I impersonated God in America

As the giant hand gripped the crater, countless flames spread outwards.

"puff!"

"Ahem, what are you all standing there for? Go and notify the Ministry of National Defense!"

After the soldiers left, the commander glanced at the old hats placed not far away and his lips twitched; he had a premonition.

"Have we really messed things up?"

Chapter Forty-Seven: Unsealing

Xu Ge stepped into the dark passage leading to the basement.

A few flickering candles hung sparsely on the stone walls on both sides, their flames so weak that they could barely cast shadows on the walls.

A very faint smell of sulfur permeated the air, mixed with the damp, musty smell seeping from the cracks in the ancient stone bricks.

That guy tricked me the whole way.

Those two people who stood face to face for so long, pretending to be locals, turned out to be tomb raiders!

It's a wonder he actually believed it.

You should know that you could have quickly taken the target and left immediately.

Every second wasted increases the probability of something going wrong.

No one knows what the hidden guardian is like.

Now, thinking back to how he and the other person had just been fighting like peas in a pod, he couldn't help but laugh.

Most importantly, the other party is definitely not an ordinary reporter.

Which reporter can get inside such ruins?

The force under his feet unconsciously increased a few points.

If the owl hadn't repeatedly emphasized before leaving that the guardian shouldn't be alerted, he would have given the other side a good beating after they exposed each other.

At the end of the passage was a very small, circular stone chamber.

The walls were bare except for a chain that hung from the ceiling into a bronze ring, with no other decorations on the walls.

A lantern hung from the end of the chain.

The lamp body is made of dark gray bronze. Although there is no wick, you can see a ball of fire burning in the middle of the lamp.

Xu Ge knew at first glance that this was his target.

Xu Ge gently took the lantern off the chain and held it up to his face for a while.

Hecate's Lantern Get Daze!

He carefully tied the lantern to his waist and turned to walk away.

This trip went much more smoothly than I expected.

The stone bricks beneath my feet suddenly shook.

A layer of fine dust fell from the ceiling.

I have a feeling that something bad is about to happen.

He stopped and glanced uncertainly at the burning bronze lantern.

Could it be because of me?

Immediately afterwards, a muffled sound came from deep within the castle.

seal? !

Could it be that...

He stood there and weighed his options for a moment.

Then they quickened their pace and turned back towards the snake cave.

Hopefully, this won't cause any negative consequences.

--------------

Rumble

With the given password, the stone door in front of them finally opened.

This is the hidden room that Tom told him about, the one that was erased from the architectural drawings.

[I think it's called the House of Requirement?]

The four walls themselves emit light.

No lights are needed to illuminate this area.

Numerous bottles and jars are piled up here, as if someone is using this place as a laboratory.

In the center of the room stood a stone display stand, on which was placed a mummy.

The yellowish-brown color on it almost certainly indicates that the object is quite ancient.

But Pacco had no time to worry about anything else; he was only looking at the mummy's face.

This is my goal.

The mummy had a mask covering its face.

It has erect ears, a long snout, and two dark red semi-precious stones set in its eye sockets.

Could it be a jackal mask?

This is quite rare.

The overall design can be considered to be in the style of the New Kingdom period of ancient Egypt.

It feels a bit like an experiment?

Pakko crouched down and stared at the mask for a long time.

[That's quite a contrast!]

A secret chamber in the ancient Greek magic academy contains an Egyptian mummy with an Anubis priest mask covering its face.

In theory, ancient Egyptian funerary priests would wear jackal head masks when making mummies.

Anubis is the god of the underworld and oversees the weighing ceremony of souls, which is the legendary story of how a person's heart is placed on a scale after death, with the feather of the goddess of truth, Maya, on the other side.

If the heart is lighter than a feather, the soul can enter the afterlife; if the heart is heavier than a feather, the soul is devoured by Amit.

Priests wore jackal masks during the opening ceremony to enhance communication. They would touch the mummy's eyes and mouth with a ritual knife, symbolizing the deceased regaining sight and language in the underworld.

