Chapter 97 The Final Feast of Revelry (Seventeen) The contents of this small dock...
“I can sense that you are different from them, and I actually really want to meet you.”
"Gu Xi's" tone was strangely sincere. Knowing that saying more would only lead to more mistakes, Du Yu completely ignored him. Judging from Seventh String's earlier breakdown and shouts, the other party might not be as composed as he appeared.
"Before the eternal night arrives, the gods shall not walk among the earth! Even if you have touched the 'moon,' you cannot break this ironclad rule!"
Although it's unknown who formulated the "ironclad rules" mentioned by the Seventh String, even someone as powerful as the Lord of the Pure Sea must be subject to certain limitations when walking in the real world.
Now that Du Yugang has figured out the whole story, he gets chills whenever he sees "Gu Xi" and just wants to find a way to escape in the spirit world as soon as possible.
Moreover... although Yu had a general understanding of the situation, there were still some questions she didn't understand.
There's a mole among Lan Ge's people, colluding with the Joyful Orchestra—that's what she discovered during her investigation. But how exactly did Bu Manyin die? And her death just so happens to have brought her a key item in this incident—isn't that too much of a coincidence?
Without the [Divine Revelation Pearl], even if Du Yu wanted to save people, he wouldn't have been able to do so. He might even have been drawn into this ripple in the spirit world because of the feud between the Cat Beard Pirates and the Gentlemen's Club.
If that were the case, she wouldn't be able to stay here so leisurely now.
Besides Bu Manyin's mysterious death, there was another thing that Du Yu was particularly concerned about.
Judging from the desperate efforts of the members of the Pleasure Band to seize the Holy Grail, the Church of [Mimi Yin] must value the Six-Star Holy Grail quite a bit. This is evident from the fact that after Dong Shijiu joined the Pleasure Band, she immediately recruited Dong Shiwu and forced her to spy on the band members at the dock.
However, Du Yu had previously intercepted a portion of the [Mi Mi Yin] divine messenger, Fifty Strings, in the mine, and obtained some memory crystals from it.
Strangely, the Fifty Strings, as the actual leaders of the Pleasure Orchestra and the messengers closest to the gods, were ordered to find the Holy Grail without expending too much effort.
Moreover, the members of the Joyful Band today went to great lengths and used sophisticated methods, including espionage, to gain access to the mines and laboratories.
But Du Yu had encountered the messenger of [Mi Mi Yin] while casually wandering the spirit realm in the mine! Even stranger, after Du Yu uncovered [Mi Mi Yin's] conspiracy, the Gentlemen's Club, who should have been mortal enemies of the Pleasure Troupe, immediately tightened the mine's security, allowing entry but not exit for a long time. It didn't seem like a precaution, but rather like they were covering for the Pleasure Troupe.
Intuition tells Du Yu that although most of the mysteries surrounding the theft of the Holy Grail have been solved, this seemingly small contradiction may be hiding a bigger pitfall!
But that's not what she's looking for right now.
"Click, click..."
Du Yu keenly sensed that as the spirit realm, which was sealed off like an impenetrable fortress, began to ripple uncontrollably, a teeth-grinding chewing sound came from not far away.
Gu Xi looked regretfully at the amethyst that was about to enter the spatial ripples, raised her hand to touch the cloth strip that had been covering her eyes, and reached her fingers in through the gap.
Then, the cloth strip that had been stretched taut by the fingers twitched a few times and quickly deflated, as if the organ covered by the cloth strip was not an eye, but the ferocious maw of a hungry beast.
Click, click...
First the fingers, then the palms, forearms, elbows, until "Gu Xi's" body twisted and turned like a rubber band. The area covered by the blindfold was like a bottomless pit, which swallowed most of "Gu Xi's" body.
As Du Yu worked hard to carve a crack in the spirit world, she wondered to herself that the scene before her seemed familiar—wasn't this the way Yu Shi, that lunatic, left the dream when she met Cat Beard and the others?
So this is still the eerie way of leaving that the [Lord of the Pure Sea] faction has passed down through generations?
Du Yu, taking advantage of his stiff brain from complaining, saw that the "gap" had finally widened to the point where he could leave. Before the joy could even rise, Du Yu's expression changed. He disregarded the gap that had been painstakingly dug and quickly "drifted" to the place furthest away from the gap.
