Chapter 900: The Dazzling Technology of the Pantheon (Part 1) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
Each person had their own thoughts and remained silent the whole way.
Follow Qi Shanxing to a dead corner.
A voice, indistinguishable as male or female, came from the darkness.
"What is it for?"
Qi Shan said, "The mandate of Heaven is not constant."
As soon as he finished speaking, a slight tremor ran through his feet, and the brick wall in front of him opened up to reveal a dark hole that seemed to lead nowhere. At that moment, an unnaturally pale hand reached out and offered a torch to Qi Shan.
Qi Shan said calmly, "Thank you."
Shen Tang closed her eyes slightly, concealing the fleeting surprise that crossed her mind.
If I'm not mistaken, that hand seemed to have seven fingers? In today's society, children with physical deformities are considered unlucky and unlikely to live to adulthood. Qi Shan lit a torch with her literary energy and went inside first, followed by Shen Tang.
She spoke after walking for a long time.
"The secret passage is so long and deep, how long beforehand must it have been ventilated?" Upon entering, I found the air to be plentiful and fresh, without any trace of decay or even a strange smell. At first, I was worried that entering rashly might cause some kind of confined space accident. "The bricks on both sides of the passage are of good quality. With so much construction work on the ground, how come it didn't affect the underground?"
With such high quality, shouldn't we learn from it?
Shen Tang tapped on the wall, seemingly lost in thought.
Since we entered, the stairs have been winding downwards, and we've already climbed over two thousand steps. Judging from the current situation, we're still a long way from the exit. How many people did the gods use to build such a massive project? And how many places like this are there?
The meeting was ostensibly held in this mansion, but in reality, the participants moved to a more secluded location via a secret passage.
That's quite cautious.
Qi Shan: "No, this is just a smokescreen."
The secret passage is real, just not this long. It's also a threshold set by the Gods' Guild for its members. If one can't even escape such an illusion, they're not qualified to be a member of the Gods' Guild. Their senses are stretched when they enter the illusion; what they perceive as two thousand steps is actually only a hundred or so, and perhaps only a few breaths have passed in the outside world.
Shen Tang frowned: "Why didn't I notice?"
Qi Shan said worriedly, "Perhaps we have been exposed."
"Exposure? What exposure?"
Qi Shan stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Chen Tang. Most of his mask was bathed in the warm orange-red glow of the torch in his hand, but his eyes held a sinister glint. He chuckled coldly, "Heh heh, naturally I'll make you all perish..."
Qi Shan walked quickly and was now a head shorter than her.
"Who perished here?"
Using the steps and her long legs, Shen Tang kicked the mask off and snatched the torch, stabbing it into his stomach.
The torches were scorching hot, making the flesh sizzle.
In an instant, a piercing scream echoed throughout the tunnel.
Shen Tang watched the scene before him with indifferent and unmoved eyes. He exerted force in his hand, infusing it with his spiritual energy to make the torch burn even more fiercely, moving it upwards along his abdomen. It was as if he were using the torch to stab him from his abdomen to his heart, roasting it as well.
The latter panicked and begged for mercy.
Shen Tang didn't stop, but instead spun the torch inside his stomach several more times, and said with a light smile, "Now you know how to beg for mercy? Be good, don't make jokes like this again. If anyone makes a joke like this with me, I can only send them to see the King of Hell."
With a snap, he tossed the torch aside.
The man before her, Qi Shan, stared in terror, slumping against the wall to the ground, his forehead beaded with cold sweat. Shen Tang kicked him in the face, commanding, "Untie me, or I'll kill you right here! You dare challenge me? How many heads do you have?"
The Tan Qingguang persona that Shen Tang is currently using is someone who seems ordinary but is actually ruthless and capable of taking someone's head at the slightest provocation. He is the most capable right-hand man and accomplice of Vice President Qi Shan. She doesn't know what strange hobby Qi Yuanliang has that insists on giving such a persona the character "Qingguang" and the name "Shao".
Is it based on a cute contrast?
How to implement the naming rule of "filling in what is missing"?
Shen Tang didn't understand, but she knew how to be ruthless.
The man in front of her, Qi Shan, looked at her with fear in his eyes. Shen Tang was annoyed by his gaze and kicked him again, making his forehead bleed profusely. "Don't use Vice President Qi's eyes to make such a cowardly and ugly look. It makes people want to gouge them out and stomp on them. It's the New Year, and we do need firecrackers to liven things up. I wonder if your eyeballs can make a sound?"
The man's fingers trembled as he dispelled the illusion.
In an instant, the dark passage was replaced by light.
Shen Tang raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sudden light. The sound of a babbling brook reached her ears, and she could smell an expensive fragrance. Dozens of eyes fell on her. She looked around and found herself facing a corridor wall, with a strange man lying at her feet, his mask shattered. The man was dressed in fine clothes and was clutching his bleeding stomach, his face deathly pale.
