Chapter 77 The Enemy's Shadow Emerges 3

Lu Youxun was always kind and friendly, with a graceful demeanor, as if he never got angry. Therefore, when Zhu Shi told me about his tragic experience of being captured, imprisoned, and studied by an underground organization, I found it hard to reconcile that with the real Lu Youxun. He seemed like someone who had always had a smooth and successful life, with a stable life that matched his stable emotions.

At this moment, however, he displayed unprecedented hatred and rage. Veins bulged on his forehead, his expression was ferocious and bloodshot, and his eyes were filled with veins—he was practically a different person. If the man in the silver mask in the photo appeared in front of him, I have no doubt that he would pounce on him like a demon, biting off his face and tearing his flesh apart.

"What is the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau?" Although I was asking Lu Youxun the question, I had already made the connection.

Zhu Shi glanced at Lu Youxun, who was completely absorbed in his own world, and seemed to hesitate whether to explain to me in front of Lu Youxun.

The latter gasped for breath, seemingly trying to calm his anger, and then said, "That's a mysterious organization that operates outside the order of Luoshan. They capture civilian cultivators across the country by any means necessary... civilian demon hunters, even Luoshan demon hunters, all in order to use scientific technology to analyze the power of demon hunters."

"The purpose of this behavior is to create extraordinary warriors who are completely obedient to the management of mortal society and completely subservient to mortal leaders."

"Luoshan is destined to become the ruler of secular society in the future, but they cannot recognize this destined future. They are a group of madmen who walk against the tide of the times."

It seems that the Humanitarian Affairs Department was the underground organization that once captured, imprisoned, and studied Lu Youxun.

Lu Youxun's words had a very clear bias, which I selectively accepted and digested, and then continued to ask: "Is the creator of the monster someone from the Humanitarian Affairs Department?"

“Yes. I had contact with Silver Mask before, the creator of this monster. I would recognize him even if he turned to ashes.” Lu Youxun said, still angry. “I see. The person who creates monsters, and the seed of the heart that turns ordinary people into monsters… This does seem like something the Humanitarian Department would do.”

The strange creature appears to be a product created by the mysterious organization "Humanitarian Affairs".

At the same time, the strange man is likely related to the karmic demons that appeared in the apocalypse.

However, according to Asaho, the Karma Demons are not created through human modification, but rather are produced by a mysterious substance called "Madness" that spread throughout the post-apocalyptic world and corrupts survivors...

Could it be that "madness" is also related to that mysterious organization called the Humanitarian Division?

The "madness" that can invade the human body, gradually causing people to lose their memory and sense of self, and eventually turn them into monsters, sounds like a "highly contagious virus," which makes me think of many apocalyptic horror movies.

In those movies, terrifying viruses capable of turning humans into zombies or other monsters suddenly spread throughout the world, ultimately leading to the destruction of human civilization. The emergence of such viruses is sometimes linked to conspiracy theories, portrayed as "forbidden creations accidentally generated by certain large organizations in order to develop biological weapons or research immortality technology."

Continuing to extrapolate from this idea, it's not difficult to arrive at the conclusion that "the Humanitarian Affairs Department is the direct driving force behind the apocalypse."

But is it really that simple? In Asahi's depiction of the apocalypse, madness seems to be merely a supporting character. Rather than the primary cause of the apocalypse, it's more accurate to say it's one of the many bizarre hordes ravaging the post-apocalyptic world. Just as many viewers of apocalyptic movies believe that even if a zombie virus were to appear, it wouldn't be able to destroy human civilization, I also find it hard to believe that madness alone could bring human civilization to its end.

Lu Youxun seemed to have finally regained his composure and demeanor. His breathing became steady, and he asked the head in front of him again: "Where is the creator of the monster?"

The head, seemingly stunned by the other party's earlier outburst, honestly replied, "I don't know."

"You must have used some kind of consumable item to pull us into the maze space. Did the monster creator give you that item?" Zhu Shi asked.

“Yes,” the head replied.

"Why did he give you that prop? Don't tell me it was just for you to use in self-defense," Zhu Shi asked.

The head gave an unexpected answer: "It's to deal with a man named 'Konda'."

"Detective Kong?" Zhu Shi asked in surprise.

Lu Youxun pressed further: "Isn't Kong Da just like you, a monster transformed by the Monster Creator? Why did the Monster Creator order you to deal with him?"

"Because Kongda has recently reached the limit of his power, the monster creator hopes that he can break through to the next stage," the head replied. "And for a monster to break through to the next stage, it must sublimate its soul."

"Although this kind of sublimation can be forcibly achieved by devouring a large number of souls, the creator of the monster hopes that Kongda can sublimate his soul by breaking through his own inner demons. Therefore, a week ago, he gave me a one-time key to the maze space and asked me to find an opportunity to lock Kongda inside recently."

