The Vajra Gods heard their conversation, and although they didn't interrupt (these warrior gods almost never waste words during missions), a sense of disdain and amusement still emanated from their aura—they were surrounded, and they thought they could escape? They were true corporate warriors with a strong sense of military honor, and they wouldn't allow their mission to fail like this!
Professor Albion's judgment was similar, so he was actually prepared to risk his life to clear the way for others.
However, what happened next was completely unexpected by everyone present.
"Professor, since I said I wanted to create a sensational news story here, I certainly won't allow myself to be caught in such an embarrassing way."
At this moment, the Black Prophet actually smiled with a relaxed expression.
"You may take those who are too injured to move. But before you leave, let me show you how I'm going to slap the Mitra Group in the face!"
In the blink of an eye, before the Vajrapani could launch their attack (it wasn't that they were caught off guard, but they wanted to observe further to see if the terrorists would reveal any information), the Black Prophet had already shouted:
"Daughter of Storm and Shadow, an eye for an eye, blood for blood, 'Avenger of the Murderer' Tisiphone! The time is now, let us become one!"
what! ?
As soon as she finished speaking, the "Avenging Angel" spread her dark wings. Amidst laughter, countless black feathers poured out from her wings and even her body, sticking to the Black Prophet.
The Vajrapani gods reacted instantly and launched an attack! The three leading warriors raised their vajras, which suddenly crackled with dazzling lightning. In a split second, with the force of a thunderclap, they blasted towards the Avenging Angel and the Black Prophet. This combined power completely destroyed the superalloy ground at the point of impact. If this attack had been launched outdoors without special protection, it could have leveled an entire city block.
Unfortunately, this attack missed everyone.
Because the vengeful angels and the black prophet are no longer there.
Instead, a figure had ascended to the top of the company lobby, right above everyone's heads! The astonishing aura and power emanating from him were enough to make the other students of the Black God Gang bow down in worship, to startle Professor Albion, and even to make the fearless Vajrapani somewhat horrified.
Because when this high-ranking demon and this mortal merged, their energy intensity did indeed increase dramatically. Their power and might were at least fifty times greater than when they were combined!
A mortal and a high-ranking demon now possess the power to move mountains and fill seas—an incomparably powerful pure force!
Where did this energy come from out of thin air?! It just doesn't make sense!
Therefore, even the Vajrapani, who were originally fearless and genetically immune to fear, are now somewhat confused by this inexplicable situation. Although they are immune to fear, their thinking speed still slows down when faced with completely incomprehensible situations and without the guidance of a true god. This is why "a thousand soldiers are easy to find, but a good general is hard to come by"—a true god general who can multitask and is skilled at commanding celestial armies is extremely important. At this moment, there is no powerful general to command these Vajrapani.
But the erudite Professor Albion saw more than just enhanced power in this unified entity. He now possessed the knowledge to see into the past and future. So when the professor used this knowledge to continue his calculations, the results he arrived at in his mind astonished even himself!
Why was Professor Albion so frightened? Because he instantly deduced the fundamental principles of this fusion technology, and it was these same principles that made him realize this technology was created by the devils and taught to the Black Prophet. These devils had actually come to a new understanding of some of the strongest and ultimate power in the world!
So Professor Albion realized he absolutely couldn't die here. Waving his wand, he immediately grabbed the dozen or so badly injured and immobile former students and began to flee, without a moment's hesitation—he had to get back immediately and personally deliver this message to Hayden and Karen!
Why didn't anyone stop him? Because all the company security guards present were so terrified that they foamed at the mouth, lost control of their bladder, and fainted in an instant. The five Vajrapani gods also had to focus all their attention on this unified entity, leaving them with no energy to stop the professor.
Watching the professor flee the scene with his severely injured students, the being who was both devil and mortal smiled happily: "Very good. Now I have nothing to worry about."
Then He turned to the five Vajrapani gods surrounding Him and said coldly, "In this way, I can kill all of you, the weapons and tools of the new gods, right here!"
Was it the Black Prophet who uttered those two sentences, or the demon he had merged with? The Vajrapani gods, in any case, would never know the answer. One of the Vajrapani gods seized the opportunity of His turning back and unleashed a decisive blow upon the merged life form. Powerful lightning refocused on His Vajra, its force no less than the previous attack.
