novelden Chapter 191 [Nidhogg's Venomous Fangs]
Chapter 191 [Nidhogg's Venomous Fangs]
Chapter 191 [Nidhogg's Fangs] (Seeking monthly votes)
No wonder the "Faceless God Studio" disappeared in this timeline!
Even the entry for "the faceless god" has disappeared.
When Minpaku saw Nyarlathotep's image earlier, he subconsciously felt that this anime also existed in this world.
But if it is said that the "Cthulhu Mythos" does not exist in this worldview, Minper looked up in astonishment at Nyarlathotep opposite her.
Is this the real thing?
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
The girl calmly extended a finger and placed it in front of her mouth.
She squinted, like a fox. A slight smile played on her lips.
Mingpo felt a chill run through her body.
She just said that she herself broke her seal.
If this statement is true—
Mingpo felt like there was something stuck deep in his throat that he couldn't swallow. Even after swallowing hard, his throat still felt tight. His heart was pounding—even though he had seen ghosts several times in the dungeon before, he had never felt more terrified than he was now!
What could be more terrifying than being haunted by a female ghost?
That means they've been entangled by an evil god.
"By the way, Nyarlathotep, your name is too long. Can I just call you Nyar?"
Shen Yiqi was completely unaware of the crisis.
Or rather, in a world without the Kreece mythology, he simply wouldn't realize that something was wrong here.
He continued chatting enthusiastically with the other person: "Nya, how long have you been a host?"
"It's been a very, very long time."
[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name 1110 ...
Nyarlathotep laughed: "When I was the host, you probably weren't even born yet."
"Wow, that took so long!"
"Yes, I used to wear a cheongsam when I was a host."
"Shanghai? The Shanghai Bund era? The period during the foreign concessions?"
Shen Yiqi was somewhat surprised and questioned for the first time: "I heard that after World War II, the number of charlatans in the world was very small, once as low as single digits—it wasn't until around 2000 that the game of deception began to gradually revive."
"Yes, I know."
Nyarlathotep smiled gently, almost eerily, and nodded: "But actually, the turning point wasn't World War II, but rather what happened before it—you could think of it as the Great Depression. The essence of the Great Depression was the manifestation of the fierce struggle between charlatans, which catalyzed a global war of charlatans—and World War II was merely its material manifestation."
"Because before that, around the 20s, a large number of charlatans participated in the final test." This led to their erasure from the world.
"Before that, the Deceivers actually lived in shadow cities corresponding to the material world, where there was a considerable degree of social order. The material world even had ways to communicate with the Deceivers' organization, and the whole world was ruled by the dual leaders of light and darkness."
"By around 1920, the world's Gold Saints had been almost entirely wiped out. The mass dissolution of these top Gold Saints led to turmoil in the social order of the charlatans—a large number of charlatans attempted to seize power, thus launching one major event after another, which in turn triggered the Great Depression."
"After World War II, the number of con artists decreased significantly. But until the 1980s, the material world was still secretly dominated by con artists."
"Until then, something else happened—"
"6
Nyarlathotep slowly spoke: "The Collapse Incident."
"The Witches' Gathering received a legacy from God." The Witches' Gathering is a deceitful organization that existed during the witch trials, dedicated to completely eliminating deceptive games—you should know that, right?
"I know that part," Shen Yiqi listened attentively, "but—what is God's legacy?"
Have you ever heard of a Dionysian shrine?
Nyarlathotep countered with a question.
Mingpo's heart stirred, and she chose to remain silent.
"A treasure on par with the Dionysian Shrine?"
Shen Yiqi was taken aback: "I've never heard of them having anything of this caliber!"
"Because they've already used it."
Nyarlathotep said solemnly, "You should have heard of the name 'Nidhogg's Fangs.'"
"—Nidhogg, the poisonous dragon that gnaws on the roots of the World Tree?"
"That's right, this is a bullet that can pierce through timelines, and it's also a magic bullet that can completely kill the Deceiver and erase their existence from the timeline. Because of this, other Deceivers created by them will also disappear in a chain reaction, or cease to be Deceivers."
