Hundreds of thousands of split entities disappeared by more than half in a short time.
The intelligence of these split entities was not high, but they had a strong desire to fight. It seemed that their greatest instinct was to battle and kill, in order to find themselves again.
After a while... all the split entities vanished.
The scroll in Enzo’s hand presented a strange red color. It felt hot to the touch, and his skin had a burning sensation.
"This painting is overloaded... it might spontaneously combust soon."
Suppressing a boss that could infinitely divide in the world of the painting was naturally very difficult.
Wen Xishu nodded:
"Let’s hurry up."
Without the obstruction of a boss capable of infinite division, Wen Xishu quickly followed the compass’s guidance to the edge of the community, covered with countless vines.
The original deep pit here was covered by the plants.
The pointer indicated that there was an extremely crucial item nearby.
With prior experience, Wen Xishu did not rashly use the Scorpion Knife to cut through the vines but chose to part them instead.
"I didn’t expect this place to actually have such a pit. It’s almost like it was created by a meteor impact," Enzo exclaimed.
Wen Xishu, however, didn’t say much and just jumped straight down.
The sunlight filtered through the vines, becoming sparse.
Inside the huge pit, there was an entirely different world. Wen Xishu and Enzo saw a door.
This door was a vault door, commonly seen in bank vaults, extremely solid.
"It seems that inside here should be a laboratory. If I’m not mistaken, the power core preventing death and causing infinite division in this area lies within."
Wen Xishu considered violently breaking the door, but Enzo said:
"Let me draw a key. It won’t take long."
As soon as Enzo finished speaking, within seconds, he drew a key.
Wen Xishu was stunned, thinking this ability could be very useful for making novelty products in peaceful times...
Enzo quickly opened the door, and after pushing the huge valve, a long tunnel was revealed before them.
Wen Xishu walked in front, Enzo behind, as they followed the tunnel deeper into the pit.
The red light made them feel like they were walking in fiery Hell.
But at this moment, both felt a chill at the bottom of this deep pit.
Uncertain how long they walked, Wen Xishu felt they had gone a very long way.
The once narrow passage gradually widened, and finally, they stopped in their tracks.
In their sight appeared the child they first encountered.
At the end of the red tunnel was a spacious experimental area.
Unlike a traditional laboratory filled with the smell of disinfectant, this lab...
Was full of blood-red vessels and constantly pulsating flesh.
Human organs, facial features, and limbs were everywhere, spread across the ceiling, rocky walls, and floor, not seeming to belong to any original position, as if growing anywhere was reasonable.
The air was thick with a bloody odor.
And in the center of the laboratory, innumerable large blood vessels were connected to a familiar face to Wen Xishu and Enzo.
It was the boy that Enzo had captured in the painting not long ago.
His arms were connected to blood vessels hanging from the ceiling, making him appear suspended in this area.
The most striking part was his heart.
That heart emitted a red glow, a swirling pattern distinct from any normal heart.
It looked like a precision instrument implanted into the boy’s chest.
The boy seemed to sense someone approaching, slowly lifted his head, and opened his eyes.
His eyes no longer housed countless eyeballs; they appeared normal, and the gaze was exceptionally clear.
Using that clear yet slightly weary gaze, he looked at Wen Xishu and slowly began to speak:
"Are you also... here to kill me? I bless you, truly, that you can kill me."
Wen Xishu suddenly paused, the blessing indeed unexpected.
At this moment, a guidance appeared in Wen Xishu’s eyes as well.
[You have found the original experimental subject, the truth of the Balance Curse is about to be unveiled.]
[What do you plan to do next?]
[A: Recruit him.]
[B: Kill him.]
Wen Xishu had a choice to make. In any past game, recruiting was always a better option than killing.
But this time, Wen Xishu saw in the boy’s eyes a profound weariness.
A kind of fatigue from merely being alive.
Simultaneously, as Wen Xishu looked at the boy’s heart, he seemed to understand what "great supplement" meant, as mentioned by the Scorpio.
He felt that the heart did not belong to the boy and exuded an extremely strong aura of the Tower.
Recalling the words "I bless you truly can kill me," Wen Xishu had an answer in his heart.
He chose option B instead of recruiting.
[You will pay for your actions unless you truly can kill him.]
A new guidance appeared, and Wen Xishu’s hand had already reached towards the boy’s bizarre heart.
Seeing Wen Xishu’s hand touching that heart, initially, the boy shook his head.
"No... not like this. This won’t kill me, it will only lead to a new me being born."
The heart’s anomaly was naturally easily noticeable, but it could not be removed.
Perhaps others had come here before, thinking that removing the heart could break the division. But those people must have failed.
So the boy thought Wen Xishu was like them.
He issued a warning:
"Leave quickly... you cannot kill me..."
Wen Xishu didn’t leave, instead touching the boy’s heart like a precision instrument.
He didn’t even use any force, just a gentle touch.
But shortly after, surprise appeared in the boy’s eyes.
The swirling red heart, despite encountering no pressure, began to crack.
Cracks appeared in the swirling pattern, strange and abrupt.
The breath of death suddenly loomed close, and at this moment, the boy’s eyes were filled with disbelief... and gratitude.
"So... you really can kill me?"
Wen Xishu asked:
"Who turned you into this? And who connected you with it?"
Wen Xishu knew his choice was correct.
Next, it depended on how much information about the Balance Curse the boy could provide.