Chapter 50 Kou Qingyi's tasks for this week have been issued!
Chapter Fifty
This time, the system provided a remarkably generous amount of information. In addition to knowing how the Holy Grail shattered and that some of the fragments were in Bian Shaoyan's possession, we also learned a great deal of knowledge about the extraordinary realm, which in some ways was more important than the information about the Holy Grail itself.
The New Sun, the All-Ending Society, and the Melancholy Melody—these are just the beginning; there are already signs of three evil gods or cults of evil gods intervening. The importance of the Six-Star Holy Grail is evident, and now even the system is getting involved.
But those false gods fight for the Holy Grail to advance to true godhood, so why does the system want to obtain the Holy Grail itself?
Wasn't she already certified as a true god by the false god [Mimi Yin]? Why does the system still consider the Holy Grail a key item for the main quest?
Putting aside the three unknowns in the mission rewards, after learning about the Holy Grail's function, Du Yu inexplicably began to care about the consequences of failing the mission.
[Mission Failure Result: Annihilation - You will, along with all those who believe in you, face utter destruction.]
Aside from 166, Du Yu has always felt that the system's attitude towards her is very subtle. It neither actively harms her nor actively helps her. This Holy Grail mission is the first time that there has been a penalty for failing the mission.
Moreover, the wording used by the system this time was also very subtle. It was the "result" of mission failure, rather than punishment, indicating that this annihilation was not manipulated by the system, but rather a natural occurrence after failing to obtain the Holy Grail.
Why would the Holy Grail, once it falls into someone else's hands, cause one's own annihilation?
Thinking of the Holy Grail's function, Du Yu's breath hitched. If the consequence of not obtaining the Holy Grail was annihilation, then the reason could only point to one thing—authority!
Among the forces openly and covertly vying for the Holy Grail, someone's pursuit of power clashes with her own! Although Du Yu is not entirely clear about what power she possesses, the importance of power to the gods is self-evident, and she now has no way out.
Who is it? [MiMiYin]? Her attitude towards her was relatively friendly, but it's possible that she doesn't know her specific authority, since even she herself doesn't know.
New Sun? The Society of the End of All Things? Or the force directing Quark Pharmaceuticals to collect the Holy Grail? Or perhaps the Lord of the Pure Sea, who is suspected of fishing in the shadows?
After considering all the possibilities, Du Yu realized with a headache that, apart from the forces that had not yet been exposed, everyone else was a potential threat.
After all, it involves power and authority, and there is no room for maneuver. Once they seize the same superior element, the result can only be a fight to the death.
There is still too little information.
Du Yu rubbed his temples, preparing for the worst-case scenario where any emerging force could be an enemy. He then set aside this problem, which had no immediate answer, and another question arose.
Besides Bian Shaoyan, why does someone else in the scene just now look a little familiar?
With the powerful memories brought by his high mental strength, Du Yu quickly recalled the source of this familiarity. Wasn't the one who just released holy light to drive away the corruption Kou Qingyi, the elder of the two sisters Kou Qingyi and Kou Qingman?
Du Yu's eyes were subtle. These two believers were taken from the original body of the [Iron Parasite] when Xiao Yi was burned last time.
When they were first taken from [Iron Parasite], their spiritual bodies were severely damaged, so Du Yu didn't make any arrangements for them for the time being. As she waited, her number of followers increased, and so did the number of things to do. Before this incident, she had almost forgotten that she still had two followers who were stranded outside.
Du Yu, feeling slightly guilty, found the two sisters' spirits in the link. Just as he was about to observe them, he sensed a faint fluctuation coming from the other side. They had just started praying to him at that very moment!
——
"elder sister."
Confirming that the fake footage hadn't been discovered by the people on the other end of the surveillance, Kou Qingman turned off the terminal, looked at her sister beside her, hesitated to speak, and a worried look appeared on her face.
Just by looking at their facial features, these two sisters, who are only two years apart, look very similar.
But at this moment, Kou Qingman was emaciated, her face was pale, her cheeks were sunken, and the dark circles under her eyes were so thick that they looked like the Grim Reaper's scythe, making people wonder if she was about to pass away at any moment.
Kou Qingyi had a round face and a rosy complexion. Her long braid, simply braided, hung down her side and was so black and shiny that it looked like she had been smeared with three buckets of oil.
Having known each other for over twenty years, Kou Qingyi knew what her sister meant without needing to say a word. Her gaze fell on her sister's skin, which was as dry and withered as an orange peel that had been exposed to the sun for ten days. She felt a sudden burning sensation and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, there was no worry in those similar brown eyes, but rather a resolute determination like that of someone who had already given up.
“Manman, praying to that being is our only chance. Even under the influence of the Twins, the company hasn’t discovered that we are not affected by 026. Your body can’t take the strain of two people.”
Kou Qingman looked at her older sister, who seemed like a generation removed from her, and a stinging feeling rose in her dry eyes, but she still hesitated:
"Praying to evil...gods is betraying the company..."
“Manman, the company betrayed us first.”
A flash of hatred crossed Kou Qingyi's eyes as she said in a deep voice:
"The Holy Grail was lost. We were clearly victims too, but the company indiscriminately assumed that the traitor was among us and used 026 to control us. If it weren't for your special ability, Manman, that allowed the two of us to take turns resting, we would also be among those who 'died' for the company."
"If it weren't for that day..."
Recalling what happened that day, Kou Qingyi paused for a moment, her calmness turning into a fervent passion. Powerful and chaotic purple flames descended from the sky, and the bindings that had tightly confined their bodies, the enormous objects that had suffocated them day and night, and the despair of waiting for death, all vanished lightly like smoke.
