Deity Investigation Report

Chapter 361 The Twelve Gods
Weightlessness, disorientation, everything around me disappears and then reassembles.

When Han Su suddenly opened his eyes, he saw crows circling and flying above the castle.

Before his memory could return, he jolted awake and quickly turned his head to look inside the school bus where he was. There he saw Xiao Bei with her head down, sleeping on the bus.

Beside him, Song Yushi, Bai Shixing, and Lan Huiguo, Meng Qingtong, and all the others who had entered the future due to the collapse of the castle, had all returned to the bus.

Sure enough, the previous life storyline was just the collapse of the castle, so they entered the future, not because they were rescued by themselves.

Therefore, they will return with themselves through the blinking.

Apart from……

...His gaze searched again, and Han Su looked slightly surprised, his hands and feet turning slightly cold, finally confirming the matter.

Li Manman!
Why isn't Li Manman on the bus?

Previously, only those rescued by him could escape the kidnapping case. Why did Li Manman also disappear in the kidnapping case?
His mind was filled with countless questions. He slowly turned around and watched the bus drive into the castle, and the old butler stand by the bus to welcome all the children off.

Upon entering the castle, my mind raced, quickly considering the logical connections within and what I should do this time. Last time, I had stolen Dr. Han's ritual in the castle, and the result was not ideal.

So what if I don't try to take it and just follow the ritual exactly as he said?
Based on his experiences on the previous life path, it wasn't hard for him to deduce that because he had seized the ceremony last time and only completed half of it, the emperor's consciousness awakened in him, causing chaos in the world, the Five Calamities, and the appearance of the Twelve Dukes.

If I hadn't taken it, would Dr. Han have gotten a complete Emperor's consciousness instead?

No, that's not all!
Perhaps the castle wouldn't have collapsed, and Miss Ai wouldn't have escaped!

The result was...

Han Su suddenly gasped: "Miss Ai, and the complete consciousness of the Emperor, will all fall into his hands?"

This result is depressing to think about.

What exactly does that madman want to do?
Was he really just a fanatical follower of the emperor?
But the emperor consciousness that had awakened within him was not close to him, and he himself did not seem to have any reverence for the emperor!
In addition, he mentioned the curse "Twenty-seven lives, all must be repaid with blood".

How does he know the spells on other lifelines? Just how much does this person know about blinking and other lifelines?
Too many questions left Han Su with no time to think about anything else, and he remained silent for a long time.

Inside the castle, everything was proceeding as usual: the most terrified children were killed, and then the monsters, as usual, selected their victims.

Most of the choices remained unchanged: Madam Meat Horn chose Song Yushi, Half-Doctor randomly chose a listless child, and Pig-Headed Butcher still chose Chao Xiaobei—no, it was Chao Xiaobei who chose him.

Then, Lan Huiguo was chosen by the worm monks. After that, the old steward selected six more people from the remaining group to send up to the monsters who hadn't come downstairs.

Han Su, who was deep in thought, suddenly snapped out of his reverie.

Why is no one here?
Looking at the little boy beside him, who had a runny nose and was staring at him, and the little girl who, although not very old, was wearing eyeshadow, knee-high black boots, and had her hair dyed in various colors, Han Su's expression was a little strange, and he didn't know what to say.

It was only at this point that he realized a problem.

Originally, there were twenty-seven kidnapped children. One was killed by the pig-headed monster, ten were rescued by the monster, twelve were chosen by the monster, and since Li Manman did not return, one more was chosen by the pale giant as a replacement.

And so, in the end, only...

three people?

Even the old butler showed a different expression. He sighed as he looked at the three children, shook his head slightly, and said, "Poor little fellows. I just hope those people are satisfied with the people they chose..."

"Tsk tsk, but I'm getting old, and I still need someone to serve the great emperor. Perhaps, you..."

His gaze swept back and forth, from the snotty-nosed child to the girl in the little black dress, and he gently patted their shoulders, saying, "Perhaps it's suitable!"

"?"

Even with important things on his mind, Han Su couldn't help but be distracted.

"So there are only three left, and you're still choosing those two instead of me?"

"..."

I had noticed before that I felt like I was being disliked, but now, it's not just dislike, it's more like discrimination, isn't it?
Fortunately, the old butler only sighed and eventually locked all three of them in the cellar, but now the cellar looks empty.

The slug was timid and dared not speak, while the girl in the little black dress seemed unable to speak, so the cellar was deathly silent, and they just sat there.

Han Su heard the phone ringing outside, but remained unmoved.

Now that we've figured out what that eccentric doctor is trying to do, there's no point in answering the call ourselves.

Not long after, Duke the Black Cat appeared in the cellar. Han Su hugged and petted it for a while, but it still didn't move. The girl in the black dress, however, seemed very interested in Duke, staring at it without blinking.

