An infinite journey starting from paradise

Lin Shangren stretched.

"Huh... There's also the matter of Alfheim and that world, and this strange teleportation circle."

Lin Shangren rubbed the magic circles carved on the floor with his feet. One of them was used by the ancestors of the Tokita family to seal the Water God Pearl, and the other was a teleportation circle that was somewhat similar to the magic circle that summoned him to Alfheim.

"I don't understand... Let's wait until Xiao Ai wakes up."

Lin Shangren imprinted the pattern of the magic circle in his mind and prepared to continue looking for clues about the whereabouts of Odagiri Susumu and Tokita Wakaba, and then help Liuxing Longyi, and finally, in the name of Lin Sir, he took the Nogami sisters and wiped out this drug den in the name of the Investigation Division.

At this time...

[Ahhh, someone’s going to die!]

Fululu's voice suddenly exploded in Lin Shangren's mind.

"Why are you yelling so loudly? Stay calm. It's unfashionable to be so startled in our ecological niche. What's going on? Is Six-Star Long Yi going to take action again?" Lin Shangren asked.

[No, it was a half-man, half-spider creature that suddenly appeared from the church and started hacking at everyone it saw. I yelled at it and broke a few of its legs, but it's almost healed.]

While answering Lin Shangren, Fululu, in the form of amethyst bat, nimbly dodged the monster's sharp feet that were stabbing at her. However, Feng Jichun, who was not far behind Fululu, was in bad luck. His chest was pierced through and he was hung on the monster's blade-like legs. He was then thrown onto the cross on the wall and his bones were entangled with the Jesus hanging on it.

"Fuck, what's so great about having lots of long legs? Ouch!"

Flulu opened her mouth wide and unleashed another destructive sound. The high-frequency vibrations, compressed within the ring, struck the monster where its upper human female body met its lower spidery ventral limbs, easily crushing and ripping the connection.

The monster's upper body flew backward, only to be pulled back by the flesh and blood that stretched out from the broken body. It, along with its splattered internal organs, reunited with its lower body. The green, corrosive blood that followed it splattered all over the church, dissolving the walls, the white veil and bouquets adorning the surroundings, and the several corpses on the ground. The monster had suddenly emerged from the church's basement half a minute ago, instantly killing several villagers who were setting up the wedding scene inside the church, including Tokita Jusan.

The moment it appeared, Fululu launched a destructive sound at it. Although it broke several of its legs, it did not stop its killing steps.

[This familiar's body has limited energy. I can only shout a few more times at best. You'd better...]

"Now come over here and drop it for real."

The next moment, Lin Shangren appeared next to Fululu in the church.

"Come on, Aibo, let's show it our exciting combo skills."

Lin Shangren reached out to take out the ring and transform into Kamen Rider.

Although he could try to kill the monster instantly with his shadow, it was, after all, a spider monster, one that looked very similar to Spider-Woman from Kamen Rider Zo. Lin Shangren had already completed the standard Kamen Rider Bat Sacrifice in the simulated dream, and now it was time to complete the second stage of the Spider Sacrifice.

"learn!"

Fululu obviously understood Lin Shangren's intention, so she bit the base of Lin Shangren's right hand.

“I bite!!!”

"No, sister... Although you are indeed a bat, and your action is indeed related to Kamen Rider. But... is there a possibility that you are Phantom, not Kivat." Lin Shangren activated his Witch Rider Driver with some helplessness.

[DIVER ON]

"Ahh...I made a mistake. Sorry~"

"Let's get down to business. Transform!"

Lin Shangren's body, suspended in mid-air, passed through the purple magic circle, and then he punched the spider monster in a classic heroic landing posture.

Chapter 398 Thunder God Sword

"Justice from heaven!"

Lin Shangren punched the spider monster on the back with a heavy punch. His arm covered with amethyst armor pierced through its torso first, and then the explosive impact force crushed its entire body to the ground.

The spider monster's defenses weren't strong, and the impact on its upper body felt no different from that of an ordinary human. Under heavy blows, its dark green blood, along with fragments of its internal organs, splattered, staining Lin Shangren's armor with a sizzling sound and white smoke rising. The spider monster's blood was extremely corrosive and volatile, like a walking gas tank.

However, this level of corrosiveness couldn't damage Lin Shangren's armor at all. Lin Shangren controlled the shadow to wipe away the dirt on the surface of the armor, and then he pulled out the arm that had penetrated Spider-Woman's torso, pulling out her spine and part of her ribs.

Despite being seriously injured, Spider-Woman did not die. Although her upper body slumped down, the flesh and blood attached to her ribs and spine seemed to be alive, wriggling towards her boneless torso. The huge wound on her torso also kept wriggling out flesh buds that stretched towards the spine like tentacles, trying to snatch it back from Lin Shangren's hands.

