Chapter 426 The True Face of the Ancient God
Players don't care what NPCs think of them.
The players only care whether these NPCs will hurt their reputation...
There is no way. Territory reputation is too difficult to gain, just like the reputation of the Undead Chamber of Commerce. Since the launch of the game, even the most hardworking first-tier team has not been able to gain respected reputation, and all of them are stuck at the intimate reputation level.
And the territory reputation is very important - not to mention that the first and second levels require territory reputation, adding or recasting enchantment items on equipment from Lao Yang, the black-hearted camp leader NPC, will consume territory reputation!
For players, it is more frustrating to get top-quality equipment but not be able to add or recast enchantments than not getting top-quality equipment at all...
After confirming twice that all civilian NPCs did not have the description "injured" before their display names, a group of players breathed a sigh of relief and continued to discuss how to survive the next "protection" period.
"Do you remember the first time we did the mission of escorting civilians? It was the first time we did the world view breakthrough mission." Miaobishenghua said to everyone solemnly, "The civilian NPCs in this game are not as easy to deal with as the NPCs in ordinary PC games. They have to eat, drink, defecate and urinate, and they will get sick if the environment is not good. We can't just leave these NPCs here. It's better to move them into the building, otherwise when the day breaks in the game, there will be a lot of sick people."
"Of course, of course." The test players present remembered what happened during the mission of escorting the civilians in Kamor Town, and nodded one after another.
"Wait, does that mean we have to get food for these NPCs?" The second test player who had never done the civilian escort mission was shocked. "Are these NPCs still powerful? How can we get food for them in the middle of nowhere?"
"How stupid! Why don't a few people commit suicide and go back to the city to buy it at the Chamber of Commerce headquarters?"
"Oh, yes, the Undead Chamber of Commerce has food that the NPCs need."
"It's better to restock some bandages, just in case."
"Aren't there quite a few people in our Blood Alliance who followed the lead of Boss Ouyang and practiced the butcher profession? We should be able to get some game."
"Food and drink are easy to solve, but what about defecation? We can't communicate with civilian NPCs, and we don't know when they will need us."
"This is easy. Lock the NPC in the building over there and look for a toilet or spittoon or something..."
"Ugh, so disgusting."
"It's better than letting these civilian NPCs run around."
"I think it would be better to just tie up the hands of these NPCs and let their feet go. If they can't move their hands, they won't be able to run away even if they want to."
"I think it's feasible. This way, the NPC will go to the toilet by himself when he needs it. I won't empty the toilet for the NPC anyway."
"How about this, let's assign some people to escort the red-named NPC back to Frank to hand in the mission, and see if we can speed up the speed at which the Undead Chamber of Commerce sends people to take over the civilians. Otherwise, it would be disgusting to be stuck in this protection mission all the time."
The players discussed the rules and quickly took action...
Give me some medicine and take away about 200 players, and carry the 59 cultists back to Kata Town overnight.
Yang Ying led more than 20 players to escort a life player who had practiced the butcher profession out of the canyon to hunt wild beasts.
The orange cat boss and a dozen volunteered players committed suicide and returned to the city. After the death penalty time was over, they went online to purchase daily necessities and medical supplies needed by civilians, making long-term preparations for the stupid task of "protecting civilians", which had no specific time limit and no idea how long it would last.
Entropy does not increase by logging off to ensure game time, and Miaobishenghua is in charge of the important task of "protecting civilians", which is closely related to the territory reputation of all alliance players.
The civilians, whose emotions had calmed down a lot, first witnessed the undead carrying the Holy Church believers into the darkness in groups of two, and then the undead removed the bands on their feet and drove them back to the living area deep in the canyon.
The canyon was a land without an owner, and the "holy servants" who did hard labor were treated as consumables, with no regard for human resources. The buildings in the living areas were built very large, and more than twenty people could easily fit into one room.
The players were too lazy to care about the "living experience" of the civilian NPCs and hastily assigned 221 civilians to 11 adjacent stone houses.
Including the preliminary hard work, the average online time of this group of players has exceeded eight hours. The guarding order is determined by rock-paper-scissors, and several teams of players with less luck are responsible for "protecting" the NPCs. Others who have logged off log off, and those who are not offline also disperse and continue their looting in the canyon.
The White Robe High Priest had been running this Nameless Canyon for decades, so he still had some wealth. The diligent players had also found many good things that could be sold for game coins or exchanged for reputation...
