Chapter 140: 0 Ancient Ruin Oil Painting
Han Su confird with just a glance upon entering—the Doctor's guess was right again.
This was indeed a transit station for smuggling relic items.
The warehouse wasn’t large, but it was packed with shelves and miscellaneous goods.
All around were items like vases, ironware, fragnts of old computers, damaged books and discs—each one bore a texture reminiscent of modern tis, yet subtly different upon closer inspection, as if transporting one thousands of years into the past.
Many objects were still covered in dust and mud, looking freshly unearthed.
Judging from how much importance the Administration Hall placed on these relics, handing them in would an cracking a major case.
But Han Su wasn’t in the mood for that now. A cursory glance revealed two human figures standing behind the central shelf of the storage room, backs turned to him.
They were clearly standing there, yet there wasn’t the slightest sound of breathing.
Han Su raised his hand holding the electric baton and covered his left eye. After a brief scan showed no anomalies, he slowly stepped forward.
Rounding the shelf, he finally saw the two people standing side by side.
Their bodies were drenched in sweat, emitting an unpleasant odor, and they had no reaction to Han Su’s approach—just stared fixedly at sothing in front of them.
The mont he got close, Han Su sensed the vitality in them, but their entire presence felt hollow, like two human-shaped husks, with sothing else—sothing alive—awakening inside them.
Suppressing any action, Han Su slowly followed their gaze—and saw an oil painting standing in the corner.
His pupils narrowed slightly. 『This is the source of the contamination?』
The painting depicted a place resembling an ancient altar. Everywhere in the scene, shadowy human figures crowded together. So wore black ceremonial robes, others white robes like followers—altogether, there seed to be around twenty people, almost like a group photo.
The two individuals were staring at two figures in the painting. Under their gaze, the figures in question were fading, as if the pignt itself was evaporating, turning the once vivid people into faint shadows.
At least a dozen faded silhouettes had already appeared in the painting.
『The people vanishing from the painting... are the Double-Bodies appearing in reality…』
『So, these people in the painting are entering reality, occupying human shells, and moving among society?』
『……』
Penetration—entering reality.
It appeared that this painting polluted reality through "gaze," occupying the bodies of those who looked at it.
『This one's easier than expected!』
Han Su quickly drew a conclusion. The anomaly was still in the initial stage of contamination.
Once an anomaly completed penetration, it often had specific goals in reality—so spread religion, gaining believers for their gods; so built mysterious altars; others executed special commands.
But this painting hadn’t completed its penetration yet. The Double-Bodies outside were rely instinctively protecting the painting while it contaminated. If interrupted now, the process could be effectively cut off.
Seeing the minds of the two people beside him rapidly disintegrate, Han Su didn’t hesitate further.
He squeezed the electric baton, its crackling sound sharp, and jabbed it onto one of them.
Without a sound, the man was blasted away by the current, crashing into a shelf and knocking over countless jars and bottles.
Strangely, after such a strong shock, the man suddenly started breathing heavily. A flash of clarity appeared in his eyes. He clutched his throat, struggling to plead to Han Su:
"Help... help ..."
『……』
Han Su ignored the plea, simply hit him with the baton again and knocked him out. He repeated the process on the other one.
Then, he turned around, facing the painting alone.
Unseen forces moved. As Han Su t the painting’s gaze, the remaining figures in the image suddenly adjusted their pupils.
They all seed to turn their heads toward Han Su.
Han Su inserted the baton into his suitcase, reached forward with his right hand, and softly chanted:
『Obey My Will!』
【……】
Zero Sequence Spell No. 06.
Effective in sealing or erasing the ntal activity of individuals or objects, rendering them non-contaminating for a short ti.
As the chant left his lips, the air quivered faintly, as if so vast invisible being began to erge slowly from the depths of space—like surfacing from the abyss.
As the final syllable fell, shadows gathered behind Han Su, coalescing into a massive, floating silhouette.
