69novels Chapter 62 Forbidden Images
Chapter 62 Forbidden Images
Chapter 62 Forbidden Images
As night deepened, the double-crowned deer found no one to sleep.
Upon receiving Suiyue's message, Huoya and Gunn arrived at the scene immediately.
The corpse had vanished without a trace, and the remaining medicine stains and scent on the ground were still strong. Almost the instant he stepped into the secret room, Huya frowned and uttered "gods and demons".
The Ravens inspected the scene, and Gunn learned what had happened—his questioning was primarily directed at Corella.
The secret chamber where the body was hidden was nearly 100 meters below the surface. The vast underground waterway, winding and labyrinthine, covered 80% of the area. It was redundantly constructed to cope with the extreme conditions of the black fog. Ordinary people, without blueprints, would find it difficult to reach the depths without getting lost.
Clara pouted and glanced sideways at Nan'an.
Gunn's gaze swept back and forth between the three of them, and he said helplessly, "The double-crowned law enforcement knights are still waiting on the first floor of the waterway. Once they enter, I won't be able to cover for you anymore."
Having received the promise, Coralina immediately confessed to secretly making copies of the blueprints, but she only said that she had obtained them on the black market and did not tell her mentor.
"So, the next question—how did you find this place? Was it just a coincidence?"
What kind of good person would idly venture into the dark and complex underground waterways, navigating through the maze like walking through their own backyard, descending nearly a hundred meters vertically, just to smash down a seemingly ordinary wall?
The purpose was too obvious. Nan'an knew he couldn't avoid it, but he couldn't expose the fly fog either.
Gunn suddenly said, "Nan'an, if you don't know how to answer, just say it's an intuition if someone asks."
Nan'an was a little confused.
In reality, he did find the body by intuition, but it was the "impulse" provided by the fly fog.
However—Guen's protectiveness was too blatant, which surprised him.
Gunn then looked at Corella and smiled.
"Miss Tika, Nan'an Suiyue is your friend. You wouldn't want them to have to awkwardly face inquiries from certain people, would you?"
Corella shook her head repeatedly.
Where can you find such a good first-hand supplier in Nan'an? After finally getting the channels open, messing with Nan'an is just messing with herself!
Politely ushering Corella out of the secret room, Gunn casually set up a soundproofing array.
Seeing the bewitching crow approach, he casually asked, "A nightmare?"
"There's no residual magic from activating a large-scale magic circle," said the Raven. "At least it's not some rare spatial magic, heh heh—"
Flames erupted from his fingertips, burning away the grime tucked between his index fingertips.
"There were no living Living Erosions at the scene. Unless there were special individuals among the pile of corpses that transformed into Spirit Erosions after death, I don't believe that a guy who was worthless before death could have the strange phenomenon of flying corpses caused by the remaining gods and demons after death."
Gunn pondered, "It seems there's only one possibility that's most likely—the other side has mastered a controllable god-demon similar to a cat-meal and brought it out of the black mist."
Suiyue was suddenly startled.
I followed Nan'an twice deep into the black fog, and witnessed firsthand a moving chair, a man-eating metal box, and...
The skinned buffaloes engaged in trade and the roaming, colossal cathedral —
She understands more deeply than anyone else how special it is that "cat food" is harmless and can still allow for limited communication.
The fact that it is "controllable," "human-like," and "possesses basic emotional perception" is enough to distinguish it from most of the crazy and chaotic gods and demons.
Following Gunn's train of thought, Nan'an continued, "So, this must be a deity capable of achieving something like spatial magic teleportation. Then what's his purpose in doing this? If he's after the power of the deity within the living corpses, why are there so many ordinary human corpses at the scene?"
Crazy Raven and Gunn exchanged a glance, then stepped forward and patted them lightly on the shoulders: "It's a long story. We'll explain it to you when we get back to Gunn."
He took out the small deer figurine from his collar and contacted the people still waiting on the first floor of the waterway.
Before long, following the messenger sent by Gunn, dozens of tall and imposing law enforcement knights in gleaming armor arrived at the scene.
Although there was no abnormal source at the scene, the law enforcement knights moved somewhat mechanically and heavily out of fear of gods and demons, and their breathing could be clearly heard under their masks.
Several magicians dressed in robes with green cat-eye logos stood out among a group of "canned goods".
They seemed to know Gunn the Crow, and as they left, they all nodded to them.
