Chapter 122
Chapter 122: The Path to Godhood
A high-ranking Ghost Doctor stood at the top of the staircase leading to Basement Level 1.
It waved its bone-spike-covered arm, pointing toward the bottomless darkness below.
"Get them!"
"Roar!"
The next moment, countless Ghost Doctors and Nurse Ghosts surged out from the upper corridors, lunging toward the 3 people below!
To deal with the terrifying mental attack radiating from the Infant Drop Box on the 1st floor—which had already been seized by Silk-Stocking Desperado—
These monsters had gone straight for Human-Wave Tactics.
The more powerful Ghost Doctors actually grabbed the weaker Nurse Ghosts and shoved them forward as meat shields!
"Ahhhhhh!"
Accompanied by the screams of the Nurse Ghosts.
They used the bodies of their own kind to crash through the ghost infants' wailing sonic waves!
"We've been spotted! Too many of them—run!"
Silk-Stocking Desperado heard the footsteps and the sound of shattering bones behind her, and her expression shifted slightly.
The Joker and Guan Ming flanked her on either side. All 3 ran with everything they had, sprinting toward the deepest end of the corridor!
In theory, the distance from the 1st floor staircase to the Basement Level 1 Morgue wasn't that far.
But their situation right now was deeply strange.
Because...
They had already been walking in this corridor for nearly 10 minutes!
And yet, ahead of them was still nothing but endless darkness!
That door marked Morgue remained visible but unreachable.
In other words...
They were trapped in a Ghost Wall Loop!
"What do we do?"
Silk-Stocking Desperado stopped, breathing lightly as she looked toward the Joker.
"The space in this place has been warped by some powerful rule. We've been going in circles."
The Joker answered unhurriedly, "Miss Silk-Stocking, everything happens for a reason."
"There is no such thing as a perfect maze in this world."
"We just need to find that one 'point' to break through it."
Guan Ming couldn't hold back and went on a frantic internal rant.
"But we've been stuck in this broken corridor for almost 10 minutes already."
"Not a single clue!"
The Joker raised a finger.
"Shh... don't be hasty."
"Even if we don't know the way..."
"That doesn't mean nobody does."
Silk-Stocking Desperado immediately caught on. "Heh, fair point."
"To fish, you need bait."
"So then... who's going to be the bait?"
As her words fell, the Joker narrowed his eyes. "Why, naturally..."
Whoosh!
Both of them turned their heads at the same time, looking straight at Guan Ming standing between them.
"......"
Guan Ming's scalp went numb.
‘Damn it all!’
He was still raging internally.
But he had barely finished fuming.
Clap!
The Joker snapped his fingers.
In the next second, Guan Ming felt his vision blur.
When he could see his surroundings clearly again, he was horrified to discover...
The Joker had directly teleported him straight into the middle of the Ghost Doctor mob behind them!
Dozens of pairs of eyes came to a simultaneous halt, all staring at this living creature that had just dropped into their midst.
"If I said I was a ghost... would you believe me?"
Guan Ming said, his mouth twitching as he gave up entirely.
But the Ghost Doctors around him had absolutely no interest in giving him any time to think or beg for mercy.
The high-ranking Ghost Doctor nearest to him unleashed a direct palm strike at Guan Ming!
Bang!
Guan Ming's vision instantly plunged into absolute darkness.
……
Drip... drip...
After what felt like an unknown amount of time, the sound of dripping water pulled Guan Ming out of unconsciousness.
When he forced his eyes open with great difficulty.
He found that the pitch-black corridor that never seemed to end was no longer in front of him.
Instead, he himself was being dragged across tiled flooring by 2 Ghost Doctors—one on each side.
He looked ahead in the direction he was being dragged.
At the end of the corridor, a metal door had appeared unmistakably before him.
A green fluorescent indicator light glowed above the door, with large characters written on it.
Basement Level 1, Morgue
‘Have we arrived? How did we even get here?’
Guan Ming's mind was still a little hazy, full of confusion.
Had he been knocked unconscious by the Ghost Doctor and then just carried straight to the destination?
