Deity Investigation Report

Chapter 291 Mysterious Buffet

"A wild heir? What the heck?"

Hou Zhizhu thought he had misheard. His brain couldn't process so much information. He subconsciously didn't want to refuse Han Su's suggestion, but he also had an instinctive worry. Torn between his thoughts and his own, he could only ask blankly, "What if I get lost again?"

Han Su smiled and patted his shoulder: "You dared to lose your way, but I will awaken you again."

This is the path he is most familiar with in his life, the path he has traversed step by step, but he has to admit that it has been very difficult.

Constantly under the scrutiny of all sorts of eyes, from the comfort zone of reality to the disaster management bureau, and now to a celebrity investigator, it seems like I'm moving fast, but in reality, every step I take is being watched by others, which makes it almost impossible for me to do anything with a sense of security.

But the appearance of these bronze inscription believers gave him an opportunity.

Just like those big shots at the top of the Disaster Management Bureau, who can turn troublemakers like Zhang Chiguo into puppets they can control by diverting their attention, why can't I do the same and divert their attention to achieve my goals?

It was with this in mind that he developed a strong interest in the matter.

They immediately used this limited time to obtain as much information as possible about the Tongwen believers from Hou Zhizhu.

Then, he smeared a drop of blood from the white corpse inside the box onto Hou Zhizhu's forehead, watching as this drop of dark red copper blood seeped into Hou Zhizhu's skin little by little, like a dark red eye, before slowly disappearing.

Through the perception ability of this drop of bronze blood, Han Su could even see himself opposite Hou Zhizhu.

"Haven't you already gained the trust of those bronze script believers because of your outstanding performance?"

While doing these things, Han Su carefully instructed: "Now your task is simpler, so continue to play your previous role and try to get involved in their deeper plans. Of course, continue to do what they ask you to do."

"..."

Hou Zhizhu, however, couldn't quite keep his composure upon hearing Han Su's praise: "Did I perform exceptionally well?"

Han Su comforted him: "Others at most infiltrate the enemy's ranks, but you've completely turned yourself into the enemy. Isn't that a good performance?"

Hou Zhizhu didn't quite react, but felt inexplicably a little proud.

Han Su then instructed the other party: "But now that your own will has been awakened, there may be high-level people on the other party who can perceive the changes in you, so I used this drop of copper blood to bless you."

"It comes from an experimental subject that has undergone multiple mysterious powers related to copper. Every drop has an extremely rich copper aura, which should help you keep it from the other party."

"When you get back, remember to be careful, find out as much as possible about all their plans, and then wait for my signal."

"Don't worry, once this is all done, I'll write you a thank-you letter as an independent investigator!"

"..."

Hou Zhizhu was lifted up and could only accept his fate, hypnotizing himself, "Well, this isn't so bad."

"Suddenly, a few more helpers appeared..."

"By the way, I remember there were several other people rescued with me. Where are they?"

"..."

You will see them.

Han Su whispered a warning: "But if you run into them before things are resolved, don't say hello."

"They haven't remembered what happened inside the castle yet!"

"..."

"..."

Having made these arrangements, Han Su picked up his suitcase, turned around, and walked out the door.

Inside that tin-roofed shack, Hou Zhizhu got up, looked around, found a sturdy spot, gritted his teeth, and rammed his head into the sharp-angled iron pillar above. Blood immediately streamed down his face, and he quickly fired a few more shots haphazardly.

Then, clutching his forehead, he rushed out the door yelling, "Help! Someone's broken in! Are you all blind?"

"Quickly, take me to see the High Priest!"

"..."

"This guy is pretty honest and straightforward in both his personal life and his work..."

Han Su could sense what Hou Zhizhu was doing through that drop of blood, and he couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed.

With so many arrangements already made, he really didn't need to bang his head against the iron pillar...

With such a good acting skill, no wonder she could infiltrate the enemy so easily!
However, after carefully considering the confidential information Hou Zhizhu had given him about these copper believers, he began to feel increasingly curious:

These lunatics who believe in the Bronze Civilization are clearly a mysterious organization with a very long history and a huge number of believers. Now their strength is extremely exaggerated, but why did they not leave any trace in the previous Qinggang City Annihilation War?

What is going wrong?
While thinking, he quickly returned to the place where he had agreed to meet the Doctor and Black Tiger, and was immediately met with a surprising scene:

Both the Doctor and Black Tiger had already raised their hands in surrender to each other.

They were squatting by the roadside, exchanging cigarettes and lighting them with the three security personnel guarding them.

