Volume 5: Bottomless Sinkhole Chapter 241 Nightmare and Shadow
However, Ke Lan no longer dared to try it again on Patient 0302 - under the effect of Meng Zao's medicine, the illusion he felt at this moment would be more real than the original nightmare. If he used the Alpha language to induce him again, Ke Lan was worried that he would not be able to withstand such a strong stimulation and would die suddenly in the ward.
After all, Ke Lan was only here to conduct an investigation. He had no grudge against this relic hunter, and he would not do anything to force the other party to death.
Patient No. 0302 kept repeating these few sentences over and over again without revealing any new information. Ke Lan sighed, reached out and took out a neutralizer from the box, and injected the liquid into the patient's body intravenously.
This medicine can neutralize the active ingredients in the Mengzao preparation. When used together with the Mengzao preparation, it can allow the user to fall into a dreamless sleep for more than twelve hours.
"What...what is he talking about?" Seeing Patient No. 0302 fall into a deep sleep, the dean couldn't help but ask.
"The content of the nightmare." Ke Lan stood up. "He dreamed of the tragic death of his companions in the ruins he had explored before."
"Tsk... With this kind of mentality, he still wants to be a relic hunter? No wonder he turned out like this." The dean looked at the patient curled up on the sponge sheet with some disdain.
Ke Lan turned his head and glanced at the dean. He originally wanted to explain a little, but after thinking it over, he gave up the idea.
Since this guy thinks so, just let him be. On the one hand, I can save myself a lot of trouble. On the other hand, I can avoid causing outsiders like him to make wild guesses and cause unnecessary trouble.
After leaving the ward of patient No. 0302, Ke Lan went to look for several other patients on the list. Just as he expected, the performances of these people were basically the same, and they all had extremely strong stimulation reactions to the Alpha language.
The only exception was a 21-year-old female hunter who showed obvious resistance to any man approaching her, and even screamed hysterically when a man tried to touch her, but she would not have any extreme reaction to female medical staff.
Ke Lan checked her personal information and found no clues in the ruins exploration records, but found some other information.
The girl's mother was a relic hunter, and her father was a black market businessman. Her mother died in a relic exploration mission when she was three years old. At that time, her father's business suffered continuous losses and was almost bankrupt. He began to drink frequently and had been detained four times for domestic violence. In comparison, the girl must have had a very bad childhood.
It can be seen from this that her resistance and opposition to men probably originated from her father's beating and scolding when she was a child. These violent acts left an indelible shadow in her heart, which is also one of the main reasons for her mental disorder.
So, is there something in the bottomless pit that can trigger the most fearful things hidden in people's hearts and generate extremely realistic nightmares, causing the people who are hit to suffer mental breakdown?
As for those hunters who didn't go crazy, is it because they didn't have such shadowy fragments in their memories, or are they simply more insane?
Ke Lan couldn't help but start thinking, what is he most afraid of?
Death? Or something else?
Would he be tied to an operating table and dissected by the white-coated researchers at the research institute? Or would he face a prehistoric beast like Leviathan? Or would he face the strange crystal that disappeared into his body?
Ke Lan thought about it carefully. Although these things made him feel fear, this emotion was not strong. Even if this fear was magnified many times, his mental state would not collapse into this state.
...As for the sight summoned by the Holy Word, now that I think about it, it seems that I am more curious and... have a desire to destroy it.
Judging from the symptoms displayed by these patients, Ke Lan estimated that if he were to be infected, he would release this desire for destruction, and perhaps he would regard everyone around him as the owner of that line of sight... In this way, the crazy behavior of the relic hunter who suddenly went crazy on the street and shot passers-by could be explained.
"It seems that I am still a potentially dangerous person..."
But from another perspective, perhaps Ke Lan is the one who is least likely to go crazy - the symptoms of these people are obviously related to the Alpha language, or to put it more clearly: the fuse that makes them fall into this madness is very likely a piece of Alpha text... or even a spell similar to the "Holy Word" with strange power.
But therein lies the problem—Ke Lan can understand the language of the Alpha civilization. He knows the meaning of every strange and obscure whisper. But when this kind of spell becomes understandable, its effectiveness will naturally be greatly reduced.
For example, there is something under the bottomless sinkhole that uses the language of the Alpha civilization to lure the hunters and lure out the things they fear most in their hearts - these hunters cannot hear these languages, and they will not have any defense in their hearts, so they will not be aware at all after being hit.
However, the mental attack methods attached to them will not lose their due effect just because they are not "heard". On the contrary, when the attacked hunter's mental defense becomes slack, these things will take advantage of the opportunity and dig out the fragments that the hunter is most reluctant to recall, forming an illusion that is almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
At this time, the nightmares of the past suddenly flooded into their minds, and the hunters would only think that it was their own fault, and thus they would sink deeper and deeper... until they went crazy.
But Ke Lan was different. He could hear and understand those languages. He could tell himself from the beginning that these suggestive mental attacks were bullshit - mental attacks were different from bullets. Even if you had seen a bullet flying in front of you, it would be difficult to dodge it. But as for mental attacks, as long as you could refute it with your own subjective consciousness, it would collapse on its own.
This is like a horror movie. If you knew the content of the script and the filming process, and even knew the brand and color of the cosmetics used by the actor who played the "ghost", then when you watch the movie, you would not find it scary at all.
"If the main threat of this bottomless tiankeng is mental attack... then the difficulty of this relic is not that great, at least for me." Ke Lan thought.
However, most of these conclusions can only be regarded as guesses. The true situation inside the ruins still requires on-site investigation to obtain reliable information.
At this moment, Ke Lan's phone vibrated twice. He took it out and saw that it was a message from Hound - "We are ready here, how is the progress on your side?"
