Wen Wen pondered. The greatest beneficiary of Stein's deception technique was, in fact, the Tinge Hound.
Even if a time traveler used the deception technique, they would eventually die. However, the Tinge Hound could bypass certain rules by being deceived, directly attacking ordinary people to absorb time.
The first time Wen Wen saw a Tinge Hound, it appeared to be a brutal beast devoid of any intelligence.
At that time, it had likely suppressed its own intelligence, willingly being deceived by Stein to obtain food and carry out killings.
Wen Wen sneered at Stein, saying, "You think you are extending your life through the deception technique, but in reality, you are merely a tool for the hound to acquire more food. As long as the hound wishes, it can ignore the deception and kill you at any time."
Stein turned his head away. This method had been used in their family for many years. Wen Wen had made a definitive judgment with just one glance, making it difficult for him to believe.
"The last time the hound attacked you, didn't you notice anything unusual? That's because you were no longer serving as a tool, so it chose to deal with you directly."
Stein froze for a moment. The final attack from the hound had indeed been completely different from before.
Wen Wen pinched his chin and said, "If we extrapolate from this, perhaps the clue for your ancestors to research the deception technique was given by the hound..."
"Even the ritual that granted you the ability of time travel might have been nothing but a conspiracy."
"Perhaps your ancestors were merely provided with some feed for that great being outside the world, for its pet."
Stein naturally did not believe Wen Wen's deductions, but Wen Wen's words did cause him to reflect, and the more he thought, the colder he felt from the bottom of his heart...
Wen Wen shook his head. Regardless of whether his conjecture was correct, he had no intention of meddling with time abilities.
This was because he might have been targeted by the Tinge Hound the very first time he attempted to use a time ability. The numerous strange rules were merely to keep the "feed" alive longer, allowing for more food production.
Although Wen Wen possessed the Containment Facility and was not overly fearful of the Tinge Hound, he did not want to hide within it forever.
Thus, Wen Wen looked at the second gain from this operation, the Mist Box placed beneath Stein.
After entering the Containment Facility, this item did not, as Wen Wen had expected, end up in the containment warehouse of the facility's disaster zone. Instead, it was locked in the same cell as Stein.
A faint mist also began to emanate within the facility, a manifestation of the Mist Box's ability. However, its spread was much slower than the mist in the outside city of Nim. If left unchecked, it would eventually reach the same extent as Nim.
Therefore, Wen Wen needed to find a way to deal with the Mist Box. The moment Wen Wen conceived this thought, the previously sealed metal box opened on its own.
"What's going on here?"
Wen Wen had always assumed the Mist Box was the本体 (bēntǐ - core body/origin) of this disaster-level containment item. But upon closer thought, since it was a box, it must contain something within it.
As Wen Wen moved closer, he saw an ancient, simple black key placed inside.
Upon seeing the key, Wen Wen felt a strange sensation. He beckoned towards the key, and it flew into his hand on its own.
Holding the key, Wen Wen had a guess. He immediately stepped onto the stairs of the central hub, descending to the lowest level of the facility, and appeared in the strange circular room with only two doors.
Upon entering the room, the black key automatically floated up and landed on a bare wall.
From seemingly nowhere, a gray door appeared on the wall, which then automatically opened. Inside the door was nothing but endless mist.
"Was this Mist Box originally part of the Containment Facility?"
Wen Wen activated his Disaster Warden state and cautiously touched the doorknob. The moment he made contact, his consciousness was transported outside the Containment Facility.
"Outside" here did not refer to the city of Nim, but to the physical exterior.
Wen Wen's consciousness seemed to have entered an indescribably colorful world, filled with formless blocks of color.
Some resembled streams of colored light traveling at incredible speeds, others like ink drops slowly diffusing in water, and some even resembled a starry sky flowing like a current, with specks of light within them that appeared to be worlds...
With Wen Wen's knowledge and linguistic abilities, he was incapable of describing even a fraction of the strange and peculiar features of this world.
It seemed to be in constant flux, yet also filled with harmony.
And within this bizarre world, the only thing that could be accurately described in words was a giant transparent bubble.
Inside the bubble, there was a five-story, pyramid-like structure. Wen Wen recognized it without needing to identify it; that structure was the本体 (bēntǐ) of the Disaster Containment Facility!
If Wen Wen were to measure it with instruments, he would find that every line and every angle on the giant pyramid was perfectly flawless, something utterly impossible to create with human craftsmanship.
Outside the giant bubble, mist began to appear, enveloping the bubble.
Various monsters emerged within the mist, swimming about. Each of these monsters was as powerful as that large fish!
Wen Wen exclaimed, "So that's how it is. I understand now. The Mist Box was likely the outer defense mechanism of the Containment Facility, and it can only exert its true power when combined with the facility!"
If someone wished to enter the Containment Facility from this bubble, they would first have to breach the mist's defenses.
After spending some time in this peculiar world, Wen Wen began to feel dizzy. It seemed this world was not a place where normal living beings could exist, or at least not Wen Wen, even with the power of the Disaster Warden.
Wen Wen's consciousness snapped back, and he felt a slight imbalance. The location of the Containment Facility's本体 (bēntǐ) was not yet something he could probe, but the fact that he could see where it was located was a significant gain.
In addition to the Containment Facility gaining a defense mechanism, Wen Wen could feel that the fourth level of the facility had become somewhat looser. He believed that if he were to add one or two more doors to the lowest room, or absorb enough energy of disaster level or above with the Disaster Gloves, he should be able to open the facility's disaster zone!
The Mist Box had yielded considerable gains for Wen Wen, but he suddenly noticed that the mist inside the Containment Facility had not disappeared.
He frowned and returned to Stein's cell, finding that the Mist Box had closed and was now by Stein's side.
"It seems this box has always contained the key, and it has also absorbed some of the key's aura. It's possible that the mischief in Nim was caused by this box, rather than the mist within it."