Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 512 Under the Cherry Blossom Banner: Gathering in the Deep Sea

The sea breeze carries iron and blood.

Cherry blossoms fall and light.

Where the flags flutter
Fate collides with fate.
Dreams break apart.

—Record of the End Tower: Cherry Blossom Sea

In front of the Gate of the Boundary Plaza, the once bustling crowd was now neatly contained on both sides, chaotic yet orderly.

The black flag of the Deep Sea Nightmare flies high, its ferocious sea monster emblem fluttering in the wind as if ready to pounce on flesh at any moment.

Si Ming arrived side by side with Xiao Lianyin, Xiao Jinyan, and Xin Nai, whose breathing had not yet fully recovered.

The crowd parted automatically, like the tide clearing away rocks, and they walked on the central stone steps, their gazes gradually converging on the front.

On the throne, a tall man leaned back in his chair, the red wine in his hand looking like blood under the lamplight.

His eyes held a sharp, mocking smile, like a long sword drawn from its sheath.

Beside him stood a woman in a blood-red dress, standing quietly.

Her brows and eyes were as cold as frost, and she turned a black gold key in her slender hand as if she were fiddling with a toy that could decide life or death at any moment.

—Xu Long, Pirate King of the Deep Sea Nightmare; Chen Mei, Leader of the Crimson Rose Pirate Crew.

Calvino stepped forward, stepped aside, nodded to the God of Fate, and then led them to the dragon throne.

Xu Long slowly turned his head, raised his wine glass, and his gaze swept over him like a tidal wave: "Si Ming, it's been a long time. As expected, you've returned too."

Si Ming smiled lightly, his tone casual: "Reunion with old friends is always unexpected."

Xu Long's lips slowly curved into a sharp smile: "I said last time that I hoped we wouldn't be opponents if we met again. This time, you're my ally, aren't you?"

Si Ming raised his eyes, the smile beneath his mask unchanged, and said calmly, "Of course."

Xu Long nodded in satisfaction, his eyes sharp as if he had locked onto his prey.

He pointed a finger, his voice icy: "The opponent isn't here. They left a key, saying they're waiting for you in the instance."

He then spat, his expression one of disdainful contempt: "The Japanese always love these troublesome rituals."

As soon as he finished speaking, he stood up, his shoulders as heavy as a mountain, and his aura instantly oppressed the entire room.

He took a step forward, and Chen Mei followed silently, her red dress trailing on the ground, the black gold key between her fingers reflecting a cold light.

At that moment, the air in the square seemed to freeze.

Xu Long and Chen Mei walked down the stone steps one after the other, followed closely by a tall figure.

The man's hands reached past his knees, his back was straight, and his footsteps were like war drums, each step causing a subtle echo in the ground.

A pair of swords hung from his left waist, one crimson like fire, the other azure like ice.

The interlocking sword hilts seemed to embody both burning and freezing, and with each step, the air was forcibly cut open, with heat waves and frost spreading across the ground like a scar branded onto reality.

He turned his head slightly, his eyes sharp as knives, so cold that they seemed to sever the gaze itself.

—Liu Xi, First Assault Captain of the Deep Sea Nightmare Main Ship.

Si Ming glanced at it, his gaze beneath the mask hardening. He seemed to etch the image of a "sharp spear" into his mind.

Behind him, Xiao Jinyan leaned closer and couldn't help but lower his voice and wink at Si Ming: "Xu Long, Xu Long... isn't that right?"

He stopped halfway through his sentence, his eyes darting around, as if afraid that what he said might shatter something.

A trace of memory flashed across Si Ming's eyes.

He remembered that Xu Long was the most meticulous person in the Creation Team.

When the code team was debugging at night, Xiao Jinyan often tried to get away with things, but Xu Long would not hesitate to knock him on the head: "You're not allowed to leave work until the logs are finished."

Even if the server crashes at 3 a.m., he will keep his eyes open, wearing a wrinkled shirt, and with a serious face, he will investigate every single error to find its root cause.

While others were carefree and irresponsible, he was like a stubborn, rule-abiding stone statue.

And right before my eyes, the great pirate king sitting on the dragon throne... is actually that person?
Si Ming's gaze shifted, and he said indifferently, "Let's take it one step at a time."

Xiao Lianyin gently rubbed her temples, her sigh tinged with helplessness: "I hope what he remembers is brotherhood, not rules."

The atmosphere instantly became heavy, with only Liu Xi's footsteps steadily tapping on the stone steps, like the war drums beating for the great battle that was about to begin.

Calvino stepped forward, his long hair flying in the wind, and declared loudly towards the Gate of Boundaries:
"Deep Sea Nightmare, Planetary Disaster Vanguard Team - Calvino invites Si Ming, Xiao Lianyin, Xiao Jinyan, and Yu Shenyuan Xinna to join the team!"

As the words fell, lines of light appeared in the void, as if the register of fate was being written line by line.

The names of the four men lit up one by one, appearing alongside Calvino on a screen, transforming into a banner of spears.

A chorus of shouts erupted from all around.

Other teams were also forming up at the same time, with team numbers and names constantly appearing on the screen, and the sound effects echoing like a continuous tidal wave.

After everything was grouped up, Xu Long slowly walked to the front.

His body was as imposing as a mountain, and his voice boomed like the clash of iron and stone, reverberating throughout the entire arena.

"Deep Sea Nightmare - Xu Long invites all squad members to join the team!"

In an instant, the screen flickered violently, and a chorus of confirmation voices surged up, echoing throughout the square and making the air tremble.

Thousands of Star Scourge responded to the call, their ranks rising like a tide, and order rapidly took shape under the overwhelming force.

Chen Mei stepped forward, her blood-red dress trailing on the ground, and with her slender hand took out the black gold key and pressed it against the core stone pillar of the gate.

"Buzz—" Ripples spread out in circles, like pebbles thrown into a calm lake.

The gate seemed to be awakened, the light curtain rolled up, and a distorted darkness and an unknown world vaguely emerged inside.

Xu Long reached out and clasped Chen Mei's hand with his own, turning his head to reveal a smile that was both fierce and heroic.

"sail."

He raised his head and shouted loudly, taking the lead in stepping into the boundary gate.

What followed was a massive, surging army of deep-sea nightmare pirates.

Swords clashed, battle flags fluttered, and the pirates roared and laughed wildly, like an unstoppable tsunami rushing into that unknown dungeon world.

The moment Si Ming stepped into the boundary gate, heaven and earth seemed to turn upside down in an instant.

His eardrums were deafening as he was swept into a vortex of light and darkness, his body being torn between weightlessness and falling.

In the chaos, he gritted his teeth and held his breath. When his feet suddenly sank, he realized he was on solid ground.

The steel bars underfoot were cracked, and the glass shards were covered with a thick layer of dust.

A cold wind swept by, bringing with it the smell of rust and decay.

Looking up——

The ruins of a giant city lay out before our eyes.

The broken viaduct stretches across the sky like a broken rib piercing the heavens;

The collapsed buildings piled up one on top of another, resembling a graveyard of steel;

Dust and smog tumbled in the air, casting a deathly pale hue.

Not far away, beams of light fell one after another.

As the light faded, one after another members of the Deep Sea Nightmare appeared on rooftops and street corners.

They were all strange and eccentric, like a group of oddballs crawling out of the abyss:

—Someone was wearing a heavy sharkskin cloak, with sharp metal fins extending from his back, making a sharp friction sound as he walked;
—Some people wore sea monster skulls as helmets, carried huge iron anchors on their shoulders, and their steps were as heavy as waves crashing on the shore.
—Some people even cover their entire bodies with translucent jellyfish, their light-membrane-like tentacles floating in the air, their figures appearing and disappearing.

Their shouts, laughter, and the clanging of weapons mingled together.

The sounds of the formation rose and fell, the flag of Deep Sea Nightmare was raised high, and the sea monsters on the flag seemed to flutter in the wind.

"Snapped!"

Battle flags fluttered in the wind, like a proclamation in this desolate, ruined city—

The pirate army has arrived.

Dust swirled in the wind, and the atmosphere on the rooftop was heavy.

Xin Nai stood beside Si Ming, her knuckles gripping the hilt of her sword tightly, the veins on the back of her hand bulging.

Her breathing was rapid but suppressed, not letting a sound leak out.

He was like a taut bowstring, ready to snap at the slightest breeze.

Si Ming turned his head, his gaze from behind the mask falling on her, his tone indifferent: "Did you see your enemy?"

Nobuna raised her chin, her eyes burning with suppressed rage.

Her voice was low and cold, yet it was like a flame licking a blade:
"Ah."

Follow her gaze.

In the center of the distant ruins, a solitary tower stands.

That was the only building in the entire ruined city that still stood intact, like a sharp sword stuck in the earth.

At the top of the tower, a blood-red battle flag flutters in the wind.

On the flag, a huge crimson cherry blossom blooms, its petals detailed and distinct, swaying and fluttering in the gale.

That wasn't beauty, but a cold arrogance—like an emblem stained with the blood of an enemy.

Nobuna gripped his hand even tighter, her fingertips almost digging into his palm.

She gritted her teeth and slowly uttered two words, each one like the back of a knife striking her bones:

"—Flowers Bloom in the Courtyard".

Her voice trembled, not from fear, but from the rage that threatened to engulf her.

"They're right there."

Her gaze, like a flame, fixed on the cherry blossom flag, and she coldly uttered her final words:
"Wait for us."

The moment the flag falls, it's time to kill.

When cherry blossoms bloom, blood is churning in the wind.

Sea and cherry blossoms, dragon and fox
They will all be in this abandoned city.

Write down your own destiny.

—The Sakura Sea Challenge

(End of this chapter)