Chapter 1046: Chapter 247: I Reckon It’ll Work_2

And the truth about the Flour Elemental had been right in front of them from the very beginning.

——Because that’s what Ethan believed.

When he thought the powers of the Flour Elemental Elf were too limited, what it could create indeed changed.

Fries and burgers were not the limits of the Flour Elemental; as long as it matched Ethan’s "common sense," it could almost create anything out of nothing.

In fact, when Ethan was disguising as a doctor from Mashu Institute of Technology in the underground shelter, there were already clues.

He generated a temporal machine in less than three days!

Before that, he had never contacted any related theories.

It couldn’t be explained by mysticism or science, this power infinitely approached that of a "Divine Spirit."

"That’s why I prepared the story of the ’Grotesque Monster’ especially for you."

Lindong’s breathing became increasingly rapid; she was conducting another important and crazy experiment. If it were only to scare the Chairman, she wouldn’t need to fill in such detailed specifics for the "Grotesque Monster" and Node Space. Her purpose was Ethan, making them roughly align with "common sense" in Ethan’s eyes.

She came to Ethan’s side and gazed with him at the darkness in front of the wardrobe.

"Maybe, the ’Grotesque Monster’ truly exists?"

The only light source came from the wall lamp, casting a dim halo on the heavy walnut wardrobe opposite. The wooden grains twisted under their gaze, forming black veins on the cabinet doors.

A subtle "sizzling" sound emanated, sounding like nails scraping the inner wood. Before long, something in the wardrobe’s gap started to squirm. The newborn creature did not destroy the wardrobe; it was sensing the world outside this Node Space. Under its gaze, the twisted space began to melt, fringed with a disconcerting oil-paint-like sheen, with an unceasingly swirling darkness inside, as if connecting to some unhealing abyss of pain.

The arm propped open the wardrobe door, tearing at the edge of the fissure.

Its frame was emaciated and slender, covered in a layer of peeling asphalt-like skin. Viscous black substances dripped continuously from the fingertips, etching tiny pits into the carpet.

Soon, the main body of the newborn creation appeared before Ethan and Lindong.

It stood as tall as an adult, its posture unnaturally hunched. Its gray-white skin was covered in constantly opening and closing cracks, within which dark fissures, a mass of eyeballs faintly rotated. Its four arms did not symmetrically grow; they extended in anatomically improper ways, twisting out from positions like the scapula and ribs.

It lacked a conventional head. Where a neck should have been, the flesh constricted upward, eventually forming a smooth, egg-shaped structure. The head bore no features, only a surface of constantly shifting eerie colors.

With that eyeless head, the newborn creation locked eyes with the two of them for roughly a dozen seconds before crawling into the dark rift. As the Grotesque Monster vanished, the ominous fissure also disappeared without a trace, leaving only the corrosive liquid on the carpet to prove its real existence.

The newborn Grotesque Monster made Lindong tremble with excitement. As the "settings" kept being refined, a life form that should not have existed in the world was born.

It possessed innate fearsome abilities; the torn rift allowed it to appear in any corner of the First Special District at will.

Even she, when meeting the Grotesque Monster’s gaze, had clear emotions surfacing in her mind.

——Fear.

The Grotesque Monster was born from the "monster in the wardrobe" story; its very existence embodied fear.

"You gave emotions physical form."

At that moment, Lindong finally confirmed the nature of Node Space. Those chaotic negative emotions, influenced by Ethan’s power, could be transformed into physical entities, becoming real existent monsters.

And the newborn Grotesque Monster, following its instincts, began unreservedly spreading fear in the First Special District.

"The Lord of the Holy City has no objections to this?"

Ethan raised a name that seemed absent for a long time. Initially, it was the missing second seat, and now, under its watchful eye, there appeared a faceless four-armed monster. Empathizing, he thought if the Other Shore knew such a dangerous monster appeared in the Imperial Capital, they would spare no effort to eradicate it.

He felt it necessary to remind Lindong, "This is our first day in the Holy City, and we’ve already caused quite a bit of trouble for Him."

"The Grotesque Monster is enthusiastic about consuming human fears. According to victims, they were dragged into Node Space by suddenly appearing fissures, where they encountered what they feared most in the depths of their hearts. They were scared into fainting and found themselves in a random city corner upon waking, where patrol members soon discovered them..."

Lindong changed some setting details of the Grotesque Monster. "If you’re worried about unnecessary casualties, the victims were only scared unconscious."

If it were her past self, she wouldn’t care about the fate of those attacked.

Disappearance or death, as long as it brought value to research, their deaths were worthwhile. To fill the number of observation subjects, she could even use the most basic materials to create a large number of experimental subjects, just like handling Bionic Men.

Merlin and Zhuang Xiao were products of this type of technology.

Theoretically, they were Bionic Men with human bodies, but once they awakened independent consciousness, things often became troublesome.

"Meanwhile, the Grotesque Monster will help us find the laboratory where the Knight Lord is imprisoned. The Lord of the Holy City doesn’t wish for me to interfere in this experiment, thus hiding the location of the laboratory."

"But He didn’t stop the Grotesque Monster’s creation."

"Because your arrival is one of the few variables He has encountered, past calculations didn’t foresee how you would change civilization. However, this is the most important step towards omniscience and omnipotence."

She shook her head, "Before things become irreversible, the Lord of the Holy City will not intervene with us."

She created Messiah, hence she could partially understand the Lord of the Holy City’s thoughts—especially in terms of attitudes toward experiments.

"’Enemy’ doesn’t accurately describe your relationship with the Lord of the Holy City,"

Lindong supplemented, "He wishes to understand you, understand Node Space; this will become His last step towards omniscience and omnipotence. Thus, He extremely welcomes your arrival, even if you might turn the First Special District into a hell ruled by Node creatures."

"This is not my way."

Ethan objected, "I’m not a terrorist."

To confront the Lord of the Holy City by launching a massacre in the First Special District? This is not what he wanted to see.

"But don’t forget, the experiment He is conducting is akin to terrorism for the other side."

The knights, influenced by the Knight Lord, raided the logistics units of the Far West, cleansing any of their comrades who once violated the knight’s oath. Those people wouldn’t "wake up in a city corner after experiencing a nightmare." When the blades of the Gray Knights pierced their chests, they were truly dead.

"So, we must find the whereabouts of the Knight Lord by tomorrow."

So far, he had organized several terrorist attacks targeting the empire, and this time was no exception.

"Yes... you wouldn’t do such a thing."

Lindong’s gaze softened, though her words were tinged with deep self-blame, "I made many efforts to prevent you from turning into a terrorist at that time."

Unlike the time of creating Messiah, during the process of "feeding" Ethan, she added many "not so necessary" parts.

She tried helping Ethan understand human nature, or more accurately, to examine that part of herself not yet eroded by the long passage of time.

It captivates, yet causes many unnecessary obstructions.

Compared to cold experimental data, the things "human nature" contemplates are truly numerous.

"Perhaps it has become a burden for you, perhaps even harming you one day in the future."

"Quite the opposite."

Ethan embraced Lindong, "This is my favorite part."