Life Dungeon Game

In reality, this manifests as a shiver running through the soul in those being watched by He Ao, a brief period of loss of complete control over their bodies, and a series of stress responses.

Of course, theoretically, if Heo stares at that person for too long, that person might be corrupted by those 'whispers' and eventually go mad.

In other words, He Ao could kill someone simply by staring at them.

However, even the souls of ordinary people have a certain degree of order, and it is actually very difficult to introduce pollution into their bodies by relying on 'spirit spying', which would take a long time.

The 'Hidden Observer' with a high-level talent sequence might be able to achieve the feat of killing anyone they glare at, but it's quite difficult for a C-level 'Hidden Observer' to do so.

Therefore, in actual combat, its main function is to influence the opponent's soul, thereby causing the opponent to make mistakes in their actions.

In fact, these two abilities emerged during the promotion process, and He Ao had been subconsciously using them all along, but they only stabilized now that the promotion was fully completed.

Of course, strictly speaking, this was not a normal 'promotion'.

Ilo himself is not a superhuman. The talent sequence 'Hidden Observer' should come from the 'wooden plaque' that Ilo's father brought back, which seemed to be engraved with the wizard's emblem 'Eye of Truth'.

That wooden plaque should be a supernatural object with no apparent divine power, and after the accident, for some reason, Ilo activated the supernatural power inside, which led to the fusion of the wooden plaque and Ilo.

In fact, the ultimate fate of directly fusing high-level extraordinary items by bypassing the prerequisite talent sequence is basically either death or becoming a monster.

Only a very few lucky ones manage to survive, but they are left on the verge of madness.

Many extraordinary beings in the main world

Promotion seems to be like this: you are attracted to the ruins and eat the remains of high-ranking extraordinary beings. If you succeed, you are promoted; if you die, you die.

Perhaps this special 'wooden plaque' is the method that wizards came up with to 'inherit the extraordinary' during the Great Cataclysm, when there was no talent sequence periodic table, or even knowledge of talent sequence advancement.

If you can get through it, you'll live, congratulations on becoming a superhuman. If you can't, then it's the next one.

But why Yiluo? Was it purely by chance?

Ilo himself seems to have a very high 'compatibility' with the 'Hidden Observer' talent sequence, and can even borrow the power of 'Hidden Observer' to a certain extent without being corrupted. Perhaps the power of 'Hidden Observer' also has an influence on the maintenance of his life.

However, as an ordinary person, he could not withstand the pollution brought by the Hidden Observer. This talent sequence that can 'peek into the truth' brings far more pollution than other C-level talent sequences.

However, he may not die directly. Judging from his affinity, if he fully accepts the power of the 'Hidden Observer', he is very likely to become a monster that can 'peek into the truth'.

If He Ao hadn't come, this seems to be how the 'script' would have gone.

Of course, there is another possibility: that Ilo obtained the wooden tablet and merged with the talent sequence within it, and all of this was just a coincidence.

He leaned back in the driver's seat, folded up the hamburger wrapper he had finished eating, and put it in the car's trash can.

He used his 'spiritual vision' to glance at the dense, distorted patterns in the city sky.

The vortex beneath the city seemed to be even more chaotic than he had anticipated.

The subtle pain did not completely disappear after the promotion ended; it still lingered around his body, whispering in his ears.

Strictly speaking, he would have gone mad long ago if he hadn't had some tolerance for pollution and pain.

The SUV continued driving between the factory buildings, and soon, clean and tidy streets appeared at the end of He Ao's vision.

Because of its vertical, elongated shape, crossing the Novette district doesn't take much time.

The cloud area is just ahead.

Unlike the overall somber gray and white Novette district, the Cloud District features buildings with many vibrant colors and streamlined designs, making them quite aesthetically pleasing.

In addition, the roads in the Cloud District are much smoother than those in the Novette District, and the sides are lined with ornamental trees whose branches are weighed down by snow.

The roads between the two areas are not blocked by any means, yet it is as if an invisible wall clearly separates the two areas.

The SUV drove onto the clean road and headed north along the navigation route. Soon, a magnificent and towering building came into He Ao's view.

The building's front face is a raised, curved surface, while the back face is vertical. Among the other buildings that are relatively short, it stands out like a towering cliff at the very tip of the inverted pyramid of Winter.

He Ao's gaze returned to the magnificent high-rise building as the SUV drove past the building's curved facade.

In front of the United Industries Building is a wide plaza, with a huge circular fountain in the center.

Clear water droplets continuously gush forth from the center of the fountain, like flowing wealth, gathering in the pool below the building.

After passing the United Industrial Building, there was a spacious park. He parked the SUV in a parking lot near the park, then got out of the car and walked into the park.

Many people wearing down jackets were strolling in the park, and the snow-covered trees created a beautiful winter scene.

He Ao did not linger in front of this beautiful scene, but quickly crossed the park and arrived at the deep, secluded part of the woods.

A lush, evergreen grove of trees, resembling pine trees, came into He Ao's view.

Behind these trees are rows of 'villas' hidden among them.

This was the final destination of his journey: Songlin Street.

It's just past afternoon, and there's still some time before 7 p.m., so He Ao can take the opportunity to retrieve his 'coffin lid' and harpoon.

He now has a spacious SUV that can fit all these things.

He glanced at the road ahead and slowly walked forward along the street.

