Chapter 190: The Old God's Strange Movements
In the office, I leaned back in my chair, my fingertips tapping the table unconsciously, feeling an indescribable anxiety in my heart.
Saving Bai Zang and the others only temporarily alleviated the crisis, but that purple-black thundercloud was like a thorn in my heart.
What is even more disturbing is that the power of faith that surged in an instant after saving people, in addition to bringing a sense of fullness of power, was also mixed with something else.
It was no longer a simple "praying for food" or "cursing the end of the world", but some more chaotic and more... sharp fragments of thoughts.
In the distance, from those shelters and refugee settlements that had just established a weak faith connection through the Secret Garden Society, the sounds of prayers coming from them began to be mixed with a large amount of negative energy.
Faith is a two-way street. While it empowers me, it also begins to reflect back to me the collective subconscious shadows of believers. Lin Hanning's warning is still fresh in my mind.
At this moment, the mirror on the table began to move. Lin Hanning did not appear, but Lin Hanning's handwriting appeared on the mirror:
[Anomalous data stream observed. Attachment: Regional Abnormal Event Report-07. Also: 'Guide 07' will deliver the latest intelligence in one hour regarding the widespread outbreak of plague, as well as the 'Moon Worship' and 'Abundant Harvest' phenomena. Attention is advised.]
"Moon worship" "Abundant"? My heart sank, and I immediately turned on the Secret Garden Club's special information receiver.
I don’t know what “Fengrang” is, but “Worship the Moon” is most likely referring to the evil god called “Dark Moon”.
The contents of the report made me frown.
Not only in Tiannan City, but also in many areas of the world, survivor bases have begun to experience extreme abnormal phenomena, which can be roughly divided into two categories:
First, a plague inexplicably broke out in most of the gathering places of the survivors. The infected people did not show conventional symptoms, but their skin gradually became translucent, and blue-black blood vessels similar to marble patterns emerged. Their body temperature continued to drop, and they eventually stopped breathing in an eerie silence. Their corpses would soon precipitate cold frost crystals with a faint spiritual pollution.
Some survivors claimed that they had auditory hallucinations on the eve of the outbreak.
Secondly, creatures in some areas have shown signs of moon worship, specifically by kneeling down and worshipping the moon and shouting "Praise the moon" when the moon is full. This is known as the "moon worship" phenomenon.
Third, it is the so-called "abundance" phenomenon.
Reports show that in the past three months, there has been an abnormal, almost irrational surge in the birth rate in several locations. However, almost all of these newborns are deformed.
The blurry images attached to the report are chilling. Some limbs are extra or missing, organs are misplaced, parts of the body have non-human features, and some are covered with scales or have fleshy whiskers. It is disgusting.
Moreover, most deformed children are accompanied by serious signs of mental instability and the probability of mutation is very high.
Even more bizarre is that some women claim to frequently dream of "plump and rotten fruits" and "a huge lump of flesh" during pregnancy.
After reading the description, I think I roughly understand it.
Old God.
It is true that the “moon worship” phenomenon is probably related to the “dark moon” pollution.
And this so-called "fertile soil" is now most likely the action of the "sleepless fetal mother".
It is currently unknown who the plague came from, but it is most likely one of the old gods. Moreover, judging from the characteristics of the plague, it seems to be a being that controls the realm of cold or death.
Moreover, I can clearly feel that Gali is gradually waking up.
They sensed the approach of reincarnation, and their movements became more urgent and crazy, and they no longer even acted.
An hour later, ripples appeared on the mirror surface, and the processed voice of "Guide 07" came:
"Ms. Ji, according to the association's monitoring, evil spirit activity is spreading globally, with both frequency and intensity increasing by 300 percent over the past 72 hours. Preliminary assessments indicate the influence of at least two or more ancient beings is involved."
"The association has designated them as 'Black Plague,' 'Scarlet Moon's Gaze,' and 'Rotten Earth Nest.' Three members' bases have been severely affected. The salon is issuing a joint commission: Investigate the source of the phenomenon and disrupt or interfere with its ritual nodes if possible. The reward is generous. Are you interested?"
"In addition, the information you provided regarding your authority has been partially verified to be valid, and the association has upgraded your assessment. According to the agreement, the spread of faith will be expanded to five large survivor gathering places. Please note that this move may attract the attention of some senior officials in relevant departments in advance."
The relevant departments it refers to are organizations such as the Abnormal Investigation Bureau.
The turmoil of the old gods has been exposed, and it seems that the Secret Garden Association can no longer sit still.
"Send me the details of the commission." I said in a deep voice.
"The message has been transmitted. Please check it."
After finishing the communication with Guide 07, I immediately received and checked the commission details.
This Secret Garden Salon's joint commission targets the phenomenon of "moon worship." The Secret Garden Society has detected an unusually high frequency of moon worship activities at an unofficial, medium-sized survivor base called "River Valley Camp," approximately 200 kilometers from Tiannan City. Furthermore, inexplicable moon phase patterns have appeared around the base.
It is speculated that its core members are preparing a large-scale ritual, attempting to convert believers on a large scale and offer sacrifices to the "Dark Moon" in exchange for power or protection.
The success of the ritual will greatly enhance the influence of "Dark Moon" in the area and may create a powerful source of pollution, which is something that neither the official nor the Secret Garden Society wants to see.
The commission requirements are also simple: find out the core of the ritual, destroy it, and minimize the actual growth of the "Dark Moon" power.
Lin Hanning's message followed shortly after: "For this operation, I'm responsible for remote information support and logistics coordination."
"We have an outside intelligence agent inside the River Valley Camp who can provide limited assistance. According to data model analysis, the core host of the ceremony should be the camp's current leader, Carlos the Moon Priest. He has been deeply transformed and is estimated to possess strong mental manipulation and shadow walking abilities."
Carlos, why is it still a foreign name...
I was still complaining when Lin Hanning's message popped up again: "The proposed plan is to infiltrate the ceremony, assassinate Carlos, create chaos, and guide official forces to intervene and clean up the remnants."
"Understood." I replied briefly.
This plan is direct and effective, exactly what I want. Attracting "official influence" is just a nod to the Bureau of Anomalous Investigation.
Without further ado, I told Bai Zang to keep an eye on the stronghold, and then used my mirror jumping ability to shuttle continuously towards the valley camp.
After several leaps, I arrived near my destination. The River Valley Camp sat beside a dry riverbed, its defenses constructed from abandoned factories and warehouses. It was already late at night, but the center of the camp was brightly lit, and faint bursts of frenzied chanting could be heard...
"Praise the moon!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
