Chapter 38: Accelerating

The atmosphere in the room instantly became more solemn.

One of the bearded men spoke:

“The situation is now worse than we imagined. Mr. Allen was already against taking drastic measures. It would have been one thing if we had caught her, but now not only did we not catch her, we also attracted the attention of the Fifth Department….”

“Damn it, we were so close to succeeding!”

Another tall, thin man said, hitting the table in frustration.

“We should have listened to me and brought more people—”

“Shut up!”

The man with glasses interrupted him sharply.

“Now is not the time for this. We need to figure out how to deal with the situation that's coming! The girl named Mel is now on her guard, and we've also got the Fifth Department and Saint Margaret's Church… fuck!”

He suddenly felt a wave of frustration.

Just then, the sound of footsteps rang out from outside again.

It sounded like two people.

Everyone's expression instantly froze.

The two figures they did not want to see were standing at the door, their faces apathetic as they scanned everyone in the room.

“How disappointing.”

Mr. Allen slowly walked into the room, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

The man with glasses subconsciously took half a step back.

“Mr. Allen, I think I can explain—”

“Explain what?”

Mr. Allen closed in on him step by step.

“Explain the reason you went against the organization's decision and acted on your own? I remember I told you to maintain the status quo and not to cause unnecessary stimulation for the Container—maintain the status quo, do you understand what that phrase means?”

The air was so frozen it felt like it was about to turn to ice.

Cold sweat trickled down the forehead of the man with glasses, and everyone else was silent.

“We just wanted to…”

“Crack!”

Jason slapped the man with glasses hard across the face, interrupting his defense.

The glasses shattered at the sound.

A few pieces of glass stabbed into his face, a trickle of blood.

“What were you trying to do?”

Mr. Allen's voice was still calm, but it was bone-chilling.

“Did you want to get Quintessence by force, and use this kind of crude method to deal with a Stress Phase Container? You are members of the Omniscience Society. Why are you all so stupid in your actions?”

He looked at everyone with disappointment.

“You thought about all the possibilities after you succeeded. You thought that if you pulled this off, you would be able to get ahead in the organization. You thought that as long as the ceremony was successful, as the greatest contributors, you would be looked upon by Him, and then be anointed, or even crowned. But did you ever think about one problem? What if you failed?”

He walked forward and grabbed the man with glasses by the neck.

“She is in the Stress Phase right now. Do I need to emphasize that again? Why do you think I told you to maintain the status quo? If you caused too much stimulation and made her enter the Development Phase, who would replace those thirty people's worth of Quintessence? Can I bring all of your families over and drain their spinal fluid to transcribe Hymns to Knowledge?”

Mr. Allen's fingers tightened.

The face of the man with glasses gradually turned red, and a pained whimper came from his throat.

The coldness in the room seemed to have solidified.

“I'm sorry—”

The man with glasses pleaded incoherently, his hands instinctively struggling.

Mr. Allen let go of him, letting him fall heavily to the ground, coughing violently.

“A bunch of people who can't even get things done and only mess things up.”

“I'm sorry…. It's our fault….”

The man with glasses knelt on the ground, with none of his initial spirited vigor.

“No, the one who's wrong is me, Gears.”

Mr. Allen shook his head.

“I was wrong to overestimate your obedience and abilities, and I was wrong to underestimate the arrogance in your bones. It's all my fault that this happened.”

Under the dim yellow light, Mr. Allen's gaze locked onto the person in front of him, like a venomous snake.

A suffocating sense of oppression filled the air.

“Since it's my fault, then I'll correct it myself.”

He said, then slowly raised his right hand.

A strange black mist overflowed from his fingertips.

The mist seemed to have a life of its own, twisting and writhing in the air.

“Ahhh—!”

A shrill scream echoed in the secret room.

The black mist, like greedy tentacles, wrapped around the bodies of Gears and the others, binding them tightly.

“Since you are so eager to serve the organization,” Mr. Allen said, watching the people writhing on the ground with indifference.

“Then dedicate all the knowledge in your minds to Him.”

The black mist gradually corroded into everyone's skin, bringing heartbreaking pain.

The mist seemed to be trying to extract their souls, driving them mad.

“Wait, there's a problem.”

Just then, Jason suddenly spoke.

“Look at him.”

Mr. Allen looked in the direction he pointed.

The man who had rushed in at the beginning seemed to be off.

The black mist was wrapped around his body, but he was just looking on in horror, without any reaction.

“Hmm?”

Mr. Allen's brows furrowed slightly.

He then quickly walked over to the man and carefully observed his reactions.

The man looked around in horror, but his body didn't move at all, as if he couldn't feel the pain from the black mist.

Immediately after, Mr. Allen suddenly reached out and grabbed the man's chin, forcing him to look up.

Under the dim light, Mr. Allen's pupils suddenly contracted.

“This is impossible….”

He let go of him, took a few steps back, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

“Jason, look at his eyes.”

Jason walked closer and carefully observed the man's eyes.

A moment later, he took a sharp breath.

“Damn it, this is—”

“That's right.”

Mr. Allen said coldly.

“He was already dead.”

The atmosphere in the room instantly froze.

Mr. Allen didn't even care about the other people's bodies.

He carefully checked the man's condition.

“His chest was pierced through. His heart stopped beating a long time ago.”

Mr. Allen said with a heavy expression.

“But judging from the situation just now, he also drank wine….”

Mr. Allen ignored Jason's surprise and continued to focus on examining the corpse.

“This wound looks like it was pierced by some kind of sharp object. And it went straight to the heart. There's no way he could have survived.”

Mr. Allen said in a low voice, his brows tightly furrowed.

“Mel Rossetti must have done this.”

“But… how did she make a corpse come back to life, and without any self-awareness?”

Jason frowned.

“Don't forget, she's a Red Moon Shepherd.”

Mr. Allen reminded him.

“Eight out of ten Red Moon Shepherds have herding methods that are related to killing. The other two, even if they don't kill, must see blood. This is probably her herding method—killing people and then turning them into her own flock.”

Mr. Allen said, and stood up, beginning to pace back and forth in the room.

This was his habitual action when thinking.

His footsteps were exceptionally clear in the silent room.

Paired with the twitching postures of the other bodies, it was as if he were setting a beat for them.

“We underestimated her.”

Mr. Allen suddenly spoke, his voice carrying a hint of self-mockery.

“No, I should say, I underestimated her. Even though she's only a Stress Phase Shepherd, if we let her continue to grow like this, I can't even imagine the future.”

“Then what… what should we do next?”

Jason asked.

Mr. Allen stopped pacing and turned to look at him.

Under the dim light, his eyes looked exceptionally deep and dangerous.

He said.

“We need to speed things up.”

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