Chapter 47

Chapter 47

[Ah, this scene seems eerily familiar.]

[I can't stop laughing. Why is it always someone else holding a player hostage to threaten the malevolent god? What's going on!?]

[Black Cat, can't even beat an old man... hmm...]

If the Black Cat could see the comments in the Druid's live stream, he would surely retort fiercely. It was clearly the old man who was abnormal! His strength was outrageously disproportionate!

No one understood better than the Black Cat, who experienced it firsthand, the hidden strength of this unimposing old man. He hadn't even noticed his approach from behind, and by the time he did, it was already too late. But what was most crucial were the two system determinations in the struggle and brawl.

He had succeeded in both, yet was still pinned down, which indicated the old man's strength completely overwhelmed his own – utterly preposterous!

How could such a frail, skin-and-bones old man be so strong? Where was all the muscle hidden?

No one paid heed to the Black Cat's internal rant. Lann and Old Luke faced each other off, Lann expressionless, yet internally pondering why the investigator, who was an ally to players in his past life, was now an adversary.

"Oh, he's suspected to be a malevolent god? Then it's fine."

"Let go of the person beside you and leave this place," Old Luke said.

"Are you sure?" Lann smirked slightly and slowly released his grip on Archie. As his fingers withdrew, the previously calm Archie began to grow agitated, his murderous gaze sweeping over everyone present except Lann.

Just as he was about to erupt, Lann tightened his grip again, and Archie calmed down.

"You see, without me, he would simply annihilate all of you in his frenzy," Lann stated coolly. "Shall I let go and demonstrate?"

"Let's all be honest here. After all, our goals are likely the same, right, Mr. Luke?" Lann looked at him. "You've been undercover in this hospital for years to thwart the plot of the foreigners, haven't you?"

"I remember now!" the usually silent Black Cat suddenly exclaimed, staring at Old Luke in shock. "You're the one mentioned in Archie's father's notes!"

"You're another investigator!"

The chat rapidly scrolled.

[Luke!?]

[Huh? Who's that?]

[Damn, I remember now, that's the guy from Archie's father's notes!]

[Absolutely, I looked it up, it's him!]

[He's also an investigator from the Inspection Bureau. He was the one coordinating with Archie's father during his undercover mission!]

[Damn, so he's the one who released the patients on the third floor? Was he pretending to be insane and hiding here all this time to stop the plot of the foreigners?]

[Wow, I thought he was dead.]

"Investigator, huh..." A faint hint of nostalgia crossed Old Luke's eyes. "It's been a long time since I've heard that term."

"Why are you here?" Black Cat asked.

"It's not just you fighting against the foreigners," Old Luke said.

Druid perked up: "So, you're with the Inspection Bureau? Have you been secretly investigating and combating the foreigner organization all this time?"

At the mention of the Inspection Bureau, Old Luke's expression visibly soured: "No, no... It's just me, alone."

Having said that, he refused to answer any more questions from the Druid and the others, turning instead to look at Lann:

"It's ironic," Luke said hoarsely, "I never thought I'd one day stand on the same front as a being like you."

Clearly, he had been observing for a long time to determine the intentions of Lann and his group.

Hearing this, Lann felt somewhat relieved. His biggest fear was Luke mistaking him for a malevolent god and attacking him recklessly. But now it seemed Luke was still rational, or at least knew how to prioritize.

An investigator playing the fool, undercover in a psychiatric hospital for so long, might have been driven by more than just a sense of justice.

And perhaps... a resolve for revenge.

Lann tugged at the corner of his mouth, his words laced with probing: "Yes, like you never expected to be stabbed in the back by your own people."

Luke's brow twitched noticeably.

"I'd advise you to put down the glass in your hand. Merely one life cannot threaten me," Lann spoke slowly and deliberately, "Moreover, to overthrow the foreigners, you need our help."

It was obvious to everyone that Luke, now alone, was incapable of achieving much. Otherwise, he wouldn't have helped Druid in the original plot.

Luke: "How do I know you're not another 'foreigner'?"

Lann smiled, gently stroking Archie's hair, speaking at his own pace: "I trust you can see his condition and must be aware of that notebook... I believe this should serve as the best evidence."

Archie had once mentioned that a significant portion of the inspiration for his thesis came from his father's notes, which clearly offered two distinct lines of thought. At that time, the only person who could have provided such guidance to Archie's father was Luke.

That person was Luke, the one assigned to coordinate with him.

