.”
The first stage of the Grade D Mission was completed. Han Fei studied the ghost card. Auntie Qing’s wicked face was printed on the front of the card. A piece of her soul had been pinned into the card. Han Fei put the card away and looked around. A new name appeared on Big Sin’s body. This name brought it the power to control others. After Auntie Qing died, the kidnapped children didn’t scatter. Instead, they surrounded Big Sin and Han Fei. They were ready to follow their new masters.
“With Big Sin’s new ability and my Piped Piper talent, if we open a kindergarten, we’ll have such good business.” Han Fei didn’t continue to enslave the children but gave them love and freedom they had never dared to imagine. He even took out toys from the surface world to give them. The children disappeared when the lights came on. They disappeared into the building.
“This place is not bad.” Li Rou got a new sinner’s body. Her ugly scars turned into bloodred tattoos, and she looked younger and prettier.
“That’s because you’ve met me.” Han Fei realized that Li Rou’s friendliness level had increased again. “There’s a kind of people where when you’re around him, the sky will feel brighter.”
“You’re right.” Li Rou touched Big Sin’s head. “Thank you, big guy.”
They returned to the room. When the lights went off again, the children reappeared. They surrounded Han Fei and Big Sin, leading them somewhere. Han Fei also picked up the secret of this floor. Whenever the lights went out, one or two hunters would appear. After five such encounters, Han Fei found a room with a Life character with the help of the kids. The door was splattered with black blood that couldn’t be cleaned. The life character appeared to contain some kind of powerful curse. Han Fei pushed open the door. He shivered. The room was decorated like one of the rooms from the Red Orphanage. Even though Han Fei had not entered the orphanage in his mind, he had seen through it many times. He could remember how most of the rooms looked.
“How? Why?” The garden owner was from the same era as Fu Sheng. Fu Sheng and Fu Tian wanted to create the most perfect human, and the garden owner wanted to create the most imperfect monster. “With the garden owner’s personality, he wouldn’t yearn for the creation of perfection. Perhaps he was behind the destruction of the Red Orphanage.” If that was true, the garden owner was responsible for making Mad Laughter and Han Fei into the people that they were. Han Fei walked among the familiar furniture. He was there for the first time, but everything felt so familiar. He felt like he belonged there. Han Fei sat on the bed and touched the rough sheet. He didn’t do anything, but a sharp pain came to his mind. Mad Laughter started to lose control as he tried to crawl out of Han Fei’s brain. “Should I let him come out?”
The small bed couldn’t fit an adult man. However, it carried the entirety of his painful past. Just as Han Fei was about to let Mad Laughter out, the door opened. A wounded Ji Zheng carried the Calamity Ghost and collapsed to the ground. Mr. Mo followed closely behind. Once they entered the room, they shut the door.
“It seems like neither of you ran into anything scary.” Ji Zheng looked at the unwounded Han Fei and Li Rou. He spat out blood and took out a poker card from his sleeve. “Take this. According to legend, you can meet God after you collect the whole deck.”
“I don’t believe in him. Why would I want to meet him?” Han Fei glanced at the ghost card. It was the Ace of Club.
“Even if you can’t defeat him, spit at him.” Ji Zheng finally crawled up from the ground after a long time. “Now that we’ve found the room with the Life door, things are easier. However, once we leave, we’ll have to find another Life door.” “Are there many Life doors on the 25th floor?”
“Yes. You should have noticed the difference between this room and the other rooms, right?” Ji Zhen grabbed the water from the table and gulped it down. “The skyscraper is God’s flesh and blood. However, the rooms behind the Life doors are basically nails Taboos punctured into God’s body using their strength.” He walked mysteriously to Han Fei. “The Taboo on this floor is a part of the Unmentionable’s memory. God entrapped that memory in his body to slowly disintegrate the secret it was carrying. However, when God was asleep, the memory slowly grew stronger. It wanted to become a monster that could rival God!”
“Where did the memory come from?”
“No clue. But I heard from an experienced Night Police member that the False God has stolen the brain of another God. It’s the brain of the world’s cleverest individual. He sliced the brain into different pieces and hid them on different floors. He wanted to use this way to take over the person’s memory and ability.” Ji Zheng sat on the Orphanage’s bed. He didn’t know that Han Fei’s expression had changed.
“What else do you know about that brain?” Han Fei was reminded of Mad Laughter’s partial memory. Red Orphanage had a child who was extremely clever. After being experimented on endlessly, the child only had a brain left in the end.
“I have no idea. I only know that Disciples refer to the brain as No. 2. It is the skyscraper’s scariest Taboo and one of the creations God is still working on.” Ji Zheng then noticed something was wrong. He turned around and saw that Han Fei’s eyes were bloodshot. His whole persona was different from before. “Wh-what’s wrong with you?”
Just the word No. 2 caused a huge turmoil in Han Fei’s brain. Mad Laughter was getting out.
