Chapter 125: One Hundred Twenty-Three: Rendezvous (Two-in-One)

One Hundred Twenty-Three: Rendezvous (Two-in-One)

The rain was pouring down in buckets. Drake turned on the windshield wipers and glanced at the rearview mirror, only to find that those fierce and crazed monsters were no longer in sight, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

He had heard Li Nuowei's recent suggestion and said, "Can this experience be considered a gain for you?"

Li Nuowei nodded. "It's a path I've never walked before. All this time, we've either chosen to go deep into the Air Raid Shelter or land on the island, but no matter which way we went, both were almost dead ends. I never expected to find something else here. Moreover, this also let me know that the guy named Ma Hong didn't actually die. It seems I'll have to be even more ruthless if I want to finish that guy off."

Drake tapped his head with his fingertips. "As long as there are gains, that's good. I, too, have finally unraveled some long-standing mysteries, and the entire sequence of events regarding the Mysterious Disappearance Case finally has a relatively clear and complete picture."

In the early days of humanity, before the Anhai Divine Society appeared, humans living in coastal areas were dominated and ruled by sea monsters. To survive, humans chose to "sign" contracts with the sea monsters, exchanging regular sacrifices for peace. Over time, this formed a unique and bizarre belief culture.

However, the sea monsters' appetites grew larger and larger, and they were no longer satisfied with the initial number of sacrifices. Humans suffered under the tyranny of the sea monsters, unable to find a way to solve the problem, and remained in a state of suppression.

Where there is suffering, there will be an eruption.

Finally, on the day the Anhai Divine Society descended, the status quo of the sea monsters' survival was hit with a powerful impact.

As a visitor from beyond the heavens, the Anhai Divine Society needed to survive on this planet and grow its own power, which meant it had to infringe upon the sea monsters' living space. Thus, the Anhai Divine Society and the sea monsters began to fight openly and secretly; on the surface, it was a struggle between the two factions, but in the shadows, the Anhai Divine Society was doing everything in its power to annex the sea monsters' believers.

The Jiaoren Disease that caused the Mysterious Disappearance Case was born at this moment. Initially, the Anhai Divine Society injected "Gospel" into the treasures and fish it "bestowed" upon its believers, using this method to smuggle in private goods and slowly spread something akin to a "Curse." This curse could turn people into the Anhai Divine Society's kin, typically by turning them into fish-men.

Humans who received these "bestowals" from the Anhai Divine Society had this "Curse" implanted into their bloodlines from then on. They could pass it down through reproduction, cultivating new fish-men generation after generation. It is worth noting, however, that this transformation carries risks; not everyone succeeds one hundred percent. If they fail to evolve organs for breathing underwater, those people will drown directly upon entering the sea during the transformation process. Those who succeed in the transformation dive into the depths of the sea and never return, abandoning their human identity to become the kin of the Anhai Divine Society.

Later, in the battle between the Anhai Divine Society and the sea monsters, both sides suffered heavy losses; the sea monsters were sealed, and the Anhai Divine Society fell into a deep slumber.

Because the Anhai Divine Society fell into a slumber, no one could see "divine miracles" in their faith or profit from them anymore. Consequently, people stopped believing in the Anhai Divine Society, and the Anhai Divine Society gradually declined, leaving only a group of loyal believers who secretly held on until now.

The slumber of the Anhai Divine Society may have also caused the Jiaoren Disease to stop manifesting. Those who carried the cursed bloodline could not transform into fish-men like their predecessors. This is why, before this Mysterious Disappearance Case occurred in Liuhua Port, there were no records of similar cases, making it difficult for people to trace the source of the investigation.

But, the day of the Anhai Divine Society's awakening, as prophesied by the Anhai Divine Society, is approaching. The long-slumbering Anhai Divine Society finally showed signs of waking, causing the humans living near its place of slumber who carried the cursed bloodline to resonate with it. Their spirits communed with the Anhai Divine Society and its kin in dreams, while their bodies, due to the activation of the curse, began to undergo the fish-man transformation as the Jiaoren Disease took effect.

Those Jiaoren Disease Patients who succeeded immediately went into the sea, while those who failed died on the spot. The large number of unexplained disappearances and deaths in a short period naturally caught the attention of the Xuanmi Group.

