Chapter 474: Taking Advantage of the Chaos to Do Evil |
“Khan is right, the base on this island isn’t defended at all. Our landing went way too smoothly.”
“Hmph, these heretics are so busy fighting the punishment bestowed by the god, who cares about guard duty?”
“We’ll go ahead to those caves and prepare, then start the operation.”
Voices came from afar, accompanied by footsteps.
Behind the stone pillar deep in the cave, Guan Tong and Uenoshi exchanged a glance, both reading the other’s thoughts.
These unexpected visitors were members of the Fire Thief Worship Cult.
Five people in total came into the cave entrance. None wore the cult’s black robes. Instead, each of them wore high-end diving suits with flippered boots, and each carried professional underwater life-support equipment.
That outfit and gear made Guan Tong think of one name: frogmen.
After entering the cave, the five didn’t go deeper. They sat at the edge and took off their dripping wet diving suits.
“You still want a regular promotion?”
“Why not? After the three bishops died, Your Holiness hasn’t announced new bishop appointments. Maybe he’s secretly observing and selecting. If we finish the task fastest, we’ll surely win Your Holiness’s favor and maybe get promoted to bishop.”
Three bishops of the Fire Thief Worship Cult died...
Guan Tong listened quietly. He was somewhat familiar with the cult’s four bishops.
Bishop Hiss had been decapitated by Silver Fox, Bishop Peter had been crushed into a bloody mist by Adam’s gravity field—Guan Tong had witnessed both deaths.
Of the other two, a young invisible bishop named Bake escaped at the time. The remaining one was a major cult figure who had helped the parasitized army attack the Black Flag Country–Human Consortium joint base, known as Khan.
From what the cultists said, they came in Khan’s name, and they claimed three of the four bishops were dead. That suggested the young Bake was also dead, leaving only Khan.
The five cultists had already changed out of their diving suits, put on black robes, and taken out some weapons.
Their goal was obvious now: while the Human Consortium focused on dealing with the Doomsday Rules, launch multi-point sneak attacks on military bases to create chaos and destruction.
From the enemy’s standpoint, the tactic was unexpected; from humanity’s viewpoint, it was outright bestial.
These temporary military bases around Lanyang were activated by the Human Consortium to find a way to stop the Bright Moon’s ascent and launch a long-range strike, and to give everyone a chance to pass the Doomsday Rules. That meant guard duty against deliberate sabotage was inevitably lacking.
The Fire Thief Worship Cult seized that opportunity to wreak havoc, just like when the parasitized forms infiltrated the landing site and tried to ask the Nano Swarm questions—both treated all humanity as the enemy, an unquestionable anti-human act.
“Uenoshi,” Guan Tong said, “spare them.”
Uenoshi understood and walked out from behind the pillar.
The five cultists immediately noticed the person emerging from the cave and raised their weapons defensively. “Who’s there?”
“Doesn’t matter who he is, take him out! Don’t let anyone on the island get word!”
They charged Uenoshi at once, but quickly discovered their attacks were almost useless and could not harm her. Instead, their own bodies stiffened as if invisible cement had been poured over them, soon rendering them immobile.
“What kind of person is he!”
“Let go slowly, or—”
“Or what?”
Guan Tong stepped out then. He was multitasking: he controlled the Shadow out at sea toward the Bright Moon’s gravitational range while handling the cultists here.
Seeing more people present and judging the situation hopeless, the cultists put on faces of resignation.
“Heretic, kill us directly! The great god who stole fire will judge your sin sooner or later!”
Uenoshi’s eyes cooled and she prepared to act.
Guan Tong shook his head at her. “Leave it to me.”
“These people won’t talk,” Uenoshi said.
“That’s right. Torture them all you want, you won’t make us confess!”
“You filth, including that so-called Your Holiness, are trash. You’ll be swept into the garbage heap soon enough.”
As soon as Guan Tong spoke, the five turned their furious gazes on him.
“You dare—”
Before their anger could fully flare, their brains jolted. Their vision filled with a red haze as if they had been pulled into some bizarre world.
“Ahhh!!!”
Screams rose from the five in succession.
Only then did Uenoshi realize Guan Tong had baited the cultists to all look at him at once so he could trigger his special power, plunging them into Scarlet Fear simultaneously.
“You think that’ll work?” Guan Tong asked.
Uenoshi hesitated a moment. “I don’t know. I’ve heard the hallucinations Scarlet Fear creates are vivid. Once trapped inside, victims feel as if those terrifying scenes truly occurred... I think that’s more terrifying than any torture. If they can still resist it, then there’s nothing we can do.”
Guan Tong nodded. “I thought the same.”
If even Scarlet Fear couldn’t force them to talk, then interrogation would be pointless.
After a moment, Guan Tong withdrew the power. The five slumped weakly with drooling mouths and vacant expressions. If not for Uenoshi’s petrification ability freezing them in place, they might have collapsed to the ground.
“Still not going to talk?” Guan Tong asked, and noticed all five had drooling mouths and silly looks.
He was stunned—had they really gone stunned?
Scarlet Fear had driven many to madness, stupor, or death before, but that usually required either prolonged exposure or very weak physical constitution.
These five were Ascendants, and Guan Tong had intentionally kept the fear period short before withdrawing it. It was improbable for all five to go stupid at once.
“There’s a problem,” Uenoshi frowned. “The problem’s in their heads.”
“You mean...”
“Wasn’t there intelligence showing Your Holiness of the Fire Thief Worship Cult has a mind-control ability? If he used that to control followers long-term, their brains would be damaged over time, making them less resilient than normal Ascendants.”
“...Makes sense.”
