The Eldritch Files

’I’m about to get captured anyway, so I guess I don’t have to worry too much about what comes next...’

’I just need to get through this first!’

...

Han Su took a deep breath and wiped the blood from his face before looking down at the Emperor’s Text.

Sure enough, within the book filled with twisted characters, a series of entries had appeared.

He didn’t know that to an outside observer, the Emperor’s Book still showed only a mass of strange and twisted text. Only to his eyes, it was as if innumerable characters were coming alive, dancing and transforming into knowledge humans could understand.

[Thirteen Mysterious Sources, No. 06—Crimson]

[Origin: Unknown]

[Periods of Activity: 24th century Western Expeditionary Order, 27th century Hell Apostle, 31st century Red Tower Guardian]

[Description: This anomalous Spiritual Body has been confirmed to be a forbidden life-code extracted from a surreal cataclysm. It is also the core of the original formula that allowed for the creation of the notorious Crimson Legion, and it possesses the ability to activate the most powerful offensive state of Divine Material.]

[Throughout history, multiple ambitious figures have used this anomalous power to build bloodthirsty legions that swept across the East and West Continents. It can be considered the greatest of all man-made calamities.]

[This aberrant power can grant one the ability to conquer the world, but no people or nation that has ever been associated with it has managed to establish a lasting, inheritable civilization of its own.]

[Preliminary Assessment: Among the Twelve Anomalies, this is the only aberrant power incapable of creating civilization, possessing only the ability to destroy it.]

[Nature: Exists somewhere between an aberrant power and a surreal cataclysm.]

[The Crimson Formula: ...]

[...]

[...]

’This is useful...’

Han Su found it hard to describe the changes taking place in his mind after seeing this knowledge about Crimson.

It wasn’t so much that he was reading it, but more like someone was forcibly stuffing the knowledge into his Spirit World.

As he began to understand Crimson and looked up at the battlefield again, everything felt different from how it had just a moment ago.

Before, he had only seen Uncle Zhang on a rampage, pummeling the other three. Bizarre powers crisscrossed the air like a meat grinder for ordinary people, so intense that a single glance could suck one in. But now, as he watched the chaotic battlefield, he could vaguely discern a method to the madness.

With this one look, he understood Li Moxi’s combative philosophy much more clearly.

He could even build upon that foundation and see the philosophies of the other three—Zhang Chiguo, Zhao Fantian, and Wang Buddha.

All four were using their own methods to fight Crimson. It was like four teachers, each tackling the same difficult problem and explaining their solution to him from a different angle, dissecting the transformations among Mysterious Power, Divine Material, and Spiritual Activity with perfect clarity.

It was a truly wonderful experience.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Song Chushi honored their agreement. Although he was curious about what Han Su was doing—’how could someone of his level possibly provide knowledge about Crimson?’—he controlled himself and resisted the urge to spy.

Instead, an excited voice suddenly rang out from his briefcase. ”Upstairs... it seems some incredible knowledge has appeared...”

Song Chushi didn’t quite understand. ”Incredible knowledge?”

”I can’t describe this feeling to you. It’s like how I can’t understand why a human brain will suddenly short-circuit and make you do things that look incredibly foolish to others. What seems logical to you can seem preposterous to me.”

The voice in the briefcase said urgently, ”It’s the same now. I can only say that, in my view, knowledge already exists within reality, just waiting for certain beings to organize and summarize it.”

”But just now, I sensed knowledge manifesting in reality out of thin air.”

”I... This is too wonderful. I want to...”

...

”Don’t even think about it!”

Song Chushi knew what it meant. He glanced up at the floor where Han Su was, a look of deep apprehension flashing in his eyes.

’Perhaps I underestimated him before.’

’From now on, our only option is to cooperate with him. Politely.’

After a moment’s pause, he said in a low voice, ”Remember, when Abyssal Studio manifests, I’ll find a way to get you inside. I need you to help me retrieve certain items, especially that Crystal Skull. Then, give it to him as a gift.”

”...Whether I’m alive or dead by then.”

...

His serious tone naturally startled the monster in the briefcase. ”Why are we suddenly talking about life and death?”

”Aren’t our preparations this time sufficient?”

”They are...”

Song Chushi let out a soft sigh, looking up at the vast night sky. ”The preparations are more than sufficient...” he whispered.

”But do you have any idea what we’re up against?”

”If it weren’t for that insane machine helping us with its extra Computation Power, how would we ever have had the chance to get this far?”

”But since we’ve come this far, we have to do whatever it takes to protect the fruits of our labor...”

...

...

During their rapid exchange, as the confrontation raged in the sky, some were already sensing that things were taking a bad turn.

No one had expected that a mission personally signed off on by Secretary No. 5 would devolve into infighting within the Crimson Sequence.

Even more unexpectedly, when the Four Heavenly Kings—each of whom had followed a different path—began to fight, it was Zhang Chiguo, the one widely considered the most lost among them, who revealed the most ferocious side.

As fellow survivors of the Crimson corruption, the four shared a sense of pity for one another, as well as a competitive spirit. This was because when they first faced a power like Crimson, not even the Hidden School could offer them much guidance, so all four could only resort to their own methods to fight it.

If any of them could prove their method was effective, they would surely make their mark on history, earn the esteem of the Hidden School, and be spoken of for ages to come.

This inevitably fostered a sense of competition among the four, as each wanted to prove that the philosophy they believed in was the correct one.

Their current clash demonstrated this perfectly.

First, Zhang Chiguo unleashed a brutal onslaught, the product of four years of restraint, seemingly overwhelming the other three. But they all understood that an attack like this would inevitably incur a severe backlash. Therefore, despite the immense pressure, their own spirits remained unaffected.

Instead, Li Moxi, Zhao Fantian, and Wang Buddha each employed their own methods, joining forces to hold off Zhang Chiguo and creating a delicate equilibrium.

While holding back the pressure from Zhang Chiguo, an idea began to stir in the minds of the other three.

Whichever one of them managed to defeat the now-frenzied Zhang Chiguo would undoubtedly prove that their own philosophy was superior.

A stellar performance in this confrontation could even get them chosen by the Circulating Knight Order, allowing them to escape the conservative and feudal circle of Qinggang and achieve a true leap in social standing.

However, before they could find an opportunity to counter Zhang Chiguo, this delicate balance was broken by an outside force.

Han Su had just stolen a sliver of Crimson’s power from the confrontation.

And the sliver of Crimson he had stolen belonged to Li Moxi!

Zhao Fantian was the most deeply corrupted, so his Divine Material was the most tightly bound with Crimson.

King Buddha used knowledge to deconstruct Crimson, and thus his mastery over it was the most comprehensive.

Zhang Chiguo was in a state of total eruption; at this moment, he was practically Crimson itself.

Only Li Moxi maintained a state of both confronting and utilizing Crimson, keeping it at arm’s length, which made his power the most dispersed.

Therefore, when Han Su directly chanted the Zero Sequence Spell to steal the ambient Crimson power, it was only natural that he stole from Li Moxi.

Normally, this sliver of Crimson power would have a negligible impact, and he would recover it as his Spiritual Activity rose. But this was happening in the middle of a near-frenzied confrontation. Here, even the tiniest amount was enough to trigger an unimaginable chain reaction.