Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 324, Section 71: The Merciful Crystal

The illusion collapsed into blocks, pulling Oshima's consciousness back to reality.

Fragments of history have completely vanished, and what remains before one's eyes is still the flesh and blood tree, made up of the blood and flesh of countless pets, and on the tree, the indistinguishable features of the Ripper.

Oshima didn't have time to analyze the information hidden in the illusion; he began to gather his strength.

The Ripper seemed quite surprised, as if he wanted to ask something, and even the cats and dogs around him stopped attacking him.

"You just—uh ahh!"

As soon as the tree trunk opened its mouth and uttered a few words, the island in front of it was enveloped in golden light, its air currents surged, and its right fist, wrapped in brilliant power of gratitude, slammed into the fleshy tree trunk in front of it without any fancy moves!
Bang!

A dull, wet, loud bang exploded.

Oshima's fist pierced directly into the tree trunk, which was forcibly fused together with bones, flesh, and fur.

His power of gratitude still had a restraining effect; the tree trunk exploded open with a huge hole, and thick, blackish-red sap mixed with bits of bone and flesh splattered everywhere. The part where the arm had penetrated liquefied violently as if corroded by strong acid, turning into bloody water and bubbling.

"What kind of emotion is this?! It's disgusting!"

The features that were originally on the tree were shattered, but they were instantly reassembled on the trunk above. He let out a painful howl, the branches trembled, and the pet's head hanging there shook, showing the same painful expression.

However, to Oshima's surprise, the Ripper seemed less concerned with the excruciating pain and more interested in other things:

"What did you just take out?!"

"Mercy Crystal, yes, that's definitely Mercy Crystal! Why... why do you have Mercy Crystal?! Answer me!"

No amount of intense pain could terrify him more than the sight of Oshima taking out the Mercy Crystal.

It seems this thing shouldn't have been in their hands at all.

Oshima was also quite shocked by Ripper's words.

How would he know about the Mercy Crystal? Isn't that a special item given to players by the game? How did he learn the name of this item?
Oshima didn't know how to answer for a moment, but someone in the distance answered for him:
"Because—someone sent us to send you to hell!"

With a deafening roar of the motorcycle engine, Hayato drove his blazing chariot, savagely tearing through the still surging tide of pets from the side, and crashing headfirst into the trunk of the Tree of Flesh and Blood.

Even after he crashed into the tree trunk, the words he roared out had only just arrived at the same time.

The impact caused the giant trees, which had been partially hollowed out by the island, to tilt.

The tiger head on the front of the vehicle had eyes that shone brightly with crimson light, and scorching flames spewed out, instantly scorching the nearby tree trunks.

Almost simultaneously, as the dark clouds in the sky gathered, several invisible hands suddenly reached down, tightly gripping the twisted, swaying branches and snapping them off. They also swept across the frenzied pets around them, preventing them from getting close to other players.

Severed limbs and filthy blood fell like a torrential rain.

Takii's figure appeared silently beside the tree trunk opposite Hayato, like a ghost. With a flash of his sword, Dankamaru, he swiftly plunged the blade deep into the tree.

Using the properties of the Fire-Breaking Pill as a starting point, she guided the intense flames spewed out by Hayato's motorcycle, making it seem as if it had come to life, frantically penetrating along the blade into the tree trunk and rapidly spreading throughout, forming a fire tornado inside the tree.

The flesh tree, originally a mix of red and black, was now filled and illuminated by a raging torrent of orange-red flames, transforming into a lava tree that was being ignited from within.

Nobita arrived from the last gap on his unicorn, wielding the Hero's Sword. The sword and the unicorn's horn both shone brightly, their natural power to subdue evil combined as they pierced the burning tree trunk.

Viewed from above, this tree of flesh and blood, caught in the crossfire, forms a symmetrical cross shape.

"Fine, whatever, how did you obtain the Mercy Crystal? So what!"

The Ripper's slightly weary voice rumbled from deep within the burning tree trunk, filled with resentment and disdain: "Mercy can never save this damned world, nor can it ever erase the hatred of all living beings!"

"Debts owed must be repaid!"

His words gradually rose in intensity, and as his last sentence fell, the entire tree of flesh and blood suddenly erupted in a final burst of light.

The branches that had just been cut off and burned regenerated wildly like copies, and their speed even suppressed the destruction of Iwasaki's invisible hand. Often, as soon as the invisible hand broke off three branches, ten new branches would sprout out.

