[You possess the Shell of the Ascended castle steward!]

[Fragmented memories within the Shell gradually awaken…]

[…]

[My master has received an order from my Lord… Belatu has betrayed and defected at the war front and has already been defeated and killed.]

[One of his territories, Bush Cricket City, still harbors a large number of rebel troops who followed Belatu.]

[My Lord is about to dispatch the Pilgrimage Angel nearest to Bush Cricket City to descend divine punishment in the name of the Desire Wet Nurse and chastise all heretics who dare profane the Wet Nurse’s majesty.]

[After the divine punishment, my master is to take over Bush Cricket City until the reconstruction of the city is complete. At that time, Lord Flanda will personally arrive in Bush Cricket City and take control of all territories Belatu left behind!]

[My master does not dare neglect the order. After receiving it, he sets out overnight for Bush Cricket City…]

[When my master arrived in Bush Cricket City, the Pilgrimage Angel had already descended. Unlike previous White-Fleece Snow Seasons, the divine-punishment blizzard is surging and merciless. Those snowflakes dancing through the sky are beautiful yet deadly.]

[Even an Ascended as powerful as my master cannot linger long in the divine-punishment blizzard.]

[Buildings throughout the city collapse and are destroyed under the divine punishment unleashed by the Pilgrimage Angel. Whether it is the War Hatchery or the griffin hatchery pool and other war factories, not a single structure escapes the descent of divine punishment. Only the Emerald Sacrificial Ground, which bears the Wet Nurse’s statue, stands intact amid the blizzard…]

[These war factories had continuously produced rebels. After Belatu’s death, my master can seize back control of the factories and continue to produce loyal frontline soldiers…]

[But the foolish sin of betraying the Wet Nurse must be washed away with blood!]

[Even if the War Broodmothers in these factories lack self-awareness, producing soldiers who are disloyal to the Wet Nurse is an unforgivable act of profanation!]

[By the time my master and I arrive in Bush Cricket City, the divine punishment has already lasted several days. The city has become a field of ruins, with only numerous rebels struck by divine punishment left deranged and mad, lining up to become the Pilgrimage Angel’s food…]

[Among these rebels, I actually discover many maggot-people who have yet to undergo Ascension. This is undoubtedly Belatu’s handiwork, but my master and I are baffled. Why would Belatu deliberately leave behind these defective products…]

[Until my master sees that… alien creature in the blizzard, the one he has never seen before.]

[I cannot accurately describe the creature’s form. It is insect-like yet not, still retaining some traits of maggot-people, but neither Ascended nor maggot-person is a correct way to describe it.]

[Strictly speaking, it is more like a… fungal plant.]

[My master braves the risk of falling into madness to enter the blizzard and forcibly brings back that alien creature. Then we quickly slip into the underground to escape the wind and snow.]

[Even though my master only remained in the divine punishment for a short while, he was already on the verge of losing control and reason and only recovered after a long time.]

[We imprison the alien creature in the castle dungeon and continually observe and study it, attempting to expose Belatu’s plot and report it to Lord Flanda.]

[However, as we continue our observation over several days, we find that the alien creature seems to lack self-awareness. It only glares viciously at people, writhing its plant-like limbs…]

[The alien creature absolutely does not belong to any species we know. It is not an Ascended, nor is it a maggot-person or a demon.]

[My master tells me that this is a brand-new life factor. If we offer it up to the Wet Nurse as a sacrifice, we can receive immense favor.]

[But the sacrifice must be completed before Bush Cricket City’s reconstruction is finished. Otherwise, once Lord Flanda personally arrives, my master will lose his chance at this favor.]

[Having stepped into the divine-punishment blizzard once, my master no longer has the strength to enter Bush Cricket City again. To offer the alien creature to the Wet Nurse, he must either enter the Emerald Sacrificial Ground and go directly to the Sacrificial Cocoon, or obtain the Sacrificial Emblem.]

[Unfortunately, neither is possible. In the end, my master decides to secretly transfer the alien creature to nearby Tentacle City and complete the sacrifice there.]

[The troublesome part is that there are still many of Lord Flanda’s spies hidden at my master’s side. If he wants to secretly move the alien creature, he must plan carefully and leave no room for error…]

[…]

[The fragmented memories end here!]

“What the hell! Nightmare Yuri really was not lying. The one who will take over Bush Cricket City in the future is actually Flanda!”

Thoughts flashed through Lin Xun’s mind one after another.

Why had Flanda disguised herself as an Oathbreaker, pretending to be imprisoned and inviting him to join the Firefly Oath faction?

If Flanda had been acting all along, then how was he supposed to explain the fact that she had indeed betrayed the Wet Nurse and rescued Kim, that half-finished parasitic product?

Kim, like him, possessed parasitic abilities. Could it be that what Flanda wanted was maggot-people with parasitic abilities to join the Firefly Oath in order to carry out some unknown future plot?

