NOVEL WEB Chapter 665: Fear as the Anchor
'The Original Sin of the ancient "Azure Holy Flame"... is called "Paradise Banquet."'
Chen Lun tightly shut his eyes.
He raised his head, and the force field quietly dissipated.
The pouring rain drenched his body and washed away the bloody tears from his face.
The name of the Original Sin of the Azure Holy Flame was a stream of information he acquired last while on the "Ark," but besides that, there was no more information.
'The ancient is indeed too powerful; even with my current strength, just observing from afar nearly caused me to lose control... One billion Sanity harvested from players was directly reduced by one hundred million.'
Chen Lun slowly opened his eyes.
A deep sense of dread and gravity flashed in his eyes.
He looked down again at his palm.
'Moreover, there is a giant problem... Although I arrived in reality through the Promotion Ceremony and can act here, the Sun Continent is too far from here, and the anchor point for the "Azure King" can hardly support my "cross-district" activities.'
For the higher beings, Faith and anchor points are both essential.
Faith represents Sanity and ensures that the higher being will not be overwhelmed by contamination and lose control, which is not a concern for Chen Lun at all.
He still had four billion in Sanity reserves.
However, anchor point signifies "existence;" without it, a higher being cannot sustain activities, or else they will lose themselves in Strength.
To give a vivid analogy, if a higher being is a train and Sanity is the coal, then the anchor point is the track... without an anchor point, the fastest train will eventually lose itself in the boundless "desert of Strength."
It may still have Sanity, but it will simply forget who it is.
The best result is merely transforming into an "Agent" of a Sequence or authority.
If Chen Lun lost all anchor points, he would no longer be Chen Lun but an Angel of Destiny wielding the power of "secrets"... He could be called "Nameless," or "Azure King," but definitely not "Chen Lun."
Of course, this is hypothetical.
As long as his love for Floey remains passionate, his obsession will keep him remembering who he is... at most, it will only limit his freedom of action.
On the Sun Continent, higher beings rarely go out of control due to the lack of anchor points.
After all, anchor points are generally composed of "influence," and the higher beings on the Sun Continent have basically directly or indirectly caused significant influence; otherwise, they would not be able to fulfill the Promotion Ceremony requirements.
But Chen Lun's situation is extremely special at the moment.
He traveled over an unknown vast distance and arrived on Azure Star, lacking anchor points here, making it impossible to sustain activities.
To solve this problem, Chen Lun quickly had an idea.
A simple and brutal yet very effective idea.
"Everyone, I need you to do me a favor."
He turned around and spoke softly to Dongyang and Chenxi.
"Mr. Jack, please go ahead."
Dongyang and the others hurriedly lowered their heads and said respectfully.
Chen Lun said a few words indifferently.
The ten people present were instantly dumbfounded, with faces full of incredulity.
What shocked Dongyang and the others even more, followed immediately—
Ping!
[You have triggered the S-level side mission: Fear as Anchor!]
Mission Description: "King in Azure" Jack Spett has come to your homeland, Azure Star, and He needs sufficient influence as an anchor point.
He entrusts you and your companions to spread fear for Him.
(Note: Refusal will have serious consequences, choose carefully!)
Mission Goal: Make enough Federation residents feel fear for "King in Azure." (No less than one hundred million people / rewards can be stacked)
Mission Rewards: 200,000 Experience Points, 10 Attribute Points, and 5 Region Fame Points.
Mission panel?!
Spreading fear?!
Dongyang and the others were dumbfounded, their brains' CPUs couldn't process, and they short-circuited on the spot.
What the hell is going on?!
Why did the game's panel appear in reality?!!
'Hmm?'
Chen Lun noticed Dongyang and the others' abnormalities.
Although he knew his commission was indeed shocking, it shouldn't have caused them to wear an expression as if they'd seen a ghost.
Discreetly performing "Mental Steal," Chen Lun instantly got the answers he wanted from Dongyang and the others' minds...
'They can actually receive panel prompts in reality!'
Chen Lun was also surprised.
His thoughts turned swiftly, and using his superhuman intellect, he soon thought of the most significant possibility—
Could it be...?
The last Four Seasons Bookmark?
Perhaps the answer is related to it.
'Only by truly obtaining "Blooming Flowers" can I verify this conjecture... but before that, I need a sufficiently deep anchor point to support the activities of this body.'
Chen Lun stood silently in the rain, thinking.
*
*
*
Half an hour later.
Dongyang and the others wore brightly colored raincoats, walking with their heads down on the bustling street, perfectly blending into the crowd.
The technology-infused streamlined hovercars roared past them on the roads beside them, streaking beams of light.
Soon, they stopped at an enormous plaza.
Even on a rainy day, it was still bustling with people.
"The most crowded area of Splendid City, Star Valley Plaza."
The Horseman's voice echoed in the private channel.
Dongyang looked up, staring at the front of the Star Valley Plaza, where a massive screen, over a hundred meters high, hung in front of a commercial building spanning the plaza.
On both sides, there were two secondary screens, supported by two other tall buildings, slightly smaller in size but still impressive.
At this moment, the three large screens were displaying advertisements, promoting the latest technological products from various consortiums.
For instance, the "9.1A Electronic Pill," which can significantly enhance male stamina; it not only works on humans but also covers various chip modules, including "special prosthetics" of all models...
