Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 476 - 459 Plot Progression

Chapter 476: Chapter 459 Plot Progression

Looking at the initial situation, the story of "Blood of Lies" erupts with three disasters, which at first do not appear to have too much connection.

They are, specifically, earthquakes, Beastification Disease, and a doll rebellion.

Violent earthquakes directly destroyed both the internal and external transportation systems of Charlton City, not only causing many buildings within the city to collapse and blocking the roads but also severely damaging the bridges, cable cars, and tunnels that connected the city to the outside, resulting in its complete isolation and turning it into a lone city.

However, the damage to the city from the earthquake was the least of its concerns.

Almost simultaneously with the earthquake, the previously sporadic occurrences of Beastification Disease suddenly burst out on a large scale. Many ordinary people quickly turned into haired monsters or living corpses, and among them, there were some special beings that transformed into exaggerated and terrifying monsters, whose destructive power far exceeded what the humans of Charlton City could handle.

To add insult to injury, the originally rational and docile dolls became crazed and began to indiscriminately attack humans.

Under the multiple crises of earthquakes, monsters, and dolls, the original order in Charlton City rapidly collapsed. The vast majority of the injured who did not receive timely treatment were finished off by the monsters and dolls, and the few survivors could only hide away, trapped in cages.

Due to blocked transportation, slow message transmission, and the difficulty for the outside world to repair the damaged bridges, tunnels, and cable car passages, Charlton City had effectively become a city of despair.

Not only could very few people become survivors, but they also had little chance of waiting for external rescue to arrive.

As players delved deeper into the game, the truth behind the conspiracy of Charlton City gradually came to light.

The tragedy of this city originated from the exploitation of underground veins, during which people accidentally discovered the ruins of a buried ancient civilization, along with a large amount of crystal ore mined from around the ruins.

The knowledge and resources brought back from the ruins allowed Charlton City, a town already famous for its doll craftsmanship, to develop at breakneck speed, almost reaching the pinnacle of this world’s civilization.

This development manifested in three distinct aspects:

Firstly, in terms of energy, people discovered that the large amount of crystal ore mined from underground was an extremely high-quality energy source, with a high energy density. Just a piece could drive a doll or a vehicle for a long time.

Consequently, all kinds of technologies that used these crystals as an energy source developed rapidly. People upgraded and modified their existing technologies, forging a completely new technological tree. That’s why Charlton City had the coexistence of gas lamps and crystal-powered carriages.

This efficient energy source also made it possible for movable dolls to exist. These dolls, which initially were only for decoration, now only needed a piece of crystal, some delicate gears, and spring mechanisms, to become useful helpers to humans.

Secondly, in terms of doll manufacturing, people were amazed to find that the dolls powered by special crystals were not purely tools. They were capable of rational thought, verbal communication, and could undertake most of the labor humans could.

The specific principle could not be explained, but many believed it to be a gift from the heavens.

However, people noticed that when the crystal depleted and they replaced it with a new one, the dolls’ personalities seemed to undergo some slight changes.

Thus, the master craftsmen at the Puppet Workshop conjectured that this might be because those crystals encapsulated the memories and thoughts of ancient humans. As a result, they divided the interior crystals of the dolls into two different modules: one for thinking called the "Core Module," and another for providing power called the "Energy Module."

The Core Module does not wear out or require replacement, ensuring the stability of the dolls’ personalities, while the Energy Module needed replenishment periodically to assure a sufficient supply of power.

These new types of dolls were highly sought after upon release, and the doll manufacturers constantly screened and tested various crystals that could serve as Core Modules. They advertised with phrases like "New dolls are smarter, with more stable personalities," hoping to expand their marketability.

Not only could they be used for factory production and underground mining, but they could also enter thousands of households as servants and housekeepers.

Even some extreme Puppet Craftsmen, through their research on the Unclean Blood and crystals, hoped to achieve a form of "consciousness uploading" service, enabling humans on the brink of death to achieve immortality in the bodies of dolls.

Finally, in terms of medical advancement.

Experiments found that after grinding these crystals into powder and dissolving them in water for injection into the body, not only could they heal diseases, but they could also significantly enhance physical strength, spiritual power, and various other bodily functions like self-healing ability.

People who had been injected with the crystalline substance saw their blood undergoing a subtle transformation, becoming a miraculous cure for diseases.

