Chapter 934: Chapter 934: Will You Shed Tears When You Know the Truth...
The monsters’ gatherings always have unexpected developments, from feasting to group brawls to poetry recitations under the moon, often switching within seconds. Sometimes, even without a switch, this reckless bunch can suddenly get excited. They’re used to this lifestyle, and the artificial gods of Olympus, who often hang out with them, seem accustomed to it too. When Ibuki Suika cheerfully jumped in front of the bonfire to announce she wanted to fight the Dragon God, no one showed surprise, instead, there was a fervent response. Even Zeus only paused slightly before looking in our direction, his eyes inquisitive, to which I nodded slightly, indicating no objections to the affair.
After all, watching Suika, the lively one, being tossed around by Lin is indeed a fun sight. Since tonight was decided to be a carefree, relaxed night without any concerns, let’s just join them in the mischief. At worst, we’ll work a bit harder later and have Ling Meng and Yukari come to clean up the battlefield.
Speaking of which, it’s not like I really have to do anything...
The summit of Mount Olympus boasts a vast Giant Stone Square. These stones were made from experimental materials left by the Old Empire’s Imperial Expedition Team from the Ancient Era. Their sturdiness almost rivals the highest-grade interstellar warship alloys, but even such sturdiness might not withstand two powerful kings wrestling. So, under our command, Zeus added a double insurance layer to the square and activated the fortified defense system inside the temple. Instantly, the wide ground of the Giant Stone Square exuded a faint blue light, which flickered for a moment before gradually sinking into the cracks of the stones, making it appear as if it had returned to its original state. However, sensitive people could already sense a significant change underfoot compared to before.
"By using a dormant Ghost Energy Field to create interference, it’s possible to fix particles with specific resonance periods in space, even stopping their quantum effects," Sandora lightly tapped the ground. "Coupled with the high-speed processor needed to synchronize the force field, it becomes a ’Recharge Armor’ that exceeds the material defense limits. Particles fixed in a dormant Ghost Energy Field can even ignore the pull of a black hole because they’re anchored in all dimensions, no longer just relying on intramaterial forces to stay intact. Among all physical armor, Recharge Armor using Ghost Energy Technology ranks first. Compared to it, neutron star material is like comparing tin to a steel plate."
"Life is full of science too."
Lin Xue summed up deeply.
I thought for a moment, bewildered, "Who needs such brutal stuff in life?"
"I think our fridge and washing machine should both have a layer of Recharge Armor," Big Sister said worriedly, "before Lin dismantles them all."
Alright, it seems like this is indeed essential science for life.
The atmosphere on site was already heated, but there were still some unwilling to join in the fun, like Youyouzi in the distance leisurely drinking tea with a few serene ’old monsters,’ though now no one’s attention seemed focused on them.
"Um, do we really have to fight?"
Lin had already donned her special war robe, which was really just a set of lightweight, form-fitting armor. A white, soft cape, a short war skirt interwoven with metal and leather, and a beautiful hair accessory called a goddess crown, which was really just a golden headband. This was the holy armor of Dragon God Lin, looking as though she’d just returned from a Hawaiian hula dance, breezy and cool. She had already been dragged to the arena by the remaining four members of the Tiaozi Five who loved chaos. Across from her stood Ibuki Suika, gulping down wine and already swaying. Around them was a large open space, plenty of room for these two powerful kings to stretch their muscles. No need to worry about accidental injuries, but even though passionate cheers abounded, Lin looked rather unenthusiastic. She nervously twisted the edges of her clothes and repeatedly asked me with a hint of tears, "Can’t we not fight?"
"See, we don’t bully her on purpose," Monina spread her hands, shaking her head with a wry smile. "Born to be a pushover, she even ran away the first time she met her archbishop due to stage fright and forgot her words. Wouldn’t you bully someone like that?"
I admit, encountering someone like Lin, if you don’t take the chance to bully her a bit, you’d feel regret.
"Lin, don’t worry! The arena is absolutely safe. As long as you don’t use your Divine Form, nothing will happen!"
The one utterly carefree individual on site was next to me, hopping around, loudly encouraging the somewhat timid Dragon God little sister, waving a little flag snatched from who knows where. One side of the flag read ’Same World, Same Dream,’ while the other read ’Congratulations on the London Olympics finally concluding.’ I found this quite fitting with Qianqian’s image, full of an ahistorical sense.
I understand why a dignified Dragon God would recoil in an obviously non-threatening contest. It’s because her frequent mishaps have left her with a psychological shadow. The things she botched up rival Dingdang’s retake exams, leading to her severe lack of self-confidence in everything over time. She’s afraid of accidentally hurting Suika. By nature, Lin is a kind and timid being, deemed underage by the Divine Race’s standards.
