Tao Qingqing's fear wasn't caused by the beam of light. Although the beam could indeed inflict some damage on her, it was not a big deal with her heightened vigilance.
What terrified her was that she couldn't comprehend the meaning of the attack at all. If a magnifying glass could shoot lasers, why would firearms be needed? She didn't understand where the attack came from, nor why it originated, as if it were an absurd farce that had just happened before her eyes.
If looking at the sun with a magnifying glass could lead to death, then perhaps she might be swallowed by a bottomless abyss just by taking a step forward.
There was no doubt that the little boy who had endured the laser beam was already dead, but judging from his behavior, he didn't look like a dead person at all. Moreover, the reactions of the others were terrifyingly eerie.
She swallowed and said to Wen Wen with shock, "Did you see that? There's something wrong with this town, very wrong!"
Wen Wen looked at her suspiciously and said, "What did I see? Did a child steal something from you? You're a big vampire, don't be so petty, be more generous."
Tao Qingqing's eyes widened. It was understandable that ordinary people didn't notice anything unusual, but even Wen Wen didn't notice?
"Just now, right there, that little boy looked at the sun with a magnifying glass, and the magnifying glass emitted a beam of light that pierced his head!"
Wen Wen patted her forehead helplessly and said, "Are you sure your brain is okay? If something like that happened, how could I not have seen it? If you want to convince me, you need to provide some evidence. Words alone won't make me believe."
Tao Qingqing pointed at the ground over there and said, "That light beam just now not only pierced his head but also left a deep hole in the ground. Even if you didn't see the sunlight, you should have..."
"Then, where is the deep hole?" Wen Wen spread his hands.
"It's right..."
Tao Qingqing looked back and was stunned. The asphalt road where the little boy had been was as smooth and new as before, with no trace of damage.
Wen Wen patted her shoulder and walked towards the inn, saying, "It seems you were hallucinating. You're really not suited to be my assistant. You should rest more after we go back."
Tao Qingqing looked at the intact ground, feeling that the town exuded creepiness from its very core. "Is it me who has a problem, or is it everyone else..."
Although she possessed disaster-level strength, she was initially just an inexperienced little vampire who had advanced only within the Containment Facility. Therefore, her understanding of the supernatural world was limited. However, she knew that the current situation had become extremely dire.
"What is that bastard surnamed Wen's attitude? Did he really not discover anything, or is he deliberately testing me..."
While thinking, Tao Qingqing saw a little girl playing with a large black and white sheepdog.
The little girl was the daughter of Old Man Tian, and the large sheepdog was the corpse Tao Qingqing had dug up earlier. Its body had already begun to rot, and the little girl seemed oblivious to it all!
Tao Qingqing rubbed her hair and gritted her teeth, saying, "This place has truly gone mad!"
...
Wen Wen, who had been monitoring the situation through the chains, saw the same scene as Tao Qingqing. Setting aside the purpose of the fake Wen Wen in the illusion, Wen Wen was very familiar with the thumb-thick beam of light attack.
This was because it was a move Wen Wen had casually used when he killed the first-level ghost while clearing the Infinite Staircase!
That move was absolutely real, and the damage it caused was also real. This meant that whatever was creating the illusion could use the moves of supernaturals who had cleared the Infinite Staircase to kill people!
"Its purpose in deliberately creating the legend of the Infinite Staircase was to attract supernaturals to enter the illusion and explore, thereby learning or replicating the moves of supernaturals."
"But why would it do that? If, as Tao Qingqing speculated, its goal was to retaliate against the townspeople, it could have done so directly. Unless... it has no offensive capabilities of its own, and this is the only way it can achieve its revenge."
Wen Wen opened his Hunter terminal and retrieved the data of demon hunters who had previously explored the Infinite Staircase. Among them, the third explorer was a supernatural being at the Exploration Realm.
This supernatural possessed a soft body like an octopus, which could penetrate any narrow opening, even entering the bodies of humans or monsters. Once inside, it could control the target's body.
Old Man Tian was likely killed by this ability, which could explain the dog's abnormally distended mouth and the suction cup marks inside.
Furthermore, the little boy and the 'resurrected' sheepdog were also noteworthy. If the 'Infinite Staircase's' goal was to seek revenge on all the townspeople, then letting the creatures it had already killed roam the town was likely meant to instill a deeper sense of despair in the townspeople.
Every moment in the town, someone could be killed by a bizarre attack, yet the townspeople remained oblivious, even believing everything to be normal. If such a scene were to erupt at a certain moment, it would be enough to completely shatter the sanity of ordinary people.
Wen Wen stood up and murmured to himself, "It seems that after I discovered it, that thing has become more desperate... It could launch a large-scale massacre at any moment, so I can't delay any longer. I need to find a way to resolve this quickly." Su Dan Novel Network.
He immediately found Mo Yadi, who was observing with the assistants, informed him of some of the intelligence he had gathered, and expressed his desire to resolve the incident as soon as possible.
Mo Yadi did not ask where Wen Wen's information came from. After hearing Wen Wen's report, he buried himself in a pile of documents and began writing and drawing on a stack of white paper.
The white papers were covered with lines of unclear meaning. Wen Wen knew very well that Mo Yadi was using his own methods to observe the illusion.
After more than ten minutes, Mo Yadi stopped, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "I already know the true nature of this thing. It is the 'Sky Stone' that was decomposed by the townspeople more than two hundred years ago!"
"Sky Stone? Wasn't that thing already destroyed by the townspeople?"
Wen Wen frowned. He found it hard to imagine how such an incident could be related to a stone.
Mo Yadi shook his head and said, "It was decomposed, not destroyed... This stone itself is just an ordinary large stone, but judging from the patterns in the data, this stone used to be part of a huge city wall..."
"I don't know where in the Federation there is such a large city wall, but that huge city wall must be extraordinary, thus imbuing the stone with a certain divinity."
"And human worship itself possesses power. The worship of the nearby residents for thousands of years has made this stone increasingly powerful..."