256-260

*Chapter 256: The Secret*

“Hurry! While the Ringmaster is distracted outside, leave the circus now!”

Amid the chaos, the *Bearded Woman* appeared backstage and urged Amanda.

“Why are you helping me?”

Instead of showing relief, Amanda’s face was filled with suspicion as she questioned the Bearded Woman's motives.

“Not everyone in the circus wants to live like this. We have no choice.”

“If that’s the case, why don’t you fight back?”

Amanda’s gaze fell on the Bearded Woman’s thick beard, her brows furrowed in confusion.

From what Amanda had observed about Barnum’s treatment of *General Thumb*, she couldn’t believe there was no resentment among the circus members.

“We have resisted before, but inside the circus, the Ringmaster Barnum wields a terrifying curse. It grants him the power to punish anyone who disobeys his orders. This power comes from the circus itself. As long as Barnum remains the Ringmaster, we cannot defy him.”

As Amanda had seen, Barnum ruled the circus through cruel methods.

“Can’t you choose someone else to be the Ringmaster? Someone everyone can accept?”

Amanda struggled to understand why the circus members, who despised their way of life, seemed resigned to their fate.

“The Ringmaster isn’t chosen by us. The circus itself selects the leader. I don’t know much about the process, but to become the Ringmaster, one must gain the circus’s recognition.”

The Bearded Woman explained the underlying truth to Amanda.

“So, unless the current Ringmaster willingly steps down or dies, the circus won’t choose a new leader. Only when the position is vacant will the circus pick someone else from among its members.”

Hearing this, Amanda glanced around the circus, which seemed alive, roaring and shaking with a will of its own. She began to piece together some understanding of its existence.

“Well then…”

Amanda opened her mouth to ask more, but—

“I know what you’re about to say…”

The Bearded Woman interrupted, her voice firm. “The Ringmaster isn’t so easy to kill. After being chosen by the circus, Barnum used the curse to hide his mutated heart somewhere within the circus. No one knows where it is. Some even believe this is just a decoy, a trap to expose dissenters.”

The Bearded Woman revealed everything she knew to Amanda, unsure why she was sharing such secrets with a stranger.

She glanced at the chaotic battle between *Siren Head* and the circus members.

Grabbing Amanda’s arm, the Bearded Woman pulled her toward the exit. “There’s no time. Let’s go!”

“Wait!”

The immense strength of the Bearded Woman dragged Amanda forward despite her resistance. Gritting her teeth, Amanda shouted, “Angela—she’s one of my agents! She was investigating with me.”

“She’s already been affected by the circus’s curse.”

The Bearded Woman’s pace didn’t falter. She glanced at Angela, unconscious on the ground, and shook her head. “If you take her out, the Ringmaster will use the curse to track you both down again easily.”

Her meaning was clear: Angela was beyond saving.

But abandoning her subordinate wasn’t something Amanda could accept.

She struggled to break free from the Bearded Woman’s grip, but her strength was overwhelming. Amanda’s resistance was futile.

---

“The fight is at a standstill.”

Through his system panel, Allen watched the confrontation between the circus and Siren Head. He raised an eyebrow.

As the script’s creator, Allen was well aware of the power dynamics of each character.

The intense battle would soon reach a decisive conclusion.

Shifting his focus, the fragmented system screen displayed scenes inside the circus.

The Bearded Woman’s doubt was understandable.

The information she shared with Amanda was all part of Allen’s plan, meant to lay the groundwork for the script’s conclusion.

Even though Barnum, the Ringmaster, had shown him sycophantic devotion during earlier scenes, Allen wasn’t about to alter the plot.

“Sorry, Barnum, but you’re the designated villain of this story,” Allen muttered as he prepared to advance the script.

---

“It’s about time.”

At the edge of the town, Spike calculated the timing silently.

“Zhou, I need you to take me to the circus.”

“No problem.”

Agent Zhou responded without hesitation, starting the car with a calm expression.

“What about me? I want to come too!”

Agent Phil hurriedly asked as Zhou revved the engine.

