Chapter 764 - 120: Spirit Contamination
"Move, what are you standing there for?"
Su Changxing shouted at the surrounding crew, his expression strange.
Weilian hesitated for a moment, then quickly shouted, "Hoist the sails, the storm has stopped, we are leaving now."
At this moment, there were still quite a few Black Eye Fish near the ship, but their numbers were already very few, unable to obstruct the progress of the Horror Ghost Ship.
Su Changxing was too lazy to bother with them; he only wanted to leave these places. These Ghost Eye Black Hand Fish were likely believers of that God, low-intelligence beings living in the depths of the sea, capable of directly affecting this world through their death and blood.
The methods of the Divine Spirit are truly unpredictable. If you’re not careful, you might end up shipwrecked in a ditch. If it weren’t for him mastering faith this time, it would have been a dead end. Even if unused, he would fall into a state of loss of control and become a monster.
A few dozen of the Black Eye Fish were still chasing behind the Horror Ghost Ship, but their numbers kept dwindling until they completely vanished.
The seawater was still pitch black. The sea on Sindaga’s side was always this dark, perhaps due to differences in geology.
Similarly, they still couldn’t see the sun. The sky was shrouded in fog, and although it was noon, it looked as if it was half sunset. You could only see the shadow of the sun hanging above.
Su Changxing found it impossible to dispel the polluted thoughts in his mind. However, to his surprise, the chanting of Buddhist Scripture in his ears was completely gone, and the state of mechanical corruption was entirely overshadowed.
The mechanical corruption placed on him by the old Monk was not actually physical decay but mental pollution, leading to physical mutation.
Yet, the chaotic spirit from the Divine Spirit overshadowed the mental pollution inflicted by the old Monk.
"I don’t know whether this is good or bad, at least my body has returned to normal, but the mental issue seems more serious."
Su Changxing felt his body had recovered its original flexibility, and he could use certain displacement skills again.
Mechanical corruption was a specialized ability used by the old Monk on Su Changxing, so it had a greater impact on the body.
The chaotic spirit from the Divine Spirit was unconsciously emitted and was not specifically targeted at Su Changxing but had affected him upon seeing it.
These two situations have fundamental differences, but due to the overwhelming Power of the Divine Spirit, it completely overshadowed the mental pollution released by the old Monk.
He now feels that these Divine Spirits seem no different from humans—petty, vengeful, and even more complex in emotions.
"The Status of Divine Spirits may be closer to the Spirit Race, possessing extremely strong Spiritual Power, which also means their emotions and feelings are extremely rich, possibly reaching an extreme state of joy, anger, sadness, and happiness."
While he showed nothing, being targeted and held a grudge by such a Divine Spirit still made him anxious.
The opponent is like a madman who’s not after anything and would harm their greater interests just to kill him.
"But such a Divine Spirit, in any aspect, seems like an Extraordinary who’s already out of control, unable to manage their own emotions."
"Or does reaching the end as an Extraordinary inevitably mean losing control?"
Su Changxing rested on a red chair in the meeting room, his fingers tapping rapidly on the table beside the map, feeling unsettled.
Compared to a rational Evil God, he feared more that the opponent was a Divine Spirit who had already gone mad. What a madman does is often unpredictable, and flipping the table is also possible.
The reason he reached such a conclusion is not only because of analyzing their behavior but also the chaotic spirit information transmitted from that Divine Spirit.
Is this not madness?
Only a madman would be so chaotic.
If this Divine Spirit is indeed mad, then other Divine Spirits might also go mad.
And this possibility is not small.
He looked down and saw his left hand had clawed out a fresh red blood mark on his right arm. This was done unconsciously.
Due to parts of his spirit being polluted, they began attacking each other, causing limbs to fight unconsciously.
It’s a very terrifying thing; his Spirit and consciousness were initially unified, though split into many smaller selves, but they were still smaller versions of him.
He should be grateful that, due to the Soul Ring, his Spirit separated into countless smaller self-structures. This structure blocked the spread of spiritual pollution, slowed the spread’s pace, like a forest containment line preventing a fire’s spread.
The downside is that these polluted smaller selves are like mini versions of himself that have already gone mad, though isolated, they keep attacking the Faith Barrier.
If he wants to break free from this Status, he must resolve the polluted spirit before dispelling it.