The weapons, such as the Fire-Breaking Pill and the Hero's Sword, which were deeply embedded in the tree trunk, began to shake violently and emit a warning hum. The holy flame on the unicorn was being pushed back and eroded by the continuous force of filth and resentment.

The last wave of pets swooped down on the tree trunk, piling up at an alarming speed.

Crack! Rumble!
The ground beneath their feet began to tremble and crack violently, the soil seemed to boil, as if some enormous creature was about to burst forth from the earth.

Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha!
The next moment, dozens of roots extending from the giant tree tore through the earth, quickly wrapping around the players' ankles and calves, and continuing to spread upwards, attempting to bind them completely.

"go!"

Nobi glanced at the less than half-minute countdown to the ritual in the player system, made a decisive move, shouted, drew the Hero's Sword, and cleanly severed the entangled roots.

The others did not hesitate either. They immediately unleashed their power to break free from their restraints, retrieved their weapons, and retreated rapidly to create a safe distance from the tree of flesh and blood.

Oshima didn't keep up; his time was up long ago. He canceled the renewal and his figure dissipated in the spot.

The tree of flesh and blood seemed to be chasing them, frantically regenerating branches and growing violently, casting shadows that almost enveloped them.

After the gap widened to nearly a hundred meters, the giant tree's terrifying rate of expansion seemed to reach its limit and slowly came to a stop.

The three of them stopped and looked back at the same time.

The giant tree, now tens of meters tall, stood silently in the same spot.

Its countless branches no longer waved haphazardly, but intertwined and coiled densely, eventually forming a huge lung that was clearly visible and rhythmically expanding and contracting on both sides of what could barely be called a canopy.

A giant lung that is breathing.

"First the head, then the lungs, so the ultimate goal of this ritual is to create a... super giant?" Nobita patted the uneasy unicorn's head and handed it a bottle of holy spring water.

The unicorn nodded in satisfaction, made two soft whistling sounds, indicating that it could attend for free next time, and then, carrying the holy spring water in its beak, vanished into thin air.

"Oh, so I have to assemble it myself after all that?" Hayato has a big heart, though.

The dark clouds above dissipated, and a cloud of black mist landed, coalescing into the image of Iwasaki in his black robe.

The countdown for this round of the ceremony has ended in the players' view.

The third round of the ceremony has been completed and is currently being evaluated.

[Ceremony Completion Rate: 50%]

Overall rating: Average

[Fourth round of ceremony countdown: 48:00:00]

"Even if the completion of the ceremony is kept low, it doesn't seem to change much in terms of performance." Taki carefully examined the giant lung that rhythmically expanded and contracted for a while, but didn't see any defects on it.

The same applies to the brain in the British Museum; even if only 30% of the ceremony was ultimately completed, the scale was still terrifying.

Unless, like the second round of the ceremony, it is directly extinguished by a rain of God, thus eliminating the possibility of the ceremony continuing from its very source.

This also left them unaware of where the second round of the ritual was originally supposed to take place, or which organ it corresponded to.

"If the next one is also an internal organ, then health most likely corresponds to the liver." Nobita stroked his chin, touching his helmet.

Overworking yourself to the point of exhaustion, any unhealthy lifestyle will damage your liver first. But none of that matters now, because the ripper has become smarter, choosing to unleash its power only in the last few hours.

If they hadn't found the zoo through the clue of freedom, which made him realize the risks and that gathering pets would take time, the ceremony might have been delayed until the very last moment.

But does "health" refer to hospitals or nursing homes?

When it comes to health, most people probably think of these two things first.

"The moon is activating the Whitechapel node. See you in the player lobby in half an hour."

Iwasaki had already tried to attack the lung tree that had completed the ritual, but the result was similar to that of the brain—it couldn't cause any damage. Now, he didn't intend to waste his energy and chose to leave directly.

"Then let's organize and summarize the clues first. Hopefully, Shima and Tsuki can bring us good news." Nobita glanced at Lung Tree, sighed helplessly inside his helmet, and got into Hayato's car, asking him for a ride.

Whitechapel.

Uesugi, Ethan, and Ikeda, who had been absent for a long time in the previous rounds of ceremonies, stood together at the key point.

Ikeda used the method of possessing a paper doll to get to London, and the image he created was a slightly thin little boy.