But the three children said nothing, and each sat in a corner of the cellar.

As night deepened, suddenly, the small door to the cellar moved slightly, and a sliver of candlelight shone in.

By candlelight, I saw a short figure standing at the entrance to the cellar, but his gaze was very steady.

The man in the tuxedo glanced at Xiao Bei among the three children, finally settling on Han Su's face, and said in a low voice, "This time, you didn't rush to act!"

Han Su sighed, slowly stood up, and gently moved his fingers to disturb the two children in the cellar, preventing them from making any noise due to the strange occurrence and causing unnecessary trouble. Then he looked at Chao Xiaobei:

"I'm waiting for you to come!"

Before returning to the castle, Chao Xiaobei took the initiative to find him and accepted the "awakening".

Upon returning this time, Han Su keenly noticed that Chao Xiaobei's behavior in many details was different from before.

Therefore, he had long suspected that he might also be in a state of sobriety.

The appearance of Chao Xiaobei now proves this point.

"So, you've looped this countless times, haven't you?"

Chao Xiaobei stood in the shadows at the small door of the cellar, and after a long while, she asked Han Su in a low voice.

Han Su took a step and walked up the stairs, wondering what Chao Xiaobei had remembered. He then replied, "Originally, there were twenty-seven people who were kidnapped and taken to the castle. Now, there are only fifteen left, or rather, sixteen?"

After some mental calculation, I decided to include the one who had died.

Then he looked up and sighed, "This is the only effective attempt I've made so far. Other attempts, I investigated this kidnapping case in the future to find the mastermind, and while I achieved some results, but..."

Her voice betrayed her disappointment: "...It's not ideal."

Upon entering the hall, he looked at Chao Xiaobei's side with some surprise. The hunchbacked man stood motionless, with strange blood vessels wrapped around his eyes.

So, this time when Chao Xiaobei returned, he actually still retained the power of the Crimson?
"Feel sorry!"

Chao Xiaobei and Han Su walked together into the living room and sat down at the monsters' dining table.

He looked thoughtful, his brows furrowed, and he gently tapped his head, saying, "This is the first time I've experienced something like this, and my mind is suddenly flooded with many memories."

"I can recall many things about you, but many memories of the castle are not clear enough..."

Seeing his troubled expression, Han Su immediately asked him the question he was curious about: "What exactly are you trying to remember?"

It had been discovered before that children rescued by the rescuers, after being "contaminated" by mechanical fragments, would remember their previous experience of being rescued from the castle. However, Chao Xiaobei and Li Manman were people who had never been rescued.

What they might remember is somewhat unpredictable.

Han Xiaobei paused slightly, looked up at Han Su, and said, "I remembered the times you walked through the ancient castle."

“I’ve remembered that we’ve been kidnapped many times in the castle, and I’m also aware that the number of children in the castle is decreasing, and the key to that is you.”

"You wandered through this ancient castle time and time again, escaping and trying to save people, only to fail. I remembered how you once teamed up with me, Li Manman, Song Yushi, Skinny Monkey, Iron-Headed Kid, and Pot Lid Head to steal the key..."

"We worked together the most and came closest to success before you changed your strategy."

"But in the end, most of them failed."

"all in all……"

He paused, then looked up at Han Su: "To me, you're like a thief. Every time you enter the castle, you start your operation, rescuing people. You've failed many times, taken many risks, and suffered countless injuries and hardships..."

He stopped talking, patted Han Su on the shoulder, and said softly, "You've worked hard!"

"Hoo..." Han Su did not respond to his words of comfort.

The main reason is that Chao Xiaobei clearly looks like a child at this moment, but his expression is serious and mature, which is too much of a contrast.

He finally managed to connect everything through Chao Xiaobei's answer.

Chao Xiaobei recalled the times he had escaped from the castle, and he figured Li Manman must have done the same.

Moreover, Li Manman once used her "pale" power to delve into her memories at the Zero City party, so she not only recalled an experience in the castle, but also knew many of her future experiences.

That is why she became the only person in the world who truly understood herself and knew everything she had done, whether meaningful or meaningless.

That's why her eyes were so sad when she looked at me, and that's why she was so resolute and determined when faced with a choice.

The proud and intelligent Chao Xiaobei before me, who only knows the memories of the castle, now shows a deep sense of self-acceptance in his attitude.

Let alone Li Manman?
This complex attitude brought with it complex emotions, but Han Su did not let these emotions affect him for too long.

He took a deep breath and said frankly to Chao Xiaobei, "The truth is as you think. I have tried many things and collected some information, but I still haven't found the most effective path."

"The only certainty is that this kidnapping was deliberately planned, and the person who tried to perform surgery on the world-destroying machine was Dr. Freak... who is my father."

"He kept trying to call me from inside the castle. He didn't know about us; he just wanted to use us to perform a mysterious ritual inside the castle. The last time he entered the castle, I hijacked his ritual, and then the castle collapsed..."

