Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 171 Taking Over a Human Body! Violent Aesthetics
Dimensional space.

Duncan's consciousness seemed to resonate with the river of time. In an instant, the flow of time began to accelerate, and he even seemed to have gained some kind of prophetic ability, able to vaguely glimpse some future time branches.

This is the power of immortal heroic spirits!
Duncan had a very strange feeling at that moment. He saw time as a horizontal fork, with the handle representing human history and the fork tip representing the present moment.

The passage of time is like the fork handle constantly extending, and the forks that branch out represent the possible futures that you can glimpse through divination spells, precognitive abilities, and so on. The stronger your abilities, the more branches will extend from the fork's end.

But no matter how many branches extend out, as time goes by, all the foreseen futures will eventually become the established reality.

That is, the current time.

All timelines are collapsing toward the present position. Whether there are several or dozens of predictions about the future, only when the present is anchored will the future become the present and enter the final core timeline, which is the position of the fork handle.

In that instant, Duncan saw the duration of the empire he had built.

The timeline, resembling a fork pattern, has three branches. The first branch prophesied that the empire lasted for over 240 years before its complete collapse. The second branch prophesied that the empire lasted for nearly 400 years before another bloodline revived it by chance. The third branch prophesied that lasted even longer, with the empire lasting for almost a thousand years. All three branches of the bloodline rose to prominence and completely replaced the Holy Roman Empire's historical status.

"No wonder Merlin was so obsessed with predicting the future."

Duncan only glimpsed the prophesied future before withdrawing his consciousness. The stronger one's ability, the more fragments of the future one can predict and glimpse. But no matter how many thousands or tens of thousands of possibilities there are, they only have meaning when they become reality.

"It seems I'm not the only one; many powerful beings have the ability to foresee the future."

"But so many people are interfering with the future."

"The future point in time will eventually become the present point in time, and we'll have no idea what it will look like by now."

Duncan's understanding of prophecy and time is still superficial.

But you can interpret it this way: tomorrow, Old Wang next door will be hit by a car and die. This is a future you see through the prophecy, and Old Li next door has also glimpsed this prophecy. You hope Old Wang lives, while Old Li hopes Old Wang dies.

Both of you can foresee the future. Ultimately, Old Wang's fate has little to do with the prophecy. When tomorrow arrives and time becomes the present, Old Wang's final destiny will be determined.

If you make a move, Old Wang might live; if he makes a move, Old Wang might die; if you all make a move together, the outcome will be different—Old Wang might be seriously injured or half-dead.

These prophetic timelines are only for reference.

Only when the timeline moves from today to tomorrow, and everyone collectively considers and decides whether to take action, will the final result emerge. Then, that moment is anchored to the present, becoming a definite fact, which is the handle of the horizontal time fork. Once anchored, it becomes the main timeline of the past, those things that have already happened.

The past has only one timeline, but the future has infinite possibilities.

Now, we are the bearings on the timeline. When the bearings move, no matter how many people peek into and foresee the future, they will all eventually collapse, crumbling into a predetermined fact and becoming part of the past.

Merlin also became obsessed because he was trapped in the prophecy, and he always hoped that the future would be the way he wished it to be.

When the future finally became the present, it was Duncan's rise that replaced everything.

In other words, the moment Duncan rose to power and unified the empire was the very moment of its collapse, the true present. All previous prophecies about the future became mere illusions. Even the future prophecies glimpsed by the gods would not come true. The true present is that Duncan single-handedly created a powerful empire.

Precognitive abilities aren't that miraculous.

"So that's it."

"It seems that after entering the high magic world, I won't have to worry about other people's prophetic spells anymore."

Duncan rested his chin on his hand, observing the projected screen, which displayed a gold marker.

—"Immortal Heroic Spirit [The River of Human History]: The existence of the first human host has entered the river of human history, becoming an immortal being that guards the timeline of human history. When the world needs it, you must step in to ensure the continuation of human history and deal with any crisis that threatens to exterminate humanity."

[Note: The world will only summon immortal heroes to intervene if humanity faces the possibility of complete extinction!]

(Similar to a meteorite impact causing the extinction of dinosaurs, only a crisis leading to the complete extinction of humanity will trigger the forced summoning mechanism of immortal heroes.)
(Other regular war crises, or catastrophes that do not wipe out humanity, will not trigger the forced summoning of immortal heroes.)
The first human host can stand up from the Throne of Heroes!
Immortal Heroes possess immense authority, but it is only triggered under special circumstances. For example, if they foresee a cataclysmic event that wipes out humanity, they can transform into immortals to protect the long history of humankind and forcibly cross dimensions to enter the real world, and in their 'complete form'.

