Chapter Ninety-Five: The Source of Fire

“I found records of all the patients in this asylum in rooms 17 to 20, and gathered their data.

Test Subject No. 1: Wang Ning, 24 years old, suffers from claustrophobia, has a violent and impulsive temperament. The report speculates that he possesses telekinesis, with other abilities unknown.

Test Subject No. 2: Zhou Yang, 19 years old, suffers from delusional disorder, quiet and timid by nature, and possesses psychic power.

Test Subject No. 3: Wei Dan, 20 years old, has dissociative identity disorder. The primary personality is quiet, the second is manic, and the third is unknown. Her powers are strength and defense.

Test Subject No. 4: Chu Chu, 11 years old...”

Xu Lin took out several reports and handed them around. Fang Tang accepted them, flipping through a few pages with a deep frown.

“There are a total of twelve test subjects. We've met some ourselves—where are the rest? And those gamblers on the second floor, aren't they test subjects?”

“The gamblers are likely a combination of doctors and test subjects,” Su Mang interjected, continuing, “Lingling and I searched rooms 1 to 3 and found files on the hospital’s doctors and nurses. We discovered that these doctors and nurses are, in fact, evolvers.

I found the diary of a nurse named Su Ning, which recorded in detail the changes in the world after more than eighty percent of the global population vanished.

From this, we can infer that the world this zone is in is not one created by the Twisted Rule, but rather one devoured by it. To be honest, exploring such a place holds little value.”

Explorers primarily seek worlds born of the Twisted Rule, as only then can they locate its origin. However, as more worlds are consumed by the Twisted Rule, the original zones become harder to find.

Of course, this is only true for worlds with mildly or moderately twisted rules. In worlds with severe or extreme distortion, there are still many original zones left.

But such high-level twisted worlds are far beyond the reach of those whose evolution grades are only four or six.

Fang Tang understood the issue. Setting it aside for the moment, their main task now was to find the logical chain on the fourth floor.

“Sister Su, did you discover anything else?” he asked.

“Yes,” Su Mang replied. “Rooms 1 to 3 are dorms for doctors and nurses. I found a lot of information there and was able to fill in the staff profiles.

First, the director, Li Cheng. Before the area restriction appeared, he had already gathered the staff together. It’s clear that Li Cheng is the highest-level evolver among them, his sequence talent unknown.

Judging from his character as revealed in the files, he is upright and uncompromising, intolerant of any corruption, though sometimes extreme in his actions.

Chief Tang Yu co-founded the asylum with Li Cheng. Tang Yu managed almost all affairs in the hospital, acting as the true person in charge.

Her evolution level is just two steps below Li Cheng, and her sequence talent is also unknown. She is methodical and meticulous, and by Li Cheng’s own evaluation, she is a schemer.

Dr. Niu Ben, psychiatrist, was originally from an independent research institute. He joined at Li Cheng’s invitation. He is lecherous—I discovered a large collection of erotic magazines among his belongings.

Dr. Zhao Mingyu, psychiatrist, shares a similar temperament with Niu Ben... and as for the nurses, well, you can imagine.

Dr. Zhou Bukou, psychiatrist, unlike the other two, was genuinely intent on uncovering the secrets of evolvers, but unfortunately disappeared in the end.

Head nurse Cui Qian is a sycophant, often cozying up to the two doctors. In the apocalypse, such people tend to survive more comfortably.

Nurse Lin Fang is gentle and fond of smiling. She disappeared not long after the hospital was founded—her whereabouts remain unknown. She was responsible for taking care of Chu Chu.

Nurse Su Ning...”

The staff information was lengthy, and as Su Mang spoke, Fang Tang and the others tried to untangle the relationships.

When she finished, the group looked grim.

There was much information, but nothing truly critical.

Ta Meng spoke up: “The rooms I searched held only experimental data. I didn’t understand much of it; you can take a look yourselves.”

He handed out several sheets of paper, and the group fell silent as they read.

Fang Tang examined the experimental data, his brow furrowing.

Most of it concerned early research on evolvers.

It was chaotic, and after exchanging notes, they concluded there were no substantial findings. Even the conjecture that evolution level might be linked to the Twisted Rule was just that—a guess.

Fang Tang considered this and understood.

These people were amateurs at best, having joined the asylum for survival, not as a true vocation—they were merely appeasing Li Cheng and Tang Yu.

The data was incomplete, with many gaps.

Moreover, since Liu Yiran was still fighting the Fallen Ones, Fang Tang had not finished searching all four rooms.

He glanced over at the three Fallen Ones entangled with Liu Yiran, muttering under his breath.

“What exactly is missing here? Apart from Li Cheng and Tang Yu, no one else in this asylum is truly working—the rest secretly lead lives of indulgence, right under the noses of those two.

So why did things here change so drastically? From Chu Chu’s diary, it’s clear that Niu Ben and Zhao Mingyu had already set their sights on the test subjects. Did Li Cheng and Tang Yu know what was happening?

If they did, why didn’t Li Cheng act... no, wait, Li Cheng did act.”

A flash of insight struck Fang Tang, and he spoke urgently, “We’re missing one key piece of information.”

“What is it?” Xu Lin and Su Mang asked simultaneously.

“The fire source!” Fang Tang said gravely. “You must have noticed the burn marks throughout the building when you entered. The Fallen Ones fighting our captain bear all the traces of being burned—perhaps they are the fire source itself.

If we find the origin of the fire, we might uncover the missing information, perhaps even the true form of the Fallen Ones.”

“That’s right! We haven’t found the fire source yet. It must be in one of the rooms you and the captain searched. We might even discover the cause of the fire,” Su Mang said excitedly, rising quickly. “Let’s split up—there are only five rooms. I’ll go with Lingling and Xiaoxu; you three each take one room.”

With the tasks divided, Fang Tang said nothing more and entered the last unexplored room.

Room 12.

The room was spotless, like Room 11, and served as an office.

On the desk lay Tang Yu’s business card.

Inside the cabinet beside the desk were numerous folders, mostly reports and data.

Even with Fang Tang’s limited understanding, he could tell these reports were perfunctory, let alone someone like Tang Yu.

So why did Tang Yu keep these files here?

“A secret that cannot be spoken...”

Fang Tang frowned deeply. What did this rule have to do with the fire source?

He couldn’t figure it out.

Scratching his head in thought, he suddenly heard Su Mang’s voice.

“I think we’ve found the fire source.”