The Eldritch Files

”Him?”

The moment he saw the white figure, Night Lamp cried out involuntarily, his expression turning to one of absolute terror.

But Red Windbreaker and Green Hat had no idea who the white figure was.

Judging by the man’s appearance—carrying a suitcase—he should theoretically be someone from the Disaster Management Bureau. Yet, with all their experience, they had never seen this person before. Nor had they ever heard of an Investigator with the description of white clothes, golden hair, and a snakeskin suitcase.

But Night Lamp had no time to explain. Using the distribution of the containment nodes, he just roared in a low voice, ”Hold the line!”

The three of them had already spread out. At this distance, it was difficult to communicate telepathically with Spiritual Information.

However, the special structure of the containment nodes allowed them to transmit information over a considerable distance with relative ease.

Heeding Night Lamp’s warning, Red Windbreaker and Green Hat didn’t dare to be careless. They let out a low shout, activating all their Spiritual Activity. As the Zero Sequence Encrypted Spell, Number 03, took effect, the Spiritual Barrier around them solidified into a thick wall.

Drawing on their combined experience and Spiritual Activity, the three barriers even began to support and resonate with one another, making each individual’s shield far more solid than usual.

But then, the unthinkable happened. The white monster merely glanced coldly at the temporary containment center, paying the three of them no mind. He made a grasping motion in the air, and the space was instantly filled with the dense, sharp sound of grinding, shattering glass.

The massive Spiritual Barrier held for less than a second before it suddenly crumbled and collapsed.

The faces of Night Lamp, Red Windbreaker, and Green Hat turned deathly pale in an instant. They felt a splitting headache, and the taste of blood welled up in their throats.

Even before the great barrier had fully disintegrated, the three of them made a choice in perfect unison.

Retreat!

The Encrypted Spell, ”Thought Is The Boundary,” possessed a unique characteristic.

As long as the caster did not die or suffer a mental collapse, the barrier would not disappear.

But at that moment, the three veteran Investigators simultaneously realized the terrifying extent of their opponent’s power.

If they truly held on until the end, their only fate would be death or crippling injury.

So, in that moment of extreme peril, they actually chose to preemptively cancel the barrier, saving their own lives.

But that was tantamount to letting all the Mechanical Ghosts inside.

The entire turn of events had taken no more than a single second.

It was a clever choice, one that only veteran Investigators could make.

”Open fire!”

With the blockade broken, countless Mechanical Ghosts flooded into the temporary containment center, a rolling, dark tide crashing against everything in its path.

Red Windbreaker and the other two gasped for breath. Although they had saved their lives, the pressure from just moments ago left them deeply unsettled.

Watching the endless swarm of Mechanical Ghosts pour in, they found they didn’t even have the energy to stop them.

Inside the containment center, however, the armed personnel and Executors roared orders, and a hail of bullets rained down on the Mechanical Ghosts.

But it was useless. This level of firepower hadn’t been enough to stop the Mechanical Ghosts from a distance, and now, swarming black figures were everywhere. Pale, terrifying faces lunged right at them.

”Haha, trash, all of you are trash...”

Amidst everyone’s terrified screams, the white monster strode forward, his figure like a white demon in the night.

Someone nearby had already noticed him, and a spray of bullets swept his way.

But he simply brushed the bullets to the ground as if they were dust, his pace only quickening. Countless Mechanical Ghosts swarmed around him, pouncing and tearing at the periphery, maintaining a blood-scented vacuum around his person.

He barged straight into the area of the temporary containment center where those infected with the ”red-eye disease” were being held.

His expression hardened slightly as he splayed his five fingers.

Flashing blue arcs of electricity appeared between his fingertips. They then slowly descended, pressing down toward the top of a kneeling infectee’s head.

”CRACKLE...”

Along with the roar of the electric arcs, the infected person’s body convulsed. A bloodcurdling scream rang out, as if something from within their mind was being forcibly dragged into reality.

”What is he doing?”

Red Windbreaker and the others’ faces changed drastically.

The black notebook had been sealed, but the contamination from the Mother Divine Tree remained. It had become like water without a source; normally, it would slowly dissipate outside of reality over time. Only then would the contamination be considered completely cleansed.

But this person’s target was actually the infected. Was he...?

Realizing he was undertaking some extremely dangerous action, Red Windbreaker gritted her teeth and dashed forward two steps.

But after only those two steps, the white monster suddenly turned his head, his gaze landing on her face like a cold bolt of lightning. The courage Red Windbreaker had just mustered vanished in an instant.

A single voice in her mind warned her: ’Don’t go any closer, you’ll die!’

There wasn’t a trace of life in the white monster’s eyes, only a cold disregard for all human life.

”Heh heh...”

