Chapter 147: Does this mean that this ‘god’ has actually been to Earth before?
So it’s the chip.
An Wujiu always felt that if the altar could only use those contaminated prosthetics, it would never be able to pull so many people into the altar. But he hadn’t considered the citizen chip.
When he thought of his mother digging out the chips from him and his sister before, he assumed she just wanted to cut off the way for others to find them, allowing them to escape smoothly. But now, it seems she probably considered much more.
“That’s a really vicious move,” Zhong Yirou said, clicking her tongue. “Although there are some people without citizen chips, their survival is very difficult. For money, they might risk entering the altar voluntarily. The remaining people with citizen chips who don’t participate in the altar’s virtual games will be polluted when the time is right. What a huge trap.”
Yang Erci nodded while driving, “I didn’t want to believe it before, but the more I investigated, the more supernatural events I discovered. Besides mentioning this matter, the email contains two other important pieces of information: one is about ‘the gods.’ Strange, unfamiliar characters have appeared in the homes of many researchers who died mysteriously. My dad kept records of them. To figure out what was written, he researched all recorded characters and visited many philologists.”
“A scholar of ancient scripts told him that these characters are very similar to those created by a briefly prosperous yet extinct ancient civilization before Christ, so much so that they could be considered the same origin, while the characters used by the ancient civilization were simplified.”
Zhong Yirou was somewhat surprised, “Does this mean that this ‘god’ has actually been to Earth before? Could he be living on some more advanced planet in the universe?”
An Wujiu continued, “I even think they aren’t life forms from the same dimension as us. To them, even the boundaries of space-time can be erased. We, existing in different times and spaces, are merged together, like stacking all quantum superposition states.
The so-called gods are more like aloof observers, and we humans are merely particles being observed. Time, which is sequential and unidirectional for us, is meaningless to them and can be altered at will.”
An Wujiu’s words made Zhong Yirou very uneasy. She had never imagined the existence of beings that regarded them as spectacles.
“They surely don’t just enjoy watching ants move house, do they?” Zhong Yirou asked dejectedly.
“You could say they enjoy helping ants move and then crushing them,” Yang Erci continued. “The architectural technology and cultural development of that ancient civilization far surpassed other civilizations of the same period; it could be said to be ahead of its time. But it only lasted 99 years, and its extinction was very thorough. Even the land they once inhabited sank into the sea.”
The more Zhong Yirou thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed.
A 99-year-old ancient civilization. An Wujiu looked down at the blood-stained number 99 on his hand.
The preference is really very consistent.
“I feel like our current era is similar to that ancient civilization.”
An Wujiu spoke softly, as if talking to himself, “They foster a group of social creatures, cultivate their civilization, and then destroy them. Aren’t we now in a stage of being destroyed?”
“Why go to all that trouble, is it necessary?” Zhong Yirou couldn’t understand.
“Maybe it’s just a meal for them,” An Wujiu thought of what Russell had said in the previous cycle, “What they want to eat is humanity’s collective madness.”
Eating.
An Wujiu couldn’t help but think of the painting “The Last Supper” in the bunker of the first instance.
That was not the painting’s original intent, there was no betrayal or loyalty, it was perhaps just a humorous satire by the evil god, a prophecy.
He generously informed them that this prolonged and insane extinction was the finale of their civilization, but it was just a dinner for him.
Outside the car, the streets were filled with the bodies of people or pollutants. The stench penetrated through the gaps in the windows, making it unbearable. Inside the car, these speculations made the air heavier, as if death was imminent.
Yang Erci gripped the steering wheel tightly and continued, “Actually, there’s no need to be so pessimistic. It’s because the two scripts are somewhat similar that he and some experts gleaned a few words about the gods.”
An Wujiu raised his eyebrows, “Really? Even a little information is good.”
“Though we don’t know if it’s true,” Yang Erci calmly said, “Mainly three points: one is the gods’ long sleep, seemingly due to a battle where their power was damaged, requiring enough sacrifices to awaken. This matches what you mentioned, that gods feed on human chaos and madness; the latter two points are incomplete, only knowing ‘the heart of the same origin’ and ‘cannot call their name directly.’”
After listening, Zhong Yirou chuckled bitterly, “Feels like the hints you get before fighting the final boss in a movie.”
The heart…
An Wujiu thought of the religion in the previous blood moon scenario, where the heart was indeed regarded as the most important organ, the “container of the soul.”
As for the name…
An Wujiu suddenly realized that he still didn’t know Shen Ti’s real name, the name that belonged to him. Shen Ti himself seemed to have forgotten it too.
“In many Western legends, some demons’ weaknesses are their own names,” Zhong Yirou recalled the novels she had read. “So they don’t easily tell others their names; it’s a means of self-preservation. But why?”
The car was running low on fuel. Yang Erci saw a gas station on the map nearby, changed direction, and explained, “It’s probably like a program. A named variable must be used to perform any operations on it. Even a slight deviation in the name will cause an error. In our information age, having a name allows for retrieval. The information contained in a name is enough to kill a person.”
Zhong Yirou nodded, “You are right.”
In the past two timelines, An Wujiu never met with Yang Erci from this timeline. This time was different; he obtained the information from Yang Ce’s emails. It was clear that this information was the result of Yang Ce’s many years of hard work. These findings could potentially play a crucial role.
That masked man wanted to kill Yang Erci to stop the flow of information, and his purpose seemed clear.
But An Wujiu always believed that it wasn’t that simple.
