Chapter 459: Ritual of the Other Gods
After dealing with the Spikes monster, Xiao An and the others ran out of the cultist base. The cultist base was established within a lush forest, surrounded by towering trees, making it impossible to discern direction.
"What is this place?"
"It should be near the desolate mountains. I remember there were trees like this at the foot of the mountain."
"Which way should we go now?"
"How about climbing a tree to get a look?"
...
These people had all been knocked unconscious by the cultists and brought into the base. No one knew which direction the city was in.
"Excuse me, do you know which way we should go?"
The young man inquired of Lin Ye.
"I don't know. I don't even know the direction of your city. However, there was a map on that monster just now, marking the locations of some cultist bases. Are there any prominent landmarks near the city?" A Red Frog hopped onto Xiao An's shoulder, holding a folded map in its mouth.
"Can I take a look?"
The young man caught the map spat out by the Red Frog. He quickly found the direction of the city by identifying some obvious landmarks.
Everyone moved in that direction. The survivors who had undergone the Alien Deity ritual were in very poor condition. They soon couldn't walk anymore and fell behind the group.
Only the young man stayed close to Xiao An. His physique was quite good; even missing a few parts, he could keep up with Xiao An's pace.
After Xiao An installed the new mutation organs, those mutation organs were assimilating with her body, incidentally strengthening her physical fitness.
"Should we wait for them?"
Xiao An didn't slow down but asked Lin Ye what to do.
"No need. The enemy is ahead. If they get too close, they'll easily get caught in the crossfire."
Lin Ye sensed the mental energy of that giant Consciousness from before. The other party had fused their mental energy into the Alienation flesh and blood, granting power to those cultists implanted with it. When these cultists died, their mental energy would be devoured by the other party. This was the sacrificial system of this world.
Soon, a squad composed of cultists approached Xiao An and the others, but before they could act, they were taken care of by the Red Frogs ambushing the path.
The structure of these Red Frogs was very simple; they were essentially biological projectile launchers. They would disguise themselves as ordinary frogs, stealthily approach the enemy, then shoot out the tongues in their mouths to attack and rip out the enemy's vital points.
The Red Frogs' tongues were engraved with composite runes of Cut, speed, and power. Ordinary enemies couldn't withstand such attacks. Furthermore, these Red Frogs excelled at coordinated swarm attacks. Even the stronger among those cultists found it difficult to defend against multiple tongue strikes.
After killing an enemy, the Red Frogs would also lay eggs inside the enemy's corpse to hatch more Red Frogs.
Although these Red Frogs appeared simple, they not only contained multiple runic technologies like Parasitism but also combined techniques like card printing and flesh-and-blood Alienation. They were Lin Ye's first high-tech product created after studying various technologies.
Soon, more Red Frogs appeared around the group. They wouldn't attack the lagging survivors, only those cultists whose bodies contained the Alien Deity's flesh and blood.
As the number of Red Frogs gradually increased, the cultists approaching Lin Ye and the others died faster and faster. They didn't even need to get close to Lin Ye; they would be shot dead by the spreading Red Frogs, which then hatched even more Red Frogs.
The surroundings of the group echoed with the rising and falling chorus of frog croaks. Some Red Frogs would even bring back items from the cultists' bodies and hand them to Lin Ye.
If Lin Ye mastered spatial power in the future, he could even send these Red Frogs out to collect resources for him.
This was Lin Ye's Traveling Red Frog Project.
Lin Ye distributed the supplies from the cultists to the survivors. Most of them had been in a state of prolonged hunger.
"Alien Deity, may I ask what I must offer to request you to perform the Alien Deity ritual for me?"
The young man had originally intended to observe further, as he still had other options. But Lin Ye's performance made him feel that if he missed this chance, such a good opportunity might never come again.
"You don't need to offer anything. I can help repair your body and grant you power far exceeding that of those cultists. However, your body will thereafter be completely under my control. Furthermore, accepting my power also means being affected by this power. You will never be able to live a normal life again. That's why I didn't help you repair your organs."
Lin Ye was connected to many dangerous Planes, and his technology couldn't be considered safe. These ordinary people really shouldn't get involved with him.
"Please perform the Alien Deity ritual for me."
The young man knelt before Xiao An, bowing his head in respect.
"Please perform the Alien Deity ritual for us."
The remaining survivors all knelt behind the young man, begging Lin Ye to perform the ritual for them.
These people previously had no access to channels for performing the Alien Deity ritual. Now, seeing Lin Ye so approachable, none of them wanted to miss such a great opportunity.
"...Alright then. This is your own request. I hope you won't regret it in the future."
Lin Ye merely swept his gaze around, and the surrounding Red Frogs hopped onto these survivors, beginning to Alienate into mutation organs matching them.
In just a few minutes, Lin Ye completed this group Alien Deity ritual.
"I feel full of strength all over!"
"Is this the Alien Deity ritual?"
"Excellent! My right hand grew back!"
"Sniffle... my brother grew back too..."
...
The survivors excitedly moved their bodies. At this moment, they didn't yet know what price they would pay... not even Lin Ye knew.
"You are that newly appeared Alien Deity?"
A man in tattered clothes appeared less than twenty meters from Xiao An. His body was covered with wounds pierced by Red Frog tongues, but these wounds didn't seem to have affected him too much.
"You're the boss of this cult?"
Lin Ye had noticed the man long ago, but since the man hadn't directly attacked, he was willing to chat with him for a bit.
"No, I'm just an enforcer working for the cult, the strongest enforcer."
The man stared at Lin Ye. He actually didn't like talking to enemies, but just as he was preparing to ambush Lin Ye, he suddenly had a premonition of impending death.
"What a coincidence. I used to do similar work before. Back then, I was also the strongest enforcer of the organization."
Lin Ye recalled that Gray World incident about the Trump Card enforcer.
"This is my honor. May I join your side?"
The man moved slightly closer to Xiao An.
"Of course not. You're the cult's strongest enforcer. You must have done many bad things like kidnapping. Doing bad deeds means you must be punished. I don't have the hobby of dealing with my own people."
Lin Ye waved his front claws. The surrounding Red Frogs let out heavy croaks one after another. A large number of Red Frogs hopped and jumped closer to the man. No matter how resilient he was, he couldn't fight against so many Red Frogs; otherwise, his body wouldn't bear so many wounds.
The man still didn't move, as if he didn't see the Red Frogs gathering towards him.
"How many more individuals do you need to gather before you can activate your ability?"
Lin Ye asked curiously.