When it was almost dawn in the game, the players, who had searched the entire nameless canyon inside and out several times, discovered an extremely hidden secret passage on the mountain wall on one side of the canyon that even ordinary believers did not know about.
When several players who had found this secret room curiously passed through dense vines and entered the secret passage in the mountain, Yang Qiu, whose ship had already sailed into the territory of Tachia, suddenly opened his eyes.
All online players are his anchors.
The players who entered the secret passage in the mountain could not sense the strange aura in the passage, but Yang Qiu, a legendary spellcaster, could not ignore it.
"…It can't be such a coincidence, right?"
Yang Qiu's expression suddenly became strange.
The faint aura in the secret passage - Yang Qiu was very familiar with it!
The ancient god of rules who was able to anchor him on Earth across dimensions and drag him into this magical dimension, the ancient god who was suspected to have the power of time and space or space - the tentacle of the ancient god that was swallowed by him, the evil energy breath was highly similar to the dangerous breath in the secret passage in the mountain!
"...Since the White Robe High Priest is a believer of 'Him', even if he knows nothing about the sacrificial 'cult', he should have the power of time and space or space. However, he obviously does not have this kind of rule-based ability. Why is this..."
"Wait - that out-of-control guy, that rock-like substance on the distorted shell... is it a fossil?!"
Yang Qiu, who was originally sitting relaxedly in the cabin seat, unconsciously tensed up his body.
Obviously, the altar outside is just a face-saving project used to shock people. The place where the white-robed chief priest actually sacrifices living people should be the secret passage in the mountains that the players have just discovered.
The aura of the God's seed that the white-robed high priest obtained by sacrificing human lives was chaotic. Even when it was touched by the players, Yang Qiu did not notice anything wrong, which made Yang Qiu very puzzled.
But the aura of ancient gods left behind at the sacrificial site cannot deceive anyone!
In any case, this is not the ancient and dilapidated sacrificial remains in the underground secret passage of Exile Town, but a cruel living sacrifice scene "in use" and is not suitable for players to witness.
Several players who were curiously exploring the secret passage were suddenly blocked by an invisible air wall. At the same time, a bold and large red warning popped up in front of them: "There are unknown dangers ahead. Please unlock the plot before continuing to explore further."
Several players, who thought they had discovered a secret treasure trove, exited the secret passage cursing.
After sending the players away, Yang Qiu was in no mood to leisurely ride the boat. He stood up, walked out of the cabin, went to the deck, summoned a skeleton griffin, and flew away.
Captain Mays, who was dozing off with his arms folded across his chest, was awakened by the sound of Yang Qiu getting up and leaving. He was still wondering what this black magician was doing on the deck so late at night, when he saw him summon an undead flying mount and fly away...
Captain Mace: “……???”
After flying for more than half an hour against the strong wind at high altitude, Yang Qiu arrived at the nameless canyon.
Hiding his figure behind the subspace barrier, Yang Qiu entered the secret passage silently without alerting the players in the valley.
Entering the secret passage in person, the familiar aura of the ancient god was many times more vivid than sensing it through the anchor point...
Yang Qiu's face turned a little gloomy.
The ancient god who sank into the endless void, lost his divinity and sanity during the long wandering in the void, and degenerated into a twisted and crazy will.
Although this twisted will lost in the void will still instinctively exert influence on the material plane, it does not have the logic of "thought"... In other words, it is difficult for the ancient gods to consciously and repeatedly "gaze" at a certain place or a certain person.
The reason why Yang Qiu, who swallowed a tentacle of the ancient god and even got tainted by a trace of the ancient god's evil power, is still alive and kicking is precisely this... If Yang Qiu had offended a rational and thoughtful righteous god, the righteous god's revenge would not be delayed overnight.
The aura here is so strong that any spellcaster who steps in will sense something is wrong. This can only prove one thing - how often does this crazy cultist, the White Robe High Priest, perform inhumane living sacrifices!
"Perhaps we should have intervened at that time... It was too easy for this guy to be defeated by the mental pollution of the earthlings."
Muttering something, Yang Qiu strode deeper with a cold face.
After walking for four or five minutes, Yang Qiu estimated that he had entered the depths of the mountain, and the narrow secret passage in front of him suddenly became clear.
At the end of the secret passage is a huge cave.
In the middle of the cave, there is a half-meter-high circular stone platform standing alone.
The circular stone platform, which was no more than two meters in diameter... had been dyed dark brown by blood.
There are also large irregular black-brown marks on the ground around the stone platform.