He, Drake, as an important part of that prophecy—the God's Child mentioned in the prophecy—was a key link in the revival of the Anhai Divine Society. Influenced by the unknown or perhaps called by fate, he returned to his hometown.

His mother must have sent him out of the Shenzhou Region while she still maintained her humanity, bringing him to New York on the other side of the ocean, and disappeared after leaving behind a nursery rhyme that served as a "warning," likely to draw away the fire.

Drake guessed that this was his mother's way of wanting him to stay away from the place of trouble and escape his own fate.

Unfortunately, Drake still returned.

Nowadays, the Mysterious Disappearance Case is no longer a simple case, or rather, preventing people from disappearing is no longer the most important thing to do. Their most urgent task now is to stop the revival of the Anhai Divine Society.

As long as her revival can be stopped, other problems can be easily solved.

As for the method to stop the revival of the Anhai Divine Society, the only one Drake could think of was a stopgap measure that did not address the root cause and could not achieve his implicit goal: to release the seal of the sea monsters, let the sea monsters fight the Anhai Divine Society again, and have them fight to the death until both were crippled.

But the impracticality of this method lies in the fact that the battle between two Alien Gods would inevitably recreate the past catastrophe; a massive tsunami would once again sweep through coastal cities, which naturally goes against their original intention of not wanting innocent people to be involved.

Drake looked at Li Nuowei: "After going to the Air Raid Shelter, what do you want to do? Release the seal of the sea monsters?"

Drake thought Li Nuowei's idea would be the same as his, yet Li Nuowei denied his statement and said seriously, "The seal is perfectly fine; there is no need to break it. Letting the sea monsters out will only exacerbate the suffering of the people. We have another purpose for going to the Air Raid Shelter. Remember the Green Light Gem I mentioned before?"

"You mean that thing that might allow me to lift the Jiaoren Disease and return to being a normal person?" Drake still remembered, after all, it was a matter of life and death for him.

"That Green Light Gem has a restraining effect on the power of the Anhai Divine Society. If it is used as a weapon against the Anhai Divine Society, there should be a chance to kill the opponent." Li Nuowei nodded, calmly stating the ambition he still could not give up. "I want to solve the problem of the Anhai Divine Society at its root. As long as it is killed, you won't turn into a fish-man, and ultimately, you won't die."

Drake fell silent. He could see that Li Nuowei was serious. The other party's initial talk of "God-slaying" was not just empty words; he truly intended to do it.

"You guy, you're truly crazy." Drake grinned.

Staring at you at me, It's a slow dance……

Drake's phone rang suddenly, and the phone in his pocket was vibrating.

Hearing the ringtone, Li Nuowei froze in place, because this phone call had never occurred in any of the previous reincarnation timelines he had experienced, which meant that everything still contained variables he was unfamiliar with.

Drake was also curious about who would have the time to call him at this moment. He threw the phone to Li Nuowei and let him answer it.

A pleasant female voice came from the phone, the tone leaning towards mature and cold. "Hello, is this Drake Wu? This is the Xuanmi Group."

"I am." Drake answered without much consideration. This phone was provided by the mission contact person. If there was nothing wrong with that contact person's identity, then anyone who could get through to this phone was basically one of his own.

"I am Yu Lianyun, Captain of the Xuanmi Twelve Zodiacs Tiger Team." The woman identified herself and then said seriously, "Investigator Drake, I am issuing an order to you as your superior to terminate your mission immediately. The rating of this Abnormal event has been raised to A-level and is no longer within your scope of business."

Hearing this late order, Drake couldn't help but laugh out loud, but his laughter was filled with a bitterness that only Li Nuowei could understand.

"Investigator Drake?" Yu Lianyun on the other end also heard Drake's laughter and couldn't help but be puzzled.

Drake sighed. He looked at Li Nuowei, his eyes filled with hesitation, as if asking for his opinion. Li Nuowei seemed to understand his thoughts and nodded at him with a smile.

Only then did Drake say, "Captain Yu, is it convenient for you to start a video call on your end?"

"……What do you mean?" Although Yu Lianyun was puzzled, she still sent a request to switch to a video call.

Li Nuowei, who was holding the phone, immediately agreed to the video call invitation and aimed the camera steadily at Drake, who was driving.

Less than two seconds after the video call connected, a sound of shock and doubt came from Yu Lianyun's end.

"Drake, you!?" Drake noticed the woman in the video, drenched from head to toe and wrapped in a blanket, looking at him in shock.