As they were driving, he felt something was wrong, as if they were continuously approaching a noisy place, and the noise was getting louder and more vivid.
Yet Yang Erci kept driving forward.
Ahead of them was a gas station, but if it weren’t marked on the map, it would be impossible to tell what it originally looked like.
This place had been taken over by pollutants—at least thirty of them. Tentacles coiled around the pillars outside the gas station, and the glass was stuck with suction cups. Twisted-limbed pollutants clung to the ceiling, many of them tearing apart and feasting on previous prey. The ground was a pool of blood, with several large ones resembling two-headed frogs covered in blue eyes.
“Should we retreat?” Zhong Yirou felt a wave of nausea, grabbed a gun, and lowered her voice.
Before Yang Erci and An Wujiu could answer, the distant pollutants simultaneously raised their heads, slowly turning until they were staring directly at the three of them.
Zhong Yirou instinctively raised her gun but didn’t fire immediately. She feared attracting more pollutants. “Run or fight?”
“No,” An Wujiu advised Yang Erci, “Let’s leave. There are too many here. There are only three of us; we would either die or be severely injured.”
His instinct had sensed the large number of pollutants.
Yang Erci knew this, and An Wujiu was already severely injured. If they did fight, he would definitely rush to be the main force.
However…
“Yirou, start shooting. Kill as many as you can.” Yang Erci manipulated the car, preparing to reverse, and instructed her, “Do it quickly.”
An Wujiu then realized that being cautious was Yang Erci’s usual style, but she was uncharacteristically aggressive this time.
“Is Yirou running out of time?”
“Yes.” Yang Erci looked in the rearview mirror as she reversed. The car’s system kept issuing warnings, but there was no other choice now.
The pollutants were approaching faster than expected. An Wujiu’s gun had limited bullets, so he leaned forward to grab the gun beside Yang Erci. The moment he looked down, his vision went black. With a loud bang, a pollutant was on the windshield, opening its bloody mouth towards them!
Zhong Yirou fired several shots, but the pollutant’s skin was extremely tough, causing minimal damage. An Wujiu loaded his gun and aimed at a weak spot, shooting through the eye above its mouth.
The pollutant let out a sharp, painful scream, and Yang Erci took the opportunity to switch from reversing to moving forward, pushing the creature off the windshield.
But their success was short-lived. More pollutants kept swarming at them, denting the car’s roof. Zhong Yirou tried her best to kill them, but as time passed, her sanity and health continued to deplete.
An Wujiu raised his hand, using his Zhuyuqing knife to cut off a tentacle creeping through a hole in the glass. He then saw a pollutant about to attack Zhong Yirou from behind.
“Yirou, watch out to your right!”
Upon hearing this, Zhong Yirou quickly turned and fired, hitting the pollutant in the head. But due to the close range, the splattered mucus from the shot flew directly into her right eye.
The pain was delayed for a second, followed by a sharp, swarming pain as the corrosive liquid bore through her eye like a burrowing worm.
Seeing Zhong Yirou suddenly covering her right eye and her voice changing, An Wujiu realized what had happened. He searched the car for water, finally finding half a bottle.
“Yirou, let go of your hand. I’ll pour water on your eye…”
When she lowered her hand, he was stunned.
Her right eye had already been corroded through in such a short time.
An Wujiu didn’t know what to do. Pollutants were attacking the already fragile windows behind her. He could only pick up Zhong Yirou’s gun to deal with them first.
“My eye…” Zhong Yirou was almost numb with pain; her left eye was continuously shedding physiological tears, making her vision increasingly blurry.
But she had a rough idea of the situation in her mind.
Yang Erci also saw it and felt immense regret. “Yirou, we’ll be out of here soon.”
She just wanted to give Zhong Yirou a bit more time, at least not to die from running out of time, but she never imagined it would lead to this result.
But even if they hadn’t come here, their car wouldn’t have lasted much longer.
Zhong Yirou was the one who lost an eye, but Yang Erci felt even more pain than she did.
In this situation, she didn’t know what to say.
“Yirou…”
Zhong Yirou lifted her head and said, “I know.”
She raised her hand, wiped away the tears from her left eye, rummaged for another gun hidden under the seat, and aimed at the pollutants in front of the windshield.
“One eye is better for aiming.”
Pollutants came from all directions, blocking their car. The frenzied and fierce attack nearly flipped the car over.
The violent movements caused An Wujiu’s wounds to tear open, and blood ran down his arm. But being their only fighting force now, he could only continue holding the gun with his bloodied hand.
An Wujiu knew they couldn’t go on like this. Their firepower wouldn’t last long, and they’d be worn down to death by these pollutants.
He had to find a chance to get out of the car. He could still use a knife.
But this nearly suicidal idea was cut short.
A beam of light flashed, drawing some pollutants’ attention, and a loud engine noise came from above them.
It was an aircraft.
Curiosity was a natural instinct for these pollutants, but it cost them dearly. In the next second, intense gunfire appeared, catching them off guard.
Oddly enough, the gunfire completely avoided the car.
An Wujiu, still vigilant, held his gun and leaned against the car window, trying to see who had arrived.
Through the shattered glass, he looked toward the aircraft’s cockpit and saw a familiar face.
It was Matsubara Mori who had died in the instance.
And the two people wielding weapons on the aircraft were Toudou Sakura, who also died in that instance, and Zhou Yijue, an enemy and ally.
Zhou Yijue saw him too and deliberately laughed loudly.
“Savior, there’s a day when I have to save you too, huh?”
Okay now I am so confused.