The spider-like lower half of its body was also struggling desperately, with its eight sharp legs trying hard to break free from the shadow beneath it.

"Stop struggling, you can't escape."

As soon as Lin Shangren finished speaking, the spider woman's lower abdomen suddenly ejected a large amount of spider silk, which wrapped around the beams of the church. She desperately contracted the spider silk to pull herself out of the shadow swamp. However, she herself did not move at all, and the beams of the church were completely broken by her. As the top beams broke, the dome of the church began to collapse gradually due to uneven force. The stained glass continued to fall and shatter, piercing into the remains on the ground.

In the end, the front wall of the chapel collapsed completely, raising a cloud of smoke and dust.

The loud noise of the church's collapse finally caught the attention of Kindaichi and his group, who were searching for Odagiri Susumu and Tokita Wakaba. Kindaichi and Miyuki, who were in the nearby forest, and Wada Haruna, who was near the Clock House, hurried over.

"Naughty."

In the ruins, Lin Shangren pushed Spider-Woman's spine back again, but the wriggling granulations in Spider-Woman's body were unable to reconnect with the muscles and nerves on the spine. She could only lie there dejectedly like a dog with a broken spine - Lin Shangren wrapped a layer of shadow on the surface of her spine, as well as the wounds on other parts of her body.

With her body bound and her self-healing ability restricted, Spider-Woman no longer had the capital to struggle.

"I'm quite curious that frogs and spiders can actually team up." Lin Shangren said jokingly.

The identification results of the [Eye of Innocence] showed that this spider monster was also one of the so-called Eight Ghosts of the Wind God. However, unlike the frog man, although it had an anthropomorphic upper body, it seemed to have no independent consciousness at all and was just following actions.

"So, what is the purpose of the Prajna family hiding this thing here? To ambush me or to silence me?"

Lin Shangren surveyed the ruins of the church. On the ground, he could still see the remains of bodies pierced by broken glass, still oozing blood. Because of the wedding preparations, most of the high-ranking members of the major families in Liujiao Village had gathered there. After this guy's commotion, they were practically all dead.

[Don't blame me, this guy was an instant kill the moment he showed up. I didn't have time to save him.]

"It's okay, it's not important."

As he spoke, the gray in Lin Shangren's eyes had faded. He had already used his mind to examine Spider-Woman's memory, and the result was that this thing had no memory at all, and there was no way to trace its past.

"Forget it, put it away first."

After knocking Spider-Woman unconscious with the Eagle Finger, Lin Shangren put her body into the shadow space.

[You want this too? You can't eat this thing while it's hot, right?! I just observed it, and the human part is just the belly, and the spider part below doesn't have a normal reproductive tract. You can't be...]

"I simply wanted to use it as a research subject. Such an interesting new species... Never mind, I'm too lazy to explain it to you."

Lin Shangren was about to turn and leave when he suddenly sensed something was amiss. There seemed to be something else inside the church—the crumbling walls had revealed the remains of crude wooden walls beneath and on the church's foundation. The bricks and stone embedded within the church walls were completely different from the outer layers.

Lin Shangren extended his shadow touch, and was surprised to discover that this church was not a "church" at all, but a "shrine"—a building built on top of an existing shrine. Judging from the wooden structure inside the church, the original shrine must have been nearly 600 years old, and the church was built on top of the shrine in the past century.

"Shrine?"

Lin Shangren carefully examined the ruins of the church when he discovered something hidden within the massive cross where Feng Jijun had died. Judging from the shape he'd sensed, it looked like a sword.

"Hiss, could it be..."

Lin Shangren reached his hand into the shadow and pulled out the object hidden in the cross through the shadow.

It was indeed a sword, a sword with a hollow hilt and inlaid with a yellow gem.

【Name: Thunder God Sword】

[Quality: Magical creation? Master craftsmanship? Perfect quality]

[Status: Thunder God Pearl Inlay, Sharpness Enchanted, Elemental Adaptation]

[Note: Originally part of the Overlord Sword, during peacetime, the Overlord Sword was split into the Wind God Sword and the Thunder God Sword. Combined with the Thunder God Pearl, this magic sword possesses the power of the Thunder God. It harbors the Thunder God's consciousness and can seize the wielder's will. Simply inserting one of the seven pearls or the Dragon God Pearl into the hole in the Thunder God Sword unlocks the corresponding ability.]

"Thor's Sword?"

Lin Shangren gripped the sword tightly in his hand. He could feel a force constantly surging into his body, but he fled back as if he had seen something terrible.

