Love, death, and false man

Chapter 4.4. The Hunting Channel
[Soulfire Intensity: 472 Joules...]

766 joules...

1327 joules...

Once free will awakens and participates in the chaotic formula that alters the course of the universe, the soul's consciousness can perform work on the physical world through distorted spacetime.

Because of the Lord of Souls.

The subjectivity of too many things has been erased.

When fake humans infiltrate society and are used as a reference point, real humans, as social animals, will learn to imitate them. The resulting ripple effect is that even without the control of neural impulses, humans will automatically self-domesticate.

By intervening in, interfering with, and manipulating thought in a covert manner, people believe they are thinking, but in reality they are performing a "thought show" according to the will of the Soul-Sucking Lord, a kind of unwise detour.

The result obtained was completely consistent with the result requested by the Lord of Souls.

The entire history is placed within the perpetual motion machine of the Soul-Sucking Lord. As it has developed to this point, it is no longer about who is controlling whom or who is dominating whom. It is not about the emperor dominating his subjects, the parents dominating their children, or the leaders dominating their employees.

It is merely domination itself, representing only the domination of itself.

The Lord of Souls became an enigmatic symbol, an unparalleled being.

This dominance even exists at the genetic level.

Human beings have had their animalistic nature erased. When faced with a crisis, they usually dodge or enter a state of stress rigidity. They are gradually transformed into gentle and harmless beings, making them easier to rule.

Located on the X chromosome, a gene called MAOA corresponds to a protein that is responsible for breaking down specific brain molecular signals, including blood-derived dopamine, norepinephrine, and other hormones.

If the MAOA gene mutates and malfunctions, it can lead to the accumulation of negative emotions and violent tendencies.

Of course, this is just the official statement.

There is a gene called the "born warrior gene," which stubbornly persists.

When faced with danger, throw a punch first.

9/11—21:37
Dongni's head was divided into four parts by the upper jaw, its outline resembling the outer leaves of a robust lettuce, tough and fleshy, with densely packed, waving soft teeth already chewing.

Her four heads shot out like flare guns, instantly enveloping Fang Yan's head and devouring it.

Two dark, translucent arms, as deep as the sea, clamped tightly onto the fleshy outer leaves of the lettuce on either side, possessing a total of 1327 joules of kinetic energy. The subconscious mind had already begun to defend itself.

These two arms are illusory, with no connection or support below the elbow joints. They are blurry and indistinct in a semi-transparent state, with faint traces of rust. Their movement ripples through the space, carrying invisible force field ripples like fleeting shadows, as if they are in an alternate dimension, between the physical world and distorted spacetime.

Completely defying the properties of physics, it is the work done by the heat of free will on the process of the universe, a paradoxical kinetic field, the so-called soul fire.

When Fang Yan came to his senses, he had already pulled out a spring knife with a military green camouflage handle from the pocket of his school uniform pants, pressed the button to eject the blade, and violently and ferociously, with all his might, plunged it into Dongni's deformed alien mouth, into her still-existing lower jaw.

It didn't feel like it was inserted into flesh and blood; the strange toughness felt like it was inserted into a mixture of asphalt and soft tissue, making it difficult to move.

Fang Yan had no choice but to pull it out.

In an instant, a painful spray of bright red liquid splattered, the blood droplets flying all over Fang Yan's face and onto his blue and white school uniform.

Dongni also felt a sharp pain and her body trembled. The four lettuce leaves instantly closed up and pulled back. The huge inertia made her lose her balance in her high heels, and she staggered back two steps.

Fang Yan, belatedly realizing what was happening, hastily retreated in fear, staring at Dong Ni in disbelief, somewhat dazed. His schoolbag, which was hanging on one shoulder, fell to the ground, and he involuntarily leaned back, his back pressed tightly against the load-bearing cement pillar.

Dongni still had that pretty face, but blood was seeping from the corner of her mouth.

"Aren't you very lonely? As long as we become one, you will never feel pain again. You will become a part of me, we are one, and I am a part of you."

With tears streaming down her face, Dongni's voice trembled with sobs as she said, "What I said to you online was from the bottom of my heart. I am also being controlled. They are mind-controlling me, tracking me, monitoring me, and turning me into this. Everything I can think of is just what I can think of, what they made me think of. There is no way to escape their control, absolutely no way to escape."

The cone-shaped beam of light from the stark white fluorescent tube shone on her.

Fang Yan, who was in the shadow of the side of the load-bearing column, was speechless with trembling lips in the face of such a horrifying scene, even though he had been responsible for the deaths of six people.

I went through all that during the summer vacation, but I had no one to confide in. The only blood relative I could rely on had gone into hiding.

Although they are just text codes on the internet, imaginary partners sharing the same boat, they are still a vestige of rationality and a thread of emotion that remains amidst the madness and chaos.

In the end, it turned out like this.

It seems to be a human instinct to imitate and be infected; upon hearing Dongni's cries, Fang Yan also felt devastated, and his nose began to sting.

[Fake character detected, loading...]

The base station has been located precisely.

[You have been redirected to the [Hunter Channel]]

[Real-time jamming signal transmission in progress...]