Unfortunately, the merging mortal and fallen angel were indeed far stronger than the power of the Vajrapani. He raised his longsword and thrust it towards the Vajrapani's vajra. This strike was more powerful than a cannonball, like a rapidly firing missile, carrying a strange black light as it hurtled towards the celestial soldier! Even the surrounding air was drawn in by the power of this strike, forming a powerful vortex that swept everything in the road, from stone bricks to dust, into the sword, where it was torn to shreds by its overwhelming force!
This "everything" naturally included [Vajrapani A]. The sword and the vajra clashed violently, and then an unshakeable force easily shattered the vajra's lightning. The powerful, explosive sword energy instantly pierced through [Vajrapani A]'s incredibly sturdy power armor and body, blasting his body to pieces, turning everything within him into dust!
This sword strike, which easily obliterated the War God race, clearly possessed the destructive power of a "minor god"!
A mortal merging with a high-level demon can actually elevate one to the combat power of a "minor god"—what kind of insane power imbalance is this? What on earth happened? Have the laws of the universe finally gone mad? Have they stopped reasoning?!
The answer is, of course, not so simple, and the situation isn't as rosy as it seems. Because immediately after the sword was thrust out and retracted, two streams of blood gushed from the fused entity's nostrils. This shows that the power that surged out so inexplicably was not acquired for nothing; it had actually damaged its very essence.
[Vajrapani God A] was annihilated, but the squad still has four members. Even if they were all killed, there are still more Mithra warrior gods stationed beneath the company building.
In contrast, the fused entity's current state was nothing short of a final burst of energy before death. After thrusting out a single sword, it was already gushing blood from its nose, and could at most unleash no more than ten more attacks with that level of power.
My fighting Protoss forces are endless, while your strength dwindles with each battle. Death is His inevitable end today.
However, it was impossible for the Mitra Group to capture them alive.
Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Black God Cult already knew they were doomed to die today, and this was their own long-cherished wish. Therefore, the cultists who had been resting on the ground struggled to their feet, each raising their weapons again, charging towards the [Vajrapani] while loudly chanting the scriptures that the Black Prophet had once sung:
"Burn my remains with the blazing holy fire."
What joy is there in living? What sorrow is there in dying?
"To eliminate evil and preserve good is the only way to achieve enlightenment (lucif-el)."
"Pity us mortals, for we suffer so much!"
--------------------------------
Two minutes later, the cultists were all slaughtered by the Vajra Gods. With the fused beings pressing down on them, the War Gods had no energy left to capture mortals alive; they could only kill them quickly.
But at the same time, the fusion of the fallen angel and mortal had exhausted its power. Eleven attacks had already wiped out three full-strength Vajrapani tactical squads. Unfortunately, there were many more inside the building.
But in his final moments, watching the ever-growing number of [Vajrapani] teleporting in to surround him, the fused being laughed with immense joy. Suddenly, he dropped his tattered longsword, folded his black wings, and landed back on the ground. He knelt down, clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and uttered his final curse:
"Light (lucif-el)! Flame (seraph)! Hear my prayer (iwish)!"
"Awaken and return, crush all these false gods, and let the flames of justice burn away this evil world!"
With his last breath, the fused body and soul exploded in flames. The hellfire ignited by the Dark Prophet at the cost of his life burned the first floor of the Mithra New York branch building, reducing all the heavenly soldiers and animals there to ashes.
With the final, earth-shattering explosion clearly visible to half the city, what happened tonight could no longer be completely concealed.
The Black Prophet, having burned away his flesh, his spirit, and his soul, sinks into a second death, plunging into eternal darkness.
Perhaps his final, destructive curse also contained a love for the world.
281: For the New World!
The Black God Gang's suicide attack on Mitra's New Seattle branch ultimately resulted in a huge, unmanageable mess.
First, many people were killed in the incident. Although the lives of ordinary temporary workers are not a big deal, too many deaths can still cause problems. After all, the reason why ordinary people are willing to have chips implanted and receive a daily wage of 20 dollars from the Mitra Group is essentially to be able to live a stable life.
