Chapter 1526: NO.141: The Theater's Must-Eat List That Cannot Be Escaped

NO. 141: The Theater's Must-Eat List That Cannot Be Escaped

Since the staff here includes cultists, and I have offended cultists before, it is natural that I cannot ignore the possible connection between the two.

Aomo Lindun, who had already imagined what might happen when he arrived, although somewhat shocked by the disjointed furnishings of this room, was still the first to act among the team.

He went straight to the chair in front of a computer inside the room and sat down there very decisively.

"How come you just sat down?"

"You said earlier this place is a temporary safe house; just how temporary is it?"

Regardless of Xi qi feng's surprise, and regardless of Tian lang xing's doubts, he closed his eyes, even ignoring Fei dele ke as he also entered the room, observed some furnishings, and fiddled with some objects.

Then he opened his eyes, glanced at the three people, feeling somewhat confused and somewhat accustomed; he couldn't help but ruffle his bangs, which seemed to have grown longer and were now itchy enough to bother his eyelids.

"What should I be doing?" he scratched his head, turned around, and began to fumble with the computer in front of him.

His fumbling was not smooth; as soon as the computer started up, a box demanding a password hung there stubbornly, leaving him puzzled again, and he immediately turned his gaze to the various distinctive ornaments on the table.

There is a password……

This is a workstation, not a home; indeed there is a password, but this computer is not used solely by me, so there should be some obvious reminder.

Reminder…… He looked at the desktop, which had models, figurines, and also unforgettable miniaturized idols, all naturally arranged together.

He simply picked up a few that had no numbers or characters carved on them, then put them back in place; seeing that they were still naturally arranged, a sense of comfort naturally welled up in his heart.

Good, really good, he thought subconsciously, thinking about the stories that the traces on each ornament should have, and also thinking that his mind should hold a relatively simple number, a number that would be related to those models, figurines, idols, and other ornaments; it should be the date that person themselves set for their manifestation, i. e., their debut day.

【Welcome to your login】

That's right, that should be it; he gazed at the dynamic desktop that suddenly flashed into view, where a lively, cute green-haired girl bounced about, surpassing a certain veteran electronic singer in that her numerous tendrils were all braided into hair, and her goat-like horizontal 'I'-shaped pupils further revealed her non-human nature.

Such a character design could earn her a fixed special audience, but what matters now is not categorizing the group, but the playwright's urgent recording task.

Such matters are rare, but once encountered they demand racing against time, so the program for emergency recording should be in an obvious location, with an especially conspicuous activation display.

Just like now——

Boom!

A sudden collapsing sound made everyone turn their heads, looking toward the light screen that suddenly unfolded beside Aomo's computer; the screen showed both a black-and-red humanoid giant clutching its head in pain, and countless guard androids continuously piling up, constantly shifting, constantly merging, preparing to confront.

In terms of color scheme and appearance, it ought to be as clear as a confrontation between righteousness and evil.

But now those shape-shifting and merging guard androids also display, on the whole, the melting distortions that had appeared on the surfaces of the androids previously pursued; they have already begun to take on the form of a conventional giant, not only with that iron-gray alien exterior, but also with countless tendrils directionally twisted into an exoskeletal armor.

"Is this also contaminated by an evil god?" Tian Lang Xing frowned and asked, "Isn't this a violation?"

"It probably deviates from real-world developments," Nishizaki Qi Feng stroked his chin, gazing at the shockingly impressive 4K cinematic quality even if it were an enemy versus enemy scene, "After all, drama is drama, not a historical documentary; the Gu Lan Ji Nie Er Ju Yuan Theater is merely temporarily suspending operations for adjustment, not ceasing business for rectification, so it shouldn't have come to such a major incident."

"The barrier is maintaining normal operation," Federico, who had just glanced at this screen and then turned his attention elsewhere, said upon turning back, "Even if this were reality, it would not be subject to business cessation for rectification."