Right at that moment, he felt the person dragging him on the left lightly pat him on the head with their hand.
Guan Ming struggled to twist his head and stared wide-eyed.
He found that the figure of the person dragging him on the left looked very familiar.
Though her original detective's outfit had been swapped for a white lab coat.
Her face was still wrapped in that black silk stocking!
"You're awake? Little brother."
Silk-Stocking Desperado lowered her head. "This nap you took—was it comfortable? My arms are sore from dragging you, sis is."
"D-Desperado sis?!"
Guan Ming's face was full of disbelief.
He immediately twisted his head to look at the other side.
Sure enough, the person dragging him on the right was none other than the Joker!
That guy also had a white lab coat thrown over himself, wearing that insufferable grin.
Seeing Guan Ming fully awake, the Joker leaned close to his ear, lowered his voice, and explained everything that had just happened.
It turned out that the instant Guan Ming had been "captured" and knocked unconscious by the high-ranking Ghost Doctor.
The Joker and Silk-Stocking Desperado had seized the moment of chaos in the ghost crowd.
They stripped the coats off 2 Ghost Doctor corpses, threw them over themselves, and successfully blended into the Ghost Doctor ranks!
As they followed the main Ghost Doctor force forward, they had finally uncovered the secret of that corridor.
"That stretch of corridor is called the Path of the Underworld."
The Joker explained quietly. "It's a one-way road that only creatures carrying Death Energy on their bodies..."
"Can actually traverse to the end!"
"Once a living person steps in, they get trapped in an infinite Ghost Wall Loop."
"We were stuck in there just now because we lacked Death Energy."
"So, it makes sense that the Morgue doesn't allow the living inside, doesn't it?"
Guan Ming suddenly understood.
‘So that's why. No wonder they kept going back and forth.’
And while they were exchanging hushed words during that brief moment.
The main Ghost Doctor force had already arrived outside the Morgue door.
"All units, halt!"
The lead high-ranking Ghost Doctor raised its hand, ordering the frenzied crowd of ghosts behind it to stand by outside the door.
"You two!"
The high-ranking Ghost Doctor turned its head and pointed at Silk-Stocking Desperado and the Joker, who were disguised as Ghost Doctors.
"Hand that fresh component over to me."
"I'll lock him in the Director's laboratory first, then take you two to go catch the other 2 that slipped through the net!"
Silk-Stocking Desperado and the Joker obediently lowered their heads and passed over the rope binding Guan Ming.
The high-ranking Ghost Doctor took the rope, its gaze sweeping over the 2 faces hidden beneath white lab coats.
It seemed a little puzzled.
‘Strange... I don't think I've ever seen these two before?’
But its brain capacity was clearly insufficient to support any deeper line of thought.
After all, in this sprawling Seattle Mercy Hospital, the Ghost Doctors and Nurse Ghosts of all levels numbered at least 300 in total.
New monsters were being manufactured every day, so it was perfectly normal for it not to recognize 2 low-level porters.
With its suspicion dispelled, the high-ranking Ghost Doctor turned around.
It reached into its chest and produced a black key, preparing to unlock the Morgue door and throw Guan Ming inside.
And right at the instant the key was about to slide into the keyhole!
The Joker and Silk-Stocking Desperado exchanged a glance.
‘Now!’
"Plunder!"
Silk-Stocking Desperado called out coldly. Rule force descended in an instant!
Whoosh!
The black key that the high-ranking Ghost Doctor had been gripping tightly in its hand broke free of its control.
It appeared in Silk-Stocking Desperado's palm in an instant!
Having succeeded, she didn't hesitate for even a moment. She flung the key directly toward the Joker beside her!
And the instant the Joker caught the key, he immediately activated Future.
In the next 9.9 seconds, he grabbed Silk-Stocking Desperado and Guan Ming by their collars.
Slid the key into the keyhole, twisted open the door!
All 3 charged into the Morgue in an instant!
Immediately after, the Joker slammed the door shut behind him and yanked out the key!
From the outside world's perspective, everything happened in a single blink—0.1 seconds!
