Summon investigators from all over the world to New York?
Zong Yan sat up in his bed with a jolt. His fingers kept swiping the screen.
The seriousness of the situation was beyond what he'd imagined.
News media all over the world were reporting on the conditions in New York. Zong Yan hurriedly scanned the stories. The photos showed all of New York City shrouded in a dark, oppressive fog. Not a single light was visible through the gloom. It was a disturbing sight.
To make matters worse, the black fog continued to spread. Philadelphia and Boston, which were close to New York, were now affected by the same phenomenon.
So far, no one knew if the black fog might have other effects. The World Health Organization collected samples for testing. While they didn't observe any adverse impacts on the human body, they also hadn't found a way to disperse the fog.
Currently the world's media attributed all of the strange phenomena to the nuclear power plant leak that happened near New York. However, a few third-rate tabloids had begun to claim that these were signs of the biblical apocalypse.
Three or four days had passed since the nuclear power plant leak, and almost the entire population of New York City had already chosen to evacuate.
But New York was the financial heart and lifeblood of the United States, so after symbolically listing the areas that needed to evacuate, the governor didn't force the inhabitants to leave.
The nuclear power plant accident was a blow to the international image of the United States. However, every member of Congress was well aware that the problem was actually related to the occult world. They weren't interested in roiling the financial markets over such a small matter.
Even with the evacuation order, they were able to manage world public opinion until the morning of the next day.
When the sun rose over North America, the entire continent was bathed in sunlight—except for New York City, which remained in unending darkness.
This mysterious phenomenon was reported all over the world. Simultaneously, reporters from Europe unearthed a few blurred photos previously shot in New York. That was how news began to spread of biological mutations caused by nuclear radiation.
At least, that was how ordinary people understood the story. As a member of the occult world, Zong Yan knew how close it was to the truth.
There was nothing more urgent than a gold notice issued by the Spire Council.
Zong Yan anxiously logged into WeChat, looked at He Yuan's circle of friends, then tapped the registration button in the MU app.
He was now the tenth Monarch. The greater his power, the greater his responsibility, and Zong Yan was the only person who understood his true level. He was more effective than a dozen Monarchs.
Although the disaster was in another country, there was only one human race. Politics wasn't a concern of the occult world.
He Yuan had returned from the Middle East a long time ago. In the picture he'd just posted, he was clearly in front of the landmark Empire State Building in New York.
The guy never concealed a thing from his circle of friends.
With that as an excuse, the rest was easy.
"I have to go save the world. Right now New York is in danger. As the tenth Monarch, it's my duty to leave."
Zong Yan's thoughts were full of righteousness, and his face brimmed with wholehearted sincerity, frankness, and honesty.
And yes, it had taken Zong Yan more than fifty hours to master half of his high school physics material.
Yog-Sothoth was an extremely strict teacher. The omniscient and omnipotent Lord wouldn't allow any student to lose points after receiving his instruction.
He made it clear that he expected Zong Yan to get a perfect score in physics.
And it was precisely because of his strict requirements that Zong Yan, who'd just gone through a grueling learning session, felt so spiritually exhausted.
Maybe mental fatigue could be recharged at any time, but spiritual fatigue could only be healed in other ways.
Zong Yan didn't tell anyone about his trip to New York, especially He Yuan and Si Yan. He just silently signed up on the MU app, then contacted the MU Logistics Department. When the Logistics Department saw that a Monarch level had joined, they viewed it as perfectly reasonable and immediately arranged flight tickets and other amenities. They worked at lightning speed, and the flight was due to leave that afternoon.
Which was exactly what Zong Yan was hoping for.
Saving the world was a lot better than receiving another one-on-one tutoring session from Yog-Sothoth.
Zong Yan immediately packed his bags and surreptitiously carried them down from the second floor.
While Zong Yan was moving his luggage, the Black Pharaoh, who was occupied with his own matters, asked without lifting his head, "Father God, are you going somewhere?"
"I'm headed to New York." Zong Yan looked around warily. "Where's Yog?"
"No idea. Didn't that guy pause time before? He left after that."
Nyarla fiddled with the gamepad in his hands. He was playing the latest game released by the Great Race of Yith, 《Ancient Scrolls 5》. The game's open world format was of great interest to the evil god. Unfortunately, when Zong Yan looked over, all he could make out were some sort of strange psychic fluctuations crossing the screen.
It's good he's not here.
Zong Yan breathed a sigh of relief and his movements became much bolder. He openly carried his suitcase down, then went to the small, semi-open kitchen to fix a simple lunch.
"New York's been pretty lively lately. I have a few avatars in the area watching the show."
Zong Yan held the soup spoon in his hand. "What in the world's going on there?"
Only now did it occur to him that Nyarlathotep, an evil god with countless incarnations who were always in the thick of things, probably knew the situation like the back of his hand.
"The ghouls who live there are running riot."
The Black Pharaoh lazily threw away the gamepad and collapsed onto the wide sofa. His long black hair slid down like silk.
Nyarlathotep had been busy lately. His numerous incarnations were either actively making trouble for Cthugha and Nodens, or in transit and on their way to make trouble.
The Black Pharaoh had been sitting on the couch like this for several days in a row.
"It's probably Ghroth."
So it was Ghroth again.
If the song of Ghroth reached Earth, the entire planet would be destroyed by the subsequent violent natural disasters.
"How much time is left?" Zong Yan was worried.
