Cthulhu Panel: One organ mutates every day

The team-building activity of the second investigation team didn't end until after midnight.

The group had a great time and returned to the Ritz Hotel, slightly tipsy, and went back to their respective rooms.

Wei En collapsed onto the bed, and with a thought, the twisted threads converged into words.

[Breathing Lv.1 - Empty Breath] Progress 2.64%

[Empty Breath: Abnormal expansion and contraction of the chest cavity, resulting in the formation of abnormal sacs that can suck out all the air from the body]

"Today is over, and I don't feel tired at all. In fact, I'm a bit excited."

"The rate of breathing increases very slowly, but the good thing is that I don't have to worry about it."

Wayne propped himself up, sat cross-legged on the bed, and gently inhaled through the sac in his chest, creating a brief vacuum around him. Then, the air pressure forced the air in, creating a gust of wind.

He exhaled gently, creating a gust of air that made the glass window vibrate.

[Breathing Lv.1 - Empty Breath] Progress 2.84%

"Not bad, the improvement in proficiency also helps to increase the breathing rate. I should practice more in the future," Wei En thought to himself.

He then gently touched his breath with his mind.

【Breathing Lv.2 - Bewitching Breath】

【Bewitching Breath: A respiratory tract abnormality that breeds worm-like soft tissue, which can transform exhaled breath into a mental fog, silently anesthetizing the target and disintegrating their mind】

Upgrade requirements: Lv.1 progress 100%; consumes 1 Old Day Point.

[Old Points: 0.91]

It's only 0.09 points away from reaching 1 point, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

Today's battle was quite dangerous; next time, let's try the "exercise" option.

Looking forward to tomorrow's breakfast; eating can be done quickly.

After organizing his thoughts, Wayne tidied up briefly and lay down to sleep.

But I tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

He was on edge, his heart filled with inexplicable excitement and restlessness. Although he was lying comfortably, he was unusually clear-headed and had no desire to sleep.

"Strange, what went wrong?"

He sat up and carefully felt it.

"Could it be that I was already corrupted during the battle during the day?"

He held his breath for a long time but found nothing unusual.

But as silence fell around him, he gradually noticed that his breathing was very heavy.

It is an unconscious coarseness.

It seems to be related to breathing.

He tried to slow his breathing, which reduced the excitement in his brain.

When you try to resume normal breathing, the brain's excitement will increase again.

"Perhaps, without realizing it, with the help of breathing, the amount of oxygen I inhale has increased significantly."

"In this situation, there may be effects such as excessive blood oxygen levels and continuous excitation of the cerebral cortex, which is why you can't sleep."

Wayne summarized the problem and thought about solutions.

After all, he is still human and needs sufficient rest to maintain his energy for the next day.

So he crumpled up two pieces of paper and plugged his nostrils to reduce the amount of breathing he needed.

Before long, drowsiness gradually crept in.

"Great, it works."

Wayne fell into a deep sleep.

……

In my dream, the ancient book reappeared: "The Seven Chapters of the Mysterious Lord's Secret Scripture".

The runes on it wriggled and moved, which was extremely strange.

In the dream, Wayne gradually became captivated by it and fell into a daze.

The cover of the ancient book twisted into threads, converging into a densely packed panel of text, standing in the void.

The text on the panel was neither seal script nor tadpole script, but a strange script that was difficult to recognize and resembled "wriggling fleshy veins".

Then, the pages of the entire book were moved and pulled by an unseen force, constantly turning, rearranging, curling, and devouring each other...

Finally, it shattered into countless fragments, dissipating into the dream.

Each tattered page scattered in a different direction, each carrying a strong sense of attraction, as if guiding him to pursue it.

Wayne witnessed the whole thing, but was in a daze.

This book... indeed traveled with me through time.

If the old panel is what its cover represents, then where are the rest of its pages scattered...?

If I could find and collect these fragments, wouldn't my panel, or rather my "Seven Chapters of the Mysterious Monarch's Secret Scripture," be more complete?

……

the next morning.

Wayne got up, removed the paper ball from his nostrils, and tried the "empty breathing" a few times. With each deep breath, as he absorbed and utilized a huge amount of oxygen, his cerebral cortex quickly became excited.

After washing up, I took the elevator to the Ritz restaurant on the 8th floor.

As soon as I arrived at the restaurant, I ran into Lena, who was in charge of the hotel's daily operations from the logistics department.

In the morning light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows, Lena, dressed in a long emerald green dress, with brownish-yellow hair, gentle eyes, a slender figure, and a voluptuous physique, stood out.

Upon seeing Wayne, her face lit up with joy, and she walked over with a beaming smile: "My dear little messenger, would you do me the honor of dining with me?"

Breakfast with a beautiful woman?

"I'd be happy to accompany you, Sister Lena." Wayne bowed slightly.

The two walked into the buffet area together. The morning crowd was still relatively sparse, and the gilded lights were not yet all turned off.

The long dining table was illuminated by warm lights, and the dishes were neatly arranged in categories.

Lena picked up a white porcelain plate, casually picked up two slices of bacon, a mushroom and egg dish, and then took a slice of toast and spread butter on it: "Little brother Wayne, what do you think of the food at the Ritz Hotel?"

Wayne took a little bit of everything: sliced ​​ham, smoked salmon, various pickled olives, and fruit and vegetable salad.

Then came yogurt, nuts, candied berries, followed by thick soup, milk, freshly squeezed orange juice, coffee, and black tea…

The main focus is on a wide variety of foods, all for the purpose of indulging in a hearty feast.

