Chapter 99 A fruitful journey
"Good morning, Mr. Mitsumasa Okuyama."
Okuyama Mitsuru opened his eyes drowsily. He looked up at the sky. There was not a single star in the black dome, nor was there a high sun. He squinted his eyes and asked in a subtle tone, "Can this be considered morning?"
Kazukage Yayoi also looked up, "Zeus's rule does not include the underworld."
"The underworld?" Okuyama Mitsumasa lowered his head and found himself lying on a small wooden boat, which was swaying from side to side as Yayoi Kazukage rowed the boat.
They were drifting on a wide river with no end in sight. The river was surging with huge black waves, which hit the edge of the boat, making a shocking roar. They were like a lone seagull in a tsunami, constantly breaking through the waves.
"I don't have any silver coins (Note 1), can I still cross the river?" Okuyama Mitsumasa leaned backwards with his hands on the edge of the boat, not caring about the surging waves at all, as leisurely as if he was on a picnic in the park.
"I once received a silver medallion from you. Besides, I am not Charon, so I don't need to charge."
He Jing Yayoi rocked the boat and laughed. Besides, this is not the real underworld, it is just another dream after a dream.
Okuyama Hikaru was sizing up the man in front of him. "Black robe, sickle, underworld. So you are Thanatos, the god of death?"
Thanatos glanced at it and turned back to rowing. "I thought you knew my identity when you summoned me."
Summoning requires a medium and guidance from the corresponding god. The simplest way is to call the name of the god. That's why He was surprised that they didn't know who the god they summoned was even though they were the ones who did the summoning.
Okuyama Mitsumasa smiled and waved his hands, "No, in this world, people have created too many gods. Any myth can be resurrected. As for summoning, are you talking about Endo Shinzo? He only asked me to provide a divine item."
He paused, then grinned: "So I gave him the necklace."
Thanatos thought for a moment, "The necklace that is said to contain the holy bones of the Holy Father, the one that Mr. Tsuchiya was killed for losing?"
"Haha... yes" Okuyama Mitsuru was smiling strangely.
Hearing this, Thanatos sighed helplessly and turned back to look at him, "The test subject in the organization, Nightmare, has my blood in it."
Seeing that Thanatos had noticed something, Bishop Oshan laughed softly, "Yes, although I survived a fire that was deadly, I am not someone who easily believes in the existence of gods."
"But the man showed me the body of a god. Oh, sorry, should I use more appropriate words in front of you?" He chuckled as if something interesting had happened.
"A corpse with only half a head and a heart left, not only can it survive, but it can also keep regenerating... At that time, I was thinking, it turns out that there really are gods in this world..."
Thanatos was speechless and choked with emotion. He looked at Okuyama Mitsumasa in silence.
Okuyama Mitsumasa noticed Thanatos's slightly condemning look and laughed, "Hahaha, don't look at me like that, I didn't do any of this. Karasuma Renya wanted a new god to be born. To be more precise, he wanted to become a new god himself."
"I've heard a saying from their organization: We are both God and the devil, because we want to reverse the flow of time and bring the dead back to life. He knows that what he's doing is cruel, but he still calls himself God. Also, although I don't know what he means by time reversal, he never told me, but I don't think it's as simple as coming back to life from the dead."
"Then, he performed many experiments on your body. I guess you've been torn into parts over the past few decades."
"I'm not as crazy as him. I just wanted to wake you up. Look, at least I really woke you up."
"But in the end, I also failed... You didn't fall into a deep sleep to protect humans, and you certainly wouldn't agree to protect humans. Greek mythology... There aren't many gods in Greek mythology who like to protect humans."
Thanatos shook his head and denied it. "I am not not taking back the authority because I don't want to protect humans. Even if I don't want to protect them, it's not a bad idea to take back the authority, right?"
"Space and time, these are two cursed powers. As long as you possess these two powers, you will be tainted with original sin."
He put down the oar in his hand and pointed to the sky, "This is how I died last time."
Upon hearing this, Okuyama Mitsumasa sat up, his eyes full of disbelief, "So every time I use my ability, I feel a tearing pain. It's not because I'm usurping the power of God, but because there's something wrong with this power itself?"
Thanatos nodded, "Yes. Space and time are the most basic laws that make up the world. Once you possess it, you are the enemy of the laws of the entire world. If you don't have enough power to fight it, your consciousness will be wiped out and you will become part of the laws of the world."
He thought for a moment and asked, "Have you read the theory of relativity? According to your current theory, the more massive an object is, the greater the angle at which space-time is bent, and the slower time will pass."
"To put it simply, authority can be thought of as an object with a large mass. Gods are affected by the authority they hold, and the space-time nearby is distorted. In your eyes, time is slower for gods. Gods with more authority can even live forever."
"At the same time, according to your existing theory, a moving object will deviate from its original reference system and form its own reference system. If a high-speed object wants to return to its original coordinate system, the time of the original coordinate system will pass rapidly."