"..."

He recounted the mysterious phone call and his thoughts, then concluded, "This outcome is not good."

"So, the only thing I can think of right now is to join forces with you to rescue the children from the castle as much as possible."

“I tried many times before, but only managed to rescue ten.”

"If the two of us join forces, we might be able to rescue the rest quickly..."

"..."

"No!"

Unexpectedly, Chao Xiaobei suddenly looked up, stared intently at Han Su, and said, "This time, I suggest you don't save anyone."

"what?"

Han Su looked at him with some surprise.

Chao Xiaobei's expression was very solemn. He slowly said, "You are sorting out information, and so am I. Ever since we returned to the castle, I have been thinking about these things."

"Now I have a lot more information in my mind. Half of it was 'awakened' by you, and the other half is what I will personally experience in the future, as well as what I guessed after seeing Shou Shiren's surgery."

"Like you, I am also unable to make the most effective analysis of their purposes and plans, but..."

"..."

After a moment of silence, he spoke with absolute certainty: "One thing is certain: we must take control of the mysterious sequence!"

"Or to put it another way, we need to completely grasp the virtual and real palace, that is, this ancient castle."

"..."

Han Su realized something, looked at him intently, and asked, "What did you discover during your ten years as a survivor team?"

"The power of the nobility."

Chao Xiaobei took a deep breath and said, "We once fought against the wandering knights and the guardians of the world as angels under the Black Rose."

"Because of the authority we gained in the castle and the training we received from the World-Destroying Machines, we possess power unimaginable to ordinary superhumans. Neither the Wandering Knights nor the Guardians of the World could actually do anything to us, until we encountered the nobles..."

"Those nobles, especially those who have truly inherited the bloodline and title, are reluctant to make a move unless absolutely necessary, but the power they wield is unimaginable to ordinary people..."

"...They possess a power sequence similar to ours, even sharing the same origin!"

"These powers are the key to their suppression of the entire world, and the fundamental force that allows them to maintain their superior status!"

"..."

"Same origin?"

Han Su could understand his words; he had already discovered it at the party in Zero City.

Both "Hazard" and "E" are actually one of the twelve abnormal forces.

This matter is indeed worth discussing, but it also seems to be the way it should be. He had known all along that the theft of divine, or rather, supernatural, power had never stopped. As one of the twelve most powerful forces, those high-ranking nobles had no reason to let it go.

"For the mystical side, these powers are all forbidden, and outsiders cannot easily come into contact with them."

Chao Xiaobei slowly began to speak: "But those of us who came out of the collapsed castle possessed a power similar to theirs, or even purer than theirs. This was the advantage we had at that time."

"However, we were also constrained."

"That is the annihilation of self-awareness. We need to obtain the brain-strengthening injection to maintain the independence of our self-awareness, and we also need to obtain the Abyss Second-Order Equation, which is only available to nobles, to permanently maintain our self-independence. Only in this way can we prevent annihilation!"

"So, do you understand what I want to do now?"

"..."

Han Su looked at him with some surprise and slowly said, "So, you believe that the castle is the key to obtaining the power system to fight against them. However, to achieve your expectations, you still need to obtain the second-order equation of the Abyss to complete it?"

"Correct!"

Chao Xiaobei said, "I suspect that this kidnapping they planned is also a gamble for them. They have already planted something in this castle that can threaten them."

"Of course, they're not stupid either; they left behind the most crucial things to control us."

"However, if we can obtain the key knowledge they possess, those of us who remain in the castle..."

He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "They will be transformed into gods!"

"Gods who maintain their own will and possess transcendent authority can resist and even defeat them!"

"This is the key!"

"Pure force is the most crucial factor in determining the outcome of a war!"

"..."

Listening to his words, Han Su felt a bit tense.

The castle, which had always been used to deal with these children, has now become the key to the counterattack?
"There is hope of winning!"

Chao Xiaobei slowly stood up and extended his palm towards Han Su. Despite his youthful appearance, he exuded extreme confidence and said in a low voice, "By comparing the memories in my mind, I can roughly calculate the time when the old butler left the castle."

"He's coming back soon, and we need to make a decision quickly... I hope you can return to the future this time!"

“I know you have your own plans, hunting down nobles and finding those key mechanical fragments, so keep doing it.”

"But for me, it means obtaining the second level of the Abyss, or rather, the entire Abyss sequence of knowledge."

"If you can obtain these from the future, then I will return the twelve gods to you..."

"There's no reason for us not to win!"

"..."

Hearing his earnest words, Han Su reached out and slowly shook hands with him.

Only then did Chao Xiaobei sigh softly and say, "I never doubted Li Manman's choice; she is a reliable teammate."

"But since she has already entered the war, I only hope that we will do our best to win!"

(End of this chapter)