Infinite Paradise
Chapter 53 - 43 Clara will strive hard to ascend to heaven!

Chapter 53: 43 Clara will strive hard to ascend to heaven!

Ascension light shuns Clara alone?

This made Le Cheng think of himself immediately. Was it because he had made Clara accumulate too much yang energy, therefore making the ascension light identify her as a living person?

After all, Clara and the first dungeon’s Mei and Ya were different. Although Mei and Ya were ghosts, due to the blessing of Slaanesh, they possessed new bodies. No matter how many Sexy Parties they held with him, it wouldn’t impact the purity of their spirits. But Clara was purely a Spiritual Body... The fusion of spirit and flesh, one’s yin qi greatly increased, while the other’s yang energy surged. It seemed there was some logic to it.

If that was really the case, then it was seriously messed up!

However, upon further thought, he felt that things were probably not that simple.

He carefully observed Clara’s expression and suddenly asked, "Clara, is your greatest wish still to return to Reincarnation?"

"Ah, of course."

"Then, besides returning to Reincarnation, do you have any other attachments?"

"Attachments?" Clara was taken aback. As their gazes met, she noticed Le Cheng’s handsome face, and her heart skipped a beat before she shyly turned her head away.

Le Cheng was all too familiar with that expression. He spread his hands out and said, "Well, if I’m not mistaken, you’ve probably become addicted."

"I-I’m not addicted, I just..."

Clara’s face turned red as she defended herself. Le Cheng comforted her with a smile, "Clara, there’s no need to feel embarrassed. It’s okay to admit it. After all, that sort of thing can easily become addictive. When I was your age, if I didn’t do it for a day, my body would feel like it was crawling with countless ants, especially for you since it was your first experience."

Le Cheng’s attempt at comfort only made Clara blush even more, wishing she could crawl into a hole.

Only Elizabeth looked confused, asking blankly, "What thing?"

"You want to know?"

"Yes."

"Well..."

"Don’t say it!" Clara pummeled Le Cheng’s chest with her small fists, working furiously to stop the words he was about to say, then forcing a smile, she turned to Elizabeth and said, "It’s, it’s probably because I still have unfulfilled wishes."

"Unfulfilled wishes? What are they?" Upon hearing this, Elizabeth instantly perked up, subconsciously clenching her fists tight. Although she didn’t know what Clara’s wish was, she knew she was about to go on a rampage.

"I..." Clara took a deep breath before slowly continuing, "In my life, I only have memories of my mother. I never knew who my father was, and my mother never mentioned him. After coming to Saint Elizabeth, although I met many uncles and older men, I found them quite frightening and didn’t dare to get close to them. Until I met Mr. Le Cheng..."

Damn, I treat you as a booty call, and you see me as a father figure?

Le Cheng was suddenly speechless.

Wait, this role-play might not be bad?

Seeing Elizabeth’s shocked eyes, Clara hurriedly gestured, "No, that’s not it, I didn’t see Mr. Le Cheng as a father. After all, I’m already over a hundred years old in actual age. It’s just that, when I’m with Mr. Le Cheng, I feel especially warm, especially secure, especially safe. It’s a feeling I’ve never experienced before in my life, so... perhaps deep down, I still have some attachments to this world."

At this point, Clara also realized her problem.

Her fellow companions had mostly suffered inhumane abuse at Saint Elizabeth, and those memories brought them nothing but pain and despair, so they had no attachment to this world and were solely longing for ascension. But she was different; she hadn’t been abused in life, had died peacefully and if it had been in the past, she might have ascended joyously alongside the others. But the days spent with Le Cheng, which filled her with a care that felt like that of a father or lover, not only healed the emotional void of her past but also sparked a hint of reluctance to leave.

Perhaps the ascension light omitted her because she still harbored some attachments.

Elizabeth understood and couldn’t help feeling somewhat deflated... It seemed this wish wasn’t something that could be resolved by killing, right?

"So, since you can’t ascend, what do you plan to do next?"

"I... I don’t know." Clara looked down, her eyes flicking towards Le Cheng from time to time.

Girl, your eyes have betrayed you.

But, harboring an extra female ghost is no big deal for Le Cheng. So, with a grand gesture, he said, "Since you have nowhere to go, just follow me for now. I love taking in homeless little girls. As for what comes after, whether you ascend to heaven or stay is entirely up to you. It’s rare to come to the mortal world, so just enjoy yourself."

"Really?" Clara was excited, "Thank you, Mr. Le Cheng, I... I will try hard to ascend!"

There’s no need to try too hard for that kind of thing.

Soon after, Le Cheng left the Inner World with two tokens.

Real tokens.

Setting aside whether the staff of Saint Elizabeth could see ghosts, walking out with two female ghosts was indeed earth-shattering. One misstep could land them on the trending searches, and this sort of major attention should not be left for other states to capitalize on.

Moreover, female ghosts generally fear daylight, so Elizabeth and Clara each attached themselves to the buttons of an inner garment worn by Le Cheng, carried around like tokens.

By this time, eight hours had passed since Le Cheng entered the Inner World. Catherine assumed he hadn’t come to work because he was probably dead. When Le Cheng reappeared, Catherine’s expression didn’t change at all; she simply clocked in for work as usual.

Although the devils of Saint Elizabeth had been thoroughly exorcized, the medical staff, whose cognition had been distorted, did not recover. Likewise, Saint Elizabeth Mental Hospital continued to be touted as a devil’s nest by people around the world, standing tall on the land of the United States and becoming an entity that all criminals feared and shunned.

When Le Cheng left Saint Elizabeth, the dungeon settlement arrived as expected.

[Player Gai Baonan has cleared the hidden dungeon of Saint Elizabeth Mental Hospital]

[Commencing settlement...]

[Dungeon difficulty: Nightmare]

[Main mission completed]

[Reward: 7000 points]

[Intelligence unlocked: You prevented the Nagou believers’ invasion of the real world and wielded divine authority, incarnating as the moon, patrolling for the moon. As a result, your existence has attracted Nagou’s attention. However, the Merciful Father is forgiving of all, and He does not hold a grudge against you. He even hopes you can become His beloved son, guiding you on the path forward.]

[Your player experience has been increased]

[You have unlocked the highest difficulty dungeon - Miracle]

[Comprehensive Evaluation: Your bravery is recognized by Paradise]

...

Does Saint Elizabeth’s hidden dungeon deserve the Nightmare level rating?

Le Cheng gave it some thought and felt it was appropriate.

Distortion of cognition and friendly ghosts; just these two factors alone were enough to deter most players. The former is almost unsolvable; players need to break through the dungeon in a very short time to undo the cognitive distortion. With the latter, if one lacks excellent communication skills and pushes the ghosts to the opposing side, they will lose crucial intelligence.

Then there is Elizabeth, who as the apparent final boss, is certainly powerful in her own right.

Even if players could defeat her, if they didn’t liberate her from the brain monster’s control and instead killed her outright, they couldn’t carry out subsequent operations. Not to mention, when players truly threaten Nagou’s invasion, there’s the Great Unclean One hiding behind the door.

The dungeon’s challenges are interconnected; it seems unremarkable at first, but everywhere lies fatal risk.

Even Le Cheng, if not for wielding divine authority, would’ve returned defeated when facing the Great Unclean One.

Of course, if he hadn’t used the divine authority, the Great Unclean One probably wouldn’t have crossed over in the first place.

Le Cheng tried to replay the dungeon in his mind. From his perspective, only deputies could clear this dungeon, and ordinary players were likely to die in droves.

Nightmare level dungeons are already this difficult; what then could be the scale of the Miracle dungeon, which is even beyond that?