She looked down at the spot where she had thrown the torch.
There lay a bloodstained sword.
She laughed and said, "Are you kidding me?"
The man clutched his stomach, staggered to his feet, pointed at Shen Tang, and shouted, "How dare you lay a hand on someone?"
The masked onlookers simply watched from a distance.
The members of the Pantheon Society who could attend the annual meeting were all quite senior members, and they naturally knew that this meeting was related to the power shift in the Northwest Continent branch. It's important to understand that the main and deputy leaders of the Pantheon Society's external branches are not static; they are re-elected every few years. Qi Shan, as the deputy leader, not only rose through the ranks quickly but also had been in the position for a long time, accumulating a large following.
In other words—
This year, if all his supporters vote for Qishan, there's a high probability he'll oust the current head of the organization, and he might even be appreciated by the inner circle of the Gods Association. Those whose interests have been harmed will naturally be unwilling to accept this. Unexpectedly, Qishan's men acted ruthlessly, snatching the man's sword in front of everyone and stabbing him through the stomach, even attempting to push the blade upwards to pierce his heart.
Shen Tang said, "Isn't it because you're less skilled?"
He showed absolutely no remorse for almost killing someone.
Then, in a sarcastic tone, he said, "It's normal for club members to spar and exchange skills, and it's also normal to accidentally hurt each other occasionally. You can't blame me just because you're not very strong, can you? Am I very strong? Where am I strong? I don't think so. You should examine yourself. Have you been working hard to train all these years? Have you been studying diligently and studying so hard? Think more about yourself and stop blaming your opponents!"
The man felt like he was going to vomit blood after hearing that.
At this moment, several acquaintances stepped forward and helped him up.
With the flow of his spiritual energy, the bleeding from his abdominal wound visibly stopped, though he looked very weak from blood loss: "Today's humiliation will be repaid tenfold in the future! We'll see!"
Shen Tang glared at him: "You're threatening me? I didn't kill you, did I? I told you it was just an accident. If you don't want to hurt me, why would I hurt you? Since you're the one who's making the accusation first, then I won't be polite—we'll talk about it after you leave Linxiang County alive."
For a moment, the atmosphere became tense.
"It's all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding." The crowd parted, and a man wearing a mask with strange gold patterns stepped out.
The moment the injured man saw him, his arrogant and domineering demeanor vanished, replaced by a look of smug confidence.
Hmm, it's like a dog that was beaten up and had its tail between its legs one second, but then raised its tail again the next second when it saw its owner.
Shen Tang remained silent, only looking at Qi Shan who had followed her.
"Misunderstanding? He knows perfectly well what he did to Kiyomitsu. None of us here are three-year-olds; you and I know very well what he meant by those words he spoke in the illusion." Qishan didn't give the head of the guild any face, and sneered, "He's only been in the guild for two years, his talent is mediocre and he hasn't accomplished much. How could he have the guts to lay a hand on Kiyomitsu? Shouldn't the head of the guild investigate who ordered him?"
The head of the organization was also furious.
He was indeed wary of Qi Shan, the vice president, but he wouldn't use such a stupid method. Making enemies in public wasn't his style, but everyone present thought he had ordered it. If he didn't explain, it would be like mud falling into his pants—even if it wasn't shit, it would still look like shit.
The main organization even suspected that Qishan had orchestrated the whole thing himself.
Use such despicable means to smear him.
The injured man spat out a mouthful of blood: "I did it myself, it has nothing to do with anyone else, stop making baseless accusations. As for why I did it? It's just because I heard that Vice President Qi comes from a lowly background and is unworthy of his position..."
The right way is to use the noble to govern the lowly, and not to treat the inferior with superiority.
He hadn't expected the Northwest branch to be so disrespectful.
Qi Shan looked at him speechlessly: "Take him away."
The head of the guild was helpless and could only pray that it was New Year's Eve and that Qi Shan didn't want to see blood, so the injured man would escape unscathed. He was speechless; he thought the man would be his capable assistant, but unexpectedly, he was sent to his death right from the start.
They come here without even asking around.
The Northwest Continent has always been "literary-centered".
The rank of one's literary talent determines one's social class. As long as one is a literary talent scholar, one is not considered lowly, but rather a superior person. The one who was dragged down was clearly a supporter of "family background-based" values. Only those born into aristocratic families are considered aristocratic and qualified to obtain a superior literary talent.
Qi Shan's background is not a secret within the Northwest Continent branch.
In previous power struggles among the deputy secretaries, this issue was never brought up.
That idiot is something else, he stepped on a landmine the moment he arrived.
The head of the company inwardly despised him, but outwardly maintained a friendly facade with Qi Shan, praising Qi Shan's deputy, Tan Shao, for becoming increasingly ruthless and decisive. Qi Shan merely gave a perfunctory reply, his eyes revealing impatience: "Qing Guang, take your things and come with me."