Archie's approach, a blend of psychology and a touch of hypnosis, incorporated his father's original ideas. Lann believed Luke could not fail to recognize this.

Unlike players with indoctrinated thoughts, Luke should be able to see that Archie willingly entered this state and chose him as his 'anchor', rather than being manipulated into it by Lann.

In other words, from beginning to end, Lann had never harmed Archie, and had even gained his trust.

And Archie was the child entrusted to him by his comrade.

Luke fell silent, releasing the Black Cat and giving him a push.

"Perhaps one day, I'll deeply regret this."

"Then I hope that day never comes," Lann said with a smile.

[What? Have they reached a reconciliation?]

[Makes sense, Luke has been undercover in this hospital for so long, he must be determined to destroy the foreigners. And who knows if he's aware of the Inspection Bureau's situation. Decades undercover in a psychiatric hospital, was he sent by the Bureau, or was it his own voluntary act? If voluntary... that's profoundly sad.]

Lann had also thought of this, but he kept it to himself, silently pondering. Showing even the slightest pity at this moment would be a desecration of Luke's conviction.

Besides, Old Luke was more than just a senile old man.

His eyes still burned with the fire of revenge.

Lann: "You couldn't have been playing the fool all these years in the hospital."

"Of course, I know much more than you do," Old Luke snorted coldly, succinctly revealing his findings. "The foreigners chose this hospital for a reason. Its central courtyard has a peculiar layout, and that's what Hogarth was interested in."

"As for why it's peculiar, I haven't been inside either. It has been off-limits to outsiders for a long time and is the most heavily guarded area of Arkham Hospital."

"The central courtyard..." Lann furrowed his brows slightly, "We didn't see it when we passed through the hospital."

"That's because it's been concealed," Old Luke said. "You can probably guess how."

The director's authority, huh.

In any case, it was essential to overthrow Director Sauron's position. Otherwise, they would remain at a disadvantage. Not to mention, just being unable to leave the hospital already put them at the mercy of others.

Lann looked at the remaining doctors and nurses.

Among them, the Meat Mountain Butcher's large frame was particularly conspicuous, along with the Frankenstein-like chief physician, the doctors with bull heads and horse bodies, and many other oddities unfamiliar to the Druid and the Black Cat.

Of course, now wounded, their intimidating presence wasn't as formidable as it once was.

"Mr. Lann, what should we do now...?"

"Have you forgotten the information you found?" Lann gently reminded.

Black Cat suddenly realized, "Oh, right!"

He almost forgot their purpose. Rushing to Druid's side, under the gaze of nurses and staff, Black Cat exclaimed, "Hear me out! You've all been deceived by that so-called director. He's not your real director. I have proof!"

Having said that, he gestured to Druid, and they both raised the documents they had found.

Hearing this, the nurses and doctors exchanged glances.

"Hahaha, yes, yes! I am the director! I'm the real director!"

A manic laugh echoed from the entrance. The nurses and staff stepped aside as a middle-aged man in a patient's gown scrambled over, snatching the documents from Black Cat and Druid.

His movements were so fast that Black Cat didn't have time to react, only realizing upon closer inspection that this man was the 'director'.

Excitedly waving the documents, pointing at the signatures and a group photo, the 'director' shouted to the chief physician and nurses, "See this! See this! Irrefutable evidence, I am the real director of this hospital!"

"Your current director is a fake! He's a thief who stole my identity! Look!"

The 'director' frantically yelled at all the medical staff, but to his surprise, all the doctors and nurses simply looked at him indifferently.

The players felt a sinking feeling in their hearts. What was happening?

Why was this different from what they had expected?

"What are you standing around for? Call the police and arrest that imposter! Restore my identity! What has he done to bewitch you all? Believe me, I'll fire every one of you!"

The 'director' yelled frantically at the nurses and doctors, his irrational behavior causing Black Cat to frown involuntarily.

Moreover, didn't he notice the terrifying appearances of the doctors and nurses? How could he dare to yell at them so boldly? Was he not afraid for his life?

Seeing Black Cat's confusion, Druid whispered to him, "Like other psychiatric patients, the 'director' can't see the hospital's nocturnal state. It's strange; he's clearly not insane."

Suddenly, Black Cat recalled what Lann had said in the archive room. It struck him like lightning. He looked sharply at the patients on the third floor, especially their eerie aspects, coupled with the doctors' avoidance, the rejection of the director, and Lann's hints that the director was unpopular.

