booktalesy Chapter 4346 Dark Energy Society
Chapter 4346 Dark Energy Society
Chapter 4346 Dark Energy Society
A clay teapot wandering around?
Angell paused for a moment, then immediately realized that this clay teapot was not the same as the other one.
The clay teapot's soul has been banished to the inner world; therefore, the clay teapot in the outside world is most likely fake.
“That’s right, it’s a fake clay pot.” Laplace nodded, confirming Angor’s guess.
The Rabbit Hole team was somewhat surprised when they saw the clay pot.
After all, they initially thought the Dream Edition was a "single-player" game with only their team, but they never expected to encounter the captain of the Red Clay Team here!
However, they weren't too surprised.
After all, the Golden Country checkpoint has a similar mechanism, where teams gather at the Golden Market and can even exchange strategies. Given this precedent, it's not too surprising.
I wasn't surprised, but my doubts hadn't been dispelled.
Since the Red Clay Squad leader is here, why haven't they sent any messages out for three days? Even if they don't plan to leave the level, they could at least log off and send a message.
Faced with this inexplicable mystery, Gabriel suggested, "Why don't we secretly touch the clay pot and ask the original owner directly?"
The rabbit girl watched the clay pot wandering among the buildings and bridges from afar, a hint of wariness flashing in her eyes.
Her intuition told her that something was wrong with the clay teapot.
“Why is it acting so relaxed, like… it’s become a local resident?” The rabbit girl paused for a moment. “Let’s observe it further and see where the other members of the Red Clay Team are…”
Gabriel: "Does the commander mean there might be a problem with it?"
The rabbit girl nodded, about to share her thoughts, when Gray Porcelain, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "It's not a clay pot at all."
The rabbit girl and Gabriel both looked at Gray Porcelain, curiosity flashing in their eyes: "How can you be so sure? Could it be... that the danger sense has been triggered?"
Gray Porcelain nodded solemnly: "There is a faint sense of threat about the clay teapot, which is different from what I've seen before."
"However, this is not the direct basis for my judgment. The reason I think it is not a clay teapot is because I recognize clay teapots."
Grey porcelain was also made by the Terlus.
Although it was previously little known among the Teru people, it suddenly became famous after joining the Dream Mirror organization, and many Teru people tried to get close to it.
This naturally includes the Red Clay Team.
As the pioneering exploration team of Truga City, the Red Clay Squad often used "dungeon exploration" as an excuse to communicate with Gray Porcelain.
Gray Porcelain didn't object to this, after all, they would pay a huge reward every time they asked.
Besides... after all, they are of the same race.
Over time, the Gray Porcelain and Red Clay teams became familiar with each other.
“In my past observations, I have noticed that clay teapots often exhibit strabismus, especially in bright environments where this strabismus is more pronounced,” Grey Porcelain recalled. “This reminded me of a congenital disease of the Tolu people: Porcelain Skin Photosensitive Syndrome.”
Porcelain skin photosensitivity syndrome is a benign congenital condition that occurs in many Trullans, especially those with smoother porcelain skin.
Its most obvious external symptom is that the pupil subconsciously rejects light, leading to strabismus.
Smooth, porcelain-like surfaces reflect light more intensely, increasing the likelihood of developing strabismus.
However, this congenital condition will gradually improve over time.
As we grow, our eyes become more familiar with light, and our aversion to light gradually disappears.
Even if you recover, it's hard to change your habits.
For example, people with this congenital condition will subconsciously squint when they encounter extremely bright environments to avoid looking directly at the light source.
"I later asked the clay teapot, and it admitted that it had this congenital disease, but it has now fully recovered. It just tends to squint a little in environments with too much light."
At this point, Gray Porcelain pointed to Mud Pot strolling on the suspended bridge, and then to the dazzling neon sign behind the bridge: "The dazzling nature of that sign should, in theory, have triggered a reaction in Mud Pot, but... from the moment it stepped onto the bridge until it entered the halo of light, it didn't glance at anything."
"This is definitely not a clay pot."
The sense of danger emanating from the clay pot could be interpreted as the pot perhaps possessing a powerful magical artifact.
However, the physical habits that a clay potter develops from infancy cannot simply disappear, and this is the decisive evidence in the eyes of gray porcelain enthusiasts.
