"No." Nodens smiled and shook his head: "I'm not."
"Eh?" The half-mermaid touched her head in surprise: "Did I admit my mistake?"
"You probably admitted your mistake."
"But your appearance is obvious."
"You made a mistake." Nodens repeated again.
The half-mermaid was speechless.
"Now," said Nodens, "all you have to do is tell me how much the fare is."
"Let me check the fare." The half-mermaid looked at the meter on the seahorse's back, and then said: "A total of 912 gold shells."
"How much?" Nodens was stunned: "Why is it so expensive? Where did you come from?"
"It's in the nearby sea."
The half-mermaid explained:
“The starting price is 8 gold shells, and then there is an additional 2 gold shells per kilometer for more than three kilometers. In addition, there is a time fee of half a gold shell every fifteen minutes.
According to the standard, it should not be expensive. According to the normal route, a maximum of 1,213 is enough. However, they both insisted that I take them for more walks in the sea and deliberately asked me to take a long detour. As the journey gets longer, the price goes up.
"."
Nodens looked doubtfully at Jiang Lu and Zeus, who were still motion sick.
Are there people who deliberately let people take a long way around?
"It's here." Jiang Lu said seriously.
"Forget it, that's it."
Nodens was not short of the money, mainly because the moment he saw the fare, he thought there was something serious wrong with his anchor point, and was a little surprised as to why Jiang Lu was teleported to such a remote place.
After paying, the half-mermaid drove away.
Zeus and Jiang Lu, who was holding Huang Xiu'e, sat on the rocks and looked at Nodens longingly.
"So may I ask, where is Nodens?"
Jiang Lu asked.
"I am," Nodens replied.
"Huh?" Jiang Lu was a little confused: "Didn't you just tell him that you were not Nodens?"
Naturally, Nodens would not tell Jiang Lu. He was afraid that it would be troublesome for the half-mermaid to have too many unnecessary social interactions after the half-mermaid recognized him, so he just answered lightly: "I have my own plans."
"So low-key?" Zeus muttered.
But Jiang Lu was a very defensive person and did not believe Nodens' words immediately.
Because according to his experience, people of their status would not bother to conceal their identity unless they did something bad.
So Jiang Lu deliberately asked about the communication between the two through consciousness to verify Nodens' identity.
"Do you remember what I said when we first met?"
Nodens stared at Jiang Lu and realized that Jiang Lu was probably doubting his identity, so he replied: "You said you wanted me to help you build a bridge between the two worlds, and you also said that many people believe in me, even if I Tell you that I need to face many terrible enemies, and you also said that you will help me."
"Yeah, that's right." Jiang Lu nodded: "So what bad thing did you do?"
"?" Nodens was puzzled: "I didn't do anything wrong."
"It seems like it's not a trivial matter." Jiang Lu showed an ambiguous smile.
"." Nodens found that he still couldn't cope with offline things.
It would be nice if dealing with people could be as simple as sealing the Old Ones, Nodens thought.
"alright."
Seeing that Nodens didn't want to talk in detail, Jiang Lu didn't ask any more questions, changed the subject, and said straight to the point:
"Let's stop hiding it. Tell me, what kind of trouble have you run into? Tell me and I'll help you solve it. But in exchange, you have to tell me why all the anchor points have disappeared and how to reset them." Ways to restore them.”
Nodens thought for a moment and said to Jiang Lu, "Follow me."
Jiang Lu and Zeus looked at each other and stood up.
But Nodens emphasized: "I'm talking about you, you come with me, not you."
"But we are a team."
Looking at Jiang Lu who seemed a little resistant, Nodens also wanted to say it here, but Zeus kept staring at him carefully with a strange look, which made him feel very awkward.
Talking to Jiang Lu under such circumstances was akin to the awkwardness of being interrupted by the other party's unsuspecting servant when he first had a communication with the Ghoul Queen.
That time he almost pretended to be Nyarlathotep.
"This matter is of great importance." Nodens said seriously.
"Then there's no way."
Jiang Lu had no choice but to nod and said to Zeus: "You stay here and don't move around."
"Okay." Zeus took Huang Xiu'e and sat back on the rock obediently.