But that great being appeared abruptly and disappeared just as quickly; they were still in a daze when they had already lost the opportunity to follow that great being.
Fortunately, in their dreams recently, the faint connection has become more and more obvious, and the commands and prayers of that being are learned by them as naturally as their mother tongue.
"The time traveler in the eroding rift, the six-winged white dove that devours the riddles of time, the listener who hears from both ends, your believers pray to you, yearning for your caring gaze upon your bewildered followers..."
Du Yu followed the link and learned about their current situation in less than a second. But to her surprise, Kou Qingyi and Kou Qingman asked her for help, not to help them get rid of the surveillance of Quark Pharmaceuticals, but to take revenge on Bian Shaoyan.
“He’s leaving the company soon and heading to the lower city in person. This is our only chance to get revenge. You’re skilled at erasing traces, so I boldly request your help to eliminate our presence when we make our move…”
As Du Yu listened to Kou Qingyi recount their plan, he was secretly alarmed by the overwhelming hatred in their words. In the scene just now, when the company was attacked, Kou Qingyi was the first to strike, and now she hated Bian Shaoyan for not being able to die immediately.
Kou Qingyi is also a ruthless person. After realizing that the effect of [Iron Parasite] had failed, her first thought was not to run away, but to use the trait [Twin] to disguise herself and choose to lie in wait in the company, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge.
This is understandable, though. [Iron Parasite] is meant to deal with difficult enemies like Xiao Yi, but Bian Shaoyan used it on the only remaining researchers without any basis, simply because of suspicion.
Who wouldn't hate that?
Bian Shaoyan's departure was three days later, and judging from the timing, it was probably also for the Holy Grail. Their revenge and their own goals did not conflict, so Du Yu did not think for too long and readily agreed.
"call."
On the other end of the link, Kou Qingyi visibly relaxed. Clearly, even though she was grateful to the deity who had helped them get rid of the parasite, there was still a risk in praying rashly without knowing the deity's taboos.
Fortunately, this being is not one of those irrational, incomprehensible false gods.
Having achieved her ultimate goal, Kou Qingyi remained respectful and gave her younger sister a wink. The latter carefully retrieved a wooden box from a hidden compartment in the room and handed it to her older sister.
Kou Qingyi exhaled, opened the wooden box and placed it in front of her. She lowered her eyes slightly and said respectfully, "Thank you for your generosity and kindness. This humble believer is ignorant and unaware of your preferences, and can only offer you mundane items popular among mortals..."
Before Du Yu could finish her string of humble words, her gaze was immediately drawn to the box as she opened it. Inside the ordinary, even somewhat shabby, wooden box lay three crystals of different colors, sparkling and translucent.
The core elements! And there are three of them!
Before Kou Qingyi could finish her apology, an ancient and solemn temple suddenly appeared before her eyes, with a bright purple flame burning in the center of the altar. Knowledge about sacrifices and prayers to the gods instantly flooded her mind.
Before she could do as she was told, purple flames suddenly leaped out and burned around the wooden box. After the flames subsided, the three crystals disappeared.
So fast? It's like someone who's been starving for three days suddenly seeing food... No, how could I have such a blasphemous thought? It must be that the great Lord of Hearing sensed her piety and didn't want her believer to wait any longer. Yes, that's it.
Just as Kou Qingyi cleared the blasphemous thoughts from her mind, the connection in her brain stirred slightly, and the purple flame returned, with a pot of lush green meat soup appearing out of thin air in the flames.
Kou Qingman, who was nervously watching her sister, was startled. Judging from the color of the broth, it didn't look like anything good. But the moment her spiritual energy spread over it, she almost cried out in alarm:
What is this thing? It has such rich life energy.
The essence of the extraordinary is chaos and disorder. Among the nine superior elements, apart from the unknown one, only the [Mind] element has healing abilities. Therefore, extraordinary items in the field of healing have always been in short supply, and at their previous level, they were not qualified to come into contact with such items.
What's in front of them now isn't a bottle or a bowl, but a whole pot full!
What exactly does this mean? Is this something they could exchange for three Dark-level cores?
Kou Qingyi snapped out of her daze, a warm feeling washing over her. With this, her sister's health...
Du Yu secretly observed the two sisters' reactions. She offered them Green Meat Soup—yes, as someone terrible at naming things, she had officially named it Green Meat—partly to encourage them to collect more Dark-grade Cores. Du Yu had just done a quick check; Dark-grade Cores were expensive on the market, but within the company, the price wasn't prohibitively high.
On the other hand, they then proceeded to probe the value of the green meat from the relatively devout Kou Qingyi and Kou Qingman sisters. The original owner of this body was a young lady with no awareness of prices, and Du Yu, knowing the rarity of healing items, found it difficult to estimate the value of the green meat without any reference point.
Judging from their reactions, Du Yu quietly increased the selling price of the green meat considerably. However, since there is currently no stable way to obtain green meat raw materials, Du Yu is not in a hurry to sell it.
After dealing with the sudden issue with the believers, Du Yu's consciousness returned to his main body. He heard a series of "meows" and "cooing" noises coming from the altar. When he went out to check, he found that 166 was taking advantage of its flight to tease the nine-tailed cat Xiao Jiu around the altar.
Du Yu was speechless for a moment, about to mock 166, when a six-winged white dove circled in the air a few times and landed precisely on the black cat's head, its golden light suddenly shining brightly:
[Ding-dong~ This week's tasks have been issued! Please choose whether to accept the tasks within 24 hours~]
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Author's Note: How many people, like Dudu, have forgotten about these two believers (staring)?
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