Chapter 36: The Dean
In a dimly lit room, water dripped onto a metal pillar. This pillar was at least seven or eight meters tall and required three people to wrap their arms around it.
Eyeballs of various sizes were distributed across the metal pillar. A man in a white shirt with a somewhat pale complexion stood before it.
"It succeeded, but your subordinates suffered heavy casualties, and the Joshua family has been wiped out."
A voice, indistinguishable as male or female, came from the darkness.
"The Joshua family... Did Eddie die too?"
The man beneath the metal pillar spoke. He was the leader of the Ghost Ring, Sin.
"Sin, that Undying King you mentioned before might not be a benevolent existence. I've encountered similar beings, but I can't guarantee that all of them value camaraderie like the one I dealt with."
After this brief exchange, the dim room fell back into silence.
...
At nine o'clock that evening, on Shin Street.
The desolate street was empty. Su Xiao stood before a four-story building. Even though it was night, the silence here was too profound.
"Are you sure this is the place?"
Su Xiao glanced down at Bonnie, who shrugged.
"I was surprised too. Who would've thought the Ghost Ring would move the Eye Chamber to a madhouse? Or maybe the Eye Chamber's relocation is random? The situation inside is a bit special now. Those mental patients..."
"They went berserk?"
Su Xiao raised his hand to rest on his sword hilt. If those mental patients had truly gone berserk, he'd have to consider evacuating the nearby civilians. After all, he was now a Legion Commander and needed to maintain a cooperative relationship with Harold.
"They all recovered!"
Bonnie seemed to confirm her own words by nodding emphatically.
"Woof?"
Bubu let out a drawn-out bark, his eyes clearly asking: "What kind of operation is this? The Eye Chamber can cure mental illness?"
"That's right. All the mental patients recovered, and some even displayed special talents. They joined forces to repel the first wave of Specters sent to protect the Eye Chamber."
"..."
Su Xiao couldn't quite grasp the situation for a moment, but he knew this madhouse was now surrounded by Awakened individuals. The dean and medical staff had been subdued by the patients—not taken as hostages, but restrained out of goodwill.
Yes, the patients had all recovered, but the dean had gone mad, along with the medical staff.
Bubu's dog face twitched. This was such a serious and tragic matter that he felt he shouldn't laugh, but the patients recovering while the dean went mad... that was just...
Su Xiao pushed open the door and entered the madhouse. As soon as he stepped into the first-floor corridor, a man in a white patient gown with medium-length wavy brown hair approached. His hair was slightly curly but neatly trimmed.
"You must be Lord Kukulin, the Legion Commander. I'm a patient here, Marcus. I believe I'm in a healthy state now, at least in my own opinion. Considering I'm somewhat different from others, you may consider restricting my mobility."
Marcus bowed his head to Su Xiao with one hand over his chest, displaying considerable gentlemanly grace.
"..."
Su Xiao frowned. He felt that this mental patient was more clear-headed and composed than most normal people.
"I am Kukulin. If you have something to say, you can tell me."
"Yes, it's like this, Lord Kukulin. Around eight o'clock tonight, my attending physician took me for treatment. Out of a gentleman's decorum, I left the room with him. But once we entered the treatment room, his actions made me feel... ashamed. He actually took off his pants and ordered me to do the same, seemingly to..."
Marcus furrowed his brow as he spoke. Bonnie cleared her throat lightly, hinting that there was a child present.
"Madam, please don't misunderstand. That attending physician wanted to compare the length of our vital organs. I naturally refused, which angered him."
"Huh?"
Bonnie stared at Marcus in disbelief. Marcus rubbed his brow, indicating he was also helpless. Bubu's dog face was dumbfounded. Su Xiao was somewhat surprised, feeling the situation was growing more "bizarre."
"Although I was a mental patient, I still had a necessary sense of shame. Moreover, based on my personal judgment, I felt his behavior was abnormal. Compared to that physician, I seemed to be the one with sound mental health. So, I joined forces with my fellow patients to subdue the dean, physicians, and nurses. You can't imagine it—those female nurses were as strong as bears. Fortunately, some of us had gained special abilities, so we managed to restrain them. I even got bitten..."
As Marcus spoke, he led Su Xiao to the second floor. The Eye Chamber and the dean were both on the third floor.
"There are four physicians and nineteen nurses showing mental abnormalities. They share a common trait: a craving for raw meat. However, after our preliminary treatment, they've stabilized. Each received a small dose of Pethidine injection. Rest assured, during our illness, we learned some treatment measures, so it was only a small subcutaneous injection. We considered electroshock, but that seemed inhumane—I've experienced it myself."
Marcus nodded solemnly and led Su Xiao to the third floor.
"The other patients have already gone to sleep on the first floor. All room doors can be opened at any time to ensure we can be controlled immediately if a relapse occurs..."
As Marcus passed by a ward, the iron door was slammed with a bang.
"I'm not crazy! You rabbits, let me out! I'm the dean! I don't need medicine!"
Bang, bang, bang...
The iron door was struck repeatedly, but the doors of this madhouse weren't so easy to break open.
Marcus quickly stepped forward, slid open the observation hatch on the iron door, and his first words were, "The rabbits are coming." After some simple psychological soothing, the dean gradually calmed down.
"Deal. Bananas for breakfast tomorrow."
"Yes, tomorrow's breakfast will definitely be bananas. Go to sleep now."
Marcus's expression was very gentle, careful not to provoke the dean.
"I won't sleep!"
The dean suddenly erupted in anger. In the next moment, Marcus's expression turned cold, and he said, "If you don't sleep, there'll be no bananas tomorrow morning."
"Mm, then I'll sleep."
The dean was pacified. Bonnie's mouth was slightly agape. Now she could confirm that the dean had truly gone mad.
"Lord Legion Commander, that strange room is over there. I can't get too close to it—it gives me a headache. In fact, I really want to stay far away from it, but there are many things like it in the city, and I don't know where to go."
Marcus's words made Su Xiao stop.
"You can sense the location of that... thing?"
"No, I can only feel their presence."
"Oh."
Su Xiao stepped forward to the Eye Chamber. This former mental patient named Marcus was very useful.
Pushing open the iron door, Su Xiao walked into the pitch-black room.
[The Hunter has located Eye Chamber (12).]
[The Hunter has located Eye Chamber (3).]
[The Hunter has located Eye Chamber (15).]
[If you notify Monarch Harold of this Eye Chamber's location, you will receive 9% World Source.]
...
Su Xiao took out a lighting device. The walls of the room were densely covered with eyeballs, so packed that they were crowded together. As for the dark red array on the floor, it was chaotic, as if several arrays had been superimposed.
Three Eye Chambers had been teleported together, all crammed into this single room.