“You can’t.”

Spike glanced at Phil’s large, bovine nose and shook his head.

“With the curse on you, getting close to the circus would turn you into one of those townspeople.”

Phil opened his mouth to argue but glanced down at his hooved hands. He sighed in resignation.

“The military will arrive soon. Maybe you can wait here and warn them not to attack the malformed townsfolk indiscriminately.”

Zhou leaned out of the car window, reminding Phil before they drove off.

He was worried that uninformed soldiers might launch an assault on the town without understanding the situation.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter 257: The Package

"Alright, I'll remind them," Agent Phil nodded in response to Agent Zhou's words.

"Oh, by the way, besides the military, an important guest will also be arriving shortly. Just let them know we're at the circus when they get here," Spike chimed in from the passenger seat, leaning forward to address Agent Phil.

"Now, let's move out."

With that, Spike flashed a menacing grin at Agent Phil, patted the car door, and turned toward Agent Zhou in the driver’s seat.

Following Spike's command, Agent Zhou started the car and drove toward the circus on the outskirts of the town.

Left standing in place, Agent Phil silently watched the car disappear into the distance. Looking down at his cloven hooves, he sighed in resignation.

In his current state, fighting wasn’t an option—he could barely hold a gun.

Perhaps staying behind was truly the best choice.

"Woop-woop! Woop-woop! Danger! Warning, danger!"

At the circus, though the alarm sirens mounted on Siren Head's "head" were shattered, it still clung to its purpose. Blood oozing from its jagged maw, it unleashed piercing wails to drown out Jenny Lind’s haunting melody.

Its skeletal claws, massive and razor-sharp, swung toward the circus members below, resembling two enormous scythes.

Standing over three meters tall, it towered like a colossus compared to the circus performers but was still dwarfed by Siren Head’s ten-meter frame.

Thrown aside by the monstrous claws, Siren Head emitted a shrill screech. Yet, the injuries inflicted by General Thumb and Lobster Man, among other circus members, healed rapidly before their eyes.

With its unnaturally long legs, Siren Head leaped over the crowd, moving with alarming speed despite its size. It landed atop the circus tent, skeletal hands slashing the fabric and leaving deep gashes behind.

"ROAR!"

The tent's destruction unleashed chaos. The performers, previously calmed by Barnum's control, erupted into warped howls of fury.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"

Barnum’s face twisted with rage beneath his top hat as the performers' cacophony overwhelmed him.

His once-rotund figure began to bloat like a balloon. Buttons popped off his tight-fitting suit, his eyes bulged, and his mouth stretched unnaturally wide. In moments, he transformed into a grotesque, floating mass of flesh.

"You damnable creature..."

Hovering midair, Barnum glared at Siren Head. His now stubby arms clutched his top hat as he snarled through razor-sharp teeth.

"Your foolishness has undone all my hard work! Do you know how much it cost me to restore the furious circus to its former glory? How many brilliant performances were canceled because of your savage rampage? This is all your fault, you wretched Siren Head!"

With his grin widening grotesquely, Barnum lashed out with a whip, the sharp crack echoing through the air.

"Now, I’ve decided—you're no longer a circus exhibit. I'm going to shred you piece by piece and feed you to the circus to make up for my losses!"

Crack!

The whip snapped sharply as Barnum's words ended.

ROAR!

In response, the entire ground quaked. The circus itself, now resembling a massive beast, lunged toward Siren Head with ferocious howls.

Though Siren Head smashed the attacking tent into the ground with its clawed hand, the tent twisted back unnaturally and wrapped around it.

Caught off guard, Siren Head struggled, emitting its trademark sirens as it tried to tear the tent away.

Its enormous strength, which had once obliterated forests with ease, now faltered under the tent's grip. Its raw power was stifled, rendering its speed, invisibility, and shapeshifting useless.

"Well done..."

Barnum, now a floating flesh orb, hovered closer, excitement gleaming on his distorted face.

He cracked his whip again, urging the circus tent to tighten its hold.

"Warning! Danger! Warning!"