After turning on the [Soul Color Vision], Lin Shangren could clearly see a golden bird-shaped soul perched on the Thunder God Pearl embedded in the hilt of the Thunder God Sword, trembling in fear. After noticing Lin Shangren's scrutinizing gaze, it actually drilled directly back into the Thunder God Pearl.

"Is this thing the God of Thunder? Hey, don't hide, let's talk. Hey, hey."

Lin Shangren swung the Thunder God Sword in his hand, trying to communicate with the consciousness of the Thunder God in the Thunder God Pearl. At this moment, Lin Shangren suddenly heard footsteps and a loud noise.

Turning around, he saw several pieces of rubble coming straight towards him. Someone had smashed the last remaining wall of the church ruins, sending the fragments crashing towards Lin Shangren due to inertia.

Lin Shangren waved his hand casually, and an Alder seal smashed the flying stones into pieces. After the dust from the shattered stones, the man who broke the last wall of the church was standing on the wreckage of the wall and looking down at Lin Shangren.

He was wearing black clothes, a black hat, and a black suit. Judging from his attire, he looked like he was here to carry a coffin.

[Name: Douli II/Evil Sheep]

[Race: Human male? Possessed by a demon]

[Identity: Head of the Kabuto family in Rokkaku Village / One of the Eight Wind Gods]

【Status: Excited.】

[Note: The product of the union of the evil spirits under the Wind God and humans, retaining human consciousness and thinking abilities while also being able to wield the power of evil spirits that far exceeds human limits.]

Dou Reiji removed his hat, revealing his balding head. A murderous smile crossed his long, gaunt face. In an instant, his form suddenly changed. His body remained humanoid, but his skin and fur had turned a pale gray tinged with bluish-green. Huge, disc-shaped, curved horns sprouted from either side of his head. His upper body bulged with muscle, and from the waist down, he was covered in short, blue-gray fur that resembled steel wool. His legs bent backward at the knees, and two enormous hooves replaced his feet. He resembled the Greek god Pan, a true half-man, half-goat monster.

"The Eight Wind Gods, the Evil Sheep. Boy, hand over the sword in your hand!"

Shouting, Xie Yang pulled out a huge machete from the wool on his back. His eyes were cruel, as if he wanted to skin Lin Shangren alive.

Looking at the arrogant sheep-shaped monster in front of him, Lin Shangren was a little confused. He tentatively used his hand, which was enchanted with eagle fingers, to pinch the other party's heart. Then, the sheep-headed man, who was originally aggressive, fell to the ground with foam at the mouth and fainted.

"..."

Lin Shangren was speechless.

"I don't know what you're talking about, clown. What are you doing?"

He had reason to suspect that this B came out to give it away on purpose.

"What kind of trap did it leave on itself, planning to suddenly attack me when I use my mind shadow on it?"

Thinking of this, Lin Shangren opened his soul-colored vision and carefully checked the other party's condition.

Chapter 399 Isn't this a kind of paradise game?

When Kindaichi and his companions arrived at the church, it had already turned into a complete ruin. The broken walls and broken bricks were filled with bloody corpses, and among the ruins, there were some strange burnt objects scattered around.

"What on earth is going on here?"

Looking at the tragic scene in front of him as if an earthquake had just occurred, Kindaichi was so shocked that he could hardly move. Miyuki beside him also knelt on the ground, covering her mouth and retching.

"Kindaichi, Nanase, are you okay?" Six Star Ryuichi, who arrived later, asked hurriedly.

"Teacher...was there an earthquake just now?" Kindaichi asked in a daze.

"This……"

Liu Xinglong turned his head and looked at the ruins of the church. The most conspicuous thing in the ruins was the still standing cross, and under the cross were several corpses scattered. Liu Xinglong recognized them at a glance.

"Tokida Thirteen, Kabutei Two, Fengji Junya..."

These people were originally his targets of revenge, but now they have died here inexplicably.

"What on earth... is going on?"

Kindaichi quickly regained his senses: "Call the police. Call the police quickly." He took out his cell phone and dialed the police. While explaining the situation, he walked towards the ruins of the church to see if there were any survivors inside.

Suppressing the feeling of nausea, Kindaichi and Rokuho Ryuichi searched among the ruins for any survivors. At this time, Kindaichi's eyes were attracted by the white ashes in the ruins.

"This is…?"

Kindaichi picked up a handful of ashes and sniffed it. "It doesn't seem like ordinary wood ash. The smell is a bit... strange..."

"It's marijuana." Liu Xing Long Yi suddenly said, "This thing should be the ashes left after the marijuana is burned."

"Marijuana?!" Kindaichi was shocked. "Why is there marijuana here?"

Rokuho Ryuichi scratched his head. "I was just about to tell you. When I was looking for Odagiri and the others, I found a few strange, sealed-off sheds in the center of this village... The things inside... Anyway, Kindaichi, let's find a safe place to hide. Let's meet up with Wada first. As for Odagiri and the others, we'll make a long-term plan after the police arrive."

