Chapter 537: Winston’s Conspiracy, the Calamity of the Central Base

Chapter 537: Chapter 537: Winston’s Conspiracy, the Calamity of the Central Base

Central Base.

After a large number of Players returned from the Trial Dungeon, a bizarre atmosphere enveloped the entire base.

The number of Players lost in this Demonic Apocalypse Trial Dungeon was astronomical.

Without Seraphina Sullivan’s Calming Skill.

From the very start of the Demonic Apocalypse, the Demonization Factor had posed a great threat to them.

And of course, there were the myriad dangers lurking within the Demonic Apocalypse before the Ancestral Witch was defeated.

The Players who made it out of the Demonic Apocalypse Dungeon alive all had ashen faces and vacant eyes, as if they had lost their souls.

The various administrators of the base were at their wits’ end.

First, there was Azure Star’s extreme temperature cataclysm.

They had thought the biggest problem would be food.

The massive food reserves had started to spoil rapidly due to the extreme temperatures, with nearly two-thirds of it ruined in just a few days.

A nauseating, sour stench wafted from the warehouses, and the person in charge of logistics was frantic.

"Quick! Gather all the food that’s still edible! Use the Ice Element Players’ Abilities to cool it down! If that doesn’t work, just distribute it and let the ordinary people eat their fill for now!"

The administrators reacted swiftly. Several Players with a Low Temperature Ability were urgently dispatched to build temporary ice cellars in the warehouses.

The problem of food spoilage was temporarily brought under Control.

But they failed to notice that the real problem wasn’t the food at all.

A much greater chaos was brewing.

It would directly lead to the entire base falling apart.

The Central Base directly Split.

Winston suddenly sat up in bed.

His eyes had turned an eerie purple.

The corners of his mouth stretched to an impossible angle as he let out an inhuman laugh.

"Finally... The moment has finally arrived..."

The plot of the God of Conspiracy’s Beloved had finally reached its most critical moment.

His voice was hoarse and twisted, as if something inside him had awakened.

The next second, his body exploded!

It was not death, but a Split.

His body transformed into countless purple threads, spreading out madly in all directions.

This was an incredibly powerful Ability he had acquired through scheming in the Demonic Apocalypse.

[Fear Silk Thread]

The Fear Silk Threads penetrated walls, pierced the ground, and passed through everything in their path, and then...

They burrowed into the bodies of other Players and the ordinary people in the base.

The moment a Player was pierced by a thread, their eyes instantly became hollow and then quickly turned purple.

They turned around stiffly and began to attack their comrades beside them.

One, two, ten, fifty, a hundred...

The purple threads spread through the base like a plague.

More and more people fell under Control, and chaos swept through the entire Central Base like wildfire.

"What is this?! What the hell is this thing!"

"Stay away from me! Don’t—AHH!"

"Run! Run for it! Run outside!"

Screams, cries, and the sounds of fighting merged into a cacophony.

The Players who hadn’t been controlled yet fought back desperately, but their enemies weren’t monsters or a natural disaster.

They were their former companions.

The people they had fought alongside, the people they had survived with.

Amidst the crowd, a slender figure stood atop The Tower, looking down on the chaos below.

His eyes were purple, and a satisfied smile hung on his lips.

"Finally... it’s beginning."

He had only one goal.

To use conspiracy to create chaos and obtain rewards from the God of Conspiracy.

He had lain low in the Central Base for three whole months.

For three months, he had acted like an ordinary Player—not standing out, not falling behind, and not causing trouble.

He quietly observed, quietly waited, and quietly planted the seeds of fear and despair in the hearts of the Players returning from the dungeons.

And the Demonic Apocalypse Dungeon was the best fertilizer.

Initially, Winston had considered using [Enslavement Meatballs] to control animals that ate them.

He would have had those animals cause a disturbance in the Central Base.

But in the Demonic Apocalypse, he had obtained a new Power.

Fear Control.

As long as people were affected by fear, he could control them.

The terrifying memories, the indelible traumas, the scars left behind from struggling on the brink of life and death—all of it was the fuel he needed.

He only needed to give a slight push, and those minds eroded by fear would completely collapse, becoming conduits for the God of Conspiracy’s power.

Now, the time was ripe.

The Central Base fell apart overnight.

The news Dexter Luther brought back silenced everyone.

Seraphina Sullivan clenched her fists, finding it hard to believe.

She remembered the people in the Demonic Apocalypse Dungeon who had been eroded by Demonization.

They had no reason, no fear, only a crazed drive to attack.

What was happening at the Central Base was so similar to everything in that dungeon.

"Something must have happened!"

she murmured, her gaze turning sharp.

Ever since learning of the Holy War, Seraphina Sullivan understood that Players who became the Beloved of certain entities would do anything to grow stronger.

’I wonder if the collapse of the Central Base was caused by some Divine Favor Players.’

’What kind of game are these Divine beings playing?’

"Sullivan," Dexter Luther’s voice pulled her back to reality. "What do we do?"

Seraphina Sullivan looked up, her gaze fixed on the distance.

’The chaos at the Central Base will sooner or later spread further.’

’The survivors who escaped, the ordinary people who lost their shelter, and those left adrift by the base’s destruction won’t know what to do.’

’Our base might soon receive its first uninvited guests.’

"Prepare," Seraphina Sullivan said, her voice cold and firm. "Our base is opening for business ahead of schedule."

Seraphina Sullivan didn’t hesitate for long.

The group prepared to leave the Lord’s Sanctuary.

The incident at the Central Base was too sudden, too bizarre. She had to go see for herself what had happened.

’Those people who fled the base, those survivors still struggling in the chaos...’

’I was just about to establish a base anyway.’

’Perhaps now is the perfect time.’

"Let’s go."

Seraphina Sullivan stood up, her gaze sweeping over the few people present. "We’re going to the Central Base."

Dexter Luther immediately jumped up. "I’ll get the car!"

Matthew Dawson also began to pack his gear, with Paul Payne helping him.

Flora Sullivan stood quietly to one side, her long hair stirring slightly as if she were sensing something.

Crystal Lynn walked over from a corner, cradling a pet egg that was growing hotter and hotter.

The patterns on the eggshell were already more than halfway lit up, and one could faintly see the life inside squirming.

"Seraphina, I..." She hesitated.

Seraphina Sullivan looked at her and said calmly, "You stay at the Shelter. The pet egg is about to hatch, and it needs you to watch over it. Besides, Freya needs someone to look after her too."

Crystal Lynn opened her mouth, wanting to say she wanted to go too, but she looked down at the egg in her arms, then at Freya playing not far away, and finally nodded.

"Be careful," she said. "No matter what happens, come back safe."

Seraphina Sullivan nodded.

The group left the Lord’s Sanctuary and stepped into the outside world.

The high temperature hit them like a wall, plastering itself onto their faces.

The moment Dexter Luther stepped out of the Shelter’s door, he couldn’t help but curse, "Holy shit! As expected, the daytime temperature is still terrifying. Just a little bit of sun makes my skin hurt."