If he actively tries to resolve the polluted spirit, it could potentially expand the pollution again.
This is a very contradictory situation.
He hasn’t chosen to do this yet, but rather divides faith into a small stream to continually wash away the polluted parts of his Spirit, thus preventing further spread of pollution.
Meanwhile, he’s also repairing those Rune Warriors he had previously destroyed in the Pocket Galaxy.
He stole the Heart of Extreme Science from Eric and acquired a vast amount of knowledge related to Rune Warriors, now capable of repairing those damaged Rune Warriors.
However, he currently cannot create Rune Warriors, having not inherited the core knowledge about them.
If all the Rune Warriors in the Pocket Galaxy were repaired, it would be approximately over forty, which is essentially most of Maelon’s Rune Warriors.
He left the remaining undamaged Rune Warriors, distributing them to Kasmin and the All Beings Sect — over a dozen in total.
They are able to command the Rune Warriors but cannot directly control them.
The Horror Ghost Ship advanced swiftly and steadily, as if the Divine Spirit had given up, or rather concluded that Su Changxing was a dead end and there was no need to do more.
Billy walked into the meeting room shirtless and said, "Sir, we have now entered the waters of Sindaga. The captain says it will take another half an hour to reach our destination."
Su Changxing nodded and replied calmly, "Hmm, I know."
The shattered Bronze Mirror should be placed in the largest museum of Sindaga, where most items are part of the Duke of Jindola’s private collection.
However, according to the information previously provided by Kasmin, this museum has now been transformed into a haven for witches, with a large gathering inside.
These witches are true witches in every sense, being female and capable of casting Magic.
Su Changxing had never seen witches, so he wasn’t sure if what they cast was truly Magic, and he suspected that among these witches there might be other players, otherwise the Duke’s collection of Tunnel Fragments would make no sense.
The tunnels are a product of the Doomsday Game, theoretically usable only by players. The natives of this world cannot use them, unless they too become players.
And evidently, this world has not been covered by the Doomsday Game, even the tunnels are already shattered, so there presumably aren’t any native players either.
...
Under the cover of night, Su Changxing took a small boat from the South Port of Sindaga into the inner river, moving upward along a waterway that would lead him near the museum.
Upon reaching the vicinity of the disembarkation point, he heard the sounds of a scuffle in front of him, with several masked, black-clad individuals boarding a small cargo ship that had just docked.
The ship’s two crew members hadn’t even reacted before blades pierced their throats. Then a stone-tied rope was fastened around their necks and they were thrown into the river.
When people inside the cargo ship heard the commotion and stepped outside, they were also killed by the black-clad group and similarly thrown into the river.
Soon after, screams emerged from the cargo ship, involving only a few people — all crew members transporting goods on usually unregistered black ships, secretly brought in.
Not long after, the black-clad crew emerged from the ship, reeking of blood, having killed everyone on board without leaving a single survivor, throwing all the bodies into the river.
What drew Su Changxing’s attention was that these black-clad individuals held a piece of a Skeleton Rune fragment in their hands.
"Was it for this thing?"
He ignored the group of black-clad individuals, docking his boat before proceeding in the direction of the museum.
The streets were bustling with moving crowds and cars, seemingly unaffected by Duke Jindola’s coup.
As he glanced over from the street, he spotted a few players walking along, engaged in conversation.
There seem to be quite a number of players here?
In Wodan or Maelon, he could hardly find any trace of players; heretics were entities the Empire cracked down on harshly.
Following them all the way, Su Changxing reached a bar named "Number One," but before they could enter, the man with golden hair who was standing in the middle suddenly stopped and turned to look at him:
"Do you have any business? You’ve been following us."
Su Changxing was dressed typically like a noble, making it impossible for them to see through him completely, assuming he was some local minor nobility.
Even minor nobility wielded considerable power, not something ordinary civilians dared to provoke.
However, these players didn’t care about that.
Su Changxing cast a sidelong glance and noticed quite a number of other players gathering openly in the bar.
"You’re heretics, right? Why are you here so openly?"
As soon as he said this, these players all frowned in unison.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
The golden-haired man smirked, as if seeing through everything: "Brother, don’t you know that it was tacitly approved for players to legally exist here months ago?"
"Considering you can identify us, you must also be a player, right?"