Then Jiang Lu followed Nodens and began to take a walk in the reef forest, chatting while walking.
During this time, Nodens barely looked at Jiang Lu, let alone looked directly at him.
This made Jiang Lu feel that he was an rude person, but after all, he had just extorted a large sum of money from him, so Jiang Lu did not express his dissatisfaction too much.
"If you want to know why all the anchor points disappeared, you don't need to wait until you help me. I can tell you now."
Nodens, who lowered his head and just looked at the road, said:
"Because fundamentally, and that's one of the effects of what I call trouble, is that our goals are aligned."
"Oh? Please elaborate." Jiang Lu became interested.
Nodens thought about how to cut in, and then slowly said: "Since you said that many people believe in me, you must know Nyarlathotep?"
"You know, you know." Jiang Lu said without changing his expression, "But I don't understand very well. What's wrong?"
Nodens is just socially anxious, but he is not a social idiot, so he can naturally hear the guilt in Jiang Lu's tone.
He guessed that Jiang Lu had never heard of this name at all.
But Nyarlathotep is the fuse of a whole series of chain reactions, and it is impossible to ignore him, so Nodens had to introduce his biggest mortal enemy to Jiang Lu first:
"He is called the Chaos of the Walking, and he is the messenger representing the entire group of outer gods and old rulers. He often takes the form of a human and walks around, and is always keen to deceive and seduce humans, and to plunge humans into terror and despair. To the ultimate insanity is its highest joy.
And he has had many incarnations. To this day, he has never shown his original face in front of others, but I am extremely certain that his true form must be a twisted, ferocious monster with a hateful face.
He is also my biggest mortal enemy. I have struggled with him for countless years. In fact, this incident is not the most serious in the history of our struggle, but it is not the most ordinary either. "
"Chaos of the Haunting?" Jiang Lu finally understood why the ghouls called him this name when they misunderstood him and Zeus. It turned out that they regarded themselves as the incarnation of Nyarlathotep.
"you know?"
"Hearsay, hearsay, go on." Jiang Lu didn't want to mention the ghoul in front of Nodens, so he decisively changed the subject.
"This time, it's another conspiracy of Nyarlathotep."
Nodens sighed:
"To put it simply, he was no longer satisfied with playing with a small group of people to achieve his own goal of causing chaos. He was silent for a long time and then planned a big one.
I don't know what he did to prepare for this, I just know that by the time I noticed, it was already over.
He kidnapped all the gods scattered across the land you call the Unknown, imprisoned them, erased their anchors, and disappeared again. "
"Why did he do this?"
"Because he wants to destroy humanity's faith."
Nodens explained solemnly:
“By erasing the anchor point, he made it impossible for humans to reach the areas guarded by the gods, and by imprisoning the gods, he made it impossible for humans to see the gods they believed in.
Human lifespan is limited. Perhaps the first believers will always remember that they have seen the heroic appearance of gods with their own eyes. But as generations pass by, history will sooner or later turn into legends, and legends will gradually turn into myths.
At that time, humans who have not seen gods for a long time will no longer remember that they really existed, and will only regard them as the wild imagination of their predecessors. "
"its not right."
Jiang Lu was a little confused:
"I heard that Nyarlathotep is quite powerful. Although there are no gods in the unknown land who can be regarded as the main gods, he can kidnap them by means. He should not be an ordinary person. For such a big man Wan'er, you always have trouble with humans, isn't this too cheap?"
"Then you are wrong."
Nodens explained:
"The reason why he puts so much effort into destroying human faith is actually to deal with the gods who are controlled by him.
The power of gods comes from the beliefs of groups, which can be humans, plants, or animals.
And most of the belief in gods comes from humans.
As long as the faith is still there, the gods are immortal. The most effective way to deal with the gods is to seal them. The most cruel and ruthless method is just to cut the body into pieces and then apply separate seals to each part.
But even so, given the right opportunity, the dismembered god may still be revived.
So what Nyarlathotep did was actually intend to erase all the beliefs of these gods so that no one in the entire world or even the entire universe would remember the names of these gods. At that time, he could completely kill the gods. "
"Hiss" Jiang Lu thought thoughtfully and seemed to understand: "I seem to understand. Is this what happened?"
