Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 280 LV3
Clearly, traditional Catholic exorcists like Ed Warren cannot comprehend concepts such as "meme contamination," "SAN value," or "contamination layer," as their theoretical framework is built upon religion and experience.

Just then, Ed suddenly noticed a little girl, not even ten years old, wandering into the museum.

She is Judy Warren, the daughter of Ed and Rowling.

Ed was quite nervous as he made sure his daughter hadn't touched anything there, while Jiang Jin was somewhat speechless. You built such a terrifying museum in a place where your daughter could just run in anytime; what a careless father you are.

Judy seemed a little afraid of the room, timidly tugging at Ed's clothes.

"Georgina, can you take Judy up with you?" Ed asked gently, but with a hint of reproach, as he carried his daughter toward the door.

Seeing this, Jiang Jin immediately stepped forward and, before the nanny Georgiana arrived, gently said to Judy, "Judy, the things here aren't really suitable for little kids. Shall I take you out to find your mom?"

He needed to play the role of a "student" well, make a good impression on Ed, and at the same time, take the opportunity to leave this uncomfortable room.

Judy glanced at Jiang Jin, then at the terrifying things in the room, and nodded. Jiang Jin then took her little hand and left the paranormal museum.

……

Meanwhile, in Harrisville, Rhode Island.

In front of a somewhat old-looking two-story house in the suburbs, the Perrin family was immersed in grief.

The family had just moved into this affordable and seemingly ideal "dream home" yesterday, but when they woke up this morning, their youngest daughter, April, discovered that their pet dog, Sadie, had been found dead outside the house.

Roger Perrin, filled with remorse, shoveled the last spadeful of earth, burying Sadie, the dog who had died mysteriously and tragically the previous night. Sadie was a very intelligent dog, and the children's best playmate.

“It’s all my fault…” Roger’s voice was hoarse. “I shouldn’t have left it outside yesterday… But I don’t know what’s wrong with it. It usually comes inside by itself every night, but yesterday it absolutely refused to come in. I thought it was just being temperamental and would come in when it got hungry…”

Mother Carolyn Perrin embraced her youngest daughter, April, who was crying the most bitterly among her five daughters. April considered Sadie family, and her little face was streaked with tears. The other daughters—Andrea, Nancy, Christine, and Cindy—also stood sadly by her side.

However, at this moment, the seven members of the Perrin family were unaware that this was only the beginning of a series of horrific events...

……

Inside the Warren family mansion.

Ed Warren, accompanied by seven "students," went to meet his wife, Lorraine Warren.

Rowling is portrayed by actress Vera Farmiga. She has dark hair and, despite her age, remains a beautiful woman with a gentle yet perceptive demeanor and a spiritual light in her eyes that seems to see through appearances. As a natural psychic, her constitution is extremely unique.

The moment Lian Xuan saw Rowling, he sensed her extraordinary soul fluctuations and whispered to Jiang Jin and the others, "This Mrs. Warren... her psychic constitution is extremely powerful, almost like a natural bridge that allows her to freely travel between the material and the corrupted realms without losing herself. Her mental barrier is very stable, and her SAN value is extremely high. If she becomes a professional psychic reincarnator, her achievements will be limitless."

Ed was in a good mood and said, "The reporter has promised to write an objective and positive report. Thank you for your cooperation."

Seeing her husband, who had been in a gloomy mood lately, looking relieved, Rowling said, "That's good, you can rest assured now."

Then, Ed said to the seven reincarnators, "There's one more thing. A university in Wakefield, Massachusetts, has invited my wife and me to give a lecture on the paranormal on Halloween. Are you planning to come along?"

Blood Lord's heart skipped a beat. He remembered that the main plot of The Conjuring 1 movie took place during Halloween in 1971, which was November 1st.

People in China often refer to October 31st as Halloween, but it is actually All Hallows' Eve. The real Halloween (All Saints' Day) is November 1st.

Jiang Jin felt a surge of excitement because the location indicated by his [Summoning] world treasure map was Salem, Massachusetts, a town famous for the witch trials in history. He could take the opportunity to obtain the hunter's tool while he was there.

So they all expressed their willingness to go.

Then, the seven of them left the Warrens' house.

Halloween was still some time away, and they needed to decide on their next move. Blood Lord calmly analyzed the situation in his mind. Currently, none of the seven people, including himself, were LV3 Reincarnators, which did not conform to the usual difficulty configuration of this instance as he knew it.

He speculated that the effect of Lin Zhen's "Breakthrough Blade" was probably temporary, and that his own power was slowly recovering. He might be able to return to LV3 at a crucial moment, but that would take time.

"This is our first time entering the [Summoning Souls] instance," Lian Xuan said. "Ye Xiao, you seem to know a lot about this instance?"