After a moment's thought, the rabbit girl and Gabriel believed Gray Porcelain's judgment.
Firstly, it stemmed from absolute trust in its companions; secondly, since both the gray pottery and the clay pot were made by the Turks, its judgment of the Turks was certainly more accurate than theirs.
If the things strolling on the bridge aren't clay teapots, then where are the real clay teapots? And why do they resemble clay teapots?
With questions in mind, the Rabbit Hole team began to track the clay pot.
Soon, they discovered that the clay pot had gone into a building, the middle floor of which seemed to be a residential area. The clay pot walked all the way into a house.
The group stealthily infiltrated.
To avoid being discovered, the bunny girl even used the highest level of illusion concealment: Nightmare Illusion Concealment.
—Angol didn't leave her many Nightmare Illusion Nodes, but the room was a narrow space. In order to avoid the other party discovering the abnormality, she thought about it and decided to abandon the ordinary Illusion and cover the team with Nightmare Illusion-level Illusion.
Upon entering the house, they immediately noticed a large pile of teacup stubs lying on the floor.
They all appeared to be unconscious.
Upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that they are all members of the Red Clay Squad!
In other words, only "Mud Pot" in the Red Clay Squad is awake now; the rest are all unconscious.
Mud Pot seemed quite dissatisfied with the unconscious people on the ground, muttering under its breath, "Why isn't the Dark Energy Society's disposal team here yet? They're just blocking the way."
"Never mind, I'll go ask."
After speaking, Nihu walked along the corridor next to the main hall and soon arrived at the master bedroom and study.
The rabbit girl had come to investigate before, but both rooms were locked and she couldn't get in, so she retreated to the main hall first.
Now, after arriving here, the clay pot takes out a large handful of keys from its pocket.
It first opened the bedroom door.
The rabbit girl quietly followed them into the bedroom, and then she discovered... there was a person lying on the bed in the bedroom, an old woman.
Ni Hu walked to the bedside and looked at the old lady on the bed with complicated eyes: "Sigh, compared to the strange teapot head, I still prefer this body... It's a pity that she is too old and won't last much longer. I'll have the disposal team take her back to the newcomer as a temporary replacement."
Its tone carried a sense of melancholy and helplessness, as well as a hint of reluctance.
It stood by the bed for a long time before sighing and turning away.
It was as if it had come to the bedroom just to say this final goodbye.
Immediately afterwards, Nihu opened the study.
On the desk in the study, there is a metal brick with a functional style.
After operating the clay pot for a while, several buttons appeared on the metal plate. After skillfully pressing the corresponding buttons, a "buzzing" standby sound immediately came from inside the plate.
Shortly afterward, as the buzzing stopped, a gloomy voice came from inside.
"The night is long and silent, and darkness will last forever."
Upon hearing this, the clay pot seemed to pause for a moment, then asked in confusion, "Barnes, is that you?"
"You...know me? Who are you?" The gloomy male voice was filled with surprise.
The clay teapot says: "I am Fashan."
"Fashan?" After several seconds of silence, the other person finally said, "You changed bodies?"
The clay pot sighed, "It's been replaced. The original owner was too old and it wasn't convenient for her to move around."
Barnes: "Frequent body changes will affect the efficiency of dark energy absorption. You need to think this through."
Mud Pot: "Consider it a gift for the newcomers. I've been in that body for fifteen years, and my efficiency in absorbing and converting dark energy has reached its limit. The newcomers are already decaying after coming out of the inner world, so having that body is a good thing for them."
Barnes: "So you're planning to hand over the original body?"
Nihu nodded: "It's not good to stay here without handing over the body. The original soul has already dissipated in the inner world, and the remaining body can't last more than a few days."
“That’s true.” Barnes: “You contacted me just so the disposal team could come and take your original body?”
"Yes, but besides the original body, I have a few other high-quality bodies that need to be processed by the disposal team." Mud Pot: "By the way, I clearly contacted the disposal team, so how come you were the one who answered? Where is the disposal team?"
"The squad is out on a mission, there have been a lot of missions these past few days..." Barnes said, then suddenly remembered something: "You just said you acquired a few high-quality bodies?"
Barnes' tone suddenly took on a subtle tone: "You didn't encounter any outsiders either, did you?"
