CHAPTER 92: CHAPTER 23: MADNESS DISEASE

Madness is spreading in Dorne.

In just a week, the crime rate in Dorne City has increased by 3000%. Assaults, robberies, arson—the police stations in Dorne City are already teeming with people, forcing them to send some to prison ahead of schedule. It used to be the Night Watcher asking for police assistance, sealing off crime scenes, controlling surrounding situations; but now the police are seeking help from the Night Watcher, relying directly on the power of the Transcendent to suppress the riots in Dorne City, even sending Shawn to deal with gang shootouts and killings.

The time is now half past seven in the evening.

At this usual time, the roadsides in the Wharf District would be filled with people strolling, but now no shadow of a person is seen. Many street lamps have been smashed, public facilities around have been wrecked by vandals, and the walls are covered with bizarre and horrifying graffiti.

The most striking is the work of a wandering painter, a towering Grand Pendulum Clock, atop of which stands a half-human, half-spider creature, spitting web threads to strike the heavy bell.

"Monster? Truth!

We’ve been deceived!"

The walls are marked with dark red slogans, various crazy symbols, horrifying graffiti, and traces smeared with blood.

Dorne City seems to have become Gotham City.

Shawn didn’t expect that their last mission’s unexpected turn would lead to so many maniacs and vandals springing up overnight in Dorne City and even surrounding areas.

In just a few days.

The reality Shawn was once familiar with has turned into the past; madness spreads through the city like a plague, maniacs and vandals popping up everywhere, as if the madness and evil of humanity erupted entirely overnight.

Some bloodthirsty lunatics are almost like terrorists, burning and killing everywhere, forcing the Night Watcher to take deadly action.

Shawn started killing then.

There were no abnormal signs on these people; even with Confusion taken off, Shawn couldn’t see anything amiss.

They simply went mad!

—"Help!"

On his way to the mission location, Shawn suddenly hears a woman’s cry for help; he frowns, quickly scaling up the wall—this is one of the Curios he just acquired—Spider Gloves.

It allows him to climb various terrains like a spider; essentially a toned-down version of Spider-Man.

After Lady of the House was killed.

The Night Watch Headquarters released many Spider Gloves.

This Curious item enhances something akin to ’Spider Technique,’ slightly boosting Shawn’s agility. There’s no severe cost for using this Curious item; it only absorbs a bit of Life Force upon activation, similar to a slight cut while cooking.

Curios of Low Tier and Middle Tier don’t have severe costs; only High Tier and above have apparent taboo side effects. If they’re Legendary Holy Relics or Legendary Sealed Objects, they may even have extremely stringent usage conditions, limiting one’s alignment.

Shawn’s figure vaults over the wall; he sees a middle-aged woman pinned to the ground by a vandal, struggling desperately, with a basket and food scattered beside her.

The dress on her body is already torn apart.

A burly bald man is sitting on her, tearing at her clothes, one hand choking her neck. This vandal seems enraged by her resistance and directly punches her head. The heavy blow immediately cracks her head open with blood flowing; with no time to fight back, the burly man tears off her upper clothes, and the sight of her bare skin in the dimness excites the vandal beyond measure.

His murky eyes are filled with bloodshot lines, an odd pale yellow gleaming in the whites, staring fixedly at the prey before him.

Da.

Shawn lands soundlessly, drawing a gun and pressing it against the back of the vandal’s head.

"Release her."

"Stand up and turn around," Shawn says sternly.

The vandal, tearing the last bit of the woman’s clothes, turns his head; there’s a hint of frenzy in his eyes, his expression slightly twisted with excitement, not showing fear upon seeing Shawn’s gun, but actually a bit thrilled.

His pupils slightly contract, slowly standing.

Madness!

Shawn narrows his gaze.

The vandal rises, and the extremely frightened woman escapes, not even thanking Shawn.

Suddenly, a glint of cold light appears.

Taking advantage of the moment Shawn’s gaze is diverted as the woman flees, the vandal pulls a knife from his waist, challenging the gun pointed at his head, attempting a counterattack to slit Shawn’s throat. His speed is swift, his explosiveness more intense than ordinary people, as if madness awakened his potential.

Bang!

A muffled gunshot rings out.

The vandal’s head explodes instantly, with blood, fragmented skull, and white brain matter splattering about.

"The thirteenth head,"

Shawn takes a lighter from the pocket of his black trench coat, lights a cigarette, and inhales quietly. It was only a few days ago he killed for the first time; today he’s already eliminated the thirteenth. Truthfully, killing is more daunting than dispatching monsters during eerie events.

Of course, one gets used to it over time.

Click.

He pockets the lighter, turns in swirling smoke, and leaves.

Another lunatic.

Might not be a lunatic, but someone with a gun to their head wouldn’t dare use a knife to sneak attack.

The logistics team will handle it.

Wharf, Old Town District.

The Old Town District transforms into a haven for crime to breed overnight; consecutive days of gunfights have driven people away from the vicinity of the Wharf. All factories in this area are shut down, and the fire ignited the day before during some gang clash killed more than twenty people, leaving scorched bodies on site.

It’s noteworthy that the day Lady of the House was killed, casualties in Dorne City amounted to just over 30, most of whom were Night Watchers. Most civilians were bitten by poisonous spiders.

The bell of the Grand Pendulum Clock tolled.