Gu Xi, who had been staring intently at Du Yu with a regretful smile on her lips, gradually stiffened the curve of her face, making her look like a rigid stone statue. The image of Gu Xi, which she had perfectly portrayed since her appearance, finally showed a flaw.
But Du Yu, the only surviving spectator in the stadium, doesn't have the energy to pay attention to Him.
At the same time that the incident in the spirit world occurred, a strange hissing sound rang out from the edge of the laboratory. The sound grew louder and louder, like a deflated balloon screaming hysterically before it exploded.
The laboratory began to shake, and not only the building and facilities, but everything seemed to blur before my eyes. Countless flashes of light appeared and then scattered like fireworks, disappearing completely in an instant. The spirit world is a distorted projection of the real world; the spirit world is like this…
It's the "space" in this area that's shaking!
"Splash!"
The sea of blood, which had been almost completely occupied and had stabilized, began to shake again. The space at the edge of the laboratory distorted, and strange traces resembling a spider web rapidly multiplied. Waves like the palm of a giant pounded against the "spider web," as if countless fine lines had instantly spread across the "spider web" after porcelain had been broken.
The next instant, as if reaching its limit, the strange hissing sound in Du Yu's ears suddenly reached its peak. This small laboratory space seemed to have broken some kind of shackle, becoming infinitely large in that instant, as if a new world had been born. Then, in an instant, it became infinitely small, the space collapsing infinitely. Everything was compressed to the extreme, as if returning to before the Big Bang.
What's going on...?
Even though Du Yu had a premonition and avoided it in time, the changes in the space spread too quickly and the changes in the space were too thorough. Du Yu's foresight only delayed him by a mere second.
When that sudden change struck, as the smile on "Gu Xi's" face froze like a stone and silver light spilled from the edge of the blindfold, the entire space suddenly collapsed!
The sea of blood was churning and surging with a shrill cry!
In Du Yu's senses, everything changed in an instant!
After an unknown period of dizziness, a shimmering pink light appeared like a beacon standing firm in a storm. Du Yu subconsciously followed that familiar pink light, and his consciousness gradually returned.
"Bishop D!"
The familiar call finally jolted Du Yu out of his dazed state. Du Yu's consciousness returned to "Dong Shiwu's" body, and he saw the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings.
The underground laboratory was too unique; Dong Shiwu's body couldn't fit inside at all. She was in a hurry at the time and only managed to instruct Aliya to take the body away before leaving it to her. Now it seems she stayed with the surviving miners.
The surrounding environment was said to be familiar because this was the epicenter of all their investigations and conflicts—the Flène de la Quay.
It feels unfamiliar because the place has changed drastically.
It was neither like the desolate yet frenzied mine that Du Yu was familiar with, nor like the carnival scene where the fallen creatures wantonly slaughtered and feasted after the members of the Pleasure Band blew up the walls.
Apart from some dilapidated buildings, the only thing that Du Yu found familiar about the dock now was the miners huddled together for warmth, their expressions filled with fear, inside a protective shield made up of numerous [Divine Revelation Pearls].
"Bishop D, what exactly is going on here?"
Cat Whiskers seemed to have just been through a major battle; his usually rosy and slightly chubby face was deathly pale, and his cheeks appeared sunken. He was currently sitting on Shen Xijing's shoulders, listlessly clinging to her neck.
Upon seeing the unreliable yet powerful Bishop D, who was also able to contact the Lord of Listening, even though he knew this shouldn't be the case, the former leader of the Mist Hunters still breathed a sigh of relief.
Cat Whiskers took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions, and quickly organized his thoughts to explain to Du Yu what had happened here after she left.
The Gentlemen's Club members didn't show up for a long time, the Pleasure Band members disappeared together, the Fallen Ones were restrained by Cat Whiskers and others, and the Divine Pearl was resisting the pollution. Although the situation at the dock was still unclear, it was not as dangerous as before, where one could die at any moment.
Danger can unite a scattered heart, but trust is not easily built. Once the crisis was resolved, the problems that had been suppressed in the large team that Wang Erqi had quickly assembled were instantly exposed.
