Patrol Lu had always been warm and friendly, speaking and acting with elegance, as if he was incapable of anger.

So when Zhu Shi once told me about his tragic past of being captured, imprisoned, and experimented on by an underground organization, I found it hard to reconcile that story with the man in front of me.

He seemed like someone who had lived a smooth and uneventful life, with a stable demeanor perfectly matching a stable existence.

But at this very moment, he displayed unprecedented hatred and fury.

His forehead veins bulged, his expression twisted and flushed red, his eyes bloodshot and filled with raw malice.

It was as if he had transformed into a completely different person.

If the man in the silver mask from the photograph were to appear before him now, I had no doubt Patrol Lu would pounce on him like a vengeful specter, tearing his flesh apart with his teeth in a frenzied rage.

“What is the Humanitarian Division?”

I asked, though I had already begun to piece together a few connections in my mind.

Zhu Shi glanced at Patrol Lu, who was still seething, as if unsure whether to explain in his presence.

After a few deep breaths, Patrol Lu finally spoke, his voice trembling with restrained fury:

“It’s a mysterious organization that operates outside the authority of Mount Luo Sect. They capture freelance demon hunters, even Mount Luo hunters, across the country, using any means necessary. Their goal is to analyze the power of demon hunters through scientific experimentation.

“Their ultimate aim is to create supernatural warriors who are completely obedient to human authorities, soldiers who follow the commands of mortal leaders without question.

“Mount Luo Sect is destined to become the ruling power of the secular world, yet they refuse to see this inevitable future. They’re a group of madmen swimming against the current of history.”

It seemed the Humanitarian Division was indeed the underground organization that had once captured and experimented on Patrol Lu.

His words carried a strong ideological bias, so I chose to selectively process and digest the information before continuing, “Is the Creator of Oddities part of the Humanitarian Division?”

“Yes. I’ve had dealings with the Silver Mask, this so-called Creator of Oddities, in the past. I’d recognize him even if he were reduced to ashes,” Patrol Lu said through gritted teeth, his rage barely suppressed.

“It makes sense now—the creation of these Oddities, and the Seeds of the Heart used to turn ordinary people into them… This reeks of the Humanitarian Division’s handiwork.”

So it seemed that Oddities were the creations of the Humanitarian Division.

At the same time, these Oddities were likely connected to the Demon Beasts that emerged in the apocalypse.

However, according to Ma Zao, Demon Beasts weren’t the result of human experimentation but rather a consequence of a mysterious substance called ‘Madness’, which spread throughout the post-apocalyptic world and corrupted survivors.

Could ‘Madness’ also be linked to the Humanitarian Division?

The ability of ‘Madness’ to invade human bodies, erode their memories and sense of self, and ultimately transform them into Oddities felt eerily similar to a highly infectious virus.

It reminded me of countless apocalyptic horror movies.

In those films, terrifying viruses capable of transforming humans into zombies or other monstrous forms would suddenly sweep across the globe, ultimately bringing about the collapse of human civilization.

Often, such viruses were tied to conspiracy theories, portrayed as the forbidden creations of secretive organizations, developed either as biological weapons or in pursuit of immortality research, only to spiral out of control.

Following this train of thought, it wasn’t hard to arrive at the chilling conclusion:

The Humanitarian Division might very well be the direct cause of the apocalypse.

But could things really be that simple?

In Ma Zao's description of the apocalypse, Madness seemed more like a supporting role.

Rather than being the primary cause of humanity's downfall, it felt more like one of the many horrors running rampant in the apocalyptic world.

Just as many viewers of zombie apocalypse films believe that even if a zombie virus truly appeared, it wouldn’t be enough to destroy human civilization, I also found it hard to believe that Madness alone could drive humanity to extinction.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Patrol Lu finally seemed to regain his calm and composure.

His breathing steadied as he turned his gaze back to the severed head and asked, "Where is the Creator of Oddities?"

The head, still shaken by Patrol Lu earlier outburst, obediently replied, "I don’t know."

"You must have used some single-use consumable item to drag us into the Labyrinth Space before," Zhu Shi interjected.

"Was that item given to you by the Creator of Oddities?"

"Yes."

"Why did he give it to you? And don’t tell me it was just for your self-defense."

The head gave an unexpected answer: "It was to deal with someone named 'Kong Da'."

"Agent Kong?" Zhu Shi exclaimed in shock.

Patrol Lu pressed on, "Isn't Kong Da, like you, also a Oddities transformed by the Creator of Oddities? Why would the Creator of Oddities instruct you to deal with him?"

"Because Kong Da had recently reached the limit of his power, and the Creator of Oddities hoped he could break through to the next stage," the head explained.

"For a Oddities to ascend to the next stage, they must sublimate their soul.

"While such sublimation can be forcibly achieved by devouring large quantities of souls, the Creator of Oddities hoped Kong Da could sublimate through overcoming his inner demons. So, a week ago, he gave me a one-time key to the Labyrinth Space and instructed me to trap Kong Da inside it.

