A mushroom suddenly appeared under Britney's—or rather Wen Xishu's—eyelids.
That mushroom was vibrant, exuding an alluring red, the kind that seemed you'd immediately collapse after eating it.
But this mushroom also radiated a strange halo.
Wen Xishu carefully recalled their previous life… this mushroom was quite famous, deeply tied to a certain sewer repairman.
After eating this mushroom, the body would grow larger, capable of smashing brick walls hanging in mid-air.
[You can have it now, but you must bear the cost of possessing it.]
Wen Xishu noticed the special note.
Unaffected by Anti-Magic Value, it seemed, in the tone of Scorpio.
"Seems like it's the effect of Scorpion Knife's 'Great Tribute.'"
Unfortunately, the item appearing this time wasn't one that could break the situation. Enlarging would draw attention, complicating Wen Xishu's escape journey.
Britney is currently the freest to act.
To maneuver Britney into a safe state is a simple task, Wen Xishu just needs to have Britney return to her own room.
Britney is very likable.
Wen Xishu seemed to gradually recall some things.
From a young age, this girl was very popular, as if everyone defaulted that with such looks, she would be beautiful in appearance and kind-hearted.
Indeed, Britney often helps others. But Britney doesn't do well in school… She plays too much, always wanting to go out, neglecting her studies.
But when it boils down to it, Britney isn't one who needs to change her life through studying.
Her family background is very affluent.
This "spirit concentration camp" also appears lavish, making Wen Xishu nostalgic, thinking about Britney's family background.
Quickly, he maneuvered Britney back to her own room.
The beautiful, kind-hearted little angel has her own private room in this camp.
After settling everything, Wen Xishu immediately switched characters.
[Currently Britney is in a safe state, effective for two hours, switch now?]
Without any hesitation, Wen Xishu directly switched to Chris.
Seeing that rugged face, Wen Xishu suddenly felt as if he became more vigorous.
...
...
Severe Illness Area. Confinement room.
The light in the confinement room was very dim, but not completely dark.
Wen Xishu suddenly switched scenes, from the bright and warm Moderate Illness Area to the damp and gloomy confinement room, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
But he didn't forget the rules related to the confinement room.
[Unlock Rule One: Inside xxx, do not silently count numbers. xxxx When inside xxx, if you hear someone calling for you xxx, please do not xxx.]
The confinement room was very narrow, Chris being a standard muscle-bound hunk, curled up inside, with very little space to move.
At this moment Wen Xishu was not silently counting numbers.
He simply patiently waited, but he didn't wait too long, just after a few seconds, he began to feel something crawling, writhing.
On his own body, at the spine, on the arm, tiny things were crawling.
Wen Xishu had no choice but to begin silently counting numbers.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5…"
As the numbers were silently counted to thirty, Wen Xishu finally felt better, the sensation of something crawling inside his body vanished.
Parasitized. Something inside his body attempted to crawl to the brain, moving along various parts.
Wen Xishu realized an extremely dire situation.
If "they" didn't refer to humans, could Chris in the Severe Illness Area have already been parasitized?
"43, 44, 45…"
Wen Xishu continued silently counting, but he still had the capacity for extra thoughts.
"Why do I need to silently count numbers?"
Wen Xishu began reminiscing.
His first thought was electric shock, used to make Chris compromise. To render Chris obedient.
In Wen Xishu's previous life, someone had used this method to "cure" many children.
In some sense, those children had their creativity obliterated.
Then Wen Xishu thought of Zhou Fei in the Moderate Illness Area.
Zhou Fei took medication, which sent the brain into a muddled state, rendering the person sluggish…
Once in the confinement room, it was easy to fall into such a state.
Wen Xishu seemed to understand.
"They don't want 'patients' to think."
"It appears once we think, it impedes the parasitic organisms within the body…"
"Of course, this is just a hypothesis."
"But humans cannot stop thinking, unless sleeping… Even while sleeping, there's thinking."
"Completely isolating thought is impossible. If their aim is to make this person incapable of thinking, then what they should do is what I've experienced, cutting out the frontal lobe."
"Hence, they don't want humans to think, yet for some reason, their intervention intensity is limited."
Wen Xishu had already counted to ninety-nine.
At this moment, Wen Xishu noticed some indentations on the walls. Touching these engravings, he discovered they were numbers.
"Looks like someone came here before, they etched numbers onto the wall."
"But why carve them into the wall? Could it be their brain was already at a stage where they needed to use writing to strengthen memory, to articulate numbers?"
Sometimes people can't recall certain things, but seeing something can trigger immediate recollection.
Thus, reinforcement of children's memory starts with copying.
Wen Xishu shook his head, about what the people previously confined here endured, it was hard to imagine.