Although this part of the information was not in his memory, he could now understand why he was dismembered.
It’s not clear that Jiang Lu thought of his own Nodens, thinking that he understood Nyarlathotep’s logic, so he continued:
“Of course, in order to erase the traces of the existence of gods from history, it is impossible to just let humans forget on their own.
Words, pictures, and music are all carriers that may leave behind proof of their existence. Even if they become legends and myths, as long as their culture remains, there will always be people who believe in them. It’s nothing more than quantity. How much is the question.
So this is just the beginning of Nyarlathotep's plan.
Next, he will definitely use his own incarnation to sneak into Hyberil, the country of gods, which is where you came from.
Then he will find ways to establish a new sect, gradually cannibalizing other sects through various means, either labeling the gods as heretics, or showing new miracles to believers who have lost their gods.
In short, he will pull all the believers who originally believed in these gods into his own camp, occupy the magpie's nest, and accelerate the process of weakening the gods. "
Listening and listening, Jiang Lu felt something was wrong.
Why is this Nyarlathotep exactly what I thought?
At this moment, Nodens coincidentally began to speculate on the methods Nyarlathotep would take at that time.
"I think his most likely approach will be to first join one of the most powerful sects, then gradually usurp dominance, implement the New Deal, and then start to distort the facts and promote new gods."
After a pause, Nodens, who was too embarrassed to watch Jiang Lu speak and didn't notice the change in Jiang Lu's expression, added to himself:
"I think that by then he will tailor a new set of doctrines for these humans based on the actual needs of believers in life and the key points that are not mentioned in the teachings of any sect, and then seize their pain points. Religious export.
Let their bodies and minds be completely transformed to get rid of their original beliefs.
The gods have completely lost contact with Hybril, and it is not difficult for him to do this. "
"Ward Fa?"
Jiang Lu was dumbfounded.
If he hadn't known that Nodens was just speculating, he would have even suspected that Old Dens had eavesdropped on his conversation with Zeus.
And the worst part is that Nodens and Nyarlathotep are mortal enemies, and his understanding of them must be very comprehensive and accurate, which means that Nodens' speculation will most likely come true.
In other words, he and Nyarlathotep really thought of getting together.
Even the steps are fucking the same!
This made him feel a little uncomfortable.
Although I don’t know who came up with this idea first, Jiang Lu stubbornly believed that he and Zeus were the original ones, so he was naturally full of malice towards Nyarlathotep, a stinky copycat.
"What's wrong with you?" Hearing Jiang Lu's uncontrollable swear words, Nodens noticed Jiang Lu's abnormality.
"fine."
Jiang Lu shook his head and his expression became solemn.
In this case, then this is really not just a simple matter of the spiritual realm mission, Nyarlathotep has now become his own enemy.
Even if he is not involved, he can still help Nodens with a fun attitude, and there is no psychological burden.
If you can help, you can't push me down, just do your best.
But if you are competing for territory with yourself, you have to get serious and go all out.
So he took a deep breath: "Tell me, how can I ruin his plan?"
"That's the point."
Seeing that Jiang Lu was unwilling to tell him why his mood suddenly fluctuated so much, Nordens didn't want to ask any more questions, so he returned to the topic:
"Because I need to stay in the Great Abyss to monitor all the sealed Old Ones, I can't leave easily, and even if I leave, I can't leave for too long, so I need your help."
Having said this, he looked at Jiang Lu seriously and solemnly for the first time:
"To put it bluntly, I need a carrier that can carry my huge divine power as my messenger in the world. When I encounter the rulers of the old days, my messenger can summon my divine power to seal these evil existences. .
This is also the reason why I added restrictions to the anchor point. If it is not qualified to carry my divine power, then it will be useless no matter how many people come. "
"That's right." Jiang Lu nodded.
He was not dissatisfied with Nodens' unconscious contempt, because this was what was most in line with Jiang Lu's expectations, whether it was the inherent arrogance of a superior like Nodens, or this kind of dealing with the old The methods of the Japanese rulers are the most reasonable.
"Let me just say, you have dealt with your mortal enemy for countless years, how can I possibly defeat him? If you say that, then I can accept it."
