Global Ghost Stories: I'm Investigating Ghosts in My Nightmare!

Chapter 98 The "Artists" Behind the Scenes

The clown's loud laughter constantly irritated Bai Yu's already fragile consciousness, which was on the verge of collapse.

The workshop was collapsing rapidly.

Everything here is heading towards destruction.

Bai Yu struggled to prop himself up from the ground, his body feeling like it was falling apart, and leaned against the cold wall, breathing heavily.

Each breath felt like inhaling countless sharp shards of glass into my lungs, bringing waves of excruciating pain.

His expensive suit was now reduced to a few tattered pieces hanging pitifully on his body, revealing the deep, gruesome wounds beneath.

Worse still, his once bottomless sea of ​​soul, which was like a black hole, is now like a pond that has been drained of water, leaving only a dry and cracked riverbed.

Meanwhile, his enemy stood gracefully amidst the ruins that were heading towards destruction, like a madman admiring his most prized work, a morbidly fanatical smile on his face.

"Look...look! How beautiful this scene of destruction is!" The clown spread his arms wide, like a monarch about to embrace the whole world.

He took a deep breath of the pervasive, destructive aura, a look of ecstasy on his face.

"Broken, chaotic, annihilated... this is the ultimate art in the world! And you, dear Mr. Bai Yu, your performance just now, for yourself and for me, has created this unique 'masterpiece'!"

He slowly turned his head.

"Therefore, as the highest reward for your wonderful performance, I have made my decision."

"I will grant you...eternity."

He took a step and walked towards Bai Yu.

His steps were so relaxed, as if he were walking towards a beautiful dance partner with whom he was about to dance.

Bai Yu leaned against the cold wall, watching the figure getting closer and closer.

His mind raced frantically, trying to find even the slightest glimmer of hope in this desperate situation.

Just as the clown walked up to him, about to extend his white-gloved hand...

"Boom——!!!"

A deafening explosion suddenly came from the "heart" of the area, which had been completely blown into ruins!
Immediately afterwards, a strange, dark red energy shockwave, like a flood bursting its banks, swept wildly in all directions!
"Hmm?" The clown paused slightly.

He could clearly sense that the dark red energy shockwave contained a twisted rule that was completely different from his own power, yet full of the concept of "pleasure"!

That was the energy accumulated within the "heart" over hundreds of years from countless victims, which, after losing the restraint of the core, produced the final "paranormal explosion"!
This power was so immense and so chaotic that even he, its creator, could not completely control it at first!
“Interesting…” A playful smile reappeared on his face. “It seems that this ‘heart’ prepared an unexpected performance for us in the last moments of its life.”

He ignored Bai Yu, who was right in front of him, and instead turned around with great interest, like a child curious about a new toy, ready to appreciate the unexpected surprise brought about by his own "work".

The moment he turned around, a dazzling light suddenly burst forth in Bai Yu's eyes!

An opportunity! This is his only chance!
Without the slightest hesitation, he leaped up from the ground!

He didn't choose to run away because he knew that in this territory belonging to the Joker, he had nowhere to escape!
He charged headlong into the dark red energy shockwave that was powerful enough to destroy everything, heading straight for the clown who had his back to him!

He wanted to use his broken body as a weapon to perish together with this madman who regarded pain as art!

"Ok?"

The clown seemed to sense the chilling killing intent emanating from behind him, and a hint of displeasure flashed across his pale face.

He clearly hadn't expected that this "prey," which he considered his for the taking, would dare to resist.

He slowly turned around, preparing to crush the ignorant insect completely in a cruel way.

However, when he turned around completely and saw the scene before him clearly, a hint of doubt flashed in his unfathomable eyes.

He saw more than just that tiny figure rushing towards him.

He saw a light.

The light came from Bai Yu's chest.

More precisely, it came from that old sextant that he always kept close to his body!

That was the only "relic" he obtained from the captain in the realm of the "ghost ship"!
After being struck by emotional energy from the "heart," the previously dormant sextant seemed to be completely activated by some mysterious force!
Its surface, covered in verdigris, suddenly lit up without warning!

