Federal Central Protection Zone Underground Base
After the recent incident involving the Eye of the Seer, the base's upper levels were moved to a more secure lower level, heavily guarded, and the recordings of the summoned deities were subjected to research.
Scientists at the Federal Research Institute had not managed to analyze all of the content. They only initially determined that the videos did not have infectious properties and were not capable of polluting human minds. On the contrary, the images of deities in the videos had an extraordinary deterrent effect on anomalous entities.
Researchers had played the videos in front of the detained anomalous entities in the base, and without exception, all the entities seeing the videos for the first time stopped their actions, as if paralyzed by fear. The moment they regained their senses, they curled up to avoid exposing themselves to the gaze of the deities in the videos.
In this state, even if a human violated their murder rules, they would not act, as if their very instinct to kill was suppressed.
Such a miraculous scene was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the Federal Protection Zone, which had always been researching ways to completely annihilate anomalous entities. Everyone felt that with further research, they could uncover the deeper reasons behind the video's power and replicate it, thus having a weapon specifically designed to suppress anomalous entities.
Previously, although various supernatural tools could be used to confine and restrict anomalous entities, it was merely a temporary fix. Supernatural tools were not harmless; while they restricted entities, their use required a cost from humans. Some costs were trivial, some were limited by usage frequency, causing the tool to self-destruct after a certain number of uses, and some required the price of life.
Even though the cost to humans was already severe, the base constantly faced the risk of confinement failure and destruction by the anomalous entities, remaining vigilant at all times.
However, things were different now. If the mysterious power contained in this video could truly be analyzed, then humanity could indeed look forward to a brighter future, no longer merely in a passive position against anomalous entities.
Thinking about this, Director Zheng Pengpo was filled with excitement. He looked at a top-secret file in his hands, a rare smile replacing his usual frown.
This file, titled [Overseer Space], was a supernatural document recently submitted by the City of Li, classified as S-grade alongside [Nameless Mist]. The submission time almost perfectly coincided, and when Zheng Pengpo first saw the file, his face turned pale. With two consecutive S-grade incidents within a few days, he could already imagine the wailing and devastation in the City of Li. However, contrary to his expectations, the City of Li was still intact, with only a few hundred citizens hospitalized due to mental trauma, and no signs of the ruins and corpses he had imagined.
Today, the research institute further provided the good news, and Zheng Pengpo couldn't help but smile. He felt that humanity’s future looked brighter and believed that heaven would not completely cut off the path for mankind.
Boom—!!!
However, as Zheng Pengpo continued to review the files in his office, the familiar mental pressure returned. His expression suddenly changed as he could not believe that the Eye of the Seer, now confined to the lowest level of the base, could still affect this place.
The previous influence of the Eye of the Seer did not extend throughout the entire base, and the intensity of the mental pressure was not this severe. Even Zheng Pengpo, with his somewhat stronger than average mental power, could barely endure it, experiencing a splitting headache.
He tried to calm himself and issued a series of commands to his subordinates.
Soon, the base alarms blared again. Zheng Pengpo, enduring the pain, rushed to the location where the Eye of the Seer was confined. Upon arrival, he prepared to check the situation through the special protective window as he had before, but was met with the sight of staff members struggling and wailing on the floor.
"Ah! Ah! God! Ah! It hurts so much!!!"
"No! Help me! Ah! Don’t come near me!!!"
"God! The deity will descend! Stars... at the right time! Ah!!!"
The staff members on the ground were crying out, clutching their heads. Their skin showed signs of peeling off, as if something were growing beneath their skin, horrifyingly grotesque. The unprecedented pain made even their specially trained nerves unable to endure, only releasing their agony through screams.
Seeing this, Zheng Pengpo's expression darkened. He knew that the situation with the Eye of the Seer had definitely worsened. The once harmless Eye of the Seer had finally torn off its false benevolent mask, revealing its hideous nature.
Realizing that staying here was not wise, Zheng Pengpo quickly ordered the base staff to evacuate the level where the Eye of the Seer was located. Rescue personnel arrived in succession, saving those still wailing on the ground.