This is the duty of immortal heroes!

They are indifferent to the rise and fall of worldly affairs, the change of dynasties, and even their pity for the masses is merely a personal act and emotional inclination. Their sole duty is to safeguard the continuation of human history.

When a cataclysmic disaster strikes, it will be time for the immortals to step forward.

"How could there be an apocalyptic catastrophe in the Middle Ages!"

Duncan glanced at it and tossed it aside, thinking to himself, "Unless an asteroid hits Earth, humanity is unlikely to go extinct."

"The outbreak of a full-scale nuclear war in the future does pose a certain risk of extinction."

Everyone is now sitting obediently on the throne of heroes; their busy work will be a thousand years from now.

Even if the Black Death were to break out and kill half the population, it would not wipe out humanity. If they were to rise up and walk among mortals, it would require a world-class nuclear war to become a fait accompli, and only such a major crisis of human self-extinction could trigger the stress response mechanism of history.

At that time, it will be necessary for the immortals who have made great contributions to human history to take action.

Even our ancestors couldn't stand it anymore!

Unworthy descendants, how could humanity be wiped out in your hands? Our ancestors are watching from heaven!
Humanity cannot perish; unworthy descendants will be punished!

Aside from these, the stress mechanisms that can be activated are limited to a few types: apocalyptic natural disasters, self-destruction after a technological breakthrough, and extinction wars waged by other extraterrestrial beings against humanity.

This mechanism exists solely for the continuation of humankind.

Duncan doesn't need to worry about this right now, but now that he has become an immortal hero, he will be responsible for protecting the long history of humanity and the continuation of the race.

He's not the only one bearing this responsibility; there have been other immortals in human history.

"The long history of mankind has created the legends of immortal heroes."

"They must also shoulder the responsibility of ensuring the continuation of their race."

"That's fair!"

Duncan left a special mark on the projection page, roughly meaning that if there is a 'human extinction crisis,' remember to call me.

He immediately stood up from the throne of immortal heroes.

Online assault!

As for the immortal spirits' prophecies and glimpses into the future, Duncan wasn't too concerned. His children and grandchildren had their own destinies, and he wouldn't force the empire to continue its life. He wasn't the empire's nanny; the rise and fall of dynasties was a matter of fate, and if his descendants were capable, they would reform and resolve the issues themselves.

Duncan will at most keep an eye on things from behind the scenes!
If there's some cult, evil god, or some other supernatural being trying to deliberately destroy the empire prematurely, then don't blame him for rising from the immortal throne to beat them up!

Perhaps some immortals will forcibly perpetuate the nations they have established, but their fates are not good; they may not even be able to retain their status as immortal heroes.

Duncan is now the guardian patriarch behind the empire. The empire can perish on its own, but it cannot be deliberately destroyed by a supernatural being!

If he were to stand up, many more people would die.

Other beings are well aware of this, so in the rapidly passing World One, almost no supernatural deities dare to jump out and court death.

Sixty years after its reconstruction, the empire gradually entered a golden age.

For a while.

Duncan suddenly seemed to be doing nothing.

The second human form, the giant dragon, was basically unaffected by anything major. Apart from recently crashing onto a continental shelf, which caused a stir among various forces, everything else was insignificant. It was just routine development and construction of his territory, which he could explain by simply reviewing the management records.

As for the continental shelf that crashed, which is about the size of the British Isles, it's still quite far from the Northlands. He secretly took a look and found that many people had died on the outskirts. He just dealt with the task casually and didn't bother to join in the fun.

The main problem is the dense cluster of four-star marked units; if a dragon goes too far, it will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of them.

The dark elves have been much more well-behaved lately.

As long as they don't launch an attack on the North, Duncan is happy to develop in peace. For a dragon's lifespan, decades or even centuries are nothing. The consecration ceremony takes decades or even centuries to plan, and only when it is fully launched will it cause a dramatic change. Even the Dark Elf Queen could endure it, so why couldn't he?

Those who hastily initiated the deification ceremony ahead of schedule were eventually beaten so badly by the crowd that they wouldn't even recognize their own mothers.

Failure means physical and spiritual death, and even the soul may not be preserved.

Everyone knows that the Dark Elf Queen wants to become a god, but the timing of her decision is entirely in her own hands.

Duncan's consciousness has sunk into the long river of history.

Just as he was observing everything from an outsider's perspective, the dimensional space suddenly trembled slightly. The next second, an independent projection page appeared, showing a huge vortex black hole marked with a blood-red light.

