Chapter 239: Chapter 236: [They All Have 8 Legs...]
Chapter 236 [They All Have Eight Legs...]
From that encounter in Neon Country, although Chen Nuo had managed to destroy one Mother, it left him with two unresolved mysteries.
The first question was, how had the Truth Society’s Sect Hierarch initially found the Mother at the bottom of the sea? When Chen Nuo entered, he did so with that heretical female leader, utilizing a submarine, bringing along manpower and equipment, diving deep into the sea, and entering the tunnel...
So how had the leader of the Truth Society found it at the very beginning? How had an ordinary person without money or influence, especially a blind one with impaired mobility, managed to get into the undersea tunnel?
The second question concerned a term the female leader of the Truth Society had mentioned, "Prophet," and during the communication with the Mother, the message contained a mention of a "Seed." That is, when the Mother first descended to Earth, to awaken itself, it dispersed some Seeds on the planet, then put itself to sleep, hoping that these Seeds would find and awaken it. (Chapter 167)
At that time, the consciousness guarding the Mother, [It], had asked Ishii Hisako, and Ishii Hisako told [It], verbatim, "The Prophet sent me here!"
[It] asked Ishii Hisako, "Where is the Prophet?"
Ishii Hisako replied, "He’s already dead!"
With these questions in mind, Chen Nuo, although he had destroyed the Mother in Neon Country, still maintained deep vigilance!
He had always suspected that the Octopus Monster organization was the one trying to find the Mother and awaken it.
A traitor, or an extraterrestrial power?
Furthermore, there was an experience from his past life, hired by the Octopus Monster, embarking on an expedition mission to Antarctica... (This part of the story will be explained in detail later).
That trip to Antarctica, in Chen Yanluo’s memories from his past life, did not arouse any suspicion about the Octopus Monster organization. The experience was complex and tortuous, but he never associated it with any extraterrestrial power.
In Chen Nuo’s original memories, the journey to Antarctica, although very special, was special only because that trip allowed him in his past life to meet the Star Sky Empress Lu Xixi, and from then on, the two had a deep entanglement.
But now, looking back, that expedition to Antarctica obviously held deeper secrets!
Thus, Chen Nuo’s actual ongoing suspicion was directed at the Octopus Monster organization.
He believed the Octopus Monster might be the Seed left by the Mother, dedicated to finding and awakening the Mother.
Otherwise, why would they use an octopus as their LOGO? And why would they persistently post high-priced offers on their website to find and purchase uniquely shaped octopuses—such an absurd mission?
Yet, his recent journey to the Amazon had shattered this suspicion.
Vanel, the representative of the Octopus Monster organization, was also here to find and destroy the Mother!
Then... the Seed could only be John Sterling!
"You’ve gained control of this place, and found the Mother... so you must definitely be the Seed! But you don’t want to awaken the Mother; instead, you’re using this place to increase your own power," Chen Nuo said, staring at John Sterling. "Now, do you have anything to say?"
John Sterling’s face was a mask of wretchedness as he shook his head and let out a cold laugh, "What else is there to say? We’re all going to die here now."
The earthquake beneath their feet gradually subsided, as if this Relic World had returned to calm.
But the few people present did not relax, because they were Psychics, all able to vaguely sense that although this world had calmed down, there seemed to be some kind of invisible power that was slowly growing stronger.
It was unclear what this power was—it was an intangible pressure that made everyone’s hair stand on end!
It was as if you were an ordinary person, and there was a fierce tiger lying next to you! Although the tiger had not made any noise and had not yet made any moves, you could feel a strong sense of threat!
"It’s time to speak openly and honestly," Chen Nuo declared seriously, his gaze sweeping over everyone. "We’re about to face a life-and-death situation, and if we keep anything back now, we might all end up dead here!"
"I agree with Davarishi’s words!" Vanel immediately responded loudly.
At this moment, the burly Russian, having experienced life and death together, had gained trust in Chen Nuo. Although the fellow’s methods had been somewhat tricky, he truly had saved lives. The fact that everyone could still stand here alive owed a lot to this "Davarishi."
Bonfrey watched Chen Nuo coldly and then posed a very sharp question, "You still haven’t explained who you really are!"
The Sea Monster and Bonfrey stood together, also speaking coldly, "Indeed, what exactly is your identity!"
Even the Son of the Sun scrutinized Chen Nuo with the same interrogative gaze.
"...Alright," Chen Nuo sighed. "I..."
"He’s Harvey," Vanel interjected, "Even though his appearance has changed, he’s the same Bigfoot Harvey that has been in the same team as us before."