Yet, under Qianqian’s encouragement and especially due to her three teammates and a big sister diligently pushing her into the fire pit, Lin finally made up her mind. She lightly bumped her fists together and said to Ibuki Suika not far ahead, "Then let’s just spar a bit. As we agreed, I’ll only use this form and definitely not the Divine Form."
Not using the Divine Form means Lin’s power would be astonishingly limited, and she wouldn’t carry the divine aura. She might try to compress her strength to the level mortal imagination can grasp for "fair" competition with Suika, the Mighty King, but we all know such fairness was nonsense from the start. Could Suika defeat a Star Domain Divine Race?
That girl simply had a little too much to drink.
"Don’t use that dragon form; that way, I can’t chip off your scales," Suika hiccuped, scratching her hair in a daze, but after a silly smile, she nodded with self-awareness. "Though you really use that strength, we truly can’t compete. Uh, but even if you don’t use the dragon form, I won’t hold back, so... Maximum power on!"
Suika suddenly shouted, without warning, activating her special ability, then at an unbelievable speed, rapidly "grew"!
Enlarging, that’s this big horned Lolita’s signature skill, the Giant Suika!
I felt waves of heat behind me and turned to see Pandora and Visca looking like they were about to trigger an overload alarm.
To watch a creature not much different from oneself suddenly grow over a hundred times taller must be quite a pressure. Ibuki Suika, in the foreseeable future, might stick to avoiding those two around 3’11".
"Hehe, with such a giant body, you won’t find it easy to win effortlessly like last time," Suika said while looking down at Lin. Although her height multiplied nearly a hundred times, she’s now transformed into a three-head-proportioned Q-version giant Lolita, ridiculously amusing, but undeniably, her current height has completely reversed the disadvantage from when Lin casually flicked her into a basalt pit. At least in this stature, Lin flicking Suika with a fingernail wasn’t happening. "Now, you’d better be careful, God Sister, I can effortlessly topple a mountain with my strength... Take that!~"
The giant Lolita, speaking midway through her vengeance declaration, suddenly changed expression, and her stamping foot froze in mid-air. The spectators, puzzled, watched briefly as she deflated like a balloon, shrinking to her short, big-horned Lolita form, bouncing around the arena, holding her foot and hollering wildly, "Ouch, ouch!! It hurts, it hurts!"
Lin remained standing in the same spot, unharmed. Noticing the attention on her, she turned and gave me an innocent look. I saw she maintained an arm raised posture, seemingly planning to catch Suika’s stomp with it just now.
Cui Xiang was still crying and shouting, hopping around the field on one leg while I was still puzzled. Big Sister looked for a long time and then murmured uncertainly: "Could it be... just hit the Yongquan acupoint?"
Everyone was shocked, and I pointed at Cui Xiang’s direction and exclaimed: "Do demons have Yongquan acupoint?"
"Whatever acupoint it is, stepping on a nail must be uncomfortable, especially on the sole," Lin Xue suddenly shuddered, looking at Lin, who maintained a towering pose, with shivers, "I swear, this is the most bizarre competition I’ve ever seen in my life..."
Lin inexplicably won this challenge but seemed baffled. Her physics teacher probably died early, as did Cui Xiang’s. Maybe their physics knowledge was taught by Uncle Zhao, who sells pancake rolls. Anyway, when Monina cheerfully pulled her down, the dumb Dragon God was still in a daze. Seeing this, I began to lament that sometimes innate qualities indeed determine one’s destiny. Lin, such a weakling, relies on the Divine Race’s perverse talent to stand undefeated. These instances aren’t rare throughout history. Not to mention, you could see that when something fell on their heads, Newton discovered gravity, while Ximen Qing only found Pan Jinlian... Speaking of which, isn’t this topic a bit off course?
"Boring, boring, I thought it would be fun." Qianqian threw down the small flag dejectedly, planning to continue mingling with a bunch of dolls to snack and drink. However, as soon as she lifted her foot, a little girl’s shout came from the dispersing crowd: "Hey! Hey! I haven’t gone on stage yet! I’m the best! Who wants to compete with me?"
I turned my head and saw Chiruno hopping towards us, with a non-fluorine frequency conversion sticker on her forehead. This guy was directly rushing over here, perhaps thinking her speed was fast, but as soon as she jumped, I pinned her head in the air: "Why didn’t you invite me? I want to come to such a fun thing too!"
I first tore off the non-fluorine frequency conversion sticker from her forehead: "Who stuck this thing on you?"
"Her," Chiruno happily pointed at Lilina, who was tricking Flandre into drinking soy sauce from more than ten meters away, "She said it’s a necessary mark of an excellent elf!"
I immediately went over and flicked Lilina’s forehead: "Does it feel accomplished to bully the simple-minded all day?"
