Chapter 166
“Good thing you didn’t wander off. There’ve been lots of cultists in the city lately.” Little Chun sighed in relief and continued, “Let’s get inside the inn. I’ll explain slowly.”
Payment at the inn was, of course, made with Eye ingots. The inn even offered them a meal, making it quite cost-effective.
Once they were inside the room, Little Chun and Ren Jie put on grave expressions. They told Lu Chuan seriously, “That meeting was for an important mission. Little Lu, I’m afraid you’ll have to head back alone now.”
“What mission?” Lu Chuan instinctively felt it wasn’t something small.
“All our investigators in the city have to participate, and those outside must rush back as soon as possible. If they can’t make it in time, then there’s no helping it.”Little Chun looked at Lu Chuan seriously. “The captain just accepted an external assignment and can’t return for now, but you can go find him. You’re only a trainee, not an official investigator yet—you don’t have to take part in this mission. Just go back and tell the captain that we’ve all gone to carry it out. If we survive, we’ll come find you.”
“If you don’t explain clearly, I’m not leaving.” Lu Chuan shook his head. “If I just go back and say this, the captain definitely won’t believe me.”
“Little Lu’s right,” Ren Jie added. “Even if we say nothing, the captain will find out and investigate on his own. Better we tell the truth now than let him waste time on detours.”
“Alright.”Little Chun nodded reluctantly. “We’ve received word that a powerful Evil God is coming with a host of others to attack the city. All investigators must stay inside and defend against the assault.”
“What kind of Evil God is that strong? Doesn’t this city of Stars have a defense system?” Lu Chuan asked curiously.
“Exactly because the city has defenses, we must stay inside to fight. If we left, we’d have no chance at all.”Little Chun shook her head. “But if you can get out before the city seals itself, somewhere far away would be much safer. Since its founding, no Evil God has dared attack, but the legendary investigator’s power that sustains the defense has nearly faded. The Evil Gods must have noticed this weakness and see a chance to wipe us out.”
“Who is this Evil God?” Lu Chuan pressed.
“You may have heard of Him. He is the Omniscience God.”Little Chun’s face grew grim. “Among the Evil Gods, He knows the most. It’s precisely because He sensed the city’s defenses weakening that He chose this moment to strike. You’re young—you probably don’t know how terrifying He is…”
Oh, I know Him all too well.
They don’t realize I not only know the Omniscience God, I was once even the head of His church.
Lu Chuan hadn’t expected to run into that old schemer here, and his interest was piqued. “I’ll stay and help you.”
“No. The Omniscience God is too powerful—we might not survive ourselves.”Little Chun shook her head firmly. “The city gates will shut tomorrow afternoon. It’s already dark now, not safe to leave tonight. Tomorrow morning you’ll leave with the other trainees.”
“I really do understand the Omniscience God,” Lu Chuan insisted. “If you keep me, I can—”
Before he could finish,Little Chun froze him in place with her power.
“Put him on the bed. Tomorrow morning we’ll send him out directly, before he causes more trouble.” Her tone was resolute.
Ren Jie and the others sighed helplessly. “Don’t be reckless. You’re still young, you don’t know enough. Staying will only mean a pointless death. Be good—we’ve already bought the tickets. After one night’s sleep, you’ll be back with the captain.”
Then Ren Jie forced a potion down his throat, making him fall unconscious.
Even as he blacked out, Lu Chuan was frustrated.
What’s scarier than a bunch of fools is a bunch of blockheads.
Why won’t they ever let me finish speaking?
The next day, he finally shook off the drug’s effect and woke up in a drafty carriage crammed with young people.
“You’re awake? I’m a trainee too.” One of them carefully helped him up, pointing at the others still unconscious. “You woke early—were you specially trained? The rest won’t wake until afternoon. They also wanted to stay, but their teammates forced them out. I heard at yesterday’s meeting it was decided that for humanity’s survival, each squad must send out one captain and one trainee. If they fail, rebuilding will depend on us.”
Lu Chuan frowned. “How long have we been gone? If we turned back now, how long to reach the city?”
“We left at dawn. Returning now, we’d only get back by nightfall. And you know how dangerous night is—the shadow scourges are everywhere. If there’s light, they destroy it; without light, we can’t find our way.” The trainee shook his head. “Forget it. We can’t go back. This Omniscience God is far stronger than the nameless petty Evil Gods we’ve fought before—He’s fully revived.”
In this world, every human ability carries extreme side effects. There’s no proper logistics, no medical care, no nutrition, no guilds to train people like in the game worlds. Compared to players, human combat power is several levels weaker.
Evil Gods, of course, are endless.
If not for the conflicts among them, humanity might already be extinct.
The Omniscience God wouldn’t rank that high in Lu Chuan’s past dungeon worlds, but in this world He was undoubtedly top-tier. Greater deities like the God of Desire or God of Time never bothered with the human realm and would never descend.
“So we really can’t go back?” Lu Chuan rubbed his temples. “I have a way to save them. If we start now, there’s still time.”
“No one will believe that,” the trainee said flatly. “Even if I did, you’d need to convince the driver…”
So words won’t work.
People here are stubborn. Only absolute power will move them.
Lu Chuan had intended to keep a low profile, but now wasn’t the time to hide.
He wasn’t that close with the Night Squad, but there was some bond. Besides, he hadn’t finished investigating the city. If it fell, how would he ever find Wen Renxu?
He knew—he had to return.
And he had to defeat the Omniscience God to save the city.
Absurd.
Who’d have thought he’d one day use his skills proactively?