All witnesses' short-term memories will be erased.

[Gravity accelerator is being upgraded; Trojan virus is being generated...]

[The data stored for satellite system number 0-1-2030-BH has been overwritten.]

Salvation Army Code of Conduct.

3. You must eliminate the imposters unconditionally.

Free will is a necessary ideology to confront the Soul-Sucker.

The Salvation Army guarantees that every member retains free will.

Salvation Army members will not be transformed into dummy individuals in any form.

The savior is watching you.

Perhaps it was a shared experience, but even having seen that monstrous appearance, Fang Yan hesitated for a moment.

What is the essential difference between humans and pseudo-humans? Do they possess thought? The rational side behind appearances is so hidden and circuitous, making people obsessed and fantasizing.

Does free will exist?

Or is it all just an illusion manipulated by fate, a free performance?

Freedom is like a curse; one must be unrestricted and stand in opposition to everything.

Instead, it became...

The saddest thing.

"I will try my best to let you die without pain, and I will remember you."

Fang Yan took a deep breath, forcing himself to control his emotions. His switchblade was covered in blood as he choked out, "..."

"Aren't you afraid that it's all just an illusion, and that you're being manipulated to kill real people?"

Dongni sensed that Fang Yan's killing intent was growing stronger. Ordinary pseudo-humans' soul fire could not obtain power from the distorted spacetime; all their power came from the Blessing of the Soul-Draining Lord.

But Fang Yan was full of determination.
"Even if you are not a fake human, but were once human, I have killed many people. It's just one more life. I've already said it! I will remember you, even if you are a real fake human..."

Fang Yan's voice trembled, but his thick arms immediately smashed the fire glass box that was bolted to the load-bearing column, dropped the switchblade, and gripped the fire axe painted red with both hands.

Dongni abandoned her disguise, her form becoming more aggressive. Her limbs began to grow strangely, bony spikes piercing the flesh of her palms and extending outwards wildly. She lay prone, her bony limbs, resembling spider legs, supporting her torso. Her shirt tore open at the chest, exposing her ribs, which visibly grew strong. Her four ribs and four legs overlapped as she took steps, truly like a spider. Her head suddenly split open into four, emitting a menacing roar, and she rapidly crawled towards Fang Yan. On the cement floor covered in adhesive, her sharp legs quickly dug furrows, kicking up gravel.

Fang Yan's innate warrior genes and surging adrenaline did not make him irritable, but rather made him even calmer.

The brain works at high speed. 1327 joules of energy, if converted to a full-force punch, would be about 3000 pounds. While not enough to penetrate a steel plate, it would still be devastating.

The worst part is that this is not something I can control. Theoretically, I can only unleash this kind of power when the Soulfire intensity is at its peak, but in reality, it fluctuates randomly, as if I have to pass a test.

There's no time to think about it anymore.

Since it's your subconscious and a part of yourself, just go for it.

You've been through it before, on a fishing boat! Know when to hide and when to cut—that's all the essential knowledge you have.

Dongni quickly crawled up from the ground, her spider legs and arched torso making her a full two meters tall.

At this point, you must not try to fight back. Take advantage of her momentum to stop and regain her footing before launching an attack and chopping off her head with the axe.

Fang Yan stepped away from the load-bearing pillar he was currently on and quickly ran towards the side where there were vehicles.

With naturally excellent physical qualities, he trains in his spare time and engages in high-intensity sea work during summer vacation, sometimes handling several tons of squid a day. This kind of hardship is something even construction workers cannot endure. The explosive power and agility he has honed play a far greater role in life-or-death struggles than gym-goers who can't even touch a shoulder.

He was as agile as a fierce leopard, each stride reaching its maximum range, moving with great speed and bursting through short distances in nearly 100 meters in 12 seconds, quickly dodging the monster's charge.

However, his idea was too simplistic. Dongni did not foolishly crash into the load-bearing pillar due to inertia and see stars; instead, she was agile to an almost eerie degree.

Spider-like legs were embedded in the wall, climbing vertically up the load-bearing pillars, and crawling up to the ceiling of the parking lot. They hung against gravity above Fang Yan's head, and the four-part head continued to roar and intimidate him, chasing after him at a speed not much slower than before.

Most people would have been terrified, but Fang Yan ran, his school uniform jacket soaked with sweat.

In less than twenty seconds, they were running for their lives.

Dongni had completely caught up with the distance and descended from above Fang Yan's head. Her already enormous size due to the proliferation of flesh and blood appeared even larger and more terrifying in Fang Yan's eyes.

With a sharp tearing sound, Fang Yan was knocked to the ground, blood splattering everywhere. A spider leg bone had driven into his thigh. The strange, semi-transparent arm that had appeared earlier reappeared and gripped him tightly. It didn't injure his bones, but it had pierced his flesh and was bleeding profusely.

The instant Dongni fell, Fang Yan, though he didn't chop off her head, his axe embedded itself fiercely into the head of a lettuce leaf.

However, Fang Yan clearly did not have the ability to fight this monster in close combat. Other spider leg bone spikes fell like raindrops, piercing and killing him. If he did not move, Fang Yan would be pierced into a tomato paste of rotten flesh and blood.