[This must be the Horcrux Tom was talking about, right?]

He reached for the mask, and as soon as his fingertips touched the edge of the jackal's left ear, a very faint ring of light appeared on the inside of the mask.

"A familiar taste... are you the host of another part of my soul?"

The sound seeped from the fingertips along the finger bones, and was exactly the same as Tom's everyday whispers.

Pacco held his hand in mid-air for a moment.

Are you Tom too?

"Tom? It's been a long time since anyone called me that. Yes, that's right, I am Tom."

"I can smell the scent of that fragment of your soul on you. You're here to find the Horcrux, aren't you?"

Hearing that the other person admitted it was Tom, Pacco felt relieved.

Aside from his parents who left early and the girl in his memory, Tom was the best person to him.

Tom is a good man who has gone to great lengths to help me embark on the path to transcendence. I hope the Horcrux can help him regain his memories.

Pacco removed the mask from the mummy's face and turned it over to look at the inside.

"There's also a Philosopher's Stone in the mirror. Are you sure you don't want it?"

The Philosopher's Stone?!

--------------

Inside a sealed room.

Giovanni stood in front of the stone platform and reached out to touch the edge of the bracket base.

A very thin layer of dust clung to my fingertips.

The gray is uneven in thickness, with a clean, circular area in the middle that perfectly matches the shape of the bottom of the hat.

He slowly traced the edge of the clean area with his index finger, then lowered his hand.

"The dust hasn't settled back down yet, so the hat probably hasn't been taken away for very long."

The assistant monk's face turned pale instantly.

"I know, it must be the military's advance team! There's no one else here but them!"

"If nothing unexpected happens, the hat is definitely in their hands."

Giovanni gripped the Rosary tightly.

You should know that the holy sword inside that hat is the core component that seals the giant.

The soldiers had no idea what would happen once the hat left the altar.

"Hurry up, hopefully we can still make it!"

He was just about to order everyone to go after the military advance team when the stone bricks under his feet suddenly became unstable.

The entire sealed room shook violently at the same time.

The old textbooks on the bookshelf were shaken and fell to the ground, with a corner of their thread-bound pages coming undone.

The assistant monk instinctively clutched the lead box in his arms.

The two accompanying priests instinctively steadied themselves and placed their hands on the wall.

Immediately afterwards, a terrifying sound, like an impact, came from beneath the castle's floor tiles.

The sound didn't stop; the first impact was followed immediately by a second, and then a third.

The group exchanged glances and understood the situation.

[We're doomed! The seal has broken!]

Chapter Forty-Eight: You're courting death!

Rome, Ministry of Defense Crisis Command Center.

Kavali put the satellite phone back into the landline.

He already knew that the advance team had brought the hat back from the ruins. Things were going much more smoothly than he had imagined; they had made a discovery in such a short time.

His adjutant had already projected the on-site photos sent back by the advance team onto the main screen.

"General, the advance team has retrieved the target item from the ruins and is on its way back to the outer camp. There are currently no casualties among the personnel on site, and it has been discovered that there are no active defense mechanisms inside the ruins. This mission has gone very smoothly, and we are ready to conduct the next exploration at any time."

Cavali enlarged the photo.

"You know, we suffered quite a few losses in Sardinia. What's most infuriating is that our last stone slab was stolen by that snake man."

"In comparison, our results this time are practically free."

Cavalli picked up the pen from the table.

"Prepare to notify the advance team to expedite the transfer of the hats to the Naples military laboratory. This time, we must thoroughly understand this before the Papal States do. Also, give credit to the entire advance team, and we will award them collectively upon our return."

The intelligence analyst in the back row adjusted his glasses.

"General, the Vesuvius Observatory has transmitted the latest monitoring data. The temperature on the south side of the crater is starting to rise. They say this is not normal."

"Isn't it normal for volcanic temperatures to be a little high occasionally?"

"Don't panic, this is just a periodic adjustment!"

In an instant, all the guests rejoiced.