After all, they were all from Qinggang, each serving their own master, so there was no deep-seated hatred between them.

Han Su easily dodged past, instantly knocking out the three security guards. He then looked at the Doctor and Black Tiger with a somewhat surprised expression.

"How did you get caught?"

"To surrender voluntarily in order to reduce the risk of casualties during the firefight."

The professor said, "Didn't you say we didn't need to worry about anything and just wait for you to come back and solve the problem?"

With a somewhat surprised expression, he said, "You mean solving the problem by coming back to save us? How is that any different from before?"

"Things have changed..."

Han Su was also somewhat helpless and couldn't explain it for the time being.

"beep--"

During the brief conversation, alarms began to sound in the distant mountains and along the roads.

Blinding searchlights swept back and forth through the forests on both sides, and helicopters could even be seen in the sky.

Hou Zhizhu just issued an alarm about the attack, so security forces have been fully mobilized. Not only will the mountain road leading to Bailashan Town be blocked, but Tongwen believers in various places are probably already active in the shadows.

"We can't get into town directly, let's abandon the car and leave!"

The six-barreled revolver had been removed from their jeep, leaving only the empty shell, so they didn't take it with them.

The doctor and Black Tiger removed the guns and bulletproof vests from the three security personnel, one set for each of them, and then walked into the forest.

By this time, it was completely dark, and the surroundings began to descend into chaos.

You can sense that more and more security personnel are gathering in the area, and the whole forest is becoming increasingly eerie.

As they trudged through the forest, eerie metallic clanging sounds echoed in their ears, sometimes near, sometimes far, sometimes sparse, sometimes dense.

Security personnel only block off the mountain roads, but the dense, impenetrable forests on both sides are the domain of the mysterious believers.

Undoubtedly, with security personnel blocking the mountain roads and issuing alarms, these believers became more active.

Han Su and his companions had been walking in the forest for a short while when they heard mysterious chanting coming from ahead.

They slowed their pace and saw that in the clearing ahead, someone was carrying a strange statue made of scrap metal and metal objects such as car doors, slowly moving through the woods.

With each step, the metal on the statue pressed against each other, producing a strange and long sound.

The two headlights embedded in the statue's chest emitted an eerie red glow in the darkness.

"Those who listen to the gold..."

Han Su could feel the eerie metallic clanging sound, as if it were alive, drilling straight into one's mind.

It's as if it possesses the ability to drill into the brain, forcibly distort something, and overwhelm one's own will.

Based on the information Hou Zhizhu had given him, Han Su had gained a preliminary understanding of the contaminated population in this region.

These people are now considered believers in the spirit of machinery in a broad sense.

In the eyes of the Copper Script believers, these people belong to the Listeners of Gold, while those who carry scrap iron at the gathering point belong to the Iron Bearers.

Those who carry iron, those who listen to metal, those who eat weapons, and those who worship bronze.

These four titles, to some extent, represent promotions or degrees of distortion within the mysterious organization.

The "Iron Bearers" refer to these people who have begun to unconsciously be influenced by the power of the bronze inscriptions, and have begun to abide by the rule of carrying iron objects on their bodies. Their will has begun to become chaotic, but they have not yet come into contact with the mysterious power.

After carrying iron objects for a long time, one begins to hear mysterious languages ​​from the metallic vibrations.

This is what you call a "listener of gold."

Experienced gold listeners can now use coded incantations, officially entering the mystical realm.

Above that, there are the Machine Eaters, who have already begun to be influenced by mysterious forces. Not only are their wills being modified, but their bodies are also undergoing mutations. They begin to eat these strange metals and machines, making them a part of themselves.

This already involves metal alteration of the physical body, which is equivalent to the investigator's "theft" principle.

The [Mechanical Ghost] among the three major sequences of Qinggang is intricately related to this.

The highest-ranking "copper worshippers" are the true core believers, loyal worshippers of the copper civilization.

It is said that once this stage is reached, every believer in the Bronze Civilization will become a mechanical genius, naturally drawn to machines, and will receive mechanical knowledge from the Bronze Civilization through meditation.

Through these repeated infusions, their divine essence grows stronger and even splits. With each split, their level is elevated until they are completely distinguishable from humans. "According to Hou Zhizhu, the mechanical Buddha High Priest who led this team is already a master of three-stage gold cell splitting. Among the bronze script believers he has gathered, there may be even more powerful ones, far surpassing me in level..."

"So, what exactly are the advantages and uses of my Will of Bronze?"