Even though Vanel’s words were not entirely accurate, both Bonfrey and the Sea Monster understood him.
"So you’ve been impersonating Harvey to infiltrate this team?"
"What is your purpose?"
Vanel shook his head, "Ladies and gentlemen, I can assure you that his intentions are certainly not to be our enemy. His goal, like mine, is to find this place on this mission and then kill the creature here."
"We can disregard that issue," the Sea Monster said coldly. "What I’m more interested in knowing now is, Vanel, it seems you have even more secrets hidden away! Why does the Octopus Monster want to find this place? And what the hell is this ’Mother’ you mentioned just now?
"As people who have been hired for a high price to carry out this task, we have the right to know the truth!"
Chen Nuo said, "To be precise, sleeping here is a creature from outer space that excels in spiritual power. It took refuge on Earth in ancient times and chose our planet as its next breeding ground.
And once it awakens, we’re all doomed.
It’s that simple. Is that clear enough?"
"How would you know about such things? How could you have so much..." The Sea Monster was still trying to ask something.
But Bonfrey suddenly said, "It’s clear enough!"
After all, he was from the Cultivator Association, working with that cunning old Wizard. Even though his strength wasn’t top-notch, his mind was certainly sharp.
Bonfrey immediately said, "This information is sufficient for the time being! Mr. Sea Monster. As for the rest, if we survive, we can ask later. Asking now is pointless; we currently face two issues.
The first issue is who our enemy is.
The second issue is how we defeat this enemy.
As for anything else, let’s save it for if we manage to live through this!"
Chen Nuo looked at Bonfrey appreciatively; from the beginning to the end, this guy was very cunning and clever.
The Son of the Sun looked at Chen Nuo but said nothing.
Chen Nuo also glanced at the overweight elder.
This fat old man, his identity was clearly very delicate!
The Son of the Sun and people like the Sea Monster and Bonfrey were different; others came for the rewards in accepting the commission.
But the Son of the Sun was obviously different!
He very likely was one of the Octopus Monster’s "own people"!
This could be seen from the fact that Vanel was able to summon him using life coordinates!
If he were just an Ability User who came for the benefits of the task, the Son of the Sun could not possibly be so deeply bound to Vanel!
Chen Nuo placed the Crystal Skeleton he was holding on the ground. "Now, it’s time to figure out what this thing’s uses are!"
He suddenly grabbed John Sterling. "You’ve been using this thing to control the Mother all along, haven’t you?"
"Control? Don’t joke with me, you can’t even imagine the strength of the Mother! Nothing can truly control the Mother," John Sterling shook his head and sneered, his voice full of mockery.
SLAP!
Chen Nuo landed another slap across the guy’s face.
"If you keep up this resistant attitude, we might as well all just die here! And you, as a traitor to the Mother, do you think your end will be any better than ours?
Now, your only hope is to confess everything you know.
Even if that hope is extremely slim! John Sterling, do you wish to spend the last moments of your life with worthless mockery and futile rage? Or do you wish to cooperate with us, clinging to that one-in-ten-thousand hope, to grasp that faint chance of survival?"
John Sterling’s expression was like a dying man’s, "The Mother cannot be defeated!"
"That’s our problem! You just need to tell us what we want to know!"
"The Mother could not be controlled. What you have in your hand is just something the ancient indigenous civilization used for rituals to the Mother—a Mother that slumbers here. During its slumber, it occasionally releases some energy unconsciously, which those ignorant ancient natives mistook for a deity.
And this thing is the ritual instrument they used to worship that deity."
John Sterling finally mentioned something useful.
Chen Nuo took a deep breath, trying to sound as gentle as possible. While he spoke, he subtly released a wisp of spiritual power to influence John Sterling’s consciousness.
"So... how is this instrument used? You’ve seemed very nervous about it earlier, it must have some special purpose, right?"
"I told you, it’s a ritual instrument for sacrificing to the Mother. It’s used to deceive the Mother, to keep it asleep.
"The ancient indigenous civilization, upon discovering the energy released by the slumbering Mother, saw it as a deity and worshipped it, concocting this thing.
"They realized that the Mother liked to devour life—though it wasn’t really devouring; the Mother just needed to absorb the spiritual power of life. However, the ancient civilization couldn’t understand the difference. Assuming the Mother wanted to consume life, they used a large number of living beings for blood sacrifices.
"And this skull is a ritual instrument for such sacrifices, used to transform life into pure spiritual power."
After a pause, John Sterling sighed, "I really don’t know the specifics.
All I know is that in that ancient indigenous civilization, evolved Ability Users emerged, including a Mentality Series Ability User.