“That’s right, I’m an outsider. I’ve just changed into an outsider’s body, and I received a very warm welcome when I first went out… With this body, getting to the Rainbow District will be easy.” After Mudpot finished speaking, he realized that Barnes’ tone was a bit off: “What, is there a problem with the outsider’s body?”
Barnes sighed helplessly: "There's no problem, it's just that a large number of outsiders have appeared in Night City in the past three days, which is why the task force is so busy."
Clay pot: "??"
What did it just hear? Outsiders flocking to Night City? The task force so busy that Barnes had to fill in?
"What exactly happened?"
Barnes replied helplessly, "We don't know the specifics yet. They are very cautious, and we can't get any information from interrogations. However, the souls of the outsiders have been banished to the underworld. Once they are transformed into ghosts, they may retain some memories, and then we may be able to find out the reason."
"Fashan, I'll contact the processing team, and they'll come to retrieve your body once they've completed their current task. However, you should still be cautious in the meantime."
Barnes lowered his voice as he said this:
"Personally, I don't think the arrival of a large number of outsiders is a good thing for us. I have a feeling that some unpredictable changes are going to happen in Night City, so you have to be careful..."
The call has ended.
Ni Hu sat at his desk and pondered for a moment, seemingly processing the information given by Barnes.
In the end, it shook its head: "Even if something changes, it probably won't happen in the normal zone. It'll either start in the Rainbow Zone or the Dark Zone, so it shouldn't have anything to do with me..."
Despite saying that, Ni Hu was still a little restless and prepared to go out to the main hall to see the bodies of those outsiders.
Perhaps they are carrying useful intelligence?
Nihu opened the door and left, but after walking in the corridor for a while, Nihu sensed that something was wrong.
Why... has the corridor gotten longer?
The hallway at home is only about ten meters long, but it took almost a minute to walk there and it still wasn't at the end.
why?
The clay pot suddenly raised its head and looked at the end of the corridor, only to find that the end of the corridor seemed to be receding rapidly, and the ground beneath its feet seemed to be extending infinitely. The distance that was originally only ten meters or so was rapidly lengthening and lengthening in front of it, and the light at the end was getting smaller and smaller, farther and farther away, as if it would never reach the end.
This is definitely not normal.
Someone is sabotaging us behind the scenes!
"Who?!"
……
"The rabbit girl made her move?" Angel raised an eyebrow. "Using illusion magic?"
Laplace nodded: "That's right. Based on the conversation between Mud Pot and Barnes, she has basically confirmed that Mud Pot is still Mud Pot, only his soul has been banished and his body has been taken over by a ghost named Fashan."
"Once she confirmed that, she took action immediately."
Because Fashan and her body are currently one, the illusion can control her. However, if Fashan's consciousness is no longer in her body, the illusion may not be able to lock onto her.
Therefore, in order to avoid any unforeseen circumstances and to obtain more information, the rabbit girl decisively took action.
Angell: "And the result?"
Laplace: "The result was not bad. Before Fashan could react, the Nightmare Illusion Power completely controlled Fashan."
"Just as she suspected, when her consciousness and body are combined, the illusion can be locked onto it."
Afterwards, the rabbit girl interrogated Fashan.
With Nightmare's absolute control, Fashan provided a great deal of information.
The rabbit girl learned about Fashan's identity, confirmed the situation of the Red Clay Team, and also learned about the state of the two worlds.
They even learned that at least tens of thousands of ghosts in Night City had possessed human bodies.
But when asked about the "Dark Energy Society," Fashan was about to answer when she suddenly let out a scream...
Rays of spiritual light emanated from Fashan's body.
These are symptoms of consciousness collapsing and dying!
As Fashan was about to disappear, the rabbit girl took advantage of the last moment to ask Fashan why this was happening.
Fashan provided the answer: a vow.
All members of the Dark Energy Society swear an oath that if they reveal anything about the Dark Energy Society to outsiders, their spirits will disintegrate and their consciousness will be destroyed.
Finally, in front of the rabbit hole, Fashan's spirit turned into specks of light and disappeared.
This left everyone feeling somewhat disappointed.
It's not that I regret Fashan's demise, but... if I had known this would happen, I should have asked for more information about ghosts beforehand!
Fortunately, Fashan's demise also brought a positive outcome.
The "ghostly power" that remained on the Red Clay Squad also dissipated.