Outside the door.
That high-ranking Ghost Doctor stood frozen in place, still holding the pose of opening the door with the key.
"?"
Its mind was full of enormous question marks.
‘What just happened?’
‘Where's the key in my hand?’
‘And also...’
‘The huge!’
‘The incredibly fresh Gundam Part I was holding?!’
‘How did they all just vanish?!’
It was only several seconds later, when it registered that the door had been firmly locked from the inside.
That a terrifying roar erupted from outside the Morgue!
……
And inside the Morgue.
With the door locked shut and the Ghost Doctors outside completely sealed out.
The 3 of them gasped for breath, having finally managed to infiltrate this hospital's most core secret base.
They raised their heads and began to survey this space concealed deep underground.
They had to see for themselves—just what unspeakable, world-shaking secret the Director's Faction lunatics were hiding here.
When the scene before them came into clear view, Guan Ming couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.
"This... what the hell is all this?!"
Guan Ming frowned, pointing at the main hall of the Morgue.
There were no refrigeration units for storing corpses here whatsoever.
Instead, there were hundreds of cylindrical glass culture vessels!
And inside those culture vessels.
Various twisted, grotesquely deformed masses of flesh and blood were submerged!
The Joker walked ahead of the others, stopping in front of one of the culture vessels, tilting his head back slightly.
Floating inside it was a fleshy tumor-like creature covered entirely in eyeballs, with no limbs whatsoever!
Looking at this revolting thing, Guan Ming's mind involuntarily called up an image of a certain creature.
The creature that had cost him his left hand.
"These... could they be the predecessors of the Supervisors?"
Silk-Stocking Desperado suddenly spoke.
"To think that those monster security guards patrolling all over the hospital..."
"Were all artificially manufactured biological weapons."
"What on earth is this hospital's Director trying to do?"
"That's right, Miss Silk-Stocking."
"Your observation is as sharp as ever."
The Joker turned his head and smiled at her. "But well... your theory still has one small error."
"What error?"
Guan Ming asked, puzzled.
‘If they weren't made to serve as security guards, why manufacture so many monsters?’
The Joker didn't answer directly. Instead, he turned and walked toward the deepest section.
Soon, the 3 of them passed through row after row of culture vessels and arrived at a corner at the far end of the Morgue.
When Guan Ming and Silk-Stocking Desperado saw clearly what was arranged in that corner.
The expressions on both their faces instantly fell apart!
Because the scene before them.
Looked exactly like a cult sacrifice site!
In that corner sat a small black wooden table.
And surrounding the table, countless rusted black crosses were driven into the ground!
Atop each cross, a white lantern sewn from human skin was hanging!
Inside the lanterns, Corpse Fat was burning!
And at the very center of that small wooden table sat a bronze incense burner.
Inside the burner, 3 cross-shaped red candles were burning.
Behind the table, a tattered prayer cushion had been tossed carelessly onto the ground.
But what was most absurd and sent a chill crawling into one's bones.
Was the wall above the wooden table...
On which hung a mural of God!
Except the face of God in that mural had been smeared over with layer upon layer of black blood!
This...
During Guan Ming's time as a criminal investigator in the real world, in order to combat extremist cult organizations.
He had personally witnessed quite a few ritual sacrifice scenes.
But the scene before him now was far more shocking than anything he had ever seen!
This was an utterly blasphemous fusion of East and West!
"Hahaha..."
The Joker looked at the stunned expressions on their faces and broke into unrestrained laughter.
He lightly stroked the desecrated God mural on the wall.
"This is where your error lies, Miss Silk-Stocking."
"Those Supervisors soaking in the jars are indeed artificially manufactured mutants."
"But..."
"The fundamental purpose for which they were made was never to serve as watchdogs."
The Joker turned his head. "Every single one of them—all made to be Vessels for carrying the descent of something great!"
The moment his words fell, the Joker crouched down beside that small wooden table.
He picked up 3 dust-covered sheets of paper from underneath it.
He handed the papers to Guan Ming and Silk-Stocking Desperado.
