I will burn books and slay gods.

The Municipal Children's Hospital looked like a giant white block castle in the rain.

Adorable animal sculptures are scattered throughout the garden, stained glass windows are painted with cartoon suns and clouds, and even the streetlights are mushroom-shaped.

But at this moment, these elements, which should have been warm and inviting, looked strange under the gloomy sky—the smiling animal sculptures seemed to be grinning, the light spots shining through the stained glass looked like peeping eyes, and the mushroom-shaped streetlights swayed in the wind as if nodding.

Chen Ye put on his cognitive enhancement glasses.

His perspective shifted, and he saw the hospital on another level.

The entire building was shrouded in a layer of pinkish-purple mist, which pulsed slowly as if it were alive.

The fog is thickest underground—where there is a deep red core, beating like a heart.

Countless tiny, gray-black tentacles extend from the core, connecting every floor and every ward of the hospital building.

Those are "fear conduits".

They extract children's fears and transmit them to the underground core.

"The energy readings are rising at an accelerated pace."

Wang Xiaoming stared at the handheld detector; the curve on the screen climbed like a steep hillside. "The thunderstorm will reach its peak in another hour and a half, but the cultivation of the Nightmare Child has entered its final stage. It is... actively absorbing fear."

Lin Su extinguished the small flame that had just ignited at her fingertips: "We can't launch a direct attack. There are over two hundred children in the hospital, along with medical staff. The cult is definitely using the children as hostages and a source of energy."

"We must infiltrate."

The instructor, using a measuring tape, examined the building map. "The basement entrance is here—the medical waste disposal chute. But there will definitely be guards there."

Chen Ye carefully examined the fear conduits. They were fragile, as thin as spider silk, but numerous. "What if we cut the conduits?"

"It would alert the enemy," Instructor Guizhi shook his head. "Moreover, the fear energy released when the conduit breaks could directly impact the children connected to it, causing psychological trauma."

"What should we do then?" Wang Xiaoming asked.

Chen Ye pondered.

His new cognitive blueprint slowly rotated in his mind, with eight anchor symbols glowing steadily.

After the reconstruction, the blueprint has a new feature—it can simulate simple conceptual deductions.

He closed his glasses and accelerated the blueprint's progress.

Simulated scenario: They sneak into the basement, encounter guards, fight, the Nightmare Core senses the threat, accelerates the absorption of fear, and the children fall into deep panic...

No. The risk is too great.

Another approach: Instead of attacking the core directly, they first sever some connections between the core and the children, weakening the Nightmare, and then destroy it in one fell swoop.

"I need a quiet environment," Chen Ye said. "Wang Xiaoming, how long can your 'presence shield' maintain its causal interference?"

"Ten minutes for a small area. Three minutes for a large area," Wang Xiaoming estimated.

That's enough.

Chen Ye turned to Instructor Gui, "We'll split into two groups. You, Lin Su, and Wang Xiaoming will be in one group, entering through the main gate to create 'reasonable chaos' and attract the attention of the cult's guards. I'll sneak in alone through the waste disposal tunnel and approach the core while the chaos continues."

"Are you alone?" Lin Su frowned.

"My cognitive abilities are best suited for processing conceptual things," Chen Ye explained. "Moreover, I wear amplifying glasses, which allow me to see the structure of the conduits. If I can sever some of the core connections without being detected, I can weaken the Nightmare Child."

"Once you've drawn enough attention, I'll give the signal, and you can launch a full-scale attack to provide support."

The instructor considered for a few seconds: "Okay. But you must maintain constant communication. If things go wrong, retreat immediately."

"clear."

"There's another problem," Wang Xiaoming said, "How do we handle the security of the waste disposal chutes?"

Chen Ye took out a small spray can from his equipment bag: "This is the 'Cognitive Interference Agent' Lu Yuan gave me. Spraying it into the air will cause a brief 'distraction' in creatures within range, lasting thirty seconds. That's enough for me to pass."

The plan has been finalized.

The two groups separated outside the hospital.

Chen Ye went around to the back of the building and found a metal door marked "Medical Waste".

The door was locked, but a faint pinkish-purple light shone through the crack.

He put on a breathing mask and pressed the spray can against the crack in the door.

A colorless gas was sprayed in, and a few seconds later, a soft cough and footsteps could be heard moving away from inside the door.

Chen Ye used the lock-picking techniques taught by Lao Li to pry open the door and slipped inside.

The passageway was narrow, with yellow medical waste bins piled up on both sides.

The air smelled of disinfectant mixed with a certain sweet odor.

The pinkish-purple fear conduits crawled along the wall like vines, with a node every few meters, and each node had a protrusion that looked like glasses.

Those "eyes" are slowly turning.

Chen Ye held his breath and activated the "concept concealment" mode of the cognitive amplification glasses.

A thin layer of silvery light covered his entire body, making him "transparent" on a conceptual level—those eyes could still see him, but in their conceptual perception, he was like a stone or a piece of furniture, and would not trigger any alarms.

He moved forward carefully, avoiding the debris scattered on the ground.

The passage slopes downwards, leading to the underground level.

The deeper you go, the denser the fear conduits become.

Upon reaching the entrance to the second basement level, the walls were completely covered by pinkish-purple "vines," with countless eyes resembling the compound eyes of insects.

Chen Ye stopped in front of the door.

The door was a heavy fire door, but it was now half open, and a deep red light shone through the crack.

He heard a sound—not the sound of speaking, but a low, harmonious chorus, like many people crying and humming at the same time.

That was the "resonance" emanating from the core of the Child's Nightmare.

He turned the communicator to the lowest volume: "I've reached the entrance to the second basement level. How's it going on your end?"

"We have entered the lobby."

Lin Su's voice came through, accompanied by a cacophony of voices in the background: "Wang Xiaoming created a 'computer system malfunction' at the nurses' station, causing all the call bells to ring simultaneously. Some of the guards were drawn to it, but at least four remain in the main passageway."

"Very good. Continue to create chaos, but don't panic the healthcare workers and children."

"Know."

Chen Ye took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

The scene at the entrance made him stop in his tracks.

The second basement level was originally intended to be an equipment room and storage room, but it has now been completely transformed.

In the center of the room, a huge "cocoon" made of translucent pink material floats in the air.

The surface of the cocoon shows vein-like patterns, and inside is a curled-up, fetal-like shadow—that is the prototype of the nightmare.

Beneath the cocoon is a complex ritual array, drawn with a dark red liquid that is still slowly flowing.

Around the array stood six members of the cult, dressed in grey robes, their heads bowed and hands raised high, seemingly maintaining the ritual.

Fear conduits hung from the ceiling, connecting to the top of the cocoon, continuously infusing it with pinkish-purple power.

Each catheter was pulsating slightly, like a venous transfusion.

But what caught Chen Ye's attention most was the corner of the room.

There were piles of toys there.

A tattered rag doll, a plastic soldier missing arms and legs, dirty building blocks, and balloons with smiley faces drawn on them.

Each toy is connected to a thinner tube, the other end of which pierces into the toy's interior, as if extracting something.

Chen Ye understood.