Gacha games can't save this bizarre world.

……

Liberty City University started its semester on August 8th.

Zhao Hao resumed his carefree campus life, advancing the development of his psionic puppet while trying out his new ideas.

That's the extraordinary crystal house.

This thing only requires a certain amount of spiritual energy to create a private space inside. It can even be placed in places inaccessible to humans, such as inside a mountain.

Zhao Hao naturally didn't want to create an underground space; instead, he wanted to create a dream space.

In dreams, objects constructed with intention and psychic energy will disintegrate upon waking.

Although Zhao Hao had dream bamboo as a material for his dream, he had already built a small bamboo house in his dream.

But that was too rudimentary; every time an experiment was to be conducted, the laboratory and experimental facilities had to be rebuilt.

Zhao Hao wondered if he could bring this crystal house into his dream and create a semi-permanent private space within it!

Wouldn't that be like having a portable base where you can conjure items at any time?!

However, the crystal house didn't quite work out in the dream, and the private space wasn't very stable.

Zhao Hao is attempting to use extraordinary materials to construct a semi-permanent barrier to aid in the establishment of private spaces.

During this period, Zhao Hao attended an antique appraisal meeting and absorbed some insights into his destiny.

He also attended the Sunday gathering of the Silver Secrets, where he traded some extraordinary materials with the alchemists and even acquired half of a doll made by an alchemist hundreds of years ago that was already in disrepair.

This thing is very valuable for research. Because at that time, the slumber of psionic energy had just begun, and many alchemists were at the bronze level, or even powerful beings striving to reach the silver level.

They are capable of creating dolls that are almost indistinguishable from humans! They are practically the lower classes of creators of life.

Zhao Hao bought this half-body skeleton to study—the upper body of a beautiful girl…

……

In recent days, newspapers have begun to frequently feature information about Iran.

It was said that there was a coup, and many Amis people fled back.

Zhao Hao had some recollection of the sordid conflict between the US and Iran in his previous life, which had remained unresolved for decades.

Moreover, because of this coup, the two sides will soon be in formal confrontation, which even led to the famous Second Oil Crisis!

Then the Iran-Iraq War broke out, affecting global oil production. As production plummeted, oil prices began to soar.

This situation lasted for more than six months and became a major reason for the overall economic recession in the West at the end of the 70s.

Remembering this, Zhao Hao quickly found Gou Quan and asked him to collect cash and find a few more traders, ready to make a big profit at any time!

There's no faster way to make money than harvesting韭菜 (a metaphor for exploiting others)!

In late January, Zhao Hao's Shadow Ring suddenly became hot.

He projected the image and found that the shadowy figures were having another meeting.

Not all ten people came this time; only seven were present, including Zhao Hao.

The reason for the meeting had nothing to do with Zhao Hao; he was just openly eavesdropping.

After listening for a while, I learned that a group of members had done something big in Europe, opening up a strange realm, supposedly in London, which caused the Tower of London in this world to be turned upside down!

It involved nearly a hundred ordinary people and more than twenty extraordinary individuals.

The Tower of London was built over four hundred years ago, with its inner and outer worlds constructed simultaneously to form a mirror image, stabilizing the inner and outer worlds of the entire City of London. It served as a fortress, armory, treasury, mint, palace, execution ground, public archives, observatory, refuge, and prison, and was especially used to hold prisoners of the upper class.

It is a "feng shui talisman" and "symbol of imperial power" used to suppress the entire city of London, and can be said to be one of the foundations of the old and extraordinary Great Ying Empire.

That was the Great Ying Empire's main base in the Inner World. Even during the years when the psionic dormancy was at its worst, they never lost contact with each other.

The Great Ying Empire's management of the Inner World and the Extraordinary Ones' Military Intelligence Bureau and Torchwood are all located there.

But no empire lasts for ten thousand years.

The once mighty empire is now in decline, and the most obvious manifestation of this decline is its impact on psionic power.

No one knows what method the shadowy figure used, but they managed to wreak havoc on the Tower of London in the Otherworld, thus creating a bizarre realm within London.

After Zhao Hao returned, he went to the Bureau of Mysteries to check information.

Because the Secret Service was also paying close attention to the situation in London, the Great Ying Empire, they had readily available intelligence.

First of all, the eerie scene is called "London Bridge Collapsed"!

Many nursery rhymes circulate in London, one of which is "London Bridge is falling down," referring to the collapse of London's iron bridge.

London Bridge collapsed.

It collapsed, it collapsed.

London Bridge has collapsed, collapsed!

Dear friend.

Lock her up with the key.

Lock her up, lock her up.

Lock her up with the key.

Dear friend.