"This... this is the only way for now." Kindaichi clenched his fists.

This time, the Japanese police's response was far more efficient than Kindaichi had anticipated. Less than an hour after the call, they heard the sirens. However, the arrivals weren't from the Kitayami Police Station, nor were they accompanied by a rescue team. Instead, they were from the Tokyo Narcotics Squad, led by the Nogami sisters and Hayashi Naoto, representing the First Investigation Division. Their purpose, of course, wasn't to rescue anyone, but to apprehend the drug dealer.

Bei Yejian saw that the local police and rescue team would have to wait until the afternoon to arrive at Liujiao Village.

As for the official characterization of this incident, Lin Shangren had already prepared a complete story: The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Investigation Division 1 discovered a large-scale drug trafficking organization hidden in Tokyo while investigating the disappearance of a library employee, and through it found the drug import den Yueying Island. Then, based on the human and material evidence found on Yueying Island, the police gradually eliminated many drug trafficking organizations in Tokyo and its surrounding areas, and locked down a drug trafficking and drug production base in Japan, namely Rokkaku Village in Hachinohe City.

After confirming the evidence, the Tokyo police and the Narcotics Squad, led by Special Inspectors Hayashi Naoto and Nogami Saeko, launched a capture operation. However, upon arriving at Rokkaku Village, they discovered that key members of the drug trafficking organization had been burning and ingesting large quantities of marijuana and other hallucinogenic drugs in the center of the church while preparing for the wedding of the eldest daughter of the Tokida family. They then engaged in a violent, hallucinatory rampage, even destroying and burning the entire church. This incident ultimately resulted in numerous casualties. However, the police were able to apprehend numerous criminals and seize and destroy a large quantity of marijuana plants grown in Rokkaku Village. Overall, despite the minor incident, this was a significant victory for the Tokyo police.

The deaths of Isshiki Torao and Kusanagi Miko were naturally attributed to the casualties of a drug-fueled brawl. As for the disappearances of Odagiri Susumu and Tokita Wakaba, while the police had no clues at the moment, they would certainly not give up the search.

The above is the official investigation result of the Liujiao Village incident. As for the truth of what happened here, it is of no significance to ordinary people outside.

"Let Saeko and Reika clean up. I have a lot of things to deal with... It's really troublesome."

Lin Shangren thought about this and reviewed the information he had read from the evil sheep, or Kazurei's consciousness. Through Kazurei's consciousness, Lin Shangren roughly understood what he knew about Rokkaku Village's history, which was the mythological story that Junya Kazamatsuri had told Kindaichi the night before, a fusion of "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter," "The Legend of the Sword Hero," and "Nioh." However, the story in his consciousness was more complete and richer in details than Junya Kazamatsuri's:

It is said that in ancient times, a monster named Yamata no Orochi wreaked havoc on the world. Later, a hero holding the Overlord Sword killed Yamata no Orochi, and the snake's body sank to the bottom of the sea, forming the present-day Japanese archipelago.

After killing the giant snake, the hero who was later called Susanoo also died of exhaustion. The Tyrannosaurus Sword in his hand was divided into three parts: Wind God Sword, Thunder God Sword and Dragon God Pearl, and fell on the Japanese island transformed by the Yamata no Orochi.

Later, the two swords and one pearl transformed from the Tyrannosaurus Sword each developed their own independent consciousnesses, becoming the Wind God, Thunder God, and Dragon God. The Dragon God, the most powerful of these, defeated the Wind and Thunder Gods and fused their power and consciousness into two precious pearls, which he then absorbed into his own body. Later, the Dragon God plundered and seized a massive ship filled with young boys and girls, bringing them to the Japanese islands. He selected some of these boys and girls and brought them to his underwater Dragon Palace, where they became his followers. The remaining ones took root and sprouted on the Japanese archipelago, becoming the earliest inhabitants of Japan.

Time passed, and by the Nara Period, Princess Kaguya descended upon Earth. To prevent his territory from being invaded, the Dragon God engaged her in a desperate struggle. To defeat Kaguya, the Dragon God once again merged his true form with the Wind God Sword and the Thunder God Sword. Ultimately, assuming the form of the Tyrannosaurus Rex Sword, he defeated Kaguya and exiled her to the Moon. Part of her power and soul was sealed within his daughter's body. Severely wounded, the Dragon God fell into a deep sleep. He finally died during the Heian Period.

After the death of the Dragon God, the Wind God and the Thunder God broke free from their shackles. They engaged in a protracted battle for the Dragon God and Kaguya-hime's relics, which indirectly led to the Warring States Period in Japan.