Global Ghost Stories: I'm Investigating Ghosts in My Nightmare!

Chapter 101 Gatekeeper

"Eye of the Vortex!"

Mo Fei's sudden, shocked roar was like a depth charge dropped into a calm lake, instantly igniting the already extremely tense atmosphere in the No. 3 Deep Analysis Laboratory!
All eyes were fixed on the strange symbol in the lower right corner of the shattered star map, like iron filings drawn to a magnet!

That's right!

That's the symbol!

That "Eye of the Vortex," which had haunted them like a nightmare and represented endless terror and the unknown, was now a nightmare for them!
It was like an indelible mark of malice, a contemptuous mockery from a higher dimension, appearing without warning on this star map that should have been filled with sacred and ancient atmosphere, forcibly twisting two seemingly unrelated clues together in a fateful way!
"tower"……

"Door"……

An Mu's pupils suddenly contracted, and a look of horror appeared on his resolute face.

If what they had faced before were merely individual nightmares, powerful yet still solvable "nightmare events," then from this moment on, what they were glimpsing was likely the much larger and more terrifying truth hidden behind all these events!

They were just ordinary creatures living on a low-dimensional plane, but unintentionally, they looked up and saw a tiny, enormous shadow cast by those godlike beings in a higher-dimensional world.

The fear, which came from a higher dimension and could not be understood, was enough to make every seasoned investigator present feel a sense of insignificance and powerlessness from the depths of their souls.

"Immediately seal off Laboratory Three! Raise the security level to the highest level, 'Ω'! Cut off all physical links between this facility and the headquarters main server! From this moment forward, no one is permitted to enter or leave without my highest order!"

Chai Yushuang made a quick decision. Her voice turned incredibly cold and sharp in an instant. There was no panic in her eyes hidden behind her goggles. Instead, they carried a kind of morbid excitement and fanaticism.

She was like a believer who had finally found the legendary Holy Grail. She walked quickly to the console, her hands fluttering like butterflies across the virtual keyboard, creating a series of dazzling afterimages!
"Om-!"

With a deep rumble, massive gates made of heavy titanium alloy slowly descended from all sides of the laboratory, completely isolating it from the outside world and forming an airtight steel cage.

“Dr. Chai!” An Mu immediately realized the seriousness of the situation. He stepped forward and said in a deep voice, “We need an explanation!”

"Explanation?" Chai Yushuang didn't turn her head. Her gaze remained fixed on the strange star map on the holographic screen, her voice trembling slightly. "Captain An, do you know what you brought back?"

"This is no ordinary 'abyssal creation'! Nor is it a 'souvenir' from a single Nightmare realm!"

She slowly turned around, her sharp eyes flashing with an unsettlingly fanatical light in the silver-gray space.

"It's a key!"

"A key... that could very well lead to the 'origin' of our world!"

Her words made everyone present feel a sudden sinking feeling in their hearts.

“Dr. Chai, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” An Mu’s brows furrowed tightly. “All we know is that this symbol is directly connected to the terrifying entity called the ‘Tower of Ten Thousand Heads’ that attacked Bai Yu before! We need to know everything about it!”

"'The Tower of Ten Thousand Heads'?" Chai Yushuang's face revealed a sneer full of disdain. "Captain An, I must correct a conceptual error of yours. The 'Tower' has never been a single entity. It is more like... a 'phenomenon,' a 'protocol.'"

"It and the 'door' we see now are essentially two sides of the same coin. They are different 'forms' that are projected onto our low-dimensional world from higher-dimensional beings."

“I’m sorry,” she shrugged, a helpless expression on her face, “I think the level of secrecy regarding the ‘Gate of Rifts’ is far beyond your authority. According to the Bureau of Investigation’s highest security protocols, I cannot reveal a single word to you.”

"Access?" Mo Fei's temper flared instantly. He took a step forward, standing like an iron tower in front of Chai Yushuang, his bloodshot eyes burning with rage. "Dr. Chai! Now is not the time to talk about some bullshit access! That thing is probably still branded on Lao Bai! It's like a persistent time bomb, ready to blow him, and all of us, to pieces at any moment! We need to know what we're really facing!"

Hidden beneath his rage was his concern and protection for his companions.

Chai Yushuang's gaze lingered for a moment on Mo Fei's face, which was filled with anxiety and anger, before she finally shook her head slowly.

“I’m sorry, Investigator Mo Fei. Rules are rules.” Her voice remained icy and devoid of any emotion. “This is not my personal wish, but to protect the safety of the entire Bureau of Investigation, and even the entire world. Some knowledge is a vicious curse for us. The more you know, the deeper you will sink, and the faster you will die.”

"You!" Mo Fei gritted his teeth, his knuckles turning white from the force of his clenched fist.

Just as tensions were about to escalate, a cold hand gently pressed down on his shoulder, which was on the verge of exploding.

It is Bai language.

He had somehow walked up to Mo Fei's side and gently shook his head at Mo Fei.

Then, he slowly raised his head, his deep, ancient eyes calmly meeting Chai Yushuang's scrutinizing and probing gaze.

He didn't say anything, but silently raised his right hand, which was branded with the "Eye of the Vortex," slowly in front of Chai Yushuang.

Under the cold laboratory lights, the symbols, filled with an ominous and eerie aura, seemed to come alive, emitting an unsettling glow.

Chai Yushuang's pupils finally contracted involuntarily.