Black Cat: "Are those patients on the third floor victims of malpractice?"

Lann looked at Black Cat, nodded, and then shook his head: "The two patients are already dead. As for the current third-floor patients..."

He glanced at the aberrations, who seemed somewhat fearful of him, and said, "They are probably the nightmares of this dream."

"The guilt, sin, and nightmares of the informed doctors and nurses have formed them."

The essence of the hospital at night is actually the 'dream' of all the medical staff. They are the pillars, the main body of this copy, hence their 'immortal' nature. Their obsession with the hospital's rules and regulations led to various rules in the hospital.

This includes the position of the 'director' in the minds of these medical staff, making him the de facto ruler of the night hospital.

Black Cat, with a bitter expression: "So, even if we find evidence, we can't overthrow that fake director."

Black Cat shared his deduction with Druid, who also looked distressed. They silently approached Lann, their eyes imploringly asking:

'Boss, what do we do now?'

Lann pondered for a moment. The solution to this instance in his previous life was actually quite simple.

At this juncture, Director Sauron would appear, initiating his plan. Faced with external threats, the doctors and nurses of Arkham Hospital had reluctantly acknowledged the 'director's' position. But by then, it was too late; the ritual had already begun.

However, this also meant that if the current 'director' could gain the forgiveness of the doctors and nurses, it was possible to overthrow Sauron's position as director. Currently, Sauron was held back by the players and couldn't return to the hospital, and there was still plenty of time before the lunar eclipse. They had ample opportunity to work on changing the minds of the hospital staff.

In fact, many doctors and nurses in other wards were unaware of the situation. If Lann stepped in to persuade them, even implementing a voting system to restore the 'director' to his original position was feasible.

The only problem was, if they really did this...

Lann looked at the chief physician, the patients on the third floor, and the doctors who were silently watching.

These people would be deeply disheartened.

"Stop it, you foolish director," Old Luke scoffed. "Haven't you realized that your crimes have already been exposed?"

A flicker of nervousness passed through the 'director's' eyes, but he stubbornly retorted, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm saying you're an idiot who can't see the reality, a fool who's been duped without realizing it," Old Luke said hoarsely. "Don't you see? The entire hospital rejects you! Your crimes have been uncovered, and you'll soon be in jail!"

"Impossible!" the director shouted. "What evidence? Show me if you have it! I haven't committed any crimes!"

Druid held up the documents for him to see clearly.

The 'director' glanced at the document and laughed: "You really are a bunch of lunatics. There's no such document. I knew you were deceiving me, all of you!"

As expected.

The 'director' had never believed they possessed real evidence from the start, because in reality, the things he had done left no traceable evidence.

His reaction now confirmed this; the document only existed in the eyes of those who could see the nocturnal hospital.

Lann sighed, looking at the doctors and nurses: "As I thought, this evidence was meant for us to see, wasn't it? In reality, this document doesn't exist."

The chief physician silently nodded in confirmation.

The 'director' wasn't a fool. Newly in power, he was greedy, cruel, and cold-blooded, daring to meddle in such shady dealings, surely he was extremely cautious.

He hadn't left any slip-ups in the real world, let alone a decisive document. Only a fool would leave such a thing in the archive room, practically inviting scrutiny.

The reason Black Cat and Druid saw it as a document was because someone in the hospital wanted them to find it.

Druid was instantly dumbfounded: "So, you mean if we return to reality, we can't bring him to justice?"

"I'm afraid so," Lann said.

Alright, now Black Cat and Druid understood why the hospital's doctors and nurses refused to acknowledge this 'director'.

It was as if he lived in the surface world, oblivious to the true undercurrents of the hospital, or perhaps...

He was ostracized by this world.

This place was very close to the Dream Gap, akin to a dream. It's quite possible that the composition of this dream wasn't just the hospital, but rather all of the medical staff combined.

They were the pillars of Arkham Hospital, the supports of this 'Night Hospital'. Those rejected by them lacked the privilege to enter or even see the Night Hospital.

In other words, they did not recognize this person as their director in their hearts.

The reason why the director's position was so significant in Arkham was that, in reality, the director truly controlled the hospital. This fact, reflected in the Night Hospital and the dreams formed by the Rift of Dreams, meant that, willingly or not, the doctors and nurses had to obey the 'director’s' orders.

This revelation silenced the players.

If they acknowledged the 'director's' identity, then during the day he would regain his original position, and some dark, evil evidence would never surface. But if they didn't, the players couldn't leave this instance and would only wait for the stranger's plot to unfold.