Lin Xun could not help but give rise to a thought: to use his newly obtained item to kill Flanda and cut off whatever future conspiracy lay ahead.

He felt that the Wet Nurse and Flanda were playing a massive game. If things were allowed to develop, the Firefly would be in grave danger.

As for himself, facing a complete rout of the Firefly faction, the outcome was obvious. When the nest is overturned, how can any egg remain intact?

But was Flanda that easy to kill?

Belatu’s Barbed Stinger could only kill monsters below demigod level, and Flanda’s strength should not be any lower than a demigod.

With his current strength, killing Flanda was simply impossible.

“…Damn it, do I really have to be a traitor again?”

No matter how he thought it through, aside from surrender, there seemed to be no better option.

But he possessed many Shells with different prefixes. If he joined the Wet Nurse’s Oath, would he not be endlessly milked to death for free?

Once he stood in enemy territory and his only backing, the Firefly, collapsed, he would be at the Wet Nurse’s mercy. Whether he sacrificed or not would no longer be his choice to make.

Unable to think of a way out of this predicament, Lin Xun could only shake his head and set the problem aside for now.

“Let’s go look at the dungeon first…”

[…]

[Kim glances back at you in surprise and asks why you chose to parasitize such a worthless vessel as the steward.]

[The warden is clearly stronger than the steward. Though the steward’s status has its uses, giving up the warden for that is not worth it.]

[You walk past Kim and leave the room, leaving it with a dashing view of your back and one line…]

[The abilities of a bona fide Firefly Favored Servant are beyond its imagination.]

[In the identity of the castle steward, you lead maid Kim down to the first floor of the castle…]

[The many guards and maids you pass dare not meet your gaze. They lower their heads and bow respectfully.]

[Following your memories, you bring Kim to a hidden room.]

[From the concealed passage inside the room, you enter the dungeon…]

[Step after step downward, the dungeon is cold and damp, and a familiar stench fills the air.]

[You have smelled this pungent, rotten stench before. It is like the smell from a pile of rotten, maggot-infested rats in a sewer.]

[You and Kim reach the deepest part of the dungeon and soon see the alien creature imprisoned behind the bars…]

[In the darkness at the very back of the cell is a twisted shadow. The alien creature no longer retains even the slightest trace of its former maggot-person form.]

[Thick, flourishing roots and stems have replaced the maggot-person’s lower body. Lush, vigorous branches and leaves have become the monster’s torso.]

[That twisted shadow, like a pitch-black plant, seems to sense your arrival. Layer upon layer of leaves squirm, and from within, a maggot-person’s head emerges.]

[The maggot-person’s eyes lock onto you, brimming with endless malice, yet its mouth splits open in a soundless grin.]

[The corners of its wide grin stretch almost to its ears. The grotesque smile sends a chill down your spine.]

[You have discovered the Extreme Evil Mutated Maggot-Person!]

“!!!”

“Did I just time-travel or something?!”

Lin Xun felt a wave of cold run through him.

At this moment he recalled the terror once inflicted on him by the Extreme Delusion Fruit. That enormous monstrous face occupying the entire firmament resurfaced once more in his mind.

“What is going on? Did the hellish game bug out?”

He suddenly thought of something.

He quickly tossed his phone aside and manifested several Shells with the Fire-Worshipping prefix in reality.

Pulling open their chests, he checked them one by one. For weak Shells like the Imperial Swordsmith, the branch-and-leaf tattoo on the chest had begun withering as soon as he possessed them, and now had faded to the point of vanishing completely.

The malice tattoo on Saio Chisoku-hime’s chest had also faded to a blurred state. He believed it would not be long before it disappeared entirely.

Meanwhile, on the chests of the Palace Master of Iya Palace and the Ninja Master, although the tattoos had also faded sharply, there was now a faint sign of them coming back to life.

“Could it be…”

Lin Xun immediately summoned the Nine-Tailed Fox and ordered her to strip.

The Nine-Tailed Fox raised a delicate brow, thinking her master wanted to play a game like ‘guess where the tail is’ again. She instantly slipped into character, assuming a coquettish pose with a look that was both shy and inviting, her eyes full of seductive charm.

Lin Xun could not care less about that right now. He directly tore open the Nine-Tailed Fox’s clothing at her chest…

Indeed, above the woman’s full bosom, the pitch-black malice tattoo was likewise showing signs of making a comeback, just like on the Palace Master and the Ninja Master.

The stronger the Shell, the deeper the malice tattoo.

Whether by possessing a Shell or accepting it as a pet, Lin Xun could block the erosion of malice, allowing the tattoos to gradually fade until they disappeared completely.

But fading the malice tattoo required a long time. It could not be accomplished overnight.

After finishing the Evil God arc, he had examined the body of his shikigami, the Snow Woman. The tattoo on her chest had already faded away entirely.