While the Lady in the Red Windbreaker was frozen in a daze, she suddenly heard a cold chuckle.

She turned her head in a hurry and saw Miss Crow. She didn’t know when or from where she had returned, but there she was, hands in her pockets, head tilted as she looked at her with an expression of utter disdain.

”Weiwei...”

The Lady in the Red Windbreaker cried out instinctively. But after shouting the name, she snapped back to reality and roared, ”Where did you just come from?”

”Where is Mr. Drunkard? And Investigator Feidi, who was with you?”

”...”

Miss Crow didn’t answer her. She just looked up coldly at the white monster ahead.

”As Investigators, shouldn’t you be risking your lives to stop the contamination right now?”

”...”

The Lady in the Red Windbreaker couldn’t even understand why this fool was saying such things at a time like this. The more she looked at her, the angrier she got.

But in that brief moment of distraction, she suddenly heard a terrified scream, followed by dead silence. Even the dense clamor of gunfire and angry shouts vanished, as if everyone around her had disappeared.

Her heart skipped a beat. With great difficulty, she turned her head and beheld a nightmarish scene.

In the night sky before her, a blood-red tree had appeared. It was immense, with a trunk of gnarled flesh and leaves that seemed to reflect human faces. It was bizarre and malevolent, yet it radiated a kind of Mysterious Power as it spread across the sky.

”This is the scene that those infected with the red-eye disease saw...”

The Lady in the Red Windbreaker realized it instantly. She staggered, her gaze falling upon the interior of the temporary containment center.

The white monster now stood among all the infected. Countless currents of electricity radiated from his body, invading the minds of each and every one of them.

It was as if he was using this method to extract some kind of scene they had all witnessed.

And with each person he connected to with his arcs of electricity, the extracted scene became clearer. The bizarre tree growing in the night sky became more and more real in everyone’s vision.

The Mother Divine Tree, which originally only those infected with the red-eye disease could see, had now manifested tangibly before the eyes of everyone present.

Whether they were Executors or armed personnel, the moment they saw the Mother Divine Tree, their expressions went slack and their eyes began to turn faintly red.

Those who were shooting or fighting back the Mechanical Ghosts forgot what they were doing. Their knees grew weak, their bodies heavy, and they felt an overwhelming urge to turn toward the Mother Divine Tree and worship it piously.

The contamination began to spread on a massive scale, at a speed that was easily a hundred times faster than before.

Ordinary people were contaminated with a single glance. Even Executors trained in Mysterious Power would be contaminated if their Spiritual Activity wasn’t high enough. And once they were contaminated, the impact they had was far greater than that of an ordinary person.

As large numbers of people in the containment center began to see the Mother Divine Tree and kneel before it, the bizarre tree started to grow manically, becoming more and more real as it took root in reality itself.

”This is bad...”

The Lady in the Red Windbreaker, relying on her own powerful Spiritual Activity, shuddered slightly and managed to temporarily shake off the contamination.

But she immediately realized the gravity of the situation and turned to look in the direction of Qinggang.

Thirty kilometers away, Qinggang City was a sea of brilliant lights.

At this distance, and at night, the residents of Qinggang City shouldn’t have been able to see the Mother Divine Tree. But as the tree grew taller and clearer, the area of contamination spread ever wider.

If the contamination were an ever-expanding shadow, then that shadow was now rapidly spreading toward the edge of Qinggang City.

There, an endless number of ordinary people with no resistance to the Mother Divine Tree awaited.

At that moment, the Lady in the Red Windbreaker was on the verge of despair. She staggered a few steps, muttering to herself, ”It’s over... it’s all over...”

...

Back inside the temporary containment center, the monster in the white suit’s body slowly levitated twenty centimeters into the air. Strange blue arcs of electricity covered him like twisted roots growing from his body. His figure began to gradually overlap with the distant Mother Divine Tree.

He slowly opened his eyes and gazed admiringly at the distant Mother Divine Tree, letting out an intoxicated sigh.

Then, he gently floated toward the Mother Divine Tree and began to speak in a low voice. His words, carried by intersecting torrents of Spiritual Power, spread out in all directions.

”Hey...”

As he began to speak, the pervasive Spiritual Power spread outward. In response, the red-eye disease infectees everywhere began to move their mouths woodenly, vocalizing the words he wanted to say:

”You big shots of Qinggang City, you trash, you ignorant, pitiful worms...”

”You imprisoned me for four years and subjected me to endless torture. But now, it’s my turn. So, you had all better listen to what I have to say...”

”Bai Senmang, you just wait! The moment I get my authority back, I will slaughter your entire family!”

”...”

The furious voice echoed across the entire wilderness, even beginning to spread toward Qinggang. Countless people who heard it were stunned, but also filled with confusion:

”Who is Bai Mangsen?”