As everyone hurried to leave, the mental pressure of the Eye of the Seer gradually dissipated. Zheng Pengpo, however, felt a strange, enormous pull. He struggled to control his impulse to look back but could not resist glancing through the corner of his eye. Through the blurry protective window, he saw a faint image, vaguely resembling a mountain-sized figure.
In the next moment, Zheng Pengpo's eyes bled, and his head felt as if it were smashed by a heavy hammer, with unbearable pain and a soul screaming in madness and distortion. He fainted.
Before falling into darkness, he thought that perhaps he had seen a deity. Clearly, the Eye of the Seer had once again glimpsed the secret of an unknown deity.
And this deity was probably not friendly to humans, at least not as friendly as the last deity that had given humanity hope.
[Zerg: Manor’s Old Tales]
"Extra! Extra! The Curtis Empire declares war on the Dreamless Empire!"
"Breaking news! The Countess is looking for a spouse!"
"Sir! Would you like to buy some flowers? They’re perfect for a girlfriend~"
On the lively street, the newsboy from the Zerg ran around shouting loudly, leaving trails of slime on the cobblestone pavement.
A young girl from the Ant Clan selling flowers blocked Dell’s path, looking at him with hopeful eyes. Her four hands were holding a bunch of beautifully blooming flowers. Her caramel-colored, smooth exoskeleton and white dress made her look extremely adorable.
Dell smiled at her, handed her a silver coin, and, seeing the girl’s surprised expression, took a bouquet of roses and turned to leave. He was heading to the church to offer a rose to the deity.
Soon, Dell arrived at the church and sat on a bench opposite the Zerg deity statue, bowing his head in prayer, hoping to cleanse his own sins.
Yes, he had sins. From the moment he was born into this family, he was filled with sin, for he was the son of an incestuous union between his parents.
Every time Dell thought about this fact, he felt disgusted with himself. It was as if his entire soul was torn apart when he learned the truth a month ago. Discovering that his mother was also his aunt was excruciatingly painful.
He was a devout follower of the deity of light, believing in brightness, while his family was stained with the blood of the poor, and their bodies were filled with sinful blood.
Especially recently, he noticed that his father seemed to be planning something. Many innocent Zerg girls and boys were being sent to the manor, and Dell had yet to find them.
Rumors around the area spoke of the manor lord secretly using Zerg heads to sacrifice to an evil deity. This troubled him immensely, not just because the rumors were spreading, but because he suspected it might be true.
Raising his head, Dell looked at the holy statue in front of him with a bitter expression. Although it was highly disrespectful, he decided he had to stop his father.
For the sake of more innocent lives, he had to stop his father, even if it meant risking being expelled from his home.
Resolved, Dell left the church, walking away under the gaze of the statue.
He quickly returned to the manor but did not want to confront his father directly. His innocence and desire to prevent his father from making mistakes made him appear incredibly naive. Instead, he chose to tell his father about the rumors and persuade him to stop.
Aside from the deity of light, there were no true deities. He hoped his father could find his way back and stop worshiping those false evil gods.
In the living room, the manor lord, Old Maimble, looked at his struggling younger son with narrowed eyes and a cold voice. "You wretched child, you would rather believe outsiders than trust your parents? Hmph!"
Dell shivered at his father’s cold expression but persisted in his beliefs. In the end, Old Maimble confined him, with guards strictly preventing him from stepping outside during the day, until he could reconsider.
Dell angrily pounded on the closed door and shouted, "Let me out! Father! You can’t do this! I’m an adult now! You’re a ruthless dictator!"
The black-clad ant guards outside the door remained impassive, ignoring the young master’s cries.
After banging on the door for a while, Dell gave up, pacing angrily in his room. He thought he would have to reason with his father next time. After an unknown period, he suddenly heard a commotion upstairs, with the sounds of ant maidens screaming and fighting. The noise was immense and impossible to ignore.
Dell went to the balcony and looked up, just in time to see a familiar ant maiden's body fall from the balcony, from the fourth floor to the ground, blood mixing with shattered exoskeleton scattered everywhere.
