Bounded Realm

[Vortex Planting] This was the technical summary and overview submitted to Wen Wen by the Hospital following their cooperation with the Security Bureau. It was the theory utilized by Lawrence, the Worm of Ten Thousand Changes. Over long years of research, Celestial Chosen who followed the Supreme Good · Vortex—the entity governing the birth, growth, aging, and death of all life—had developed this bizarre technique. Much like farming, various hazardous raw materials were planted into living biological flesh. The creature's vitality and spiritus were then used to filter out the corruption within, achieving fusion or extraction. Once the time was ripe, the required yields and essences could be harvested. In this process, the subject serving as the vessel into which materials were planted was termed the 'Womb.' The resulting product was called the 'Fruit.' "And just as you suspected, among all living creatures capable of serving as a 'Womb,' the simplest and most convenient is undoubtedly humanity," Muller explained in detail over the phone. "After this technique was developed, our hospital conducted only a few trials before permanently prohibiting the use of humans as 'Wombs.' Even within Hope Hospital, this remains taboo." "Ha, how fascinating!" Speeding along on her motorcycle, Wen Wen could not suppress a sneer. "A bunch of lunatics like you actually shelved a technique that violates human nature?" "No, no, no, please do not misunderstand," Muller explained solemnly. "It was simply because rigorous demonstration proved that using humans as 'Wombs' is far too inefficient and cost-ineffective, leading to an extremely severe waste of consumables! Aside from being somewhat convenient on rare occasions, it is utterly worthless. Anything an ordinary 'Womb' can produce, other techniques can replicate just as well. And if one were to use a superior 'Vessel' for Vortex Planting, that would be a true and proper waste of natural gifts!" Muller spoke with righteous indignation. "As you know, under the T5 Protocol, even in our hospital, consumables are not plentiful enough to be squandered at will. Therefore, as early as forty years ago, the developmental direction of Vortex Planting shifted toward other fauna and flora. That was also the primary reason for Lawrence's dismissal—he lacked the bold vision and talent to pioneer an independent discipline, yet was unwilling to abandon his meager specialties and start anew, obsessively wallowing in obsolete rituals and theories. After repeated warnings and attempts at correction, the Administrative Section judged him lacking the capabilities required of our hospital's staff and dismissed him. As for him degrading himself by fraternizing with those beasts of the Dragon Cult who worship natural disasters, that has nothing to do with our hospital." After customarily deflecting all blame, Muller ultimately could not contain the restlessness within him and sighed with emotion. "Ah, I still remember his furious expression when he was kicked out back then. He claimed he would return sooner or later with brand-new results and trample us old fogies underfoot. To be honest, I was actually looking forward to him making some groundbreaking progress. What a pity; it is most likely impossible... Still, after all these years, he must have matured into an exquisite material himself, hasn't he?" On the other end of the line, a faint sound like someone swallowing saliva rang out. The collaborator—having assumed who knew what form—could barely conceal his hunger. "If you could show some mercy, please be sure to save a sample for us. Of course, alive would be even better. The price is negotiable!" "Depends on his luck!" Wen Wen's voice was cold. The roaring motorcycle tore through traffic, effortlessly leaving all pursuers and obstacles far behind, trailing only thunderous rumbles in its wake. By now, everything had finally emerged from the fog. The Dragon Cultists pursuing corruption and the power of natural disasters; Lawrence, obsessed with Vortex Planting and Bloodthirst Syndrome; the long-term plan of secretly planting and spreading infection... Everything they had done was to pick the single most suitable 'Womb' out of countless people! And now, as if ordained by fate, the 'Womb' he had dreamed of—no, a heaven-sent 'Vessel'—had appeared before his eyes when he least expected it. Ten years ago, on the Day of Ocean Burning, the Cursed One left behind by the Flame Tide Calamity. Amid a disaster that had brought despair, agony, and resentment upon tens of thousands, the sole survivor. —Ji Jue! * * * On the hospital plaza, so vast it bordered on dead silence, the dim twilight gleamed. From the moment Vortex Planting was activated, all ordinary people had fallen unconscious, devoid of any resistance. In the sky above, wisps of crimson wound together, slithering downward at their controller's beckoning. The distant wails and roars were inaudible. When the farmer decided to harvest, the weak, withered branches no one cared about silently decayed in the gloom, leaving only rotten fruit to plunge into the soil, brewing a sinful sweetness. Likewise in a hospital, likewise under the dusk, Lawrence gazed at the scene before him, momentarily lost in a daze. However pathetic he had looked when cast out of that hidebound hellhole, that was how ecstatic his heart felt now. After painstakingly toiling for so long, he was finally about to see results. He could almost burst into song. Pity there was a persistent, clamoring racket buzzing in his ear. "Holy shit, big bro, gentle, be gentle! My hand! Can this thing get infected?!" "Seriously, man, there's no need, absolutely no need!" "How many drinks did you have to go this wild?!" "It's still not too late to run! Those Security Bureau people are badass as hell! The one leading them is ridiculously strong, gorgeous, and stacked! Listen to me, you can't beat her!" "You aren't really after my ass, are