Wen Wen thought back and forth and realized that the biggest beneficiary of Stein’s deception technique was actually the Tings Hound.
Even if a Time Traveler used deception, they were destined to die, but the Tings Hound could bypass some rules by being deceived and directly attack ordinary people to absorb time.
The first time Wen Wen had encountered the Tings Hound, it appeared to be a brutal wild beast devoid of intelligence.
Back then, it had probably blocked its own intelligence, willingly being deceived by Stein to procure food and complete its slaughter.
Wen Wen looked at Stein with a cold laugh and said, "You think you’re using the deception technique to prolong your life, but in reality, you are just a tool for the hound to get more food. The hound can kill you at any time if it desires, regardless of the deception."
Stein turned his head away. This method had been used in his family for many years, and Wen Wen had made a definitive conclusion just by looking at it once. How could he believe that?
"Didn’t you notice something odd the last time the hound attacked you? It was because you could no longer serve your purpose as a tool, so it decided to deal with you directly."
Stein was stunned for a moment. Indeed, the last attack by the hound was completely different from the previous ones.
Wen Wen, pinching his chin, said, "If we infer from this direction, perhaps your ancestors managed to discover the deception technique because the hound provided them with clues..."
"And even the ceremony that enabled your family to obtain time traveling abilities was just a plot in itself."
"Perhaps your ancestors were merely some feed that that great being from another world found for his pet."
Faced with Wen Wen’s deductions, Stein naturally did not believe them, but Wen Wen’s words had indeed prompted him to think, the more he thought about it, the more he felt chilled to the core...
Wen Wen shook his head. Regardless of whether his speculation was correct, he had no intention of dabbling in time abilities.
Because it was possible that he had been targeted by the Tings Hound the very first time he tried to use time abilities, and the many strange rules were just to keep the feed alive longer, to produce more food.
Although Wen Wen had the Sanctuary and did not overly fear the Tings Hound, he did not want to keep hiding in the Sanctuary.
Therefore, Wen Wen turned to the second gain of this mission, the Mist Box placed under Stein.
After this object entered the Sanctuary, it was not locked in the Catastrophe Zone containment warehouse as Wen Wen had expected, but was locked in a cell with Stein.
The Sanctuary also subtly began to fill with mist. This was the Mist Box’s ability taking effect, although much slower in speed compared to the spread of mist in Nim City outside. However, if left unchecked, it would develop to the extent of Nim City.
Therefore, Wen Wen needed to find a way to deal with the Mist Box. Just as he thought about it, the always sealed metal box unexpectedly opened on its own.
"What’s going on here?"
Wen Wen had always believed that the Mist Box was the actual body of this Catastrophe Level containment item, but on further thought, since it was a box, it must contain something inside.
Moving a bit closer, Wen Wen saw an ancient black key placed inside.
Upon seeing the key, a strange feeling surged within Wen Wen. He waved at the key, and it flew into his hand on its own.
Grabbing the key, Wen Wen had a speculation and immediately stepped onto the stairs to the Central Area, arriving at the bottom floor of the Sanctuary, in a bizarre round room with only two doors.
After entering the room, the black key automatically flew up and landed on an empty wall.
A gray door appeared out of nowhere on a wall that previously held nothing, and the door automatically opened, revealing nothing but endless fog inside.
"Was this Mist Box originally a part of the Sanctuary?"
Wen Wen activated the Calamity Prison Supervisor state and cautiously touched the doorknob. The moment he touched it, Wen Wen’s consciousness flew outside the Sanctuary.
This "outside the Sanctuary" was not referring to the city of Nim outside but, rather, physically outside.
Wen Wen’s consciousness seemed to arrive at a world of indescribable colors where everywhere were unnameable patches of colors.
Some appeared as colorful lights shuttling back and forth at ultra-fast speeds, some as ink droplets slowly diffusing in water, and some resembled starry skies, flowing like water, with stars that seemed like worlds...
With Wen Wen’s knowledge and linguistic ability, he couldn’t possibly describe the sporadic views of this bizarre world.
This place seemed to be constantly changing yet filled with harmony.
And in this bizarre world, the only thing precisely describable with language was a huge transparent bubble.
Within that bubble was a five-storied building, resembling a pyramid, which Wen Wen recognized at a glance as the main body of the Catastrophe Containment Facility!
If Wen Wen were to measure it with instruments, he would find that every line and every angle on the giant pyramid was perfected to a fault, impossible to be created with human craftsmanship.
Outside the giant bubble, fog gradually appeared, enveloping the bubble.
All sorts of monsters emerged in the fog, swimming within it, each of them as powerful as that great fish!
Wen Wen exclaimed, "So that’s how it is, I understand now. The Mist Box was originally supposed to be an outer defense mechanism of the Sanctuary, combining with the Sanctuary to unleash its true power!"
If someone wanted to enter the Sanctuary from this bubble, they would have to first breach the fog’s defense.
Those great fish, at least at the True Order Realm, might then become Catastrophe Level powerful monsters.
This eerie world had given Wen Wen quite a lot, but he had stayed only briefly, not yet able to see the complete picture, when he started feeling dizzy.
It seemed this world was not one where normal beings could survive, at least not just the drifting consciousness of Wen Wen.
Feeling uncomfortable, Wen Wen’s consciousness whooshed back, barely able to stand steady.
The eerie world where the Sanctuary’s main body resided was still beyond Wen Wen’s reach for now, but being able to see the Sanctuary’s main body was already a tremendous gain.
After the key was returned to its place, aside from gaining a new defense mechanism, Wen Wen could feel some loosening on the fourth floor of the Sanctuary.
Wen Wen believed that by adding one or two more doors to the bottommost room, or by absorbing enough Catastrophe Energy with the Catastrophe Gloves, he should be able to open the Catastrophe Zone of the Sanctuary!
However, Wen Wen’s joy lasted only a short while before his brows furrowed again, as the fog inside the Sanctuary had not dispersed.
Wen Wen returned to Stein’s cell, only to see that the Mist Box had closed and was still under Stein.
"It seems that keeping the black key inside this box grants it some of the key’s abilities. Perhaps it’s the box itself causing trouble in Nim City, not the fog inside the box..."