……

The London Bridge was first built a thousand years ago, when it was a wooden bridge. It was damaged and rebuilt several times, the last time being six years ago in 1973. It is the only passage connecting the north and south banks of the River Thames.

According to the information in the hands of the Bureau of Mysteries, the reconstruction of the bridge was extremely difficult, with many strange events occurring. At that time, the psychic resurgence had already been underway for three years.

Finally, having no other choice, they decided to use a cruel architectural sacrifice ritual.

Legend has it that if a living child is sealed inside a building when it is first completed, their spirit will forever protect the building and prevent it from collapsing...

A similar term exists in China, called "hitting a live stake".

The process of "driving live piles" is terrifying and evil. It involves burying people alive inside a building before construction begins, with the aim of ensuring the project's success.

Ancient craftsmen believed that the frequent accidents during construction were because disturbing the earth disrupted the feng shui of the land, angering the local spirits, who then sought a substitute to be reincarnated.

To ensure the smooth progress of the project, human sacrifices were required—people were buried alive on the construction site in the hope of appeasing the anger of the spirits and reducing accidents during construction. The buried people would then become guardian spirits, maintaining the stability of the building.

The term "living pillar" refers to a building's pillars made from a living person.

But doing things like this always has a backlash. And this probably isn't the first time they've used this method.

Back then, the Great Ying Empire was at its strongest, and nothing happened.

Unexpectedly, the century-old nursery rhyme, combined with the resurgence of psionic energy, created a bizarre situation.

Ultimately, the concept of a haunted realm is related to human activities.

Whether it was the Well Within a Cave, the Demon Town that Zhao Hao experienced, or the collapse of London Bridge, it was all caused by people.

The so-called evil spirit resides within the human heart!

As for what the Shadow Organization did and what they gained, Zhao Hao had no idea.

However, Zhao Hao connected the fragments of conversation he overheard in the shadows with the experts' analysis of the Black Nursery Rhymes, and guessed that the Shadow Organization might be searching for eerie realms related to dark fairy tales...

------------

Chapter 172 Spring Festival Red Envelopes

Zhao Hao had previously instructed Gou Quan to buy some gold for investment purposes when his career was at its peak.

He vaguely remembered that in the 1980s, due to economic stagflation, the price of gold in America skyrocketed.

Now they're preparing to take a big bite out of him in the oil market.

Of course, Zhao Hao didn't dare to go all in at once. If the thing had any butterfly effect or parallel universes, it would all fall apart!

The main reason is that the company's health products provide a continuous cash flow, which has emboldened them considerably.

Surely something this big can't possibly change, right?

However, no matter how anxious Zhao Hao and Gou Quan were, the progress on their end was what it was. There shouldn't be any major changes in the next three to five months.

As the days went by, Zhao Hao attended classes and studied in the real world, purchased materials in the inner world, experimented with spells and psychic puppets in his dreams, and tried to build his own dream manor.

Soon it came to January 27th, a day of great significance for all the people of the Song Dynasty, as it was Lunar New Year's Eve.

When Zhao Hao woke up in the morning, he checked in and received a card.

[Ghost-killing money]

Black Iron 3-Star Item Card

Exorcising evil spirits and purifying impurities: Money for killing ghosts can drive away harmful spiritual energy and harm malicious spiritual beings.

Note: Zhang Tianshi blesses all people of all zodiac signs, protecting them from demons and monsters at all times, every day, and every year.

This is a heavy bronze coin. The front depicts Zhang Tianshi holding a sword to drive away ghosts, while the back is decorated with cloud and thunder patterns in the middle circle and a compass of the twelve zodiac animals and the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches on the outer circle.

Zhao Hao had heard Uncle Tie mention these things before. These kinds of items are collectively called religious coins, and there are many types. They are all consecrated ritual objects. They are generally used for religious ceremonies, but some are also used as amulets.

Zhao Hao found a red rope, threaded it onto the rope, and planned to give it to Elena for protection.

Although she had a paper dog named Xiao Hei next to her, it's always good to have more skills.

Now that she's by his side, the chances of her coming into contact with the underworld have greatly increased; it's better to be prepared.

Although signing in on New Year's Eve was of no use to Zhao Hao, he wasn't disappointed at all. Because tomorrow is the Spring Festival!

Sure enough, I woke up after a nap to find I'd already signed in with another card. Awesome!

These cards are a bit strange; they're the kind I've never seen before.

【Red envelope】

Black Iron 3-Star Function Card

Open: Receive a red envelope reward.

Note: Congratulations on your fortune! Give me your monthly pass!

Zhao Hao conjured that thing in his hand, and it really was a red envelope!