Chapter 291: Chapter 286 Sand God - Greed
Just as Lilia and the others were immersed in the grandeur of the sculpture, a faint light suddenly flashed in its eyes. Immediately after, the entire palace began to shake violently.
The ground trembled and debris crumbled from the walls. The group panicked, scrambling to find their footing as they watched their surroundings vigilantly.
"What’s happening? Is this palace going to collapse? Should we run?" Liu Yaowu shouted, his voice filled with terror.
"Everyone, be careful!" Wei Hao yelled, quickly finding a tall stone pillar for cover, his eyes filled with confusion and suspicion.
As the tremors intensified, a swarm of Golden Sacred Beetles poured out from every corner of the once-silent palace. Like a golden tide, they surged toward the group. These Sacred Beetles resembled the horseshoe crabs from Chen Pingchuan’s past life, except they were larger and moved faster. Their bodies emitted a dazzling golden light, and the buzzing of their wings was deafening, like an army on the verge of a fatal assault.
Liu Yaowu immediately raised his machine gun and fired madly into the swarm. Bullets rained down, striking their carapaces and creating showers of golden sparks. However, the Golden Sacred Beetles were not only countless, but their defense was also formidable. Liu Yaowu’s powerful machine gun couldn’t penetrate their shells. The firepower could only temporarily slow their advance; it couldn’t stop their assault.
Lilia closed her eyes tightly, the veins on her forehead bulging as she strained to use her psychokinesis to stop some of the Sacred Beetles. But their strength was tremendous, and her power was utterly useless against the surging tide.
Wei Hao’s hands danced as he manipulated the gravity field, attempting to slow the creatures’ movements. His face was pale and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead; he was clearly giving it his all. But the Sacred Beetles seemed to ignore gravity entirely, showing no reaction to Wei Hao’s suppression. They continued to advance swiftly through the gravity field, closing in on the group step by step.
Lu Jiaojiao held a dagger, a hint of resolve in her eyes. She was no longer thinking about how to kill the swarm. Their escape route was completely blocked by the tide of insects, leaving no chance of survival. Her only option was to give herself a quick end.
"The one thing I’ve hated my whole life is bugs, and now that’s all I deal with! The whole world is full of bugs! SOB... SOB... I haven’t even gotten married... AAAAAHHH!!!"
A distinctly female shriek echoed through the palace, but the Golden Sacred Beetles showed no sign of stopping.
Chen Pingchuan’s gaze didn’t linger on the swarm. Instead, he focused intently on the massive sculpture before him.
Is it my emotional trait again? Who am I, really? Am I truly just an ordinary young man from a past life? Why are there so many emotional traits in this world related to me? And is the simulator really just a coincidence?
Chen Pingchuan suddenly closed his eyes, concentrating, trying to clear his thoughts. Yet the Golden Sacred Beetles had no intention of waiting.
Just as they were about to pounce, Chen Pingchuan’s eyes snapped open. A glint of gold flashed within them as he shouted. He exploded with power, his legs knocking aside the Sacred Beetles in front of him as he swiftly reached the statue.
"Is it you, my companion?"
As Chen Pingchuan placed his hand on the sculpture, the enormous palace fell into an eerie stillness. The previously surging Golden Sacred Beetles were suspended in midair, frozen in their attack posture, unable to move an inch. Liu Yaowu, Lilia, Wei Hao, and Lu Jiaojiao were stunned by the sudden change, their eyes filled with shock and confusion as they stared at Chen Pingchuan.
"Boss, what’s... what’s happening?" Liu Yaowu stammered, the muzzle of his machine gun still smoking slightly.
Chen Pingchuan didn’t answer immediately. His eyes suddenly turned a deathly, ashen white. The giant sculpture his right hand was touching began to glow, and the ancient runes covering its surface started to flicker. Lights interwove, forming strange images that appeared before everyone’s eyes.
The images depicted an ancient battlefield where countless gigantic sandworms battled a man in strange armor. With a light wave of his golden longsword, the man slew the massive sandworms, tens of meters tall, in droves. In the end, only nine giant sandworm larvae survived, simply because they performed an awkward-looking bow to the man.
"Could it be... what the Boss said was true?" Lilia said in astonishment, pointing at the images.
Wei Hao stared blankly. The dignified face in the vision was so similar to Chen Pingchuan’s. "So the god the Boss was talking about... was himself," he murmured.
As the images continued to change, they saw the construction of the palace, built by the local inhabitants in gratitude for the man’s deeds. When the vision faded, the towering sculpture vanished in an instant, materializing on Chen Pingchuan’s back as a sand-yellow cloak.
"Hahahaha..."
Just when everyone thought the crisis was over, Chen Pingchuan burst into wild laughter, startling them all.
"I’m finally out! You moron, weren’t you the one who sealed me? You sealed me for ten thousand years, but didn’t I get out anyway?! Huh? Your human body? Damn it, you absolute moron. Couldn’t you have just stayed a god? You’re going to get us both killed!"
Sensing something was deeply wrong, Lilia asked hesitantly, "Boss, are you okay?"
Chen Pingchuan ignored her. Malice flashed in his eyes as he abruptly raised his hand. "Noisy!"
A giant hand made of sand instantly shot out and clenched around Lilia. She had no time to dodge, and despair filled her eyes. At that critical moment, Chen Pingchuan’s body suddenly trembled, and within the giant hand’s grip, a space opened in its palm, just large enough to cradle her safely.
"Lilia!"
"Boss!"
"What the hell is going on?"
The three, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, were left dumbfounded by the turn of events. Wei Hao watched Chen Pingchuan’s state, his expression thoughtful.
Suddenly, every strand of Chen Pingchuan’s hair stood on end, dancing wildly in the air as if trying to tear free from his scalp. His face twisted, his features contorting from the violent inner struggle. His once-gentle expression was now ferocious, his muscles twitching uncontrollably. The corners of his mouth stretched into a grotesque grimace, somewhere between a smile and a mask of pure agony. His eyes were like two madly spinning vortexes; the whites of his eyes were instantly consumed by a bizarre, ashen grey, as if the very color of life was being drained away.
"Everyone, get back! That’s not our Boss anymore!"