Chapter 20: The Birth Of Gluttony

“What?!”

Old Yu had been the minister of the Supernatural Management Bureau for over ten years.

He should have remained calm about many things.

But upon hearing what Lou Chen said, he still couldn’t help but show a trace of surprise.

He straightened his back, the corners of his mouth instinctively tensing.

“You’re sure he’s telling the truth?”

He frowned.

“What do you mean, he can ‘sense’ Pride’s thoughts?”

Lou Chen stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe, facing the ground.

“…It means exactly what it sounds like.”

“Then he’ll be in great danger.”

Old Yu’s words clearly had two meanings.

Either Yu Ziyu was in danger, or… he was the one bringing the danger.

The sad thing was, they didn’t know which category he fell into.

The room fell into a long stretch of silence.

A safe distance always remained between them.

If you looked closely, you’d realize this wasn’t really a room, but a strict prison cell.

They both knew that trying to cross its restrictions was nothing short of talking about the impossible.

The reason Old Yu had become the “former minister” was because of this…

About a year and a half ago, a failed mission resulted in him being possessed by an unknown monster.

He had instead become the one previously under supervision.

Everyone knew that the third floor of the Supernatural Management Bureau headquarters was where monsters were contained.

But they didn’t know that the former minister, who should have retired, was being watched in one of those rooms.

Old Yu’s right eye socket was covered with gauze.

He should have been forty-five years old this year, but he looked only a little over twenty.

But such a “benefit” wasn’t out of his own will.

He was merely a patch of soil, like the nourishment for some life incubating within a cocoon.

He could even occasionally hear rustling sounds from inside his own skull.

Whenever he saw a reflective surface, Old Yu’s body would tremble.

It wasn’t an illusion…

His appearance and bones were reshaping.

His physical body was being remolded.

The unrelenting pain he suffered turned him into a stranger he no longer recognized.

Lou Chen had seen Old Yu’s true face; he was just a very ordinary man.

But now his appearance… he believed that even someone familiar with him, standing right before him, would never connect the two.

He had become a young man with a handsome, deep-featured face.

Even his voice had become much deeper, and his conscious time was growing less and less.

Old Yu had thought more than once that an evil soul lived beneath his skin.

It calmly and hungrily watched everything, waiting for the right opportunity to return to the world of the living.

It looked on coldly at his foolishness with detachment.

“Regarding this, I have a tangible understanding.”

Thinking of this, Old Yu’s fingers on the desktop trembled slightly.

“If it’s as you say… you’d better really protect Yu Ziyu.”

“…”

“I know.”

Lou Chen said calmly.

“But, is this related to your last mission?”

In the past, Old Yu had chosen to remain silent about how his mission failed.

He had merely obeyed the arrangement of being contained.

But now, he was clearly wavering because of Lou Chen’s words.

“I lied.

It wasn’t a mission.”

Lou Chen nodded.

He didn’t seem very surprised.

Old Yu couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

Someone as sharp as Lou Chen had probably known this long ago.

“Two years ago… right after I recruited you into the department, I received a phone call late one night.”

After a long moment, Old Yu finally spoke again.

“I was very surprised at the time why only I could hear it…

So, after a week of unknown calls, I decided to find out who was playing this prank.”

The sole listener chose to remain silent.

“So I traced it to a residential building.

It looked no different from any ordinary residential area.”

Even though two years had passed, recalling it still made Old Yu very uneasy.

“Based on the tracking, I arrived at the door of one residence.

The building was very quiet, eerily quiet.

Then, I rang the doorbell.”

Why hadn’t he realized the strangeness beneath the tranquility at the time?

He blamed himself more than once.

Although the residential area was quiet, there were no animals.

It was like a dead city.

The sound of his boots stepping on the ground echoed in his memory.

The memory grew clearer.

Old Yu’s voice was dazed: “…Then, the door opened.”

Accompanied by a creak, the inside of the room was revealed.

A voice said coquettishly, “You’re here.”

Old Yu looked down.

What he saw was a little girl with blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

As she spoke, she licked her fingers.

The room was blood-red, like an overly decorated showroom.

The stench of blood steamed from the girl, surrounding the terrified him.

The chaotic lines emanating from her made him dizzy.

They caused indelible damage to his psyche.

Even though he had dealt with many supernatural incidents, this far exceeded the scope of horror he had ever witnessed.

“She was eating people… no, souls.”

The blood was just the monster’s preference.

“The whole building was eaten by her.

That was the reason for the silence.

Then, I passed out.”

But there were inconsistencies here.

Intuition told Lou Chen that Old Yu had concealed many details.

“…I really don’t want to recall this.”

Old Yu held his head in pain.

“Maybe it’s because I never entered that so-called game, so I couldn’t handle it?”

He knew that the monsters in the Land of Desire Amusement Park were not on the same level as the supernatural creatures in the real world.

Probably, the monster he encountered came from the Land of Desire Amusement Park.

After that incident, he woke up to find his body beginning to mutate.

The residential area was also burned down by an unknown fire.

Even though it had been rebuilt now, no residents had ever moved back.

It was completely abandoned, turned into a place with a brand new, youthful shell, but dead and lifeless inside.

Lou Chen said, “It’s not about entering the game or not.

The problem is that you wavered.”

Old Yu was silent.

He had to admit Lou Chen was right.

“I don’t say this often to others, but you’re different, Lou Chen.

That thing, that supernatural creature that called me… it knew my weaknesses very well.

