Chapter 27: The Devil Tree

"So, you're the park manager?"

Chen Guangxi scrutinized the Ratman. This guy in a mascot costume gave her a sense of unfathomable depth.

Not human, but not a ghost either.

An even more bizarre, more extraordinary anomaly.

At first glance at the park manager, Zhou Yuan saw a prompt:

"He wanted to make everyone happy but didn't realize he was doing something foolish until tragedy struck. Now he regrets it."

Doing something foolish? It should be related to the castle becoming an anomaly... Zhou Yuan thought.

Could this incident be man-made?

While Zhou Yuan's thoughts were racing, the Ratman park manager displayed the traditional etiquette of Yingzhou, bowing to everyone at ninety degrees:

"That's right, I am the manager of Happyland Castle."

The group exchanged glances. He was surprisingly polite.

"Honestly, I didn't expect you to complete all the projects. It seems someone helped you out..." The Ratman park manager's eyes scanned the group, finally resting on Zhou Yuan at the back, with a deepening gaze.

As the park manager, he controlled everything in the park. Only with his consent could outsiders enter Happyland Castle—of course, the Mobile Task Force had forced their way in, but since they came from the federal authorities, it wasn't surprising they managed it.

What truly intrigued him was Zhou Yuan, a wild extraordinary person... No, not even a true extraordinary person, just a quasi-extraordinary person.

This quasi-extraordinary person had escaped his perception, appearing in the park without any warning, which was simply unbelievable.

Apart from that, Zhou Yuan had displayed various incredible abilities, like always taking the correct path in the maze, even finding shortcuts; recognizing the essence of the carousel and the roller coaster with just one look; and using unknown methods to wipe out his negative emotions in the Ferris wheel...

This young man must have some big secrets...

"We just helped each other out," Gu Honggao stepped forward and directly asked, "Was it you who appeared in front of me that day as a staff member?"

"It was me."

"So, can you tell us the truth now?"

"Of course." The Ratman park manager slowly walked behind his desk, sat in the chair, lit a cigarette, and began to talk about the past.

"If we trace back to the origins, it really starts before the Third World War.

But I know you probably don't want to hear a long story, so I'll keep it brief."

The Ratman park manager took a puff of his cigarette, smoke coming out of his nostrils. It seemed the mascot costume had become a part of him, not just something worn.

"Happyland Castle is a family business. From my great-grandfather's generation, our family has always been dedicated to bringing joy to the world.

To some, this may seem like a childish pursuit, but to me, it's a very romantic endeavor—I'm creating happiness.

Seeing children playing in the castle, adults smiling, I would feel a sense of satisfaction and pride. To me, that was the meaning of life."

"Thanks to the continuous efforts of the family, Happyland Castle had a great reputation worldwide, with a steady stream of visitors and a flourishing business."

"But—"

The Ratman park manager's tone changed, sighing.

"—In recent years, social pressure had gradually increased.

Economic recession, aging population, declining birth rates, societal conflicts... along with mortgage and car loans...

Faced with pervasive and everywhere pressures, people's negative emotions kept rising. Everyone seemed like a powder keg, ready to explode with the slightest spark.

During that time, sixteen brawls occurred within a month over trivial matters, an unprecedented number.

Though this didn't reduce the number of visitors, I could feel the park's atmosphere growing oppressive, negative emotions were rampant."

"One day, while inspecting the park, I discovered a tree I had never seen before.

I was troubled by some matters at that time, unable to sleep for nights. But when I approached that tree, I suddenly felt a weight lifted off my shoulders and no longer felt anxious."

"I was puzzled, so I started observing secretly and found that whoever approached the tree had their negative emotions absorbed, making them feel lighthearted and happy.

This tree seemed to have some magic power, able to cleanse the gloom from people's hearts. For Happyland Castle, it was like a priceless treasure.

At that time, I was overjoyed, thinking that with this tree, everyone could be happy again."

The Ratman park manager's voice turned bitter:

"But I was wrong. I made a huge mistake. I shouldn't have touched something I couldn't control.

The tree grew larger and larger, its influence expanding. Eventually, as soon as visitors stepped into Happyland Castle, their negative emotions were absorbed.

This led to Happyland Castle's reputation skyrocketing and drawing even larger crowds.

Consequently, the tree grew more rampantly.

The weirdest part was, I was the only one who could see the tree. Even when it grew too big to ignore, no one noticed its existence."

"I got scared and decided to call the police, but the tree acted first.

It extended a vine and pierced me. I thought I would die, but I didn't. Instead, I became this ghostly figure."

"So the tree is the source of all this?" Gu Honggao asked.

"No, no, no."

The Ratman park manager shook his head. "In fact, there are two sources of the anomaly: one is that damn tree, and the other is me."

He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, exhaling a sorrowful plume of smoke: "When I woke up, the entire Happyland Castle had turned into a living hell, bodies everywhere.

I was distraught, feeling guilty for the tourists, and somehow I accidentally used some power to make all the tourists 'come back to life.'

Thus, the park became what you see now.

Later, I figured out the truth: the reason I didn't die was that 'Happyland Castle' saved me. Ha, sounds unbelievable, right?"

Unfortunately, the Ratman park manager didn't see any surprise on the faces of the experienced investigators.

He cleared his throat and continued: "Let me make it clear. Currently, there are two controllers of the amusement park: one is me, and the other is the magic tree.

It controls Happyland Castle to self-isolate, making tourists kill each other to absorb negative emotions and grow stronger. After everything's over, it will lift the isolation and leave, finding another place to repeat its actions.

But since Happyland Castle is my family's business, after the anomaly, it chose to assimilate me, making me another controller to fight against the magic tree.

Now the magic tree is suppressed, so what you need to do is simple."

The manager mimed a throat-slitting gesture:

"Kill it, and then you can leave."