We have all received common sense and basic knowledge education. Although you are saving people, you are all evil gods. Who knows what your motives are?
After the argument, there was a large-scale exodus from the group. If it weren't for the fact that the [Divine Revelation Pearl] couldn't be used without Wang Erqi's permission, those people would probably have forcibly taken a few of the [Divine Revelation Pearl].
No matter how talented Wang Erqi was in management, he was still an ordinary person with no experience before this. It was Cat Whiskers, who had been observing from the sidelines, who made a decisive decision and, without getting entangled with them, told all those who had doubts to get lost.
At first, only a small group of the loudest birds left; they were also the strongest among them.
After all, those who dare to work in the abandoned area, even if they are not powerful superhumans, consider themselves to have some skills and the ability to survive in the chaotic and dangerous city.
But as the remaining corrupted species either died or ran away, and the miners who had gone far away did not encounter any problems, the morale of the remaining people began to waver.
At first, out of consideration for the debt of gratitude, no one dared to speak out directly. But as the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, the timid crowd gained confidence through frequent eye contact, and large numbers of people began to desert.
Compared to the first group of people who were merely radical and suspicious, this group, apart from a few who dared not look at Wang Erqi's disappointed gaze, mostly looked indignant. Some even glared at Wang Erqi angrily. If Aliya hadn't silently raised her gun, the scene might have gotten out of control.
After all, the protective shield of the [Divine Revelation Pearl] was already running out of steam amidst the increasingly dense pollution in the surrounding area. A few more physical attacks might kill everyone present.
"Why?"
When Wang Erqi asked Mao Huzi that question, although his first reaction was one of shock and hurt, upon reflection, the reactions of the first few people to leave were quite reasonable.
After all, common sense is not so easy to change.
To her astonishment, the second group of people...
The rescuers were the Lord's command and fellow believers, while the murderers were the Gentlemen's Guild and the cultists of "Mimiyin". But why is it that these cowardly guys, who dared not resist the persecution of the enemy, had the audacity to raise their fists at their benefactors after being rescued, and even had the face to be indignant?
Cat Whiskers remained calm. It wasn't that she wasn't angry, but after so many years of navigating the lower city, she was no longer surprised by this kind of thing. Glancing at her future colleague, who was stuck in a rut, she succinctly replied with a common saying:
"A small favor is appreciated, but a large one breeds resentment."
At this point, Wang Erqi glanced at Du Yu with shame. Du Yu didn't say much. She saved people out of two reasons: a simple moral compass and a simple sense of confrontation—if the enemy wants to do something, then do everything you can to destroy it.
Judging from the outcome, her action can be described as a stroke of genius. She not only saved people but also extricated herself from the mess, perfectly achieving and even exceeding the expected goal.
As for those who left... all of them combined are not as important as Wang Erqi in Du Yu's heart.
Even if this world puts a price tag on people based on their strength and status, those at the very bottom can only be used as consumables in the city.
But Du Yu comes from another world, a world where technology may be backward, but civilization is more "advanced". In Du Yu's eyes, there is no difference between a person with management talent and a top-notch superhuman. They are both talents in a certain field and good candidates to work for him.
At the very beginning of her makeshift team, when there was a particular lack of management talent, Wang Erqi's importance was self-evident.
After all, Cat Beard and his group might be able to kill a hundred people in a short time, but Wang Erqi could gather a thousand people in a short time.
This experience is enough to teach this inexperienced manager a valuable lesson and help him grow. That's enough.
Seeing that "Bishop D" did not blame her or punish her for not keeping a close watch on the potential believers, Wang Erqi felt even more distressed. If she didn't have to stand there to comfort the remaining hundred or so believers, she would have wanted to end her own life as an atonement!
Cat Whiskers glanced at Wang Erqi, who was stuck in a quagmire, quickly finished explaining the situation at the mine and the reasons for the decrease in the number of believers, then cleared his throat, a flash of silver light passing through his eyes:
"...I believe there must be something wrong with this, and someone is behind it."
This is obvious.
Although Wang Erqi chose to devote herself to the Lord of Listening because she was saved by him, she was, after all, an ordinary person with low spiritual power, and could not directly feel the impact of faith on a person's spirit.
