Chapter 236: The Crazy Dog

Chapter 236 The Mad Hound

Richard's abnormal behavior immediately caught the attention of Cullen and Memphis. Cullen reached straight out to grab him, while Memphis's figure instantly materialized in front of Richard.

But Cullen's hand passed right through Richard's body, and in the next moment, Richard "collided" through Memphis's frame as well.

At this moment, Richard was like a transparent phantom, yet he himself continued to cry out:

"Slow down, Cullen, I'm coming."

The first interception had failed, and by the time Cullen and Memphis prepared for a second attempt, Richard's silhouette suddenly vanished into thin air.

Had he entered another timeline?

This was Cullen's subconscious thought, because Richard had clearly been calling out to him earlier, much like an alternate version of himself in another time summoning him over.

But immediately after, Cullen banished this notion from his mind. No, it was not time.

The Captain and Memphis had both said that temporal sacred artifacts simply did not exist. All the eeriness manifesting before them resembled a deceptive trick, the purpose of which was to make one believe that time here was being severed.

But what on earth was the purpose of doing this?

Memphis placed his hand on Cullen's shoulder. Cullen was slightly bewildered. Though both wore masks, their eyes were visible, and Cullen detected none of the paternal anxiety for a son in Memphis's gaze.

"It is a deception," Memphis said. "Its purpose lies purely in deceit."

Having spoken, Memphis took the initiative to walk over toward Neo.

The other team members had also noticed the situation here, and quite a few had witnessed the entire process of Richard's disappearance with their own eyes.

Although two members from other squads had vanished instantly upon leaving the train earlier, the one who had disappeared this time was a teammate from their own side.

If things could happen like this, who would be the next to vanish?

How could they guard against this, how could they resist it?

Even as members of the Bloodhound Squad, facing the current circumstances, they grew sensitive and suspicious. If it were a frontal, bloody battle, they would never harbor such emotions, no matter how powerful the opponent.

Neo walked over to Memphis, who repeated his previous words to Neo: "It is a deception."

"Yes, it is a deception," Neo nodded in agreement. After speaking, Neo also looked at Cullen standing nearby and reached up to touch his own mask.

"Look quick, isn't that Richard over there?"

Fanny pointed toward a nearby hillside and shouted. Everyone looked over and discovered that a figure was indeed standing atop the hill. From the attire and build, it strongly resembled the Richard who had just vanished.

Richard began to sprint down from there, waving his hands as he ran. One could tell he was terrified, yet simultaneously highly exhilarated. He was weeping as he ran, looking like a survivor of a great catastrophe.

Everyone gathered together, waiting for Richard to draw near, but no one stepped forward to welcome him.

Cullen looked at Memphis standing beside him. He noticed that his uncle had remained entirely too calm from the moment his son "disappeared" to this moment of his son's "reappearance."

As if sensing Cullen's gaze, Memphis turned his head to look at Cullen and said:

"They caught the wrong person."

"What?"

Memphis shook his head, appearing to take a deep breath, or perhaps preparing himself for something.

Richard drew closer and closer, and the expressions of the group became increasingly solemn. In their hearts, they were prepared for Richard to run over and pass right through their bodies, just as he had when he vanished.

However,

the unfolding of events seemed to break away from the group's expectations.

"Scared me to death, Cullen, really scared me to death, Cullen!"

Richard cried out, like a sprinter who had finally reached the finish line, and then he lunged forward, throwing his arms around Cullen to embrace him.

Cullen perceived actual, physical contact. Richard had not vanished; he had become real, very real. Barring any surprises, the genuine Richard had returned.

Everyone's gaze held a trace of astonishment, for they had not yet recovered from Richard's bizarre disappearance, only for Richard to run back on his own in this manner.

For a moment, many people crowded forward and began to touch Richard.

"What are you doing, what is this for? Hey, hey, don't touch there, ah!"

Richard screamed as he was touched by a dozen pairs of hands. Even though Page and Fanny provided two pairs of women's hands, the rest were predominantly men's hands, and this sense of discomfort was unacceptable to him.

"Where did you just go?" Cullen asked.

"Me? I just saw you beckoning to me, telling me the Captain and everyone had already moved ahead, calling for me to catch up quickly, so I immediately ran out after you."

"And then?"

"And then... as I was running, I found you suddenly gone. I knew things had gone wrong, that I'd been snared, so I climbed up that hillside to check the surroundings. When I saw you guys here, I immediately ran back."

"No other changes of any kind?" Fanny asked.

"No, because the time was very short. By the way, how much time has passed now?" Richard immediately inquired. "Several hours?"

"Based on the length of time you described, our elapsed time should be equivalent," Fanny replied.

"Huh, where is that newcomer?"

"Where is Memphis?"

"Where did he go?"

Cullen also began to scan with his eyes, discovering that Memphis, who had been standing beside him just a moment ago, was gone.

"Is it the newcomer's turn to be missing this time?" Fanny remarked.

"Will he also return very soon?" Page asked.

Cullen suddenly recalled what Memphis had said to him before vanishing: "Caught the wrong one."

