True Apocalypse Game

The moment Cthulhu finished speaking, a dozen or so people emerged from the surrounding darkness. They wore robes adorned with eye patterns and held strange tools in their hands.

The tools resembled electric drills, but they were clearly modified. The motors on the back were frighteningly large, all trailing long cables, and they even appeared to have electromagnetic shielding.

The drill bits even shone with the gleam of brilliant crystals.

They were pinky-sized diamonds, polished and cut into the shape of spiral drill bits.

Cthulhu said,

"Antichrist, I know you possess astonishing durability—even bullets can't pierce your skin. That's why I had new instruments of torture made especially for you: De Beers drills with genuine diamond bits. There are few things in this world that can withstand these drills, and your body is no exception."

De Beers Diamond Company is the world's largest diamond conglomerate, controlling the pricing of the entire industry. Their long-standing marketing campaigns have allowed them to rake in enormous profits. Although prices have dropped significantly in recent years due to industrial diamonds from Hua Country, they still maintain huge profit margins.

Shen Feng nodded slightly. Apparently, the Purification Society had members within the De Beers Company as well.

Normally, such information would be top-secret for the Purification Society, but Cthulhu was convinced he had Shen Feng cornered and didn't care if he let a few secrets slip.

Taking one of the drills, Cthulhu looked at Shen Feng and said solemnly,

"I have to admit, you truly are the strongest being beneath the gods. You even used the Whispering God to thwart the Master of the Void, another Divine Spirit, playing them both like fiddles. I admit I could never have accomplished such a feat. But all that ends now. This is the moment your legend dies. As for your so-called Salvation Army, those ridiculous mortals... they'll fall apart on their own and scatter to the winds after you're dead..."

Shen Feng chuckled darkly and said,

"Those damned prophetic sketches are really getting on my nerves..."

Cthulhu had obviously been able to set this trap and find him entirely thanks to those so-called prophetic drawings, and there was definitely more than just the one he'd seen earlier.

Cthulhu nodded, pulling a stack of papers from his voluminous robes and spreading them out one by one before Shen Feng.

There were a dozen or so pencil sketches in all. They depicted everything from Shen Feng's arrival in Mexico City, to the Hypnosis in Spider Nest City, the self-propelled artillery destroying Musk's underground equipment, the trip to Medellin, Colombia, the Gray Tide annihilating Martin Benitez's men, the helicopter ride to their current location, and finally, Shen Feng imprisoned in the alloy cage. And on and on.

They had almost completely mapped out Shen Feng's movements over the past period, and they had done it in advance.

"Seeing the future is one of the boons the Whispering God grants to us Purifiers, and proof of his miracles on Earth. While you were hunting Purifiers, I was preparing to hunt you. In order to precisely predict your location, we consumed most of the Spiritual Children the Society has stockpiled over the years. After all, ingesting the Spirit Awakening Potion causes acute cerebral hemorrhage, leading to brain death."

Cthulhu spoke slowly, as if he were talking about ants being stepped on by the roadside. "But compared to hunting the Antichrist, such a price is utterly insignificant."

As he spoke, he tossed the sketches—each one obtained at the cost of who knows how many children's lives—into a nearby fire, letting the flames burn them to ash.

The smile vanished from Shen Feng's face. He watched Cthulhu in silence.

Cthulhu, however, now wore a faint smile. He sat down outside the cage, opposite Shen Feng, and said,

"The electromagnetic pulse will hold for a full day. We can have a nice long chat."

"What's there to talk about? Haven't you ever heard that villains die from monologuing?" Shen Feng said, leaning against a metal bar of the cage as he looked at Cthulhu. "Although I have plenty of questions of my own..."

Cthulhu laughed.

"Are you talking about your rescue? That AI of yours? Don't worry, the electromagnetic pulse has an extremely wide range. It has no way of breaking through the shield. If it tries to force its way in, it will be destroyed itself."

He then gave Shen Feng a deep look and said,

"Wielding a vast Nanomechanical Cluster as a weapon, assisted by a top-tier artificial intelligence, founder of the powerful Salvation Army that includes elites from every industry in the world... I must say, you truly are the strongest existence beneath the gods, the one closest to divinity... But even so, you are still just a man. Have you ever wondered why the Whispering God, fully aware of your existence, still allows you to live, why he has spared your life?"

"Because he can't take me down, obviously," Shen Feng said with a dismissive curl of his lip.

"No. It's because the Whispering God admires your existence. He wants you to become an agent of destruction as well." A trace of envy even appeared in Cthulhu's eyes.

"This is the highest, most supreme honor. If you just agree, you will surely become one of the eternal..."

He had spent decades, dedicating his entire life to the Whisperer, just for the promise of eternity. Yet this young man before him had so easily earned the Whisperer's favor. How could he not be envious and jealous?

