Latent Syndrome

Chapter 165 164. The Creeping City

The polluted district of St. George.

Ash has been completely shocked by the scene in front of him. If this evil power must be used in order to win, then the price of victory is too high.

“Which two nouns do you think when combined are intuitively associated with pain?”

Hugo asked about one of his most frequently asked questions: primary mental illnesses that are often non-organic diseases, in addition to genetic factors, all come from contradictions in cognition and behavior.

This question can often find the crux of Hugo's problems.

"Why are you asking this..."

Ash was a little nervous and flipped through the operation manual written by the warlock. This situation was too weird and bizarre. He had to make sure everything was under control and don't let it slip and get himself involved.

"I think that can explain this phenomenon to some extent."

"Just say two words."

"I have a patient named Alex."

“When the words birthday and classmate are put together, it’s like Pavlov’s dog salivating.”

"His brain also produces anxiety transmitters."

Hugo looked at the network of red and green flesh and blood pipes centered on this residential building, maintaining an irregular shape and extending to the surroundings. Those intricately squirming pipes were entangled in the most hideous manner.

As the black fog at the edge spreads faster and faster, the stockbroker at the core becomes more and more miserable. It has turned into a completely strange insect. It can no longer shout out a human voice, but sticks to the The contraction of the sensory organs on the body's surface, the neighing of the chambers like bagpipes.

It itself continues to grow as the black mist spreads. It draws red and green lines from everything, including all modern communication equipment and the human brain. For those who have no time to escape the black mist, lines rush out of the skull. The network of pipes stuck in the ground merges with the strange insects and transforms into other things.

The entire city has become like rust. The skins of the buildings have cracked and fallen off, revealing the steel inside. The sky has also turned dark red. No celestial bodies can be seen. Only the billowing dark red clouds are surging, as if they have absorbed blood. Swelling sponge.

"Well...if I have to say it, jeans and a zipper."

Ash really didn't know what to say.

Hugo: "..."

"In the concept of the demon hunter, there is such a world called the Deep World. It is not a place, not even a space, but an abstract concept."

"The present world is considered to be a projection of the embodiment of that concept."

"I have always had reservations before, but it seems that this may be true."

"This so-called manifested substance, forbidden object, is what the demon hunters call the fragments of the deep world."

"To connect with the deep world through fragments, and to use this method to change the roots, it will have a huge impact on the present world."

Hugo looked at the person who had transformed into a strange insect, and continued to add: "It is connected to something in the deep world, maybe a god or a demon in a general sense."

Ash also knew a little bit about the spells, and he quickly understood that it was just called the Deep Realm by the demon hunters. In fact, there were many other names, such as the Nether Realm, the Divine Realm, etc. They all reached the same goal through different routes.

"Devil..."

"But I don't understand what this has to do with the two words you call it."

After Ash looked through the guide, he had an idea in his mind. The two of them were now trapped in this place. This space was independent of reality and could only be entered but not exited.

If you want to leave, there is only one way, and that is to eradicate the core that turned into a monster insect, and clean up the human nutrients that provide strength to a certain amount until the realm collapses.

It's not a problem for the two of them. They are both infected people with fields. If there is no field, it will be very difficult to get close to the core.

"I think...I found a feature of it."

"Just like an infected person with a strong will can tear apart the realm of real formation."

"The great power of those lives...then can open up the universe."

"I discovered the characteristics of that thing hidden behind this forbidden object."

"The two most intuitive words about pain are flesh and metal."

"If manifesting substances can reveal people's true spiritual outlook."

"The same goes for the realm. Behind this weird space, there is a rather vicious and terrifying life in the dark. It's not right to call it life. In short, it is an incomprehensible thing."

"It's just speculation. No one has seen it and no one has recorded it. It's really puzzling."

Hugo believed that the trip was worthwhile, but he did not waste his mind on illusory things, only focusing on what was in front of him.

"You can't go into this situation deeply, otherwise you will be like the crazy warlock who is going to be doomed."

Ash looked at the mouthparts of the strange insect and rubbed it in a completely cold-blooded and hollow way. There were also blurry faces covered with blood and flesh rolling on its surface, as if they were the faces of humans connected by a network of tubes.

A strong feeling was conveyed to Ash's mind. It couldn't be called fear, but this weird thing was too scary.

For a moment, Ash was in a daze.

sudden...

On the surface of the strange insect, one after another people that Ash had killed began to appear. Their faces were extremely distorted, either begging or staring at Ash fiercely.

This even includes his relatives.

As if possessed by an evil spirit, an invisible magic power was pulling him towards those faces.

"Wake up."

Hugo noticed something was wrong with him and stopped him.

Only then did Ash regain his composure.

"This thing is too evil. Get out of here quickly."

Ash believes that he cannot stay here any longer. From now on, he must abide by every rule in the operation guide. After the operation is over, he must destroy this place quickly and leave.

"Let's go, I just want to go see something else."

Hugo believed that this could create a new topic and make him reach the top of the psychiatric field.

Twenty minutes later.

The two left the building. As for the SCT members who had helped carry nutrients, they had long been connected to the pipe network and turned into monsters.

These neighborhoods have completely changed their appearance. Although there are still many high-rise buildings, they are extremely eerie under the light of the blood-red sky. All the cars on the road have only rusted bodies, as if they have experienced hundreds of years.

"It's true, as you said, that most people turned into harmless worms."

Hugo looked at those gray-white worms with huge bodies, as big as a dining table, and thought about why this was the case.

They squirm between the tube networks, crawling around aimlessly, moving very slowly. The folds on the body used to shrink the crawling body can make people vomit the acid in their stomachs, especially when they are so huge. in the case of.

Ash exhaled. Although he had been mentally prepared, he still felt a little nauseous when he saw this kind of thing.

"It's actually something like this."

"Mental outlook is a conceptual thing, and there must be a reference standard."

"But the reference standard is universal value, the symbolic world."

"It should be something more ordinary. It can't be such a negative, ominous and ugly creature."

Ash was puzzled.

Hugo thought for a while.

“Since it is already a universal value, when it is defined as a harsh standard, all emotional factors are missing.”

"So you can't look at it with emotional factors. Beauty and ugliness are inherently vague concepts."

"A worm..."

"Maybe it's the post-information age."

Hugo held his chin and thought.

"Post-information age?"

Ash was speechless. How could it have anything to do with this?

"I'm just making random guesses."

"The reason they turn into worms is not because their spiritual side shows up."

"It's that they have no mental outlook to begin with."

"Due to the global expansion of the Internet, people can receive countless information in a short period of time. Even if they have strong critical thinking ability, they will be in a blind state when each party has strong supporters and self-consistent logic."

“When you see conspiracy theories, you will become cynical, but when you see inspirational stories, you will change your mind in a short time.”

"When he's incited, he's a thug."

"When he is converted, he is a saint."

"It is something that has no framework and can change at any time."

"It's like a larva. You don't know what it will become next. It's hard to figure out."

Hugo judged this.

"Damn, you're probably right."

Ash thinks this is the truth. The truth is similar to the air on the mountain top, which is too much for the weak.

After the two of them observed some of the creatures around them.

There was a buzzing sound from the metal instrument in Ash's hand. This instrument was made by the warlock who wrote the operating instructions and could tell whether there was an intruder.

"We have a visitor, Mr. Professor."