On the first floor of the underground waterway, the black market merchants and scattered customers who had been loitering there had long since dispersed; the area had been completely cleared out.
On the ground, the night market is in full swing.
The area was brightly lit and teeming with tourists. Groups of wandering poets sang as they walked, accompanied by a sea of people. The occasional shouts of vendors added to the ambiance, while the rhythmic clanging of forging iron blended into the resounding sounds of moving metal. The smoke rising from the food stalls adorned the crowds, creating a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere.
For most of the double crown winners, the exciting evening program was just about to begin.
A law enforcement knight suddenly appeared at the scene?
Their official stance is that they are searching for suspects, which is hardly surprising.
"Feeling dazed?" Raven looked at Nan'an, who was staring blankly at the market beside the carriage, and laughed. "Kren certainly can't see such a view, but Gunn said that when he was looking through the books in the Archives of Literature and History, he found that this is actually the norm in the large city-states of Gray Star."
Nan'an has never enjoyed this normalcy.
The Red Rat Adventurers' most extravagant trips to major city-states always involved heading straight to bathhouses to wash away the filth.
Having spent countless years teetering on the edge of death in the wilderness, living like savages, their most pressing need is simply to become human again.
Before his death, his plan to "buy land and taverns" indeed favored locations in prosperous and stable large city-states.
His wish was simple: one day, he wanted to have a place to take root in this strange world.
You can lie in a rocking chair, in the warm, intoxicating afternoon light, and do nothing but take a nap, listening to the faint sounds of the city in the distance.
No more licking blood from the blade, no more squatting beside piles of corpses of fallen monsters or enemies, chewing on rough, hard rations like pebbles.
He is an easily satisfied person.
"Enjoy the moment while the darkness hasn't descended."
Having died once, Nan'an can understand the hedonistic mindset of many Nora people.
He couldn't help but think that if he weren't a summoned creature, he would wish he had his own body.
Although their perception is basically the same as that of a living person, they are ultimately just beings sustained by magic—sounds like the dolls that nerds have complained about.
Eldridge Manor, in Gunn's study.
The crow walked to the bookshelf embedded in the wall and pressed a few buttons there with practiced ease.
With a soft "click," the seemingly identical decorative wooden panel slid inward, revealing a hidden compartment.
He reached in and easily pulled out two bottles of wine that were carefully wrapped and sealed with supple vines.
"Don't worry, it's fruit wine, it won't catch fire."
As he spoke, the crow skillfully pried open the cork of the bottle, as if he were at home.
He knew exactly where Gunn hid his things, while Gunn, whose things had been pried open, calmly gestured for more water to be poured into his glass, clearly used to it.
Nan'an suspected that Gu En might periodically put things in the secret compartment so that the Crow Thieves wouldn't leave empty-handed.
Gunn found what he needed in a hidden compartment on the ground—a stack of thick animal hides.
"Suiyue, what follows may test your willpower, which you have cultivated since joining the Eru."
Suiyue sensed something was wrong and quickly swallowed the fruit wine.
To get a better view, Nan'an stood up and continued tasting the wine.
The scroll was unrolled on the large table.
It was a meticulously drawn sketch, resembling an analysis of the structure of a human or humanoid organism.
The lines are calm and precise, marking muscles, bones, joints, and magical nodes.
The illustration depicts an adult male troll whose internal organs have been completely removed.
All the organs were drawn next to the troll, indicated by extending lines, and marked accordingly.
At this moment, the troll is no different from a fish that has been gutted and is about to be cooked.
Perhaps it was because he died at the hands of the trolls that Nan'an strangely felt a sense of relief from the images on the scroll.
"Looking at the pictures alone, you might be a little confused. Let's play a video first."
A faint glow emanated from Gunn's fingertips as he gently touched the photographic scroll.
The scroll floated up, projecting a clear light screen above the desk.
There is no sound, only visuals.
The perspective is first-person, with a slight shaky quality.
Several people flash by in the image, all bearing the iconic emblem of the Eurasian deer on their chests and shoulders.
The light was dim.
The group of Erlu seemed to be carrying some kind of lighting equipment as they moved forward.
The beam of light cut through the thick darkness, illuminating the slippery stone steps beneath their feet.
As the voice continued downward, the recorder's clear breathing became heavy.
"Hmm... Can you smell it?"
"The smell of decay—rotten fruit piled up for a long time, like fermentation—ugh—"
"Wei, watch your step—the dark stains on the ground are sticky."
