The Decaying Dream of America: I Assemble Corpses and Confront Madness

Arthur's cold steel revolver pressed against Walter Lehman's neck, and the man's burly body ceased to struggle.

The pipes were filled with a mixture of gunpowder and blood, and the thick, sweet, fishy smell was even more intense.

Lina's body swayed precariously, her face flushed an unnatural, burning red.

Arthur quickly glanced around, his gaze sweeping over Lina's pale face.

The injured team members received basic treatment, with their wounds roughly bandaged with strips of torn cloth.

Walter Lehman and his team were tightly bound and gagged.

Arthur and several team members quickly removed their uniforms and identification documents, and made simple disguises.

The ill-fitting uniforms looked somewhat comical on them.

But at this moment, no one was in the mood to care about any of that.

Lina was breathing rapidly, struggling to stay upright, her eyes flashing with an unstable light.

The lingering effects of mental pollution made it difficult for her to concentrate.

She tried to calm herself, her fingertips trembling slightly as she attempted to reawaken the military-grade modified terminal of Lina in her hand.

The screen was filled with static; the wriggling memetic infection code seemed to have completely burned out the monitor.

Her lips moved, and a few dry whispers escaped her throat.

Arthur gently patted her shoulder, a light touch that conveyed a silent encouragement.

His eyes were unusually firm; having just experienced a desperate situation, his decision-making was even more decisive.

He gave the order to continue advancing in a low voice, his tone carrying an undeniable force.

Lina's eyes flickered, and she nodded slightly to indicate that she had heard the instruction.

"Signal has been cut off, and the distress call record has been altered to indicate equipment failure," Isabella's voice came through Arthur's wireless headset.

She spoke rapidly, with the efficiency and composure unique to secret agents.

This brief delay has already cost them a lot of valuable time.

Arthur knew they had to race against time; the company's response mechanism was far more efficient than he had imagined.

"The external backup access has been activated to prevent any unforeseen circumstances," Ava Sterling's voice rang in my ears.

Her voice remained calm, but the anxiety it contained was no longer so easily concealed.

She always anticipates the worst-case scenario in her planning.

This was a strategic choice, creating an "escape route" for them.

Arthur understood that the company's internal resources were being rapidly mobilized.

A higher level of security force may respond at any time.

The disappearance of Walter Lehman's team was enough to alarm some high-ranking officials.

They must speed things up.

Lina managed to keep up with the group, her steps somewhat unsteady.

Arthur caught a glimpse of her eyes, where the deep weariness and the pain of fighting against mental erosion were laid bare.

The Finch Laboratory is no longer just a technology hub.

It became a malevolent life form, each breath carrying an invisible threat.

The group passed through a corridor guarded by Walter Lehman.

The corridor is flanked by rough metal walls, and the ceiling is covered with a dense network of pipes and cables.

The air was still thick with the stench of blood.

The footsteps sounded exceptionally clear in the quiet corridor.

They pushed open a heavy metal door, the metal hinges making a screeching sound.

This door is thicker and heavier than any of the others on the outside.

Behind the door was a huge, empty experimental hall.

Inside the hall, the scene left all the team members stunned.

The expected heavily armed guards did not appear.

The number of guards here is eerily small, so small that it almost makes one think that everyone has already evacuated.

However, this emptiness did not bring relaxation.

On the contrary, an indescribable sense of pressure condensed in the air, intangible and formless.

This force weighed heavily on everyone's heart.

Deep within the hall, some ancient and malevolent entity seemed to be awakening, its very breath the oppressive atmosphere permeating the space. Every corner seemed to be occupied by invisible tentacles, ready to ensnare the intruder's mind at any moment. The air was no longer filled with just the stench of blood, but with a putrid, sweet scent carrying the chilling aura of death, seeping into the nostrils and stimulating the deepest alarm nerves of the brain.

The hall was exceptionally spacious.

Dozens of tall metal pillars surround the area, reaching all the way to the unseen top.

Each column's surface is inlaid with a complex optical array.

Those arrays are made up of countless tiny lenses and wires.

They are arranged in an irregular yet precise geometric shape.

They did not emit visible light, but a faint tremor could be felt.

This shockwave continued to oscillate in the air.

The eardrum trembled slightly, as if countless invisible needles were pulsating at the nerve endings.

They attempt to tear apart the senses, bringing an unbearable burden.

The shockwave didn't originate from sound, but acted directly deep within the skull, triggering a near-physiological panic. Vision began to blur, and hearing was disrupted by a persistent buzzing, as if one were inside a giant beehive. Each heartbeat seemed amplified by this force, echoing within the chest, leaving no escape. The team members gripped their weapons tightly, attempting to use the tangible coldness to combat the invisible erosion, yet their eyes betrayed undisguised exhaustion and vigilance. Every inch of this space screamed silently, trying to drag all intruders into an abyss of madness.

The entire hall was bathed in a faint green light.

The light comes from deep within the experimental table and instruments, not from lighting equipment.

Various precision instruments are scattered on the ground.

These instruments are made of shiny metal and transparent tubing.

An unknown and strangely colored liquid was flowing through the pipe.