It’s unclear about the rest of the city, but in the Wharf area, hundreds have died in seven days. Shawn was temporarily transferred here for assistance; this place is especially chaotic with a blend of good and bad.

Why no army has been dispatched for suppression is not known to Shawn, maybe something happened to the army.

"In one night, so many went mad."

Shawn silently extinguishes his cigarette, pulling out a stack of wanted notices, the top being the portrait of a man: scarred face, hooked nose, fierce eyes, hair dyed red, and bizarre skull tattoo on his chest. He was once the second in command of a gang in the Old Town District. Suddenly his ambition surged, killed his boss, recruited a batch of desperados, consolidated nearby gang forces, and took advantage of the chaos to target factories in the Wharf District with a ruthless demeanor and formidable skills. The police had sacrificed three officers in previous attempts to capture him, yet he managed to escape.

He’s suspected to be a Transcendent.

This matter is currently entrusted to Shawn, no need to keep him alive. If he is Transcendent, just recover the Relic.

From the moment the chimes of the Grand Pendulum Clock began, the news about monsters in Dorne City could no longer be contained.

At least ten thousand people saw the half-human, half-spider Lady of the House that day, and the bizarre incidents that had occurred earlier were dug up by those with ulterior motives. In no time, a variety of rumors and conspiracy theories spread rapidly throughout Dorne City.

"Madness spreads like a plague..."

The reality torn apart by the Lady of the House showed ordinary people the most grotesque and brutal side of the world.

At the intersection.

Shawn looked at the few portraits under the wanted poster, put away his pistol, and slowly stepped into the factory in the Wharf District.

—Invisibility Technique.

His figure vanished on the spot; on the empty street, there were only faint sounds of footsteps.

Not far away, the area that was once engulfed by fire left a mess everywhere. Shawn heard someone speaking, two thugs smoking by an iron barrel, seemingly not having heard the distant footsteps, still excitedly discussing the glorious results of the day’s fight. Their eyes were bloodshot, with a subtle tinge of yellow in the whites of their eyes.

Shawn compared them with the portraits on the wanted poster.

One of them matched quite closely, with the same blood-red streaks tattooed by the corner of his eye. The next moment, Shawn’s figure suddenly appeared beside them, like an apparition, startling the two thugs and making their hair stand on end; one of them reached for a gun to shoot.

But two Invisible Hands already clutched their throats, easily lifting their bodies weighing over a hundred pounds. The terrifying Power made them struggle in vain as their faces turned pale from lack of breath.

"That’s right."

"It’s this person."

Shawn’s gaze tightened, and the two thugs suspended in mid-air started convulsing violently. In the next second, their necks were simultaneously snapped, their entire neck bones showing an eerie twist. The strength of the Invisible Hands grew, far surpassing Shawn himself, rivaling Transcendent entities of the Warrior Path.

Thud.

The two corpses were thrown to the ground.

Shawn pulled out a notebook and crossed off a name on it.

"Four more to go."

Shawn’s figure once again vanished into the darkness. He saw the lights ahead, probably the office building of the original factory. Below, a group of fierce gang thugs were around. They had been busy lately, arranging people to patrol the area every night.

He stood still, calculating the time, then leisurely walked up the stairs.

In the empty hallway, there was only a faint sound of footsteps.

It felt as if it were haunted.

Bang!

A gunshot shattered the peace here.

Shawn didn’t expect to encounter one of his targets while going upstairs.

He crossed off another name in the notebook, leaning against the corner of the stairway, silently counting in his heart, one, two, three, four, five.

He heard footsteps.

Two Invisible Hands extended, holding guns.

Ta-ta-ta-ta!

A burst of intensive gunfire rang out; Shawn emptied the magazine directly. When he emerged from the corner of the stairway, there were already three mangled corpses in the corridor. Before they died, they only saw two hovering guns suddenly appear from the corner, without ever glimpsing the silhouette of their enemy.

Before they could react, it was all over.

Zen Gun Skill, just follow the feeling.

"Only the last one is left."

Shawn put away the notebook and slipped it into his trench coat pocket.

An enemy was hiding inside the room.

He had a gun.

Shawn could sense the other’s emotions; just separated by a wall, he was very tense.

"Reading thoughts is still a bit more useful."

Shawn casually laid out a ritual pattern on the ground, summoning an Invisible Servant, invisible to the naked eye.

"Go."

"Open the door of the room." Shawn commanded.

The Invisible Servant mindlessly walked over.

It could only execute fairly simple commands, such as opening doors, moving objects, standing on traps, and so on; too complex orders might confuse it.

Squeak.

The door opened.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A string of bullets made the Invisible Servant dissipate on the spot.

At that moment, Shawn’s figure leapt out. With the pull of a trigger, a volley of bullets turned the enemy in front of him into a sieve.

"Warrior Path?"

He looked at the slightly wriggling dark bloodstains on the ground, pulled out his notebook, and crossed out the final name.

Luckily, he came early; this thug was close to losing control.

The day’s mission was completed.

Two minutes later.

A tall figure leapt out from the fifth-floor window, disappearing just before reaching the ground, only to reappear at the edge of the wide road, before vanishing completely.

Whether Shawn could accept it or not, those once peaceful days were gone for good.

Someone uncovered the truth, unleashing madness into reality.

.........