"Huh, is the newcomer missing?" Richard also began to search around. "He'll probably be like me, looking for high ground to confirm the position."

Cullen looked at Richard and pursed his lips.

However, even by the time everyone had finished setting up camp and had eaten some of the rations they carried with them, the newcomer Memphis still had not returned.

The camp had no tents, but there were blankets and simple barriers arranged. Everyone followed their past habits to set up a three-layer defensive layout: outer ring, middle ring, and inner ring, highly organized.

Yet whether this kind of defense could actually yield any effect, no one had any certainty in their hearts.

"Why hasn't the newcomer come back yet..."

Richard mumbled to himself, still constantly peering around. This was perhaps the connection between father and son; though Richard did not know Memphis's true identity, he would instinctively worry about him.

"Cullen, why do you think I've already come back, but the newcomer hasn't returned even now?"

Cullen shook his head. He felt as though he knew the reason, but it was inconvenient to speak it aloud.

Just then, Wind let out an exclamation of alarm: "Where is the Captain?"

"Where is the Captain?"

"Where is the Captain!"

To the current squad members, a newcomer vanishing was just a newcomer vanishing, but if the Captain also disappeared, it would deal a tremendous blow to their morale.

Because everyone had long since grown accustomed to obeying the Captain's orders during the course of a mission.

"I went ahead to check the situation and found someone."

Black mist manifested, and Neo's figure stepped out from within it. Following him, a second person walked out—it was Marlow.

"Marlow, you're back?"

"Hey, Marlow, I thought you'd met with an accident!"

"I had already calculated how much condolence money to give at your funeral. Thankfully, you saved me some money."

Neo spoke up: "I have found a certain pattern. My previous departure was to verify this pattern, and then, I used this pattern to find Marlow.

In fact, Marlow has always remained in the same place; he has always been together with Canse and Antony's squads. However, because we are in different periods of time, even though our locations already overlapped, we were still unable to see each other."

"Captain, what do you mean?" Grey asked.

"Yes, though you may find it absurd, I still must tell everyone what I have observed and confirmed. We have encountered... a time cleavage."

Upon hearing those final words, Karen abruptly raised his head to look at the masked captain.

Marlow also spoke up: "In my period of time, I established several communication arrays. Not for real-time communication, but delayed communication, setting the arrays to activate after half an hour, an hour, an hour and a half, and two hours.

Then, I successfully reached the captain and established contact with him. The captain pulled me back to his—which is to say, everyone's current—period of time."

"I... don't understand..." Quincy voiced what was in many people's hearts.

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. The main thing is that I have already found the method to leave this place, the way out." Neo pointed toward the direction of Ales Castle. "The exit is actually at the main gates of the castle. Because the castle gates are the starting point of everything, the initial point of this time-cleavage journey, we must set out from there, and then walk outward from there. Only in this way can we break free from the constraints of the time cleavage and successfully walk out.

Marlow will lead the way at the front, and I will be at the very back. I order you to throw away your watches, and at the same time, you are not allowed to look up at the stars. I require you not to have the slightest concept of time.

You must know that time originally has no concept; the so-called 'time' is merely something we human beings have artificially endowed it with. While on the march, you must perceive—perceive the sensation of a current of water flowing over your bodies.

If you suddenly find that the person in front of you has vanished, do not panic, because those teammates are right beside you. You only need to use your own heart to perceive the flow-rate of time, just like turning the reception rod of a radio, and you will be able to see their figures once more.

There is not much time left now, and there is not long to go before the next time-reset. Our supplies are limited; we must seize this opportunity to successfully get out once.

Perhaps some people will fail, but do not lose heart. Walk back to the starting point on your own and try to 'swim' out again. At the same time, you must have even more confidence; you must firmly believe that some teammates have definitely made it out successfully, and then the rescue from the Holy Church will surely arrive.

The God of Order will bless us!

Let us begin!"

"It really is a time cleavage. Karen, do you know what we've encountered?" Richard, while taking off his watch and throwing it onto the ground, continued to say to Karen with great excitement, "If this thing, or rather this existence, is discovered by us, once we get out and report this news, we will definitely receive a huge reward from the Holy Church. Even our names will be left in the annals of the Church."

Karen cast a glance at Richard:

Perhaps, this is the reason why you were captured and then released back?

Next, Marlow walked at the very front and the captain was at the very back as everyone formed a single file column and began to advance toward Ales Castle.

Karen intentionally lagged at the very rear of the squad, only ahead of the captain. Seeing this, Richard, in order to be with Karen, also deliberately stayed at the tail end of the squad, right in front of Karen.

After marching for a distance, everyone arrived beneath the hillside where they had initially hidden. But this time, everyone was walking along the highway, bypassing that piece of sloping ground, and the gates of Ales Castle were right ahead.

Marlow stopped at the main gates of the castle. Instead of choosing to push the doors open and enter, he turned directly around, gesturing with his hand for everyone to follow him.

Everyone was like children forming a queue, turning around after passing the gates to continue following the squad forward.

Karen clearly saw that the expressions of those teammates who turned around from the main gates underwent a change, while excitement appeared on their faces.

