That’s great.
A plain-looking young man with a slightly aggrieved expression spread out the drawing paper in his hand and carefully traced with his fingertips. The figure in the painting had a thin but not frail body, and a face that was both beautiful and eerie. His face was covered with white feathers, jagged insect bones, and sickening, winding tentacles, and within it, a flawless rose blossomed.
The young man looked at the familiar bones exposed on His face, which seemed to be about to be covered by flesh, and wondered with a mixture of anger and pain: Why did it become like this?
Dirty, disgusting human beings.
They trust and sacrifice blindly without any reason.
He also secretly kept portraits of gods.
"What are you hiding from me?" Arthur, who had just returned, grabbed Nixon's collar and asked angrily, regardless of the others' attempts to stop him. "You can't just know this!"
As he questioned and pressed on with conviction, the human's expression changed from pretended panic to calmness and disdain.
"Find Him and ask for yourself, coward."
"You actually say that?" Arthur laughed uncontrollably. "Do you believe in Him, too? What has He given to mankind that makes you so loyal?"
"You've probably misunderstood," Nixon, nearly suffocated by his neck, spoke intermittently. "I've never, ever believed in any god. But... Igor is my best friend. Don't even think about getting information about him from me... no matter who you are."
"Even if I kill you? Don't humans die and never come back to life?"
The humans under his control scoffed, "Yes, but not everyone is afraid of death."
"...What exactly are you not telling me?" Arthur looked at the portrait he had taken out of the man's wallet, confused. "You clearly haven't been around them for very long. What secret could be more important than death?"
He relaxed his grip slightly. "I'm not from the Federation, and I have no interest in bringing Mr. Sullivan to justice. If you had just cooperated with me, this trouble would have been over long ago. Furthermore, if I hadn't told you the truth, you wouldn't have been so sure Igor Sullivan was in the capital. Your dear friend didn't even bother to notify you. His friendship is truly profound."
"That's not an excuse." Nixon had a chance to catch his breath. He took a deep breath and raised his hand to rub his neck. "Igor has his own things to do, and I have mine too."
He recalled his brief experience in the town of Keminting.
Two red full moons hang on the edge of the sky.
Deep red blood flowed from beneath them.
Zerg corpses and coffins placed in the church.
A god in a black cloak.
A long road shrouded in thick fog.
A music box creaks and spins.
A magician sitting alone on the stage.
A huge black figure outside the tent.
A hill covered in gravel and a door suspended in the air, gleaming with light.
And those travelers who have forgotten everything.
He had passed by Igor.
"I'm afraid you can't understand, Your Majesty the Zerg Emperor."
"You recognized me?" Arthur touched his face in surprise.
"I have some inside information." Nixon smiled nonchalantly. "Thanks to them, I almost fooled you just now."
"Tsk." Arthur was a little embarrassed and annoyed again. "What's going on?"
"That's what I was going to ask. Don't you already know that Igor is that person's favored one? I'm afraid I don't know more than you do. So what do you want from me?"
Arthur paced twice in full view of the crowd, oblivious to the surroundings. He pondered his purpose in distress, but found that there was nothing else to do except vent his anger on Nixon and force him to dig out every detail in his memory.
This was rare, as before, every action he took had a clear purpose.
But when it comes to matters related to Azathoth, his reason is easily dominated by impulse.
"I'm very unhappy," he said to himself. "You were able to spend so much time with Him, and He wanted to kill me the moment He saw me."
Nixon wanted to take out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, because he often had some inappropriate sense of humor, and at this time holding a cigarette could at least block his mouth and ensure that he would not offend anyone.
But he doesn't have a cigarette now.
I don't have time to spare.
So he moved his mouth and said: "Although I don't know what happened, maybe you can try to reflect on yourself?"
"You're trying to irritate me." Arthur stopped. "Why?"
"Sorry, this is my style of speaking when I'm in a bad mood."
"You humans are so annoying." Arthur sighed sincerely, then punched Nixon in the stomach.
As the man groaned and fell to his knees, while the people around him cried out in shock but were powerless to do anything, Arthur forced him to look up. "Then tell me what He did when you saw Him?"
"Ahem!" Nixon struggled to hold up his upper body. "If you really want to know, He saved a bug that was imprisoned by humans."