"alarm!"

"Void rift detected!"

“Traces of life activity from other dimensions detected…Target suspected to be a chaotic species!…Contaminated faith power detected!…Target possesses characteristics of an evil god!…”

Duncan instantly perked up.

His figure flashed onto the third projection screen, and the next second the scene changed, with the void in the projection screen rapidly disappearing.

In the reflection of the dimensional space, the enormous, feather-shaped nebula began to slowly rotate.

"Marker space!"

"Void carrier is descending. Please select carrier type."

The page is flickering.

The projection of the first human host appeared as a huge black shadow giant, without flesh and blood, purely energy. The projection of the second human host was a huge reflection of a dragon, also without flesh and blood, condensed in a purely energy form.

Void creatures seem to all have the characteristic of becoming gigantic.

On the projection page, the space marked is called 'virtual space gap' (a dimension higher than reality).

"Can't it just descend directly?"

"It is necessary to condense a void vessel?"

Duncan was eager to try, but in the end he decided to go to the toilet. For the first time, he discovered other-dimensional beings from an observer's perspective in a place outside the real world. They were clearly marked in red, so he had to give them a good beating.

"Anchor to the void node!"

"Human host number one is descending!"

………………

Behind Duncan, the enormous feather-shaped nebula glowed faintly. The next second, in a distant dimension, in the void above reality, a massive black giant, nearly a hundred meters tall, stood up.

The projection of the first human host was also distorted by the laws of the void, no longer resembling a human, but a chaotic faceless giant.

At this moment, a huge phantom resembling a multi-headed serpent emerged from the torn void. In this dimension where there was no matter at all, its ferocious compound-eyed serpent head bit into the nothingness, and then a reflection appeared in the torn void.

An altar.

White candles were lit on all sides. In the dark corner, dozens of cultists dressed in black robes and wearing serpent-shaped symbols were gathered. The red-robed priest, holding a sacrificial knife, was launching a descent ritual through blood sacrifice. In the very center of the altar, a pale boy lay on a long table, looking weak with life and his soul was dim, as if he would vanish at any moment.

"Homage to the serpent god Hakkar!"

"A devourer of chaos! ... A self-devouring reincarnator! ... An immortal and indestructible reborn being!..."

"Your humble servant offers sacrifices to the great serpent god! ... We beseech you to descend into reality! ... Guide us forward!..."

Good guy.

Someone wants to sneak into the real world.

The dimensional being that emerged from the void was extremely greedy and thirsty. Compared to the empty, chaotic void, the real world had a much richer material, emotional, and spiritual life. It couldn't wait to tear through the void, cross dimensional levels, and enter the material world.

The void without matter is too lonely. It waited for more than a hundred years before it got a chance to come into reality.

The cultists who secretly served it finally gathered the materials to launch the initiation ritual and found a suitable human host. At the center of the bloody altar.

The pale boy's body began to tremble, his life force gradually faded, and his soul was crushed by the evil god. The colossal multi-headed serpent tried to squeeze through the crack, but the power that the real world could bear was limited. It could only bite off one of the serpent's heads and inject it into the sacrifice's body, thus possessing the body through the regeneration of severed limbs.

boom!
Just then, a gunshot rang out.

In a corner of the underground chamber, a middle-aged man with a thick beard appeared. The moment he raised his hand, sparks flew, and several bullets hit the cult leader's head directly. The gun was very powerful; the skull shattered, and white brain matter flew out.

Bang bang bang!
A hail of bullets rained down, and more than a dozen cultists fell to the ground. The remaining people tried to fight back, but instead of casting spells, they pulled out modified heavy firearms and fired wildly at the man.

"Homage to the god of machinery!"

"Creator who rules over all mechanical structures! Please protect us!"

At this time.

The sound of gears turning filled the air.

Behind the investigator who had made the move, a priest in his thirties stepped out. He carried a heavy exoskeleton armor on his shoulders, but unlike what Duncan had imagined, it did not have sophisticated circuitry or electronic components. Instead, it was engraved with strange steel runes. Although it was described as a mechanical exoskeleton, it was more like a heavy half-body armor. On his two shoulder blades, the metal gears embedded inside began to rumble, and a strange power suddenly erupted.

The modified firearms in the hands of those cult members all jammed instantly!
"No machine can harm the Lord's servant!"

