Chatty Hollywood

"It's difficult to prove, so I said it's just a guess!"

Charlotte shrugged.

"But to say there's no reason at all, that's not the case."

As he spoke, he looked at Alexis,

"Do you remember the time you dealt with the evil god before?"

"The evil god? The evil god who gives power to the painted skin!?"

Alexis was stunned for a moment and then reacted randomly,

"You're not talking about the last time you used the consciousness of everyone in the cinema to summon the evil god, right?"

"Yes."

Charlotte nodded,

"At that time, I discovered that there might be a connection between human brains or consciousness. And the nightmare I captured later further confirmed this for me."

“Although most people may not be aware of this connection, this connection can indeed solve many problems——”

"If nothing else, where the gods, including the evil gods, are hiding, can be determined with this network between human brains."

"You mean, the gods are hidden in this network?"

"That's right."

Charlotte’s voice was a little deep;

"Only in this way can we explain the fact that even in areas that do not believe in a certain god at all, this god can be summoned - because through this human brain network, we can summon gods from other places."

"That seems to be the case."

Alexis nodded,

"So, based on this logic, if you say that we ghosts and monsters with names in various myths and legends are also hiding in this network, does that mean-"

"You are closer to the essence of the gods."

Charlotte confirmed Alexis's view,

"This is also true. The essence of belief in gods is derived from ordinary legends and stories. Excluding the element of belief, there is not much difference between gods and other famous ghosts."

Then, he explained,

"As ordinary ghosts, your power is only enough to borrow someone's brain, and it is easy to be discovered."

"And the process of transforming into a named ghost is actually a process of enhancing your power and allowing you to enter the network between human brains -"

"Once you enter this network, you no longer need to borrow the brain of a specific person."

"Because what you are borrowing will be the "cloud brain" of more than six billion people around the world——"

"Even if each person only lends one ten thousandth of his or her brain to this network, it would be more than enough for the few ghosts and monsters in the world."

"I see."

River Phoenix nodded,

"No wonder after turning into the Headless Horseman, I can think without possessing other people - so, I borrowed the brains of everyone in the world?"

"I think that's the case, but it's still difficult to completely prove it."

Charlotte shook her head;

"However, the special situation of Malcolm Nursing Home can be said to be proof to a certain extent——"

"First of all, I want to explain that when I went there with Sally before, I did a preliminary test - there is no problem for normal people to enter and exit there, and there will be no fog like Alexis saw when looking from a distance."

"In other words, those situations are just for us ghosts?"

Alexis asked,

"You can say that, but for you, it's just the ending, not the purpose - because that place is actually "disconnected"!"

"Disconnect the Internet!?"

Ruifan didn't understand Charlotte's words at all.

But on the other hand, because she had to impersonate the technical director of the special effects department of Spectre Studio recently, Alexis learned a lot about computers. Based on what Charlotte just said, she reacted,

"Because there is some power in the area of ​​Malcolm Sanitarium that cuts off the network between human brains, so we, the named ghosts who live in the "network", cannot enter that area?"

"Yes."

Charlotte nodded,

"I think that's what happened - because the network is cut off and you reach the border, your thinking ability will be interrupted, and your soul will be instinctively driven out by the power in that area."

"That's why I reappear next to you every time."

Alexis also understood somewhat,

"Because you are the nearest living person and a fulcrum of the "network"?"

"That sounds reasonable."

River Phoenix pondered for a while,

"But after all, what is going on in the area around Malcolm Sanatorium? Mr. Director, you should have some guesses, right?"

"Of course there are guesses, but——"

Charlotte paused and looked at Alexis seriously,

"You must promise to keep this matter a secret from Sally, so that I can tell you my guess!"

"……All right."

Alexis felt a little uncomfortable under Charlotte's gaze;

"You wouldn't do anything harmful to Sally anyway, right?"

"That's natural."

Charlotte nodded,

"This matter is essentially related to Sally's mother - although there is indeed no danger to her living there."

"In fact, I knew what we were dealing with when ghost-seeing Sam Fell said that he saw a large number of ghosts gathering around Malcolm Sanitarium every once in a while."

"Ghost...city?"

Alexis asked curiously,

"That's what I heard you say just now."

"Yes, but this is just a performance. Ghost City, or Mountain City-"

Charlotte explained in detail to the two ghosts,

"There are many records of this kind of thing in ancient China. To put it simply, it is a large number of buildings and people that appear out of thin air and then disappear without a trace soon after."

"Are those ghosts?"

"Maybe! But I'm not sure."

Charlotte shook her head helplessly,

"Later, many people attributed the ghost market to mirages. In fact, mirages do produce similar scenes."

"It seems so."

Alexis and Ruifan both nodded - although they are not the type to take school seriously, they still know some basic common sense.

"It is true that mirages can produce scenes similar to the ghost market you mentioned."

"So, most of the recorded ghost markets may be mirages."

Charlotte shrugged.

"However, real ghost markets also exist. "

"A real ghost market?"

"Yes. According to legend, there is a kind of dragon named Jiaolong, which sometimes spits out "mirage". In this mirage, ghosts who serve the dragon survive, and a prosperous "ghost market" will be formed."

"dragon!??"

Alexis and Ruifan were both shocked.

"Are you talking about that kind of giant, terrifying monster with wings? Is there something like that underneath the Malcolm Sanitarium!!?"

"In Eastern legends, dragons are not scary monsters, but a sacred existence."

Charlotte corrected their views,

"However, the possibility of dragons existing underground at Malcolm Sanitarium is real -"

"Although that's not a 'dragon' in the ordinary sense!"