Chapter 237: The Subconscious Monster
Chapter 237: The Subconscious Monster
The moment the city-wide alarm blared, every person in the city momentarily slowed their movements.
In the next instant, they resumed their tense and harried routines.
“Crash…”
Panicked residents, after a split second of stunned hesitation, began charging toward various shops and subway entrances. These structures all shared one common feature: they were adorned with as much glass decoration as possible. Some were entirely constructed of tempered glass, each displaying prominent emergency shelter symbols. Meanwhile, Armed Soldiers, Police Officers, Special Dispatch Team members, and others reacted differently.
Some dashed to evacuate the frightened crowds; others gripped their rifles and marched in unison to reinforce the Blockade Line around the Quarantine Zone.
“Emergency shelter. Emergency shelter…”
A male broadcaster’s voice began emanating from street loudspeakers, repetitively announcing shelter protocols.
Lu Xin watched the unfolding scenes on the street, finding a strange sense of satisfaction within.
This tension amidst chaos, he thought, possessed its own unique kind of order. Its own kind of beauty.
……
“Lone Soldier, do you read…”
“Lone Soldier…”
“Lu Xin! Immediately observe the Quarantine Zone and report your findings…”
Only when Chen Jing’s forceful voice crackled through the comms channel did Lu Xin snap back to attention.
Panic instantly flared inside him:
Seems the Director is really anxious… she even used my real name…
“Understood.”
He responded promptly and turned his gaze toward the Quarantine Zone, forcing himself to remain calm and meticulous:
“I see aberrant Psychic Entities manifesting on these Mutants. However, these Psychic Entities appear extremely weak. Initial estimates place their Psychic Magnitude at only several tens, possibly even lower. But when a Mutant carrying such an entity is killed—or falls to their death—the entity doesn’t vanish. Instead, they merge together.”
“The merging happens rapidly. Their Psychic Energy combines and accumulates, and I observe no apparent upper limit.”
“Also, without me stating it, you likely noticed the connection between these Mutants and the Psychic Entity near the Hotel.”
“That entity exerts a powerful pull on them, driving them to charge toward it recklessly.”
……
“So, killing these Mutants accelerates the emergence of the larger entity?”
Chen Jing’s voice crackled through the channel: “Blockade units, minimize lethal force. Try Tranquilizer Darts or Special Bullets.”
“How is the Information Analysis Team proceeding?”
……
In an Office connected to the channel, dozens of staff in indigo uniforms—mostly women—hammered away at keyboards, rapidly collating data. Many weren’t even in uniform but casual clothes.
Voices cut through the clatter: “Preliminary interrogation transcript of the Maritime Nation’s Old Captain received. File in Folder One.”
“True Homeland related data from Satellite City No. 4 retrieved.”
“Special Dispatch Team investigation report transmitted.”
“Lone Soldier Ability User observation report near temporary Quarantine Zone compiled and transmitted.”
“Professor Bai’s analysis report transmitted. Instant review required.”
……
“This is sudden; we know too little about the Maritime Nation’s S-class Ability User. Focusing on True Homeland might yield faster insights…”
“Our immediate task is to understand what True Homeland actually is?”
“What connection does it have with these Ability Users?”
The screens linked to the Information Analysis Team cycled through feeds of several Special Clean-up Department Researchers. Someone, having quickly scanned the reports, offered analysis: “Following the collapse of the True Homeland cult in Satellite City No. 4, interrogations and deep investigations into their members have continued. The critical question remains: How did the Preacher emerge?”
“Their Ability User could allegedly command two Psychic Entities to spread his doctrines and harm others. Yet, the report submitted by Lone Soldier states this user’s personal Abilities couldn’t create entities from nothing. So, where did those two Monsters originate?”
……
“An earlier hypothesis postulated that the appearance and disappearance of those entities defy known principles. Could another reality truly exist—a world these entities are summoned from?”
“Nonsense! What other world? Is this science or fiction?” someone else snapped.
“… Then perhaps his Ability is to create Psychic Entities?”
……
“Professor Bai’s feed is live.”
A screen on the wall flickered, resolving into Professor Bai’s image. He seemed still inside an underground train. Beside him, the shape of Mr. Su was visible, cursing loudly and slamming the table repeatedly.
Professor Bai frowned, visibly maintaining his focus despite the commotion. “I’ve heard your speculations. I believe there are inaccuracies.”
“The Ability to create Psychic Entities does exist,” he stated. “However, those capable, display extremely high personal Psychic Magnitude—at minimum above one thousand. Furthermore, entities they create struggle to manifest very far from them, especially not pre-existing weeks in advance.”
“And this S-class Ability User from the Maritime Nation,” he continued, “his initial Psychic Magnitude readings were not exceptionally high. He does not meet the criteria required for creating Psychic Entities.”
……
Saying this, Professor Bai also curled his knuckle and tapped his own brow.
“The opposite is more compelling to me: the approach from the other world seems intriguing. Yet, I don’t believe it to be an actual world.”
