Chapter 502: Chapter 499: "Qiongdi Evil God Su Ming’an
Su Ming’an lit up his wristwatch and saw Yamada Machiichi lying in the darkness.
Yamada Machiichi was not dead but had fallen into a coma. Tentacles wrapped around his body, seemingly absorbing something from him.
Su Ming’an wanted to approach Yamada Machiichi, but a tentacle lashed out at him. With a flick of his fingers, Oblivion flashed by, precisely severing the tentacle that was coming at him.
"Xiber?" he asked tentatively, taking a step forward with his left leg, but his step suddenly halted. He looked down to find three thick, pitch-black tentacles, winding up like a child embracing its mother, entangling his calf.
A light flashed in his hand as he grasped the recently acquired Blade of Freedom. Accompanied by a glint of gold, the tiny tentacles attached to his arm were slashed off in a swipe.
"Whoosh!" He sliced off the tentacles on his hand, but it was like stirring up a hornet’s nest. With a roar like a dolphin’s call, his field of vision suddenly filled with countless tentacles of varying thickness, dense and numerous.
He did not hesitate and immediately triggered a Spatial Vibration at the center of his location.
"Buzz—" Amidst an eerie buzzing sound, the tentacles in front of him snapped one after another, his footing unstable, and he tumbled to the ground.
The next moment, the tentacles beneath him began to move, firmly binding his hands that were pressed on the ground.
His figure shifted as he teleported right next to Yamada Machiichi. Before the tentacles could reach out, he unleashed a Spatial Vibration at three-quarters Mana Points with a backhand move.
"Boom—!"
This time, the commotion was massive.
The surrounding darkness violently trembled as if boiling, and deep, resonant cries rose up. He could feel his chest vibrating with them. The endless tentacles shook and twisted, breaking inch by inch under the influence of the vibrations.
A much thicker tentacle extended from the "ground" in front of him. As the tentacle’s surface muscles moved like undulating flesh, a giant eyeball became prominent on the tentacle.
...What is this?
He focused his spirit, the golden liquid blade in his hand emitting a faint glow.
The eyeball on the tentacle was pale, and he could clearly see the light-colored iris and the distinct lashes above and below it.
...This was unmistakenly Xiber’s eye, isolated and enlarged.
Only, her originally beautiful eye, appearing alone on a tentacle, became somewhat horrific.
...It inexplicably reminded him of a scoundrel from a childhood cartoon.
"Xiber?" Su Ming’an asked.
The giant eyeball moved slightly as if it focused for a moment, staring intently at him.
"Human." Its lowered voice, indistinguishable as male or female, echoed from all directions, "Your strength is commendable. Would you... like to become my follower?"
...Follower? What the hell is that?
Does it mean a believer?
Su Ming’an slightly furrowed his brow.
"Are you Jiu Shen or Xiber?" he asked.
"...Would you like to become my follower?" the eyeball asked again, seemingly not very intelligent. While talking, it started to entice him, "I will grant you great Strength, making you master of the World..."
Listening to this tone, Su Ming’an found it very familiar; after all, he used the same tone when he usually conned NPCs.
This unknown creature, this monster, was actually tempting him.
...Master of the World, it sounded good, but wasn’t he just this monster’s puppet?
He was about to respond when a system prompt appeared.
...
[Attention! You are making a critical decision that will affect your route.]
[If you choose to help the "monster," you will continue the Perfect Completion Progress on the "Jiu Shen Line." If you choose to fight the "monster," you will enter the Perfect Completion Progress on the "Reincarnation Line."]
...
Su Ming’an narrowed his eyes.
"I’m willing," he said.
"Ding dong!"
[You have chosen to help the "monster."]
[Special Information Acquired: "Monster"]
(Monster): The "monster" before you is the embodiment of Jiu Shen’s "Energy." It has gained consciousness over the long years and has hidden inside Xiber’s body. After Xiber fell into a coma while tapping into the power of Jiu Shen, it took over Xiber’s consciousness.
It seeks to possess a freely moving human body, and you, with your sufficient strength, meet its requirements.]
...
[Perfect Completion Progress: 40%]
...