As soon as he finished speaking, a masked waiter handed him a black invitation card.
Shen Tang didn't know what to do with it, but she still accepted it.
Although the waiter only showed half of his hand, his fingers...
It also seems to be deformed?
Qi Shan led her to a small pavilion by the water.
With multiple barriers erected here, she finally didn't have to hold back anymore: "What happened just now? We just drifted apart as we were walking."
Qi Shan took her invitation and wrote three characters in a handwriting Chen Tang had never seen before. Those who had arrived earlier were waiting there, each holding a black invitation with the words "Vice President Qi" written in yellow. It seemed these were the ballots.
Just drop it into the ballot box before you leave.
"That intersection will separate people; it's good that we didn't fall for the trap."
Shen Tang curled her lip: "Such a clumsy method..."
Unless she's an idiot, how could she possibly take the bait?
That's seriously insulting to her intelligence.
"It was indeed clumsy, but with good luck, it had an unexpected effect." After writing it down, Qi Shan waited for the ink to dry completely before collecting everyone's ballots. "That person is good at creating illusions; those who are less vigilant might actually fall for it."
Our lord doesn't follow the usual path.
Shen Tang sat down, lifted her mask to the top of her head, and stuffed a pastry into her mouth: "Didn't we say we were having a meeting? Where are we having it?"
The layout of this mansion doesn't look like a place for holding meetings.
Qi Shan said, "The time is not yet up."
She will know when the time comes.
"Sit down and have something to eat first."
Shen Tang's curiosity was piqued, but Qi Shan refused to reveal the answer, so she could only wait. Even the pastries couldn't stop her from asking, "By the way, I just saw a person with seven fingers. It wasn't an illusion."
The person who handed her the ballot was not the same person.
How can there be so many people with deformed fingers?
Qi Shan said, "He is a servant of the Council of Gods."
"They specifically choose people with deformed fingers for the job?"
Qi Shan patiently explained: "The Council of Gods has written records that the ancients were like this long ago. There are also records that they were just one branch of the ancients. Not only were their hands different from those of today, but other parts of their bodies were also different. Some of them were born with one eye or three eyes. It is said that they were the Three-Eyed Clan and the One-Eyed Clan... The Council of Gods reveres ancient customs, so the servants they use should naturally follow the example of the ancients."
The custom of wearing masks is also related to this, because some of the waiters had appearances that differed from ordinary people, and they wore masks to cover them up. In addition, the members of the company also had to maintain an air of mystery.
Upon hearing this, Shen Tang fell silent for a moment.
Qi Shan was puzzled: "Qing Guang?"
Shen Tang sighed and said, "Let's talk about it when we get back."
She had previously confirmed that the current world was in a post-apocalyptic timeline, making the records in the Council of Gods' documents all the more intriguing. The so-called deformed ancient humans were likely caused by environmental factors. These humans either lost their lineage, or for some reason, their descendants gradually regained normal physical appearance.
Gu Chi listened to her thoughts and looked at her.
They seemed shocked by her audacious guess.
Shen Tang: "You'll find out in the future."
Everyone was curious about what Shen Tang and Gu Chi exchanged glances. A shrill voice called out from outside. Qi Shan got up, opened the door, handed the collected ballots to the other person, and then closed the door.
After the person had gone some distance, Lin Feng asked, "Won't you fake it?"
If the main altar or other deputy altars bribe the waiters to manipulate the vote count, wouldn't the registrar lose?
"It doesn't matter." Anyway, the main company won't last long. He arranged the meeting here with the intention of getting rid of people. "Besides, these waiters can't be bribed."
"Can't be bribed? Can't be coerced or bribed?"
Qi Shan said, "These servants are spies planted by the inner council of the Gods Society in the outer council. They are puppets, somewhat similar to Huang Lie's heavy shield warriors, except that the Gods Society's methods are more subtle. Bribing them would be discovered by the inner council."
The Pantheon publicly proclaims its absolute neutrality.
Naturally, such fraudulent activities will not be allowed to occur.
Shen Tang: "Puppet? Is it also controlled by Gu worms?"
Qi Shan shook his head: "I don't know. I haven't figured out the methods of the Inner Council all these years. But—why don't you guess whether they are living or dead?"
Qin Li said, "If they have life, then they are naturally alive. But since you're asking us to guess, then they must be dead."
Qi Shan's answer, however, was ambiguous.
"Several years ago, a new member of the society saw that the waiter's hand was deformed. He drew his sword and cut it off. The metacarpal bone inside the flesh had a silvery-white luster. It did not look like human bone, but rather like copper and iron."
It's hard to say whether this person is alive or dead.
|ω`)
(End of this chapter)
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