A heavy iron door appeared ahead, and their surroundings resembled a basement.
"Are you ready?"
"Everyone, prepare—"
"open!"
The leader, Erlu, suddenly pushed open the door, and a bright sphere of light was thrown into the room by Erlu's squad, shining like the sun in the dim underground.
Following closely behind "Sun," a member of the Evil Deer, blessed with acceleration magic, slid across the wet, sticky ground and was pulled into the room.
This deer was brave. In an indoor environment where the enemy situation was uncertain and there might be a trigger-activated magic circle, he took on the responsibility of drawing fire while also acting as a mine-clearing engineer.
They didn't value their own lives at all, and sent them away without a second thought.
The blood tax that Corella and Nilar spoke of took on a concrete form before Nan'an's eyes at this moment.
"Captain, it's safe here—oh no, by God's grace, ugh—"
"dimension!"
Thinking his companion had encountered an accident, the protagonist eagerly wanted to enter, but was stopped by those around him.
The professional instincts of the Eredi have already taught them to assess the condition of their companions, and if necessary, they need to prioritize the execution of their companions to prevent the potential risks from spreading.
Nan'an saw that someone next to the main viewer had already taken out several rolls of paper.
Depending on the situation, the El Deer Squad will most likely blow up this place completely, burning everything to ashes.
"I'm fine—Captain, you beasts—these people are insane!"
The members of the Elu tribe tentatively entered the room one after another.
With multiple light sources injected and a floating illumination sphere, the room became brighter.
A long silence lasting several seconds ensued, both on and off screen.
The person in the first-person perspective is trembling; it's a slight, uncontrollable shudder stemming from bodily instinct.
Beyond the visuals, Suiyue's fingers gripped the armrest tightly, almost forcing herself to remain seated.
In view was a basement much larger than the underground waterway cave chamber.
A thick, murky liquid, mixed with minced meat, bone fragments, and some kind of gelatinous substance, was flowing on the ground.
Thick iron frames and chains were fixed to the wall, and things were hanging from them.
Nan'an can only be described in this way.
Those were bodies that had been cut up, dissected, and then stitched back together in a way that completely defied biological logic.
Limbs and organs of different races were forcibly connected together by rough and strong threads, metal nails, or wriggling, dark red fleshy buds of unknown nature.
Racial characteristics were completely disrupted and recombined in a manner almost blasphemous, defying the Creator.
A human head was attached to the vampire's pale neck, and a troll's fangs were brutally implanted into the half-dragon's twisted face.
In the corner, a "work of art" has the head and upper body of a werewolf, but its lower body is fused with the legs of some kind of multi-segmented insect. At this moment, its segments hang limply on the filthy ground.
All the "masterpieces" had a necrotic purplish-black skin at the interface, yet strangely, fine, pulsating "hyphae" grew on them.
Nan'an suddenly frowned.
This is very similar to the remnants of gods and demons he witnessed on the living, eroded corpses.
The breathing sounds from the first-person perspective become increasingly heavy and rapid in the footage.
The camera begins to scan rapidly in small, uncontrollable movements, then suddenly freezes on a detail that is particularly challenging to bear, before moving away as if it had been burned.
He didn't want to look, but his identity as a recorder forced him to look directly at it and record it.
Nan'an could hear the suppressed, almost retching gasps coming from the person in the first-person perspective.
He could imagine that the person in charge of the interview must be a very professional member of the El Corsair team.
He had witnessed death, dealt with the pollution of gods and demons, and faced all kinds of tragedies, but his human morality and cognition were groaning under unbearable pressure in the face of the chaotic scene full of malicious blasphemy.
Although Nan'an was moved, he remained calm.
Compared to the evil sacrifices performed by the cultists he wiped out, this scene was no match for his threshold.
"It looks like some kind of cult ritual site from the Gray Star era. I've killed and burned a lot of those."
"If it were just a cult, we would be pleased. This photo scroll is from 91 years ago," said the Raven. "They were studying the transplantation of gods and demons, examining the changes by piecing together gods and demons of different natures."
Nan An frowned: "Sounds like a well-established organization?"
"Unfortunately, it's not just a single organization; many people are trying to obtain something from gods and demons. The number of living corpses is limited, and obtaining fragments of the Nightmare God is extremely difficult, therefore—"
"By transferring fragments of gods and demons, forcibly turning ordinary people into living erosions, and then continuing the research?" Nan'an asked in astonishment.
Gunn Crow nodded.