What a dilemma akin to a train problem.

"Is there no other way?" Druid asked unwillingly, "What if we force him to confess by beating him up, making him sign an admission of guilt?"

Lann looked at the chief doctor, who shook his head: "He has too much power in Arkham, those people will protect him."

The doctors didn't want to risk it, nor did they wish for those ugly truths to remain hidden forever.

Druid tried to persuade them with reason and emotion to acknowledge the director for now, promising that on the fourth day of calamity they would surely act to eliminate the director. However, all attempts ended in failure.

In this world, almost indistinguishable from a dream, all love and hate are intensified and purified, revealing the true nature of desires.

Simply put, love becomes stronger, and hate grows deeper.

At that moment, Old Luke looked at Lann, his eyes flashing with a complex gleam.

Lann: ?

The director hadn't grasped the situation yet, or perhaps in his eyes, all of this seemed absurd. After all, he couldn't see the Night Hospital. To him, the current situation appeared to be a group of seemingly delusional people leading a bunch of hospital staff spouting nonsense. He didn't understand, nor did he comprehend why the world had turned out this way.

"Haha, I get it now, this is all a prank, right? You deliberately found a clown to replace me, then tied me up and treated me like I was insane. I must call the police, I'm going to sue you! You lunatics, just wait for the court summons!"

Ignoring his ranting, Old Luke looked at him with even a hint of pity: "I've reviewed the regulations of Arkham Hospital. A long time ago, there was a rule that's been preserved until now. That is, in the event of unrest in Arkham, with the hospital in disarray and the director absent, with no one to manage the overall situation, a temporary acting director can be elected, right?"

The chief doctor pondered for a moment: "Yes, there is such a rule."

"And the acting director is elected by a consensus of all medical staff," Old Luke said quietly, turning his gaze to Lann.

Clearly, the only person who could achieve this, who could gain the agreement of all the doctors and nurses, was one.

Lann naturally understood Old Luke’s implication, his smile freezing: "Me…?"

He was to become the acting director?

Wait, was this how the original plot was supposed to unfold? Shouldn't the current director be apologizing...

Lann looked at the director, only to find him with his arms crossed, displaying a skeptical 'let's see what you can pull off' demeanor.

It was hard to imagine how much time Druid would have needed to make this stubborn old man bow his head in the original plot. Oh wait, Druid convinced him with a fist in the end, so never mind.

Old Luke met Lann's calm gaze and couldn't help but inwardly smile bitterly; he must have foreseen this day.

What Lann didn't know was that this wasn't Old Luke’s first encounter with him.

Old Luke had been undercover in Arkham Hospital for quite some time. He was well aware of every little happening in the hospital. One day, he suddenly learned from a nurse taking care of him that a very beautiful patient had arrived at the hospital.

When speaking of this patient, regardless of whether they were nurses or orderlies, regardless of gender, their faces all displayed a unified look of longing and obsession. This strange state raised Old Luke's alarm, and so, he took advantage of an unguarded moment to stealthily leave the psychiatric treatment area and headed to the inpatient building.

He stood downstairs, observing the youth leaning against the bed in the ward.

Despite the passage of over a decade, Old Luke remained a keen-eyed investigator, unlike the novices. He had his unique ways of distinguishing non-humans.

The faces of normal humans, no matter how exquisite, can't attract every human being 100%. Simply put, aesthetic preferences vary: some like thin lips, others prefer full lips; some are drawn to deep-set features, others value smooth skin.

If a person stands there and thirty out of a hundred passersby turn their heads, that's a beauty. Fifty, and they're an idol or a star. Seventy, and they could grace the stage of a world beauty pageant.

If everyone, young and old, busy or leisurely, turns around with the same obsessed look in their eyes, that's an anomaly.

And Lanen...

He doesn't need to stand there, because people automatically run to the door of his ward.

They share their day's frustrations with Lanen, just to receive his gentle comfort and persuasion. Frankly, to old Luke, this scene is no different from making a deal with the devil.

What's more abnormal is that Lanen's reputation among the nurses and doctors is very good, and even the patients praise him highly. They say Lanen is a great guy, always willing to help and worried they might feel lonely, often visiting them for chats (back when he was investigating the hospital before things fell apart).

To old Luke, this is almost clear evidence that Lanen must know the true situation of the hospital.

Perhaps... he aimed to become the director of Arkham Hospital?