"..."

Upon hearing that eerie metallic sound, Han Su stopped, pondering the question in his mind, and silently recited an incantation:
I command you to manifest in the light.

【…】

The zero-sequence ciphertext spell number 05 forcibly attracts pollution towards itself.

The people carrying the metal statues around are the Listeners of Metal, and the sound of these metals colliding is itself a polluting phenomenon, belonging to the category of mysterious forces.

If Han Su does nothing, he, the Doctor, and Black Tiger will all be subtly corrupted by this voice, their mental activity gradually suppressed and worn down, and their will eventually be completely distorted.

This is also why believers in the Bronze Script are so confident.

However, when Han Su recited number 05, he drew these pollutants towards himself and then devoured them through the Emperor's Book.

In this way, not only can the doctor and the black tiger be protected, but their own divine matter can also be strengthened.

In his previous life storyline in the Great Horned City, his divine essence had already split due to its excessive power.

However, back on the current timeline, the splitting process continues, but the gold cells have been depleted.

This is probably understandable. On the Giant Horn City timeline, he relied on the Abundance Potion in the Giant Horn City Secret Prison to exchange for so much energy and achieve the split. On this life timeline, without experiencing the exchange of Abundance Potion, he appears depleted and weak.

The solution is simple: a single massive exchange is all it takes to replenish the reserves.

The mysterious pollution that now covers the entire Baila Mountain area presents a good opportunity for me to recover.

He didn't even show himself; he simply carried a black briefcase, stood behind the trees, and watched the people carrying the idols pass by. He then channeled endless pollution into his body, which, through the transformation of the Book of the Emperor, fed back even more power to him.

They continued walking and encountered waves of Gold Listeners carrying statues of gods, and Machine Eaters kneeling under a large black tree.

They struggled to open their mouths, swallowing pieces of scrap metal with difficulty. Their throats and bellies were slashed open by sharp metal objects, yet they were still covered in blood, chanting some kind of eerie incantation with an extraordinary quality.

Wherever he went, intense pollution surged toward him like a tidal wave, only to be swallowed up by the Emperor's Book.

Unfortunately, this pollution requires feedback to be perceived by the Copper Script believers, much like sonar. By going back and forth, the detected anomalies can be fed back. Han Su's relentless absorption has caused large holes to appear in this mountain forest.

Countless believers carried the statue for a long time before suddenly realizing that the statue had lost its mysterious resonance.

It really turned into a pile of scrap metal.

Some machine-eating creatures, after struggling to swallow the last screw, suddenly found themselves unable to adapt.

"Oh no, oh no, has God abandoned us?"

If it were just one or two anomalies, these believers could remain calm, since the process of coming into contact with mysterious forces is inherently extremely dangerous. However, as similar incidents occurred one after another, they triggered widespread panic.

Countless believers rushed about, seeking out higher-level figures to inquire. They had come out to seal off the mountain and search for someone, but now they felt as if they had encountered a ghost.

"It's practically a buffet on a mysterious level..."

As an invisible panic spread among the believers of the Bronze Script, Han Su's own strength had already recovered rapidly.

He not only began to recover to his peak condition from when he was in Giant Horn City, but he was even beginning to take another step forward. Of course, since he had not yet officially entered the White Wax Mountain region, his strength could only make slight progress and he was still far from reaching the level of a second split.

"Crash..."

During this theft, the illusory sound of the Emperor's Book turning pages never ceased in my ears.

This was the first time Han Su had ever felt this way. In the past, he would capture some power to exchange information with the Book of the Emperor, but this time, he was being continuously infused with mysterious power, and receiving a constant stream of knowledge in return.

Countless images flashed through his mind. He seemed to hear endless chanting, the wails of mechanical demons, and see an indescribably vast panorama.

That is what the believers in the Bronze Script worship, a record of a vast civilization that once appeared in history, and endless knowledge.

"Is this the history of the bronze civilization?"

Han Su only caught a glimpse of it, and his heart was filled with shock and awe: "Or is it the Bible of the Copper Script believers?"

I vaguely felt that I had found the true use of the Emperor's Book.

……

……

"High Priest, we're in trouble!"

In the town of Bailashan, on a dilapidated square amidst low-rise buildings, a mechanical Buddha statue, seven or eight meters tall, is placed in the very center of the square.

From its initial height of less than two meters when it first arrived in this region, and with the continuous addition of new iron objects, the mechanical Buddha has grown in height, now being three or four times taller than before.

