Chapter 413 - 278: The Source of Fear is Insufficient Firepower (Part 3)

Chapter 413: Chapter 278: The Source of Fear is Insufficient Firepower (Part 3)

But it wasn’t suitable for housing Hannibal, or any of the other monstrous patients.

The asylum in the original work looked like a castle, which really matched Hannibal’s classic sensibilities.

After thinking it over, Zog decided to build a similar asylum on the land reserved for landscaping in the city.

After filming, he could even use it as a prototype for a game. Something like an escape game, where you’re chased all over a gloomy mansion by a bunch of psychos, and the key is that the player has no way to attack.

Horror games where you can just mow down the monsters are always a few degrees less scary.

Finally, he could turn the entire building into a tourist attraction, convert it into a haunted house, and run some marketing campaigns like "The World’s Ten Scariest Houses."

’Oh, my God, Zog. He’s an absolute genius at making a quick buck.’

And so, moving forward in parallel with *Silence of the Lambs*, was the new collaborative project: *Escape*.

Just as Zog was focusing on generating new revenue, he received some very unexpected news.

Numerous Magical Beasts had appeared around Deepwater City, and there were even incidents of them attacking workers.

"Magical Beasts?" Zog was confused. "Why are there Magical Beasts?"

Feilin’s way of distinguishing between animals and Magical Beasts was simple: anything with Magic Power in its body was a Magical Beast. Although having Magic Power didn’t necessarily mean high combat strength—there were plenty of weakling Magical Beast species—any that dared to attack people usually weren’t weak.

High combat strength also implied a decent level of intelligence. It was just like how larger animals tend to have higher IQs—with the exception of birds, those small-bodied beacons of intellect—it was a generally applicable rule.

In Zog’s view, any Magical Beast with a brain wouldn’t do something as suicidal as charging into a Human settlement, especially since Deepwater City had plenty of resident High Tier combatants, not to mention a few Ancient Dragons that respawned from time to time.

Therefore, Zog’s first reaction was that a hostile force was stirring up trouble.

"Have any organizations been causing trouble lately?" Zog asked.

The Mammon Sect had been dealt with by the Church and had been quiet for a long time. Besides, after launching such a large-scale attack last time, just controlling a few Magical Beasts this time would be a serious downgrade.

"No," Elsa replied. "And according to feedback from the teams sent from Deepwater City to hunt the Magical Beasts, they don’t seem to be under control. It’s more like they’ve gone mad."

"Gone mad?" Zog hadn’t expected that explanation. "Is there some kind of mad Magical Beast disease spreading around Deepwater City? Is it contagious to Humans?"

"We’re not sure if it’s a disease. According to the Shenke Affiliated Institute’s hypothesis, it’s likely related to the arrival of a large number of Inferior Demons."

"What do you mean?"

"There’s a legend passed down from the era of the Devil wars. It says that wherever a Devil army sets foot, it will trigger a raging, frenzied beast tide. The researchers at the Shenke Affiliated Institute speculate that when Devils gather in sufficient numbers, it might cause Magical Beasts to go berserk and charge into Deepwater City to attack people."

"Is that confirmed?"

"They’re still running experiments."

「A few minutes later. Deepwater City, Shenke Affiliated Institute.」

Zog arrived to observe the experiment.

A poor little mouse was trapped in a cage. Rodent-type Magical Beasts were in the super-weakling category among all Magical Beasts.

Ordinary experiments use ordinary mice, Magic experiments use magical mice. A mouse’s life is a life dedicated to science.

Mouse-men.

Outside the cage were several giant "Stinky Muds"—that is, Inferior Demons with a coat of paint.

"How long have you been observing it?" Zog asked Yuno, the person in charge of the experiment.

"Fifty-six hours. So far, the test mouse has shown no obvious changes."

Besides this mouse, which was completely surrounded by Inferior Demons, there were also several control groups with varying numbers of Inferior Demons, at different distances, as well as one with no Inferior Demon interference at all.

Just as Yuno finished speaking, the test mouse, which they had been waiting on for over two days, began to change.

The Little White Mouse in the cage abruptly froze. After standing stunned for a few seconds, its fur suddenly stood on end, its eyes turned red, and it began ramming itself against the cage as if its life depended on it.

One after another, the same thing happened in the other control groups.

The result was now certain. The Inferior Demons were the problem.

"HISS—"

Zog sucked in a sharp breath.

"Are there many of these frenzied Magical Beasts currently?"

"As of yesterday, there have been over two hundred sightings around the city. The number of direct conflicts isn’t high yet, only thirty, but recent statistics show the frequency is increasing. The effect of the Inferior Demons probably hasn’t reached its peak," Yuno replied.

"So, the question is, is there a solution?"

"Theoretically, yes. Based on our observations, the fluctuations in Magic Power carried by the Devils are affecting the Magic Power within the Magical Beasts, causing it to flow faster. This high-speed flow makes the host uncomfortable and gradually causes them to lose their sanity. Therefore, we just need to design an item that can restrict the transmission of the Devils’ Magic Power fluctuations."

The person explaining was a researcher specializing in this incident. The Zog Group had an increasing number of scholars, many of whom were new faces Zog had never seen.

"That’s more or less it," Yuno, the overall director, confirmed.

"And what’s the estimated time frame?"

The principle behind it wasn’t important to Zog; when it would be solved was.

"I can’t guarantee anything. If things go smoothly, maybe within one to two months. If not, it could be several months. And that’s just for developing a way to restrict the Magic Power fluctuations of Inferior Demons."

"Wait, what do you mean, ’restrict Inferior Demons’? Are you saying different types of Devils require different methods?" Zog asked.

"Yes. Theoretically, every type of Devil requires a different restriction method. But I’ll do my best to research a universal one."

"Don’t," Zog interrupted hastily. "Don’t make a universal one. Just make it one method per Devil type. The restrictions for High Tier Devils... they’re harder to make, right?"