... No wonder.
Having read the information, Su Ming’an understood the monster’s motive.
Originally, the monster wanted to absorb the energy from his body. However, after witnessing him cause a Spatial Vibration, the monster realized he wasn’t an easy target and began to tempt him, planning to take over his body when he let his guard down.
He didn’t know if this possession would count as a kind of damage to the soul, or whether it would affect the player himself.
He wanted to see what would happen.
"You have made a wise decision." The big eyeball blinked happily. It extended an especially thick tentacle, intending to envelop Su Ming’an.
Su Ming’an didn’t move.
With a slippery, soft touch, the tentacle obscured his vision, covering his body like silk, sealing him tightly.
The next moment, he felt a surge of intense malice coming from the tentacle, burning and stinging as it violently crashed into his body, attempting to strip his control over it.
... The damn thing really wanted to take over his body.
His focus immediately zeroed in on the rampaging malice; he seemed to see the glows scattered around his body like stars, converging on the mass of evil intent as if to defend his territory.
The two forces appeared to begin a fierce tug-of-war, and while struggling with the malice, he could hear the voice of the big eyeball close at hand:
"Do not resist me! Do not reject me! Accept me, and I will grant you unrivaled strength... Accept my power, and I will make you the strongest agent in this Qiongdi..."
The big eyeball continued its attempt to beguile him.
Since it awakened, no one had come close to the Stone Fortress, except for an unconscious Yamada Machiichi and an old Tribe Leader under its control. Yet their strength was far from sufficient to contain its power.
Finally, it had waited for a human of barely enough strength to enter the Stone Fortress. If Su Ming’an would fall for its temptation...
"Human! Listen to me, do not resist me. Human bodies are too frail. Once I take over yours, I will transform it, and you will gain power beyond measure..." Its voice became urgent.
Su Ming’an ignored it completely.
He concentrated, capturing the malice that had struck his body.
The back of his hand suddenly began to heat up.
A blood-red scale appeared on the back of his hand.
...
[Encountering a special scenario, determining outcome——]
"Due to your ’Shadow’ state, the ’Shadow’ state’s malice absorption effect is activated."
...
...Sure enough, the special effect of the Shadow State activated.
Su Ming’an knew this, which is why he boldly agreed to the big eyeball’s request.
In the Fifth World Ming Hui, Shadow absorbed malice from the world, significantly enhancing his strength. Now, the malice released by this big eyeball was also a form of malice.
And as long as it was malice, whether it came from humans or from the world, it could be absorbed by "Shadow."
Su Ming’an even had to thank this self-aware big eyeball; it not only didn’t cause him any trouble but also sent him a delivery of emotions, even more moving than Edward’s act of sending gifts.
With a black hole-like suction force forming, the malice that struggled against Su Ming’an grew weaker and weaker, and the frantic voice in his ears lowered too...
A moment later, the slippery touch surrounding him faded away.
Su Ming’an opened his eyes.
The thick tentacle that had lain before his eyes vanished, and only a jungle of flesh buds and black tentacles remained.
He was just about to step forward when he felt the entire chamber trembling; it was as if roots had grown from beneath his feet, trapping him in place. He was surprised because he suddenly couldn’t feel his calves.
He looked down.
He saw his upper body and thighs.
The reason he couldn’t see his calves was that they had sunk deep into the dark red "ground," like they were fused with the chamber around him. He tried to move his legs, but the whole scenery began to shake like an earthquake, as if it suddenly pulled on all the tentacles.
...
"Ding dong!"
"Absorption successful!"
"You have acquired: ’Energy’ (one of the three elements of godhood)."
"Perfect Completion Progress: 60%"
...
"You have acquired full control over the tentacle creature; this control will be revoked at the end of the instance."
"You have acquired the tentacle creature’s skill: Purification (You can use the tentacles to absorb pollution around you)."
...
"Side quest received · Path of Purification"
"Path of Purification: Control the tentacle creature, expanding the range of purification."
"Current purification range: 30 yards (Stone Fortress range)"
"Target purification range: 10,000 yards"
"Quest reward: Obtain rewards based on the quest outcome, and advance the Perfect Completion Progress."
