Strange game designer.

Chapter 768 An Embryo Growing in the Dark
“Are you sure this is something we can handle?” Gao Ming pointed to the still-expanding, deformed creature. “It seems to have twisted together all the lives that have been destroyed in the city.”

“If I can’t handle it, you’re still here, aren’t you?” Ci Nian glanced at Gao Ming’s clothes: “The famous White-browed Marquis of Wansheng is working for you. You can’t subdue that vicious tiger without extraordinary abilities.”

"Why do I feel like you're playing tricks on me?" Gao Ming walked towards the cakes scattered all over the platform. Many of the cakes were smashed before they could even be eaten, but most of them had cards with wishes written on them. These "ghost wishes" probably infiltrated the memories of those who were desperate, giving them hope and transforming into the person they wanted to see or the thing they couldn't bear to harm, thus gaining entry into forbidden areas.

Cakes were scattered all over the platform, and An Luan's body was covered with dense wish patterns, indicating that the ghost wish also wanted to seize An Luan's will.

"Now you're scared? What were you doing all this time?" Ci Nian thought Gao Ming was running away, so she climbed onto the priest's back and instructed him to chase after Gao Ming. "I'm not mocking you. If you want to leave, you really need to put in some effort. When we first arrived at the refugee camp, I saw Bai E Hou give you a bottle with ears painted on it. It's a forbidden item that's not allowed in this dark city. It's a necessary offering to dispel the darkness, and the Tzu Chi Foundation has been secretly collecting them."

"Does the Tzu Chi Foundation have other bottles?"

"To put it bluntly, the Tzu Chi Foundation is just a tool used by the municipal council to fool the public. Under the guise of saving the world, even if they find the forbidden bottle, they will secretly hand it over to the municipal council in exchange for more support." Ci Nian only dared to be unrestrained in the forbidden zone. Although he was just a child, his eyes had seen too much filth and darkness.

"The 'god' in the First Forbidden Zone has departed. This hideous monster only devours miserable lives based on instinct, breeding purer darkness. It has no self-awareness, so you can try sending the forbidden bottle into that twisted darkness. To us, the voice within the bottle symbolizes beauty and can heal wounds of the heart, but to the monster in the darkness, it is a gentle poison." Ci Nian was very confident: "With good luck, we can dispel a lot of darkness at once, weaken the Forbidden Zone, and buy us time to find an exit."

Looking at the cakes scattered in the corner, Gao Ming thought it was a pretty good idea: "What do I need to do?"

“I will show you a safe path from the outside so that you can go deep into that twisted monster’s body. Once you find its core, open the sealed bottle and release all the sounds sealed inside.”

“It sounds simple, but…” Gao Ming grabbed Ci Nian and pulled her to his side, as if he were holding a neighbor’s child: “You’re coming in with me. I promised Councilor Ci I would protect you.”

“I need to look at it from a holistic perspective!” Ci Nian struggled desperately, refuting him with a resounding voice.

With one hand, Gao Ming drew a black gun and pointed it at Ci Nian's head: "Come in with me, and I'll get you out of here safely."

Gao Ming was just testing the waters. If Ci Nian persisted, it meant Ci Nian wasn't lying, and he truly needed Ci Nian to be his eyes now.

With the cold muzzle of a gun pressed against his head, Ci Nian's mouth was open, but he couldn't speak. Sweat dripped from his eyebrows onto his priest's robes.

“Alright, I’ll go in with you.” Ci Nian was quick to back down. He left the priest carrying the explosives behind and ran with Gao Ming in the direction An Luan had been dragged away.

In the dense darkness, Gao Ming couldn't see anything without activating the restricted area's perspective, but Ci Nian remained unaffected. He and Gao Ming first found an abandoned track, then crawled into a long tunnel, traveling through different abandoned trains.

Upside down, left and right, these trains seem to be intertwined like chains. Each one has a different interior; some are covered in terrible graffiti, some have broken flowerpots scattered on the floor, and some have been converted into hospital wards. These trains represent the failed lives of countless citizens. They are abandoned here because their owners have long since given up on themselves, willingly becoming part of the monsters.

"It was a dreamlike experience."

The train twisted and contorted, and with each step, he entered a completely different life. With compassion guiding him, Gao Ming didn't need to think too much. He even had time to plan how to use the Dream Demon's abilities to replicate this place.

Different trains exude different scents; some have long since decayed, while others reek of cheap perfume. But when Gao Ming steps onto a different train for the eleventh time, only the smell of blood remains in the air.

The trains here have thick blood vessels growing inside them, and the carriages are engraved with various martial arts moves. "Tiger bone soup" made from scum and blood drips from the cracks in the windows.

"We're almost at the core. I've helped you avoid danger ten thousand times. Remember to repay me!" Ci Nian was really tired and could barely keep his eyes open, but in order to survive, he could only force Gao Ming to continue running between the trains.

Another ten minutes or so passed, and the blood and grime on the ground increased, and the stench of blood in the air became so strong that even Gao Ming could hardly bear it. Then they heard a "thump thump" sound.

"It's right in front!"

Deep within the darkness, at the core of the twisted and tangled train, a gigantic embryo was being conceived. Half of An Luan's body was fused into it, and the patterns on his body, formed from desires and the patterns of dark rules, took this opportunity to invade the embryo.

The two sides fought to the death, but as time went on, the dark rules gained the upper hand. Seeing that it was no match for its opponent, the wish pattern decisively returned to An Luan's body to clear away the influence of the dark rules and erase his painful memories. Even if it meant tearing An Luan's body apart, it was determined to take a part of his consciousness with it and escape from here.

Seeing this, Gao Ming could roughly understand that An Luan had probably repeated this process many times. He was possessed by Gui Yuan, and whenever Gui Yuan felt that it had accumulated enough power, it would come through An Luan to compete for the Dark Embryo. Once it was no match for the opponent, it would immediately take a part of An Luan's will and retreat.

"Could it be that the curse has befallen An Luan?"

It wasn't the mountain lord who possessed An Luan's body, but rather the soul of An Luan imprisoned in the forbidden zone by the municipal council hall. In terms of the hellish start, Gui Yuan seemed even worse off than Gao Ming.

"Now! Li Sansi! Open the forbidden object!" Ci Nian, unaware of the existence of the Ghost Wish, thought it was An Luan's own will fighting against the living thing in the darkness, and screamed to remind him.

The Blood City tattoo was activated, and Gao Ming emitted a faint aroma of meat. Now that things had come to this, he was no longer going to hide. His body shot out like an arrow, and the sudden increase in speed left Ci Nian no time to say what she was going to say. By the time she realized what was happening, she was already next to the Dark Embryo.

(End of this chapter)