Long-term mind control would certainly cause cerebral dysfunction.
Like someone living years under chronic stress, their brain could suffer functional damage leading to hippocampal atrophy.
If these cultists had suffered similar conditions, it would explain why they withstand high-intensity fear far worse than typical Ascendants.
Guan Tong looked at them. He knew he had a bottle of Truth Serum that could extract valuable information if used.
But he hesitated to use it. Save the best for when it matters—the cultists here were at most “priests,” possibly the lowest-tier apostles, cannon fodder. Using such a valuable item on them would be wasteful. He wanted to capture a higher-ranking target—at least a bishop like Khan—before considering consuming a precious tool to get information about Your Holiness.
“I’ll handle them.” Uenoshi’s pupils changed slightly; the vacant cultists underwent transformations, becoming half-human, half-snake Serpent Servants.
Under Uenoshi’s command, they slithered toward the sea outside the cave.
“Converted Serpent Servants can breathe underwater,” she said. “I’ll have them lurk along the coastline. If any cultists approach again, they’ll detect them immediately.”
“Good.” Guan Tong nodded and pulled out his phone to send a message.
He thought it necessary to notify the Countermeasures Research Office that remnants of the Fire Thief Worship Cult were causing trouble during the Rule Period.
Just after sending the message, the Shadow’s shared vision began to spin wildly.
Guan Tong pressed a hand to his forehead, cursing inwardly.
“What’s wrong?” Uenoshi asked.
“The Shadow has entered the gravity vortex.” Guan Tong fought the dizziness brought by the rapid rotation in the shared view. “It’s been captured by the Bright Moon.”
...
After Li Meng’s proposal received Gao Liangwei’s approval, action moved quickly.
Not only Beixing, but other Human Consortium countries also joined in. Not because everyone believed it would definitely work, but because there was no other practical option at the moment.
Many implementation details still needed adjustment.
For example, when dropping bombs, how to ensure a large number won’t collide midair, get damaged, or detonate prematurely? To ensure detonation occurs upon contact with the Bright Moon, extra designs like timers were necessary.
How many bombs were required? Could ordinary bombs destroy a high-density entity with strong gravity? If not, should nuclear weapons be used? Most nuclear devices had been destroyed during the Earth Dragon Rolls Over rule, so large-scale mobilization wasn’t possible on the fly.
Officials from various countries were anxious. Everyone knew no matter what they did—right or wrong—the Bright Moon was still steadily rising.
Since it was born in the abyssal trench, it has continued ascending. Even without terrifying speed, it was enough to keep everyone uneasy.
It was like the story of the tortoise and the hare: the hares fret at every rest because they know the slow-moving tortoise never stops.
Until they can ensure they’ve crossed the finish line, they remain anxious. Until they can stop the Bright Moon’s ascent through the Rules challenge, humanity will stay on edge.
A large number of explosives were quickly transported to the designated drop site.
These devices were specially treated to prevent premature disintegration or detonation due to collisions—at least ensuring some would survive.
Their explosive yield was massive. One device was transported by a full-size cargo ship and contained a mega nuclear warhead with a yield of tens of megatons—the most powerful explosive the Human Consortium could hurriedly assemble.
They decided not to keep it in reserve but to use it now, reasoning that waiting would likely make it less useful later as the Bright Moon formed further. Better to try now than later when its effect might be negligible.
The explosives were carefully calculated and dropped into the sea. As they fell a few hundred meters, they were caught by the gravitational vortex and accelerated toward the pale depths.
During this time, countries launched a few probes and surface illumination devices, lighting the sea hundreds of meters deep.
With surface cameras, people in offices could see the astonishing, tornado-like small vortex on the ocean’s surface!
The Bright Moon’s descent speed wasn’t slow; it currently remained several thousand meters below the surface, but the vortex created by its gravity had already reached several hundred meters depth.
Many experts speculated that if humanity failed to stop it, as the Bright Moon neared a few hundred meters beneath the surface, it could create a spectacle that would amaze the world: a massive vacuum vortex in the ocean with no seawater in it.
Let’s hope it works...
Everyone involved silently prayed inwardly.
Ascendants assigned to observe this operation stayed on their respective countries’ monitoring vessels, surrounding the target sea area and using their abilities and tools to scout.
The young perception Ascendant on the Goddess of Fortune submarine who could hear frequencies was also there. Because his skill was exceptional, he had been redeployed after rescue.
Now he heard countless frequencies being dragged toward the Bright Moon at the seabed. Delving deeper, he heard the sounds of those existences emitting what sounded like wails.
Dense schools of sardine-like fish, mixed with the falling explosives, were being sucked down, forming a gigantic silver whirl. The vortex carried lanternfish and squid, all churned together, and he even heard the frequencies of sharks and whales.
“Ah!”
On a Beixing reconnaissance ship, Chen Na opened her eyes, her face pale.
As the Countermeasures Research Office’s star reconnaissance Ascendant, she was naturally assigned to the Bright Moon observation task.
Silver Fox was beside her and quietly asked, “What is it, Xiao Na? What did you see?”
Chen Na nodded weakly. “...I sensed a massive presence. It must be a whale... but even such a giant whale can’t escape the vortex. It swims desperately but can’t get out, helplessly plunging downward...”
Though Silver Fox could not see, she could imagine: a giant whale pulled by the gravitational vortex toward the abyss, its struggles useless—what a devastating, hopeless scene!
But she understood this was normal and sighed, “Even a submarine weighing thousands of tons was nearly pulled in and barely escaped. What chance does a whale—only in the hundreds of tons—have... and we humans weigh only tens of kilograms. If we fall into that gravity vortex... it’s terrifying just to think about it!”