"The condition set by the creator of the monster for clearing the labyrinth space is 'to break through from the dwelling level to the adult level.' Although I don't know what the labyrinth space has to do with Kongda's inner demons, unless Kongda can meet the condition, he will definitely starve to death inside."

"I just didn't expect that before I could even go looking for him, he would disappear without a trace. Since you all knew he was a weirdo, that means he was killed by you, right..."

"What is a maze space?" Lu Youxun asked us.

Zhu Shi explained it to him, and after listening, he pondered for a moment before letting out a long sigh: "So that's how it is. So I wasn't able to truly save him back then... Until the moment of his death, his mind was trapped in the ghostly maze of twenty years ago..."

After thinking for a moment, I asked the head, "I don't quite understand. Don't you weirdos also summon clones from shadows? As long as you summon enough clones in the maze, can't you ignore the conditions for clearing the level and force your way out?"

“That labyrinthine space only considers individuals with spirit and perception as its center. The clones we summon, while possessing a certain degree of intelligence, lack true spirit, and we have no way to share our senses with them,” the head replied. “Konda should be a slight exception. The monster creator told me that Konda’s ability is ‘creating clones.’ He can temporarily transfer his heart seed to others, turning them into clones under his control and sharing their senses.”

"However, he can only control one clone at a time, and to cause the labyrinth space to overload and collapse, at least two thousand sentient individuals would be needed scattered throughout it. We monsters can only summon no more than ten clones at a time, and I am a special case, only able to summon a few dozen at a time. The number two thousand is simply unattainable for us monsters."

"There's another, albeit not a method, way to break through the labyrinth's space: unleash a massive burst of firepower from within, at least on the scale of the gas explosion that recently occurred near Saltwater University. This would temporarily create a breach in the labyrinth's space. But that's still far beyond the capabilities of freaks like us..."

It turns out that the maze space could be solved by brute force.

I even put my mind to it.

"Agent Kong can temporarily relinquish his source of power?" Zhu Shi suddenly realized. "No wonder I couldn't tell he was a weirdo, even though he was always hanging around in front of me."

For some unknown reason, Lu Youxun's expression darkened: "You weirdos can summon clones from shadows... Come to think of it, I have indeed seen this in the data..."

"There must be other strange people in this city, right?" I asked, pointing at the head. "Besides you and the dead Detective Kong, how many others are there?"

“Only one person,” the head replied.

"What is his real identity? Where is he located?" I asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve only been a monster for ten days. Although I’ve had contact with another monster, I don’t know his true identity. I only found out about Kongda’s true identity from the monster creator. Before that, I had never even met Kongda once,” the head said. “I only know that the other monster probably lives in the new district. I don’t know much else.”

The one who attacked Chang'an must have been the other strange person he mentioned.

If I want to find Ma Zao, I must take this as my next direction.

Upon hearing that he had only been called an oddball for ten days, Lu Youxun seemed to realize something else: "So, the oddball who has been hunting down local dignitaries in the last two months is not you, but that other oddball?"

"Yes," the head replied.

“That’s strange. We’re tracking down this eccentric man who’s been hunting down local dignitaries, which is why we’ve ended up here,” Lu Youxun pondered. “I even used divination techniques. You should at least have a significant causal relationship with this series of events…”

He pulled out photos of two recent murder scenes from his pocket and showed them to the head: "Did you commit these two crimes?"

Two murder scenes were found. In one, an elderly person was murdered alone outdoors. In the other, a husband, wife, and son were murdered together.

The head's gaze was focused on the latter.

After a moment, he replied, "...I did the murder of that family of three, but not the other one."

"Is that so..." Lu Youxun seemed to still have doubts, but he didn't ask them and just pondered silently.

Zhu Shi stared intently at the head, his voice serious as he asked, "Did you willingly become a monster? Or were you forced to by the monster's creator?"

“It was my own choice,” the head said.

Zhu Shi asked again, "Did he tell you beforehand that after becoming a monster, he would crave to devour human souls?"

“He did say that.” The head said frankly, “He even told me that if I didn’t kill anyone or devour souls for a long time, I would go berserk and become a monster that only knows how to gorge on souls. And if I didn’t want to become a monster, he would turn around and leave.”

"And then you just agreed to it?" Zhu Shi asked, bewildered.

"What else? This is a golden opportunity!" As the head spoke, it seemed to recall the emotions of that time, and its voice became impassioned. "To become a being beyond human—to become Superman! How could we miss such a good opportunity? We absolutely cannot miss it!"

"I am now a being that transcends all living beings. If I were to travel back to ancient times, I could even tell those ignorant mortals that I am a god descended to earth, and those mortals—they should all obey me, worship me, and become my slaves!"

(End of this chapter)