Industrial Cthulhu? It's Cthulhu Industrial!!
Chapter 57 The Day of Hunting Gods
Chapter 57 The Day of Hunting Gods (Please Subscribe!)
In this world, deities are more like a natural phenomenon or a manifestation of a concept.
Some of them seem to have their own preferences, some have their own pursuits, and some even behave in ways not much different from humans. But none of this changes the fact that their essence is not human at all; they are more like some kind of machine, some kind of mechanism, acting according to their own underlying logic.
Regardless of the believer's individual nature, as long as they conform to the internal doctrines, they will always receive unconditional blessings. Regardless of circumstances or differences, the gods will always require a necessary offering according to their inherent logic before taking action. Therefore, Britannia has always believed that gods can be hunted and traded. With very few exceptions, the vast majority of gods adhere to this inherent logic.
Those in the divine realm take a more radical stance, arguing that even seemingly harmless deities operate under this same underlying logic. It's just that humanity hasn't yet uncovered more about the needs and underlying logic of these gods. Otherwise, these seemingly normal, human-like deities are essentially no different from other individuals in their species. They are all manifestations of the natural environment and ethical concepts; if humanity has an absolute need for them, then naturally, such deities can be eradicated.
And Li Ang was witnessing such a magnificent scene; he was watching a god being hunted down.
The Nameless Sea, a vast ocean so expansive that it takes ships half a year to traverse, is the domain of the Nameless Sea God. The essence of this sea lies in people's fear of its boundless expanse; although its area has been anchored, navigation within its waters still requires time.
Ancient people believed this nameless sea to be infinitely long, calling it the Sea of the End, the Nameless Sea. The nameless sea god, as the embodiment of this fear, naturally possessed the concept of distance. He could easily allow certain ships to pass through this sea quickly, or he could trap all ships within it, forever lost and unable to escape.
According to ancient, ignorant superstitions and preconceived notions, every voyage on the nameless sea required countless blood sacrifices offered to the nameless sea god. Even so, this only resulted in the nameless sea god stretching the ocean distance sixfold. This capricious and voracious ancient sea god, who delighted in devouring the living, preferred to trap ships in the ocean, preventing them from ever turning back. Moreover, due to his ancient definition and the very concept of fear surrounding him, confronting the nameless sea god was incredibly difficult.
But everything comes at a price.
When Britannia decided to deal with the nameless sea god at all costs and open a passage to the New World, this seemingly invincible ocean deity was already on the death list, never to be removed.
System notification: You are witnessing a historical moment, hunting down gods!
System notification: You are witnessing a turning point in history, hunting down the nameless sea god!
System notification: You are witnessing an emergency in Britannia, the maritime hegemon!
Li Ang was looking up at this spectacular scene.
The nameless sea god could sense his impending death, and boundless rage was unleashing towering waves. All the seawater in the entire nameless sea was boiling and churning wildly, even forming a wall of water hundreds of meters high around the area.
Once it loosened its grip on the domain, this tsunami, hundreds of meters high, would mercilessly destroy all the coastal colonies surrounding Britannia. But this did not happen, for there was no record of such an event in history. The nameless sea god roared in fury, hurling towering waves that drowned out all conversations, yet it did not allow the sea to flood the port city.
His divine authority governs distances and the winds and waves of the nameless seas, but absolutely not the ability to unleash tsunamis that destroy coastal cities.
So all he could do was be angry, and it was hard to say that this anger even stemmed from his own emotions.
It struggled to make the surrounding waves roll, roaring and commanding the giant waves to stir up the tides, trying its best to cause that earth-shattering wave to sweep all the people who were setting up some kind of gruesome ceremony in the seaside city into the seabed.
However, the waves, less than ten meters high, crashed against the Britannian boundary, turning into a pure white expanse. Although it seemed world-destroying and invincible, in the eyes of all Britannians, the nameless sea god who had devoured countless blood sacrifices was nothing more than a lamb waiting to die.
Lord Leon...
"Well, it's me."
Looking at the naval captain who had fallen into chaos at the edge of the Silver Gate, Leon sat in his chair and casually said:
"Finding a VIP viewing spot to see what kind of army will destroy my territory in the future, is that a good thing?"
Space folds and folds, like a veil being continuously piled up to form a strange dimension.
Sitting on the clock tower by the coast, Li Ang held a porcelain cup and squinted at the coastline that had almost turned pure black.
Before him folded the shadows of eight coastal cities. Below these cities, crowds dressed in various styles were busily delivering batches of blood sacrifices to designated locations. Buckets of precious, mysterious animal blood were splashed onto the road, forming patterns, while extremely expensive-looking items were piled on the altar, pointing towards the direction of the gods.
The employees of these companies wore uniforms of different colors and possessed completely different core technologies. The only thing driving them here was profit, and nothing but profit. Their fleet was waiting in the harbor, while their reserve forces had already begun operations on the coast.
Britannia deployed eight Worldwings to unite against the Nameless Sea God.
Countless cacophony merged into a steady will, forming a perfect, rhythmic song before Li Ang.
To ordinary people, these people's actions were ugly and chaotic. But to Li Ang, these steps were so beautiful. Every human action, even every little bit of disorder, was a small, even somewhat relaxing note in the triumphant song of hunting down the god.
'The blood sacrifice offerings are ready; the first, second, and third matrices are being loaded.'
'The divine alchemical weapon is being moved; the forward team needs to investigate.'
'The surrounding sea area has been completely sealed off, with a redundancy of 7.68 million blood sacrifices, which is expected to withstand thirteen impacts.'
The naval fleet has completed its automation ceremony and is ready to deploy at any time.
'The map and locator are ready, the time device has been placed, and we anticipate crossing the Nameless Sea within a month to conceptually kill the Nameless Sea God.'
'The Third, Seventh, and Eighth Fleets will utilize their proprietary defenses; the First and Second Fleets will launch direct attacks on the Nameless Poseidon's territory; the Fourth and Sixth Fleets will assist in oceanographic surveying; and the Fifth Fleet will serve as the general reserve, providing timely support to various areas.'
The command chain is as follows: the main command of the armed forces at the port, the First Fleet's assault force, the Fifth Fleet's reserve force, and then relayed to the leaders of each fleet. The hunt is expected to last one month. Currently, over ten million sea sacrifices have been prepared, and sufficient Transformation Mothers have been brought along, but it's best to prepare for total annihilation.
In reality, no one actually said those things.
Or rather, these words are a summary of the combined will of hundreds of people.
These are all slips of paper, commands, rules and instincts passed down from generation to generation.
Everyone is only responsible to their superiors and those below them. Although it looks chaotic and without any order, in Li Ang's eyes, these people are holding the weapon to kill the gods firmly in their hands.
The most important factor in killing the nameless sea god wasn't necessarily superior fighting ability or instantaneous bursts of power. Confronting a god head-on is essentially meaningless, because gods are merely the embodiment of concepts. To truly kill a god, one must kill that concept itself. That is, to use undeniable facts to tell the world that they neither exist nor are romantic; they are merely shadows conjured by the human mind.
"Behold, this is the true strength of Britannia. This is the strength of humanity."
As Li Ang watched the instruments rise, continuously offering blood sacrifices, and the coastal city begin to operate, shimmering with light, his smile grew even more pronounced.
"Ugly, vile, seemingly chaotic, yet intricately crafted. This chaotic yet unified scene is what is necessary for hunting down gods. Gods cannot prove their own existence; as long as it is proven that the very existence of a god is false, the god will directly collapse and perish. Look, this is a sight that ordinary people cannot see."
System notification: The ritual to hunt down the gods has begun!
'Announcement! Britannia has begun hunting the nameless sea god!'
System notification: Your occult skills are improving as you observe a ritual to hunt down a deity!
System notification: Having witnessed the ritual of hunting gods, you have developed your own views and understanding of god-hunting! You can try optimizing the ritual!
Seeing the series of prompts given by the system, Li Ang did not look at them directly, but waited for the final start of the ceremony.
And soon, after the final commotion and chaos, humanity had completely integrated.
The docks were emptied of people, and countless fleets of ships were aimed at the black wall of the sea. The noisy human voices were gone, replaced by a suffocating silence.
With a thunderous boom, both sides began their operations. "Open the sea!"
The human from the port commanded:
"First Fleet, set sail! Second Fleet, set sail!"
As the lighthouse flashed, the two World Wings ships, designated as the First and Second Fleets, charged toward the towering wall of water covering the nameless sea.
Li Ang was unaware of the patented projects they possessed, but judging from the results, the two fleets were like sharp blades, cleaving through the sea wall of the Nameless Sea amidst the blood and prayers of countless sacrifices. Behind the two fleets, five fleets of different colors filed in, beginning to divide their tasks and cooperate to record time and related information beneath this hundreds-of-meters-high water wall.
This is a ritual to hunt down the nameless sea god, using precise comparisons of fleets and port city areas, personally measuring the nameless sea with their ships, and killing its infinitely vast concept.
The waves could not destroy the Britannian ships, nor could distance be a reason to stop them.
Beneath the hundreds-of-meters-high curtain of water, the Britannian fleet sailed forward like a group of people climbing a mountain.
Countless sea monsters and mythical creatures burst forth from the curtain of water, howling as they lunged at the fleet of Worldwings, only to vanish in the blink of an eye before their shields and power. Conversely, each time the Worldwings spread their wings, countless sacrifices fell into the sea, and the invisible veil would once again extend further toward the nameless sea god.
Every few kilometers, a silvery-white sea column would fall. The sea column dropped by the first fleet as the spearhead would be picked up by the last fleet, marking the area of the ocean and connecting it with the ocean city at the very end.
The fleet will not perish, and the connection will not be severed. Once it reaches the Misty Sea, the death of the nameless sea god is inevitable.
Because he is no longer nameless, nor forever vast.
It was just a weak individual whose distance had been measured, and who was powerless to do anything about the fleet.
This is something the nameless sea god cannot accept.
So the nameless sea became angry.
The entire ocean roared, and a torrential downpour of black rain, accompanied by thunder, lashed down precisely on the Britannian fleet. On the two sides of the split, countless dark waves surged and churned, making the light screens on the fleet appear flickering and precarious.
But the fleet bearing the inscription of the Britannian World Wings showed no fear. As countless points of light fell, those sacrifices who believed their deaths would lead to a blissful reincarnation once again became the cornerstone of Britannian legend. Their souls were transformed into the core of the Soul Furnace, where blazing magic and near-omnipotent prayers forcefully cleaved through the hundred-meter-high sea wall, propelling them forward with great difficulty amidst raging storms, thunder, and lightning.
The humans looked incredibly disheveled, as if this hunt for the gods was nothing more than a sacrifice to the Nameless Sea.
But in Li Ang's eyes, these figures, carrying countless resources, still operated in an orderly manner. They were a collection of tens of thousands of people, the blossoming of millions of lives, yet they were the voice left behind by a single will.
The will of a civilization against a god is not an unfair duel. In fact, it could be said that Britannia used only a fraction of its power to slay the nameless sea god. This contemptuous attitude, this seemingly certain victory, only fueled the nameless sea god's furious roar.
Lightning and torrential rain illuminated the sky above the fleet with dazzling rainbows, while the surging waves and churning monsters threatened to utterly destroy their meager fleet strength. But no matter the violence, no matter the terrifying power unleashed by the nameless sea god, the fleet continued its steady advance. They continuously dropped anchor instruments, and then the last part of the fleet began to recover them, advancing little by little, step by step.
'Fleet status normal, data successfully transmitted!'
'Calculating the distance and depth of the unnamed sea area! Currently unable to calculate! More data feedback is needed!'
'Currently, the consumption of blood sacrifices is within the planned range, and there is no need to make up for it!'
'The mother structure is currently producing plant flour, and the blood sacrifice cycle is being established. The production rate has not yet reached its peak, and it is highly likely to be breached by the pressure of the water wall!'
'Calculating the peak! If we can withstand this wave, we'll have enough to establish a sacrifice cycle!'
The waves were churning, the monsters were roaring, and countless lightning bolts and torrential rain were bombarding the heads of all the ships.
The fleet's light flickered within the black wall of water, and countless human voices screamed in panic, but in Li Ang's eyes, they ultimately coalesced into a single sentence representing the will of humanity.
'Success!'
"Humanity won, as expected."
Watching the fleet's barrier finally withstand the splash and begin to gleam once more, Li Ang wiped away tears with deep emotion and softly explained to the naval captain beside him:
"I love scenes like this, where humanity uses its own hands to crush the unknown, measuring the universe bit by bit, and analyzing and dismembering those transcendent individuals in ways it can understand. Although it may seem chaotic on the surface, it is actually the result of countless wisdom and minds coming together. I think nothing is more beautiful than this scene before my eyes, hunting the nameless sea god in such a simple and brutal way, it's really amazing."
"...I also find it hard to imagine that the ritual of hunting down gods is like this."
It was much more brutal and cruel than I had imagined.
The naval captain looked at Li Ang, who was sitting next to the Silver Gate with deep emotion, and responded very seriously.
They never left the Misty Islands from beginning to end; simply by sitting in place, they witnessed the Misty Sea God being hunted down from all directions, experiencing firsthand the terrifying and overwhelming power of the World Wings' patent. However, what the naval captain feared even more was this guy who so casually led them there to watch.
"Yes, the nameless sea god is about to be hunted down. You can wait here for a month, after which your fleet will come to pick you up."
"Thank you for your help."
"As payment for taking you in, I hope to use your power to help me build the grand blueprint for my people. I believe this request is not unreasonable, is it?"
"Yes, it's a very reasonable request."
“Well then, from my personal perspective, I have one more request.”
"Please tell me. Let me see if I can do it."
Looking at Li Ang's serious expression, the naval captain tensed up, wondering what he was up to.
As a human who had witnessed the entire ritual of hunting down a god, the naval captain clearly realized that this man was likely the legendary anomalous individual. Naturally, the captain remained extremely vigilant regarding his demands.
Under the naval captain's tense gaze, Li Ang wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and earnestly stated his conditions.
"Could you make me a ceramic shard depicting the day the gods were hunted? I plan to frame it on the white wall outside to inspire everyone. I can't do this myself, so I'm asking you for help."
"Is this the request?"
"Ah."
"..."
Indeed, thinking about this behavior is completely meaningless.
As the naval captain watched Li Ang open the folded space once again and begin to appreciate humanity's progress through the storm, he couldn't help but think this.
(End of this chapter)
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