An old man, dressed in a tattered black robe with large patches of rust on his body, sat cross-legged facing the mechanical Buddha. Around the square, in several directions, rows of bronze armored statues stood silently with their heads bowed, creating an invisible sense of oppression.

When the security personnel rushed over to report, everyone looked up: "The investigators from Qinggang have escaped our security personnel's pursuit. We've confirmed there are only three of them, but it's troublesome."

"They entered the forest area and, using some unknown method, cursed our followers, resulting in the casualties of dozens of Iron Totem soldiers and a large number of Weapon Eaters..."

Faced with his report, some people in the room frowned, while others had gloomy looks.

Some people even glanced coldly at Hou Zhizhu, who was standing guard on the other side, showing great dissatisfaction with the person in charge of security.

Amidst a faint commotion, the old man sitting cross-legged facing the mechanical Buddha slowly spoke: "The Bronze Offering Ceremony is about to begin. We have summoned priests and believers from all over the world to come here."

"Now, it is more important to select those favored by God to listen to God's voice and download the method for building the gate between reality and illusion. Let these children first ask the gods for their opinion..."

Upon hearing this, several people who were standing with their hands at their sides raised their heads slightly and then slowly stepped forward. One of them was Hou Zhizhu, and the others were important figures in power in the Baila Mountain region who had been corrupted and subdued by the Tongwen believers.

Most of these people were excited to have the opportunity to meet the Mechanical Buddha, but Hou Zhizhu was a little flustered. He hadn't expected to meet the Mechanical Buddha as soon as he returned.

He was still confident he could put on a show for the priest, but the statue was truly eerie. He used to be oblivious and felt nothing, but now even a glance at it made him feel as if all his thoughts were being pierced through.

However, seeing that the people in front of him had already worshipped the mechanical Buddha without any problems, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward. He didn't even dare to look directly at the mechanical statue. He just stiffly and woodenly bowed once, and then hurriedly wanted to retreat.

But to his surprise, the mechanical Buddha, which showed no abnormalities after others worshipped it, suddenly emitted a series of metallic vibrations after he worshipped it, as if the metal frame that made up the statue had exceeded its capacity.

Immediately afterwards, the voice transformed into a highly active and eerie sound, and even his brow seemed to emit a strange vibration.

The two sides echoed each other from afar and gradually merged into one.

"Ok?"

This commotion caused the priests and elders who were sitting quietly all to sit up straight immediately.

Listening to the voice of God is a very important thing, it has a divine meaning, and it also represents a rise in status within the church, but it is also very dangerous, which is why they want to select people from this town of Bailashan.

However, the people absorbed into the Baila Mountain area are all different. Some voluntarily joined the religion and accepted the faith, while others were simply hypnotized and their will was forcibly distorted.

This security captain is one example; in fact, because he's been so distorted, he's somewhat disliked.

But now, the mechanical Buddha doesn't respond to those who voluntarily join the religion and are devout, but instead picks on him.

What, does God like fools?

"God loves simple people..."

At this moment, the priest facing the mechanical Buddha showed a slight surprise, then looked at Hou Zhizhu with a gentle expression, and waved to him with a smile: "Child, you are the most devout, and the gods trust you."

"In that case, you shall listen to the voice of God directly, shall you?"

"..."

Hou Zhizhu trembled, but to others, it was clearly excitement that made him shake.

But just as Hou Zhizhu stepped forward, an elder beside him spoke softly: "However, if the person in charge of security is to download the information, then who should be sent to deal with the investigators who have infiltrated the forest?"

"Perhaps I can help!"

Upon hearing the voice, everyone turned around and saw a woman in an elegant suit walking briskly towards them.

Her expression was cold, carrying a mocking tone towards everything.

Arrogant, aloof, and without any attempt to conceal it.

When the priest saw her, he immediately bowed and said, "Miss An, you've arrived."

The woman referred to as Miss An said coldly, "I had already notified you that Qinggang had sent someone, but I didn't expect him to still manage to sneak in."

"However, this is our territory. I can take care of him. But, given all the conveniences I've provided you, shouldn't you hand over the mechanical legion you promised me a little earlier?"

"..."

Her appearance caused a moment of deathly silence; for a moment, no one spoke.

Only through Hou Zhizhu's inner eye could he see Han Su in the arena, and upon seeing this person's eyes, his heart flashed with a sudden light:

"It's her?"

"..."

Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind, and I understood the cause and effect of the strange appearance of the bronze-script believer on this life's path.

(End of this chapter)