They all call me an Outer God.

"A thousand joys are always better than one joy."

"Pretend they don't exist?"

While Ria was still wondering about the meaning of their words, the cage that had confined him vanished into thin air.

But Ria realized that the black cloth with the eye pattern had not disappeared; it still existed, and at that moment, she replaced the entire theater wall.

Now, the entire theater is covered with eyes, and the pupils above these densely packed eye patterns rotate, following closely behind Ria wherever he goes.

"Now everyone has come to the cage to keep you company."

The black rabbits grinned and said, "If you don't like the original cage, then we'll prepare a bigger one for you..."

"You should be happy now, stop thinking about leaving this cage."

Ria saw his body begin to separate and transform into different forms. Soon, the stage was densely packed with rabbits that he had split off from.

The black rabbits chuckled as they herded a large group of rabbits off the stage, leaving only a handful remaining.

As the rabbits entered the audience, the rabbits in the audience panicked, while the rabbits that had been split off became happy.

"We are both actors and audience members."

As cheerful music began, the black rabbits pulled the clown rabbit on the stage into a frenzied and graceful dance.

“We said there had to be chaos, and the script had to be interesting enough.”

“We told you that you will never be able to leave the cage.”

"You will never leave this cage. In return, we will guard you forever, becoming your best playmate, your best friend, and weaving the best games for you—"

"Friend, stay here forever."

……

At this very moment, at the headquarters of the Order Association in Endlerskrambea, the researchers responsible for studying Ria's arm were exclaiming in surprise as they faced the chaotic fluctuations in the data.

"This...how is this possible? This is impossible."

"Doctor, Doctor, come quick!"

The researchers called out to Dr. Jack, who had finally managed to doze off on his bed after working for three days straight. The next second, "bang!" his break room door was kicked open, and two tall, strong researchers dragged him out and ran wildly.

"What are you doing! My shoes! I'm not wearing shoes yet!"

"Is this how you treat middle-aged people with ingrown toenails and paronychia? I also have athlete's foot! And hemorrhoids, my hemorrhoids are acting up!"

Dr. Jack was shouting incoherently, but no one paid any attention to what he was babbling about. They simply put him in front of the research device and shoved his face toward the screen.

One second Dr. Jack was still half asleep, and the next second he was almost blinded by the green light on the screen.

Where are my glasses!?

"Here you are, Doctor."

Someone specially delivered glasses to the doctor, and Dr. Jack looked at the screen the moment he received them.

"boom!!!"

His pupils contracted in a very short time, and the whites of his eyes were quickly filled with blood vessels. He was so shocked that his brain was congested with blood that he almost fell to the ground again.

"How...how is this possible?!"

……

In containment chamber A-351, Nasir had just finished testing her mentor's physiological condition.

At this moment, the mentor is still asleep in the form of a mythical creature, sealed and contained by a supernatural barrier with dozens of layers. Currently, the mythical creature's vital signs are all normal, and there is no possibility of it waking up in the short term.

"It looks like my work can finally be a little easier for a while."

Nasir, holding the record book, had just left the containment chamber and closed the door when she saw a researcher rushing towards her in a panic.

"Doctor, something terrible has happened, Doctor! There's a huge problem!"

"What's wrong, Dr. Jack? He's clogged the toilet again?"

"No, no!" The researcher shook his head frantically. "It's about the arm left behind by the former Chief Prosecutor. There's a problem with our data analysis. It detected that the Chief Prosecutor...he..."

"Speak slowly."

Nasir had a vague sense of foreboding: "Chief Prosecutor, I think his name is... Ria Kercha?"

"Yes, that's him."

"boom!!!!!!"

As the name was uttered, a violent tremor suddenly erupted behind Nasir, accompanied by the sound of glass shattering, the screams of the researchers, and the crashing of the massive object to the ground.

At that moment, Nasir stiffened and turned around, only to see the door behind her, which should have been closed, slowly opened. A mentor with long silver hair appeared behind the door with a terrifyingly cold expression, looking as sinister as a vengeful ghost.

"..."

"..."

"hiss……"

An eerie silence fell over the scene.

"go on."

Ivand leaned against the door with one hand, his eyes fixed on the researcher: "What's wrong with Ria?"

……

Chloe is a junior researcher at the Order Association.

When he first joined the association as an investigator, he discovered that the mortality rate in this industry was terrifyingly high.

Of the ten colleagues who joined the company at the same time as him, five died and two went insane within a week. Without hesitation, Chloe decided to believe that knowledge can change one's destiny.

He applied for a researcher assessment. During this time, Chloe frantically read books and learned about all kinds of extraordinary items, extraordinary creatures, and extraordinary levels. He practically wanted to split his brain into ten parts for use.

Finally, his hard work paid off, and he made it ashore.

He passed the exam to become a researcher, and today is his first day as a researcher. He also received his first task as a researcher: to deliver a message to the intelligent and gentle Dr. Nasir.

The message was urgent, and Chloe kept repeating what he wanted to convey in his mind, afraid of missing anything. Of course, he also wanted to leave a good impression on the Doctor.

After all, the first thing he did on his first day as a researcher was to be able to interact with a stunningly beautiful woman with a PhD, something he never dared to imagine before!
He knew that knowledge could change one's destiny.

Until a minute ago, Chloe still believed that knowledge could change one's destiny.

But just a minute later, he had just met the legendary Dr. Nashir, and before he could even exchange a few words with her, the containment of the angel... a demigod-level object failed.

The containment object, codenamed "Mentor," forcefully opened the containment room door right in front of him. The originally sturdy door and the countless barriers and restraints behind it were as fragile as paper to it.

When Chloe saw Him staring at her, her mind went blank, filled with thoughts that she might die soon.

