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

Chapter 97 The Sculpture of Hope

Bai Yu's actions were like a resounding slap in the face, striking hard at the clown's self-righteous script that he thought he had everything under control.

Just a moment ago, the Joker was basking in the satisfaction of witnessing a "tragic aesthetic," but now, the smile on his face froze for a fleeting instant.

A flicker of surprise crossed those still-smiling eyes, which were then completely replaced by rage at Bai Yu's betrayal of the script.

"Stupid insect!"

He let out a cold snort full of contempt and disdain. His voice was no longer as pretentious and elegant as before, but instead carried a cold and harsh quality like the friction of metal, filled with hidden anger.

"You think... with your pitiful strength, you can touch my 'heart'?"

"Since you're so eager to embrace 'death,' then I'll grant your wish!"

He slowly raised his right hand, which was covered in a white glove, and snapped his fingers quickly in Bai Yu's direction.

"Snapped."

With that crisp snap of the fingers, the entire enormous workshop seemed to come alive in an instant!

"Click, click, click..."

A series of ear-piercing mechanical noises rang out from all directions.

The rows of smiling masks of different sizes hanging on the wall swayed slowly with the sound, and their brightly painted eye sockets suddenly lit up with a pair of malevolent scarlet lights!

The next second, those masks, like bats that had come to life, leaped down from the wall, drawing eerie arcs in the air, like deadly flying discs, slicing towards Bai Yu who was rushing forward at high speed!

More than just masks...

In a corner of the workshop, the remains of "failed products" piled up like garbage began to writhe and recombine violently under the pull of an invisible force.

A severed hand and a severed leg were forcibly stitched together with a few rough stitches, turning it into a deformed monster that looked like a spider!

A rag doll with only an upper body attached a head that had rolled to the ground to its neck, and then crawled rapidly on the ground with its two arms of different lengths, making a series of screeching sounds that made your scalp crawl!

Within seconds, the entire workshop transformed from a lifeless "showroom" into a "parade of a hundred ghosts" filled with deformities and grotesque scenes!
Countless monsters, pieced together from severed limbs, surged in from all directions, seemingly intent on exterminating Bai Yu, the only "outcast," right here!

They want to tear him apart completely and drown him in this ocean of despair built of "pleasure"!
However, Bai Yu showed no fear in the face of this overwhelming threat of death.

His eyes remained as cold and focused as ever!

His goal has always been the same!
It's that huge "heart" that's slowly beating deep inside the workshop!
His body moved like a ghost through a hail of bullets, dodging one breathtaking dodge after another with superhuman agility amidst the deathly barrage of "smiling masks"!

The sharp edge of the mask, whistling through the air, grazed his cheek, his neck, and his heart, not a millimeter more or less, narrowly missing him!

Every dodge felt like dancing on a knife's edge, filled with a breathtaking aesthetic of death!

That brain, long accustomed to thinking in dire situations, at this moment, brought its powerful analytical abilities and fighting instincts to their fullest potential!

He doesn't even need to use his eyes to see!

He could clearly hear the trajectory of each mask as it flew through the air!
He could accurately calculate the angle and timing of their next attack!
He's like a top-level chess player who can predict all of his opponent's moves in advance!
"boom!"

A grotesque monster, made up of three arms and two heads, suddenly pounced from his side!
Bai Yu didn't even turn his head!

He suddenly ducked as he lunged forward, and at the same time, thrust the cold scalpel in his hand behind him at a tricky angle!

"Pfft——!"

The sharp scalpel precisely pierced the most vulnerable suture between the monster's two heads!

The monster let out a silent roar, its entire body froze for a moment, and then, with a "boom," it scattered back into a pile of cold parts!

He didn't stop!
He knew that time was of the essence.

As he took down an enemy, he used the momentum of his forward charge to stomp on the ground, leaping into the air like a cheetah breaking free from the pull of gravity!

His body drew a graceful arc in mid-air, passing over the heads of two "spider monsters" that were closing in on him from the left and right sides with an incredibly perfect posture!

Fifty meters!
Forty meters!
Thirty meters!
The distance between him and that huge, slowly beating "heart" is rapidly closing at a speed visible to the naked eye!

In the VIP section, a change finally appeared on the clown's pale face.

A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

He clearly hadn’t anticipated that, in this moment of crisis, the “actor” in front of him, who he thought was already at his limit, could still unleash such amazing fighting power!

“Interesting…really interesting…” He slowly stood up from the soft chair, his voice filled with excitement and interest. “It seems I underestimated you. Your performance was even more spectacular than I had imagined.”

"In that case, let me add a little... variation to your grand performance."

He gracefully raised his right hand, which was covered by a clean white glove.

This time, he did not snap his fingers.

He simply drew a circle in the air with his index finger.

With this simple action, the entire massive workshop underwent a dramatic transformation in an instant!
"Boom, boom, boom!"

With a loud bang, huge cracks appeared in the hard steel ground without warning!
One after another, enormous tentacles covered in dark red slime surged wildly from the crack, like demonic claws reaching out from the depths of hell!

The tips of those tentacles were covered with huge mouthparts filled with sharp teeth!

Like terrifying, living carnivorous plants, they were swarming towards the tiny figure frantically running for his life in the center of the stage, biting and devouring him with overwhelming force!

