Chapter 153: Fear Originates from the Unknown

Does a sword sheath count as a weapon?

Lin An curiously examined the attributes of the Soul‑sealing Sword Sheath.

If judged solely by appearance, the sword sheath, forged entirely of dark‑purple metal, is very thin, looking like a longsword without a hilt.

【Equipment Attributes: None】

【Equipment Special Effect: You may choose to seal a weapon inside the sheath to nurture it; the longer the duration, the greater the power upon the next draw.】

【Every 24 hours of sealing increases damage by 20% (maximum stack cap: 10000%)】

【During the nurturing process, spiritual power can be continuously input and stored; when the weapon is drawn, it can add the stored spiritual power damage and gain extra attack range.】

【Equipment Description: A sheath that once sealed???, after losing???, its equipment grade dropped to blue.】

【This equipment requires 100 reputation points.】

Maximum hundred‑fold boost!?

Without hesitation.

After quickly glancing at the third item, the bow‑and‑arrow equipment, Lin An decisively chose the Soul‑sealing Sword Sheath.

Although it provides no attribute bonuses and isn't even a normal weapon.

But for the nurturing effect alone, he had to obtain this equipment no matter what.

Before exchanging for a weapon, Lin An had actually considered swapping for cheaper white equipment to make a set.

After all, completing the Corpse Tide mission would grant Cain's Blade.

Now, exchanging for a weapon can only be said to increase the assurance of completing the mission, but it's actually still not worth it.

But after seeing the Soul‑sealing Sword Sheath, there was no need to hesitate.

After all, he just wanted a handy weapon that wouldn't break easily.

Moreover, in most cases a single God Stab could settle the enemy.

Idle time when not attacking could be used to nurture the weapon.

Once Cain's Blade is in hand, the sheath can still provide a boost to this Epic‑tier weapon.

No matter how he thought about it, it was worthwhile.

【Ding, consumed 100 reputation points, current remaining reputation 10 points.】

【Ding, obtained 【Soul‑sealing Sword Sheath】!】

A white light flashed, and a dark‑purple sword sheath suddenly appeared in his palm.

His eyes blazing, Lin An grabbed the sheath and examined it closely.

It felt ice‑cold in hand, like grasping a chunk of cold ice, and an inexplicable suction came from the grip.

The sheath's edge was sharp, like a flat bluish‑green blade, with black threads occasionally winding around and then vanishing.

【What had it sealed before?】

【Is it because the matching weapon was lost, causing the equipment to downgrade?】

Lin An muttered to himself, then suddenly jolted awake as if startled.

He felt astonished in his heart.

Everything he currently possessed seemed to be missing something, more or less.

The Soul‑devouring Hand lacked the obsidian shards needed for completion, the black dragon lacked sufficient energy to reach maturity, the Death God Crystal lacked the crown to activate the set, and the Soul‑sealing Sword Sheath lacked its matching weapon.

If any one of these were completed, his strength would undergo a qualitative leap.

He always felt...

As if, in the dark, these things were somehow connected...

Before seeing the Soul‑sealing Sword Sheath, Lin An hadn't noticed the common point among these items.

But after obtaining another piece of equipment missing its counterpart, he immediately sensed something was off.

Just what connection could there be...?

Soul‑devouring, Shen Yuan Royal Clan, Death God, Soul‑sealing?

The information was still too scarce.

Lin An let out a light sigh, forced to suppress the doubts in his heart.

【Clang!】

The blade entered the sheath.

He sealed the standard longsword from his ring into the sheath.

Although the standard longsword was merely an ordinary alloy weapon.

But Lin An believed that after nurturing this sword for a while, it would surely bring him a surprise.

With a daily 20% damage increase, by the day of the Corpse Tide assault,

it could probably reach a 600% power boost.

Combined with his current strength...

Perhaps when facing the Stitcher again, he could slay it with a single sword!

Inside the vehicle, Gao Tian saw Lin An not meditating with closed eyes, and slowly moved closer to him.

His eyes were full of puzzlement and incomprehension.

【Just say what you want to say.】

Lin An was in a good mood, casually speaking in the team voice chat, indicating Gao Tian could ask whatever he wanted.

This guy is basically the opposite of Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie doesn't want to think about anything, while Gao Tian wants to figure everything out, to understand it fully.

【Brother Lin, I still haven't figured out the Meme thing...】

Gao Tian looked troubled.

"The appearance of a Meme requires a Cause to feel fear toward it, but what if the Cause accidentally dies after the Meme appears?"

"Will the Meme then disappear on its own, or does it mean it cannot be resolved?"

"Moreover, Zhou Fengling clearly didn't die, so why did the doll stop killing people?"

Lin An pondered for a moment, then spoke to explain:

"You can think of a Meme as a virus, and a Cause as the first spreader. Whether the Cause dies or not actually doesn't affect the Meme's continued spread."

"Because after a Meme appears, every living being that knows of it becomes equivalent to a Cause."

"The doll's situation is special, because Zhou Fengling concealed the truth of her fear, which is equivalent to not having spread the complete fear."

"Furthermore, when facing the doll, she opened her heart's knot, willingly faced death, and confronted her inner fear."

"Thus, she effectively eliminated her own fear. The conditions for the Meme's existence disappeared, so the doll could no longer kill people."

"In short."

"After Zhou Fengling was infected with the virus, she did not spread the virus, or only spread a small amount. If she had told others the truth, causing them to truly fear the child's death,"

"Then everyone who knew would either die, or like her no longer feel fear, and the Meme could be lifted."

Gao Tian only then understood, and couldn't help but click his tongue.

But he seemed to suddenly recall something.

"Brother Lin, why is it that after you figured out the truth, nobody got 'infected'?"

Lin An smiled.

"This isn't really a problem."

"Because what I said is the truth, not fear."

"Zhou Fengling's fear came from: she thought the child wanted to kill her for revenge, while the truth is that the child merely wanted his mother to look at it."

"That's why I needed to reconstruct the story—this is the biggest difference between a Meme and a virus."

"The truth is the cure!"

"Just like the supernatural stories before the Apocalypse, many are merely coincidences."

"As long as we find out what the truth is, people will no longer be afraid, and may even laugh and cry at the same time."

"So."

"Human fear stems from the unknown..."

After hearing that, Gao Tian scratched his head, gave an embarrassed, lowered-head laugh.

He seemed rather foolish...

But he didn't notice that, after Lin An finished explaining with a smile, his pupils suddenly contracted.

His smile stiffened, his whole body trembling.

In an instant.

A shocking thought appeared in his mind.

"Fear... stems from the unknown!?"

The night was deep, the convoy weaving through darkness.