you? Don't do it, bro! Whenever I get scared, I crap my pants, for real! Oh, oh, oh, I can barely hold it in..." "Why are you playing with tentacles now? Bro, your tastes are messed up!" The anesthetic should have been more than enough to knock this guy out until tomorrow, yet in less than ten minutes, he had startled awake again. At this moment, countless strands of aberrant spiritus descending from the sky intertwined into a colossal tree, entangling him within like a monster opening a bloody maw. Then, endless crimson spiritus surged directly into Ji Jue's body! A massive volume of aberrant spiritus capable of instantly corrupting an ordinary person had merely jolted him from sleep. This peerless tolerance for aberration alone was already equivalent to that of a Celestial Chosen of the Transcendent Rank! "Worthy indeed of a Cursed One who survived the Flame Tide Calamity!" Lawrence pushed up his blood-stained glasses, hoarsely praising, "Ji Jue, you truly are a one-in-a-million Vessel of Calamity! You are flawless!" "Yeah, yeah, right, totally," Ji Jue choked out, nodding frantically in distress. "Selling my ass is fine too, bro! My skills are great and I'm not clingy, just spare my worthless life, please, I'm begging you!" Lawrence's smile froze. Take that back. Except for this damn mouth—it was so fucking annoying! *Crack!* At that moment, with a wave of Lawrence's hand, the grotesque giant tree woven from countless filaments suddenly surged. Amid the qualitative transformation and infusion of immense spiritus, Ji Jue was engulfed, unable to utter another sound. It felt like falling. Swallowed into endless crimson amid a daze. The last thing he heard was a rumble from afar. Like the roar of a motorcycle engine. *Boom!!!* Walls crumbled, and dust billowed into the air. The boundary isolating reality, which Lawrence had painstakingly woven, was gouged open from the front by the impact of that lone rider! Tires heated almost to melting rolled over shattered flowerbeds and masonry, leaving blackened scorch marks. With a final ear-piercing screech, it ground to a halt. The slender, tall figure finally rose from the motorcycle. "No need. Leave this place to me; don't worry about it," she instructed her subordinate over the phone. "Xiao Tong lacks independent combat capability, so have him back up Lao Zhang first. As for An Ran, free action. Locate every single focal point and root out all the parasites left behind by Vortex Planting!" With that, she hung up. She walked forward. "I knew there was no such thing as a free dinner in this world." She cast a cold, expressionless glance at the man who had once kindly offered her clues. "To think... you pulled off something this huge right under my nose." "What are you saying? I have been at Mercy Hospital for over six years, five years longer than you," Lawrence pushed up his glasses, a smile surfacing on his broken face. "You got here fast... but pity, it is already too late." The moment his words fell, the grotesque, tree-like monstrosity shuddered once more. The colossal canopy nearly blotting out the sky actually expanded again. Amid the countless writhing strands of crimson spiritus, innumerable points of light flared like blossoming flowers! According to the intelligence from Hope Hospital, Lawrence had spent years delving into Vortex Planting—an occult ritual with little latent potential—innovating until he nearly achieved a brand-new breakthrough. As early as the Empire's Huayue Tragedy, he had demonstrated wide-area interference, enveloping an entire town within the scope of Vortex Planting to bring about mass corruption and mutation. Now, the aberrant spiritus seized and siphoned by the Bloodthirst Syndrome strain erupted from the giant tree, faintly encompassing more than half of Beishan District! Despair, agony, wails, weeping, numbness... Countless laments rose once more. This was the material he had spent all these years gathering in secret while hiding in Yacheng—the harvest that the parasitic Bloodthirst strains had reaped from the deceased! And even more of it had come from right within Mercy Hospital... How ridiculous, and how amusing. Lawrence could barely restrain himself from applauding. No matter how many times he watched this drama unfold, he never grew tired of it. Short on doctors, short on medicine, short on equipment, short on funds, unable to provide even blood plasma... lacking everything one needed to survive. In this hospital barely sustained by donations, all that could be seen daily in the consulting rooms, the corridors, and upon the patients was tragedy. Agonizing rounds of chemotherapy, expectant waits brimming with hope, and bitter sorrow each time an allotted spot fell through. No connections, no savior, no money. The so-called lifeline was nothing more than an illusory mirage on the horizon. For those who had nothing, the so-called 'possibility of recovery' was a hell of endless torment! When everything reached the end, what turned to ash in the incinerator was merely a husk drained dry by parasites. What Lawrence ultimately took from the dead was this crystallization called despair! Now, agony took root and sprouted from the soil. It bloomed! The giant tree expanded, swelled, and reached outward like the hand of a dying man stretching forth from hell, striving in vain to drag everything within reach down into the abyss. And then, everything came to an abrupt halt— Slowing, freezing, reversing! Right in front of that figure. Wen Wen. She finally raised her hand and removed the goggles from her face. Within her eyes, an illusory gleam of cyan and violet flowed silently, looking down upon all creation. Then, as if an alien realm had descended. Under the gaze of those eyes, endless crystals burst forth from the earth and stone! Like a forest of crystal interlacing and wrapping around the entire hospital, it crushed the remnants of the original blockade and swallowed everything whole!