Lena stared blankly for a moment, but quickly covered her mouth and chuckled, "It's okay, pick whatever you want, eat as much as you want, this age is when you're burning a lot of calories."

Wayne looked at the abundance of food on his plate, nodded in satisfaction, and then smiled at Lena, saying, "Sister Lena, I love the breakfast here."

At the same time, he thought to himself, "This is practically a cure for my bad habit of skipping breakfast from my past life."

In his previous life, Wei En was among the most miserable corporate slaves, and he had neither the mind nor the time to eat breakfast.

Eating breakfast once became one of the things that most delayed me from clocking in for work.

Lena's eyes were filled with a smile:

"I'm glad you like it. You can tell me if you need anything. Your investigation department often risks your lives on missions, and our logistics department's responsibility is to take good care of you, especially the messengers. So whatever you want to eat, I can arrange it for you."

Can you arrange anything I want to eat?

Can I eat anything I want?

That'll have to be really fierce...

Wayne and Lena sat side by side at the long table, facing the view of Lake Myan outside the window, and began their meal.

"Sister Lena, my hometown is Lone Star City. I want to experience different kinds of food from the North, preferably the rare ones. I can eat them all." Wayne stuffed various foods into his mouth.

[Feeding Lv.1 - Digestion] Progress: 13.2%

Lena lightly sliced ​​the bacon, tilted her head slightly, glanced at Wayne, and said with a smile, "Okay, okay, sister has arranged everything. How have you been resting lately, little brother? Is your room comfortable?"

Wayne picked up the freshly squeezed orange juice and took a big gulp.

[Feeding Lv.1 - Digestion] Progress: 14.3%

"I had a very comfortable stay, felt refreshed and full of energy, and the hotel's laundry service was also very efficient." Wayne forked a large handful of vegetable salad, held it in his hand, and stuffed it into his mouth.

[Feeding Lv.1 - Digestion] Progress: 16.1%

"That's good." Lena cut off a small piece of baked mushroom and pushed it towards him along with the small plate, a smile playing on her lips. "This is delicious. I saw you didn't take any. Try it."

Wayne stared at the small plate being pushed towards him, paused for a moment as if he hadn't actually taken any of it, then picked up his fork and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly: "Hmm, not bad."

[Feeding Lv.1 - Digestion] Progress: 17.1%

[Perception Lv.1 - Observation of the Microscopic] Progress 18.1%

Lena wasn't surprised at all by Wayne's ravenous eating; on the contrary, she found the young messenger to be handsome and quite adorable.

Just then, Ethan walked over with a tray, smiled slightly at Lena, and said, "Good morning, Miss Lena. I have something to tell Wayne."

"Yes, Mr. Ethan," Lena replied politely.

Ethan then sat down next to Wayne, eating breakfast as he asked, "You had a long day yesterday, how did you rest?"

Sipping his thick soup, Wei En replied, "Sleeping soundly. Where's the team leader?"

[Feeding Lv.1 - Digestion] Progress: 18.1%

Ethan stirred his coffee with a small spoon: "The team leader is giving a report to the bureau chief on behalf of the section chief, focusing on the issue of that face symbol. I also have a report to give later."

"Then what should I do?" Wayne asked.

Ethan finished his coffee in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and said, "I see you're not used to using guns yet, and you don't have a suitable weapon. I'll ask Lillian to teach you later. I still need to go to the intelligence department to coordinate with Joseph's matter."

"no problem."

Wayne recalled the pamphlet in Bob's house, the Hoffhouse tavern, and Joseph's inflammatory speech about confronting the new East Side.

Highly associated with Bob and pagan rituals.

It seems that today's task is mostly related to investigating Joseph.

I guess I'll have to go to the Hofhouse in the South District eventually.

"Let's go. Get ready. I'll meet you around noon. We'll go to the Hofhouse Tavern to find Joseph." Ethan quickly finished his breakfast, said goodbye to Lena, and went to the intelligence department.

Wayne and Lena were left to leisurely enjoy their meal.

Lena glanced at Wayne every now and then, and asked with a smile, "Little Wayne, what kind of home-cooked dishes do you usually like? Maybe your big sister can cook something special for you."

Special treatment?

That logistics department is so thoughtful.

Actually, I kind of miss those Chinese snacks that are heavy on oil and salt, but it seems like they're not available here.

In the current Federation, canned food has become a common household item. It would be nice to be able to eat some classic home-cooked dishes, as it would also speed up the progress of [eating].

After a moment's thought, Wei En said, "Hmm... potato stews, paired with various meats, like creamy white chicken..."

Lena listened attentively, silently taking notes, and smiled warmly: "Okay, the same time tomorrow, I'll make it for you and bring it over."

Wayne wiped his mouth: "Thank you, Lena."

At the same time, he thought to himself:

"From my perspective, Lena is so gentle and caring. She's more like a sister than my biological sister Rosalind. Rosalind is always decisive and efficient, a typical businesswoman, and not at all understanding. Of course, a biological sister is still a biological sister, and her position is unshakeable."

Afterwards, Wayne and Lena went to the 32nd floor together, said goodbye, and returned to their respective departments to get back to work.

[Feeding Lv.1 - Digestion] Progress: 23.4%

When Wayne arrived at the second department, he met Lillian, who was dressed in a formal suit and had red hair and red eyes.

"Wayne, you're here." Lillian greeted him with a sweet smile and a wave. "Look, that's your table over there."

"Oh. But Ethan said he wanted me to ask you about firearms..." Wayne asked in a low voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Wayne, I forgot. I'll take you to the training ground now." Lillian put down her daily work, got up, and led Wayne outside.