Nyarlathotep nodded slowly: "Since then, the world has become exceptionally fragile. If anyone tries to alter history before 1980, or if the changes in the world exceed a certain threshold, or if a certain condition is met—the world will collapse, like a bomb that can kill everyone."
"They originally intended to use these bullets to kill all the charlatans—but through negotiation, some were spared. Among them is the current leader of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce."
"At that time, everyone pledged peace. They would become shadow emperors who were, are, and will always be. They would only participate in the adventure game, plundering the chips of time from other timelines—and no longer create new deceivers, no longer wage war against each other, no longer continue to create paradoxical technologies, and no longer revise history before 1980."
But as you know, the outcome was the same. Around 2000, all the survivors broke the agreement, and the deceitful game was revived. And whenever the Witches' Gathering reaches its limit or is pushed to its limit, they will execute the reboot protocol—now that the timeline has changed too much, they have mastered the most stable rebooting technology.
"And it was from that time that the world began to reboot repeatedly. Every time the world collapsed, it would return to 1980."
Only those who were presenters before 1980 can preserve some memories from the time reboot.
"—What was the specific time?"
Mingpo asked earnestly.
Even knowing that Nyarlathotep before her was very likely the real evil god, Minpe still had to ask.
She seemed very patient, but that might not be the case later. This might be Mingpo's only chance to find out about this.
September 8, 1980.
Nyarlathotep did not hesitate to give a very specific event: "The assassination of John Lennon."
"—That bullet was the last of Nidhogg's fangs. Because the activation condition for this treasure is to create a death known to as many people as possible. As long as even one person remembers this, this history cannot be altered from the future; otherwise, the timeline would collapse."
"—So that means," Shen Yiqi raised an idea, "what if, a very long time from now, people have completely forgotten about John Lennon's existence?"
"Then the wound healed."
Nyarlathotep said meaningfully, "I actually think that's about enough. But far more than just this one bullet has been fired—this is just the last one."
"I see—"
Shen Yiqi nodded slowly, seemingly lost in thought.
He remained unusually silent for a moment, then suddenly a bright, almost insincere smile appeared on his face.
"I have something to do, so I have to go now."
He patted Mingper on the shoulder and said warmly to Nyarlathotep, "I'll help you register, Miss Nyarlathotep!"
Oh, by the way, Mingpo, you have a task here.
"Another mission?"
"You can refuse if you want, we'll send someone else later, but I think it'll be fine for you to do it. It's quite simple."
Shen Yiqi said seriously, "Investigate the death of Gao Song, chairman of Gaotian Construction Group. He was one of our men."
"—What happens after the investigation is complete?"
Mingpo was silent for a moment, then asked in return.
"Kill him."
Shen Yiqi said lightly, "Make sure he can't talk nonsense outside. That's easy to find—killing Gao Song is considered a pretty good achievement even in an enemy organization. Just keep an eye on their new recruits."
"Remember to call me once you've dealt with this. I'll be staying in Shanghai for another two weeks. It'd be best to resolve this before I leave. Otherwise, headquarters will have to send someone over."
"Ah, okay."
Mingpo readily agreed: "Leave it to me."
Anyway—if Nyarlathotep is right, he won't live for more than two weeks.
Mingbo watched Shen Yiqi leave in a hurry.
He turned around, wanting to say something to Nyarlathotep.
But then they discovered that she had also disappeared without them noticing.
Mingbo breathed a sigh of relief.
He could finally stop thinking about what this "Nyarlathotep" actually was.
Although it might seem like burying one's head in the sand, Mingpo, with little time left, certainly didn't have the leisure to worry about such things.
Love is whoever it is, it has nothing to do with me.
Mingpo tapped the table, seemingly having grasped something.
Was contacting Shen Yiqi also part of her plan? What was she trying to do?
I've heard that Nyarlathotep is fond of advancing human technology—could she be eyeing the Chinese Chamber of Commerce?
—But, haven't you two forgotten something?
For example, paying money?