Chapter 334: Secret Prison

“What the hell did Skinning Manor send over to cause such a huge commotion?”

As Han Su led the Little Lamb Girl through Giant Horn City, he thought with a quiet sigh, ‘This is almost on the scale of a City Slaughter Sacrifice!’

But he cherished this opportunity. Taking advantage of the chaos, he led the Little Lamb Girl through alleys and shadows, observing the city’s scale as he moved deeper into it.

He was very cautious. He was still a far cry from being able to traverse a city fearlessly like Song Chushi. Although Giant Horn City didn’t have a Miss Ai, an Independent Investigator was stationed in the city year-round.

Furthermore, as a major city, Giant Horn City in all likelihood also had scholars from the Hidden School, who were similarly not to be underestimated.

However, the city’s chaos also served as excellent cover. On the streets and rooftops, armed vehicles or squads of Executors carrying cases would occasionally rush toward the west side of the city. No one paid him any attention at all.

Han Su even ran head-on into a man carrying a case in a small alley. The man was in a hurry, so Han Su offered a polite smile and stepped aside to let him pass.

The Investigator didn’t suspect a thing and tipped his hat lightly to Han Su in thanks.

Han Su’s bearing and demeanor as an Investigator were simply too convincing to be a disguise. Besides, he was carrying an old case.

‘Those who carry old cases are never simple. The older the case, the more senior they are.’

Traveling through the chaotic city like this, Han Su soon led the Little Lamb Girl through its streets and alleys, approaching an area in the southern district.

‘This place is…’

As he neared his destination, a strange sense of desolation washed over him. There were no people in sight. Buildings still stood all around, but their lights grew fewer and farther between until, finally, only rows of pitch-black buildings stood silently on either side.

Not a single light could be seen anymore, save for the streetlights lining the road, which cast a mysterious, faint glow.

Han Su frowned slightly and slowly looked toward a nearby road sign.

Two words were clearly written on it:

Camel Ridge!

Comparing it to the information Wei Lan had given him before, Han Su instantly understood what this place was.

He turned to the Little Lamb Girl. “Are you trying to take me to Giant Horn City’s secret prison?”

He knew that every city had secret prisons used to contain certain anomalies. Of course, they also served observational and research purposes.

‘Qinggang has them too, quite a few in fact, but I’ve never had the chance to encounter them before.’

‘Besides, as far as I know, secret prisons are usually built outside the city. Why is Giant Horn City’s inside it?’

‘Aren’t they afraid the anomalies within will escape?’

The Little Lamb Girl’s gaze was somewhat vacant; she didn’t seem to understand what a “secret prison” was.

But when she looked at the road sign Han Su was staring at, she seemed to recognize the familiar writing. Then, she nodded firmly.

She slowly stepped forward and reached out with her small hands as if to caress the endless darkness before her.

The next moment, the rows of pitch-black buildings suddenly seemed to freeze. The real world before them instantly transformed into a photograph. Then, as her small hands pushed, the massive photograph slowly split down the middle.

A hidden door was pushed open, revealing a pitch-black world.

In that instant, the hairs on Han Su’s arms stood on end. He thought he had returned to the Ancient Castle.

The surroundings once again resembled reality, and lights appeared all around. It was just that compared to true reality, the lights here always seemed to be shrouded in a layer of black energy.

There was ground beneath his feet and wind in the air, but everything had a timeworn feeling, like being in a dream.

He could clearly feel the sensation of being submerged by an invisible Spiritual Power, similar to every time he entered the Ancient Castle.

‘So this is what a secret prison looks like?’

Han Su slowly took a step forward, raising his hand to feel everything—the wind in the air, the darkness.

The suspicions in his heart were increasingly confirmed.

‘It’s fake, but within my perception, it’s real!’

‘This kind of perception-based manifestation, once its Activity exceeds a certain level, becomes more real than reality!’

“…”

Secret prisons weren’t built in the physical world. Instead, they were created by scanning real objects and then manifesting them with Spiritual Power. This formed a sub-space that existed between reality and illusion, capable of trapping anomalies without letting them directly contact the real world.

Of course, a manifestation of this magnitude was far beyond the capabilities of any single individual.

If a person’s Spiritual Power had a maximum of one hundred units, then establishing such a secret prison would require a magnitude of a million, or even ten million.

This could only be achieved by borrowing the power of the entire city—or, in other words, the power of the cradle of reality.

If the cities where ordinary people lived were the cradle of reality, then these secret prisons could be called a nightmare of anomalies.

Presumably, this was why every secret prison was codependent with its city and required an Independent Investigator to stand guard.

In the battle that destroyed Qinggang in his previous life, Han Su had witnessed the Abyssal Studio descend from outside reality. At the time, he had found it all absurd and incomprehensible, completely defying common sense.

Now, it seemed the principle was similar to that of the secret prisons: they were both manifested models of reality.

And if he thought about it that way, could the Ancient Castle also be based on this same principle?

After all, the mysterious man who called into the Ancient Castle had said it himself. The Ancient Castle was, in fact, just a cage.