The Decaying Dream of America: I Assemble Corpses and Confront Madness

The cries of humans and the sounds of flesh being torn apart intertwined, forming a distorted symphony.

Lin Zheng and Arthur followed the sound and chased after Morrison's figure. What they saw before them sent chills down their spines.

Jack Morrison, the man who calmly orchestrated everything in the darkness, was now pale, but his eyes burned with a twisted fanaticism. He held a bloodstained dagger and forcibly stuffed pieces of still-writhing "flesh" into the mouths of his few remaining henchmen.

They emitted painful whimpers from deep within their throats, and under the stimulation of flesh and blood, their bodies forcibly accelerated the proliferation process, their flesh beginning to expand and deform at a visible speed.

The skin tore open, revealing the grayish-white tissue growing beneath; the bones cracked and snapped, and more limbs sprouted from the flesh; the eyes became cloudy, and the mouth was torn into a huge, deformed gash.

Their consciousness was instantly replaced by primal hunger, a boundless, all-consuming desire.

The first to mutate let out an inhuman roar, its twice-grown limbs flailing wildly, spewing foul-smelling saliva, as it lunged at a struggling companion beside it, pinning him to the ground in a pool of blood.

Arthur decisively opened fire to try and stop the mutation, but firing several shots at the non-human creature was like throwing mud into the sea; the pain in his body could not stop their thirst for the flesh and blood at their mouths.

Other mutants followed the scent of blood and rushed over, their bodies intertwined, tearing at each other.

Driven by intense hunger, they disregarded friend and foe alike, turning former comrades into food at the lure of flesh and blood.

This is "hatred," which is not afraid of pain or death, and whose only instinct is an endless craving for flesh and blood.

It wriggled its body, spitting out its head still dripping with saliva, dragging the chunk of flesh forward on its hands and feet, its eyes darting around and locking onto the three living creatures before it, its gaping mouth roaring—

It's hungry!

"Damn it!"

Arthur suddenly raised his pistol and tried again, firing several shots at the writhing and growing "Abomination".

The bullet struck flesh with a dull thud, barely tearing off several pieces of skin and flesh, but immediately, the hit part began to wriggle and grow again at a faster rate; the impact of the bullet actually stimulated its growth.

"It's no use, none of you can stop it..."

Jack Morrison's voice was hoarse, carrying a sense of liberated madness.

"Eat, eat, eat everything, eat this rotten country, eat this sinful world."

"Eat me." These were Morrison's last whispers.

He saved the last bullet for himself, put the gun in his mouth, and pulled the trigger.

"boom--"

The gunshots were so faint amidst the distorted carnage of flesh and blood that his body went limp and he fell into the "Abomination" composed of countless pieces of flesh and blood.

On that gigantic body, countless eyeballs rotated in unison, focusing on the two living humans, their eyes revealing endless longing.

"Kid, it's your turn! I'll do my best to hold them off!"

Arthur's voice was hoarse with despair as he staggered backward and changed to another magazine.

Lin Zheng's rationality was on the verge of complete collapse.

Blood flowed incessantly from his nose, dripping down his chin onto the dirty ground, and his eyes rolled back from overuse of his abilities.

The intense mental backlash distorted and warped the world before his eyes.

Every wriggle and every devouring of "hatred" urged him to make a decision.

Only through highly focused and meticulous work can he trigger [Mental Re-engineering], forcibly "formatting" and "sorting" the chaos and madness flooding his mind, thus restoring some of his rationality and enabling him to use [True Deconstruction].

However, he only had a revolver and a scalpel. Abominations are not immobile corpses; they will obediently allow him to dissect them and regain their sanity.

Got it, a pistol!

"Arthur, move it over a wide area; I need at least thirty seconds!" Calmness led him to a feasible plan, and madness drove him to do it.

Arthur gritted his teeth and fired to attract the Abomination's attention, then began to stagger and run. The bandages on his body were completely soaked with blood, some of it his and some of his enemies'.

Thirty seconds? This behemoth's growth and movement speed, I'm afraid... Arthur's full head of silver hair drifted in the blood mist.

He grinned: "Come on, monster!"

Lin Zheng quickly found a flat surface, placed the revolver on it, and took a deep breath to try to clear his mind and hands.

During this time, Arthur, like a father, taught him a lot, wishing he could impart all his knowledge to him, and he greedily absorbed this life-saving knowledge.

Madness made his perception of the truth of the world clearer, providing key revelations, clues to problems, and an understanding of everything.

He quickly disassembled the revolver: cylinder, cylinder base, hammer, trigger, firing pin, barrel, and grip.

Then reassemble the gun, load the bullets, and aim and adjust.

The madness continues, but reason is returning. What is this? Calm madness?

His eyes shone with an unusual brightness amidst his calm madness, and the [True Deconstruction] was fully activated.

In his distorted vision, "Abomination" was no longer an unsolvable monster, but a giant Gundam composed of countless flesh and structural weaknesses, with bright structural lines densely covering its entire body. He deciphered the mechanical blueprints.

Hatred suddenly turned to Lin Zheng, his biological instincts and mysterious perceptions warning him to kill Lin Zheng immediately; he was an absolute threat to his survival!

"Arthur! I'll do it!"