The liquid shimmered with a faint luster.

They emitted a low hum, like the slow heartbeat of some enormous creature.

The sweet, fishy smell in the air was stronger than in the ventilation ducts.

This sweet, fishy smell was mixed with the odor of some kind of industrial chemical.

They create a nauseating stench.

Each breath became difficult, and my heart began to beat faster involuntarily.

The smell hits your nasal cavity, stimulating the most primal fears deep within your brain.

Lina's body trembled slightly.

She tried to restart Lina's military-grade modified terminal using Lina's data bracelet.

Her data bracelet emitted a faint blue light, but the screen remained blank.

Her face flushed even more, and her breathing became heavier.

Her eyes were filled with pain as she clutched her head tightly.

She felt something struggling inside her body.

The whispers gradually became clearer in her mind, no longer just noise, but the groans of countless twisted faces, the wails of those who had suffered greatly in life, or perhaps the whispers of some ancient evil god. They were like thousands of venomous snakes, coiling and tearing at every nerve in her body, trying to rip her consciousness apart completely. She saw the optical arrays on the metal pillars come alive, countless blood-red eyes flashing in the darkness, staring at her, mocking her struggles. The struggle within her body intensified, as if some foreign object was coursing through her veins, every inch of flesh beneath her skin began to itch, bringing a burning pain. She tried to scream, but could only let out broken sobs deep in her throat, desperately trying to grasp at any remaining trace of consciousness.

The whispers in her ear were no longer a vague hallucination.

It surged in like a tide, trying to overwhelm her consciousness.

It is an aggregation of countless sounds.

They whispered their despair, colliding in a chaotic manner.

This caused her immense pain.

"The energy readings... are outrageous," Lina's voice was hoarse and weak.

She struggled to squeeze out a few words.

Her gaze fell upon the tall metal pillars.

"I have never seen such a high-intensity and dense energy field... These devices, they are some kind of super-powerful mind jammers." Her lips trembled as she spoke.

My body felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible pressure.

Lina's words came to an abrupt end.

She seemed to be fighting against that invisible force.

Arthur felt his thoughts beginning to blur.

The brain becomes like a diluted liquid, and the ability to think becomes sluggish.

The low humming sound emanating from the surrounding instruments was no longer an external sound.

It felt like it was directly striking his soul.

He felt a strange sense of weakness.

This weakness is not physical, but mental.

His will seemed to be being gradually eroded.

This chill seemed to rise directly from the depths of his soul, carrying a stark sense of emptiness that made him feel unprecedentedly small and powerless. His memories began to blur; the faces of his family, the laughter of his comrades, even his own name, all became distant and ethereal under this mental onslaught. He felt like a small boat, teetering on the brink of capsizing in a boundless ocean of his spirit, on the verge of being swallowed whole. But he endured this tearing pain, forcing himself to recall his past training, every extreme mission, every moment of finding hope in despair. He had to hold on, because he was the pillar of the team; he could not fall.

The hairs on my skin stood on end, and a bone-chilling coldness rose from my spine.

This chill did not come from the temperature.

It is something deeper, something more metaphysical.

He tried to concentrate and shut himself out of these sensory shocks.

This is Finch's trick.

He recalled the mention in the state of the world change that Finch Labs had surpassed conventional technology.

It is a living monster with independent thinking and aggression.

These devices are its claws.

They silently reach into the minds of every intruder.

The experimental hall in front of me resembled a giant, twisted heart.

Those pipes flowing with an unknown liquid are its blood vessels.

The instrument that gleams with a faint light is its nervous system.

The sweet, pungent, and putrid stench that permeates the air is the toxins released with each of its pulses.

Each of its tremors attempts to tear the intruder's reason to shreds.

It is slowly and ruthlessly reaping their sobriety.

The team members' faces gradually turned pale, their foreheads covered in fine beads of sweat. Some unconsciously covered their ears, trying to block out the invisible yet eroding whispers; others stared blankly, their bodies swaying slightly, as if about to lose their balance. They were like moths trapped in a giant spider web, the more they struggled, the more entangled they became by the invisible threads. Each team member was fighting alone against their own inner illusions, yet they maintained a fighting stance, their weapons, heavy as they were, still gripped tightly. This was a silent war of attrition; Finch Laboratory was using its unique methods to slowly drain their precious willpower, weakening their resistance.

The team members also showed varying degrees of fatigue.

Their mental state became unstable under the erosion of this invisible pressure.

Someone was gripping an assault rifle—Arthur had captured—the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

Some people's eyes wandered, as if they were resisting the whispers in their ears.

However, they also successfully breached the company's outer defenses.

This proves the effectiveness of Dreambreaker's network intelligence.

Their ability to act was proven.

The sparse guards in the core area have raised new questions.

Is this a trap?

Or is it that the internal threats have completely exceeded the scope of physical defense?

Arthur realized that the real danger was not the hail of bullets outside.

It stems from the invisible and persistent psychological erosion within the core area.

The side effects of Lina's injury and psychological trauma foreshadow that the upcoming mission will be even more difficult and dangerous.

Her Lena's military-grade modified terminal malfunctioned completely, and they lost a crucial technical support.