“This other world is merely a metaphysical concept!”
“Our previous investigation into the mysterious organization in Satellite City No. 4 revealed one of the two Preachers they commanded possessed an ability to stir negative emotions—akin to an innate instinct. Could it be possible that they originate from the depths of these emotions themselves?”
“The so-called ‘True Homeland’ might actually be a spiritual world. Similar to… the Collective Subconscious Ocean?”
……
The Information Analysis Department fell into a tension-filled silence.
The only sounds interrupting it were the rustling of pens on paper or the flipping through documents.
Professor Chen was the first to react. “Extending that logic, does that mean this S-Class Ability User’s ability is… summoning?”
“All these Psychic Entities were summoned by him?”
“Just as Phantom-type Ability Users can inhabit different people’s minds without a physical form, perhaps there are also Psychic Entities that dwell within humanity’s spiritual realm—somewhere deeper.”
“Is this the place the S-Class Ability User accesses?”
As he spoke, he expertly twirled his pen like a flower, displaying dexterity rivalling even Spider-Type ability users, before drawing a rapid conclusion:
“Combining this phenomenon with our prior investigations into the True Homeland, and the anomalies observed in Mutants linked to rituals like wish-granting and curse-related transformations, can we propose this hypothesis:”
“This Maritime Nation S-Class Ability User—or rather, all Ability Users connected to the ‘True Homeland’—”
“Is their ability using themselves to create a fissure?”
“The exact destination of this fissure remains unknown, but it can be confirmed that where it connects, Psychic Entities already exist.”
“Absolutely not just one Psychic Entity lives there, so the contamination logic itself shouldn’t have a single pattern.”
……
Many in the room nodded collectively. If not creation, then summoning was the alternative.
An ability enabling the summoning of such numerous Psychic Entities would indeed warrant an S-Class rating.
“It’s not that straightforward.”
Professor Bai shook his head again. “If it were merely summoning, these Psychic Entities should be driven by him to target different objectives. Why do all observed entities collectively exhibit the sole characteristic of drawing near to him?”
“Furthermore, we must note a critical problem: this S-Class Ability User is already deceased.”
“That is to say, nothing currently unfolding is under his conscious control. A dead summoner cannot influence Psychic Entities.”
“Thirdly, if they were summoned by him, his Psychic Magnitude should have correspondingly diminished, not increased.”
……
The hypothesis that felt closest to the truth being refuted inevitably instilled a sense of defeat among the department staff.
Nevertheless, they rallied their focus, suppressed their inner unease, and pressed on with their analysis and summary.
“The conclusion that these Psychic Entities originate from something akin to the Collective Subconscious Ocean may be tentatively retained…”
“The possibility that the Psychic Entities were summoned by the S-Class Ability User is temporarily excluded…”
“Then, where do these Psychic Entities come from? And what is their connection to the Maritime Nation Ability User?”
……
“There is another possibility.”
Professor Bai’s voice now came from the screen. “Perhaps there is no direct link between the Psychic Entities emerging from the Mutants within the city and that Maritime Nation S-Class Ability User. It might be a distinct mode of attack. The Maritime Nation potentially possesses partial knowledge on how to manipulate Psychic Entities associated with the ‘True Homeland’ and is employing them to assault Qinggang City.”
“The previous incidents involving wish-granting and curses might very well have been intended to point the Psychic Entities in a direction…”
“…Alternatively understood, the wishes and curses were bait, luring these Psychic Entities here.”
“…Much like scattering bait on the water’s surface to attract fish from the depths below.”
……
As he continued, his speech quickened and his reasoning solidified: “Then comes the role of this Maritime Nation S-Class Ability User. These lured Psychic Entities only created a host of Mutants; they hadn’t truly manifested physically in the city. But when this S-Class Ability User activated his ability through his own death, it precipitated the emergence of these entities.”
“It’s akin to the school of fish beneath the sea collectively breaching the surface.”
“Once Psychic Entities scattered among the populace physically emerge, they will utterly transform our Qinggang City into a Ghost Domain!”
“And amidst this chaos, this S-Class Ability User could achieve infinite augmentation of his own Psychic Magnitude…”
“…It was a two-pronged operational plan, each element coordinated and mutually concealing!”
……
Hearing Professor Bai’s analysis, everyone momentarily froze.
Immediately afterwards, some began to mentally retrace his Logic Chain, while others sought further evidence for alignment.
Researchers since the Crimson Moon had long accepted a principle: no matter how outlandish a conjecture might seem, if it could be woven into a coherent Logic Chain that corresponded with all collected data and phenomena, then that conjecture represented the truth.
…
“You have five minutes to verify this and provide cleanup guidance.”
Mr. Su leaned into the screen, nudging Professor Bai aside. His expression remained grave but no longer bore signs of anger; he had returned to his usual composure. “At this moment, Ability Users and members of the Task Force across all sectors await your findings.”