However, this spiritual power Ability User wasn’t a product of natural evolution. They likely mutated from living near the Mother for an extended period, affected by the energy it unconsciously released during its slumber.
Thus, such mutated Ability Users with tremendous spiritual power emerged among the ancient natives, but their brains had mutated.
You can observe that the skull of this Crystal Skeleton has completely deformed."
Indeed, the shape of this Crystal Skeleton’s skull was very peculiar.
"With these mutated spiritual power Ability Users, the ancient civilization could finally communicate with the slumbering Mother.
But this communication was on a spiritual, conscious level... and the Mother, still in slumber, released only simple and limited messages.
These mutated native Ability Users could only improve the rituals based on the fragments of information they received.
From the initial direct killing of living humans and animals for sacrifices, they gradually evolved and invented a way to transform life into spiritual power—through those mutated spiritual power Ability Users.
But such Ability Users were rare, as the chances of the Mother releasing energy and causing mutations were few—it was in slumber.
It could not guarantee to continuously release energy to create more mutants.
As a result, these Ability Users would die. To ensure the continuation of the rituals, those ancient Ability Users came up with a method: they fashioned the skulls of the deceased Ability Users into ritual instruments to ensure the perpetuation of the sacrificial traditions.
In simple terms, it involves a ritual where a living being is killed, preferably an Ability User! Then the creature’s fresh blood is poured in, and through the ritual, it is converted into spiritual power within the skull.
Then, it is transmitted to the slumbering Mother through that pyramid to feed it!
And in exchange, each time the Mother is fed, it emits some energy in return..."
Chen Nuo heard this and sneered, "John Sterling, your mighty power came from this, didn’t it!"
John Sterling didn’t respond.
Chen Nuo didn’t doubt his story.
Feeding the Mother with spiritual power in exchange for its energy outflow—this was a fact Chen Nuo had personally experienced.
His own formidable spiritual power came from just that.
But clearly, something had gone wrong.
Both received gifts from the Mother, but John Sterling’s abilities seemed ghostly and enshrouded in darkness. He looked every bit like a stereotypical evil Great Devil!
Not at all handsome!
Chen Nuo was certainly not like this.
There had to be some problems with the ritual process conceived by the ancient natives.
"So, can this thing keep the Mother asleep indefinitely?" Chen Nuo pointed at the Crystal Skeleton.
"Of course not," John Sterling shook his head. "This thing can only deceive the Mother, preventing it from waking during its slumber and keeping it in a state of being fed..."
I get it!
Chen Nuo instantly understood the meaning.
It’s like you’re raising a fierce beast.
This Crystal Skeleton is basically a feeding bowl.
You regularly throw food into this feeding bowl, and as long as the beast has something to eat, it won’t cause trouble.
But once you take this feeding bowl away...
John Sterling wasn’t of much value anymore. Chen Nuo stopped looking at him, then turned his gaze toward Vanel, glanced at the Son of the Sun, but still settled his eyes on Vanel.
Hmm... Comparatively, this Russian seems easier to trick.
"Davarishi! I think since you guys dared to come here to hunt the Mother, you must have a way to kill it, right? If you didn’t have a method, you wouldn’t have rashly come here to die."
As he spoke, Chen Nuo’s tone was serious, "Now, it’s time to show your method!"
Vanel’s lips moved slightly, just as he was about to say something...
BOOM!!
Suddenly, a thunderous noise erupted from underground!
The people staggered, floundering to maintain their balance!
And in the place where the pyramid collapsed in the distance, the ground rapidly caved in, sinking underground and forming a massive, terrifying sinkhole!
Amidst the ground shaking and the intense rumbling noise, all of a sudden, a gigantic shadow peeked out from the edge of the sinkhole... revealing a rugged tip...
One foot...
Two feet...
Three feet...
One after another, enormous black limbs climbed up to the edge of the sinkhole, and then heaved a colossal figure, tall as a mountain, out of it!
Four feet...
Five feet...
The onlookers’ eyes widened as they instinctively kept backing away.
Chen Nuo was infuriated, "Motherfucker! What is this thing! Where’s the promised octopus?!!"
Vanel swallowed hard beside him, "This, this... This is almost the same thing..."
"How is this almost the same?!! You call this almost the same?!" Chen Nuo grabbed Vanel.
"But, but it has eight legs..."
"Eight legs my ass!!" Chen Yanluo cursed, pointing at the monster that had already pulled its massive body completely out of the sinkhole in the distance.
Though both have eight legs... this thing was obviously not any octopus!
But a spider, gigantic like a mountain peak!