Drake rolled his golden-yellow eyeballs, bared his shark-like teeth, and said calmly, "As you can see, I have no way back now. I have no reason to give up this mission."

Yu Lianyun rubbed her forehead in distress. "This is truly unexpected. I didn't expect that you, coming from across the ocean, would also be burdened with the curse of the Jiaoren Disease…… In that case, there is no need to say more. I presume that after reading the materials we sent you, you have a rough concept of your own situation and an estimate of what stage of transformation you are in and how much time you have left."

Hearing Yu Lianyun's words, Drake nodded. "I know, that's why I am so eager to solve this Abnormal event. This is also for my own good."

"What solution do you have?" Yu Lianyun frowned, hearing a hint of confidence in Drake's tone. "Did you investigate something within the land?"

Subsequently, Yu Lianyun noticed the anomaly of Drake, who was talking to her, and asked, "There is someone else with you right now. Who is it?"

Hearing this, Drake was just about to say something, but saw Li Nuowei flip the phone and aim the camera at himself.

Li Nuowei chuckled, waved at the camera, and greeted the beautiful woman on the call: "Hi, I am Li Nuowei, and I am currently Drake's private partner."

Hearing Li Nuowei's self-introduction, Yu Lianyun was puzzled: "Private partner? Are you also an Investigator?" She looked at Li Nuowei with some disbelief. From his appearance, this Li Nuowei looked excessively young, and it was unthinkable that such a young person could be an Investigator.

"I am not an Investigator, but unfortunately, I am also deeply trapped in this situation and have to participate," Li Nuowei said with a face full of regret.

Hearing this, Yu Lianyun couldn't help but raise her voice: "Mr. Drake, I must say, you have already violated the code of conduct for Investigators."

Drake just shrugged at this, seemingly expressing his indifference or helplessness.

"In that case, let's rendezvous first," Yu Lianyun sighed inwardly and said.

Drake, however, immediately shook his head. "If we are to rendezvous elsewhere, I'm afraid that won't work. If you are willing to trust us, please come to the Tunnel near Tianya Haijiao Beach……" As he spoke, he explained to Yu Lianyun the reason for going there and shared his investigative findings with her.

After hearing the rich intelligence provided by the two, even Yu Lianyun couldn't help but marvel at their investigative capabilities.

However, Drake and Li Nuowei could only respond with bitter smiles, especially Li Nuowei; the intelligence he had gathered was exchanged for his own life, the hardships of which were difficult to put into words, and no one could truly empathize with him.

After the praise, Yu Lianyun also revealed a worried expression.

Another Alien God... and there are two of them.

Furthermore, the prophecies and nursery rhymes regarding the Anhai God were truly too terrifying; their authenticity was difficult to verify, yet one dared not attempt to verify them at all.

"When the stars return to their positions... the end of the world." Yu Lianyun gritted her teeth secretly and looked up at the sky covered in gloomy clouds outside the window, as if she saw countless unknown eyes peering at this planet.

Upon learning that Li Nuowei and Drake intended to go to the seal site of the sea monster beneath the Air Raid Shelter to steal the Green Light Gem, which might have a restraining effect on the Anhai God, Yu Lianyun stated that she would go along with them.

As for waiting for the other Twelve Zodiacs teams to arrive and meeting up with them, she decided to entrust this matter to Shang Wei; although he had just recovered from a near-death state and was physically and mentally fragile, Shang Wei was indeed the only person currently by her side whom she could relatively trust.

She instructed Shang Wei to wait at the branch for the arrival of the other Zodiacs teams, and afterwards have them work with the others at the branch to help evacuate the masses from Liuhua Port city, while simultaneously purging the remnants of the Anhai Divine Society in the city; those extremists had to be dealt with securely.

Subsequently, Yu Lianyun requested a car, changed into a set of dry, clean clothes, and headed straight for the Air Raid Shelter.

While Yu Lianyun was on her way, Li Nuowei and Drake waited on the spot for three minutes without seeing anyone, so the two gave up on waiting and passed directly through the wall of the Tunnel, entering beneath the Air Raid Shelter.

Li Nuowei held the "Anhai Ancient Records" brought from the museum as if he had obtained a world-shaking divine artifact; not only was he no longer fearful or worried, but he even possessed a strong sense of confidence.