Chapter 536 Last Hope

That is indeed a curious question.

Perhaps this contains some preconceived notions, but I believe that a super-large human force like the Gospel House, established in a post-apocalyptic era, should have a deeper understanding of the survival rules and taboos of that era than ordinary post-apocalyptic survivors. The Tai Sui Army, as a force that split from the Gospel House, should also possess the same, or at least similar, survival skills. Accidents like "accidentally provoking a great demon while walking down the street" shouldn't happen to the Tai Sui Army.

Even if it were accidentally triggered, it shouldn't warrant being chased by the Great Demon Xuanwu for such a long time as if it were a mortal enemy. Could it be that the Great Demon of Calamity is following the same logic as when it chased Xiaowan, and the Great Demon Xuanwu also feels that if it's going to chase someone, it must chase them to the very end, and failing to eliminate them completely would be its own failure?

But Xiaowan's next words dispelled my suspicion.

“Great Demons are essentially karmic demons, possessing the instinct to kill humans. Once they discover humans, they will kill them without exception. However, each Great Demon has its own unique personality, which can be distinguished in terms of their killing style,” Xiaowan said. “For example, according to some rumors, the Great Demon Xuanwu will prioritize killing humans with fire powers, and when in the same situation as the Great Demon of Calamity, it will prioritize attacking the Great Demon of Calamity.”

"The Great Demon of Calamity will prioritize attacking the powerful. It will disdain the weak who have survived its attacks, but will relentlessly pursue and kill the capable who have deliberately escaped its grasp."

“Generally speaking, the Great Demon Xuanwu wouldn’t be as obsessed with pursuing the same target as the Great Demon of Calamity… Could it be that one of you is a powerful fire-wielding user who has attracted the Great Demon Xuanwu’s attention?”

Her tone of voice was unhurried and measured, quite different from her youthful and adorable appearance, revealing a seasoned and intellectual air. The guide showed a hint of surprise, but quickly composed himself. After all, he was a seasoned survivor of the apocalypse, and "strangely behaving children" were nothing new to him.

He no longer treated Xiao Wan like an ordinary child. Instead, he answered seriously, "We do have a few fire-wielding individuals here, but firstly, they aren't particularly powerful; secondly, to avoid further attracting the attention of the Great Demon Xuanwu, they haven't displayed their power in inappropriate situations..."

"So, what is the reason?" Xiao Wan asked curiously.

The guide glanced at me first, and then, seemingly out of consideration for me, he answered Xiaowan's question: "Although this is just speculation... the Gospel Institute may very well have mastered the technology to manipulate the Great Demon."

Xiao Wan was clearly taken aback by this answer. She couldn't help but gasp in surprise, as if she couldn't believe her ears: "...What?"

"What's the basis for this speculation?" I pressed.

"I've heard that the Yellow Springs Gospel Institute has been researching techniques to alter the behavior patterns of the Great Demon and make it work for them for a long time. And for a considerable period, it was the Yellow Springs Gospel Institute that was primarily responsible for hunting down and annihilating our Tai Sui Army," the guide said bitterly. "We've never provoked the Great Demon Xuanwu, yet we've inexplicably been hunted down by him for so long..."

“Once we could say it was just bad luck, but being chased to this extent makes it hard not to suspect that the Huangquan Gospel Institute has made a breakthrough in related technologies and applied them to our Tai Sui Army.”

"It is said that in the past, the god Huang Quan repeatedly sought out the Great Demon and clashed with it. Sometimes he would die and then be resurrected in other places... You should know that the Great Demon is also immortal, so there is no point in fighting them. If it were not for the purpose of collecting data needed for related technologies, it is hard to imagine what other reason Huang Quan would have to do such a thing."

The Great Demon is also immortal... Asahi also mentioned this, saying that even if the Great Demon is completely destroyed from body to soul, it will strangely revive at some point in the future.

This is similar to me in that respect, but the difference is that I can resurrect instantly on the spot, while the Great Demon's resurrection doesn't sound like it happens on the spot and takes a very long time. It seems more like the immortality of the Underworld.

However, what the guide said was merely speculation, offering no further evidence. After asking a few questions, I changed the subject: "Excuse me, but I have another question that might be a bit rude... Why is the Gospel House so determined to wipe out the Tai Sui Army?"

The guide gave a bitter smile: "You mean... we are already a defeated army, with only a few people, and no god to guard us... In this dangerous wasteland, even if we are left to fend for ourselves, we may disintegrate on our own in the near future... Why does the Gospel Institute still use the power of the Great Demon to deal with us?"

"That's one way to understand it," I said.

The guide seemed to ponder for a moment before replying, "Perhaps it's because... the Gospel House thinks we're planning to resurrect the Tai Sui God."

"Resurrect the Great Impermanence...resurrect gods and men?" I was surprised. "You can do that?"

Legend has it that the one who killed Tai Sui was Yama, the Lord of the Gospel Temple.

A conflict occurs between humans and gods, and one side is defeated and dies... The significance of this event cannot be compared to an ordinary person killing another ordinary person.

To be killed by a god or human is to truly be killed. Unless the killed god or human possesses the power of resurrection, and is not considered "truly killed," trying to bring them back to life afterward is nothing but a pipe dream.

Even if the cause of death wasn't being killed by another god, resurrecting a deceased god is an incredibly difficult task. Just resurrecting a Silver Moon requires fulfilling two maddening conditions: "sacrificing another Silver Moon" and "essentially draining the power of ten gods." And how much would it cost to resurrect a god?

Even resurrecting ordinary people killed by gods and men is a difficult task. The reason I was able to resurrect so many ordinary people at the Luoshan branch base was because the cost of resurrecting them by altering history had already been borne in some form by the Dog of the Dog who was summoned to the present day.

“We don’t know how to achieve a true resurrection… However, there are endless possibilities in the chaotic spacetime.” The guide’s voice revealed a faintly fervent willpower. “As long as we keep exploring, perhaps one day we will encounter the ‘Grand Duke of Jupiter’ somewhere.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Wan slightly opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something in denial, but in the end she swallowed it back down.

And I don't think it's possible.

The power of gods and humans possesses a degree of temporal and spatial transcendence, allowing them to traverse the past and future. What if a deity one relies on is killed by another in one place, and one then hopes to miraculously encounter the other in a different location and regain their protection?

The outcome of a life-or-death battle between humans and gods is no joke.

As the mysterious woman who leads the Tai Sui Army, she is also a person of the Great Completion level, and can more or less glimpse the secrets of the human-god realm. It is believed that she is capable of judging things to this extent.

However, she clearly didn't tell her subordinates about this, and even contributed to the spread of this misunderstanding...

I think this is most likely because once the truth is revealed, the Tai Sui Army will really be finished.

The last hope for this remnant army was that "the Tai Sui deity may still exist somewhere."

"You're telling me something this important like this? Are you sure it's okay?" I asked.

The guide replied, "This is no secret, and the chief also told us that we should tell you everything we know without reservation."

"So...when will your leader return?" I said. "She gave you instructions on how to treat me and even gave you a copy of my photograph, but she hasn't returned yet?"

“It shouldn’t take much time,” the guide answered honestly. “The information related to you was transmitted remotely by the leader using a magical communication device, including the portrait information, which was also transmitted in this way…”

As he spoke, his tone became confident, "I heard that she has now escaped the pursuit of the Great Demon Xuanwu. As long as nothing goes wrong on the way, you will be able to see her soon."

(End of this chapter)