As Han Su stretched out his right hand, the shadow mirrored him, reaching out its own.
Its hand rged with Han Su’s through so mysterious rhythm, and together they pressed down toward the painting.
『Wmmm!』
Just as Han Su touched the painting, whispers stirred in the air.
The next mont, the space around him grew oppressively crowded, making his body ache with discomfort.
His vision blurred—as if the signal had been cut.
When his eyes refocused, he found the room filled with people.
Seven or eight figures, so wearing luxurious ceremonial robes, others in coarse white garnts of common clergy. All were squeezed with him into the cramped storage room.
Each face pale, hollow, and numb.
They reached out simultaneously, placing their hands on his shoulders, chest, back, arms—
From each touch spread an icy chill, like serpents burrowing into him.
『Trying to contaminate ?』
Han Su’s eyes narrowed. His attempt to seal the painting had provoked resistance.
『So this is what Miss Ai warned about?』
But Han Su had always kept his guard up. He didn’t panic—instead, he began calculating counterasures.
Only now did he truly realize how different this task was.
Neither the contaminated Double-Bodies nor the painting's penetration capacity was truly terrifying.
Though the task level matched that of the Crystal Skull, it was far less dangerous—
Until he touched the source.
In that instant, the painting’s pollution exploded, entirely different from its earlier subtlety.
It was as if a dozen beings trained in mysterious power struck simultaneously.
『I Shall Enter the Abyss!』
Without thinking, Han Su chanted Spell No. 01, trying to escape amid overwhelming contamination. But shockingly, though his body flickered, he reappeared instantly.
His spiritual power was completely drained in that mont.
"Not good..."
A heavy alarm rang in Han Su’s heart.
The beings from the painting were endlessly corrupting him. Under this condition, his existence couldn’t be extracted. Forcing the spell only exhausted his ntal power.
If not for his "battery replacent" ability, he’d already be at on the chopping block.
Even so, while waiting for a new battery to connect, Han Su saw the ghostly hands pressing into him. So penetrated his flesh as if it were one with them—
A bizarre horror surged within him, accompanied by waves of numbness in his brain.
Like nodding off—he dreamt in the blink of an eye.
In that dream, he left the modern era, regressing through the river of ti—
Out of the Reconstruction Era—back into the distant Radiation Era.
He lived inside a subterranean containnt facility pushed to its limit, dealing with scarce supplies and a failing ecological simulation.
Beyond the lead-lined walls was a world collapsed for over a hundred years. A sun blazed in the sky, its radiation lting blood and bone. Nearby, newborns had fused fingers and no eyes.
He even heard himself muttering: "Evolution’s too fast, far too fast..."
"Barely a hundred years and evolution's begun. After just three generations, our kids have beco rats..."
"We must go outside. We must walk the earth again. If this world gives us no way to live, then we’ll adapt. If animals can thrive again, so can we..."
『……』
『Hoo... 』
Han Su jolted awake, staring at the man in front of him.
He had erged from the painting, wearing a black priest’s robe—his hand had rged into Han Su’s body.
This was the one who almost rewrote his will—almost turned him into him.
These ancestors from the last era were using the painting as a dium to assimilate his mind!
The impact was terrifying. But at that mont, Han Su felt his new ntal battery kick in.
No longer holding back, he recited deeply:
『Gods descend with their divine decree!』
His spiritual ocean surged, clashing with the painting’s contamination!
The mont Fisherman’s Chant activated, he felt his ntal sea boiling—the surrounding figures recoiled.
He even saw them wince and scream in pain.
But his spiritual power drained rapidly. Within a blink, it was depleted again. The entities he had nearly expelled returned even closer.
So had shoved in entire arms—others half their bodies—only their legs stuck out.
Han Su beca a monster with seven or eight heads and three legs sprouting from his belly.
In that instant, he was filled with dread:
『My spiritual power’s too weak—I can’t resist the contamination of the last era…』
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