"Having the authority over time and space is like having a very massive object that can change its speed at will between zero and something infinitely close to the speed of light. So every time it changes, it is a disaster for everything else in the world, because their time will be infinitely accelerated, and then they will quickly perish."
"Then, the best option for the world is to speed it up even more and simply turn it into light, which is the law itself."
"Unfortunately, although this is difficult to achieve in physics, the laws of the world are not physics, but more like psychology. It can easily influence the thinking of gods through authority. And once gods accept these two authorities, they will quickly become part of the law. Unless He has the ability to reconstruct the laws himself."
"But constructing the law itself requires understanding the authority of time and space. So, this is a paradox and an impossible goal to achieve."
“So, we call these two powers original sin.”
"This is to remind myself not to violate the laws of the world. This is also why I am unwilling to take back the authority of space. I will die, it's that simple."
Thanatos shrugged. "Unfortunately, I can't remember why I was given this authority. After my last death, I lost too much of my memory."
Okuyama Mitsumasa fell into deep thought after hearing this. Thanatos' words were very clear, and he completely understood why the other party was unwilling. After a moment, he asked back: "But I don't feel anything eroding my consciousness. I am very clear-headed."
No, you are not awake. It is a bit far-fetched for a cult leader to say that he is awake.
Thanatos did not say this out loud. Instead, he laughed mockingly and said, "That's because the world needs you to live until you can hand over this authority to me, and then hypnotize me to accept the authority. Moreover, you will not use this authority to any great extent, which is still within the controllable range for the world."
"But I guessed your authority in advance. So I told Kidd that if you suddenly wanted to give me something, I was going to take it. He rushed over, grabbed it, and ran away."
"It turns out that the world will not do anything to you. It seems that it hates me very much, probably because I am an alien god."
Thanatos didn't want to complain. He was originally a god from another world. It was a bit unrealistic for him to break into his master's territory and expect him to be treated with courtesy. What was even more strange was that the world had been giving him power.
The world was lowering his guard, and then planning to strike him with a fatal blow. Or perhaps, the authority sent to him before was poisoned, waiting to corrupt him from the inside. His thoughts might have been affected a long time ago, but he, like the other player in the game, Mitsumasa Okuyama, did not notice it.
Authority can greatly change a god's thinking, because only by understanding the content of authority can a god obtain this authority.
A god with the power of plague would think that plague is the most beautiful creature in the world and the best expression of species evolution. But a god with the power of life would think that plague is the public enemy of the world and an alien that must be eradicated.
Gods gain authority, but are also trapped by it. Light and darkness cannot coexist. If a god gains authority over both light and darkness, he will either side with the one with greater authority or destroy himself.
Thanatos had death, but the world gave him creation. He was in the dark camp, but the world made him turn to the light.
The world gave Him the power of creation, allowing Him to feel the joy, kindness, and tenacity of mankind. When He saw injustice, unfairness, and misfortune, and had the desire to protect and save Him, the world had already buried poison in His soul.
From the beginning, the world had bad intentions. It expected Thanatos to be sacrificed, just like the chants in the teachings of the Fire Spirit Cult.
'His blood became rivers, his flesh became earth, his bones became heaven'
'Thank you for your selflessness and sacrifice'
But who would be willing to be the sacrifice? At least He doesn't want to.
"Okay, we've reached the shore, let's get off the boat." Thanatos put away the oars and pointed to the daffodil plain in front of him.
Okuyama Mitsumasa was staring at the sea of flowers in a trance. After a moment, he murmured, "Will I be sentenced to go to Tartarus or the Pure Land?"
Thanatos stood on the boat and shrugged, "Who knows? I'm not in charge of the trial. Goodbye then."
Okuyama Mitsumasa took two steps forward, and the sea of daffodils gently brushed against his instep. He squatted down and stroked the flowers, "It's nice here. Can I stay here forever? It looks like there's no one here."
That's because constructing a dream world with people in it will expose problems sooner or later.
Thanatos sighed and said, "My current authority can only go so far. You can stay here if you want. But it is impossible to leave the underworld."
As long as you don't want to wake up, this dream will exist forever.
So please don't even think about waking up.
Okuyama Mitsumasa didn't notice anything unusual, he listened attentively to the wailing coming from the depths of Tartarus. It was obviously better to stay in the Narcissus Plains than to go to Tartarus. He was not like Karasuma Renya, he knew the sins he had committed, and he would definitely be sentenced to Tartarus.
"By the way, now that I'm dead, I can tell you one thing."
Okuyama Hikaru was pointing at Thanatos, and said in a rather gloating tone: "I heard that your code name in the organization is Gem."
Seeing Thanatos nod, he grinned widely, "Did you know? Karasuma Renya, the boss of your organization, his family emblem is a crow."
"You know what crows love most?"
Thanatos chuckled when he heard that. "I know that what crows love most is always gems, isn't it?"
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