Immediately afterwards, an ancient and powerful force of rules surged out from the small sextant!

This force did not collide with the dark red energy shockwave when it came into contact with it.

Instead, it's like a giant vortex with infinite suction, forcibly pulling and converging that raging torrent of energy towards its core!
In just a few seconds, the energy storm that should have completely leveled the entire workshop was completely absorbed by that tiny sextant!

The whole world fell into a deathly silence once again.

Bai Yu stood there dumbfounded, staring at the sextant radiating a soft golden light on his chest, his heart filled with immense shock.

He could clearly sense that the enormous energy absorbed by the sextant had not disappeared.

They were being transformed and purified in that tiny instrument in a way he couldn't comprehend.

Ultimately, it transformed into a warm golden current symbolizing "hope" and "remembrance".

The warm current flowed slowly into his parched sea of ​​soul through the spiritual link between him and the sextant.

The body, on the verge of collapse, began to recover at a visible speed under the nourishment of this life-giving energy!

His depleted strength is returning at an incredible speed!

"No...what...what is this thing?!"

The clown let out a terrified scream!

He watched the changes happening to Bai Yu, and looked at the ancient sextant that was emitting a soft golden light.

He could clearly feel an aura emanating from that sextant that was both incredibly familiar and utterly repulsive to him!

That's... the aura of the "Gate of Rift"!

"How could you have such a thing!"

The man in front of them was not some "prey" who had wandered into the hunting grounds! He was a living "beacon"!
He was an executioner sent by a higher-dimensional being to retrieve him!
"No! I won't go back! I will never return to that place full of hypocrisy and lies!"

The clown let out a roar filled with resentment and madness!
A resolute madness appeared on his pale face!
He knew he had no way out.

He suddenly raised the black snake-headed cane in his hand and plunged it hard into his chest!
"Pfft——!"

Crimson blood gushed from his wound!

However, he seemed to feel no pain at all!

Instead, a strange smile filled with morbid pleasure appeared on his face!

"Since...you like 'happiness' so much..."

"Then... I will offer my tragic 'art' as a final gift, and completely immerse myself in this filthy world!"

As he finished speaking, a power from a higher dimension, belonging to the origin of "tragedy," dissipated from his body, which was heading towards destruction!
He wants to destroy the world with it!
He wanted to drag the entire "Happy Paradise," and even the whole city, into his final, tragic farewell!
"Boom—!!!" The power of the "tragedy" origin from a higher dimension, like a cosmic torrent with its valve opened, erupted from the body whose chest was pierced by the snake-headed staff, and surged wildly in all directions with a world-destroying force!

Under the influence of this force, the entire collapsed underground workshop began to be forcibly distorted in an irreversible manner!
The atmosphere of "joy" in the air was completely replaced by a heavy and oppressive "sorrow".

Above the dome, the pale white fluorescent light was instantly stained with a dark red, like congealed blood.

On the ground, the twisted grid made of black and white seemed to come alive, transforming into huge faces filled with negative emotions.

The world is being swallowed up by tragedy!

Bai Yu could clearly feel an indescribable sorrow, like an invisible giant hand, gripping his heart tightly, trying to drag him into an abyss of endless grief.

However, a warm golden current flowed continuously from the ancient sextant on his chest, like a sturdy dam, firmly holding back the torrent of sorrow that tried to engulf him.

That was the power that came from the hundreds of forgotten souls on the "ghost ship," who, after being "remembered" and given "hope," gave him back!
Bai Yu suddenly broke free from the painful illusion!
He looked at the man in front of him, who was bathed in the power of the origin of "tragedy" and had a maniacal smile on his face, and his eyes regained their clarity!
Once this source of "tragedy" from a higher dimension merges with the rules of this world, the consequences will be far more terrifying than any previous nightmare event!
The entire city, and even the whole world, may be dragged into a never-ending tragedy!
He didn't hesitate at all!

He fused the "protection" power from the sextant with the "nothingness" power from the sea of ​​souls!
Golden "hope" and black "nothingness" spun rapidly on his body surface like two yin-yang fish chasing and intertwining with each other!

