Chapter 494 - 428: Guan Tong’s Fear (2)

Chapter 494: Chapter 428: Guan Tong’s Fear (2)

"Director Chen, can’t you guys remotely retake control of the rocket? Dream Boat is your spacecraft, after all," Vilanko said.

Even if Robert, as the leader of the Soloma space colonists, has extensive knowledge of rocket and spacecraft operation and can pilot Dream Ship One, the ultimate control should still lie with the North Star Aerospace Agency.

"Normally, we could have stopped him remotely, but the alert we received indicates that Robert isn’t using his own authorization to control the rocket. He’s using the authorization of our astronaut, Wei Xuan!"

Vilanko’s pupils constricted. "Wei Xuan? Wasn’t he the team leader you sent out before? If Robert has his authorization, that means..."

When the space colonization team retreated, North Star’s team leader, Wei Xuan, went to Dream Ship One alone to continue the mission. He never returned.

Later, both nations received a distress signal from Robert, but none from Wei Xuan... Back then, people speculated that Wei Xuan had perished, but they didn’t know how.

Now, it seemed they had their answer.

Chen Shi said coldly, "Our theory is that Robert killed Wei Xuan and used the latter’s team leader authorization to gain supreme control of Dream Ship One. That’s why ground control can’t remotely operate the rocket."

A bead of cold sweat appeared on Vilanko’s forehead. "In that case, we will begin preparations for a forced return. We absolutely cannot let the two rockets collide. Otherwise, it’s not just Guan Tong whose life will be in danger; the debris from two massive rocket ships would create countless pieces of space junk, blocking orbits and threatening the safety of numerous satellites."

After the call, Vilanko immediately instructed his staff to begin preparations for the forced return. At the same time, he assigned a team to continuously try and contact Robert around the clock, to see if they could get through to him and figure out what he was up to.

"As for Mr. Guan..." Vilanko looked at the pale-faced Zhang Minglu. "Dr. Zhang, when do you plan on telling him the news?"

Zhang Minglu clenched his fists and paced back and forth for a moment. "Guan Tong is still exploring the Crimson Fear. It would be extremely dangerous to disturb him right now! There’s still time. We can inform him after he’s finished his exploration. It won’t be too late."

...

Inside the red space.

Guan Tong had been "flying" around for over ten minutes. His Psychic Power was rapidly draining through the Mental Stability Anchor.

The red dots that had been popping up before were now a dense, sprawling cluster, almost giving him trypophobia.

During this time, the thought of aborting the exploration kept surfacing. This red Consciousness Space was just too bizarre. Even with the Mental Stability Anchor blocking any horrific visions from forming, he still felt extremely uncomfortable.

As his time in the space increased, he even began to feel dizzy and nauseous, similar to motion sickness.

He figured it was related to not having a "body" in this space. This was a human trait—the near impossibility of performing conscious activities as a pure consciousness, detached from the body.

This was different from dreaming. In dreams, one usually has a body, and besides, the contents of the dream are quickly forgotten upon waking. But Guan Tong was now exploring his surroundings with perfect clarity. This sense of dislocation between his consciousness and body was the root of his discomfort.

’Where is it?’

Guan Tong couldn’t find the "Red Halo"—the Source of Fear—at all.

However, according to what Zhang Minglu had said earlier, in the previous experiments, several test subjects had discovered the Red Halo not long after they started.

A thought suddenly occurred to Guan Tong: ’Could it be that my Mental Stability Anchor, while blocking the generation of horrific images, is also blocking the appearance of the Source of Fear?’

His "body" came to a halt. Gazing at the boundless red world around him, he couldn’t help but reach this conclusion.

’If not for this reason, why haven’t I found anything after being in this space for over ten minutes?’

’If I keep going like this, I’ll have nothing to show for it when my Psychic Power runs out.’

Guan Tong took a deep breath and made his decision.

’...I have to take the risk!’

He decided, at a specific moment, to momentarily suspend the flow of Psychic Power to the Mental Stability Anchor.