On the first sheet, 2 lines of large characters were written.
【Three Flowers Crown the Summit】and 【Five Qi Return to Origin.】
On the second sheet, an excerpt transcribed from the Bible was recorded.
【There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope. 】
【One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, through all and in all. 】
"But the most critical part is..."
"The 3rd one!"
The Joker's eyes turned feverish.
"It is the manuscript of this hospital's supreme ruler, Director Christopher."
"His notes combining and interpreting these 2 completely different systems of religious scripture!"
Guan Ming swallowed, lowering his head to look at the 3rd sheet.
The handwriting on it was utterly chaotic—the paper had even been slashed through in places.
The words between the lines radiated despair and madness.
Guan Ming felt as if he could see right through those twisted characters—see the madman named Christopher.
Standing at the edge of the abyss, howling hysterically...
【I am right! I have finally found the path to absolute truth!】
【The path to immortality!】
【The Taoist teachings of the East and the theology of the West—those foolish mortals will forever bicker endlessly about the surface!】
【They simply don't understand!】
【What's hidden in those scriptures is not some nebulous, intangible faith—it is... the Formula for Godhood!】
【The so-called Three Flowers Crown the Summit is not some profoundly esoteric realm of inner alchemy cultivation!】
【It refers, on a physical level, to a perfect body that must simultaneously grow 3 powerful heads!】
【Those are the sacred thrones meant to carry one God, one Lord, one faith!】
【And the so-called Five Qi Return to Origin... is an even brighter guiding light on my path to ascension!】
【It demands that the original five organs and six viscera be completely removed!】
【Replaced by mutated organs that evert outward, exposed to the air!】
【Only in this way can the flesh break through its narrow internal constraints and commune fully with the energy of the entire world!】
【But... how could an ordinary body possibly endure such a terrifying transformation?】
【How could it possibly possess a vast enough soul to sustain these Three Flowers and Five Qi?】
【I understand now... I have achieved complete enlightenment!】
【The Bible says: there is one body, one Spirit—dwelling within all people!】
【If that is so... then I shall go and plunder! Go and splice! Go and fuse!】
【These Three Flowers and Five Qi, these powerful heads and everted organs, must come from different powerful beings!】
【Or from extraordinarily anomalous inanimate objects!】
【More importantly... each of them must possess an independently powerful soul!】
【Only by forcibly fusing these different souls, these different chunks of flesh, into a single body through perfect rules...】
【Can I truly rise above all people, permeating through all!】
【Those failures and garbage—let them serve as the 'Supervisors' that keep this hospital running!】
【But I! Christopher! I shall collect the most perfect components!】
【I shall fuse every extreme difference this world has to offer! I shall become the Father of all! 】
【I... am the one true God!!!】
After reading the contents of the manuscript, Guan Ming felt a wave of nausea shoot straight to his head.
Lunatic.
This so-called Director was a pervert through and through.
He had actually harbored the delusion of artificially manufacturing a patchwork-freak deity through flesh splicing and soul fusion!
And at the same time, with the addition of this manuscript.
The same figure flashed through both Guan Ming and Silk-Stocking Desperado's minds simultaneously.
That man in a suit—the one who possessed the Fusion ability!
"That can't be..."
"How could he possibly be...?"
Silk-Stocking Desperado clutched her head, stumbling slightly.
"Desperado sis..."
Guan Ming didn't know what to say.
But he knew that Ye Desheng and Silk-Stocking Desperado's relationship was no ordinary one.
The Joker, meanwhile, broke into gleeful applause.
"That old monster who possesses both Thousand-Face Demon Lord and Fusion!"
"Has already perfectly filled in the single most critical piece of this Formula for Godhood!"
"Right now, he..."
"Has most likely already officially begun the ritual somewhere in this hospital..."
"Or rather..."
"He's already killed my dear colleague and little Daozi~"
"Completed Three Flowers Crown the Summit, and is now preparing to carry out Five Qi Return to Origin, isn't he?"
The Joker looked back toward the metal door that should have been sealed shut.
At this moment...
It was slowly being pushed open.