Catastrophe Card King

Chapter 11: Chapter 10: T-Level Disaster Source

"Trapezoid...!!!"

The adolescent girl was no fool. Hearing this explanation and taking another look at the room layout, she suddenly understood.

Her vision has been deceived!

The room was a single shade of concrete, and in this color scheme, long and short lines were most likely to be misjudged by the naked eye.

And the most crucial point was, this was room 2013!

Under normal circumstances, room 2012 next door, where the member of the Fallen Witch Sect resided, was surrounded by rooms that were subjected to mental contamination.

No one would wander around this area.

Even if someone passed by, their mental power would be disrupted, thereby ignoring such intricate details.

Visual deception plus mental disruption, this also leads to the subtle differences in the distance from the iron door being overlooked.

Difference in door gap...this was entirely new information that even the most detailed intelligence from the information merchant had never recorded.

What a clever design!

The girl with the mechanical arm thought everything over and turned her gaze to the man who seemed so weak that she could kill him with a casual swat, her face filled with disbelief. Despite such interference, he actually sensed the anomaly?

This was already beyond what meticulousness could explain.

"..."

After Leonard Churchill finished speaking, his expression remained unchanged, not feeling that there was anything noteworthy about it.

In fact, he had discovered this issue long ago, but didn't want to make a fuss.

Moreover, he didn't trust this temporary teammate enough at the time and wanted to survive until the third day, so he didn't say much.

But now it's different.

...

In fact, apart from what was said, there were many details that Leonard didn't explain.

The construction of this bunker is simple, a "ten" shaped building, each floor with hundred rooms, and there is only one corroded elevator between the upper and lower floors.

This design is inherently problematic.

First of all, the purpose of this bunker is in its name. The Abnormal Creature Shelter 407 is obviously some sort of research bunker.

But does a lab only have places to confine monsters?

A normal research institute structure would probably be easily analysed by anyone to figure out the positions of other rooms, so that's why they made this misleading parallel structure.

If you think along these lines and check the room structure one by one, you can also find problems.

Of course, the prerequisite is not to be interfered by the abnormal psychic domain on the second floor.

Leonard himself has an unusually sharp observational ability when it comes to the environment, so he quickly spotted the problem.

He then reversed the reasoning to figure out the spatial design issues.

Since he is certain that this is a "clearance, reward" type of duplication, then the most interesting part for Leonard is not the decoding.

But rather... deducing the motives of the designer for designing this level.

...

The girl with the mechanical arm had completely let go of her contempt for her temporary teammate.

Time waits for no one, she directly walked over to the wall that Leonard had marked.

A detailed "?" sign had been marked on the door frame.

The girl didn't hesitate, raised her fully charged mechanical arm and took aim at the mark. She didn't forget to remind, "You step back."

Leonard naturally hid behind her.

Then with a "bang", the shockwave almost overturned them.

The two of them also heard the sound of bricks shattering inside the wall.

"It really broke open!"

The girl with the mechanical arm looked at the big hole in front of her, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Even though she had just been informed of the reasoning process, actually discovering a new direction to clear the stage still made her feel as if she were dreaming.

That also meant that the way to clear the Abnormal Creature Shelter 407 might really be as that man said, they have found a new way to clear the stage!

Leonard looked at the hole, showing no joy, because he was already sure.

He looked at the pitch-black hole and showed a thoughtful look.

Busting the wall was easy, but this doesn't mean that triggering the hidden plot would be less difficult.

On the contrary, he felt that the designer was much confident in their subsequent designs, hence they didn't do much with the wall.

Before he could think more, the dust from the shattered wall hadn't dispersed yet, the two of them simultaneously saw a new revelation: 'Triggered hidden plot, exploration increased by +5%, additional settlement rewards obtained'

The girl with the mechanical arm carefully examined the hole in front of her. It looked like some sort of laboratory area, with its creepy dim green light, continuously giving one the psychological suggestion of a monstrous ambush.

However, Leonard seemed completely indifferent and gestured, "Let's go, let's go in and take a look."

"..."

The girl with the mechanical arm glanced at him, but still stood in front of Leonard and took the first step inside.

She was very clear about her position in this collaboration.

It was her leading before, but now it's him.

...

This was a very messy lab, with traces of battle everywhere. There were dried blood stains and a few desiccated carcasses clad in lab coats on the floor. Unidentified scratches were also found on the metal instruments.

A messy potion table filled with scattered test tubes, a surgical table, monster specimens soaking in yellow-green liquid, and all kinds of strange and curious tools...

All kinds of instruments with a heavy steampunk-esque black tech style, a strong sense of magical mystery hitting their faces.

It was like an alchemy lab, but also like a biological lab.

The girl with the mechanical arm carefully walked in front, turned around, and said, "This should be the research lab of the 407 bunker."

As expected, the research institute couldn't just be a place to imprison monsters.

Leonard took a look around and nodded, "Yes. Let's find some useful clues."

"..."

The girl with the mechanical arm glanced at him, puzzled as to why he seemed so certain, as if he was sure to find something.

There are gas lamps in the lab as well, the atmosphere was gloomy and scary, but the visibility wasn't too bad.

The lab was big, and from the darkness came occasional rustling noises, unknown what kind of monsters caused them.

Leonard Churchill scanned the layout of the lab and marched straight towards the row of rooms on his left.

The girl with the mechanical arm didn't say a word, following him close behind.

As Leonard made his way, each room served a different experimental function. He would go inside some for a quick inspection, while merely glancing inside others from the doorway before moving on.

"What are you looking for?"

"Not sure yet."