Those who had received Blood Therapy more frequently would find their blood naturally coagulating after some time outside the body, eventually becoming crystalline just like the original substance. Heating and evaporation could further accelerate this process.

Blood turned into energy, energy turned into medicine, forming a perfect cycle.

These three technological breakthroughs led to rapid development in Charlton City. It started to transform into a city known for puppets, energy, and healing. Massive investments poured in, and an abundance of Puppet labor and newcomers ensured plentiful workforce, propelling the city’s expansion and construction at a breakneck pace.

Along with the city’s growth expanded the people’s faith in the divine.

Crystals found in the ruins were termed Divine Blood, and those who injected themselves with Divine Blood proclaimed to have heard God’s revelations. As a result, churches devoted to God flourished quickly, and in the new city plan, a cathedral of unprecedented scale was laid out at the town center.

From then on, inhabitants of Charlton City, no matter where they resided, could find the most convenient route to the great cathedral to heed God’s guidance.

Of course, there were also many dissenting voices. They referred to this blood as "Unclean Blood," noticing tiny parasites within and finding that as the blood’s concentration increased, the circulation within the human body would gradually slow down.

However, this did not raise much alarm or attention, as in the short term, the blood hadn’t brought about any catastrophic consequences.

Although outbreaks of Beastification Disease occurred sporadically, they were generally quickly contained without leading to serious consequences. Whether it was the specialized Hunters or the security puppets, they were swift to subdue the Monsters and incinerate them while retrieving the crystals within their bodies.

The church claimed there was no evidence to support a connection between Beastification Disease and Unclean Blood and maintained Blood Therapy was still the best remedy for saving lives.

Naturally, they could not completely deny the link between Beastification Disease and Blood Therapy, attributing the disease to the afflicted already having imperfections and an incompatibility with Divine Blood, which led to such consequences. But these chances were not high; despite the risks, they were far smaller than the benefits this medical breakthrough brought.

And so, within just a few years, Charlton City swelled rapidly, and Humans built a Miracle City here, also known as the City of God.

But not long after our unfortunate—or perhaps fortunate—protagonist arrived in Charlton City, the metropolis suddenly faced a cataclysmic disaster.

The three miracles became three disasters.

A vast number of people who had undergone Blood Therapy broke out with Beastification Disease, some mutating into horrific Monsters, others into crazed living corpses, completely losing their minds and violently attacking any creature they saw.

Previously docile puppets started attacking Humans indiscriminately, and some, as if awakening to self-awareness, fell into madness, perpetually performing the horrifying act of slamming their heads against walls.

After an earthquake, the instinctual craving for Unclean Blood drove Monsters, the living dead, and puppets to loot all the crystals used for energy in carriages and other equipment, nearly paralyzing the city with only a few devices like gas lamps able to function marginally.

As the players explored, they encountered various factions within Charlton City—diverse churches, Hunters specialized in hunting wild beasts, the Craftsmen Union keen on creating and studying puppets, mysterious schools researching the Blood of the Ancient Gods...

Even the factions engaged in researching the Blood of the Ancient Gods had several branches, such as the Starry Sky School, Deep Sea School, Moon School, and more.

These groups each held different beliefs and stances; some argued in favor of eradicating certain beasts and strictly prohibiting the spread of Blood Therapy, while others vehemently preached its benefits. Some schools believed in pushing the body’s evolution to surpass human frailty, while others felt combining advanced puppetry with the superior spiritual power was the path to divinity.

They all had one thing in common: they were all devastated in this calamity, barely clinging to survival.

Among these groups, one that appeared as the hidden manipulative force gradually came to light—the Eternal School.

Among the many schools, the Eternal School was notoriously infamous, universally despised across Charlton City. They conducted a series of relentless experiments, unlike other schools that often focused on enhancing either the body or the spiritual power with certain restraints. The Eternal School did not limit themselves to any single method, leaving no stone unturned.

What was more terrifying was that they would combine various methods hoping for a chemical reaction between them, often creating unimaginable disasters.

During the disaster, the player scoured every corner of Charlton City, witnessing many tragedies caused by the secret experiments of the Eternal School, yet never seeing any member of the school or their corpses.

And this further confirmed the suspicion that this group of madmen was hiding somewhere, clandestinely orchestrating this conspiracy.

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