Nodens said "Yeah" and said: "You and your friends both contain divinity that even I have not seen for a long time. If we put it in the past, you are all expected to become the top ones among the gods. It’s a pity to gather the Lord God”
"Nothing to regret." Jiang Lu shrugged.
In Nodens' view, even though he described Nyarlathotep as so evil and made Jiang Lu understand what a terrible enemy the other party was, he never showed any timidity from beginning to end. Even his eyes did not change, but became more determined.
Even if he knew that his divinity could not make great achievements in this era, he was not arrogant and his mentality was always peaceful.
So Nodens naturally had a good impression of this talented young man who was born at the wrong time, and comforted him:
"It's best if you think so, but you don't have to be too discouraged. Although the godhead has been fixed, you still have the ability to create a new godhead. You still have a chance to become a god. Maybe you can help me this time. Dealing with Nyarlathotep is a rare opportunity for you."
Nodens stroked his fluffy white beard and said with a little pride: "If you can understand some of the mysteries of my divine power, it will be enough for you to benefit from it for the rest of your life."
Jiang Lu's response was just a look that looked at the strange uncle.
In his opinion, such words were not only pretentious, but also disgustingly greasy.
"Okay, don't talk about this." Jiang Lu interrupted this meaningless male behavior and asked instead: "Then the question is, where is Nyarlathotep? How do I find him? "
"Even I can't figure out his whereabouts, but he has appeared frequently in the place where Iheuti is imprisoned recently. It seems that he has some special thoughts about Iheuti. All you need to do is go there and stay there, Nyarlatoti Pu will show up sooner or later."
"Who is Yihewuti?" Jiang Lu asked.
"You don't know her name?" Nodens was a little surprised: "Then maybe you will be familiar with her name. She is called the Elk Goddess in Hyberil."
"I'll blanch it!" Jiang Lu suddenly became excited.
Fate!
"Why are you having such a big reaction?" Nodens was startled by the sudden excitement of Jiang Lu and quietly took two steps back. He looked at his smiling face with some uneasiness, fearing that he had some mental illness.
Because he is too energetic now.
"I admire her very much." When Jiang Lu thought about telling Zeus the good news, he would jump for joy, and he said with some ecstasy: "I even often have people dress up as little elk to commemorate her."
"But..." Nodens remembered what Jiang Lu had said to him when he was in his conscious body: "Isn't that to commemorate me?"
Jiang Lu obviously forgot about this, so he couldn't imagine how such an old man, who didn't even spare ghouls, had the nerve to take such a sacred cosplay type as his own.
"Don't go too far!"
"ah?"
Although he didn't know the reason, Nodens felt that this topic could not be continued any longer.
So he said to Jiang Lu: "Without further delay, let's go back now. You will relay what I just said to your friends, and I will start preparing the ritual that will allow you to summon my divine power."
"Uh" Jiang Lu rubbed his chin and asked seriously: "Then why didn't you just call him over?"
"I don't know why, but I don't like the way he looks at me." After getting along with Jianglu for a while, Nodens' initial social fear has faded a little, and he has begun to become more candid.
"Is it so ambiguous?" Jiang Lu didn't say much, but his eyes became a little weird.
Nodens didn't know about Zeus, but he did.
Maybe Zeus really has some thoughts about Nodens.
If you think about it carefully, you don't get to know each other without fighting, and then you put on your vest in order to gain the other person's approval, pretend to be cool in front of the other person, and finally expose it. Isn't this what the experts like to see?
Although Zeus and Nodens are both veterans, there is no shortage of this kind of subject matter in the history of literature. Although Jiang Lu did not approve and was a little resistant, he expressed respect.
Yes, we are talking about "Water Margin"!
Soon, Jiang Lu and Nodens returned to the trident. Taking advantage of Nodens' preparation, Jiang Lu simply told Zeus everything he had just learned.
Of course, because it was a paraphrase, Jiang Lu went further on the basis of Nordens's non-objective dialectic.
So when Zeus heard that Nyarlathotep copied their ideas, he immediately expressed his indignation.
Under Jiang Lu's vivid narration, Zeus didn't even think about how Nyarlathotep eavesdropped on their conversation.
Jiang Lu is my brother. I believe whatever he says. Can my brother still harm me?