However, even those who dedicate themselves to the company can be killed by anti-company terrorists. This has deterred many from joining. And as Mitra Group's management has been alerted and begins investigating these terrorists, the situation has become even more complicated. Because the company's approach to arrests and investigations is often ruthless and indiscriminate, the consequences can be severe!
As for why the company was so agitated, it was because over twenty [Vajra Guardians] had died in one fell swoop, and even their equipment had been burned. This loss greatly angered the relevant departments, who were determined to arrest several people to take responsibility.
With things having reached such a critical point, Professor Albion had no choice but to lead the survivors of the Sting Gang and the Black God Gang to New Sprout City as quickly as possible.
Now, this has become a problem that Hayden and his friends need to worry about together.
"...With things escalating to such an extent, trying to defend these troublesome students through legal means is probably unrealistic. I think the Mitra Group definitely wants to arrest them and make an example of them a hundred times over."
In the main conference room of New Sprout City, Hayden listened to Professor Albion's explanation of what had happened, rubbed his temples, and sighed.
"But don't worry, Professor. Within the barrier of our [New Sprout City], we can still hide more than twenty students."
Whether he was troubled or not, whether he sighed or not, Hayden was always courageous and responsible when it came to saving innocent lives—however, no sooner had he said that than something unexpected happened.
“These Sting Gang students can be protected, but I disagree with leaving the Black God Gang survivors in New Sprout City.”
Karen, who had finally been teleported back to Newbeam from Europe, now voiced a different objection than Hayden.
Before Hayden could reply, Alastor raised his eyebrows and asked, "I thought you and Hayden established New Sprout City to provide a sanctuary for innocent people persecuted by big corporations?"
This was, of course, an irony. So Karen returned the gaze with an even colder look: "That's right, so I'm willing to take in these Sting gang students. But this so-called Black God Gang is nothing more than a group of terrorists who worship the devil, and they don't fall into the category of 'innocent people.' We can't hide these devils' knives in the city. This could not only jeopardize the construction of the [Life Network], but also disregard the safety of the 700,000 people in the city."
Her words were forceful and resolute. As for whether Karen's words made sense, they certainly did.
But Alastor remained unmoved: "I don't see any terrorists who worship the devil. Ms. Karen, do you think these desperate, out-of-school children used the power of the devil to bomb the company building because they were evil or stupid? In my opinion, these students are neither fanatics nor villains, but just a group of souls trapped in despair. Should we abandon these souls? Is there any justice left if we abandon those who are desperate?"
The two opposing opinions clashed head-on, immediately creating a tense atmosphere in the meeting room.
Karen raised her eyebrows: "Terrorist attacks that bomb company buildings may seem satisfying, but they don't actually kill any of the evil capitalists. The only ones who are truly killed are innocent civilians, and at most, a few more tools of the capitalists' fighting force. Can they change the fundamental evil of the gods? Their actions have no positive meaning whatsoever, and instead harm the innocent. They are by no means justice!"
Alastor shook his head and replied seriously, "This time they blew up the company building, letting the whole world see it. The company couldn't hide it, which proves to some extent that there are still people willing to resist, and that the Mitra Group isn't all-powerful. Even futile resistance is still resistance. Although it can't shake the foundations of the capitalists, it shows everyone that there are people resisting, and that's the point!"
Now things are really messed up; both of them have their own reasons, and the argument gets worse and worse.
"What's the point? Does this change the fact that they're terrorists? These punk kids got carried away, lost hope in the world, and went to self-destruct to gain some posthumous fame, while actually harming truly innocent people!"
Karen grew angrier as she spoke.
"What we are doing now is what can truly improve the world. The fundamental contradictions of this world, at the very least the current economic depression, can be solved with the [Life Network]! How can we jeopardize the construction of the [Life Network] to protect these terrorists who believe in the devil? What are the 700,000 people of New Sprout City in your eyes, as the Network Director? If you truly cared about the people, you should have executed these terrorists, sent their bodies back to Mitra, deterred criminals from indiscriminately harming civilians, and bought time for our plans!"