Yang Qiu did not approach the stone platform, but just stood there and observed from a distance.
The stone platform was filled with an ominous aura of ancient gods, which was even stronger than in the secret passage.
There is no need for a spellcaster. Just let players with higher perception like the orange cat, the European sturgeon, and Yang Ying get close and they will be able to sense that something is wrong.
After observing silently for a while, Yang Qiu raised his right hand and waved it gently.
The aura of ancient gods that permeated the surroundings of the stone platform flowed towards Yang Qiu happily.
And... without any hindrance, integrated into Yang Qiu's external spiritual field.
Yang Qiu wrapped this breath of the ancient god with his own mental power, and carefully examined it inside and out, confirming that it did not contain the element of "will", and then absorbed it.
The absorption process is very smooth and there is no resistance.
After the absorption was completed, the trace of evil god's power that Yang Qiu obtained by devouring and assimilating the ancient god's tentacles became slightly stronger.
After digesting the remaining aura of the ancient god, Yang Qiu closed his eyes and thought quietly for a long time before slowly opening them.
"--I see."
Yang Qiu whispered to himself, "No wonder I couldn't find the name of 'Him'... So that's what's going on."
After having to swallow the ancient god's tentacle at the cost of his life in order to protect himself, Yang Qiu has been investigating the ancient gods of the rule system, and the old gods whose duties are related to the power of time, space and space.
The ancient gods who fell in the War of the Gods are terrifying existences that people have always avoided, but people are not afraid to even record them - the names of ancient gods such as Kazan the Dead and the Eternal Sleeper are recorded in the Ivory Tower, the Alchemy Room, the Bounty Hunter Association, and even in the family records of royal nobles in various countries.
Yang Qiu was not very sociable among spellcasters back then and had never been to the Ivory Tower , but it was not difficult for him to get the occult books compiled in the Ivory Tower - he had several occult books written by spellcasters that he had picked up during his travels, including the black magic books "Book of the Dead", "Whisper of the Undead", and so on.
Not finding it in the occult books he had, Yang Qiu then asked Lowell, Bishop Lee Gene of the Gold Coin Church, his teacher Kingsley, the lich Envy, and even Phoenix from the Odysseus family.
After asking around, there was still no result.
The gods who had fallen among the ancient gods of rules and were suspected to have the power of time and space or space were like being wiped out from history by an invisible hand.
It was not until now that Yang Qiu took the risk to personally come to the scene where the ancient god responded to the living sacrifice that he was finally able to determine the reason -
"'He' is indeed crazy, but not completely crazy."
Yang Qiu made a calm judgment.
He responded to the sacrifices of ignorant believers who were unaware of the cult by bestowing the seeds of God with a chaotic aura that did not possess any of the power that He should have. This was proof of His utter madness.
But His tentacles can still clearly anchor to a specific target - Yang Qiu himself - which proves that He is at least rational when He extends His tentacles into the material plane.
The results of these mutual contradictions, combined with Yang Qiu's knowledge of mysticism, can only lead to one conclusion... Before this ancient god of rules went completely crazy, he split off a part of his consciousness, turned it into tentacles, and cast it towards the material plane.
One of the tentacles anchored Yang Qiu, who was far away in the Earth plane, and dragged Yang Qiu into this world. However, Yang Qiu knew nothing about mysticism at that time, and the tentacles could not devour the "unknown". Yang Qiu was dragged around by Yang Qiu for three hundred years in vain, and was then devoured by Yang Qiu in return.
But the targets of other tentacles... may not be as lucky as Yang Qiu.
One or several tentacles of the ancient god successfully devoured the anchored target, assimilated the target into a messenger of God who is one with the ancient god's consciousness, and intentionally erased all traces of His existence in history!
The lich Envi can interfere with the cognition of high-level spellcasters and blur Kingsley and Yang Qiu's memory of his appearance. It is not impossible for the messenger of the ancient god walking in the material plane... no, the consciousness clone of the ancient god to interfere with the cognition of all intelligent creatures!
Yang Qiu took a deep breath.
Time is meaningless to the ancient god who is suspected to have mastered the power of the rules of time and space.
The tentacle that dragged Yang Qiu to the magical world was the one that anchored Yang Qiu three hundred years ago, but this tentacle was not necessarily deployed to the material plane for only three hundred years.
In other words... Yang Qiu had no way of judging how long the consciousness clone of the ancient god of rules who had completely erased all traces of his own existence had been active in the material plane!