The burly priest charged forward like a steel warrior, wielding a heavy warhammer in his right hand. One side of the warhammer was spiked, and the inside of it made the rumble of mechanical gears. In the instant he swung it, it was like a runaway dump truck, smashing a cultist to pieces. Flesh and blood exploded, and fragments of internal organs and intestines were scattered on the bowed, solemn snake-man statue.

boom!
After smashing one cultist to pieces with a single blow, the steel priest pulled a heavy gun with a barrel nearly five centimeters long from his waist with his left hand. The moment his finger pulled the trigger, a bullet blasted another cultist's head open like a watermelon.

An invisible domain enveloped his body, with a diameter of about thirty meters. No matter how hard the cultists tried, their guns kept jamming.

This was almost a one-sided massacre!

Even though there were quite a few cultists, they were still no match for those two. One cultist drew his melee weapon and charged forward, only to be smashed into a pulp by the steel priest with a single hammer blow. His strength was astonishing, and the power he unleashed was no less than that of a giant.

Whenever the priest launches an attack, the gears on his heavy shoulder armor roar!
This primitive and rugged steel exoskeleton has only the simplest appearance and the most sophisticated mechanical structure, but its explosive power is astonishing. As long as it hits, the enemy will be torn to pieces.

"Steel is power!"

"Homage to the god of machinery!"

For the first time, Duncan saw a man whose fighting style was even more brutal and wild than his own, and who was also a priest.

clang!
Finally, a cultist seized an opening and successfully launched a sneak attack. His longsword struck the priest in the waist, tearing his robes. Sparks flew, and the exposed skin revealed a steely sheen.

"I am the servant of the steel-cast angels!"

The pastor roared and swung his hammer backhand, sending the cultist's upper body flying, leaving only the shattered half of his thigh standing in the same spot.

This scene was absolutely bloody!

The cult's initiation ceremony was almost interrupted. The monster, which hovered outside the real plane and did not belong to the material realm, became extremely anxious. It bit off its other head and threw it directly at the dead cult leader.

The next second, the cult leader's head began to regenerate rapidly, and a snake head covered in scales grew out.

"not good!"

"The evil god has begun to descend!"

The bearded sharpshooter's expression changed drastically. He threw his gun aside, changed the magazine in mid-air with one hand, and instantly emptied the magazine. A barrage of bullets rained down, tearing the cult leader's body apart.

At this moment, a snake's head had already burrowed into the void rift, attempting to force its way in and possess the already dead sacrifice.

But at that moment, the reflection of a black giant appeared.

Duncan's vessel, which descended into the chaotic void, suddenly made its move. Its enormous hand grabbed the evil god's head, and then a flash of cold light appeared. The materialized Oathkeeper, nearly a hundred meters long, chopped off its hideous compound-eyed snake head.

"Who?!"

In a space devoid of matter, there was naturally no blood. The serpent god's head was severed, and a deep, guttural roar echoed: "Who attacked me!"

It had been planning for nearly a century to finally get a chance to come into reality, so how could it be willing to give it up to other chaotic beings?

As the serpent god Hakkar turned his head, his pupils shrank instantly, for he saw an extremely terrifying, oppressive, and trembling faceless giant. Although the giant's massive body was humanoid, the reflection behind it seemed to be a distorted void, with a nebula-like vortex devouring everything nearby.

not good!

Then came something even more ruthless.

Void creatures can see the manifestation of souls. Enemies appear as giant figures, undoubtedly possessing great combat power. This is a symbol of tyrannical power. Faceless forms are generally only found among Void creatures that have slaughtered their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, because faceless beings also have little emotion.

These void beings have no physical form!

Only after descending into the real world once will they condense and transform into a materialized form of soul. Primitive void creatures are an indescribable chaotic creation.

Their own kind is also a great source of nutrition for them!
Over two hundred years ago, it finally had a chance to descend into reality, only to be snatched away by the Mother of Corruption, its human form corrupted into a writhing mass of flesh. Today, it has seized the opportunity again, only to be ambushed by a faceless giant who appeared out of nowhere, and it looks like its body is about to be torn to pieces.

Since the enemy can appear silently, it must be stronger than it, possibly a higher-dimensional being born from the depths of the void.

The birth of the universe did not involve the presence of matter on all levels; there were also spaces devoid of any matter.

They are all spiritual entities.

withdraw!
The serpent god's severed body fled into the void without any hesitation. The void was a vast dark forest, and those beings that could survive in the chaotic void did not concern themselves with temporary gains or losses.

If the human host is gone, another can be found, but if the main body is severely injured, the other void creatures will swarm in.

Dimensional space, projected page.

"Capture the human host!"

"You have seized the human form from other dimensional beings to enter reality! ...Will you descend?!"

Can a human host steal something from someone else?