This lousy association experiences containment breaches every few days, leaving humanity utterly defeated. Investigators and researchers alike are in a precarious situation.

The only difference is whether you die quickly or slowly.

He had heard that there was a demigod-level containment object in the association, but hearing about it was one thing, actually seeing it was another.

"He...he—"

Chloe's thighs trembled, and he couldn't utter a single complete sentence under Ivand's gaze. Seeing this, Ivand didn't waste any more words with him, but instead reached out and grabbed the other's head.

“Don’t kill him.” Nasir looked at Ivand, who didn’t make any further moves upon hearing this, but his pupils slowly moved, and he squeezed out an almost cruel smile.

"So this is the kind of person you see me as."

"Your personality integration is not yet complete, and forcibly gaining control of your body in this way will cause great damage to your physical and mental health."

Nasir was brief and to the point, but to everyone's surprise, Ivand didn't care at all: "I don't need this hypocritical concern."

Chloe's head was held firmly in a large hand. He felt as if some information was being extracted from his mind, and his entire memory had lost its privacy, becoming a book for the man opposite him to peruse.

Then, Chloe noticed that the man in front of her looked increasingly pale.

He released his grip, neither killing nor saying anything more, and headed towards the laboratory where Ria's arm was stored.

Chloe panicked: "Doctor, it's terrible! The mentor's containment has failed, and he's going to kill everyone in our association!"

"Shut up."

Nasir couldn't help but rub her temples, looking up at the alarm devices above: "Why aren't these reacting? Are we really powerless against a demigod?"

"Then we should notify them now..."

“No need. The fact that the mentor didn’t kill you means that He is not in a berserk state yet. Let’s follow Him. Maybe He is just worried about the Grand Inquisitor.”

"But, but—"

Chloe's voice trembled even more: "That's what we should be most worried about."

As they talked, they realized their mentor had already gone far away, so they quickly followed. If a door was impossible to open, Ivand would use force to dismantle it. For places that required voice or gene unlocking, he would mimic various voices and genes.

The two behind followed in trepidation, and they found that their instructor had not triggered any alarm devices during this time, which was truly unbelievable.

"squeak--"

Finally, they reached the last door. To the right of the metal door was an identity verification machine. Ivand simply stood there, and it emitted a green beam that scanned him completely.

[Authentication in progress... Authentication failed... Authentication failed... Re-authenticate... Authentication failed]

[Unknown enemy detected]

【attack……】

Before the verification machine could fully deliver its "attack," Ivand reached out and gently tapped its surface.

The next second, the verification machine emitted a completely different sound.

[Identity verification successful, welcome! Great mentor!]

The door opened.

The light emitted by the numerous instruments operating inside the laboratory immediately bathed the ground in front of the door and Ivand himself in a green hue. Huge gears rotated around each other, supporting the flow of nutrients in the culture containers.

Inside a huge, transparent container, Ria's arm rested quietly in the middle of the solution.

Its surface is covered with hundreds of thin tubes, and with the naked eye, people can directly observe that gray-black tentacles wriggle at the broken end of the arm from time to time, mimicking the movement of a horsehair worm.

Golden eyes appeared on the surface of the arm, rotating as people moved around, as if they possessed self-awareness.

When Ivand came into the sight of those eyes, the golden eyes turned their attention to him, watching him move toward them until he was completely exposed to the sight of hundreds of golden eyes.

A group of researchers stared in disbelief at the sudden appearance of Ivand. Just as one of them recognized his mentor and was about to shout, Narcissus and Chloe rushed over, and Jack quickly elbowed the person who had made a rash noise without knowing when to stop.

Just kidding, are you yelling and screaming now because you think you're too long to live?
"Master, may I ask what brings you here?"

Jack forced a smile and went to greet him, while Ivan looked at him at that moment: "I heard that you have achieved some very interesting research results."

"That's true, but this discovery is hardly interesting; it could very well be related to the future of humanity."

"Humanity's future, its destiny?"

Ivan suddenly laughed, a laugh that sent chills down the spines of all the researchers in the lab, making them almost wish they had never been born.

“How about you restate your findings to my face, Dr. Jack?”

Of course, I don't recommend you lie to me. After all, if I wanted to know something, I could use a more extreme method—turning all of you into idiots to forcibly extract all your memories, understand?

"I understand, I understand."

Jack's body stiffened, but he still walked step by step to the container that held the arm and picked up a file from the side table.

Facing a demigod, even with his heart pounding like a hornet's nest, Jack's voice remained calm, as if recalling something: "Before making this statement, we must mention a sealed file in the association, sealed at level S."

Files on the 0148 Incident.

In that incident, our investigators received a distress call from the desert kingdom of Barkley, involving creatures that were incarnations of the primordial deity (Azathoth) (Sada Hegra), known as the Shagai Demon Worms.

These insects are quite rare. It is said that in the past, their numbers were numerous. After their homeland was destroyed by a calamity, they descended upon Barkley and then attempted to communicate with and even summon the original incarnation.

But for some unknown reason, the summoning ritual was interrupted, and their race suffered annihilation.

"Can you get straight to the point?" Ivand frowned.

"Of course, of course."

Jack continued, "When our investigators stationed in Barkley went to the destination to investigate, they saw the Xia Gai Demon Worm mentioned by the complainant. There was only one of it, but its condition was clearly abnormal."

"How should I put it? It has no life characteristics but is still active. Its whole body is covered with gray-black tentacles. It has no rationality or intelligence and attacks any living thing that comes near it indiscriminately."

Even those who come near it will momentarily lose their memory, crawling around like newborns, only to be killed by it in the end.

When Jack finished speaking, he breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw that his mentor had not interrupted him but was lost in thought.

He continued his narration.

(End of this chapter)