Songlin Street is very long. He Ao walked for about a kilometer before he could vaguely see a tightly closed double iron gate. The sign next to the iron gate reads "[No. 2 Songlin Street]".

However, he did not walk over immediately, but looked at the other side of the big iron gate.

A small guard post stood in front of the villa opposite the large iron gate. Two people who appeared to be security guards were standing in the guard post, but their eyes were not on the villa behind their guard post. Instead, they were staring intently at the large iron gate of No. 2 Songlin Street.

He Ao's gaze swept across the outside of the guard post. At the very top of the guard post, a miniature, hidden electronic camera was hanging on the outer wall, pointed at the large iron gate.

This guard post doesn't seem to be there to protect the safety of the villa owner behind it, but rather to monitor the people living at No. 2 Songlin Street.

He Ao raised his wristband and glanced at the location that Vili had sent him not long ago.

The location is not at the main entrance of the villa facing Songlin Street, but at the back of the villa, in a small alley some distance away.

His footsteps were concealed under the thick ornamental trees, and he turned into a side alley before entering the range of the surveillance cameras.

The alley was completely enclosed by the walls of villas on both sides. He Ao walked quite a distance before arriving at the location marked in the GPS.

There are no doors here, only two towering walls.

After a brief moment of thought, He Ao squatted down and glanced at his feet.

The alleyway appears to be rarely visited and has not been maintained for a long time, looking quite old.

He Ao placed his hand on the ground in front of him and tapped it lightly, a faint hollow sound echoing in the alleyway.

After a brief pause, Heo raised his bracelet and sent a message to Veri: [I've arrived]

The other end quickly replied: [Please wait]

Then, after a few minutes, with a soft 'click', the ground in front of He Ao was slowly lifted by mechanical struts, revealing a deep, downward staircase.

A figure was standing on the steps; it was Carrie, whom He Ao had seen before.

She was wearing a black and white maid outfit with a unique design.

He walked up the steps, looked around, then looked at He Ao and said quickly, "This way."

He Ao nodded slightly and followed her, stepping onto the stairs.

The opened passage slowly closed.

Below the stairs was a long, brightly lit corridor. Carrie led the way, with Heo following behind her, walking briskly along the corridor.

"This is the escape route prepared by the old owner,"

As Carrie walked forward, she explained to He Ao, "Now Miss is using it as the passageway in and out of the villa."

He Ao reached out and touched the wall of the passage. The wall was very hard and seemed to have been specially thickened and reinforced. There were some small closed doors on both sides of the passage, with signs such as 'Warehouse 1' and 'Warehouse 2' in front of them.

It seems that this passageway, in addition to serving as an escape route, could also function as some kind of underground shelter.

After walking along this passage for about five or six hundred meters, a new staircase appeared in front of He Ao.

Carrie reached out and pressed a switch next to the stairs. With a crisp sound, something at the end of the stairs seemed to slowly turn on, and bright light shone down from above.

Carrie stepped aside and gestured for Heo to proceed.

He lifted his foot and climbed the steps.

Soon, the view above the stairs gradually came into He Ao's view.

This is a hall filled with gentle light. The entire hall is shaped like a 'deep well', with a height of about twenty meters. The surrounding walls are curved, and a huge crystal chandelier hangs from the center of the hall, emitting a warm glow.

A series of solid wood, curved bookshelves lined the curved walls, surrounding the entire hall and reaching the ceiling. Countless books were densely packed on these bookshelves, forming a tower of books that surrounded He Ao.

Among these books, some oil paintings are also hung as decorations.

He Ao sensed something and looked up at the highest point of the entire 'Book Tower'. There, in the place where the distorted patterns in the void were most dense, there was a frosted glass cabinet. Inside the cabinet, there seemed to be an exquisite oil painting, but its contents were hidden by the frosted glass.

However, in He Ao's 'spiritual vision', the 'image' of the oil painting was clearly presented through the 'frosted glass cabinet'.

At the very center of the painting, an old man with a weathered face kneels on the ground, bowing his head in prayer, while bright light shines down from the sky, evenly covering his body.

The old man looks frail and near death, but the painting depicts him as if he were an infant. The entire oil painting exudes a distorted and grotesque sense of 'sanctity'.

He Ao shifted his gaze downwards, and below the painting, a small note noted the painting's name.

"Baptism"

A gentle female voice sounded in his ear. Veri stood beside him, also looking up at the frosted glass cabinet displaying the oil paintings.

"My father said that he bought this oil painting from an antique dealer, and it seems to be the work of a great painter from the early days of the Federation."

"However, he didn't let any of our family members see the painting; the first thing he saw after buying it..."

Time then covered the painting with a frosted glass case and hung it in the highest place.

She looked at He Ao's deep gaze with some doubt, "Is there something wrong with this painting?"

In her memory, although He Ao looked young, he seemed to be a powerful superhuman who knew a lot about the occult.

"No problem,"

He Ao withdrew his gaze. "He was right not to let you see the painting."

The 'eerie' aspect of this painting likely stems from its content rather than the painting itself. As long as ordinary people cannot see the painting inside, they will not be affected by it.

However, what puzzled He Ao was that although the painting itself did possess a certain mystical quality, the manifestation of that mystical quality was not particularly strong.

It doesn't seem to fit the 'position' that is shrouded in 'distorted patterns'.

"You look young, but sometimes you talk like an old man,"

Veri seemed lost in some kind of memory, and said softly, "My father always told me not to be curious and not to look at this painting."