**
"What does the inside information say?" Nixon Evelyn jokingly talked about the Zerg ruler to a friend in the system, never expecting that one day he would use this information.
"Very dangerous, extremely dangerous," the other party replied without hesitation. "We've analyzed a lot, but you know, if he possesses a disposable body, countless subordinates at his disposal, and the ability to mimic other creatures at any time, finding him in a crowd and capturing him will be extremely difficult."
"Oh, isn't that unsolvable?"
“…”
"Why? Is there something you can't tell me?"
"It can't be published, but I trust you, and you won't tell anyone." The man hesitated and said, "Did you know we decipher a message he left behind? It's for someone who's either the Heretic God, his clone, or his beloved... or something like that."
"It said, 'Would you rather hide in the dirt and mud than return to us and show us even a shred of mercy?'"
"Ah." Nixon suppressed his nervousness and sighed calmly, "Why does it feel like a boudoir complaint?"
"Yeah," the other person said sympathetically. "We all find it strange. Maybe they were once a team, but now they've fallen out. Although no one's saying it directly, it's better for that kind of thing to side with humans than with those greedy bugs."
"But this is all speculation?"
"Yes. Besides that, Arthur has another weakness. Like all bugs, his mimicry ability has a cooldown period, so he probably can't switch back and forth like a screen. Furthermore, I imagine changing bodies wouldn't be without cost. He might endure a certain degree of mental stress and pain... But that's just speculation. Alas, these creatures are indeed blessed with unique abilities, but their technological advancements haven't developed to the same level, which is a limitation."
"If their will is unified and governed by one idea, then development and innovation will be quite limited," Nixon analyzed rationally.
"So, what if, I'm just giving you an example, you accidentally run into him? Wouldn't it be too late to call the police?"
"Uh." The other party laughed briefly. "Run faster?"
"Hey! What about your duties?"
"I'm definitely going to rush forward and get myself killed, but there's no need for you to do that. But if you can't escape, just give in and try saying, 'From now on, I, too, will believe in my Lord, and we're family.'"
"...Think about the official belief of the Federation." Nixon looked at him speechlessly.
"I'm kidding." The man waved his hand. "Besides, you know what official beliefs are. The relationship between the Federation and the Vatican has become increasingly strained over the past two years. I wouldn't be surprised if it breaks down one day. I'm a Federation official, not a Vatican member."
"Seriously, if he can't escape, then our previous analysis of his psychology and the evil god's involvement will definitely not work. This kind of paranoid lunatic, with his insatiable greed for plunder and possessiveness so strong he's willing to start a war, is best avoided."
"Honestly, I don't think he would go out of his way to find you. If he did find you, there must be something about you that attracted him, and he either wants to kill you or wants to kill you after getting what he wants."
"So the only thing you can do...is wait for rescue, and then, don't reveal all your cards."
**
So the desire to protect Igor is sincere.
He wanted to stall for time and pretend that he really had a lot of information... but that was also sincere.
Humans are more complex than you can imagine.
Looking at Arthur, who had no doubts about his true feelings, Nixon was still in the mood to criticize and mock him.
But Igor is really hiding in the capital... Is this the right setting for our first public reunion? It's too embarrassing, isn't it? Can we at least have a cigarette?
"I've changed my mind." Arthur looked down at Nixon, who was slowly telling his story. The physical pain he was inflicting never stopped, but this young man who had been sitting in an office for years still had the rationality to choose his words carefully. "I don't want to waste any more time here."
Nixon's pupils shrank.
Is this impatience?
"He saved a bug in Keminting." Arthur said in a voice so small that Nixon could barely hear it. "Interesting. I can go and see it with my own eyes."
Nixon: “…”
Grass (a type of green plant).
This is a truly unexpected development.
"But before that, I'd like to give you a little gift as a thank you for your cooperation."
Arthur said kindly.
Nixon's heart sank, and he had a bad feeling.
A few seconds later.
"boom--"
The newspaper building collapsed.
About half an hour later, Igor stood sullenly on the ruins. Azathoth followed behind him, shamefully distracted by the rare displays of genuine affection and concern from his followers. A faint blush crept onto his pale cheeks beneath his hood.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
