Carefree Path of Dreams

“Dream…” Nietzsche muttered unconsciously as he stared at the oil painting.

Through it, he seemed to see a starry sky… and a hazy phantom.

“Nietzsche, what happened to you?” Hannibal shook Nietzsche’s shoulder, seemingly realizing that something was wrong.

Nietzsche turned his head subconsciously, feeling as though a layer of white mist was covering his vision.

In the white mist, Hannibal’s shape was completely different. His skin corroded and fell off, revealing the bright red muscles under them. His hands turned into claws, and his eyes were blood red!

“Ahh!!!” The young man screamed. His face turned pale, and he almost fainted.

When he finally lifted his head, he saw a displeased Mr. Robert and Hannibal, whose appearance had returned to normal.

It seemed as though everything he saw just now was but an illusion.

“Mr. Robert, we’ll take our leave now!” Hannibal politely said goodbye and pulled Nietzsche out of the villa. He asked in a low voice, “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

“I-I…” Nietzsche trembled, almost unable to speak.

Instinctively, he did not want to tell Hannibal, his optimistic boss, about what he saw just now and could only say ambiguously, “I feel there’s a huge secret in that painting!”

All of a sudden, his eyes brightened when he saw Angelina by the roadside. “You are… Miss Tour Guide from the exhibition hall?”

“That’s me…” Angelina was wearing a black chiffon shirt, adding a bit of mystery to her. “You can see the ‘abnormality’ of the painting?”

She overheard their conversation without a doubt.

Hannibal’s expression turned serious, and he pressed his hand against the holster at his waist.

“Yes, I can see it!”

Nietzsche was elated. From his resistance to Simon’s spell and his ability to see the abnormality of this oil painting, it all pointed toward the fact that he had the talent to become an Extraordinary!

“Let me give you a piece of advice. Stay away from it, as far as you can! Its terror is beyond your imagination. Any probing you do will lead to great disaster and pain!” Angelina said seriously.

“Madam, do you know something?” Hannibal said solemnly. “I want to invite you to assist in the investigation! I have some things I want to ask you!”

“No problem!” Angelina smiled gently, like a blooming flower.

Be careful. This woman isn’t normal. At the very least, her hearing is very sharp… Hannibal quietly warned Nietzsche. “Bring her back to the branch!”

“Actually, we just need somewhere quiet to talk…” Angelina appeared very cooperative.

“No, I think we need a more official place.”

Finally, all three of them returned to the spacious branch office.

“Mr. Walter, I’m back!”

Nietzsche found it a little strange that there were so few people left in the branch office, but he said nothing as he brought Angelina into the office.

“Miss, would you like coffee or hot cocoa?” Hannibal picked up a white porcelain cup.

“No need… I know you’re part of a federal department specializing in extraordinary phenomena. In fact, I’ve been watching you for a long time, in a form you can’t detect!”

Angelina sighed. “And at this point, I just want to give you a warning. Never try to understand Vincent’s cursed paintings! The more you try, the easier you are exposed to terror!”

“What do you mean? Explain clearly!”

Hannibal switched on a voice recorder.

“Vincent was a powerful Extraordinary, and his power exceeded even his own limits, which made him anxious and mad in his later years… These emotions are sometimes imbued into his paintings. But the most terrifying thing is that he had imprinted his own ‘seed’ on several unique paintings. Once a qualified person approaches, they will be contaminated…” Angelina said in a low voice.

“Thank you for your information, Miss Angelina. However, I have a question. Why do you know so much?” Hannibal posed his question, which was also Nietzsche’s doubt.

“Because I have such an extraordinary painting myself. For you to believe me…” A smile played on Angelina’s lips suddenly. “… do you want to see it?”

“Very much so!” Hannibal replied with a smile.

Not right. Shouldn’t we isolate her according to the safety protocols? Nietzsche was at a loss, unsure of what Hannibal was about to do. The uneasiness in his heart was growing stronger.

“You need to choose the right path, to have a pair of eyes that can discern reality and illusion…” Angelina chanted with a low voice and suddenly unbuttoned her shirt and slipped her shawl off, revealing her smooth and fair back.

At this time, there was a… twisted eye on her back!

Who knew when, but the hazy twisted eye from the painting had moved to her back, like a clear tattoo.

