Becoming a Shadow in the New World

"This is my token of identity as a teacher, Your Majesty. Just in case, a ship bound for Western Europe will depart tomorrow night. Once the ship arrives, show me this token and someone will escort you aboard. Pack your things, call your family, and leave this island as soon as possible."

Ha, you've shown your true colors, haven't you? I didn't expect you to not only swindle money but also traffic people. Aren't you afraid of scamming people with supernatural powers? Oh, I forgot you even dared to impersonate a church. Well, never mind then.

Never mind, that liar should die, die, die...

"Gulu."

Sid swallowed hard, his eyes fixed on the hand of the swindler who called himself Teacher An. He was holding a pure gold cross necklace. If it were just pure gold, he wouldn't be so concerned. More importantly, there was the church's anti-counterfeiting mark and a series of magical incantations on it. What did that mean?

This means that this is a church-certified cross necklace that has been lost to the world, making it a world-class collectible.

"It's me? No, don't joke around, how could it be? How could I possibly be 'the person blessed by God'?"

“Your Majesty, you certainly are, that is what the Lord told me.”

"I don't believe it. I've always been so ordinary since I was a child."

"No, you are not ordinary at all. You are a person blessed by God. You are a born son of God. You are a born saint. All you lack is self-confidence and proper guidance."

"(Sobbing) Really, (Sobbing) Really, really?"

"It is true, Your Majesty Sid."

"If this is true, will I ever be able to see you again?"

“I’m sorry, I need to complete my mission. I am honored to have met you in the last period of my life and to have guided a son of God toward the light. What an honor this is.”

"Thank you, thank you. You're the first person in my life to encourage me like this. For that alone, I believe in you."

"Sobbing, sobbing, wailing and whimpering..."

He used magic to beat the tear glands, causing them to produce tears. He spoke haltingly and with inaccurate pronunciation. Coupled with repetitive lines, he perfectly portrayed the tension and anxiety, giving a perfect performance of an extra who was deceived without realizing it.

Finally, he used the reason that he was looked down upon since childhood, which led to his inferiority complex, to explain why he believed him so easily. It was because his sister, who popped into his mind when he was lying, made his conscience hurt.

Oh, he's heartless. Never mind then.

Although Sid was looking down and shielding his eyes with his arm to look down on Rudolf's face, it was obvious that it was a face full of mockery as he looked at his foolish prey.

Sid smirked. "Heh, it's not certain who the hunter will be and who the prey will be."

Just as Sid was thinking this, a gaze swept over him, startling him so much that he immediately stopped smiling.

While closing her right eye and looking towards the source of her vision, she channeled her magic into the closed eye.

The previously vanished vision seemed to reappear in Sid's mind as if through a mirror. He saw a pair of pale blue eyes watching him, and the owner of the eyes seemed to have noticed his peeking and blinked.

...It seems like too much magic has been added, and the lens has been magnified.

Sid turned down the magic, and the image in his mind retracted a few steps, revealing a petite girl with long, ice-blue hair.

The girl possessed an extraordinary beauty, like a meticulously crafted porcelain piece, without the slightest flaw, with translucent and fair skin; she was an elfin, taciturn beauty.

Wow, are scammers this good these days?

First, there's a world-class collectible, and then there's a beautiful girl who specifically targets teenagers.

Most people, upon seeing a pure gold cross necklace, would probably believe they are "the son of God" or "a person blessed by God." If then a quiet, beautiful girl were to come along and give them such a shock, they would probably forget their own gender. If a real chuunibyou (delusional teenager) were here, he would probably be running off with you right now.

It's a pity I ran into him. It's not that he wouldn't be deceived, it's just that he has some unique information.

There are three beings in this world whose outcome he cannot be certain of. One of them, a crimson dragon, was someone he had met when the world first merged.

He hadn't seen the other two before, but one of them had a similar aura to the Crimson Dragon, so it should also be a dragon.