If nothing had gone wrong, then in the near future, all his Shells with the Fire-Worshipping prefix, as well as the Nine-Tailed Fox, would have been free of the malice tattoo.

Now that the malice tattoos were showing signs of rekindling, the Ninja Master, the Palace Master of Iya Palace, and the Nine-Tailed Fox all shared a common trait…

A trait different from that of Saio Chisoku-hime and the Imperial Swordsmith.

The Ninja Master, the Palace Master, and the Nine-Tailed Fox had all appeared in the divine-punishment blizzard of the Pilgrimage Angel.

“…I get it now!”

He had once sacrificed a Shell of the Fire-Worshipping Head of the Ogiwara Clan to the Wet Nurse. That Shell was extremely powerful, and the malice tattoo on its chest had certainly not yet fully faded.

The Wet Nurse might not have obtained the Fire-Worshipping life factor from the clan head’s Shell, but she definitely extracted part of the Extreme Evil life factor from it.

“It is just… why would the Wet Nurse infuse the Pilgrimage Angel with Extreme Evil life factor?”

When the Pilgrimage Angel stirred up the White-Fleece Snow Season, it was both divine punishment and blessing, only a matter of dosage.

The Wet Nurse was most likely trying to create more organisms containing the Extreme Evil life factor.

Based on the information he had so far, Lin Xun faintly developed a thought that made his own back go cold.

“Crap, now things are really getting out of hand!”

“I should never have sacrificed that Shell!”

There was still an item in his Inventory that had absorbed an overflow of malice from the previous arc: the Mature Fruit of Evil.

[Mature Fruit of Evil (Special Item): The pitch-black fruit has absorbed countless malicious thoughts and has finally ripened, awaiting harvest.]

[When this item transforms from Newborn Fruit of Evil into Mature Fruit of Evil, you will attract the unrelenting gaze of the Extreme Delusion Fruit. Even if you discard or destroy the item, you cannot divert the god’s gaze!]

Gritting his teeth, Lin Xun tried clicking on the item.

[You cannot draw the gaze of the Extreme Delusion Fruit in this chapter!]

“Just as I thought…”

Each chapter was a different world. The world of this chapter did not contain the Extreme Delusion Fruit. Of course, clicking the item could not bring the Evil God’s gaze here.

[…]

[Being stared at by the Extreme Evil Mutated Maggot-Person makes Kim’s skin crawl. She tugs your sleeve, indicating that you have already seen the alien creature.]

[Next, will you kill the alien creature so that Nightmare Yuri cannot complete the sacrifice, or will you take advantage of the fact that you have not been discovered and hurry away from this place?]

After some thought, Lin Xun chose the latter.

If his deductions were correct, the Firefly faction’s odds of victory were already as low as they could possibly be.

While the main god, the Firefly, had not yet fallen, he had to squeeze as many benefits out of this chapter as he could.

The best possible outcome now was for the Firefly to hold on until the end of the chapter, allowing him to clear it and obtain an interpretation rating.

If the Firefly could not hold out, he would leave the chapter and start a new one.

That was still better than being pinned beneath the Wet Nurse and forced to hand over his Shells…

He and Kim left Belatu Estate smoothly, one using stealth, the other mimicry.

After settling Kim somewhere safe, Lin Xun turned around and returned to the castle once more.

He was going to hand the Sacrificial Emblem over to Nightmare Yuri and let this story character complete the sacrifice.

Although he did not know whether the Wet Nurse, who had already acquired part of the Extreme Evil life factor, would still bestow favor, this was the plan he had come up with that allowed him to reap the most rewards.

“Choosing the Firefly faction really does mean being besieged on all sides.”

Originally, aside from Kim, there had been another ally in the Oath faction not inferior to a demigod, Flanda.

Now it seemed Flanda was never truly on his side, and he only had Kim as a helper.

[…]

[You possess the Shell of the Ascended Brutalist Warden!]

[You stride toward Belatu’s castle estate and are soon stopped by guards at the outer bailey entrance.]

[You take out the Sacrificial Emblem and tell the guards that you have completed the Lord’s trial and have come to hand in the item.]

[The guards do not recognize you at all and block you firmly, refusing to let you enter the castle.]

[It is only because one of the guard leaders seems to have previously followed Nightmare Yuri to the Plaza Beneath the City and thus recognizes your appearance, remembering that there was indeed such a matter.]

[He tells you to wait here while he goes to report to the Lord…]

[…]

[Soon, the guard leader returns to report and signals for you to follow him to see Lord Nightmare Yuri.]

[The guard leader leads you into the main building of the castle. From his tone, he seems quite friendly, apparently believing that you are about to become a loyal servant under the Lord’s command, a servant like the steward…]

[…]

Lin Xun gave a cold laugh.

After he handed over the Sacrificial Emblem, he would probably be the first to die.

But that was fine. Lord Nightmare Yuri of his was not going to live much longer either.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep