Deity Investigation Report

Chapter 280 The Emperor's Believers
"emperor?"

Count Albares's reaction surprised Han Su.

He recited the fisherman's chant because the old count's incantation had touched him.

That strange feeling of conversing with the world was very similar to the vibrations and ripples I experienced when I recited the fishermen's chant.

Subconsciously, I felt that the fishermen's chants could counter the power of the nobility.

But after reciting it, they immediately noticed the difference: the fisherman's chant and the old count's incantation were indeed essentially similar.

But it's even more domineering!
If the incantation recited by the old count gave him an advantage that transcended the entire world, giving him a power advantage beyond the level of strength in the struggle for the 109 tree-man anchor points, then Han Su's fisherman's chant seemed to directly end the competition, completely erasing the old count's advantage in this world.

They even want to use this advantage to convict the old count!
It felt as if the will of all the tree-man anchor points was instantly pulled apart by a powerful force and quickly severed from the old count.

Half of the tree-people's anchor points fell directly into their own will, while the other half suddenly became silent.

That was because the power of the fishermen's chant was too strong, directly killing the activity of those tree-man anchors.

"It seems that the fishermen's chants have a special effect on the spells recited by the old count?"

"If the fishermen's chants displayed suppression and arrogance towards other mysterious forces, then the incantations against the old count were filled with hatred..."

"It's like water meeting oil..."

"What's the reason for this?"

"..."

Compared to Han Su's shock and confusion, the old count displayed indescribable terror. His expression was as if he had seen a demon, fear and shock intertwined on his face. His body stumbled backward as his connection to the cannibalistic forest was severed, and he unconsciously screamed, "No wonder, no wonder you really dared to kill me..."

"The Emperor's followers! The Emperor's followers have actually appeared in reality..."

"How dare you?"

After the initial shock, he displayed anger and disbelief: "Worshiping emperors is the greatest sin of civilization, how dare you do it?"

"No, how could anyone in this world worship such a terrifying monster?"

"I……"

"...I just came here to do some research, how did I end up being targeted by you monsters who worship emperors?"

"I don't deserve to be targeted by people who worship the emperor..."

"..."

He looks completely insane.

It wasn't that she was frightened by Han Su and the others, nor was it the fact that she couldn't escape and was about to be killed.

He was frightened by his own guess.

He realized that he was facing the emperor's followers, one of the most insane monsters in the world.

Since the other party was a follower of the emperor, it was reasonable for them to dare to surround and kill a nobleman.

"The Wandering Knights, yes, the Wandering Knights..."

Amidst this chaotic and unconscious rambling, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and came up with a feasible solution.

Without hesitation, the falling body suddenly tore apart.

As blood and flesh splattered, he chanted the incantation of a hellish monk's communion: "With my flesh and blood, I feast upon the gods!"

His torn flesh rained down like a raging storm upon the cannibalistic forest.

In this cannibalistic forest, the tree-man anchors that contained his own genes and spiritual power, even though their wills had been subdued by Han Su, their bodies, like his flesh and blood, were torn apart wildly, bursting forth with strange flames that instantly swept in all directions, turning the entire forest into the legendary Satanic hell.

This is the genetic code he left in the bodies of these tree-people as a scholar; it is also a vicious self-destruct device.

We must escape!

That was his only thought.

They were willing to destroy everything to create a temporary opportunity for themselves to escape.

More importantly, he believed that the commotion of this forest's self-destruction would be noticed by the approaching knights, who would then quicken their pace.

He, who was originally most terrified of these itinerant knights, now actually looked forward to their arrival.

Because once the itinerant knights discover the presence of this group of emperor's followers, they will certainly teach them the harshest lesson.

"Perhaps, I can atone for my sins through good deeds!"

The old count kept thinking to himself, "Compared to the existence of this group of emperor's followers, my mistakes are nothing, and the mistakes made by Giant Horn City are nothing either."

"Damn it, if I had known about these Emperor's followers, I should have joined forces with Gianthorn City to the end and waited for the arrival of the itinerant knights..."

"At that time, not only will we be blameless, but we will also have discovered the greatest traitor in civilization, and we will actually have done a great service!"

"..."

"Ok?"

Amidst the chaos, Han Su frowned deeply.

That's fucking hard to kill!

This is indeed a characteristic of nobles and scholars. In a real fight, there's nothing to be afraid of. But the opponent's various escape and survival techniques are what leave people speechless and helpless.

"Shoot..."

They all acted simultaneously. Wei Lan quickly extended her slender fingers and made continuous strokes in the air, causing crystalline lenses to appear and spin in the air, attempting to trap the Count's fleeing figure. However, the Count's movements were strange at this moment. He rushed forward and shattered the lenses, disappearing into the night sky with a burst of flames.

The next moment, Lü Xiaoba rushed forward, grabbed the old count's body, and tore off a huge piece. However, the remaining part was still quickly swept away, while Lü Xiaoba, who had no ability to step into the air, began to fall rapidly.

Enraged, he cursed, "Fuck you! Come down here if you dare!"

"At this point, don't even think about leaving..."

Han Su narrowed his eyes, silently chanted an incantation, and used the Abyss Ladder. His figure flashed repeatedly, and he appeared in mid-air. Then he silently chanted another incantation:
What you think is the boundary!

【…】

In an instant, a massive mental barrier rapidly unfolded towards the two wings of the night sky, centered on him.

We can't let him escape.

Actually, at first, it was just to hunt his blood. It would be good if we could kill him, but even if we couldn't, having his blood would be enough to complete the mission.

But when the old count revealed the various aspects of the emperor's followers, Han Su changed his mind.

He must be left here. It would be even better if we could get his memories; we need to see why he's so terrified...

"Oh!"

The old count crashed headfirst into the barrier, wisps of black smoke rising from his body, giving him an eerie and all-pervasive aura. But the moment he hit the barrier, the barrier, which had no fixed shape, trembled strangely. Han Su was determined to keep him here, and the divine matter that had just split was stirred.

The changes in mental scale and mental activity brought about by the split were fully displayed on this opened barrier.

In an instant, it seemed as if an ancient and mysterious language resounded through the night sky, and the barrier that unfolded around him was covered with twisted characters.

That's the emperor's script!

For the first time, this text, which had been corrupting Han Su, appeared before his enemy in the form of a mysterious power, accompanying Han Su's coded incantation.

The old count collapsed, letting out a desperate cry: "You not only worship the emperor, but you've even been corrupted by him?" The despair in his voice at that moment was indescribable.

It was as if the heart that had been hanging in suspense had finally died.

Although he had just been chanting incantations and filled with fear, he still held onto a sliver of hope, hoping that his guess was wrong, hoping that he had simply misunderstood due to his lack of knowledge.

At that moment, he knew there was no misunderstanding; he truly saw traces of the emperor reappear in the world.

"Sizzle..."

As his body plummeted, it began to dissolve as if corroded by concentrated acid, turning into wisps of black smoke that drifted to the ground with his fall. Some of these wisps even seeped into the earth. Han Su, watching from above, keenly noticed that within this black smoke, there was a faint sense of activity, carrying fear as it burrowed into the ground.

He's still on the run!

"That old bastard isn't truly dead yet!"

Two voices rang out simultaneously, one from Wei Lan and the other from Lü Xiaoba. Neither of them was deceived by the old count's trick.

At this moment, the old count, with only a wisp of spiritual power still storing his own will and memories, was rapidly detaching from reality and entering the nightmare world.

This is the ultimate survival skill in the Hell Cultivator sequence, or rather, it's not about survival, but simply about ensuring one's existence.

Hellish monks come from nightmares, and they can return to nightmares, but at the cost of losing all anchors in reality, which is no different from death in the conventional sense.

However, the old count was confident that if he had returned to the nightmare in the past, no one would have cared about him or guided him back to reality. But now it was different. He had discovered the Emperor's followers and even fought with them. So, as long as he could find a way to send this message out, the wandering knights would definitely help him reshape his anchor in reality and be resurrected in reality.

Now, all I need to do is use the coordinates of Peeling Manor to make a precise escape and wait for the situation to change.

"Om..."

Faint mental vibrations emanated from all directions; it was the device he had left at the location of Skinning Manor that activated remotely after sensing his mental fluctuations.

A mysterious gravitational force was formed, directly attracting his wisp of spiritual power and protecting it within a specially made container.

While Han Su and the others demonstrated impressive strength, they were ultimately only at the level of splitting into left and right, and probably couldn't accurately intercept his spiritual power.

But at that very moment, a laugh suddenly rang out: "You guys are so unprofessional, how could someone get away after you killed him?"

It's Lu Neng!
This guy, who has never been one to take orders, has finally shown up.

He was the only member of Han Su's first-tier escape team who didn't like to follow orders, but Han Su could tolerate him.

Because he always manages to do things that are beyond imagination...

