Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Diluting Pain
Memory, endless memory!
Before personally experiencing this sensation, Xiao Xiao never knew that memory could be as sharp as a blade.
It surged up from the depths of his inner being in an instant, cutting him into pieces, leaving him covered in wounds. The consciousness that held together the human shell developed fine cracks, then silently collapsed.
At this moment, Xiao Xiao felt as if struck in the heart, almost collapsing to the ground clutching his chest.
Why did it have to be this way?
These memories, many of which he thought he had forgotten, turned out to be buried deep in his mind, suddenly surfacing now and catching him off guard.
An indescribable despair and hopelessness suddenly descended upon him like a long-healed wound bursting open once more.
Before him, the viscous, clotted mass of blood and flesh had already filled the entire coffee shop.
Pieces of unknown, putrid-smelling blood and flesh covered the walls, with chunks falling from the ceiling.
Between the seats were pedestrians with vacant, lifeless expressions and rolled-back eyes, emitting low sobbing sounds in the crowded coffee shop.
It was as if they had arrived in a dark crimson hell.
Twisted and eerie blood-flesh vines writhed in this cramped space, and on the faces of every person entangled by the vines, expressions of agony flickered constantly.
They screamed, panicked, and fled, yet they could not truly escape the coffee shop, only circling around it like headless flies.
Seeing Xiao Xiao approaching, just as people in pain always like to pull others close to confide their misfortunes, they instinctively drew near to Xiao Xiao, extending one blood-red palm after another.
Pain has always had an instinct to be shared, and this moment was no exception.
“Huff…”
But just as those convulsing palms grasped onto Xiao Xiao’s body, he—who had been immersed in endless painful memories and could barely move his feet—suddenly lifted his head.
Thump, thump, his heart pounded like thunder.
In Xiao Xiao’s perception, the interval between each heartbeat seemed to stretch almost a full minute.
The assault of this memory fragment caused him excruciating pain, but it simultaneously triggered his heightened tension, and his explosive thinking ability instantly activated.
His body swayed left and right, dodging a hand that clawed toward him, then he spun half a circle and viciously smashed the rifle butt he was gripping onto the head of the person in front of him.
The man let out a miserable scream and lost consciousness, and as he lay on the ground, the writhing red tentacles on his body also disappeared significantly.
“So this is what it feels like to get close to this kind of mutated creature?”
Xiao Xiao clenched his teeth and looked around.
The sensation of just being cut by fragments of memory was exceptionally vivid and left a deep impression.
In fact, all those memories were things I had experienced myself, unpleasant ones, but they had been instinctively buried deep in my memory, something I didn’t think about in my daily life.
Previously, they would occasionally suddenly rush out and instantly kill my good mood.
But after all, that was only occasional, merely a few sudden attacks suffered in the long course of a lifetime.
Yet now, as he drew closer to these writhing vines and tentacles of pain, those memories seemed to come alive, surging forth in waves, and striking his mind with tenfold intensity.
This should be the ability of this type of mutated creature, just like how the suffocation puppet can strip away a person’s ability to breathe.
Normally speaking, under such intense influence, Xiao Xiao would likely have already lost his capacity for thought, after all his brain was lacerated by memory fragments, having nearly completely lost the ability to construct coherent thoughts and actions.
However, even Xiao Xiao hadn’t anticipated that when he was in a state of tension, that explosive thinking ability would pull him out of the chaotic and painful state he was in.
The influence of this mutated creature was to make people instantly recall a large number of unfortunate past events, causing them to lose their autonomy in a short period of time.
Even to the point of sinking into these memories and losing self-control.
But the ability of explosive thinking could precisely allow Xiao Xiao to infinitely extend time on a mental level.
This greatly diluted the impact of that ability on himself.
It’s like discussing toxicity without mentioning dosage is nonsense—a single drop of tetrodotoxin can kill an adult, but what if that adult’s body mass were that of ten people, or even a hundred?
With his thinking speed increased tenfold or twentyfold, his resistance to such negative effects was also tenfold or twentyfold stronger than ordinary people.
Xiao Xiao bore all the negative effects brought by approaching the coffee shop, yet still barely maintained his sanity.
That’s why he was able to react in time and avoid being caught by that person, preventing more pain-inducing substances from entering his body.
Taking a deep breath, he saw the bizarre scene before him—countless people had already been captured by the mutated creatures in the coffee shop, running around it in pain and panic, like twisted grotesque beings.
Everyone who got close would end up like this, with almost no one spared.
Xiao Xiao looked at these people’s expressions of pain and confusion, as if seeing their brains already torn to pieces, chaotic and disordered.
Living in this world for a few decades, who hasn’t had a few wounds buried deep in the depths of memory?
Perhaps they never healed, but simply are no longer remembered.