"..."

The mechanical arm girl was a bit baffled. Instead of looking for an exit, he was searching for clues he didn't even know what they were?

However, Leonard soon stopped in front of a room, stating decisively, "This should be it."

Looking at the room, the mechanical arm girl noticed that it was bigger than the previous ones, seeming like an executive office.

Before she could figure out why he stopped here, Leonard had already gone inside and was rummaging through files. He quickly discovered a safe in the corner.

A safe?

Clearly a key plot item.

Before the mechanical arm girl could marvel at his certainty that something would be located here, she saw Leonard take out some twisted pieces of iron, press his ear to the safe, and begin the process of breaking the lock.

This was a "universal key".

A hobby Leonard had taken up in his spare time.

Originally, he made it to deal with the iron locks on the cabin doors.

Although this world was filled with extraordinary powers and magic cards, locks were still mechanical. No matter how complex, there was a way to open them.

Fortunately, to Leonard, this particular safe did not seem complex.

"..."

The mechanical arm girl watched in silence from a distance, not daring to interrupt.

His calm demeanor was quite reassuring.

She was not in a hurry to find an exit anymore.

The lab was silent, the only sound being the "clicking" noise of the lock mechanism as it turned.

Suddenly, a crisp metallic sound echoed as the lock gave way.

Leonard smiled and quietly announced, "It's open."

That quickly?

The mechanical arm girl was slightly surprised.

Looking at his professional safe-cracking techniques and remembering how he had previously diagnosed the issue with the wall, she couldn't help asking, "What is your profession exactly?"

"Profession?"

After pausing for a moment, Leonard replied, "I'm an actor."

The mechanical arm girl interjected, "I meant your professional sequence. Are you a God Thief?"

She had originally thought he was a psychic-type extraordinary, but that seemed not to be the case.

"..."

Leonard couldn't answer.

Before finding himself here, he was an actor.

An orphan adopted by a circus, he grew up to be a clown performer.

His unusual mental abilities were somehow related to his profession.

Playing the clown, he has worn many different masks. Until one day, he realized he no longer knew which was the real him.

Or perhaps, each one was a part of the real him.

Leonard distinctly felt as if there were many versions of him in his mind, each playing a different role.

Although he seemed always cool and collected, it wasn't because he was without fear. Instead, his fear was suppressed by other roles such as "rationality", "curiosity", "excitement", "knowledge seeking", "perverted madness", and so on.

This overload of mental activity made him a quick learner and gave him a careful but active mind.

It also enabled him to master almost all the challenging circus stunts.

Such as tightrope walking, knife throwing, underwater escape, gunplay, card throwing...

"Lock picking" was a necessary skill for underwater escape.

However, that mental strength also tormented him.

He couldn't experience the emotional ups and downs of normal people, such as happiness.

This led him to engage in increasingly risky and exciting pursuits just before he found himself here.

He sought sensory stimulation as a way to express his mental frustrations.

...

His train of thought returning to the present, Leonard opened the safe and pulled out a stack of documents.

They were messy, as though they had been rummaged through and some parts were missing.

The mechanical arm girl also leaned in to see, and both of their attention was drawn in.

Enlightenment produced a translation of what seemed like cuneiform and other unknown alphabets into a readable format.

'Empire Calendar, May 3, 1141: Unsealing 'S-rank Disaster Source', research beginning.'

'Experiment Cabin 1001: Test subject #1144 has undergone new changes in their extraordinary abilities after being awakened. Expression of extremely high tolerance to the dark element...Injected with ten times the normal amount of Heim VII Ash Reagent, physical tolerance continued to increase, mutation in an unknown direction occurred five days later... Conclusion: the origin card of this subject has an S+ level growth affinity for the dark element.'

'Experiment Cabin 1099: Test subject #815 attempted implantation of Contaminated Limb Huge Power Devil Muscle. Potion triggered a rapid increase in power; miraculously, even without job change, physical attributes exceeded the limit, but the subject lost rationality... Uncontrollable mutation on day 14, died the same day. Conclusion: The disaster source has an exceptionally high potential for strength growth...'

'Experiment Cabin 2012: Test subject #549 attempted fusion, leading to mental deformation, suggesting continued observation... Seven days later, the deformed body evolved into B-rank catastrophe, Fallen Witch Sect, possessing extremely enticing abilities... Conclusion: This catastrophe source has strong psychic growth, continue this research direction... Experiment body mutation tendency stabilized, successfully inducing secondary mutation on the sixteenth injection of T3 reagent, thereby evolving the subject into A-rank catastrophe Fallen Witch. Conclusion: The catastrophe source has growth potential...'

'Experiment Cabin 3045...Experiment subject secondary mutation into A-rank Mysterious Type catastrophe Sorcery Gambler, instant death curses...'

'Experiment Cabin 4011...Experiment subject secondary mutation into A-rank Assassin Type catastrophe Shadow Thornr, hidden in the shadows...'

'1145.8.16, Summary report: After the fusion of disaster samples, each test subject awakens different talents. So far, the experiment has confirmed 31 different unique talent growth directions...The disaster source has been confirmed to be an unprecedented Epic Source Card. Preliminary conclusion: Fusion of this card requires an extremely high mental base, Dark Affinity, Urgent Telekinesis...and other as-yet-unknown conditions.'

'Research Institute suggestion: Current fusion mutation probability in experiment subjects is 100%, with a risk of contaminated overflow diffusion. Recommended categorization upgrade from 'S-rank' to 'T-rank', permanent containment.'

'...'

This was exactly what Leonard was searching for,

Key evidence!