She could clearly feel the aura emanating from that mark, a terrifying aura from a higher dimension filled with the concepts of "aggression" and "assimilation"!
“Dr. Chai,” Bai Yu finally spoke slowly, his voice flat and calm, yet like a sharp icicle, piercing Chai Yushuang’s solid ice built of “rationality,” “I am not asking you for information.”

"I'm just trying to find out who my enemy really is."

He paused, a hint of self-mockery and an unwavering resolve flashing in his eyes.

"We both know that from the moment this mark appeared, I was already caught in the middle and had no way out."

"Rather than letting me grope alone in this fog-shrouded battlefield like a blind man, and ultimately, due to ignorance, detonate this bomb that could explode at any moment, dragging everyone into an abyss of no return."

"Instead... you might as well hand over that map that can guide the way to me."

"At least this way, we still have a glimmer of hope... to win this war."

The entire laboratory fell into a suffocating silence once again.

Chai Yushuang quietly looked at the man in front of her.

She looked at his pale yet incredibly resolute face, at his calm yet burning eyes that held an inextinguishable flame.

He's right.

Rules are rigid, but people are flexible.

When faced with a massive threat capable of upending the entire world, clinging to old ways is the most foolish choice. She slowly closed her eyes, and after a long while, slowly opened them again.

The hesitation and struggle in those eyes had vanished, replaced by a gambler's mentality filled with madness and determination.

“Alright.” She spoke slowly, her voice slightly hoarse with excitement, “Since you are so eager to see what the abyss looks like, then I will make an exception and open that gate to hell for you.”

She turned around and walked back to the control panel.

Her hands once again left afterimages on the virtual keyboard.

This time, she didn't enter any instructions, but a series of passwords that required complex authentication.

"Identity confirmed: Chai Yushuang. Access level: Ω."

"Emergency Response Activated: 'Abyss Gaze' Protocol".

"Target file search: File-Ω-009. Keyword: 'Gatekeeper'."

With her final command, the massive titanium alloy wall deep inside the laboratory slowly slid open to both sides with a muffled rumble!

Behind the wall was a cold, oppressive, dark space that seemed to swallow even light.

Around that dark space stood a dozen huge cylindrical containers made of unknown black crystals.

The container was filled with a viscous, dark red liquid.

Within those liquids, the outlines of terrifying creatures wriggling slightly could be vaguely seen; their appearance defied description.

Those are all unknown and dangerous "Abyss Creations" that the Seventh District has recovered from various S-class and even Omega-class nightmare events over the past hundred years!
The entire team has been summoned.

Just by standing here, everyone could clearly feel the terrifying pollution emanating from those containers, enough to instantly break a person's mind!
"Stay close to me." Chai Yushuang's voice became extremely solemn. "Don't look at the things in those containers, and don't try to use your senses to explore them. Otherwise, I can't guarantee that you'll leave here alive."

She led the group through the terrifying corridor, which resembled a museum of hell, until they finally arrived at the deepest part of that dark space.

There was only a single, solid black platform made of obsidian.

On the high platform, an ancient bronze combination lock box lay quietly, as if it had been asleep for decades.

Chai Yushuang stepped forward and placed her palm on the surface of the combination lock box.

"Om-"

With a faint energy fluctuation, golden light with intricate patterns appeared on the surface of the combination lock box.

Then, the box slowly opened with a series of "clicks".

The box did not contain the paper documents or chips that everyone had imagined.

Inside was only a palm-sized, rhomboid crystal made of an unknown black gemstone.

Chai Yushuang carefully picked up the chip and inserted it into a groove on the side of the platform.

"Om-!"

A huge holographic light screen was projected from the top of the platform and floated in front of everyone.

The cover of a file slowly appeared on the screen.

The background of the cover is a deep darkness, as profound as the universe.

In the center of the darkness, the file's code name was branded in bright red lettering.

【File - Ω - 009: 'The Gatekeeper'】

Below the code name is a faded black and white photograph.

The photo shows a man who looks to be only in his early thirties, wearing a slightly worn white lab coat.

His face bore the refined elegance unique to scholars, but behind his gold-rimmed glasses burned a flame of fanaticism and obsession.

Chai Yushuang looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar man in the photo, and finally slowly closed her eyes.

After a long while, she uttered the name that had long been completely erased from the history of the Investigation Bureau in a hoarse voice filled with complex emotions.

“Lu...Yuan...Shan”.

As the name was mentioned, Lu Yueqi, who was standing next to Bai Yu, suddenly stiffened, and her bright eyes shrank to the size of pinpoints in an instant!

Her petite body trembled violently as if struck by an invisible thunderbolt!

"...Grandpa?"

Her voice sounded so weak, trembling uncontrollably, yet it was like a sharp dagger, piercing the heart of everyone present.

All eyes instantly focused on her small face, which had turned deathly pale from shock.

An Mu's brows furrowed tightly, and a hint of contemplation and surprise flashed in his sharp eyes.

Mo Fei's face, which usually wore a cheerful smile, was now filled with solemnity and worry. He subconsciously took a step forward, his burly body like a mountain, firmly protecting the swaying girl behind him.

Lan Ce pushed up his thick, black-rimmed glasses, which were perched on the bridge of his nose. His eyes, behind the lenses, gleamed with rationality, but his slightly trembling knuckles betrayed his inner turmoil.

Lu Yueqi's maternal grandfather...

(End of this chapter)