’For that one instant, the anchor will lose its effect, and a horrific vision will surely be generated...’

’But it’ll only be for a moment. I’ll resume the flow immediately after. The interruption will be brief, ensuring I don’t get lost in the fear.’

Besides, he still had a few life-saving items, like the [Life-Saving Pendant] that could negate a fatal blow at a critical moment, and the [Hourglass of Time] that could stop the flow of time. They could serve as a double insurance.

After quickly thinking it through, Guan Tong immediately put his plan into action.

The moment the Mental Stability Anchor’s blocking effect was interrupted, the original red dots instantly magnified countless times, forming a terrifying scene that enveloped and swallowed Guan Tong:

He saw a version of "himself" with a bizarre expression, standing among millions of people, raising their arms and shouting, "Everything for the proliferation!"

A wave of fear instantly washed over him. Guan Tong knew it was a version of himself that had been converted into a Parasite by the spores. Even though he knew it was fake, the scene generated by the Crimson Fear was incredibly realistic. It struck at a great fear deep within him—the fear of having his free will stripped away.

That was right. Ever since the Apocalypse Rules descended, the core of all his actions was to avoid being controlled by others or the Fire Thief. He was terrified of losing his free will and becoming something like a numb puppet.

However, this fear didn’t destroy him, nor did it make him lose his sanity. The Crimson Fear seemed to "realize" this, and just before the block reactivated, it generated a different terrifying vision.

"Die."

Guan Tong felt a sharp pain. Looking down, he saw an Ice Sword plunged into his abdomen. The one wielding it was an ice-cold Yelena.

"Die."

Another heavy punch slammed into his chest, shattering his ribs and leaving him unable to breathe. The one who threw the punch was Shi Jingyi, with her white robes and long braid.

"Die."

The voice came from the side. Guan Tong felt his entire body stiffen as if petrified. He turned his head and met the glowing green Snake Eyes of Shangyuan Zi.

"Die."

"Die."

"Die."

"Die."

Chen Na, Wang Yan, Xu Xiaotian, Bai Xuewu, Silver Fox, Li Meng, Zhang Minglu, Gao Liangwei, Dragon Soul, Wenren Yizhi... Everyone Guan Tong knew had turned into an executioner, delivering fatal blows.

The physical pain was nothing compared to the agony of being betrayed by everyone he cared for. But even more painful than the betrayal was a profound sense of nihilism, as if everything he had protected was ultimately meaningless.

"...Thanks to you, I’ve experienced what despair feels like. But also thanks to you, now that I know how terrifying this feeling is, I will do everything in my power to make sure it never happens in the real world!"

Guan Tong, who was being attacked in dozens of different ways, suddenly raised his head, his gaze locking onto a specific direction.

His passive ability, [Sensing Malice], allowed him to feel the intense killing intent directed at him and lock onto its source.

He took a step, and in the next moment, the entire scene before him dissipated. The world returned to a field of red. And there, in his line of sight, a hazy red halo floated—it was the "Source of Fear" that Zhang Minglu had told him about!

The Mental Stability Anchor took effect, and all other horrific scenes were immediately blocked.

Guan Tong rushed toward the Source of Fear. As he got close, he reached out his "hand" and grabbed it.

In an instant, his entire field of vision was completely filled with "red dots"!

Dense red dots left not a single gap! They scrambled over each other, trying to generate tens of thousands of terrifying scenes!

The Stability Anchor Totem in his palm grew so hot that Guan Tong could no longer bear it. He felt as if his entire hand was about to be burned through! And his Psychic Power was like a flood bursting through a dam, draining away frantically with each passing second!

’No, if I keep holding on, I’ll be completely eroded by it!’

Guan Tong gritted his teeth, wanting to let go and give up.

Just then, his [Terminal Panel] suddenly popped up automatically and opened to the title interface.

Two large, scarlet notifications appeared:

[Consuming the currently held item "Wailing Furnace" will increase this title’s experience.]

[The ’Civilization Observer’ title can be upgraded after this experience increase.]