As a result, Alastor was somewhat provoked by her: "A small person burning himself to blast a hole in Mithra's divine power may not change the overall trend, but it should never be called a futile effort! Tomorrow's change lies in today, and today's change lies in this moment! You only think that once the grand plan is completed, it can change the world. This ignores the suffering that countless people are currently enduring, because no one knows what will happen tomorrow! Even if you cut off the heads of those Black God Gang survivors today and send them back to New Jersey, tomorrow there will be another desperate person who will light this fire! Because death cannot frighten desperate people. Time will perish, and I will perish with you!"
If this argument continues, the two gods might start fighting in the meeting room first. Ultimately, Karen and Alastor are a right-winger and a left-winger, a lawful one and a chaotic one. Although both are good people, they could easily have a brain-teaser.
Fortunately, the true core of this team wasn't the two of them, but Hayden, a more neutral and good person.
"Calm down! What's the point of arguing? We need to solve the problem!"
Hayden tapped the conference table with his staff, producing a soft click. Ironically, although the pure power of these gods surpassed Hayden's, this short, sharp sound somehow silenced the clamor of their argument. The two furious gods turned to look, waiting to see what Hayden would say and whose side he would take.
"The reason these young students would drop out of school, would despair, and would resort to using the power of the devil to blow up company buildings is ultimately because we didn't save them when the Mitra Corporation made their lives unbearable. So they have no choice but to rely on the devil and choose self-destruction."
Then Hayden sighed.
"We've been working on the [Life Network] for months and it's still not done. Panya can only help a dozen or so people a day in New Asia. The rest can't wait for the Dream Flower, they can't wait for help, so some are in pain, some are desperate, and some have gone to join the devil to blow up buildings. Karen, of course you can cut off the heads of those surviving students from the Black God Gang, after all, they did kill innocent mortal employees of Mitra. But I don't think that execution is so honorable... because when they needed help, we weren't there. We were too slow."
These words finally made Karen's expression darken. Alastor also fell silent. Their ideological differences couldn't disappear because of this, but at least they wouldn't continue arguing for the time being.
Because regardless of their thoughts, they at least hoped for a button that, when pressed, would free innocent people around the world from suffering. However, they didn't have such a powerful button. Even if Angela's perpetual motion machine had arrived in this world, there still wouldn't be such a convenient button.
Who should be blamed?
You can't blame anyone, yet you can blame everyone. But blaming anyone is ultimately useless.
So Hayden turned back to Professor Albion and asked, "Professor, what are your thoughts?"
Professor Albion had been listening silently to his students' argument without interrupting, but when Hayden asked him, he finally spoke up: "I don't intend to hide the surviving students of the Black God Gang in Newbud City. You only need to take in Sting and the other kids. The company won't be chasing after them."
……ah?
“The matter has already escalated, and we can no longer rely on defense to withstand divine wrath. The only option is to hide and avoid disaster,” the old professor explained calmly. “And I have already taught you how to avoid disaster.”
Hayden wasn't really stupid; he immediately realized what the professor meant when he heard him say that—does everyone remember how the professor hid the remaining students when Alastor had just become a Dragon Ball a few years ago?
That's right, it's the method of using shapeshifting to evade disaster. Skillful enough shapeshifting magic can allow one to evade the pursuit of the psychic. Long, long ago, the world possessed techniques for using sophisticated shapeshifting to avoid calamities. Even the wrathful thunderbolts of the gods could be evaded using the most advanced shapeshifting spells.
“I need to rest and prepare first, and then I’ll use ritual magic to transform myself and these Black God Gang students. But since we need to hide, we can’t stay in New Sprout City forever. After all, the Mitra Group will definitely suspect you, and then we won’t be able to hide anymore,” Professor Albion continued. “So I will take them to hide in other satellite towns around New Yatu.”
The urbanization of this era is already quite severe. Around megacities like New Seattle (some might not consider a population of over ten million a megacity, but it's a large number for the Federation of America), there are many so-called satellite towns. These satellite towns, bustling with people of all backgrounds, are always ideal hiding places for criminals, offering both offensive and defensive advantages. With the professor's current wisdom and magical abilities, as long as the grand transformation magic ceremony is held in Newbud City first, hiding more than twenty people will be no problem at all.
Since the professor had said so, Karen and Alastor had no reason to argue further and both nodded in agreement.
But there's another issue in this matter. An issue that, in some ways, is even more important than anything else.
