Chapter 201: Madness
Yi Chen, with a body weak and frail, widened his eyes and looked up at the Duke with an expression of benevolence.
“Duke, what exactly is this iron chain?”
“My original intention was to add a sense of reality to the gamble, to increase the level of pain. It was to be put away after use. Who would have known that you, my boy, would directly absorb it.
Just like the Gentleman’s Skin you are wearing from the ‘Mysterious Skin Market’,
this iron chain also comes from a specific Source Epidemic Area—the ‘Suffering Monastery’. However, this item is never sold or leaked to the outside world. Even high offers can’t buy it; I just ‘happened’ to find it when passing through the Monastery’s area.
I never expected your body to match the iron chain this well. We’ll call it even, consider it a gift from me.”
...
“This… Thank you, Duke!”
This was momentous, directly elevating Yi Chen’s ‘Pathological Traits’ by a large step, and it matched even better with his physical body.
Yi Chen even wanted to return to Zion as soon as possible to proudly boast to his second Tutor—Zede—even fantasizing about the wonderful scene of whipping Zede with the iron chain.
“There’s no need to thank me; after all, this item is somewhat dangerous.”
“Will it harm my body?”
“No… it’s not that kind of danger. Rather, the iron chain itself can draw danger toward you. After all, I picked it up without informing the Monastery.
If those twisted guys there find out you have combined with the iron chain, they might develop some ‘indecent’ thoughts towards you.
Of course, as long as you return to your world, the Monastery won’t be able to do much, at least for the time being.”
“I’ll be careful.”
It felt as if Yi Chen had stolen someone’s goods and stitched them into his stomach, and once the gang that lost the merchandise found him, there could be no good outcome.
The Duke also added a reminder, “If you encounter someone dressed oddly, looking extremely pained at first glance, don’t even think about it, just run immediately.”
“Alright.”
After the conversation to understand the origin of the iron chain, they moved on to the most important topic—the ‘Relic’.
Having won the gamble, the 500 Trading Points Yi Chen had staked had doubled to 1600, just enough to outright purchase the mysterious relic (Three Attributes) with Intelligence as the primary, Physique secondary, and Sensing Hall last.
“As a principle of trade, I must ask for your buying intention again. Since the source of this relic is less reputable, you will need to pay before you can view the detailed information.
If you wish to withdraw and return the item, a 10% handling fee plus 500 points for sealing will be charged.
Are you sure you want to purchase this relic?”
“Sure.”
The 1600 Trading Points completely cleared out, the Duke handed over the Golden Box containing the relic and its matching key.
Click!
Upon opening the box, there was no burst of gold light, nor any leak of pathological aura; nothing at all happened.
Inside was only an Alien-style Biological Rubik’s Cube.
Just from an external observation, one could notice several mechanisms and axles on the Magic Cube. A light touch on the correct mechanism spot would trigger the Cube to undergo a change in shape.
Each side of the Cube had ‘brain gyri circuits’ etched on it, resembling a brain, and on close inspection, it almost felt like being in a maze.
Just by looking at this cube, one could clearly feel its complexity and variability, even making Yi Chen suspect if it represented the brain of some special kind of Sick Object.
Soon, within the lining of the Golden Treasure Chest, a series of Ancient Living Text was discovered, detailing the information about the relic.
‘Madman’s Box’
[Introduction]: Once in the Old World, a kind of shell-shaped virus that would not actively infect human bodies, known as ‘Mad Shell’, drifted in various spaces.
They were often drawn to those seeking knowledge, especially to those engaged in strong and prolonged brain activity. If a seeker of knowledge failed to notice these gathering Mad Shells and continued their studies,
the virus would be attracted by the proximity and attach to the surface of the brain tissue, infecting the nerve cells.
Those infected would generally not notice and would become even more engrossed in their pursuit of knowledge, gradually forgetting sleep and food, even forsaking the most basic biological instincts.
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He maintained the appearance of a student until death.
Once the host died, the Mad Shell would return to the environment in a floating state.
After dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of years in this cycle, when the Mad Shell had absorbed enough knowledge through its hosts, it would completely take over the body of the last parasite and slowly evolve into an Open Source Level “Madman”.
However, the process of becoming a Madman was very long and boring, taking as short as ten years or as long as hundreds of years.
After developing self-awareness in the early stages of evolution, the Mad Shell would control the host’s body to engage in an activity to pass the boring time—Box Body Manufacturing.
Unknowingly, they would integrate their Madness Brain structure into the box bodies, through mazes, mechanisms, and unique transformations as carriers, forming a ‘Biological Rubik’s Cube’ that contained their thought frameworks.
Generally speaking, the Magic Cube would be destroyed by the Madman themselves when they were fully formed, because no one would want to expose their pattern of thought.
Only in very special circumstances might the Magic Cube be preserved.
[Category]: Relic (associated individual’s three attributes)
[Bias]: Intelligence > Physique > Sensing
[Trait]: ‘Epilepsy’
[Price]: 2000 Trading Points (after discount 1600)
…
“What a long introduction! A product of some virus from the Old World, huh…”
Yi Chen could sense a potential danger through the words of the introduction,
But this relic, which directly related to the brain, also perfectly matched his profession. There probably wasn’t a more suitable relic for him than “Madman’s Box” in the world.
“Duke, won’t this thing also easily attract trouble?”
“As long as you return to your world, there shouldn’t be any trouble.
In addition, do not try to assemble or manipulate the Magic Cube out of curiosity during your return. Just let it stay in my Golden Treasure Chest, and there basically won’t be any problems.
If you encounter any creatures wandering in the air with clearly structured brains, immediately retreat at full speed, and never engage in any mental intersection with them.”
“Madmen?”
“Exactly. Even though there are few of them, each one is the elite of the elite. For someone like you, they are exceedingly dangerous… If you’re not careful, your whole brain could be deconstructed by them.”
“Understood.”
Click! Yi Chen immediately closed the Golden Treasure Chest again and swallowed the key in one gulp.
This Relic was different from the umbilical cord inside his body; Yi Chen needed to take it back for thorough research.
Moreover, he currently had only reached the limit of his intelligence, and it would take some special training before he would reach the limit of his three attributes.
After securing the Golden Treasure Chest, Yi Chen kneeled on one knee and expressed his most sincere gratitude to the Duke.
Yi Chen was well aware that the so-called gamble might not have reached the expected difficulty, and furthermore, this bet was of great significance to him, allowing him to confront his past and recover his Ego.
“We just engaged in a fair trade, no need to thank me.
If there’s nothing else, you two should consider returning. After all, our world here has been ‘locked.’ Staying here is not of much benefit to you.
I too need to return to the ‘Deep’ to continue my business.
I hope that the next time we meet, you two will bring some more interesting trading activities.”
“Wait, Duke, I still have one more question.”
The Duke was especially happy now, preparing to sell the recordings of the gamble in the Deep, where he would certainly make a fortune. He responded to Yi Chen’s additional question for free:
“What is it?”
“Have you ever seen something like a yellow robe-like skin?”