Lu Chuan jumped from the carriage without hesitation, rolled to the ground, and landed safely.
“Wait, someone jumped!” the trainee shouted, hoping to stop the cart.
But Lu Chuan just waved at him to ignore it, turning instead to his surroundings.
Skill: Eye of Wealth.
Light burst from his eyes, revealing everything around him.
White eyes, red eyes, black eyes.
As expected, the black ones were the most valuable.
The road was crawling with monsters.
Ignoring the white and red eyes, he focused only on the black. He searched for nearly ten minutes before spotting one glowing black eye.
Its owner was a beast like a boar with horns, covered in long hair, towering like a hill, with sharp fangs—a real brute.
Lu Chuan headed straight for it.
“Ugly as hell,” he muttered honestly.
The beast sensed his aura and tried to flee, but since he’d already activated his skill, how could he let it?
Thanks to the combat training he’d honed in Blood Kingdom Showdown, Lu Chuan leapt onto its back and pinned it.
“Behave.” His glowing eyes met its black ones, draining its malice until it looked almost gentle. “You’ll carry me as I say, or I’ll slice your flesh off piece by piece—heal or not, I’ll keep cutting, until you beg for death but can’t die.”
Creatures with black eyes were the strongest, and though mindless, they had instinct for survival.
It knew this human on its back radiated terror, so it obeyed.
A pat on the left head meant turn left, on the right meant turn right, two taps in the middle meant speed up.
“Damn, too bumpy. Whatever, not like I have a choice.” Lu Chuan eyed it critically. “Can’t you get bigger? You look so puny, no presence at all.”
The monster obediently swelled in size and galloped forward as instructed.
Lu Chuan clung to its horns like reins. Oddly enough, it felt exhilarating.
No wonder Cang Jiu loved using Number 18 as a mount.
This was pretty fun.
He shut down the Eye of Wealth.
Can’t keep it on all the time—better conserve.
Who knows how many more skills he’d need in this world? Couldn’t afford to be wasteful.
If the other investigators were here, they would recognize that Lu Chuan was currently riding a kind of calamity known as a “Fierce Beast.”
Not only could it freely grow or shrink in size, but it could also swallow hundreds of humans in one gulp. Its body was almost indestructible, making it nearly impossible to defeat.
Because this beast was so formidable, the other monsters on the road — even when they smelled the scent of a human on Lu Chuan — didn’t dare come close.
Whenever the beast tried to throw Lu Chuan off its back, he would activate his Eye of Wealth skill, striking hard at the beast’s core. After repeating this several dozen times, he finally managed to subdue it.
Lu Chuan had already decided: when he left this dungeon, he would turn this Fierce Beast into jerky, dig out its eyeballs, and see if selling them could offset the cost of using the Eye of Wealth.
Damn it, why couldn’t he open his system space?
He had so many useful items — so annoying!
***
Meanwhile, in Star City, countless investigators were on high alert.
The deity known as the Omniscience God, together with the Mother of Fertility, the Dream of Nothingness, and the Father of Nature, were hailed as the world’s Four Great Evil-God Calamities.
Their followers were spread all over the world, converting countless beings into servants of the evil gods.
They were also the hardest to deal with.
Several times, legendary investigators had led teams to besiege these gods, yet none could destroy them. The gods always found a way to escape. By now, almost all the other named evil gods had been wiped out, but these four still rampaged — and were growing stronger. Now that one sensed Star City’s defenses were weakening, it was naturally coming to attack.
“Ever since Lord Wen Renxu, there hasn’t been a new legendary investigator for a long time. If one appeared, those evil gods wouldn’t dare act so brazenly.”
“Didn’t Lord Wen Renxu also say? He warned that legendary investigators would become fewer and fewer, and in the end, this world would have to rely on us.”
“Yes… it’s been ages since the last legendary investigator was born.”
***
Many investigators in the city knew the truth.
According to historical records, there had once been many legendary investigators, with new ones appearing from time to time. But as they fell, one after another, their numbers dwindled. From the time of Lord Wen Renxu until now — more than a hundred years — no new legendary investigator had emerged.
Star City’s defenses were truly at their limit.
This world could not rely on a single person; only the collective effort of all could keep it going.
“The compass shows almost all nearby calamities moving toward our city,” said a weathered investigator, pointing at the device in the hall. “Look at these black dots — all powerful calamities, converging on us. And this one here is advancing at full speed.”
That compass, left behind and crafted by legendary investigators, could detect enemies near the city — once useful for clearing them out. But now, after a long lull, calamities were massing again.
“We should send a team out to clear them first. If the evil god arrives together with these monsters, defending the city will be much harder.” Someone volunteered — they had to slay the beasts before the Omniscience God arrived, or they would face enemies on two fronts.
“All right, let’s see who should—”
“Wait, look! That black dot is devouring the others.” Someone suddenly pointed. “What’s going on? Are these calamities… merging into something even bigger?”
The investigators were baffled. They had wanted to send people out, but now they hesitated, waiting to understand what was happening.
If the calamities were fusing into a stronger one, sending a team now would be like serving themselves up on a platter.
***
At that moment, Lu Chuan was happily collecting black eyeballs nearby.
“…Thirty, forty, fifty.” He counted the dark orbs in his bag, delighted. “Finally got back some of my costs — not bad at all.”
The closer he got to Star City, the more monsters he found.
Since he had nothing else to do — and the sly Omniscience God hadn’t shown up yet — he had his mount slaughter the beasts, stockpiling “eye-ingots” for later spending.