Chiruno was completely unaware that she was being bullied and didn’t think about getting her label back. She just fluttered around nearby, looking to start a fight, but unfortunately, no one was interested in paying attention to this noisy idiot. The demons, having discovered that the originally most anticipated match ended in a silly manner, were already uninterested and returned to the big bonfire to drink and chat. Chiruno fluttered around the plaza for half a day and ended up doing her old job, with a huge washbasin on her head, starting to wander around selling popsicles.
And it was just then that a huge blue-white beam suddenly rose from the edge of the distant city, tilting towards the center of Atlantis City with a low, melodious horn sound, leaving a bright, large light spot right at the center of the shield over the city.
"Woo—" The deep horn sound began to echo from various corners of the city. From atop Mount Olympus, all the torches and holy fire altars were blazing brighter than before. The flames, like roaming fiery serpents, moved throughout the city, and then a second blue-white beam rose from another position in the city, scanned across the city’s edge, and slowly tilted toward the central sky above the city.
The demons erupted in a lively cheer, Wenwen flew high into the sky, desperately taking photos of beams rising from various directions of the city. Zeus stood up, holding a scepter emitting ghost energy lightning, and stomped on the ground thrice, loudly shouting: "Light!"
"What’s going on?"
I had never seen such a scene before, so I immediately grabbed a demon passing by and asked, but the latter meowed and ran away without a trace—it was Cheng Miao, the kid who knows nothing.
Luckily, Cheng Miao’s caretaker was following behind. Lan had a cheerful smile, and pointed at Atlantis City, gradually surrounded by numerous beams, and said: "It’s the Nightfall Ceremony! The big guys hold the Nightfall Ceremony every ten days!"
Big guys, of course, refer to the Atlantians, but what exactly is the Nightfall Ceremony held every ten days?
The Nine-tailed Fox was gentle and had a much better personality than the ever-troublesome Yukari Yakumo. She immediately explained this unique religious custom among the Atlantians to us. Although she was a demon, her understanding of the Atlantians seemed quite profound.
The Nightfall Ceremony, as the name suggests, is a religious activity held when night falls, but it’s not just to welcome the night. According to mythology, long ago, in the ancient era before the Atlantians were favored by the gods, the earth was full of huge, ferocious fierce beasts—mammoths, evil dragons, giant pythons. These terrifying creatures made all humans live in fear. Although the Atlantians used their wisdom to build houses from mud and stone, and lit torches at night, they still couldn’t resist the beasts’ attacks on villages during the night.
In that era of rampant beasts, the night was terrifying for humans. Even the Atlantians, who had established cities and dazzling civilizations, would face fewer deaths when confronting the beasts compared to border barbarians.
And it was during that era that the capital of Atlantis’s ancient civilization almost faced disaster.
Because of a catastrophe, later analyzed to have possibly been a volcanic eruption, the biggest settlement of ancient Atlantis near the mountains lost their habitats and went on a rampage harming people. Countless huge fierce beasts rushed out from the harsh mountain woods and were driven by magma and sulfur flowing from the mountains to the lowlands, surrounding human towns. After the magma solidified, it formed a highly toxic blockade line, trapping humans and beasts in a deadly cage to seize survival space. The siege formed by natural disasters lasted for exactly ten days.
The lava burned the cropland, and the toxic sulfur steam caused slaves in the wilderness to die suddenly. The weakened but more bloodthirsty beasts surrounded the precarious city. The stone and ancient wood walls were cracked by mammoths, and Brown Horned Dragons continually charged into the city from the sky, braving the arrows and javelins to hunt humans. By the end of the ten days, the entire city was no longer capable of any resistance, facing imminent destruction.
On the tenth day, night fell. The beasts, active at night, started stirring again. Humans began to despair, as the city was bound to be breached that night while the army sent by other cities to aid was blocked outside the valley by volcanic ash, seemingly breaking all hope. Then...
Just as everyone imagined, the Imperial Expedition Fleet arrived on Earth that very night.
Twelve ghost energy bombardments pierced the night, almost instantly annihilating the beast army charging towards the city. Then, the Heavenly God War Chariots, enveloped in lightning and fire, descended from the sky.
This is the beginning of Atlantis mythology and even Earth’s mythological history. In Atlantis civilization’s relief carvings, it is called "The Arrival Day of the Tenth Night," or "The Twelve Lights."
This is the origin of the Nightfall Ceremony: held every ten days in large cities, using twelve laser beams aimed at the sky to symbolize the Imperial Expedition Fleet’s original arrival. The ceremony’s starting time strictly follows the legendary god’s arrival: two hours and twelve minutes after the sun’s lower edge touches the horizon.
Hmm... wait, something seems off...
Two hours and twelve minutes... two-zero-one-two... Damn it, is the "disappearance of the sun" and "earth-shattering change" actually referring to the nightfall and aliens having their first BBQ on Earth?! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you’re welcome to visit Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)