The sounds coming from Siren Head’s speakers grew increasingly garbled. Snippets of emergency broadcasts, advertisements, and distorted news reports mixed into a chaotic mess, rendering its cries incomprehensible.

Amid the relentless tightening, the monstrous entity’s skeletal frame began to buckle. The once-imposing figure shrank to half its original size under the tent's crushing force.

For most creatures, such relentless pressure would have meant certain death.

But Siren Head, a survivor from the ancient world, possessed an extraordinary resilience. Even in its dire state, it squirmed with relentless vitality, showcasing its indomitable will to survive.

ROAR!

The circus tent howled again, conveying its frustration at being unable to finish the job.

"Damn it!"

Barnum’s expression darkened as he sensed the growing instability of the tent’s emotions. He floated closer, placing his cane on its surface to gauge the situation.

RIP—

Suddenly, a massive tear appeared in the fabric.

A skeletal claw shot out from the gash, seizing Barnum in a crushing grip.

(Chapter End)

*Chapter 258: Exposed*

Squelch!

A skeletal, massive hand reached out from within the circus tent, grabbing Barnum, the ringmaster. Yet, his face showed no sign of panic.

He opened his sharp mouth, exhaling deeply.

Within mere seconds, Barnum's bloated body, which had swelled like a balloon, deflated rapidly, collapsing like a punctured rubber ball.

With his thin, bony frame resembling a stick, Barnum slipped out of Siren Head's grasp, floating gently like a sheet of paper until landing on the back of the elephant, Jiang Bao.

"Well done, Jiang Bao," Barnum praised, adjusting his tilted top hat as he complimented the elephant beneath him.

Stepping off Jiang Bao's rough back onto the ground, Barnum tilted his head back, watching Siren Head trapped within the circus tent's tight grip. Relief flickered across his skeletal face.

He had narrowly escaped being crushed by Siren Head's hand.

If not for his quick reflexes and the use of his cursed, deformed powers to alter his body shape and slip away, his body would have been obliterated. Even if he survived, piecing his broken form back together would have been a colossal hassle.

"Step back, Jiang Bao," Barnum instructed, his voice steady despite lingering fear.

Obediently, the elephant retreated a few steps.

Raising his cane, Barnum mustered all his strength and struck the ground forcefully several times.

Thud, thud, thud!

Each resonant impact released a surge of cursed power through Barnum's cane.

"She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene…

I said don’t mind…

She said I am the one…"

The distorted lyrics of Billie Jean mingled with other bizarre noises, echoing chaotically from within the circus tent. Siren Head’s alarm signals grew erratic, blending with what sounded like the roars of wild beasts.

Scales and feathers began to sprout uncontrollably on Siren Head's skeletal hand that had reached into the tent.

In a desperate bid to counteract the deforming curse, Siren Head's hand started to transform. A rocky, stone-like shell emerged on the back of its hand, resembling a wall.

However, the shell only lasted a few seconds before being overtaken by a dense tangle of scales and feathers. These grotesque growths quickly spread from its hand toward its main body, hidden within the tent.

The once chaotic alarm sirens dwindled, replaced by a monotone wail—a sound akin to the dying cries of a wounded beast.

Hearing this pitiful cry, a sinister smile crossed Barnum's gaunt face.

"Wait, don’t kill it just yet," he said, limping toward the tent while leaning heavily on his cane.

Barnum’s voice rang sharp and piercing as he addressed the roaring circus tent. “Next, I plan to feature Siren Head in a special circus exhibit. I’ll dissect it in front of the audience and chop off its head. I guarantee it will be a spectacular performance that will leave everyone satisfied.”

The tent responded with an earth-shaking roar of approval.

Under Barnum’s watchful eyes, the tent reluctantly released the battered Siren Head. Returning to its original form as the circus canopy, the tent's battle wounds began to seal themselves under an unseen force, leaving behind hideous scars.

Watching the furious tent settle back into calmness, Barnum let out a sigh of relief.

He turned his gaze to the massive Siren Head.