After all, it caused no public loss, nor any casualties; even if residual power from an outer god remained, it would not be illegal—normally it would just warrant a warning, and at worst a fine and a guarantee.

After all, the related religions of the outer gods are called cults precisely because their existence and their very power carry a disorder rooted in the fundamentals of the universe.

In the vast universe, the limits of what human intellect can reach are insufficient to encompass what remains untouched.

In such a world, disorder is naturally the essence, while order is rather an accident—a miracle sustained, developed, and even spread outward by countless lives born of accident.

That miracle naturally still has much room for development, but for now it is far from reaching the level of widespread civilian use.

Rash contact will still drive the destined mad.

Even when madness erupts, it can spread to others; if it escalates, an entire city district can quickly be 'painted' like a contagious disease.

This is why religions that worship their existence are all labeled as cults.

Even without ill intent, merely by their activities they can cause the federation to allocate some energy to deal with these outer gods; only by walking the earth in avatar form is it compliant, and only by restraining oneself, not recklessly wielding power, and leaving no trace that makes contact drive one mad, is it legal.

As for religions that worship their existence, they are obviously directly labeled as cults, because eighty percent of their members are abnormal folks affected by disorder, while the remaining twenty percent may appear normal but are actually not normal at all; each and every one is purely a mentally ill person.

However, truly mentally ill people often receive certain legal protection due to their illness itself, and some patients with mild symptoms can even balance protection and freedom, becoming T1 athletes who are neither confined to a dark cell nor lacking some legal protection.

But cultists cannot.

Even before they become involved in illegal criminal acts, the police will keep an eye on them; once they truly become involved, they will be arrested on the spot, with no issues still being pointed at, and if there are problems they will be rushed to prison at lightning speed, undergoing fewer procedures than other offenders—a short-distance specialist in the prison system.

Precisely for this reason, cultists who are able to live normally outside tend to live even more cautiously and carefully than ordinary people, striving to avoid trouble.

Unless they no longer intend to live a normal life.

——Of course, the above are all high-quality cultists.

Like the simple-minded individuals who send blatant threats and intimidation to Aomo's mailbox, only to be reported back and sent away—those are the majority of cultists.

Either their brains have been eroded by faith, or they are simply not very smart to begin with, which distinguishes them from other converts who have more complex reasons for joining.

Aomo seriously suspects that the Marionette Theater has so many cultist employees precisely because it has attracted police attention many times and thus has connections in that regard.

Whether it is placement or labor reform is unclear, but simply being able to get hired already means having undergone rigorous screening, exactly the kind of caution Federico mentioned.

They are perfect actors of psychoanalysis plus natural horror theater, easily able to create the 'grand marionette' the theater desires, and when paired with the piano music of Miss Arturo, they become a perfect existence.

Yet their performance should also ideally be limited to beyond reality.

Either it is drama, or it is the barrier; this is their most perfect stage, and while dancing they should also have music.

"Shh——"

So he gestured for those hallucinations to be silent, causing similar confusion to appear on the three faces.

Really, what an oblivious hallucination… Aomo thought, but that woman is also truly familiar; such a beautiful, hot-bodied woman might have been seen on the screen, but it doesn't matter anyway, since it can't compare to the Cthulhu dear I support.

Just thinking about whether there might be a 150cm, 41kg energetic green long-straight tentacle loli with a slight tsundere attribute, emitting a faint ancient god fragrance, who quietly sits beside me with a few tears, sobbing, 'It's been so long, why haven't you offered a sacrifice? Are you turning over to that yellow-clad bad woman?'—I would involuntarily let out a soft hum—'Enough already…'—driving that immersive, simulated fantasy from my mind, his eyes became exceptionally tranquil as he gazed at the screen to the tardy piano notes.

Yet he also did not forget to glance at his teammate beside him with the corner of his eye.

Although he had previously said he would rather flee than deal with those androids in order to avoid the necessity of turning back to see a psychiatrist.

But by now, the psychiatric examination segment is basically something everyone has to do.