The last one, in his perception, was in a completely closed alternate dimension, like a recluse. He didn't even come out to see such a huge event as the merging of the world. However, the aura that leaked out was exactly the same as that of an angel, but even more noble. Therefore, the last one should be the "God" in the biblical pantheon.

So, the "god" never appeared, so where did the "blessed person" or "son of god" come from? He had never even seen the "god." He did have a few collections with extremely high "holy" attributes, but he didn't bring them with him.

There's no way around it, this is the absolute and invincible dominance of Shadow Intelligence in intelligence warfare, hahahahahahaha.

"What, Your Majesty Sid, are you interested in Astaluti?"

Oh no, because he got carried away and unconsciously made a move that resembled that of a pervert.

What should we do? Should we take action and defeat these two people now?

But then he would lose the church-certified pure gold magic cross necklace. Just thinking about how, after he defeats those two, the necklace will be confiscated by the guards, then recognized as embezzled by some high-ranking officials and sold off, and finally he would have to pay a huge sum to buy it back...

No! No! He cannot accept this future.

Use your brain, Sid, you can do it, Sid.

Chapter Eighteen: Changes in Demon Possession

"No! I am the 'Son of God,' how could I possibly do something like spying on girls?"

As expected of him, he perfectly portrayed a delusional teenager who was tricked into having lustful thoughts but stubbornly refused to admit it.

"Haha, no need to hide it, Your Majesty Sid. Although many Puritans still maintain abstinence, the Church has always advocated moderation in sexual activity."

"Eh?! Really?!"

How can you say such things to deceive people without being discovered and killed by the church?

“Of course it’s true, Your Majesty Sid. However, Astaluti cannot be given to you. She is an artificial otherworldly demon possessed by a life form, and she will sink to the bottom of the sea with me.”

Wow, this is getting more and more outrageous! Uncle, are you going through a phase of chuunibyou now? You've even started having artificial demon possession. By the way, is your criminal organization called the Diablo Order? No, wait, this version of the Order is even more powerful than it was a few months ago. Has the version been updated again?

Here's something interesting: the local specialty of the original World Three, "Demon Possession," appeared on women in other worlds after the worlds merged. The reason is unknown, and people in those worlds can only regard it as a curse, a conceptual curse bound to a world.

This shouldn't be a big deal, since "demonic possession" is just a bloodline disease. A solution can be found in a few months if we abandon basic human morality, and even if we maintain basic moral standards for no more than a few years, a solution can still be found.

The fact that Sid came up with a solution in a month, while others with teams would need several months, doesn't mean Sid was smarter than them.

In fact, Sid still feels that he was quite lucky. He came up with a solution in just one month because he figured out the way to deal with demon possession by sheer luck.

For example, if demon possession is a math problem, and the solution is the answer, then others would write out the equations and calculate each step in a methodical way to arrive at the answer.

He wrote a 1 directly after the answer, got it crossed out, rewrote it with a 2, and then it was correct.

If you asked him to list the steps, he would definitely get zero points, but unfortunately this isn't an exam, and he might pass on his first try if he's lucky.

After the world merges, and people in other worlds no longer view demon-possessed individuals with medieval perspectives, the merged medical technology should allow demon-possessed individuals to be saved and their grievances cleared quickly.

However, as we all know, things that are guaranteed to be without incident often turn out to be unexpected.

Initially, people felt sympathy for the demon-possessed patients and established a medical research institute. A few days later, the medical research institute exploded, and a spatial rift appeared on the ruins that led directly to the world battlefield. Afterwards, the world battlefield reported that an additional SSS-level, or Transcendent, member had emerged as a top-tier fighter in the other world.

This immediately deterred people from further research. After investigation by some forces, it was speculated that the demon possession originated from another world.

The other world is actually stronger than the three worlds combined, but it seems that for various reasons, certain conditions must be met before they can descend, and one of those conditions is complete demonic possession.