Limping forward with his cane, Barnum stopped in front of the creature, looking up at its grotesque, scale-and-feather-covered form.

His thin lips curled into a cruel grin, his mustached face twisting with malice. Pulling out a whip, he lashed it viciously against Siren Head’s drooping head.

"Now, tell me, you fool. Who sent you here?!"

Barnum knew Siren Head’s nature well enough to understand it wouldn’t have come to the circus on its own without someone guiding it.

The whip cracked repeatedly, each strike laced with Barnum’s cursed power. With every lash, the curse on Siren Head intensified, spreading scales and feathers across its enormous body, even covering the speaker-like heads with vibrant plumage.

“Lock it up and keep it alive until the next circus exhibition,” Barnum ordered, his voice cold as he finally lowered his whip after dozens of strikes without receiving an answer.

The circus performers hesitated briefly before obeying.

The diminutive General Thumb rushed forward, grabbing ropes to bind Siren Head. Other performers quickly joined in. The elephant Jiang Bao wrapped its trunk around the ropes, while the Lobster Man used his claws to cut and pass lengths of rope to the Two-Headed Sisters.

Bound by the rules of the circus, they couldn’t defy Barnum’s commands.

Watching his performers obey with fearful expressions, Barnum felt smug, nodding in satisfaction.

As he turned away, something caught his eye.

“Wait a moment…”

His gaze froze on Jenny Lind, the “Swedish Nightingale.”

Grinning wickedly, he hobbled toward her.

Staring at Jenny’s delicate face, his voice dripped with malice.

"Where is the Bearded Lady? Why don’t I see her in the circus?"

---

*Chapter 259: Punishment*

"......"

The Circus.

With Barnum's sharp voice, the atmosphere turned dangerous in an instant.

Several circus members near Siren Head paused their actions, their eyes filled with worry as they glanced at the "Swedish Nightingale" standing before Barnum.

Facing the circus ringmaster head-on, Jenny Lind, however, remained remarkably composed.

"The Bearded Lady was injured during the fight with Siren Head just now."

"Is that so?"

Barnum's gaze lingered on Jenny Lind for a moment longer after hearing her explanation before reluctantly pulling his eyes away.

"I don't care what kind of injury she has—tell her to get back here immediately. Otherwise, she'll have a worse fate awaiting her."

After issuing his command, Barnum turned around, leaning on his cane, and refocused his attention on Siren Head before him.

"Huff~"

Watching Barnum's retreating back, Jenny Lind silently breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wait, you're lying, Jenny!"

However, before she could fully relax, the circus ringmaster spun back around, a triumphant grin spreading across his face as he exposed her deceit.

"The Bearded Lady never fought Siren Head at all. She wasn’t involved in the battle from the very start..."

With a flick of his whip, Barnum wrapped it around Jenny Lind’s slender neck, pulling her close. His expression, hidden under his top hat, grew increasingly menacing.

"Now, I’ll give you one more chance: tell me where the Bearded Lady has run off to, or you’ll take her place as the circus's new Bearded Lady..."

As Barnum threatened her, the curse of distortion crept along the whip and onto Jenny Lind. Golden facial hair began to faintly emerge beneath her delicate features.

"I'm here, Ringmaster."

Before the curse could fully transform Jenny Lind into the new Bearded Lady, a sturdy figure in a dress stepped out of the shadows.

It was the Bearded Lady herself.

She looked at Jenny Lind, who was caught in Barnum's grip, and forced herself to stay calm.

Seeing the Bearded Lady return, Barnum reluctantly released the whip from Jenny Lind's neck. As the whip unwound, the distorted energy dissipated, and Jenny Lind’s face returned to its original, exquisite appearance.

"I was too scared to join the fight against Siren Head earlier," the Bearded Lady said, trying her best to appear composed under Barnum’s piercing gaze.

"Scared?"

Barnum’s lips curled into a sharp-toothed grin beneath his hat.

"You expect me to believe that, Bearded Lady?"

Limping toward her, Barnum scrutinized her face, obscured by thick facial hair, and her evasive eyes. His tone was sharp and sinister.

"Or are you ready to face the consequences of lying to me?"

He raised his cane and tapped it lightly on her shoulder.

In the next instant, thick, coarse hair began to uncontrollably sprout all over the Bearded Lady’s body. Wrapped in the growth, she became an unnatural mass of fur. Clenching her teeth against the excruciating pain of the hair bursting from her pores, she declared with resolve, "I’ve told you the truth, Ringmaster!"

Behind them, Jenny Lind clenched her fists tightly, struggling to keep her emotions in check as she watched the Bearded Lady endure the curse's torment.

"Good, very good."

Turning back, Barnum cast a meaningful glance at the "Swedish Nightingale."

With a dark expression, he nodded before fixing his gaze on the Bearded Lady, who was now enveloped in black fur.

"If you’re so terrified of Siren Head, then you’ll have plenty of time to get... closer to it. You’ll never be apart again."

With those words, Barnum tapped the Bearded Lady’s shoulder again with his cane.

The hair on her body began to writhe as if alive, crawling along the ground and inching toward Siren Head.

Seeing this, the other circus members quickly stepped back, avoiding the grotesque sight. Their eyes flickered with unease as they watched the Bearded Lady and her crawling hair, a pang of pity crossing their faces.

Dragged by the living hair, the Bearded Lady was pulled toward Siren Head. Her fur began to spread over Siren Head's gaunt frame, writhing as if it had found a new host, penetrating its hollow body. Siren Head wailed, its alarm-like cries echoing in futility as it failed to fend off the invasive hair.

Barnum's goal was clear: he intended to forcibly merge the Bearded Lady with Siren Head into a single grotesque monstrosity.

"Enough."

As the hair began to bind more of the Bearded Lady’s body to Siren Head, Jenny Lind suddenly spoke up.

"It was me. I ordered the Bearded Lady to release the female investigator held in the circus."

"If punishment is required, it should fall on me. The Bearded Lady was only following my orders."

Barnum paused, his hand halting the crawling hair. Turning to Jenny Lind, he smirked, a glint of triumph flashing in his eyes.

Feigning sorrow, he sighed and said, "Jenny, you’ve truly broken my heart. As the star of the circus, I’ve always treated you well, raised you up on the grandest stage, and this is how you repay me—with betrayal?"

Shaking his head, Barnum theatrically dabbed at his eyes, even shedding a few crocodile tears.

"As the ringmaster, I wish I could forgive you. Truly, I do. But the rules of the circus demand that betrayal carries a price. Even I can’t change that."

He waved his hand dismissively, his fake sentimentality vanishing.

"But first, let’s finish the punishment at hand."

A sinister laugh escaped Barnum’s lips as he turned back toward the Bearded Lady, whose body was already partly fused with Siren Head.

After all, he’d never promised to spare the Bearded Lady, even if Jenny Lind confessed.

For those who dared to betray the circus, Barnum had no mercy.

(End of Chapter)

*Chapter 260: The History of the Circus*

Inside the circus.

Barnum’s laughter was sharp, like a knife stabbing into everyone’s heart.

The “Thumb General” glanced at the hairy, barely alive “Bearded Lady” entangled with Siren Head, then at his increasingly tiny hands. A sorrowful expression, like mourning a fellow creature’s demise, spread across his grotesquely large head.

“So, the reality behind the circus is far less joyful than its stage performances?”

However, at that moment—

A slightly mocking voice interrupted Barnum’s laughter.

“…”

The laughter stopped abruptly. Barnum turned toward the voice and saw a man with slightly drooping eyes surveying the circus scene with a casual expression. The man nonchalantly addressed the circus leader:

“Funny, I seem to recall you looking a lot plumper when you were performing on stage.”

Hearing Spike’s taunt, Barnum’s gaze swept past Agent Zhou and Amanda, who stood by Spike’s side. A sneering smile crept across his face under his top hat as he turned to Jenny Lind and said:

“It seems all your efforts were in vain, Jenny. You worked so hard to help them escape the circus, only for them to deliver themselves back here.”