"Ha." Nyarla let out a short bark of laughter. "If the ghouls succeed in their plans, maybe half a month."
Half a month?!
Zong Yan almost doubted his ears. "Ghroth is going to arrive in half a month?"
"No, no, no. The ghouls are still in the process of summoning their god. If their god revives, the stars will return. That will cause Ghroth to travel deeper into the galaxy, and then the Great Old Ones on Earth will awaken."
The Black Pharaoh stretched his back. "But don't worry, you'll be fine. You'll die in the human sense, but your spirit will return to the eternal Father God. Human beings are such fragile things."
The evil god was usually a bit tone-deaf, but at that moment he finally revealed the extent of his vast indifference.
Just for a moment. A flicker and it was gone.
"Of course, if you want to save these humans, Father God, all you have to do is use the card of His Majesty Azathoth."
In a place where Zong Yan couldn't see, the evil god revealed a treacherous smile. "If the avatar of the Father God reveals himself, Ghroth will submit to you and depart obediently."
As if to increase the credibility of his words, Nyarla added a seemingly candid complaint, "The Father God really likes humans ah."
"Mm."
Zong Yan responded while suppressing the turbulent waves in his heart. His expression didn't change. He finished eating, washed the dishes, and dragged his suitcase into the taxi. Only then did his face suddenly turn cold.
The black-haired teen clenched his fists and his knuckles began to turn white.
Without question, Nyarlathotep's intentions weren't good.
And Shub-Niggurath directly contradicted him.
One warned him not to use the Azathoth card because he didn't want the Lord of the Universe to awaken.
The other tempted him to use the Azathoth card for reasons that were unknown.
But if you started from Shub-Niggurath's warning, it wasn't impossible to deduce.
The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young didn't want the Lord of All to wake up, while Azathoth's most devoted follower was willing to do whatever it took to return the Father God to the world.
One of these two evil gods wasn't telling the truth.
Or maybe—
They were both lying.
As Zong Yan squeezed his fist, his fingernails dug into his palms, leaving deep half-moon marks in the flesh.
He was a high school student. He hadn't even reached adulthood yet. It was true that he'd matured early because of his childhood experiences, but he was now in a situation where he couldn't trust anyone around him, and he couldn't help feeling overwhelmed and depressed.
Forget it. Put all of that aside. The most important thing right now was the situation in New York.
The black-haired teen took a deep breath. After paying the taxi fare he walked into Jiangzhou International Airport.
The MU Logistics Department had already booked his ticket. All the flights to New York had been halted, so Zong Yan had to fly into the nearby Philadelphia International Airport. After that he would contact the local Logistics Department of the occult world and travel to New York.
He went to the refill station in the airport and got some water, then found a random seat and waited for boarding to begin.
Even after sleeping for a long time, Zong Yan was still exhausted.
Since it was an emergency booking, the plane was full. The Logistics Department had only been able to book a business class seat, not first class.
When Zong Yan got on the plane he planned to put on his eye mask and go back to sleep. But the moment he glanced over he almost got the fright of his life.
In the business class seat next to his, an evil god with gray hair and golden eyes was looking down, casually flipping through the book in his hand.
"Coming?" Yog lifted his eyes. "Since you're almost rested, let's continue. After you finish your lessons, the plane will take off."
Zong Yan: "..."
His pupils quaked.
---
He Yuan was in the passenger seat, driving down the interstate.
There were almost no other cars on this stretch of road as far as the eye could see. But the traffic in the oncoming lane was moving like a snail. There was a long line of cars.
They were heading into New York, while the New Yorkers were fleeing.
After the nuclear meltdown, U.S. authorities sent troops to seal off the city and pick up stranded people in the process.
The occult world didn't have much time left. The situation in New York had only gotten worse, so today was the last batch of evacuations. Whoever didn't make it out would be locked inside the city for good. It was a last, desperate measure.
Ghouls could disguise themselves as humans. That was the latest information received by the occult world.
As time went on, the number of ghouls disguised as humans would only increase. It had become necessary to look at the overall picture.
Because so many people left in a hurry, there hadn't been time to evacuate a lot of supplies and materials.
Some of the homeless who were less well-informed and didn't know about the evacuation order ran happily to the city's abandoned grocery stores, completely unaware of the grim purgatory they were about to face.
He Yuan sighed. Then, suddenly, his eyes narrowed.
He saw the recruitment list on the app.
The list of candidates was arranged by rank, and Monarchs were at the top. For example, when the ninth Monarch Si Yan signed up for the campaign to save New York, his name stood at the top of the list.
Just now, behind the ninth Monarch's name, the red letters 【Tenth Monarch Zong Yan】 had silently appeared.
---
The author has something to say:
Zong Yan: On the plane I finally finished studying physics
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TL Notes:
circle of friends - 朋友圈 - A WeChat feature known as "Moments" in the English version of the app. It's frequently called "circle of friends" in tl'd webnovels because of its name in Chinese. The feature allows users to create circles which consist of mutual friends. They can share pictures with captions, statuses, and links, "creating an intimate and private communicating circle within the users' choice of close friends" (Wikipedia)
Ancient Scrolls 5 - 上古卷轴5 - The correct translation is probably "Elder Scrolls 5", but it seemed weird to have the Great Race of Yith release a game with the exact same name as Skyrim
"One had warned him not to use the Azathoth card" - Shub's warning was in Ch 52