In the early stages of demonic possession, the effects are not obvious and may even significantly enhance magic and physical strength. In the middle stages, the body will begin to mutate and decay, but it will still retain self-awareness. Complete demonic possession occurs in the later stages, when the body becomes a writhing mass of flesh. After a few days or even minutes, a crack will appear, and the body will be transported to the world battlefield as the host for combat power from another world.

This scared the entire world so much that they banned research on demon possession. After all, failing to possess a demon once would directly lead to the late game, and if they failed dozens of times, they might as well just wait to die.

Incidentally, in order to accelerate the integration of the three worlds, and assuming that demon-possessed patients are incurable, the various forces tacitly smeared the other worlds, such as claiming that their worlds have been constantly invaded, and that most of the people who started wars in the history of each world were demon-possessed patients, but they were discovered, dealt with, and concealed. The official attitude towards such claims is neither to confirm nor deny, nor to refute them.

Let me share some exclusive information known only to Sid. During the world fusion, he sensed a massive object containing a vast amount of magical power being ground into powder by the collision between the worlds. When he arrived at the scene afterward, he found a huge underground crater that had been buried for at least several hundred years. Based on the residual flow at the scene, this crater likely contained the decaying flesh of a giant creature, and the terrain changes caused by the world fusion brought this crater back to light.

Therefore, he still maintains his view that demon possession is a bloodline disease, and his assessment of demon possession is that two magical worlds encountered a biochemical virus, and their expertise was mismatched and they were veiled in mystery.

"Uncle, is she...is she really possessed by a demon?"

A voice filled with disbelief and fear came from Sid's mouth.

"Yes, I know this is my sin. I need this power to drag this cursed land to the bottom of the sea, but to atone for my sins, I will let Astaludie sink to the bottom of the sea with me."

To be honest, Sid considered himself a severe case of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome), but now he felt that he might not be chuunibyou anymore; he just had a lot of teenage fantasies, while the person in front of him was the real chuunibyou.

"Hmm, hmm. Although I don't know why you did this, I believe you must have your reasons."

"Haha, I am honored to receive His Majesty Sid's approval."

That's enough, he's almost embarrassed to the point of digging out a three-bedroom apartment.

"Uncle, I know everything now. Although there are still some things I don't understand, I think I understand everything I should understand."

"Haha, as expected of the 'Son of God,' possessing divinely bestowed wisdom."

No, actually Sid didn't understand. He was completely baffled by the old man's chuunibyou (delusional) behavior, but to avoid being embarrassed to death if the conversation continued, he chose to lie and end the topic as soon as possible.

Sid casually made a few perfunctory remarks to the man in front of him—well… he seemed to be a con man suffering from a relapse of his chuunibyou (middle school syndrome)—and then, as if suddenly remembering something, he walked up to Astrotte and reached out to touch the pom-pom in her hand.

I pulled hard... but I couldn't pull it apart.

"Um... Miss Astallo, this cat in your hand is mine. Could you please let go of it?"

Astallo looked at Sid indifferently, her empty eyes reflecting Sid's face, before finally turning her head to look at Rudolf.

“Your Majesty Sid, you don’t need to treat Staluti like this. She is an artificial life form and has no emotions.”

Rudolf explained something to Sid, then looked at Astallo.

"Astarothie, grant His Majesty Sid the same level of authority as me. Now, carry out His Majesty Sid's orders."

"The order is accepted."

Faced with Rudolf's command, Astallo simply raised her head expressionlessly, as if trying to memorize every feature of Sid's face.

Sid ignored Astarothie's gaze. This time it was easy; with a gentle pull, Sid took the number 24 from Astarothie's hands.

After getting the cat, Sid stroked its fur as he walked towards its bed.

“Your Majesty Sid, I must now go to fulfill my duties and I cannot accompany you. Astaluti, you stay here and escort Your Majesty Sid home before you come to see me.”