Bai Yu's pupils suddenly contracted!
He could clearly feel the pressure emanating from those tentacles, a mental pressure far more terrifying than that emanating from the previous "smiling dolls"!
These things are the true "guardians" of this workshop!
He knew he could no longer hold on!
"Black Words!" He roared from the depths of his own consciousness!
"Oh? Finally calling me?" Hei Yan's voice, still languid and playful, slowly echoed in his mind. "I thought you were going to rely on your pathetic 'heroism' to save the world all by yourself." "Enough nonsense! I need power!"

"as you wish."

boom--!
Darkness... the ultimate, pure darkness, devoid of any impurities, erupted like a flood bursting its banks from Bai Yu's no longer tranquil sea of ​​souls!

His deep eyes were instantly replaced by a pure blackness, like a black hole!

Ominous black lines, like living vines, spread upwards from his neck, eventually covering half of his cold face!
Behind him, a huge ancient book composed of extinguished starlight and nothingness slowly emerged, its mysterious and majestic pages turning automatically without any wind!

An even more ancient and terrifying pressure, far surpassing the power of the workshop, slowly emanated from Bai Yu's body!
"—In my name, I issue this decree!"

"—All things... are... 'nothingness'!"

The voice of the Bai language transformed into a majestic and divine aria, resounding throughout the entire underground workshop!
Under the oppressive force of his power, which symbolizes "concept erasure," the enormous tentacles that were frantically biting at him let out mournful cries as if they had encountered their natural enemy!
Their once-proud, resilient outer layer, under the erosion of the power of "nothingness," began to crumble rapidly, like sheets of paper towels soaked in water for a long time!

In just a few seconds, the “sea of ​​tentacles” that had just represented death and despair was forcibly cleared out, creating a straight path leading to the “heart”!

Bai Yu didn't pause at all!
His body transformed into a black afterimage, charging relentlessly along the "path to survival" he had carved out himself, towards the ultimate goal that was within reach!
Twenty meters!
Ten meters!

Five meters!

close!

He could even clearly see the surface of that huge "heart," with its dense network of thick pipes like blood vessels, and the dark red liquid that emitted an eerie glow flowing slowly within them!

In the VIP section, the confident smile that had always graced the clown's pale face had completely vanished!
His eyes revealed deep shock and disbelief!

why?
He couldn't understand it!
He couldn't understand how this seemingly tiny human could unleash such terrifying power!

That power... that power even made him feel a trace of... fear from the depths of his soul!

"No...this is impossible!" he screamed in disbelief!

He suddenly jumped up from his seat, ready to personally intervene and stop the "heretic" below who was about to desecrate his artwork!
However, it's too late.

Bai Yu's figure crashed into the huge, slowly beating "heart" like a black meteor!
He completely enveloped the cold scalpel in his hand with all the "void" power he could muster, and then, with all his strength and the immense momentum of his forward thrust, he plunged it in fiercely!
"—Pfft!!!"

A dull thud, like leather being torn, echoed throughout the underground workshop!
"No! How dare you..."

Time seems to stand still at this moment.

Immediately afterwards...

"boom--!!!"

A deafening roar, far more terrifying than all the previous explosions combined, suddenly erupted here!

The enormous "heart" that served as the energy core of the entire "Happy Paradise" exploded into fragments amidst a mournful cry filled with resentment!

The terrifying energy storm, like a cataclysmic tsunami, swept wildly in all directions from the "heart" as its center!
The entire massive underground workshop, under the impact of this destructive force, began to shake and collapse violently, like a castle of building blocks tossed with stones!
The "smiling masks" hanging on the wall shattered with a series of crisp cracking sounds, turning into a pile of rubble on the ground!

All the unfinished dolls hanging on the iron frame fell helplessly, smashing into piles of broken cotton wool and parts!

Bai Yu's body, propelled by the massive impact of the explosion, was flung away like a kite with a broken string, tracing a tragic arc in the air before finally crashing heavily against the cold steel wall in the distance with a muffled thud, and then slid helplessly back down.

"puff--!"

A mouthful of bright red blood gushed from his mouth.

His eyes, which had been burning with black flames, finally regained their human clarity as his power was exhausted.

Bai Yu struggled to lift his head, looking at the "masterpiece" before him that was heading towards destruction, and then at the "clown" standing in the ruins, completely dazed.

A tired yet incredibly radiant smile slowly spread across his face.

"Now……"

His voice was incredibly hoarse, as if he had just experienced a massive sandstorm.

"...Did you...laugh?"

The clown's body jolted violently.

He slowly lowered his head, looking at his hands, which were trembling slightly from excessive shock, his expression constantly changing.

Then, he slowly raised his head and fixed his terrifying, abyss-like eyes on the man lying in a pool of blood, who wore a victor's smile.

All the expressions on his face eventually turned to deathly stillness.

A dead silence.

After a long while, the corners of his mouth slowly began to stretch upwards into a huge arc.

The arc was so large, so exaggerated, that it almost split his pale face in two.

He opened his mouth.

His voice was a mixture of all his emotions: extreme anger, madness, and distortion...

A burst of maniacal laughter.

"—Hahahahaha! Bai Yu…right? Well done! You're the first human to dare to do these things! And I…will personally make you replace the 'heart' as the new pillar here!"

(End of this chapter)