Chapter 278 The Nest
Sunset Hill.
One hour after entering the testing area.
Sheen burned all the mutated species she encountered along the way—a truly diverse array, including not only humanoids but also some very familiar monsters that only existed in movies and TV shows—such as a man wearing a rubber mask who could rise again no matter how many times he died. In the end, she could only unleash her full potential and burn that bastard to ashes. She didn't know if he would come back to life, but at least she was safe for now.
Directly ahead was a half-open door, through which they could see a downward staircase. They had been walking for over an hour and were still in the testing area, and they still needed to follow the coordinates to the basement level.
"Keep going until you reach the bottom, then you've passed the test. It's very simple."
Bell started talking incoherently again.
It's unclear what happened on this floor, but the scene on both sides, though not as dark as the upper floor, is even more dilapidated, resembling the ruins of some battlefield. The objects that serve as "walls" now possess a strangely eerie texture—like a human figure, with clearly visible shapes of bones, muscles, internal organs, blood vessels, and skin.
Belle was clearly not here for the first time. She walked along the human wall, with Sheen following closely behind without any questions—just like every expedition mission. No matter how terrifying the place was, she seemed to have no sense of danger and could rush in without any hesitation.
This staircase is very long, covered with dried blood and occasionally streaks of flesh, probably from different kinds of monsters. These traces increase as you go down, indicating that they are the owners of the testing ground.
"ah……"
“I can even sense that the fragments of the laws of destiny are within them.”
“It’s different from last time, very different; it’s become much more unstable.”
"This testing ground, a veritable nightmare, has evolved once again."
Bell walked ahead as if possessed, but less than two minutes later, the human walls on both sides widened. Then, something like a congealed substance, as if thrown into a pool of cement, began to crawl out from the gaps.
They were very small, and looked no different from newborn babies, but each one was unusually grotesque, as if they had been skinned alive, covered with deformed claws, and hunched over, clearly starving.
Before she could recover from her delusions, Sheen suddenly stepped forward, grabbed the thing's head, and slammed it to the ground.
She did it as if she were smashing some cheap glass object, which would have died almost instantly, so fragile. She stomped on their necks, then set the still-twisting remains on fire, and instantly the entire floor was filled with the smell of burnt meat.
Bell remained in that absent-minded, dazed state, her expression as if she were listening intently to sounds coming from afar. Sheen leaned closer and heard her whisper, "I know you're all very reluctant... We're all poor souls who can't find peace even in death, but there's nothing we can do. No operative can find peace in a world like this. Of course I know, and I understand everything."
She moved slowly through the wall of people, as if sleepwalking.
"It's just different memory points. Before I died, I heard what they were saying, and I know why you were trapped in the cycle of reincarnation, but it's normal for me to be eaten by them. That's how people who can live on Sunset Hill are... After all, this is a bloody and disgusting experimental test. My dear friend, you will rest in peace. Everyone wants to pursue an equal death."
“I won’t help you. I only intervened in their attack because that person was too powerful. It’s none of my business who wants to build a false utopia. But there are always people who want to survive. His decision was too dangerous, but thankfully the process of absorbing souls didn’t go too smoothly… The reason Sunset Hill became like this is because he committed too many sins.”
Sheen then realized that Bell might be talking about Li Lin.
Before they awoke, this B01 had endured a terrible war, and was probably completely dead—but now, in what state have they been resurrected, like the deformed monsters struggling within this wall of bones—they want to "regain their human form," so being awakened is the inevitable end on this path.
The despair and darkness of humanity in this insane world are mixed together, and it's truly disgusting.
Sheen was still dealing with the monsters that kept rushing in from the gaps, while Bell was still chatting aimlessly in front of him.
"That's right, everyone in the Mirror of Eternal Dreams faces this choice—to be sent to Sunset Hill and become a defective product behind the wall."
"But someone always has to play a great role, so this girl came back to the testing area with me and found their hiding place. We'll end everything and escape. What a great story! The indomitable humans defeat the monsters of our nightmares... I'm just a naive idiot. I've always thought this way since I was a child. I'm not willing to become a monster like them."
Then the topic inexplicably turned to how Bell Hera became an operative and how she rose all the way to B01. She continued, "I know you want to be like me, even if it's just occasional lucidity... You've always been like that, but I don't want to."
"So I locked you all up."
These words sent chills down Sheen's spine.
This madman once controlled all the mutants that appeared in this death test, and then extracted them to begin a dictatorship from a human perspective.
Those unfortunate souls who fell into the swamp became what human brains could hardly imagine, while Bel Hera stood behind the darker curtain and began her critique.
“You’re worthless, you have nothing. Only I can get you out of here. Think about what you’ve given Eoubs? Nothing, right?” she said. “I know, I know you’re frustrated and regretful, but that’s how people like you are, always feeling sorry for the past. But don’t be too sad. This terrifying state is just a transitional phase before a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. Maybe that Li Lin really can help everyone achieve transcendence. Just consider it part of the pain of metamorphosis.”
She was naturally disgusted by the current form of these monsters, Sheen thought; this person was cut out for this line of work. To such people, all suffering was the same; everything they endured was simply a process of evolution.
At this moment, these degraded creatures stopped attacking, seemingly realizing how troublesome their opponents were, so they all hid in the shackles constructed by the human wall. But then, something else began to appear on the field.
"Damn it... when will this ever end?"
"I really don't know what those people on the other side are doing."
yes.
What is He Yu doing now?
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