Making men stronger and more powerful, turning them into nighttime beasts.
"We come from the future to change the present, while you live in the present to create the future."
The famous actress "Sully Hafen" had silver long hair and wore a form-fitting silver long dress. Sitting on a white chair, she held a transparent crystal tube the size of a fingernail with one hand and spoke in a seductive mechanical voice.
Finally, the screen displayed the Doug Consortium's logo.
Dongyang withdrew his gaze and said in a deep voice over the channel:
"Act according to the plan, let's begin."
"Received."
The other team members, who had already dispersed, responded one after another.
Chenxi and Honey Pomelo, wearing light purple and pink hooded raincoats respectively, navigated through the rain. After buying two mixed juices from a beverage shop window at the edge of the plaza, they headed straight to the rain shelter by the central flower bed.
There were many glass round tables and chairs for people to rest and dine. After sitting down, Pomelo tacitly placed her bag on the table and took out a small laptop.
Chenxi casually received it, and while sipping her drink, connected the data cable behind her ear to the laptop, starting to tap on the keyboard rapidly.
It looked like a casual work session.
Around the plaza, there were countless people like them, making them hardly noticeable.
Soon, with a clicking sound, Chenxi tapped the Enter key with her slender, long index finger. Her gradient purple nail polish and the colorful keycaps intertwined, looking quite attractive.
Buzz——
The sound system hidden in the decorative sculptures around the plaza suddenly emitted an unpleasant electric current noise.
The bustling crowd stopped in their tracks and frowned, looking at the big screen. Even some men and women resting under the large umbrellas of the rain shelter turned their heads to look.
"What's going on?"
"So noisy!"
The big screen, originally playing an advertisement, suddenly flickered and then went black.
Immediately, the screen transitioned, revealing a figure.
The man looked very young, his appearance flawless.
But his outfit was very vintage, wearing a black top hat, a black suit, and holding an ivory white carved cane, a style from hundreds of years ago.
On the big screen, the man stood upright on the rooftop of a skyscraper hundreds of meters high, standing on the railing, amidst the heavy rain.
Facing the camera, behind him was the bustling scenery of Splendid City.
"Good day, citizens of the Federation."
The gentleman in the top hat wore a calm expression.
His deep and magnetic voice resonated throughout the entire plaza through the high-tech sound system, even overpowering the pouring rain.
"Here, I regret to inform you of some bad news... Because the Federal Government and the Azure Holy Church refuse to submit to me, henceforth, the entire Federation will suffer my divine punishment..."
"Hahaha!"
"Which company launched this new ad?"
"It should be a creative short film from the Red Consortium, right? It's not bad. Although the style is old-fashioned, it's quite fresh. Makes me want to try changing into one too!"
The crowd in the plaza laughed and pointed at the big screen.
Some men and women under the rain shelter couldn't help chuckling, discussing and even commenting on the stranger on the screen, thinking he looked quite good. They wondered which cybernetic surgeon's cosmetic technology and custom modules he used.
Pa!
Chenxi pressed the Enter key again with her index finger.
On the laptop screen, dozens of program windows popped up, with code auto-executing at high speed, scrolling continuously.
"Sister Chenxi, it seems Doghead Bro and the others succeeded."
Honey Pomelo whispered beside her.
Chenxi nodded.
The plan was progressing smoothly.
Doghead Gold, Forget No Taboo, and Dragon King acted separately, forcibly breaking into the highest-grade signal station in Splendid City, and inserted her backup chip into the server.
Chenxi successfully hacked in.
Beep beep!
At this moment, everyone in Star Valley Plaza, even pedestrians on nearby streets, received an unknown text message without exception.
The crowd stopped, curious and puzzled, opening their personal terminals.
But they were astonished to find that the holographic projection from the message was identical to the one on the big screen!
It was still the man in the black hat and black suit.
The camera gradually moved forward, and the gentleman opened his arms.
He grinned at the camera.
"Please remember, please hate passionately... I am the King in Azure, Jack Spett."
"What the hell?! What's going on?!"
"Which consortium did this?!"
The crowd suddenly erupted into a clamor.
Many frowned, dissatisfied with this kind of spam message.
BOOM!!!
Suddenly, a loud explosion occurred.
A giant sculpture in the center of Star Valley Plaza exploded violently.
The intense tremor and flames immediately filled the crowd with inexplicable fear.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
Explosions continued one after another around.
The walls and glass of skyscrapers shattered and burst, and landscape trees and high-tech iconic decorations were all destroyed.
The momentum was huge, shaking the earth.
Woo woo alarm sirens rose one after another, piercingly loud.
Women began to scream, and the crowd frantically scattered.
Chaos broke out all around.
The rain became more torrential, and panic began to spread.
However, the crowd originally thought it was a terrorist attack planned by rebels or cyber psychosis, but the next scene quickly overturned their speculation—
Amidst the crackling sound.
Countless debris and shards of glass, even raindrops, defied the laws of physics and floated upwards.
Then, larger objects, like tables and chairs, flowers and plants, sun umbrellas... until even the ground cracked, slate and large sections of wall, and even an entire building floated up.
Everyone gave up fleeing.
Each face was filled with fear, staring blankly upward at the apocalyptic scene.
A massive "celestial body" formed by countless fragments gathered together, covering the entire sky above Splendid City, blocking out the sun.
"Is this the apocalypse foretold by the Holy Church..."