“…”

Under Barnum’s mocking words, Jenny Lind glanced at Amanda beside Spike. Her expression remained unchanged.

In truth, as she had told the Bearded Lady, none of them could escape the circus. Whether it was Mary Shaw, Amanda, or anyone else.

“Sorry to interrupt your lengthy monologue, though I can sense your pride…”

Spike cut off Barnum, then continued, “Of course, it’s not hard to understand. After all, according to your personal history, you’re nothing but a selfish, arrogant, and greedy man.”

“Personal history?”

Hearing Spike’s description, Agent Zhou furrowed his brows slightly and shot him a puzzled look.

“Haven’t you noticed?”

Meeting Agent Zhou’s confused gaze, Spike explained while staring at the now-silent Barnum:

“Whether it’s the Lobster Boy, the Thumb General, or the grotesque performances that followed, they all mirror historical accounts of an infamous circus. That circus was called Barnum’s Greatest Show on Earth…”

“Am I wrong, Barnum?”

“Barnum? The circus leader Barnum?”

Agent Zhou looked at the circus leader before them in shock upon hearing Spike’s explanation.

For someone as stoic as Agent Zhou, showing such an expression indicated the impact this revelation had on him.

After all, Barnum was no unknown figure.

On the contrary, as one of the most controversial individuals during the darkest era of public relations, Barnum left a notorious mark on history.

In the first half of the 19th century, a wave of sensationalist newspaper campaigns swept across America. Early on, they adhered to the credo, “All publicity is good publicity,” deceiving the public for profit. Barnum epitomized this trend, orchestrating social sensations to make a fortune.

This ignoble period of manipulating public perception, disregarding public interest, and exploiting ignorance was labeled the “Barnum Era.”

Barnum himself famously remarked about his performances:

“The reason I am so popular is that my shows contain something for everyone, and I ensure that ‘there’s a sucker born every minute.’”

This legacy even gave rise to the psychological term “Barnum Effect,” named in his honor.

But historically, Barnum lived in the 19th century. If he were alive today, he’d be over 200 years old. The Barnum standing in the circus now hardly looked his age.

“It seems you’ve done your research about my past.”

Barnum neither confirmed nor denied the name Spike used.

Adjusting his top hat, Barnum revealed sharp teeth in a grin.

“Unfortunately, none of that changes what’s about to happen. In this circus, I am the sole master. Everyone must obey my commands. Are you ready?”

---

*On the outskirts of Bandera Town.*

Agent Phil, left behind, glanced uneasily in the direction of the town’s circus.

Within the town, animals twisted by curses into grotesque forms rampaged, destroying everything in sight. Gunfire echoed continuously.

The townspeople, unaware that these twisted creatures were once fellow residents, treated them as terrifying monsters.

Phil was powerless to help.

In his current state, if he approached the townspeople to reveal the truth, he’d likely be shot on sight, mistaken for another of the cursed monsters.

“Where is Spike?”

A distorted voice suddenly broke Phil’s train of thought.

Turning, Phil saw a tall figure in a red suit standing silently beside him. The figure’s presence was so ghostly that if not for the question, Phil wouldn’t have noticed him at all.

Though young in appearance, the figure exuded an aura of maturity and inscrutability.

In response to the figure’s inquiry, Phil instinctively repeated what Spike had instructed earlier:

“The circus.”

“Thank you.”

With a nod, the red-suited figure vanished like a blurry image.

Moments after the figure disappeared, Phil snapped out of his daze, shaking his head at the now-empty scene. Remembering Spike’s earlier words, he muttered:

“Could this be the ‘guest’ Spike mentioned?”

Phil furrowed his brows, pondering the situation.

But his thoughts were interrupted by the rumbling of vehicles on the road leading to the town. Clouds of dust accompanied the vibrations.

The military had arrived.

Seeing the endless stream of tanks and armored vehicles, Phil quickly raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

He hadn’t forgotten his current state or the effects of the curse. The last thing he wanted was to be mistaken for a threat and eliminated by the approaching soldiers.

(End of Chapter)