‘Sacrifice the whole human civilization?’ This idea chilled them to the core. Gu Jun had faced Afterlife Cult, R’yleh Cult, the Yellow Brotherhood; Yu Chi had dealt with the Land of Mu Cult, these cults were different from Flying Locust in the sense that they wanted to use destruction to usher in a new era, a new world but these Locust God cultists only had destruction in mind.
“We’re at the source…” Yu Chi gripped his head tightly, “There is no humanity here, it has not yet existed…”
“Then, what should we do now?” Kezian Mason suddenly asked.
“Wait, you can understand us?” Gu Jun turned to her and his suspicion rose. They had been conversing in Chinese.
“I do once we enter this space.” She answered, a sharpness coloring her green eyes.
‘Meow? Is this place like Dreamlands?’ Wu Siyu moved her throat and a human language popped out. “Hello?” Gu Jun whipped his head to her immediately. It was Dirty-minded Yu’s voice that came out from the cat…
“Ah, I can finally speak human language again.” Wu Siyu couldn’t help but sigh. To spell out a whole sentence whenever she wanted to talk was so tiring. She said lazily, “There’s still 20 minutes to the countdown but I have no idea what to do. The body inside the cage didn’t get the chance to tell because he was consumed by the locusts. He did mention I have to use the power inside my cat body.”
“Let’s wait a minute first…” Gu Jun stopped her. He didn’t want her to take the risk alone. “We should try other methods first.” The chanting grew louder, they felt they were getting close to it. They felt surrounded, overwhelmed and swamped. They decided to try Ancient Seal first. Wu Siyu was tasked to keep an eye on Keziah Mason. Yu Chi gathered his last remaining mental energy to cast an Ancient Seal. It caused not even a ripple.
“Captain Gu, should I try to cast a spell?” Yu Chi said anxiously, “Sometimes, a spell can interrupt a ritual, I’ve tried that before. A second source of power can corrupt the ritual. Use poison to fight poison. It doesn’t hurt to try.” Actually Gu Jun had attempted that before as well. It was an idea. Even though he suspected its effectiveness in this situation, he agreed to it. Yu Chi moved to action. He casted the spell from the first chapter of Nine Mysterium Arts to summon a small nightgaunt. Yu Chi’s abnormal PTSD was more severe than Gu Jun. It was fine when he used the Ancient Seal but once he casted the spell, his mind and body collapsed with pain but he resisted them until he finished casting the spell. Yu Chi’s incantation was strong, it was not overwhelmed by the chanting of the Locust God’s worshippers. Several shadows rushed out from beneath Yu Chi. However, before they could form, they dissipated…
“Ah…” Yu Chi hissed in pain as his beard shook. “It’s not good enough. I am not powerful enough to stabilize them.”
“Captain Yu, halt what you’re doing!” Gu Jun immediately went to hold his partner. His heart sunk. His mind twirled with questions. ‘What was the Yith’s plan? Has the Yith seen what would happen here in the future? If they had, then they should know about our quandary, they would know that our spell and Ancient Seal wouldn’t be able to solve this problem…’ Gu Jun knew some other spell, but the power of the Son of Misfortune had departed from his body… he no longer had the power to cast them. Furthermore, he still had no idea what kind of role the Yith played in this whole situation.
“Dirty-minded Jun, let me try.” Wu Siyu scratched her whiskers and said, “The reason we’re here is deeply tied to the power in my cat’s body. It’s inevitable.”
“Be careful.” Gu Jun ultimately could not argue with her reasoning. He and Yu Chi were both drained. Wu Siyu instantly waved her two cat’s paws in the air. It looked like she was dancing but actually she was drawing. Her inspiration was a kind of feeling. The reason they were here was because she allowed her feelings to guide her to draw out the strange kaleidoscope. Now once again, she surrendered herself to the feeling. As she gestured around, light rippled around them. It spread forth, wave after wave. Both Gu Jun and Yu Chi felt it immediately. The altar’s quake shook harder. It was working…
Gu Jun suddenly turned to the side. A giant scroll unfurled before him. Some images were coalescing. “Are you guys seeing this?”
“Yes…” Yu Chi mumbled. Keziah Mason frowned, clearly she saw it as well. Wu Siyu waved her claws again. The power in her body was activated and the images clarified.
‘Hmm?’ The image confused the cat herself. It looked like a patient’s room and some members in anti-radiation suits were standing in it. This was not a 2d picture, it felt more like a 3d experience. In fact, Gu Jun felt like he was inside the image in person. He could check out all the details. It was because of that Gu Jun could immediately recognize one of the people in the suit as Wang Ruoxiang!
His monitor stood at the front and she was conversing with a middle-aged man sitting in the bed. ‘Is that a patient of the Locust Illness?’
“Hmm…” Gu Jun’s head pounded with pain. He understood what Keziah Mason felt like when she saw them at Arkham Prison. He saw it, he saw a different existence inside the man’s body. A cylindrical lifeform, the Yith.
“Captain Yu, that’s the Phecda World.” He said heavily, “The Yith is there…”
Wu Siyu’s paws did not stop. She gestured wildly like a master painter at work. Opposite to the scroll of the Phecda World, another scroll appeared. This time Yu Chi easily recognized the symbol of Mysterium, his colleagues from Mysterium. They were inside a patient’s room and the Yith was there too. The scrolls kept increasing in number. With them as the centre, they gradually unfurled. They overlapped, coincided. Gu Jun could not catch up with all of them. He could barely understand the meaning of one before his attention was pulled away by another.
The mutated area, the locust swarm, the life circle; the other mutated area, endless bombing, a strange flying creature. Flying polypus hydroids, he heard someone call out that term… The One, Deng Ximei, Lou Xiaoning… The command central, Elder Tong… The streets of Mo Bei City and the evacuation…
In that moment, he saw everything that happened at Phecda World, the Mysterium World and the Massachusetts World. They were inside a panorama. The connection of the different events was showcased before them. Everything was placed right before them to witness, now it depended on whether their sight was sharp enough to pick up the difference and similarity.
This sudden exposure to everything confused Gu Jun. ‘Where did this power come from…’
“Doctor Wang, you know of the green-banded broodsac, right? In this case, we Yith are the birds who had consumed the infected amber snails.”
At that moment, Gu Jun heard the Yith tell Wang Ruoxiang.