Lin Zheng's voice was hoarse, but it carried an undeniable firmness.

Arthur did not flinch at all upon hearing this. He suddenly pulled out a spare magazine from his waist, loaded it quickly with trembling hands, and then charged towards "Abomination" without fear.

"Come on, you damn lump of flesh! I'm right here!"

Arthur roared, his aged body bursting with astonishing power, and the Glock 17 once again spewed flames, drawing all of Abomination's attention.

Lin Zheng moved and pulled out a large bone-chopping knife, taller than a person and covered in blood, from the equipment rack next to him.

His hand did not tremble at all, firmly gripping the heavy broadsword. His mind was filled only with the countless structural lines displayed by [True Deconstruction].

Enraged by Arthur, "Abomination" suddenly turned its massive head, filled with eyeballs, towards him, letting out a deafening roar. Its huge tentacles, covered in foul-smelling slime, slammed down on Arthur.

With a single slash, Lin Zheng severed the fleshy fist that Hatred was about to smash towards Arthur. Arthur stared at Lin Zheng in astonishment, thinking he was about to die a heroic death.

A morbid artist, along the clearly visible structural lines, precisely wields a large knife in his hand, each cut accompanied by the agonizing roar of a monster and the stench of splattered flesh and blood.

The broadsword sliced ​​across the body of "Abomination," and the sharp tip of the pen painted a bloody picture.

The second cut severed one of the Abomination's massive, still-wriggling tentacles, which twitched in the air before crashing to the ground.

The third strike severed the "Abomination's" supporting limbs, which were formed by the twisting and fusion of countless leg bones and muscles, used for movement.

The fourth cut, like slicing cream, involves plunging the large knife into the flesh-connecting tubes of the abomination.

Each cut was accompanied by a violent mental backlash, and Lin Zheng's rationality was peeled away piece by piece, but he also clearly felt that the power of "hatred" was rapidly waning.

It howled and writhed in agony, but could no longer regenerate as quickly as before. The wound no longer flowed with fresh blood, but with dark, sticky fluid.

Lin Zheng did not stop, traversing through flesh and rage, precisely following each weakness revealed by the [True Deconstruction] to carry out the final "dissection".

Finally, when Lin Zheng plunged the broadsword deep into the core of the "Abomination" structure, where Jack Morrison's distorted face could be vaguely seen, the enormous "Abomination" let out a dying howl before collapsing and turning into a pile of lifeless, bloody, and rotten flesh.

The air was thick with the stench of blood. Lin Zheng's vision went black, and he almost lost his balance. He knelt on one knee, trembling, gasping for breath, and letting out painful groans.

This meticulous dissection of his immense hatred triggered his [Mental Restructuring] once again, allowing his rationality to reach a balance through the consumption of [Real Deconstruction], but the physical exhaustion was real.

"Lin! How are you?!"

Arthur staggered over and caught the swaying Lin Zheng. He himself was also at his limit, his wounds had reopened, and his face was terribly pale.

Lin Zheng's body trembled uncontrollably from overexertion, but he suddenly raised his head, his gaze passing over Arthur's shoulder and over the pile of bloody flesh and mud.

There, Martinez's mutated corpse was deliberately "preserved" by Jack Morrison; although it was somewhat twisted and deformed, its main outline was still intact.

"Yes...Martinez..." Lin Zheng said hoarsely, his voice trembling.

"Ten minutes, everyone, I can't hold them off any longer, we have to leave immediately." The eerie voice of the shadow conveyed his anxiety.

Lin Zheng knew this was his only and last chance—

He had to undergo an overload of [Residual Dream Reading].

His trembling hands touched Martinez's body, and [Remnant Dream Reading] was activated again.

A blurry image flooded his mind: a well-dressed man whose face remained indistinct.

The man's voice was deep and carried an undeniable authority. He pushed a thick stack of US dollars in front of Martinez and handed him an order form with the "Ouroboros" logo, on which were written some runes and codes that Martinez could not understand.

"They urgently need these materials..."

The man's indistinct voice echoed in Lin Zheng's mind.

"If you encounter trouble you can't solve, just swallow this. You know the rules. Exposing us will result in a worse death than swallowing this. We will erase your existence along with your soul."

The thing wriggling in that transparent glass container was the flesh and blood that Martinez had eaten that day.

Lin Zheng suddenly opened his eyes. The intense mental backlash left his mind blank, and the immense pain made it almost impossible for him to stand.

Arthur looked at him with concern, but didn't ask any questions; he simply held him tightly.

"The ledger...Martinez's office..." Lin Zheng said haltingly.

Arthur's eyes sharpened. Ignoring his own injuries, he helped Lin Zheng up, and the two stumbled towards Martinez's office.

Martinez's office was in complete disarray, but hidden in a corner, Lin Zheng, driven by his frantic senses, found the USB drive containing the encrypted electronic ledger.

Lin Zheng didn't have time to study it carefully; he placed the bomb timer next to the fuel drum.

"Boom—" A huge explosion shook the night sky, and flames shot into the sky.

The Viper Gang's sinister lair was reduced to ashes in the raging flames, and its "flesh and blood" were also burned to ashes.

Lin Zheng knew that he was an "abnormal" person in this corrupt country who was searching for normalcy.