Arthur felt time stretch out and the air become thick.

Every step felt like wading through mud.

The massive metal pillars slowly rotated in his eyes.

Those optical arrays seemed to be conducting some kind of invisible scan on him.

He felt a spasm in his stomach as the sweet, rotten smell invaded his esophagus.

He instinctively covered his mouth, trying to suppress the rising feeling of nausea.

He was a veteran police officer who had witnessed countless bloody and brutal scenes.

But he had never seen such a silent yet soul-piercing terror.

He tried to recall cases he had encountered in the past, those bizarre disappearances that were covered up by the authorities.

Those victims who were ultimately classified as "mentally disturbed".

At that moment, he began to understand their pain.

This kind of invisible psychological attack is more difficult to bear than any physical trauma.

It directly robs you of your sense of self.

It makes your thinking lose its footing.

It makes your existence obscure.

Only now did he truly understand the unspeakable torment behind the descriptions of "mental derangement" and "self-awareness disorder" in those files. Those victims weren't insane; they had simply had the very foundation of their existence utterly destroyed by some kind of malice in this world, by some tool beyond reason. What kind of experiments were Finch, no, those behind Lin Zheng, conducting? This was no longer within the realm of science, but reached the metaphysical dimension of existence. They were attempting to manipulate consciousness, to rewrite reality, and these laboratories were the breeding ground for their transformation of the human soul. Arthur felt a surge of anger burning in his chest, an anger that barely dispelled the chill that was creeping in, reaffirming his resolve to rescue Lin Zheng.

Arthur knew that Lin Zheng was deep within this core area.

That child's cheat ability, "Dream Anatomy," allows him to glimpse the boundary between life and death.

This child is currently trapped in such an environment.

He didn't know if Lin Zheng was still resisting.

He didn't know if Lin Zheng could still remain rational.

This unknown gripped Arthur's heart with a agonizing fear.

Lin Zheng, that boy with clear eyes, his golden finger, his talent, could now become a distorted tool. Arthur knew that if Lin Zheng's mental defenses were breached, his abilities would become the company's most lethal weapon, used to manipulate the dreams and realities of countless people. Saving Lin Zheng was not just about completing a mission, but about preventing a catastrophe that could overturn the world. This heavy sense of responsibility became increasingly clear in this quagmire of the mind, like a faint but steadfast lamp guiding his way forward.

Just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief, Isabella's voice came through the communicator again.

This time, her voice was filled with unprecedented terror.

That fear even penetrated the cold electronic synthesis.

"Oh my God!" Isabella's voice trembled noticeably.

"The highest alert procedure for the company's core database has been manually activated!" Her voice was urgent, each word like a bullet.

"This isn't Lehman's authority; it's someone at a higher level!" These words made Arthur's heart sink.

Walter Lehman is already a considerable problem.

Now, higher authority means greater power.

It implies a larger conspiracy.

"They are tracking your signal source across the entire line, and the highest-level agents are expected to arrive in the core area within three minutes!" Isabella's warning hit Arthur like a heavy hammer.

Three minutes is too short.

They have no room for maneuver.

"You must retreat immediately, or... find Lin Zheng and then break out!" Isabella's voice was filled with despair.

"I can no longer provide cover for you!" Only the hiss of electricity could be heard from the communicator.

Her signal also seemed to have been completely cut off.

Arthur looked around.

This laboratory is empty yet filled with eerie energy.

Those tall metal pillars seemed to have transformed into silent behemoths.

They open their invisible, gigantic mouths, waiting for their prey to arrive.

His ominous premonition became stronger than ever before.

They were drawn into a vortex far beyond their imagination.

This is not a small, private case.

It relates to the company's core secrets.

It relates to the fundamental laws of this world.

Lina clutched her head and let out a heart-wrenching growl of pain.

Her Lena's military-grade modified terminal screen was completely white.

The snowflake-like texture on the screen resembled a cold tombstone.

She unconsciously slumped to the ground, her body curled up in a ball.

Her breathing was like a broken bellows, labored and rapid.

Her eyes were tightly closed.

Tears streamed down her face, mingling with beads of sweat on her forehead.

Her mental state was on the verge of collapse.

Isabella's final warning, like the whisper of death, echoed in Arthur's ears.

Three-minute countdown.

Time is passing by at an incredible speed.

He suddenly looked toward the center of the experimental hall.

There, a huge, transparent container stood silently.

A faint red light emanated from inside the container.

The red light cast blurry shadows on the container walls.

Lin Zheng's figure could be vaguely seen among them.

His body floated in the viscous liquid.

He seemed to be waiting to be awakened.

It's as if it's waiting to be devoured.

The devices surrounding the container emitted a lower, more menacing hum.

That was the trembling of an alarm from a higher level.

A vibration that cannot be identified by technology.

At the entrance to the hall, the heavy metal door began to slowly emit a low rumble of mechanical friction.

A faint, cold white light shone through the crack in the door.

A new threat is looming.

Arthur's heart pounded.

Time is running out.

He has to make a decision.

Lin Zheng was there.

They still have a chance.

But can they afford that cost?