And when he heard that the key figure to deal with Nyarlathotep turned out to be the long-awaited Elk Goddess, Zeus became really excited.
Now, whether it was to combat plagiarism or piracy, or to tease a little elk, Zeus had a reason to do his best.
"What should I say? Didn't my brother trick you?" Jiang Lu smiled: "Not only can I achieve my goal, but you can also supplement your nutrition, right?"
"It can be mended if it can be mended."
Zeus clenched his small fist excitedly: "I haven't even started to replenish it, but it's already bleeding!"
"Nosebleed?"
"No." Zeus shook his head: "I'm talking about the obscene blood flowing downward."
"Very good."
While the two were talking, Nodens was already ready and called the two of them and the cat to his side.
"Because Nyarlathotep is too powerful, the weak divine power I used to give my messengers to summon dragons, knights or other things should not be able to help you, so I decided to let you directly carry my trident.
In this way, when you become one, you will be able to directly connect the bridge from where you are to me, and I can directly cross it. "
Nodens pulled out the trident as an anchor point from the ground and said seriously: "The divine power in this is very huge. I'm afraid it's a bit unbearable for you, but I hope you can persevere."
"good."
Zeus didn't care. He believed that Nodens' level was about the same as him. Although he was only a clone of the original body, it was impossible that he couldn't even carry the magical power of Nodens' weapons.
What's more, he is not the only one to carry it, isn't there Jiang Lu?
However, Jiang Lu felt a little unsure.
He knew that his divinity was almost entirely based on the foundation of the evil god. The hippocampus was just a part of the brain and was not a complete version. Not to mention the evil god's left hand, it was just incomplete. It was not the original body at all, just a fragmented projection.
All the burdens are placed on Jiang Bao, and I don’t know if Jiang Bao can bear it.
So he raised Huang Xiu'e in a hurry and said, "See if she can help us share some of the burden?"
"Meow?" Huang Xiu'e turned her head in disbelief, and Jiang Lu avoided her sight with a guilty conscience.
"How can a cat be used for eh? Wait"
Nodens wanted to say that it was impossible for a cat to withstand his own magical power, but then he thought about it, wasn't this cat also teleported through his own anchor point?
Thinking about it this way, doesn't this mean that she passed the screening mechanism she set up?
That is to say
He observed carefully.
Soon, he saw the shadow of the huge cat bug on Huang Xiu'e's body.
"This is" Nodens showed surprise for the first time in front of Jiang Lu: "Cat Cat Bug?!"
"Oh, you can tell?" Jiang Lu was also a little surprised: "You are quite well-informed."
"You know its race and you dare to take it with you?"
When Nodens heard that Jiang Lu knew what Huang Xiu'e's identity was, he looked at him as if he were a madman: "Don't you know that this kind of creature is very dangerous?"
"Is it dangerous? I think it's okay. As long as you tease her with the cat teaser often, she will get very close to people." Jiang Lu said unconcernedly.
"Cat-catching stick? Cat-cat bugs are actually interested in such mundane things?"
Nodens was incredulous: "Where did you get that?"
"I picked it up. I saw her hiding behind me. I thought no one wanted this girl, so I picked it up."
"What's your tone?"
"Oh." Jiang Lu explained: "I think this tone should be used when describing something picked up on the roadside."
Nodens pursed his lips and looked at Huang Xiu'e carefully.
To be honest, if Jiang Lu hadn't taken the initiative to take Huang Xiu'e out, he really wouldn't have seen that the cat in front of him could be a terrifying cat bug, and it seemed that she was very docile as Jiang Lu said.
Is this one special?
Nodens thought for a long time, and finally agreed to Jiang Lu's suggestion, because he was also worried that although the divinity was very deep, the two people who did not have much divine power would explode and die because they could not bear their own divine power. One more person could The individual who carries it will have more protection.
"It can indeed help you, but you have to make sure it doesn't hurt you."
"Of course." Jiang Lu happily hugged Huang Xiu'e back into his arms and kept rubbing his face against her: "E'e is the most well-behaved, right? Hehehehe, little kitten~"
"Ouch!"
Jiang Lu raised his head expressionlessly, and Zeus shouted in horror: "Where is your nose?!"