In fact, in a world where there truly is a God, let alone disrespecting God, even if one's faith is not that devout, as long as one recites Du Yu's prayer, she can connect with the spirit world and, in an instant, travel thousands of miles to blow up the head of any traitor.
Moreover, there's a reason why evil gods are called evil gods.
Let alone prayers, ordinary people or those with weak willpower could establish a connection with deities in the spirit world and become believers without reciting prayers simply by repeatedly chanting the name of an evil god or learning too much about its deeds.
Needless to say, believers who recite the prayers will also be affected. Under the influence of the divine power, even if Du Yu does nothing, their minds will gradually be distorted, and they will wholeheartedly believe in the "Lord of Listening" until they become fanatical believers who only have the god in their eyes.
Even though the game inexplicably bestowed upon her the title of a god and granted her superhuman powers, Du Yu didn't like it. Therefore, she deliberately reduced the frequency of the appearance of the "Lord of Listening" and preferred to issue tasks through forums rather than directly issuing divine pronouncements to convey instructions.
Even if this cannot completely reduce the negative impact of faith on the mind, it can significantly reduce and slow down the rate at which believers turn into irrational faith monsters.
For example, even though Cat Whisker had subconsciously accepted the Church of the Lord of Listening, she overheard a few days ago that this powerful superhuman was mentally complaining about how stingy and poor the Church of the Lord of Listening was.
Sigh, my thoughts have wandered off.
Even powerful superhumans cannot resist the influence of divine power.
A group of ordinary people, especially those who were rescued by Wang Erqi during the most dangerous and mentally unstable period and recited the name of the Lord of Listening, were able to resist the erosion of their minds by the divine power and even have the energy to betray the gods.
This person practically had something wrong written all over their face!
After pondering for a while, Du Yu discovered a problem with mixed feelings of amusement and dismay—the pollution that the [Divine Revelation Pearl] considered to be contaminated actually included the distortion of believers' minds by the gods!
In other words, when Wang Erqi was preaching, he personally delivered the tools that helped them break free from the bondage of faith!
Fate played a cruel joke on us here.
Of course, in order to increase the quantity of the current [Divine Revelation Pearl], the quality of the protective shield has not been improved too much, remaining only at a level that is just barely sufficient.
Therefore, it's not yet at the point where holding the "Divine Revelation Pearl" allows one to recite divine prayers without becoming a believer.
However, for those with strong wills, such as Cat Whiskers and Qin Xinhong, who are not easily swayed by their abilities, while they may still have a good impression of the [Lord of Listening] and related things, their feelings will remain at a normal level.
What truly freed a large number of believers from Wang Erqi's control, and even from the control of Du Yu, the faith receiver, and led them to find only a vast expanse of white and gray mist along the mental link, was an extremely familiar power.
[Delicate and alluring music]!
They are not believers who rely on even a trace of divine power, but the real deity himself!
It was Mimi Yin who had fallen into the trap of the Lord of the Pure Sea and should have fled in a sorry state to secretly recover from her injuries somewhere in the spirit world!
How did He end up here?
He definitely had ulterior motives!
Two thoughts rushed into his mind almost simultaneously. Recalling the changes that had just occurred in the laboratory space, Du Yu suddenly felt an ominous premonition.
As her consciousness gradually returned, she was able to piece together the truth, albeit half-heartedly.
In order to carry out their crazy god-making plan, Quark Pharmaceuticals and Lange Communications, two conglomerates, joined forces and somehow managed to forcibly "cut out" a small area of the real world and "lock" it in the spirit world.
This security plan can be described as virtually flawless.
But how can there be no price to pay for forcibly confining a space belonging to the material world within the spirit world?
Based on the situation just now, Du Yu speculated that after the sealing period ended, the material space barrier supporting the laboratory space would completely collapse, and the entire space would not return to its original position, but would be torn to shreds in the spiritual turbulence and spatial rifts.
Similarly, having permanently lost a small piece of material space, the space that was "cut out" will also be invaded by spatial turbulence due to the damage to the spatial barrier after the laboratory space completely collapses.
Either that space will remain eroded by long-term spatial turbulence, or through intense collisions of turbulence, spiritual energy will stabilize, new spatial barriers will gradually form, and this space will gradually stabilize and give rise to new spaces.