"Not bad." Blood Lord sneered inwardly. What is a Level 2? You think you can get my information for free without spending some money?
"My information is limited, but the [Summoning] horror dungeon is very complex. I tend to use this time to try to trigger some side quests and obtain more resources and information."

Blood Lord concealed the information he knew from these people: the main storyline of The Conjuring 1—the Perron family haunted house on Rhodes Island—was inhabited by the undead of the Lost Layer.

However, the materialistic rules of this instance world are relatively solid. Evil spirits need to continuously influence and intimidate the inhabitants, gradually weakening their mental defenses (lowering their SAN value) before they can eventually pull the victims into the Lost Layer.

Furthermore, according to his recollection, Lorraine Warren had already witnessed one of the most terrifying beings in the Conjuring cinematic universe—the demonic nun Valak—during an investigation before 1971. This means that the potential danger level of this instance may be far greater than it appears, after all, every horror instance may be heavily contaminated with memes.

The seven then exchanged contact information (mainly landline phones and addresses in this era), agreed to stay in touch, and then temporarily split up.

Then, Blood Lord offered to travel with Jiang Jin.

When only the two of them remained, Blood Lord solemnly said to Jiang Jin, "Vice Commander Jiang, first of all, I formally apologize to you for Xia Yu's reckless behavior earlier. That was not my intention. Consider those two items, whether it's the Farmer's Chainsaw or the Silent Hill Shotgun, as my apology to you. I hope this matter can be put aside and not affect our future cooperation."

Jiang Jin felt somewhat embarrassed, after all, he had also extorted a considerable amount of benefits from Xia Yu, so he said that the matter should be left in the past. However, he became increasingly wary. Why was the Blood Lord treating him so well? What was his true intention?
"Blood Lord, you are, after all, a Level 4 giant. Just call me Jiang Jin." In any case, it would be best for Jiang Jin to avoid conflict with Blood Lord at this stage.

Then, Blood Lord changed the subject, his tone becoming serious: "Alright, Jiang Jin, if I haven't recovered to LV3 by the time the crucial plot of the dungeon occurs, then our situation will be extremely dangerous. The world of Summoning Souls is very complex, especially when it involves beings of the level of the Demon Nun. Moreover, as reincarnators from the Eastern system, our professional skills may be less effective when facing evil spirits from a Western cultural background. This world is essentially more suitable for trials by reincarnators from the Western system."

Jiang Jin had already guessed that Blood Lord could recover, since items that could permanently downgrade a reincarnator were extremely rare.

Then, Blood Lord took out his phone, dialed a number, and called Bernadette, the vice leader of the Bloody Team.

After the call connected, he briefly informed Lin Zhen of the assassination attempt and demanded that she immediately report the matter to the Membrane Contamination Monitoring Department and follow the official procedures. He also instructed her to personally lead an elite team to the night amusement park to prepare to meet him.

Bernadette was one of the few high-ranking members of the team who genuinely cared for Blood Lord. Upon hearing the news of his peril, she spoke with concern and immediately said she would comply.

"Don't worry, Commander! I'll do it right away!"

After Bernadette hung up the phone, her beautiful face was covered in frost.

Standing in front of her were Zhou Chen and Qin Mei.

She was about to sternly question the two of them about why their SAN potential had suddenly increased to a dangerous A-level, suspecting that they had concealed some crucial information in the [Undying Curse] instance—for example, how exactly they escaped Kayako's curse.

At that time, Zhou Chen replied in a hollow tone: "Deputy Commander, we did not truly escape Kayako's curse 'alive'... What returned may just be our materialistic shells."

Before Bernadette could even ponder these chilling words, she was interrupted by an urgent call from the Blood Lord.

Blood Lord put away his phone and made an unexpected suggestion to Jiang Jin: "Jiang Jin, I hope we can work together for the time being. And... I want to help you advance to LV3 as quickly as possible."

Jiang Jin was stunned: "I only recently advanced to LV2, and my foundation is still shallow. How could it be so fast?"

Blood Lord shook his head, a hint of appreciation and affirmation in his eyes: "With your talent and unique ability to comprehend the rules, I believe your advancement speed can far surpass that of ordinary people. I have a close friend who is also a hunter, so I am very familiar with the hunter's advancement system. Although I am reluctant to admit it, your potential... is higher than his. What he can do, you can definitely do, and even better. Because of this, I also understand very well how the hunter profession needs to advance."

Jiang Jin immediately recognized that the other party was Wu Ge's father, the deceased Wu Zhiping.

Next, the two found a typical American burger joint and sat down, where Blood Lord began to explain in detail.

"Let me explain in detail. The key to advancing a hunter from LV2 to LV3 lies in two points!"

(End of this chapter)