Richard turned around in front of Karen, froze for a moment, and then an expression of wild joy appeared on his face as he continued to catch up with the squad before his eyes.

After Karen turned around, he found that a patch of white mist had appeared within his field of vision. The mist was not high, only reaching up to a person's waist, but one could clearly discover that it was flowing, as if it were a stream composed of white mist. The direction he was currently marching in was "against the current."

This kind of "sense of progress" visible to the naked eye instantly gave people immense encouragement. It almost plainly told oneself that one was walking on the correct path and was not far from getting out. No wonder the squad members who had turned the corner earlier were all high in spirit.

Yet Karen could not bring himself to be excited. As he marched continuously, he tilted his head slightly, wanting to perceive the captain who fell at the very rear of the squad.

Finally, after advancing another distance, Karen spoke up:

"Captain, it's uncomfortable wearing the mask for so long. I want to take the mask off."

Neo spoke up:

"Silence. Concentrate on walking."

"Yes, Captain."

At the same time Karen nodded, he drew out his Sava 7 pistol.

...

"How is the situation?"

"Under my arrangement and design, Antony's squad and Canse's squad, from their captains to their members, already believe that they have entered a time fault. They are now conducting self-adjustments based on the changes in time.

But Neo's squad..."

"What's wrong with Neo's squad?"

"See for yourself."

"Hmm? Isn't it very good? No, wait, why have so many elements been added, and two people have even been isolated?"

"There was no other choice. The quality of this squad is indeed much higher than Antony's squad and Canse's squad. Because at the very beginning, their captain announced to everyone that this is not a problem of time.

Moreover, within the squad, there is another person who seems to have discovered something, continuously saying 'this is a scam,' 'this is a scam.'

This captain's prestige is too high; whatever words he speaks, his members will sincerely listen to and obey, and will not raise objections. Therefore, the initial keynote was already nailed down firmly by him.

Furthermore, he has also been resisting entering the castle, choosing to be passive from the very start, giving me no opportunity to deepen the consciousness of all of them. The elements of environmental change that I can utilize in the wilderness are truly too few; most of my designs are within the castle, alas."

"And then?"

"I isolated Neo individually, and that one who spoke of a scam was also isolated by me. There was even a small episode that occurred within this; the one I marked at the beginning was him, but for some unknown reason, when the first marking and isolation took place, it was actually another person—the one who had all along firmly believed in the time fault—who was isolated by me. There was no other choice, so I could only release him and remark and isolate again."

"They are relatives?"

"Should be. Family members within the Whip of Order are not considered very rare either."

"But this mistake of yours really shouldn't have happened; it will greatly ruin the sense of immersion."

"There was no other choice. That squad member who was isolated believed very much that this is a time fault.

Besides, I have already done my best to salvage it. For this reason, I even made their captain appear to re-instill the concept of a time fault into them. In this way, things can be considered to have truly gotten onto the right track.

They believe in their captain too much.

Alas, had I known earlier, I should have isolated this captain from the very start."

"It was you who actively requested it. Out of three Whip of Order squads, you said you didn't want all of them to be mediocre and wanted to choose one that was truly excellent. It seems the department arranging the tasks over there did indeed take this request to heart; the quality of this Neo's squad is indeed much higher."

"It's just that one captain plus one squad member have high quality, that's all."

"You can't say it that way. In a squad, as long as the captain is excellent enough, it is very difficult for this squad not to be excellent, let alone that this time it's more than just the captain alone."

"However, I truly do not know why the Pantheon wants to restart this project again, though I do feel that the person who designed this project was indeed a genius."

"An existence capable of becoming an evil god—how could they be described by a mere word like 'genius'?"

"True. Perhaps this is the thinking of an evil god. The great Main Gods sought the power of time in the world yet obtained nothing, but he was able to forge a new path.

Do you still remember that passage on the project document? It is said that these are the insights he left behind:

'Time simply does not exist. You cannot find something in reality that simply does not exist. And things that do not exist can only be sought from places that do not exist, such as... human thinking and consciousness.'"

"I have always been curious about one thing. Back then, did he succeed?"

"He definitely failed; this is beyond doubt."

"Then did he achieve any results, even just a tiny bit of an outcome?"

"I think there was."

"You think it actually exists?"

"Because he was suppressed."

"What you say... makes so much sense."

"By the way, how much longer will this internal alpha test last?"

"Ten days. Based on the five-hour consciousness cycle we set, it should translate to forty-eight cycles for them."

"Oh, they really have it rough, then."

"Rest assured, once the test concludes, the Holy Church will bestow generous quest rewards upon them."

"Right, I heard the project was named after that evil god?"

"Yes, 'Project Raniedal'."

"Oh, heavens! It's over. It looks like Team Neo is going to end this test ahead of schedule."

"What happened?"

"See for yourself."

...

"Hey, teammates!"

Up ahead, every single team member turned their heads toward Karen, who stood at the very rear of the formation.

As Karen spun around, he drew his Sava 7 pistol, aimed it squarely at Captain Neo's forehead behind him, and pulled the trigger without a shred of hesitation:

"Bang!"