But clearly, the recent turn of events was completely unexpected by Gu Xi!
The laboratory space didn't seem to have reached its limit; rather, it looked as if it had been forcibly damaged by some external force.
In an instant, intense spatial turbulence tore apart the space, and the collision of two completely opposite yet equally domineering energies had almost devastating consequences.
The fact that this area, which was originally a spacious mine, is now a spacious open space is the best proof of this.
But—that's not right.
"Dong Shiwu" suddenly frowned, his eyes sweeping questioningly over the [Divine Revelation Pearl] protective shield, which, though thinned, still stood firm, and then over the ordinary believers huddled together, shivering. More and more doubts arose in his mind.
Leaving aside the question of where that mysterious power came from, even she, an avatar created by the gods, was momentarily blinded by such a massive force. In a situation where only Cat Whiskers, who seemed to be hiding some secret, survived among the superhumans, the believers who stayed behind all survived.
Perhaps this is related to the nature of that force?
Just as this thought crossed Du Yu's mind, he heard several crisp sounds of flesh striking bone. Outside the pearl protective shield, in what should have been a desolate wasteland filled with the dark ruins of corpses, a white figure suddenly appeared.
The figure was tall and slender, with long, black hair that fell smoothly to her ankles, but then unexpectedly sticking up just before touching the ground, suspending in the air, its glossy texture gleaming faintly in the dim world.
Even without looking at that exquisitely beautiful face, just looking at that head of black hair that shimmered like silk, one couldn't help but think that this "person" was an absolute beauty.
He, or perhaps He, was wearing a familiar white evening suit, only much more luxurious in its decoration and design, so much so that compared to the group of people in the Joyful Orchestra, they had no resemblance whatsoever except that they were all wearing white.
His bare feet, white as jade, transformed everything in their path—corpses, wreckage, and explosion smoke—into flowers, fountains, joyful musical notes, and playful sprites with translucent wings, all bathed in a halo of multicolored light…
Ignoring the hellish scene surrounding Him as He strolled over, this scene was just like the paradise described in books from before the Great Cataclysm.
Du Yu suddenly tensed up. Was the significance of this small dock too high?
The avatar of the Lord of the Pure Sea disappeared in the collapse of space, and the seemingly runaway Mimiyin suddenly appeared. Could this small dock be some kind of feng shui treasure land?
"No, I came here specifically to find you."
A magnetic yet exceptionally soft voice escaped from those thin lips. The being, seemingly the embodiment of a seductive voice, lowered its head slightly. Its beautifully curved eyes, with two subtly rotating seven-colored musical notes deep within their pupils, gazed at Du Yu with an affectionate gaze, as if looking at a dog with deep tenderness.
“That megalomaniac is finally gone… I’ve finally found the opportunity to speak with you in person, young and vibrant lady.”
What should we talk about?
Du Yu spoke coldly, her heart sinking inwardly. Although [Mi Mi Yin] was clearly weaker than [Lord of the Pure Sea] just from listening to the prayer, the pressure emanating from the avatar in front of her still indicated that [Mi Mi Yin] was stronger than her!
Damn it, she could bully the kids when dealing with superhumans before, but once she entered the realm of divine battles, her shallow foundation and weak strength were immediately exposed.
After this matter is over, upgrading the altar and increasing our strength must be placed at the top of our agenda.
"Of course, we would like to invite you to the banquet."
[MiMiyin] As she spoke, she placed her right hand on her heart, slightly bent her knees, and performed a strange yet elegant gesture. Her exquisitely beautiful face, like that of a doll, gazed at Du Yu, a honey-like smile on her lips:
"I was preoccupied with various mundane matters and was unable to personally invite you; this was my fault."
As that voice, as soft as a lover's breath, was uttered, a human arm burst open from the rift and, without warning, traversed from the spirit world, reaching straight for Du Yu's neck!
-----------------------
Author's Note: This long volume is finally nearing its end. Guess how [靡靡音] managed to do it?
This chapter might have a lot of bugs, I'll catch them slowly after I wake up from my nap.
——
Already caught. If there are any more, I guess I was blind. [Clown]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