Ultimately, it transformed into a power that transcended the boundaries between "existence" and "non-existence"!

Bai Yu's body transformed into a streak of gold and black light, charging headlong toward the clown who was "merging" with the entire world!

"It's no use! It's no use! It's all too late!"

The clown watched the figure rushing towards him.

"You simply don't understand. What I'm sacrificing is a power from a higher dimension! This is a power that a low-dimensional being like you can neither comprehend nor contend with!"

"Let you, along with this filthy and vulgar world, become the burial offerings of my final work!"

He opened his arms, ready to receive the streak of light rushing towards him.

However, just as that streak of gold and black light was about to collide with his "tragic" body,

Bai Yu's mind flashed back to the ordinary life he had experienced in that long cycle of dreamlike reincarnation.

The chaotic power formed by the fusion of "hope" and "nothingness" underwent a qualitative transformation once again under the catalysis of this resonance!
If we were to describe the "tragedy" of the Joker's power...

So, what Bai Yu represents at this moment is that after experiencing all the "tragedies," he still chooses to bravely embrace "imperfection" and protect the real... life.

"boom--!!!"

Two powerful forces from different dimensions finally collided violently!
At the moment the two forces came into contact, all sounds, light, and even the flow of time in the world seemed to be completely frozen in time.

Immediately afterwards, centered on the two of them, a crack that could not be described by any color spread silently in the space eroded by the "tragedy," like a canvas slashed open by a sharp blade!
"No... what... what kind of power is this?"

The clown let out a terrified scream!

He could clearly feel that his power from a higher dimension was being neutralized little by little, as if it had encountered its nemesis!

The body, which was merging with the world, was forcibly ripped from its merging state!

Fear was evident on his pale face.

"No! I am the strongest! I am..."

His roar was ultimately drowned out by the overwhelming, chaotic power that surged forth like a tidal wave, a power brimming with the "flavors of life."

His body turned to dust, starting from his fingertips.

Just before that face, filled with resentment and madness, was about to disappear.

He looked at the man who floated silently in mid-air like a god, radiating a soft light.

All the madness, anger, and resentment in his eyes quickly faded.

Instead, a complex sense of relief washed over me.

"So... that's how it is..."

He let out a sigh of self-mockery and realization.

"So... the most outstanding plays aren't tragedies after all..."

"...but after experiencing all the tragedies, they still chose...to live..."

"What a...wonderful lesson..."

"Thank you for your...performance..."

With that final "thank you," his body, along with the black snake-headed cane that pierced his chest, completely turned into dust and vanished into the space that was regaining order.

Only one thing did not disappear with his dissipation.

It was a white card made of an unknown material, with a clown's smiling face drawn on it.

It slowly drifted down from the dissipating dust.

Bai Yu reached out and gently took the card in her hand.

The moment he touched the card, his body finally gave way.

Those eyes, burning with gold and black flames, slowly closed.

He fell helplessly from mid-air like a withered leaf.

……

I do not know how long it has been.

"...Old Bai! You're awake! You're finally awake!" Mo Fei's loud voice, full of surprise, was the first to explode in his ears.

“According to the monitoring data, your vital signs have basically stabilized. However, your soul is still in an extremely weak state. I suggest that you get at least 72 hours of deep sleep so that…” Lan Ce’s analysis followed.

"Bai Yu...you...you scared me to death..." Lu Yueqi's voice was like a warm stream flowing into his heart.

Bai Yu slowly turned her head and looked at the familiar faces beside the bed.

An Mu stepped forward, reached out, and pressed his shoulder firmly.

He didn't say anything.

Bai Yu slowly closed her eyes, a genuine smile appearing on her lips.

He slowly opened his hand, which had been clenched tightly.

In his palm, besides the white card with a clown's smiling face drawn on it, lay the old sextant he had obtained on the "ghost ship."

A crazy performance has come to an end.

But the journey, fraught with unknowns and dangers, has only just begun its mysterious and unpredictable prelude.

(End of this chapter)