“Hayden, I’m not sure if this is my fault for misteaching ‘Alicia’,” the old professor said again, his voice low. “But those demons in New Yatu seem to have regained some of their angelic power. I don’t know exactly how they did it, but that high-ranking demon actually merged with a mortal to temporarily elevate himself to the level of a true god.”
This is actually quite frightening. Everyone looked at each other in surprise, and Hayden asked, "You mean to say that Adam's demons might now be able to use desperate mortals to create an army of thousands of true gods?... I admit that is indeed a bit scary."
Even Mithra couldn't just create tens of thousands of true god soldiers; otherwise, He wouldn't have needed to create the Vajrapani legion.
“But even so… this restoration of the Old Gods…” Thinking of this, Hayden couldn’t help but rub his temples again. “Professor, you’re not suggesting that Adam and his group could actually overthrow the Mithra Group by restoring the Old Gods, are you?”
In the conference room, the gods who usually opposed each other all shook their heads upon hearing this: "Impossible, absolutely impossible."
It's somewhat ironic that, although everyone opposes and dislikes the Mitra Group, they also have great confidence in its strength. Perhaps this illustrates the importance of never underestimating your enemy.
However, seeing the students' reaction, Professor Albion turned to Hayden and said:
"Hayden, in recent years I have been studying the mysteries of time and fate, and have developed some techniques for predicting and calculating the future. As for you, you have always had the talent for foreseeing the future. Now I will teach you this predictive technique. Would you like to combine it with your own precognitive talent and predict what the devil and Adam might do?"
Hayden, of course, had no reason to object; after all, he wasn't stupid and had a strong learning ability. However, he had never liked this technique of using numbers to predict fate, but now he couldn't care less about his preferences.
So Professor Albion performed an initiation, imparting to Hayden the foundation of the supreme knowledge he had comprehended. Hayden, of course, could only grasp a superficial understanding of this foundation during the initiation. But thanks to his innate precognitive abilities, he was still able to combine the theoretical techniques crammed into his head with his own supernatural powers.
Raising his head and gazing towards New Jersey, Hayden observed the stars through his now-comprehended eyes. In the dead of night, among the stars, Hayden's unique vision as a prophet truly saw two stars shining brightly upon the world. Apart from the sun, no other light could compare to them.
This omen and symbolism are absolutely bad.
However, such a superficial "prediction" was not very useful. Hayden pondered for a moment, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
As everyone knows, Hayden's precognitive abilities are inherently unstable, only manifesting suddenly every few days as if he's going crazy, and he's not very good at targeting specific individuals. Hayden could try to supplement his abilities with normal divination spells, but that would be quite complicated to execute.
Hayden discovered that the predictive calculation techniques Professor Albion had just passed on to him, when combined with his existing precognitive abilities, would become more stable, flowing steadily like a gentle stream, and could even be quickly applied in battle. The professor had previously demonstrated how to predict the future in combat, and Hayden would likely be able to do something similar in the future—but such predictions, like Hayden's recent observation of changes in the stars, would certainly not be very far-reaching or detailed.
To see a more accurate and detailed future, Hayden would have to come up with some new tricks... or simply use related predictive media to increase accuracy?
Hayden was a man who acted on impulse, and on a whim, he turned to Abigail Hecate, who was drinking tea and daydreaming in the corner, and reached out to pluck a hair from her head.
Abigail: "!?!?"
"Uh, the Great Devil is a fallen angel, and you happen to be a fallen angel now, and you even have some connection to Adam's side. I reckon your hair could be used as a medium for related prophecies... Hey! Don't kick me!"
In the end, Hayden picked up a hair from Abigail Hecate, closed his eyes, and began to calculate and sense. Following the karmic connection between the fallen angels, and with the help of indescribable mathematical theories, his consciousness gradually detached from his physical body, rising upwards, constantly climbing upwards, crossing the boundaries of three-dimensional spacetime, and beginning to glimpse the future Adam and the future New Yatu.
Soon, Hayden saw what he wanted to see.
He saw the future of New Seattle.
...He saw that the future New Yatu was already a ruin, a corpse.
However, the body was not completely destroyed, because a new city, a new country, had been built on the body in New Yatu.