“Then let’s go!”
After figuring this out, Xiao Xiao took a deep breath and began letting his thoughts run wild in an explosive frenzy.
The faster his thoughts raced, the more the negative effects dissipated, and the more rational he became.
From another perspective, Xiao Xiao had endured endless torment and suppression over those four years, and had managed to survive in an environment on the brink of collapse at any moment. He had even learned to concentrate his attention, learned to force himself to remain calm. So compared to back then, the negative effects now were far less severe. Xiao Xiao didn’t think he had suddenly become weak, unable to bear even this small amount of pain…
It was like a person who had been executed by lingchi meeting someone who had been beheaded in hell, crying every day about how miserable they were. Xiao Xiao threw them a look of disdain:
“Brother, where are you at?”
“It’s just one cut, after all…”
“……”
His mind was wandering with chaotic thoughts, but Xiao Xiao’s movements showed not a trace of hesitation or sluggishness.
To outsiders, he simply walked briskly toward the café, and facing the countless blood-colored hands stretching out from the café entrance, he slightly furrowed his brow, slipped through with a flash of his body, casually swung the gun stock to knock down a figure rushing toward him, then swept his cold gaze around, taking in the entire surrounding environment at a glance. He then looked at the three vicious dogs beside him, pointed at the frenzied crowd swaying before him, and said softly: “Tear me open a path of blood.”
“Whimper whimper…”
When the three vicious dogs had just approached, they too seemed to be affected, each one tucking their tails tightly between their legs, their ears drooping down.
However, as Xiao Xiao quickly overcame the effects of the pain, they also visibly eased. At that moment, alert and raising their heads, upon hearing the command, they immediately let out a low growl and lunged forward fiercely.
The chaotic and anguished crowd before them was forcibly torn open, and Xiao Xiao strode into the gap.
The ability of explosive thinking not only helped him resist the effects of the dark red tentacles, but also allowed him to search for gaps to dodge and maneuver through in the coffee shop where shadows flickered.
And the three ferocious hunting dogs at his side had already charged forward fiercely, tearing open a bloody path for him.
Among them, there was also mixed in the sharp, piercing bark of a black and white dog……
……The ferocious black dog had already rushed forward, biting desperately, while the big yellow-furred dog loyally stayed by Xiao Xiao’s side, helping it block any hand or dark red tentacle that reached toward them.
Only it jumped onto the coffee shop table and sang excitedly.
……
“This is still a bit tricky…”
During this same process, Xiao Xiao had already begun to feel some pressure.
Although he had the ability of thought explosion to help him figure out how to dodge the attacks from the frenzied crowds, and three fierce hunting dogs to eliminate one enemy after another for him.
But he still felt that he was almost at the end of his rope. The thought explosion ability could help him find a safe position, but in this shop, there was simply no position of safety—he could only keep fighting on.
He had been caught several times within half a minute of rushing in.
Each time he was caught, it was as if invisible sharp thorns were planted deep in his mind, piercing his brain with excruciating pain.
With each capture, the pain accumulated, and he had no idea how much of the suffering substance’s effects his thought-explosion ability could still dilute for him.
Even the thought of retreating had crossed his mind repeatedly.
Yet, in this same dizzying and chaotic situation, another piece of information suddenly lifted his spirits.
The three vicious dogs remained loyal, desperately snapping and biting at all enemies who drew near Xiao Xiao, not caring in the slightest even as their fur was torn to shreds.
And as they instinctively bit and devoured, more and more of the strange flesh and blood was swallowed down by them.
In the midst of extreme tension, Xiao Xiao suddenly sensed that some kind of mysterious information seemed to be directly imprinted into his somewhat dazed mind:
【Item Name: Three Adorable Hunting Dogs】
【Detected that pain substance is increasing, proceed with enhancement: Yes/No】
【Enhancement Cost: 70 Points】
【Enhancement Cost: 50 Points】
【Enhancement Cost: 30 Points】
【……】
【Detected that the item’s pain substance has reached its limit. Proceed with enhancement: Yes/No】
【Enhancement Cost: 0 Points】
【……】
“It actually works?”
Xiao Xiao’s previous suspicion was confirmed, and a surge of intense excitement filled his heart, even momentarily overshadowing the torment of painful memories that had been haunting him like a shadow.
The words tumbled out: “Strengthen.”
……
……
Of course it had to be strengthened.
Back when it required a hundred points, he had already been thinking about strengthening it, let alone now when it was free?
As his words fell, the three cute-looking hunting dogs suddenly seemed to sense something, and their movements abruptly stopped as they were tearing at the surrounding crowd.
Xiao Xiao even felt that from deep within this city, there seemed to be a certain gaze directed toward this direction.
These three vicious dogs were positioned at the center of that gaze’s focus.