...
Su Ming’an discovered that he could suddenly control the tentacle monster completely, and the consciousness of the big eyeball had disappeared.
He also acquired one of the three elements of godhood: Energy. Now only Faith and the Black Crow Authority were still unaccounted for.
The Perfect Completion Progress had also been pushed to 60%... this was a grand bounty indeed.
His guess was correct; the World Game gave players trouble but also presented opportunities, and these two were equivalent—risk and reward were in balance. As long as he could find the chance to absorb the big eyeball, he could gain the power to control the tentacle monster.
He tried to control these tentacles, and with a writhing of the liquid matter below, he barely managed to pull his legs up and stood atop the slippery inner chamber.
"Rise," he said.
No sooner had he spoken than he grabbed onto the suddenly lifting tentacles beneath his feet, the height around him ascending.
Everything here was within his control; the moment he created an ascending passage with the flesh above, he was able to see the outside world when he was lifted to the height of the rooftop.
He could sense everything within the Stone Fortress because the tentacles were spread throughout it, all acting like his eyes.
Su Ming’an felt an odd sensation, as though at this moment he was not so much a human as an octopus with numerous tentacles, which he could control to see and move around, even stretch beyond the Stone Fortress...
However, expanding the range of these tentacles required energy, and energy had to be acquired by devouring pollution.
He suddenly had an epiphany.
Thus, this "monster" was not the source of pollution after all.
—From the panel, its function was clearly to cleanse pollution.
Because of its horrific appearance and ferocious exterior, people... including himself, had mistaken it for the source of curse and pollution, wanting to destroy it. They saw Xiber, who had summoned it, as an ominous symbol, and Jiu Shen as an Evil God.
But this was just the result of people’s fixed impressions, much like assuming someone with a fierce face to be a bad person. After all, humans always judge good and bad with rigid standards, and judging by appearances is the norm.
He thought that if he wanted to cleanse the pollution, he would have to extend these pollution-absorbing tentacles outward.
Of course, to outsiders, he would appear much like a villain intent on destroying the world, for no one would believe that the function of these tentacles was cleansing, not polluting.
—He would cleanse the pollution in the guise of one intent on destroying the world.
He controlled the tentacles, moving the unconscious Yamada Machiichi and Migael up to the rooftop. As for Xiber, he could not find her; she seemed to have merged with the tentacles, and he did not know how to separate her out.
"Wake up," Su Ming’an tapped Yamada Machiichi’s face.
Yamada Machiichi opened his eyes, his face still clouded with the confusion from before his unconsciousness.
"You..." Yamada Machiichi immediately got up, "Su Ming’an, be careful! There’s a tentacled monster here that will devour my strength..."
"You mean this?"
As Su Ming’an spoke, he lifted his hand, and seven or eight tentacles emerged behind him like pitch-black snakes, coiling around his hand, while others uncontrollably writhed and flowed to the ground.
Yamada Machiichi’s eyelids flipped in terror, almost passing out at the scene that was quite sanity-slipping.
"You—your identity this time is the tentacled monster?" Yamada Machiichi exclaimed in shock: "Is your advancement task to pollute this world?"
He couldn’t help but think about fleeing.
If Su Ming’an’s identity was that of a villain who wanted to destroy the world, then how could he continue to live?
"You are wrong." Su Ming’an stretched out his hand, and countless tentacles rose up behind him.
They were like a jungle that covered the sky, completely enveloping the rooftop of the Stone Fortress.
"My task is not to pollute this world... but to cleanse it," he said.
Yamada Machiichi suddenly realized that the Number One Player before him indeed had the posture of an ultimate villain right now.
He remembered that in many literary works, madmen who desired to destroy the world often used "cleansing the world" as their excuse...
"I understand now." Yamada Machiichi, though unsure of what he understood, immediately grabbed Su Ming’an’s hand.
"So your identity this time is the Evil God," he said. "Are you going to establish the Lighthouse Church?"
Su Ming’an: "..."
Su Ming’an: "What do you think the Lighthouse Church is?"