"The clear condition set for the Labyrinth Space was to 'break through from the 'Existence' Stage to the 'Formation' Stage.' I don’t know what connection the Labyrinth Space has with Kong Da's inner demons, but unless he could fulfill the condition, he would starve to death inside.

"But unexpectedly, before I could find him, he disappeared. Since you know he was a Oddities, it must mean that you killed him, right?"

"What is the Labyrinth Space?" Patrol Lu turned to us for clarification.

Zhu Shi explained the concept to him.

After listening, Patrol Lu fell silent for a moment before letting out a long sigh. "I see… so in the end, I was unable to truly save him.

Until the moment of his death, his mind remained trapped in that endless nightmare from twenty years ago…."

I thought for a moment before turning back to the head and asking, "I don’t quite understand—aren’t you Oddities also capable of summoning avatars from your shadows? If Kong Da could summon enough avatars inside the Labyrinth Space, wouldn’t he be able to overcome the clearance condition by brute force and escape?"

"The Labyrinth Space only recognizes individuals with consciousness and perception as its core focus. Although the avatars we summon possess a certain level of intelligence, they lack true consciousness, and we cannot share our senses with them," the head explained.

"Kong Da was likely a rare exception. The Creator of Oddities told me that Kong Da's ability is 'Avatar Creation.' He can temporarily transfer his 'Seed of the Heart' to another person, turning them into an Substitute under his complete control, and he can share his senses with them.

"However, he can only control one Substitute at a time. To overload and collapse the Labyrinth Space, you'd need at least two thousand conscious entities dispersed inside. Oddities like us can summon, at most, ten avatars at once. I’m considered a rare case, and even I can only summon a few dozen. Reaching the threshold of two thousand is simply unattainable for us.

"There’s another rather crude way to break the Labyrinth Space: by unleashing an overwhelming burst of firepower—at least on the scale of the gas explosion near Xianshui University recently. This would temporarily tear open a rift in the space. But again, such raw force is far beyond the capabilities of Oddities like us…."

So, the Labyrinth Space could, in theory, be brute-forced open.

I took a moment to process this new information.

"Agent Kong can temporarily transfer the source of his power?"

Zhu Shi seemed to have an epiphany.

"No wonder I could never tell he was a Oddities, even though he was often right in front of me."

For some reason, Patrol Lu expression darkened.

"You Oddities can summon avatars from your shadows… now that you mention it, I do recall reading about this in some reports…"

"There should be other Oddities in this city, right?" I asked the head.

"Aside from you and the deceased Agent Kong, how many more are there?"

"Only one."

"What’s their real identity? Where are they located?"

"I don’t know. I’ve only been a Oddities for about ten days. While I’ve had brief contact with the other Oddities, I don’t know their true identity. I only knew Kong Da’s identity because the Creator of Oddities told me. Before that, I’d never even met Kong Da in person," the head admitted.

"All I know is that the other Oddities seems to reside in the New City District. Beyond that, I’m clueless."

The one who attacked Chang'an was likely this other Oddities.

And if I wanted to find Ma Zao, this would have to be my next direction.

Patrol Lu’s face changed slightly when he realized something.

"So, the Oddities responsible for hunting down local elites over the past two months wasn’t you, but rather this other Oddities?"

"Yes." The head confirmed.

"This is strange… We were tracking the Oddities hunting local elites, and that led us directly to you," Patrol Lu mused, deep in thought.

"I even used divination techniques, which should mean you're intimately connected to these events by causality…"

He pulled out photos from two recent murder scenes and showed them to the head:

One scene depicted an elderly man killed outdoors, while the other showed a husband, wife, and child murdered together.

The head's gaze lingered on the second photo.

After a brief silence, he said, "…The scene with the family of three—that was me. The other one wasn’t."

"Is that so…" Patrol Lu’s expression remained contemplative, though he seemed to have further questions he chose not to voice aloud.

Zhu Shi fixed her intense stare on the head and asked with a firm voice, "Did you become a Oddities willingly, or were you forced by the Creator of Oddities?"

"Willingly."

Zhu Shi pressed on, "Did he tell you beforehand that, after becoming a Oddities, you'd develop an insatiable hunger for devouring human souls?"

"He did." The head spoke calmly.

"He even warned me that if I didn’t kill and devour souls regularly, I would lose control, go berserk, and turn into a mindless creature driven solely by hunger. And if I refused to become a Oddities, he said he’d simply walk away."

"And you just agreed?" Zhu Shi's voice carried a tone of disbelief.

"What else could I do? This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" The head's voice grew passionate, almost ecstatic, as if reliving the moment.

"To become something beyond human—to become superhuman! How could I possibly pass up such an opportunity? There was no way I could!

"Look at me now—I am a being that stands above the common masses. If I were in ancient times, I could declare myself a god descended upon the mortal realm. And those ignorant mortals—they should all bow before me, worship me, and become my slaves!"