Survival on the Internet: A Bizarre Start at Sea

Electrox pointed to the increasingly chaotic altar around him: "Lord Cthulhu, let's clean up this mess first."

"Having lost control of the Dream Realm, how are you going to make the Atlanteans obediently cooperate with the Ritual of the Sea and Moon? By suppressing them with violence? Hahahaha..."

After he finished speaking, his body began to blur, as if it were about to merge into the twisted and bizarre power around him.

"Trying to leave?"

Cthulhu raised his hand, and rainbow-colored star threads coiled towards Elias.

However, just as the Star Silk was about to touch it, the entire Atlantis—no, the entire Great Echoing Rift—experienced an unprecedented and violent tremor!

"boom--!!!"

The sound came from a great distance, yet it shook the foundation of the altar, causing the seawater in the moon well to surge wildly.

Immediately afterwards, a roar filled with madness and violence pierced through layers of spatial barriers, exploding directly in everyone's minds:

"Cthulhu!!!"

Su Zhisu had heard that voice once before, when he had just arrived in Atlantis—Lilia had brought him along Dean Dagon, whom he had met before!

But at this moment, Dagon's voice was devoid of any emotion, filled only with pure malice and madness.

"Even Dagon has been corrupted..."

Hydra's face turned deathly pale. "How is this possible? It has guarded the rift for so many years; it should have extremely strong resistance to strange forces!"

"unless……"

Lilia said in a trembling voice, "I'm afraid Dean Dagon... accepted it willingly?!"

Elias's figure was about to disappear completely in the distorted light, his voice echoing in the air: "Enjoy this 'gift'. That lord is eagerly anticipating... the moment Atlantis collapses."

Cthulhu's anger suddenly subsided. Instead of pursuing, she said, "Do it, Kyle Crane."

A figure, as ghostly as a ghost, emerged from the surrounding water!

It was Kyle Crane, the former chief alchemist of the Hydeland Mission, who showed no signs of weakness at this moment.

His eyes burst forth with a blinding silver light, his right hand joined together like a sword, and a wisp of pure, silvery-white light swirled around his fingertips—this was a strike he had secretly gathered to the limit!

This attack was straightforward and precise, aimed directly at Elias's wrist as he gripped the [Trojan Horse of Destiny]!

"What?!"

Elias was shocked and furious; he had not anticipated Kyle Crane's sneak attack at all.

The concentrated silvery-white light collided with the strange power surrounding Elias, producing a corrosive "sizzling" sound.

Kyle Crane groaned, his face turning deathly pale, clearly suffering a severe backlash.

But he succeeded!

The ceremonial dagger—the Wooden Horse of Destiny—was released from Elias's grasp by the force of the impact.

Cthulhu didn't even move; she simply waved her hand, and the [Wooden Horse of Fate], shrouded in emerald green energy, obediently fell into her fair palm.

She glanced down at the dreamlike markings swirling on the blade, then looked at Elias, whose figure had faded to ashes and whose face was filled with disbelief. A cold, mocking smile curled at the corner of her lips.

Her fingertips brushed across the blade, but she did not immediately retract the power stored within it; she simply held it casually in her hand.

For her, this was merely a power to project her body, temporarily stored in one place, which did not affect the overall situation. If she were distracted and tried to withdraw it now, it might give outsiders an opportunity to "surprise" her.

Elias vanished completely, leaving only a faint, eerie, crimson afterglow in the space.

Almost simultaneously, a slightly weak but exceptionally clear voice transmission from Kyle Crane echoed in Su Zhixu's mind:

[Your Excellency Su Zhisu, the situation has changed. The strange and powerful forces have launched a full-scale invasion, and Dagon has defected.]

At this moment, Atlantis is beset by enemies both inside and outside. The mysterious power is the common foe of all survivors in the world.

We are now, for the time being, allies with Lord Cthulhu.

The arrival of R'lyeh may be inevitable; only in this way can Atlantis withstand the corruption of strange forces and be preserved.

[Please be extremely careful during the upcoming ceremony, and please keep the teleportation array disc with you at all times.]

After the telepathic message ended, Su Zhisu looked at Kyle Crane, who nodded slightly and then retreated to the edge of the water.

He seemed to have never used his full strength, only his aura was even more weak.

Clearly, that attack came at a great cost.

Cthulhu withdrew his hand, looked in the direction from which the roar came, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

The chaos at the altar had reached its peak.

The residents, now deprived of the guidance of their dreams, panicked and began pushing, shoving, and fleeing, resulting in a stampede.

At this rate, the ceremony site will collapse before Dagon even gets there.

That's enough.

She uttered two words softly, then raised her hands and made a hugging motion.

The next moment, an invisible aura erupted from her center.

This aura was indescribable, carrying only vague whispers, and instantly swept through the entire lower level of the temple, then rushed out of the temple and spread to every corner of Atlantis.

Then, an amazing thing happened.

The people who were screaming and running away just a second ago suddenly froze.

Their expressions shifted from fear to bewilderment, and then from bewilderment to an eerie calm.

Finally, everyone slowly straightened up, and that standard, uniform smile reappeared on their faces.

Order has been restored.

No, it's not a restoration, but a deeper, more coercive "unification".

All the residents' movements became completely synchronized, their breathing frequencies were exactly the same, and even their blinking was simultaneous.

The judgment prompt from the comprehensive network also appeared in Su Zhixu and Lilia's minds:

[Network Notification]: A mental shock has been detected. The source of the shock is of an excessively high level. The difficulty of resisting it is 99.

Before the prompt had even faded, indescribable murmurs flooded into their consciousness like a tidal wave.

It was not any known language, but a chaotic sound woven from countless overlapping hisses, murmurs and frantic howls, as if a slippery, sticky foreign object was forcibly drilling into the skull, wriggling and multiplying in the folds of thought.

Lilia's face turned deathly pale instantly, and she let out a suppressed groan; Su Zhisu also felt his temples throbbing, and the scene before his eyes began to distort and become unreal.

Seeing the two clutching their heads in agony, Cthulhu simply waved his hand casually.

In an instant, the strange noises in my mind receded like a tide, as if they had never existed.

Only the difficulty level of 99 remained etched into their senses like a brand, reminding them of the terrifying, almost overwhelming, gap in status they had faced in that brief moment.

"What...what is this?" Lilia was horrified.

"Convergence".

Cthulhu lowered his hand, his voice returning to calm, as if nothing had happened.

"As long as one lives around a great being, or does things that involve the domain of the great being's authority, one will inevitably be influenced and grow closer and closer to the essence of that great being."

She turned to look at Su Zhixu and Lilia, her green pupils devoid of any emotion: "The theft of the Dream Authority has only deprived me of the ability to 'guide' them."

"But over the years, my very existence has been deeply imprinted in every corner of this city and in the soul of every resident."

"They are already my extensions, a part of me. Even without the connection of dreams, their tendency to conform will instinctively make them obey, instinctively... move closer to me."

"Lilia, lucky little girl, your father has protected you very well."

A chilling sensation instantly rose up Su Zhisu's spine.

This is even more terrifying than so-called dream "guidance"—dreams are at least external influences, while conformity is an irreversible change that occurs from within.

"Great beings...convergence..."

He thought of Nautilus, Hydra, Dagon...

And of course, there's the Queen of Hydeland...