Fresh blood constantly poured out from the vertical pupil. The eye seemed to have a life of its own as it stared intently at Hannibal.

“Hehe… So your true target is me?” Hannibal sneered. The skin on his face began to fall off, and a red glow appeared in his eyes.

“Mr. Hannibal!” Nietzsche exclaimed.

His appearance was almost the same as what he saw in the hallucination earlier, rather similar to a… ghoul!

“Was Mr. Hannibal… killed?” Nietzsche’s tears splashed down unconsciously.

“No! He was contaminated!” Angelina said with certainty.

“That’s right. I’m the real me right now!” Hannibal’s voice became hoarse. “I… am the true noble race. Those ghouls who can’t even disguise themselves are just servants! Nietzsche… why are you sad? Isn’t it good to become one with me? Just like Vivienne!”

“What? You said Miss Vivienne is already…” Nietzsche felt his heart sink.

“Haha… Weren’t we very happy when we had dinner with Clayon before?” Hannibal acted surprised.

“You demon!” Nietzsche hurled a nearby chair at Hannibal without thinking.

“No!” During Angelina’s exclamation, the chair smashed into Hannibal’s body. Hannibal recovered his mobility and escaped from the gaze of the hazy twisted eye. He slammed a glass window and jumped out.

“Do you know… how terrible a mistake you just made?” Angelina turned around and glared at Nietzsche with a grave look. “You let a leader of the ghouls go, and he will cause more horrible cases in Kimbert City!”

“So-sorry! I only…” Nietzsche hugged his head to cry, unable to continue. “W-Why did things become this way?”

“I have long been concerned about this Investigation Agency branch. Hannibal wasn’t contaminated at first, but his personality is dark. He hid his sadness and pain, making him susceptible to being directly contaminated when stimulated…” Angelina sighed.

“I have to contact Mr. Clayon immediately…”

Nietzsche ran out, and there was a sudden commotion outside.

The truth came out while searching Hannibal’s house.

“Ahh…”

Looking at the pile of human bones, even a seasoned investigator could not help but look pale.

In particular, Nietzsche and several other people who had had ‘dinner’ with Hannibal vomited repeatedly.

After seeing a pile of blood-stained uniforms, Nietzsche could not bear it anymore, and his whole person nearly collapsed.

He remained silent for a long time before he finally stood up and walked into a dark alley.

“So? Any findings?” Angelina’s figure appeared.

“There were more than ten victims… and traces of Hannibal’s sacrificial rituals…”

Nietzsche’s eyes were dull as he watched the police cars rushing by and locking down the place.

“Any new information?” Angelina was clearly unsatisfied with this.

“I read Hannibal’s diary. It was rather… dark. And he mentioned a ‘Feast of Meat’ several times. What does it mean?”

“It might be a dark ritual. I need more professional help on this…” Angelina sighed. “And there’s also that Dream painting. My suggestion is to lock down the entire villa immediately and don’t let anyone in or out, isolating that place! Once there’s contact, it will leave its mark on people and spread the contamination…”

“This isn’t something that a peripheral member like me can decide…”

Nietzsche squatted on the ground in pain. After this incident, the Investigation Agency branch of Kimbert City was nearly wiped out!

The most terrifying truth was that the person behind it all was none other than Hannibal himself!

The remains of most of the missing members were found in his house.

Nietzsche could not help but shudder at the thought of this.

“I didn’t expect that just going to look at the painting would let me encounter this sort of misfortune…” Angelina sighed before her expression froze.

Through some sort of mirage, she seemed to be at Robert’s villa.

In front of the Dream oil painting, in the study room.

Robert stared at it until his eyes nearly popped out.

But suddenly, an additional figure appeared in the starry sky of the oil painting!

It walked out of the oil painting, stretched out its black hand, and grabbed Robert.

Clang!

All of a sudden, Robert was drawn into the oil painting. There seemed to be a vortex in the wall, swallowing a living person into it and disappearing.

The oil painting had no change at all, save for the starry sky looking more splendid than ever.

“What is that? A vengeful spirit? Or a malicious ghost?”

Angelina shuddered as she watched the ghost of the painting wiping out all the living beings in the villa one by one.

It gave her the feeling that it was an even more terrifying existence than Hannibal, a leader of the ghouls!

The power she had obtained from the hazy twisted eye was definitely not enough to deal with something like that!