Just as Han Su felt a glimmer of hope, he turned around and suddenly saw a burst of firelight.

That came from the direction of Bopishan Village, ten kilometers away.

The explosion came so suddenly that the old count's last remaining spiritual strength was being rapidly drawn to the device he had left in the manor.

The so-called device actually consists of eleven people placed in crystal coffins, in a state of perpetual slumber, surviving on nutrient dishes. With specialized equipment, these people are hypnotized day and night, constantly dreaming of the hellish world of Western Continent culture and legends. This ensures that the old count will return to their dreams and not lose his way.

When the traveling knights arrive, they can use their dreams to rescue the old count from these people's dreams.

But unexpectedly, there was such a sudden explosion. The old count's spiritual power instantly lost its direction and remained dazed in the night sky.

This explosion destroyed the machinery and also abruptly awakened the experimental subjects who were sleeping on the seventh underground floor, causing their dreams to disappear.

Along with the explosion, a gray-white cloud flew rapidly from Peeling Manor. The arrogant and triumphant laughter just now came from within the gray-white cloud. The next moment, a black dot suddenly broke off from the cloud, landing quickly like a cannonball, tumbling in the air, and then a parachute unfolded.

Han Su, Wei Lan, and Lü Xiaoba all looked over at the same time and saw that the one flying down with a parachute was Lu Neng.

He wore dark glasses and clutched a pocket watch tightly in his hand, laughing triumphantly: "Your hideout is gone, don't bother making any more desperate attempts..."

Regardless of what the completely lost old count in the air was thinking, even Han Su was pleasantly surprised by this unexpected change: "You..."

"Since we made the appointment, of course I'll come and meet up with you..."

As Lu Neng plummeted downwards, he spoke smugly, completing his exchange with Han Su: "Now that we're here, I believe you should have no problem dealing with him."

"Of course, I have to go to Skinning Manor first..."

"I unexpectedly discovered the device the old man left there, so I lent him a hand. In that sense, I've done a good deed, right?"

"..."

"How can it not be counted?"

Han Su had to admit that returning the glasses and pocket watch to Lu Neng was indeed the right thing to do.

It can be put to better use than if it were kept in one's own hands.

"you……"

A fearful and desperate voice rang out, but it came from behind Lü Xiaoba.

It was a large chunk of flesh that Lü Xiaoba had just torn from the old count's body that was now wriggling and growing back to form the old count's face.

The wisp of spiritual power that had just attempted to escape failed, so it could only return to this part of his physical body and, with unusual activity, transform back into his body.

Normally, this would be an admirable ability, but at this moment, it became the vessel for the old count's utter despair.

However, while the container was shouting in disbelief, it also sensed something and looked up with a glimmer of hope. It felt that the gray-white cloud in the sky seemed a bit abnormal and it could hardly believe that it would have such good luck. Then, it saw the cloud fall rapidly and turn into a beautiful woman wearing a pink, long dress.

Elegant and noble, with a cool and aloof expression.

“Great-great-grandmother…”

The old count couldn't believe his luck; he had seen her arrive at his most desperate moment.

Doesn't that mean I still have a chance?
But before that desperate cry could even escape his lips, he saw the grandmother plummet to the ground, her cold eyes sweeping over him briefly.

As if it had locked onto a target, it quickly walked towards Han Su.

The old count roared, "Kill them..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lü Xiaoba kicked him in the mouth, sending the rest of his voice rolling out.

"Ok?"

Wei Lan also sensed something was wrong and immediately moved closer to Han Su, parachuting down. Lu Neng, who hadn't yet landed, was even more startled and cried out, "Baby, darling..."

Why are you disobeying me?

"..."

Before he could finish speaking, the old vampire had already swiftly arrived in front of Han Su, suddenly kneeling on one knee and performing an ancient ritual.

She spoke for the first time, her voice gentle, carrying a certain instinctive reverence:
"Arian pays homage to the great emperor..."

"..."

"Eh?"

This sudden change caught everyone off guard, from Han Su and Lu Neng to Wei Lan and Lü Xiaoba standing nearby.

Only the old count, after his expression became endlessly distorted, finally gave up all struggle.

Miss Arianne is too old, so old that all that remains are instincts, including hunting, eating, and reverence for the Emperor.

　I'm currently attending the Tianma Literature Award event at Langjiu Group. Yesterday, I took a three-hour flight to Chongqing and then a four-hour bus ride to the manor. I've been on the road all day, so I can only squeeze in some time to write. I'll post one chapter first, and then see how much time I have to write more.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)