"Ahhh!!!" Dell screamed in horror at the sight before him. Through the gaps in the balcony railing, he saw the dead face of an ant-like servant, her eyes wide open in death. It was his father’s personal maid, Lis.
Lis was dead, her death horrific. This realization caused Dell’s fragile nerves to completely collapse. His vision darkened, and he fainted. When he woke up again, all he could hear was a familiar commotion coming from upstairs.
After the screams and sounds of the ant-like servant's struggle, Lis fell from the fourth-floor balcony once more, her eyes still open in death. Dell watched in pale disbelief, almost unable to believe his eyes.
Why... did Lis die again?
"Open the door! Quickly, open the door! Lis! Lis is dead again!!!"
Dell trembled in fear. For a moment, he almost thought he was dreaming. The black-clad guards outside opened the door impatiently and told him that someone would take care of Lis’s body.
"But... she’s died twice!!!"
Dell was shocked. He didn’t understand why the guards were so indifferent, as if death were the most ordinary thing. But even death, the repeated death of Lis, was absolutely not normal!
The black-clad guards, looking at Dell who was speaking nonsense, showed even more impatience and slammed the door shut.
Dell, trembling and crying, continued to pound on the door, desperate for them to open it. Lis’s repeated deaths were the most terrifying supernatural events for the frightened Dell. He could not stay here any longer.
Dell prayed frantically to the God of Light, convinced this was a devil’s trick, making him witness the deaths of others in succession.
In the next moment, Dell felt a blur and found himself back on the balcony. The commotion from upstairs continued. He stiffly lifted his head and met Lis’s eyes as she fell from the balcony.
The madness and ferocity in Lis’s eyes made him shudder.
Bang—!!!
Lis’s body hit the ground again, bursting into a vivid splash of blood.
"..." Dell, stunned, clung to the railing, staring down with a pale face.
It was a nightmare from which he could not awaken.
For what seemed like an eternity, Dell repeatedly witnessed Lis’s death. Sometimes she fell from the balcony, sometimes she had her head severed by the black-clad guards, or was pierced in the neck by a knife in his own hand... The methods of death varied.
After witnessing Lis’s death countless times, Dell curled up in a corner of the balcony, not daring to move.
He was terrified beyond belief. Knowing that others couldn’t see Lis’s repeated deaths, he felt hopeless, not knowing when he would awaken from this terrifying cycle or escape the most horrifying punishment in the world.
No, perhaps it was Lis who faced the most terrifying punishment, as he was only an observer of Lis’s deaths, while she was truly dying repeatedly.
No matter how many times time rewound, her death was inevitable, as if it were a cruel joke by the deity of fate.
Dell thought this, and suddenly heard a sound different from all previous deaths. He looked up and saw Lis, her face wild with madness, standing on the balcony, arms outstretched, jumping down.
She... committed suicide.
So Lis could also perceive the cycle?
Unable to endure any longer, she chose to end it herself?
Watching Lis’s suicide, Dell suddenly burst into tears, overwhelmed with sadness for this tragic fate and the devil’s torment.
Lis had always been a cheerful maid. Dell couldn’t comprehend what kind of painful punishment could drive her to despair and suicide, but he felt as if he could empathize with her and wept bitterly.
The servants downstairs, cleaning up Lis’s body, heard the young master’s crying. They exchanged glances, unsure why this usually sentimental noble young master had started crying again. Perhaps he was just scared.
The servants thought indifferently and carried Lis’s broken body away.
------------------------------------------------------------
In the Real World
Bang!!!
With the sound of something hitting the ground, the interface of the Ancient God Simulator twitched imperceptibly.
Ke Su, having died over forty times, expressionless, controlled his character to commit suicide again, then closed the Zerg instance and threw the game controller on the ground, starting to search for strategies online.
The webpage was filled with small guides, but there was no guide for the Zerg instance.
After flipping through for a while, Ke Su took a deep breath and returned to the game page, opening the Mechanical Era instance and starting to sail.
Sailing made him happy. He liked sailing and enjoyed looking at the calm deep blue sea before him. Ke Su thought to himself.
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