Duncan's expression was extremely surprised. After only a moment's thought, he chose to descend. The faceless giant that had condensed in the void gradually dissipated, and in its place was a pale boy lying flat on the altar in the projection crack. He looked very young, about fifteen or sixteen years old, and had long since lost his life force, even his soul had dissipated.

"Loading human host number three!"

"Please select the inscription ability to load into the human host."

One by one, the icons were lit up. Duncan looked at the repulsion level; it was almost nonexistent, which meant that the power ceiling of the third human host world was very high.

Load all.

A gentle breeze swept by, and the candles on all four sides of the altar were immediately extinguished.

On the stone table, the boy who had been dead suddenly twitched his fingers, his stopped heart began to pump again, and faint rises and falls appeared on his chest.

"Our Lord has arrived!"

The cult leader was overjoyed, completely unaware that the evil god he had summoned had been brutally beaten and fled back into the void.

not good!

An evil god has descended.

The bearded sharpshooter instantly turned his gun and pulled the trigger towards the third human host.

But the cultists around them seemed to have gone mad. They rushed forward, using their bodies to block the bullets, while someone pushed the unconscious No. 3 human host off the stone table.

"Protect Master!"

The cult leader hissed, and his hideous snake head suddenly shot out, his neck stretching out five or six meters. His human skin gradually peeled away, and with the remaining flesh and blood, a snake-man-like monster hatched on the original old body.

Venom sprayed everywhere!
A dark green poisonous gas enveloped the entire underground chamber, instantly poisoning the sharpshooter, making him dizzy and unable to breathe properly.

"Lungs of Steel!"

The only one still able to move was the burly priest. His figure changed on the projection screen, and the shape of his lungs was clearly revealed. On his back, a needle pierced out of the thick exoskeleton armor and went straight into his spine. As dark red liquid was injected, his breathing instantly became rapid.

"The power to forge steel!"

With a roar, the priest collided with the ferocious snake-man. Blood and flesh flew everywhere, limbs exploded, and the sprayed venom was incredibly corrosive. The gears rotating on the shoulder armor also stopped, and mottled corrosion marks covered the surface of the armor.

A sharp tooth bit into the opponent's neck, and the warhammer roared, smashing the snake-man's body in two.

I don’t know how long it took.

As the poisonous gas in the underground chamber gradually thinned, the boy under the stone table slowly opened his eyes and got up. There were corpses everywhere. The bearded detective-looking man was right in front of him. His body was already stiff, having died from the poison, but the gun was pointed at his head.

"Master...save me..."

A joyful hiss came from the corner. The half-snake-man's body crawled out like a gecko, its intestines hanging out long. In the corner, the steel priest was all dark blue. The steel skin on his neck was bitten through, and the deadly poison instantly eroded his heart. He died from the poison in just over ten seconds.

This poison is quite potent.

Duncan stretched his body and instantly picked up his pistol, pointing it at the snake-man's head.

"No...you are not the master..."

With a hissing sound, the heavily injured snake-man seemed to have discovered something, because there was no snake god's aura on the other party.

boom!
Without hesitation, Duncan pulled the trigger, blowing the opponent's head off.

A sliver of light merged into the body.

On the third projection page, a row of characters appeared.

"The ability to seize targets."

—"Venomous Blood [Special Ability]: A talent derived from snake life, enhancing reaction speed and strengthening resistance to toxins."

As long as he can still gain the ability, Duncan has nothing to fear.

God's-eye view revealed!

As the gray, dark area was illuminated, a massive underground ruin emerged, and on the strategic map, a steel jungle with almost no boundaries was gradually revealed.

How many floors are there?

"Why can't the strategy map be fully displayed?"

Duncan began cleaning up the battlefield. After carefully examining the weapons and equipment of this world, he set the bodies on fire to destroy all traces.

The strategic map from God's perspective is layered, and he is currently located in the lower ruins.

A metallic smell permeated the air.

Even from God's perspective, he couldn't see a trace of green or sunlight. Only some dark blue moss grew in the shadowy corners, taking root in the cracks of the steel jungle and stubbornly surviving on a little dust.

Duncan glanced at the attribute panel of the third human host and surprisingly discovered three innate abilities.

—“Dim Vision: The human host has become accustomed to days without sunlight, and he can still see in the dim light.”

— "Heavy metal adaptation: The human host has adapted to various terrible foods, and his body can digest and excrete various heavy metals at the cost of reduced life expectancy."

—"Radiation adaptation: The human body can resist weak radiation and will not die easily from radiation."

………………

(End of this chapter)