It knew when I was on duty, it even knew I would become suspicious and go tracking.

It has reason, it excels at manipulating people.

That’s why it said to me—’You’re here.'”

Lou Chen realized the focus of their conversation was about to emerge.

“I would rather Yu Ziyu be a liar than for him to be able to sense Pride’s thoughts…

If Pride finds out about this, will it in turn use him?

Or, will he be assimilated like me?

These things seem inherently able to pry into people’s hearts.

Having him near you is too dangerous.”

It was using him, Old Yu thought.

These things understand human nature too well.

“I tend to believe he’s telling the truth.”

Lou Chen pressed his lips together.

He had obtained Yu Ziyu’s psychiatric evaluation records.

His descriptions completely matched the Land of Desire Amusement Park… and from beginning to end, he had substituted himself into Pride’s perspective.

It was easy to imagine how immense his psychological pressure must be.

This even made his sarcasm seem endearing.

All signs were enough to prove his words were true.

Even if Lou Chen had wavered before, he was now convinced without a doubt.

Of course, there were people within the department who fundamentally didn’t believe Yu Ziyu.

But such voices were very faint and couldn’t influence Lou Chen’s thoughts.

In half an hour, he had a meeting to announce this matter.

And Yu Ziyu was also downstairs.

Thinking of the expression on the other’s face when he had reluctantly agreed to come, Lou Chen couldn’t help but smile.

“So…”

Old Yu was about to speak, but his body suddenly twitched slightly.

Then, his tone changed strangely: “He is that person.”

“What?”

“The savior.”

Old Yu said strangely.

“Then Pride will appear too, right?”

He said. “He will be here too, won’t he?”

Lou Chen paused: “He will, sooner or later.”

“That person named Yu Ziyu has news of him?…

You just said he will make a move soon.”

The air in the room seemed to shudder.

Hearing this, Lou Chen frowned.

He lowered his arms, stood up straight, and looked at Old Yu.

The other was looking down at the pattern on the desktop, his expression blurry as if deep in thought.

But this sudden change in tone seemed extremely abnormal.

“Are you alright?”

Old Yu’s voice carried a smile: “Oh… oh, I’m fine.

Of course, I’ve never been better.

Why wouldn’t I be fine?”

Lou Chen’s frown deepened: “Old Yu?”

With this sound, Old Yu seemed to snap back to reality.

His lips trembled.

The air in the room warmed again.

He returned to his original state from the anomaly just now.

He forced a smile at Lou Chen through clenched teeth: “It’s nothing.

I just recalled past memories.

It feels uncomfortable.”

“I shouldn’t have made you recall them.”

“It’s not your fault.

It’s my fault.”

Old Yu said. “I was too stupid, falling into the trap so easily.”

“…”

Lou Chen watched him.

“Aren’t you going to have your meeting?”

He said considerately again. “Go.

Don’t let those guys wait too long.”

Lou Chen glanced at his watch.

There were indeed only ten minutes left.

If he wasn’t early, he could easily imagine the expression on Yu Ziyu’s face.

Although he keenly felt something was wrong with Old Yu’s state, ever since being possessed, he occasionally appeared dazed.

So this behavior wasn’t particularly sudden.

So, he gave Old Yu a deep look: “I’ll come see you again.”

Then, he closed the door, turned around, and left without looking back.

The gap in the door gradually narrowed with his movement.

Old Yu’s figure sitting on the chair also gradually elongated, becoming like a dark, narrow slit.

A dark green light flashed from the depths of his eyes.

The corners of his mouth slowly curled upwards, forming a mocking smile.

But of this, Lou Chen could no longer know.

“Has the master also come?”

He muttered to himself, it was unclear whether it was ecstasy or anger.

He drawled his words satiated: “He really has come, then…

I’ll have to go hungry again.”

It had lurked for two years, just to confirm whether the master was also here.

The reason it had held back was likewise because it feared the master.

Now, it had finally received definite news.

Old Yu wanted to retch, but he could only uncontrollably push back his chair and stumble to his feet.

His body convulsed, a terrified expression appearing on his face.

His lips opened and closed, as if begging for something.

No, no, why has it suddenly completely taken control of this body…

What had they talked about that caused it to awaken?

Its first appearance two years ago?

Yu Ziyu?

The savior?

Or…

Pride?

But why does it have an impression of Pride?

“Who are you?”

Old Yu asked fearfully.

“Someone who can take your life, you sanctimonious, lying piece of filth.”

He heard his own unhurried voice, but it wasn’t the elegant, gentle tone he could produce.

He felt his tongue was locked, completely beyond control.

“You went to that residential area before, didn’t you?”

“…”

“Since that little girl begged me, I had no reason to refuse.

Because I was very hungry at the time.”

Wait… hungry…

He was almost touching the edge of the truth.

But then, his heart ached.

A faint sound of an explosion came from his chest.

He slowly lowered his head, but found he couldn’t see his body clearly…

He was rapidly shriveling up, like a withered flower.

His soul and life force were being quickly drained together.

There was no mirror here.

So until his vision went completely black, he never got to see his skin split open.

It was like peeling off an outer layer of clothing.

The human’s original skin slipped to the floor.

Not even a drop of blood flowed out, because his flesh and blood had long been completely absorbed as nourishment.

A young man, naked, with a face identical to Old Yu’s changed appearance, yet more deep-set and handsome, appeared.

“…”

Gluttony raised its arm and carefully examined its new body.

After a long moment, its dark green pupils finally showed a satisfied expression.