"Why are you being so kind, telling me all this?" Zhang Heng asked in a low voice.
"Because since you didn't step into my trap, and neither of us is confident we can take the other down now, negotiation has become our only option for resolving our differences," Nyarlathotep said. "And before our discussion begins, I need to help you understand your current situation."
The monster in the Black Mist paused, then continued, "Over the years, those Fanatics and their kin never stopped searching for you. But that old fox Kronos was no pushover either. He hid you very well, placing you in China, that wasteland of faith. For reasons everyone knows, that place is hostile to all gods, and the conversion rate for faith obtained there is outrageously low. Until this round of games began, few gods had turned their attention there.
"But a little over a year ago, Kronos took the initiative to find one of the Underground City owner's... servants. He revealed your situation to them and promised to help them cultivate you into a perfect vessel, allowing the owner of the Underground City to escape its predicament in exchange for their friendship. After that, news about you began spreading rapidly among those Fanatics and kin. I believe you've already met some of them."
Zhang Heng thought of that gloomy seaside town, the half-human, half-fish, half-frog monsters within it, and the people he had encountered on Yonaguni Island. Every one of them had looked at him with longing in their eyes. Only now did Zhang Heng understand that longing had not been for him. What they truly desired was the thing that would use him as a vessel.
"They've already found you. Once they realize you've completely lost your emotions, they'll happily swarm around you and usher