Catastrophe Containment Facility
Chapter 401 - 399: Demonic Music Box

Chapter 401: Chapter 399: Demonic Music Box

Xiong Ying opened his eyes to find that he could see no color other than black.

He knew he wasn’t blind; rather, he was in a dream.

"The last time I came here, this place was pure white, the only darkness being that twisted thing. Now that it has turned into this... I must indeed be dead."

He sat up from the ground, feeling not particularly saddened. His final stand, impulsive as it was, left him with no regrets, though he did worry about his parents.

"So this is what the world after death is like, huh? A bit too dull for my taste."

"This is not the afterlife," came a voice as resonant as a great bell, its clear echoes making Xiong Ying feel as if the air itself trembled.

Xiong Ying turned his head and saw a beam of light amidst the darkness, in the center of which sat an old man with white hair and a white robe, smiling benevolently at him.

As a boy, he often fantasized about such a grandfather bestowing upon him superpowers to uphold justice.

But after being tempered by the Devil’s Heart, he’d grown rather indifferent to such notions.

However, this scene was familiar to him. After every rescue, he had seen something similar, back then it was a formless, twisting entity within the Black Mist.

"Not the afterlife... So I’m not yet dead, and I’ve been deceived by the Devil’s Heart all along?"

The old man shook his head and said, "It hasn’t deceived you; indeed, it would weaken with your good deeds, and your life would truly end with its death."

"So what is this now..."

Xiong Ying tilted his head to ask, having truly faced the prospect of death, his perspective on many things had shifted.

"Your body is close to death, but the deeds you have done deserve a reward."

"The Devil’s Heart destroyed, the Heart of the Hero shall be reborn within. As a mortal’s body withers, a hero’s form shall be reborn!"

"You shall not come here again. With the Heart of the Hero’s Strength, go and be the hero you wish to be!"

After speaking, the old man’s body transformed into white light and gradually infiltrated Xiong Ying’s body.

Observing the old man’s words, which were like a recitation of poetry, Xiong Ying’s expression remained calm, untouched by the urge to swear an oath to do anything in particular.

He didn’t want to become a hero for others’ recognition; he wanted it because that was what he desired, and so he acted.

"No matter what you turn into, I only want to be myself. Don’t think you can direct me to do anything."

"Just be yourself..." With those words, the old man’s figure completely vanished into the air.

And Xiong Ying’s consciousness began to blur. He knew that he was about to awake.

...

Having vented his anger, Wen Wen had become quite Zen and had decided how to face Wen Rui.

That was to act as if he had indeed died in that car accident nine years ago, and that everything that had happened since then never existed.

From now on, he would neither deliberately confront nor avoid the Truth Society; everything would proceed as normal.

Since things were to be normal, there were things he ought to do.

Therefore, Wen Wen changed his appearance slightly, bought a large quantity of hot pot bases at the ’Lake Search’ hot pot restaurant, then went to the market to buy a ton of ingredients, followed by a shopping spree at the mall.

After the shopping was done, Wen Wen returned to the Sanctuary, treating all the monsters there, including the prison guards, to a sumptuous hot pot feast, much to the delight of the Three Cubs, who now had endless hot pot broth to sip...

Then they started distributing various gifts such as clothes, books, small toys, game consoles, and so on.

These monsters had previously helped Wen Wen a lot, so he generously gave them some rewards.

Each monster received a gift that Wen Wen thought suitable; whether it actually was suitable was a matter of opinion.

For example, for the Rabbit Demon Yao, Bai Xiaomiao, he bought a carrot-shaped pillow and a Rabbit Girl cos outfit, for Little Red Riding Hood he got a bunch of firearm models, and he gave the junk he had stolen from the church to the Angel of Universal Light...

After distributing the rewards, Wen Wen started to examine the two items he had acquired from the museum trip.

A music box and a book.

Regardless of whether or not they were Containment Items, the value of these two things was at least equivalent to Disaster Level Containment Items, so Wen Wen needed to study them.

First was the unbranded music box; as soon as Wen Wen opened it, a strange piece of music began to play.

’Doodle doodle, doodle doodle, doodle doodle bum bum bum... I play with mud in the Northeast, I have no home in the Northeast...’

"This... is way too demonic, I thought it would be like Swan Lake or something."

Although the tune was demonic, Wen Wen found it oddly catchy, and he felt a strange urge to dance to the music, but he quickly snapped out of it, warily watching the music box.

"This thing just tried to control me... and it wasn’t gentle, I’m the user of this music box after all."

The reason Wen Wen dared to directly test the Containment Items was that he could always unleash Catastrophe Level strength within the Sanctuary, and ordinary Containment Items had no power to affect him.

If someone else opened this music box, the consequences would be unthinkable.

To test the effects of the music box, Wen Wen used the imprisoned monsters and prison guards.

This music box had no winder, only a switch, and once opened, it would play that same tune in a loop.

All ordinary people, upon hearing this music, would instantly turn into emotionless, dancing machines, performing a bizarre dance non-stop, unable to stop no matter what happened.

If nobody turned off the music box, they would likely dance until death.

The monsters had a certain resistance to this kind of music, but only Catastrophe Level beings were completely immune, with only a slight, negligible impulse.

Disaster Level and Calamity Level monsters could resist the urge to dance for a certain time based on their strength.

But once they started dancing, the dance would not stop until the music ended.

So for Wen Wen, this item was an interesting toy; if he had had this music box during his pranks, he could have had a lot of fun.

But the other book completely captured Wen Wen’s attention.

This book was as thick as a brick, with a metal cover inscribed with a Wild Beast skull-like pattern and several unintelligible characters.

However, these were not what attracted Wen Wen the most; what surprised him was that this book was alive!

That’s right, the book was alive!

The opening and closing pages were like a sharp, large mouth, and if not slightly restrained, this thing would bite like a rabid dog.

Wen Wen tested the biting force of the book with a pig’s hind leg, and the thing swiftly swallowed the leg whole!

"This is indeed... interesting!"