"Don't worry." Jiang Lu took out the tip of his nose from Huang Xiu'e's mouth, put it back, and said to Nodens: "My recovery is too slow. Do me a favor and speed up."
"."
After curing Jiang Lu's nose, Nodens let two people and one cat approach the trident with some concern.
"Hold it!" said Nodens.
Jiang Lu, who had experienced it once, held the trident.
Zeus followed suit and held it, and then asked Nodens seriously: "Do you need to blow?"
"You are really good friends." Nodens was speechless: "No, just hold on."
As for Huang Xiu'e, with Jiang Lu and Zeus each holding a front paw, she couldn't help but stick to the trident.
The ceremony begins.
A pale color with a hint of blue light enveloped them.
During the transmission of divine power, Zeus was extremely relaxed. Although Huang Xiu'e was a little uncomfortable, she was not uncomfortable. Only Jiang Lu suddenly started to cry out in pain.
"What's wrong with you?" Zeus's voice came from the light curtain.
"Eagle! Become an eagle!"
Across the light screen, Nodens thought that Jiang Lu's body had become stiff due to receiving a large amount of divine power, so he quickly comforted him: "Just hold on, just hold on a little longer and it will be fine."
"Oops! The divine power wants to take over my body!"
Nodens began to realize something was wrong: "It's impossible. I've dealt with it. Divine power should be very gentle."
But Jiang Lu didn't seem to hear it at all, and kept shouting to himself:
"Ugh! Why, why did they all go there! What an obscene power!"
"Huh?" Nodens began to be confused.
"Sure enough, I was occupied! I was squeezed out!"
"What do you mean by pushing out?" Nodens started to be confused.
Then the anxious voice of Zeus appeared: "No, brother, stop it, hold on!"
"Come and try one!"
"Are you serious?"
"Because I'm about to explode!"
"What the hell? Holy shit! Holy shit!!"
"I feel comfortable, and I feel like I can accept another dose of divine power."
Listening to the conversation between the two and Huang Xiu'e's irritable shouts, Nodens' brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
Finally, everything ended, and the divine power on the trident was transferred to the three people.
Jiang Lu acted as if nothing had happened, Zeus had a complicated expression, and Huang Xiu'e cursed.
Nodens sensed something and looked down.
It seems that I can no longer keep my trident.
"What are you?" He looked at Jiang Lu with an ugly expression.
"Then you can't let me swell to death, right?" Jiang Lu sighed, looking helpless.
Nodens gritted his teeth and finally chose not to pursue the matter.
He closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath, out of sight.
You try to channel my divine power.
"How to direct it?" Jiang Lu added fuel to the fire.
Fortunately, Zeus is reliable. Seeing that Nodens' expression was wrong, he acted as an explanation: "Just imagine gathering these divine powers into your hands and then releasing them."
"Okay." Jiang Lu nodded and started to guide.
Huang Xiu'e followed her instinct and quickly materialized the magical power of the trident she was assigned.
Her teeth became extremely sharp, her fangs gradually lengthened, and her whole body was enveloped in a sharp and killing aura from Jin Ge.
It is obvious that Huang Xiu'e is now the tip of the trident.
As for Zeus, who is wrapped in divine power, his aura is thick and steady, and his sharp edge is restrained. At first glance, it looks like the body of a trident.
As for Jiang Lu, he was as hard as a halberd.
"When Nyarlathotep appears, you can combine my divine power into one, summon me, and then let me hold him down. You can use my divine power as soon as possible to free the gods imprisoned by him. , this is the plan, do you understand?"
Nodens didn't want to say another word to Jiang Lu now, so after a brief explanation, he urged them to enter the teleportation array he had arranged.
After entering the teleportation array, with the encouragement of Zeus, Jiang Lu, who realized his mistake, said to Nodens with some guilt:
"Just leave it alone for now and wait until I come back to help you wash it."
What responded to him was a roar that Nodens, a man who never thought he would one day burst out from his mouth:
"roll!"
Bad news, I went to the hospital today to review the problem of staying up late and having heart palpitations. It took a lot of time and I didn’t have time to write enough. Good news, there is a new group. I will put it up soon.
(End of chapter)