The subconscious is the first signal system of unconditioned and conditioned reflexes, and it is not connected with the second signal system (language), which is very different from the conscious mind that thinks using language.

Soul Fire ←→ Subconscious ←→ Conscious
The conscious mind cannot mobilize the soul fire; it can only rely on the subconscious mind.

The subconscious mind is a relatively stable connection mode of neural networks. When a belief is deeply rooted in a person's brain and becomes a fixed channel of brain nerves, when a corresponding stimulus enters, it will directly respond according to the established neural channels.

Soulfire is also generated into a specific shape based on the subconscious, rather than an abstract concept of kinetic energy.

In close combat, with life and death hanging in the balance, those channels were finally activated, allowing Fang Yan to be completely controlled by his subconscious.

The Soulfire intensity reached its peak of 1327 joules, but the converted kinetic energy could not be used entirely for attack. It had to resist the terrifying spider leg bone piercing attacks and used most of the energy to create a black force field barrier like seawater to block them.

Even so, the force of the piercing and probing caused bloodstains all over his body, with seven grooves the thickness of a little finger showing through his skin and flesh.

The most serious injury was to the right hand that was gripping the handle of the fire axe tightly. Even with the black water barrier absorbing the force, the other three lettuce leaves were still biting and grinding wildly. The skin was curled up like shavings of wood, and the entire arm was covered with bruises and abrasions from a car crash.

The remaining soul fire energy gathered on Fang Yan's right arm, imbued with kinetic energy, giving him a full-force strike of approximately seven or eight hundred pounds of Newton force.

Instantly, the brick flew with great force as Fang Yan fiercely pulled on the axe. The soft tissue, which had previously been as hard as tar, was now being torn apart by the gravitational inertia of the target above. The curved hook on the axe ripped off large chunks of flesh, almost destroying an entire lettuce head and tearing it apart.

Like water running from a tap, fresh blood was poured all over his face and completely soaked his hair.

The devastating trauma caused Dongni pain, and she raised her body, letting out a shrill scream, as the pressure on Fang Yan loosened.

Having caught his breath, Fang Yan knew he had to seize the opportunity. He quickly rolled over and crawled away from under the spider monster, then stood up, gripping the fire axe.

The voice-producing body in Dongni's mouth was still speaking in human language: "All you can think of is what you can think of, and you absolutely cannot escape it. Stay with me, I am so lonely."

But Fang Yan was now being controlled by his subconscious; his blood was rushing to his head, so how could he pay attention to anything else?

The 1327 joules of soul fire were all converted into kinetic energy and added to his right arm. A force field like ripples of black water enveloped his right hand, which grabbed an axe and slashed wildly at Dongni.

It was the buzzing sound of metal clashing. Dongni used the spider-like bone spikes on her forelimbs to defend herself, but all the kinetic energy concentrated together was too terrifying. The fire axe was chipped and sparked by Fang Yan's force, and the bones and limbs immediately cracked and broke, unable to withstand such power.

With unstoppable momentum, Fang Yan slashed through three spider leg thorns in succession, his figure pressing close to her...

With all his might, he swung the axe down, as if it had struck nothing.

Dongni's mutated head fell to the ground and rolled several times. Blood gushed from the severed neck, and her heart, still beating, gushed out like a geyser.

But her "spider" body was still twitching.

Fang Yan had to cut off all the remaining spider legs until they were completely bled out and stiffened.

The underground parking lot was extremely empty.

The slightest sound has an echo.

at last……

The hissing stopped abruptly, and the online boyfriend, whom she had known for over a week, was no longer able to move.

Fang Yan's chest heaved rapidly as he gasped for breath. He stared intently at Dong Ni's corpse, his mind somewhat dazed.

Is it a dream?
If it's a nightmare, then it's been going on for far too long.

During this time, two passersby came to the parking lot. Both of them were so frightened that they scrambled back to the elevator. However, they only felt that it was a false alarm. Their memories would be erased, and what remained in their deep consciousness might give them a nightmare. After waking up, nothing happened, and they went about their business as usual.

Like the Lord of Souls.

The savior seemed to be everywhere.

The soul fire had dissipated, leaving only Fang Yan panting heavily as he looked at the mess on the ground, a scene far more devastating than what had happened on the fishing boat.

Your rank has been promoted to Private First Class.

[You will receive more technical support.]

[You can now use the Savior Organization's satellite base stations to actively generate and synchronize false linguistic information in real time to interfere with the perception of the imposters.]

After you sign the relevant agreement, you can proactively redirect to the [Hunter Channel] to preemptively strike.

Your direct superior, Lieutenant Sylvia Christie, will be summoning you soon. Please be prepared.

Please maintain your social identity to avoid being re-searched by the satellite program designated by numbers 0-1.

The savior is watching you.

9/11—21:44
Fang Yan was already somewhat numb. He was covered in blood, with cuts and lacerations all over his body, and severe scratches on his right hand. Only now did the pain begin to flare up, a burning, continuous agony.

He limped to the load-bearing pillar where he had been standing and picked up his schoolbag.

Anyway, let's go home and put our backpacks down first.

(End of this chapter)