"Take out the Mercy Crystal, and you'll know how to activate the ability." This time, the opportunity to activate the node was given to Ikeda.

He did not hesitate and, as they instructed, took out the crystal and activated it.

The nodes appeared as always, which was reassuring.

Only these nodes can provide players with a guaranteed clue time and time again.

When Ikeda touched it, the screen rippled.

Allen dragged his heavy steps back to the church. The pastor stood expressionless beside the altar, showing neither disgust nor anger.

They just stared at him coldly.

"Cross, finish your last job for today. Don't make me worry about your wages. You know I don't want to be known as a mean-spirited person."

Allen's mouth moved, and he finally nodded weakly.

Having roughly understood what had happened, Ikeda, upon hearing this conversation, roughly realized that Allen had ultimately been fired by Whitechapel.

In subsequent ceremonies, will the Whitechapel still be a fixed activation point?
In the empty church, Alan was cleaning alone, and hunger forced him to stop and rest from time to time.

At such times, he would take out the piece of black bread given to him by the "angel" from his pocket, not eat it, but just hold it to his nose and take a deep breath, as if he could smell the lingering fragrance of the angel in the faint, sour wheat aroma.

With just one inhale, as if he had taken some kind of injection, he could quickly regain his energy and his hunger would subside.

"I still want to know, are you my illusion, or a real voice?"

After a long while, he finally finished tidying up the church, his gaze falling on the altar, and he said blankly, as if talking to himself.

Finally, Allen, who was about to say goodbye to Whitechapel for good the next day, looked around nervously, held his breath, slowed his pace, and quietly walked to the altar.

After confirming there were no footsteps, he glanced at the Christ statue, pursed his lips, whispered a apology, and then pressed his ear to the altar, moving it little by little like a doctor listening to a patient's heart.

This continued for more than ten minutes before finally stopping.

"Is this...the place?" he murmured.

Looking at the small knife he had prepared in his hand, he gritted his teeth and began to pry it open.

He vaguely remembered that on his first day there, the pastor had mentioned how ancient the church was, especially the altar, which had witnessed the rise and fall of dynasties and the life and death of famous figures.

I was filled with awe for it back then, but now, that awe is worthless.

I've prayed to God for so long, but my life hasn't improved in the slightest.

He had heard many of the pastor's words to the believers, and he had once been inspired by those words.

"Yes, God didn't give you bread or a bed today. If I insist that this is a blessing, I'm just rubbing salt into your wounds."

“God is not an employer, but a companion who walks with me. Walking with me means that I can still hear His footsteps in the darkness, rather than seeing the dawn immediately. But just hearing His footsteps is enough to keep me going.”

The pastor, as he spoke these words, had a kind expression, as if he were being blessed by light.

But comfort is just comfort; sometimes, even if you face life positively, things still don't improve.

After all, no matter how much a rotting corpse moves, it can only produce maggots.

Allen vaguely recalled these messy things, and after trying to pry with the knife in his hand for a long time, he still didn't make much progress.

He lost his temper and, in a fit of rage, found a rock to step on, wrapped it in his clothes, and smashed it down hard.

One, two!
The altar shattered.

He was panting heavily, and his vision was blurry.

At the small opening, something seemed to be glowing, a light that only he could see.

He slipped his thin hand inside, and it fit perfectly, as if it were destined.

He grasped one end and took out the thing that was hidden inside.

By the dim light of the oil lamp, he could see that it was a strip-shaped object wrapped in fine leather.

There appears to be a line of Latin text embroidered on it.

He knew some Latin, mainly in the medical field, yet he miraculously understood the contents of this line.

Love is patient, love is kind.

He was startled.

Then, he peeled back the leather, revealing an ancient-looking dagger. Inside, he could sense a magical power.

"Mercy. Mercy Crystal?"

But he doesn't seem to be able to use it.

He could only temporarily put away his dagger, and then, looking at the completely irreparable altar, his body belatedly began to tremble.

He was able to work at Whitechapel because of his late father's dying wish—which naturally included money. His father had once been a respectable man, which allowed him to work at Whitechapel even though the pastor disliked him.

现在
The crime of vandalizing the altar was too great for his thin shoulders to bear.

He took a trembling deep breath, clutched the bread and dagger in his arms, and quietly left Whitechapel through a broken window he knew of.

"What exactly is this thing? Where can I go next?"

The image faded away as he muttered to himself.

(End of this chapter)