Chapter 209 - 75: Curse and Puppet Master

The monitoring room was silent.

The staff responsible for monitoring stared in fear at the man who had suddenly appeared, recognizing him as the recent sensational figure, Nemo.

Because his sponsor was a Level 9 Citizen.

The Level 9 Citizen had always been mysterious. Everyone knew they controlled the moral code, but no one knew what they looked like or what their name was.

Even the CEO of Luminous Heavy Industry had only seen their virtual avatar through the moral code and had never met them in person.

However, some speculated that they were likely over a hundred years old, as that corporate war had happened a long time ago.

They were like a reclusive god, residing high up in Sky City, looking down on all living beings.

As their spokesperson, Nemo’s origins were also quite mysterious, but no one dared to dig into his background, fearing they might inadvertently get dragged into certain affairs.

Watching Duan Fei on the monitor, Nemo pulled up a chair for himself, sat down, and started drinking his coffee.

From the moment he sat down, his eyes didn’t blink, as if they were a camera recording every single movement of Duan Fei and the others.

After he finished recording, he took out some things he had prepared beforehand.

Thread woven from a dead person’s hair, a needle sharpened from an executioner’s blade, the hide of a black dog that died young, withered grass from a graveyard...

He took out all sorts of bizarre and evil items. His hands, moving with great agility, flew up and down, and he quickly crafted several miniature dolls.

These dolls were remarkably lifelike, looking almost identical to Duan Fei’s group, but they appeared even more eerie and dangerous.

Lining the dolls up in a row, Nemo ignored the fearful and horrified gazes from those around him and said to the others, "Help me collect their biological samples. Hair, blood, anything will do."

A staff member hurriedly sent someone to do the work, then plucked up the courage to ask, "Pardon my boldness, but may I ask what you are doing?"

"A Curse. I am an evil Puppet Master, a Profession that combines puppets and Curses. Puppets are wonderful. They don’t betray you, they don’t disobey my orders. Don’t you think they’re perfect?"

The staff member swallowed hard, feeling that the man in front of her wasn’t quite normal.

’Can something so unscientific really work?’

Sensing the staff member’s fear, Nemo playfully patted her big, golden waves of hair and said with a smile, "Don’t worry, I like you all too. In my eyes, you’re not that different from puppets."

Kim forced a smile. "Thank you. But... I’m not a puppet..."

"Don’t be silly. In my eyes, you are all the most well-domesticated puppets. If I’d had these kinds of methods back then, how could I have lost so badly?"

Sighing with regret, Nemo reflected on what a master that Level 9 Citizen truly was.

’Making puppets not realize they are puppets... such a powerful method of societal brainwashing is truly impressive.’

Touching the golden heart he kept on his person, Nemo felt a continuous stream of power flowing out of it, calming his mind.

The contamination indicator bar on the back of his hand had already exceeded its limit.

According to the event’s settings, once the limit was reached, players would be forcibly ejected from the instance and would have to go to the Divine Hall to undergo purification.

But at this moment, the contamination on Nemo had already exceeded the limit several times over, yet he remained in the instance, seemingly unaffected.

Because of the contamination, the contamination buffs in his body were fully stacked. The contamination had even become his source of power, synergizing with his Profession to produce even stranger effects.

Originally, the Cursed Puppets could only make someone’s luck a little worse, but now, he could do much more.

It wasn’t difficult to obtain items related to Duan Fei and his group. Fallen hairs during their run or flakes of skin shed from their bodies were all excellent materials for a Curse.

After having a staff member analyze the collected items, he placed them into their corresponding dolls. Nemo flexed his hands and felt he was ready.

The Puppet Master is somewhat like the Summoner; they are both support Professions that don’t fight directly, instead hiding behind the scenes and assisting through various means.

However, a Puppet Master can strengthen their puppets through various means, making them less random than a Summoner. Thus, in the Abyss, it is a relatively niche but still normal Profession.

Precisely because he didn’t need to fight on the front lines, Nemo could safely embrace the contamination, trading a reduction in Attributes for the special properties of the contamination.

"This feels good. Let’s begin. First layer: enhancement."

He channeled the power of the contamination, which in turn enhanced the power of the Curse, allowing him to attack more effectively.

He started by grabbing the leg of the Duan Fei doll and giving it a hard twist.

Along with a harsh grating sound, Duan Fei, on the monitor, suddenly fell to the ground and looked at it in confusion.

"Boss, what’s wrong?" Lear, who was clearing the path ahead, stopped and asked.

"I don’t know. It felt like something gave me a hard yank."

"Are you hurt? Can you stand up?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Just as Duan Fei was about to get up, he found that his movements felt somewhat clumsy.

His body felt as if it were being gripped by unseen hands; just trying to take a single step forward required immense effort.

Reaching out to feel, Duan Fei discovered his arms seemed to be entangled in something invisible.

"Lear, slash here."

Lear swung his blade in a backhand strike toward Duan Fei, but the blade passed straight through the space between Duan Fei’s hands, hitting nothing.

"There’s nothing there," Lear said, confused.

"No, there’s definitely something. It’s a Stand! We’re being attacked by a Stand!"

"What are you talking about?"

Duan Fei wanted to joke around some more, but an immense force struck, grabbing his chin and twisting it counter-clockwise, trying to snap his neck.

Fortunately, he had the [Savior] title. His 16 points of Power allowed him to barely resist the force and painstakingly turn his head back.

But as soon as he turned it back to its normal position, the force abruptly changed direction, twisting clockwise and nearly breaking Duan Fei’s neck.

From Lear’s perspective, it just looked like Duan Fei had started performing some kind of strange dance.

Although she didn’t understand what was happening to Duan Fei, Anna immediately rushed over and hoisted him onto her shoulder.

With no time to say thanks, Duan Fei’s body trembled uncontrollably, making it impossible for him to predict where the next attack would come from.

The power of this bizarre attack wasn’t strong, but it came without any warning; even Lear couldn’t detect it.

’Only a player could pull this off.’

Realizing he was being attacked by a player, Duan Fei immediately shouted, "Bartender, smash the lights in the corridor!"

"Roger."

Turning quickly, several gun barrels emerged from the Bartender’s body. A dense barrage of fire destroyed all light sources, plunging the area into darkness.

"Quick Reaction." Watching the monitor go black, Nemo said with a smile.

"But, Duan Someone, times have changed. Activate the infrared monitors, sonic monitors, biological monitors, vibration monitors..."

One by one, the commands were issued, and the scene in the corridor reappeared, showing Duan Fei’s face clearly once more.

"Next, step two: Nail-Head Seven Arrows Scripture."