Shen Feng shrugged, feigning nonchalance, but a flicker of interest flashed in his eyes. He said aloud,

"I didn't realize I was so popular. The Master of the Void said something similar back then. But he was too weak. It seems the Whisperer beat him and sent him packing..."

As a master psychologist and Master Hypnotist, Cthulhu instantly caught Shen Feng's flicker of interest and said with a smile,

"The so-called Master of the Void is merely a higher-dimensional being, a lesser Divine Spirit at best. He can't compare to a true god. The Whisperer is the God of Destruction, the God of Death, the God of Eternity. Only by following the Whisperer can you find your true purpose. After all, you are the Antichrist chosen by the Whisperer, and I am this world's Savior. When we join forces, we can finally purify this world."

Shen Feng couldn't help but roll his eyes. The man's understanding of the word "Savior" seemed to be wildly different from his own.

Cthulhu, sensing the wavering in his opponent's heart, decided to strike while the iron was hot.

"The power you possess is already close to that of a Divine Spirit. You must have also sensed the hypocrisy and foolishness of mortals. They are unworthy of coexisting with gods, just as they are unworthy of coexisting with us. Only death and destruction are their final destination... Open your heart to the Whispering God and find your true self... It may take time, but I believe you already have the answer in your heart..."

Seeing Shen Feng remain silent, Cthulhu continued,

"Before that, perhaps we can open up to each other and deepen our understanding. It would also give you a chance to appreciate the greatness of the Purification Society and the Purifiers... Perhaps we can start with how you came to possess such immense power... Your very appearance is bizarre. Although the Whispering God has always warned us Purifiers to be wary of your arrival, after so many years, we had almost dismissed it as a delusion. Then, a few months ago, you suddenly appeared and, with devastating ease, destroyed the Purification Society's years of painstaking work... So, where does your power come from?"

His voice had a melodious, rhythmic cadence, like a beautiful piece of music. Accompanied by the whistling wind, the dancing firelight, and the crackling of wood, it was soothing to the ear, making one feel as if they were talking to an old friend.

But it wasn't just that. There was also a resonance from the Consciousness Field and the unique aura of the Sacrificial Stone's magnetic field.

A vacant expression appeared on Shen Feng's face, as if he had been swayed by Cthulhu's words. He didn't answer the question directly, but asked instead, "The Whispering God... is he really that powerful? Has everything I've been doing... been wrong? What exactly is the Whispering God? Does it have a physical form? Is it a higher-dimensional being from a Parallel Cosmos? Or a manifestation of humanity's desire for destruction, a Ghost of the collective unconscious? Or some other great being? Have you ever seen the Whisperer with your own eyes?"

His voice was filled with confusion and inner weakness. It also had a melodious cadence and a peculiar rhythm, blending perfectly with the surroundings, as if the sounds of the wind, the fire, and even the magnetic field were all in service to his words.

Cthulhu's expression darkened slightly, but he continued with a warm smile,

"The Whispering God is inscrutable. His existence is beyond the imagination of us mortals. But I have felt his great will—which tolerates no argument and demands absolute reverence—and I have heard his divine voice..."

Shen Feng's eyes remained vacant as he continued to ask,

"So you're saying he's never actually appeared in person? Has he ever manifested any miracles so that we mortals could witness his divinity? Why doesn't he just wipe out Earth himself, as easily as flicking away a speck of dust?"

Cthulhu chuckled darkly and said,

"The existence of the Whispering God is beyond doubt. Every one of us Purifiers is living proof of his miracles! He could destroy this pathetic, dust-like planet at will. The reason he entrusts this trivial matter to us is simply because he disdains to do it himself and wishes to test his followers."

At this point, Cthulhu's expression shifted. The smile vanished in an instant, his eyes filled with killing intent, and he said menacingly, enunciating each word,

"Do not try to hypnotize me! And stop pretending you've fallen into a deep state of Hypnosis! I require sincerity—sincerity towards the Whispering God!"

The look of confusion and fear on Shen Feng's face vanished instantly. He leaned back against the bars of the metal cage, looking somewhat bored, and said,

"Tsk, tsk. How boring. Neither of us can hypnotize the other, so there's no point in carrying on like this... How about we just keep pretending to hypnotize each other and trade some intel?"

Cthulhu gave a chilling smile, shook his head, and said,

"Forget it. I was too hasty, trying to persuade the Antichrist to submit to the Whispering God... It seems the only fate for the Antichrist is sacrifice, after all."

Saying this, he grabbed the electric drill beside him and said to his men,

"Kill him."

In the next instant, motors roared to life. The diamond-polished drill bits spun at high speed as the Purifiers lunged, aiming them at Shen Feng in his cage!