Fifty years ago, the "Truth Corporation" rose to become one of the newest giant companies in the "Sleepless City" through a new type of alchemical technology called "Emotion Conversion."  

"Emotional energy" gradually became the most commonly used energy source throughout the "Sleepless City."  

At first, the "Emotion Conversion" technology was very simple, only capable of extracting human "joy" and "sorrow."  

The "Truth Corporation" created one emotional collector after another and provided the citizens of the "Sleepless City" with a large amount of entertainment products.  

Soon, this technology evolved rapidly, able to convert more and more types of "emotions," and the extraction technology became increasingly advanced.  

The extracted "emotions" were found not only usable as "fuel," but also as various materials to craft machinery and buildings.  

As the "Truth Corporation" grew larger, it began conducting deeper experiments that were previously forbidden.  

For example...  

They developed a substance called "Fear Oil" from the emotion named "Fear."  

This was the most "universal" kind of emotional creation. As fuel, it was the most efficient, and as a raw material, it could transform into almost any "substance."  

It could even disguise itself as "life."  

It seemed to confirm the saying:  

"Fear is the most instinctive and primal emotion deep within the human soul."  

But because of this, the extraction and storage of "fear" were also the most difficult, and a slight mistake could drive people insane or even directly kill them.  

Moreover, these solidified fears had another function that no other materials possessed...  

They could "store souls."  

Rather than "store," it was more like "imprison."  

The principle behind this "Fear Oil" disguising itself as life was that it could perfectly simulate human consciousness.  

Therefore, although the other two oligarch companies in "Sleepless City" united to suppress the "Truth Corporation" for the first time, forcing it to promise to abandon the development of "Fear Oil,"  

However...  

How could they truly give up?  

Such an alluring technology with infinite possibilities was impossible for the Truth Corporation to abandon.  

Thus...  

Outside of the "Sleepless City," beyond the federation, in the endless "Great Wilderness," at those backward human settlements, the "Truth Corporation" began secretly constructing experimental bases.  

"Extreme Winter Mountain" was one of them.  

Originally, several human towns surviving by hunting existed nearby.  

The "Truth Corporation" targeted them.  

After all, most residents in the Great Wilderness were foolish and short-sighted.  

So, several senior executives and A-level researchers of the Truth Corporation built a complete set of "Fear Oil" conversion equipment under the perpetually snow-covered Extreme Winter Mountain next to the towns, falsely claiming it was ordinary emotion conversion equipment.  

Then, disguised as nobles, they tricked the townspeople by saying there was a precious resource called "Black Gold Oil" in the mountains that could be exchanged for money with them.  

The townspeople, believing the rumor, entered the mountain, only to be terrified by the executives using pre-spread "snow monster rumors" and the company's unique "Dream Manufacturing Device," providing a huge amount of "fear" and refining a large quantity of Fear Oil.  

This was the plan named "Chate."  

But...  

Even those executives did not anticipate that although Fear Oil as a raw material was almost universal, due to insufficient data, it had a fatal flaw no one had discovered before.  

It had a strong tendency to destroy life and devour souls!  

The ability to "store souls" was not its feature but its kind of "instinct"!  

Although Fear Oil was not life, it was a creation originating from human emotions and followed almost life-like patterns.  

The initial "fright" created fear that only terrified those poor innocent townspeople into madness.  

But later, as the quantity of Fear Oil accumulated... things got out of control.  

These "solidified" fears even began to affect the operation of the instruments themselves.  

Among those frightened people...  

There began to be victims who died directly in their sleep, scared to death.  

And their souls were taken by the Fear Oil—these occasional appearances of the dead souls further deepened the fear of others entering Extreme Winter Mountain!  

All these changes happened so quickly, almost within a few days.  

So much so that the senior researchers and executives of the Truth Corporation did not react in time.  

They simply assumed it was "equipment failure," only considering "how to fix the malfunction" with technical adjustments.  

Thus, this arrogance made these "culprits" pay a price—in one dream, they too remained forever in the base beneath this snowy mountain.  

But this "evil begets evil" was not a good thing.  

Because without maintenance personnel, the machines eventually malfunctioned and leaked—  

All the emotions and the souls of the devoured people fused together, forming a certain consciousness, almost capable of controlling the entire Extreme Winter Mountain—this was the "Fear Oil" or the monster called "Chate."  

This "monster," for the purpose of self-replication, continuously released portions of Fear Oil onto the surface, maintaining the "scam" fabricated by the Truth Corporation, attracting innocent people to Extreme Winter Mountain.  

It was clever, even allowing a few people to safely leave with the Fear Oil—  

Even without buyers, those small pieces of "Black Oil" that could sustain one through an entire winter were enough to attract more people here.  

After years of such cycles, Fear Oil grew stronger and stronger.  

Given time, it might eventually grow to a completely uncontrollable extent!  

...  

On the underground steps, the Fear Oil-condensed Vale Valetti—also the soul and consciousness trapped inside the Fear Oil—told Lin Yu and Furbollo the "truth" of Extreme Winter Mountain.  

"What a story fitting the style of the 'Truth Corporation,'" Furbollo sighed, "No wonder we didn't see any real monsters along the way."  

Lin Yu also nodded slightly.  

It seemed that the promotion task wanted him to find the "scam" and the "fraudster"…  

It should correspond to the plan called "Chate" and the entire "Truth Corporation."  

But...  

Lin Yu still had questions.  

He looked at Vale Valetti before him and asked.  

"You told us all this and guided me here—what exactly is your purpose?"  

Vale Valetti looked at Lin Yu, his gaze burning as he spoke.  

"I said before... you are very clever, the smartest person I've seen come to Extreme Winter Mountain."  

"So, I believe you have hope to 'end' all of this!"