The Whereabouts of the 1.6 Billion Divine Sons

With Governor Daren's affairs concluded, Wu Heng returned to the temple site.

Beneath the Goddess's flesh sac, three truck chassis had already been positioned as supports. Because they had to stop and insert a support every time they excavated a section, they could only dig from two directions at most.

Although there was sufficient manpower, working from multiple directions simultaneously would likely cause a collapse.

Consequently, progress had slowed significantly; it was estimated that another 20 hours would be needed before they could truly attempt to tow and relocate the flesh sac.

Wu Heng observed the progress from his tent while guarding against accidents, comparing a fresh classified file with the fragments of information gathered from the thugs earlier.

The Embrace of the Goddess of Prosperity stated that one thousand years ago, after Hastur stole her gold, the Goddess of Prosperity was deeply saddened by the ensuing struggle between the numerous Divine Children and Hastur.

She scattered her remaining wealth along both sides of the Ganges River, distributed food and seeds equally to everyone, and left behind a prophecy:

"I can satisfy the needs of the world, but I cannot satisfy the greed of the world; desire will drown the mortal realm."

After speaking, the Goddess of Prosperity spread her arms to embrace the boundless earth, her body turning ethereal until she vanished completely from the world.

Five hundred years later, the gods also gradually fell into a deep slumber deep within the Ganges for unknown reasons.

Another classified file recorded that in 1917, a mysterious biological incident occurred in the Ganges waters near Uttarkangotri.

Local armed forces patrolling the Ganges in military vessels discovered a creature with a snake's head, a human torso, and spider legs, which initiated an attack on one of their ships.

It moved with agility, emitted groans that could bewilder the mind, and its limbs could easily pierce through a ship's hull.

They sank two ships, lost 47 crew members, and exhausted all their ammunition before they finally blasted the monster to death.

Its blood dyed the river water green. The captain ordered the corpse to be retrieved, intending to sell it to a British research institute to compensate for their losses.

However, the corpse had been in the freezer for less than half a day when it began to emit an incredibly foul, rotting stench that permeated the entire cabin.

When the captain opened the freezer, he found only a pool of green liquid, which was evaporating and disappearing rapidly, much like gasoline.

By the time they returned to port, nothing remained in the freezer.

The reason this incident was recorded as a classified file was that within two days of returning to port, all the crew members who had inhaled the stench began to turn green and rot.

After examinations, doctors found that these men's bodily functions were perfectly normal. The result was that all 92 crew members rotted to death in less than three days.

Because it was inexplicable, and because the crew's descriptions of the event before they died were completely consistent, detailed, and realistic, the incident was documented.

It is said that after the local Prosperity believers learned of the incident, they smashed the houses of all the crew members' families and prayed for three full months, during which more than three hundred believers starved themselves to death.

They claimed they had angered the avatar of the Divine Child Managadu and were begging for the deity's forgiveness.

The file also recorded that over the last hundred years, many people had reported seeing strange creatures in the Ganges and discovered numerous ships destroyed by mysterious entities, with crew members vanishing.

Wu Heng compared the contents of the two documents, a hypothesis forming in his mind.

Now that the bait was set and everything was prepared, he only awaited the arrival of the moment.

At the temple site, the combat engineers were working when one soldier quietly asked the person next to him:

"Hey, have you seen that ring of tanks outside? Do you really think this is a biological experiment?"

Another soldier, who was applying flour to his face, looked left and right before whispering back:

"Shh, to be honest, everyone must have heard the roaring coming from inside this thing."

"Everyone is just pretending not to know. Think about where this is—it's a temple!"

A soldier helping with the measurements nearby also chimed in in a low voice.

"Right, right. Whatever is suppressed under this temple must be a demon. The Commander is trying to be an exorcist."

"We have to be careful. I have a feeling that if we mess up, those tanks will definitely open fire. Keep your wits about you when the time comes."

After whispering back and forth, they felt guilty and hurried back to work, though their movements were even more cautious. The entire ruins were filled with an eerie and tense atmosphere.

During these 20 hours, Wu Heng either stayed in the command room refining the plan or went to the site to personally assist and direct, stabilizing morale.

During this time, Governor Daren also came to the Hastur Temple site to observe. He had never fully trusted Wu Heng, but after seeing the massive flesh ball with his own eyes, he said nothing more and turned to leave.

"Report, the biological specimen has been completely transferred to the frame. The giant mining truck is in position. Shall we attempt the relocation?"

"Begin."

Noel received the authorization and began directing the operation.

Dozens of steel cables were attached to two giant mining trucks, each 16 meters long and 7 meters wide. The vehicles moved forward slowly, their tires pressing deep, half-meter-wide ruts into the road.

The steel cables slowly tightened, emitting dull thuds like firecrackers.

Behind the specimen, four bulldozers with modified baffle plates pushed slowly to prevent the specimen from sliding.

Under the gaze of 2,356 soldiers from the engineer regiment and the tank brigade, the specimen was slowly dragged out of the sinkhole and onto level ground.

Raindrops pelted the tarp covering the specimen and slid off the edges.

"Success!"

"Good!"

"Mission accomplished!"

A wave of cheers and applause erupted throughout the camp, the soldiers roaring with joy.

The bizarre ball of flesh and the tanks surrounding them, ready to open fire at any moment, had kept everyone under immense pressure all day. Now that the plan had succeeded, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Commander, what should we do now?"

Noel asked with a wide grin.

"Wait!"

"Set up camp here and wait for three days; there will be further action then."

Wu Heng calculated in his mind and decided to wait until the seventh day before attempting anything. With the survival mission nearing its end by then, having the return as a safety net would be much safer.

Three days later, 30 kilometers west of Tumbbad village, by the Ganges River, 15:46.

Wu Heng was sitting in a helicopter, circling the Ganges River to survey the terrain.

Over the past three days, he had combed through a vast amount of classified archives. Most of the information regarding India focused on faith and prayer, things that were useless to Wu Heng; he only believed in himself.

"What's going on with these people guarding the riverbank below?"

Wu Heng frowned. He had ordered all residents along the route to be dispersed yesterday, providing them with compensation for their lost wages.

"They did leave after we gave them the compensation, but they came back later, bringing even more relatives and neighbors to collect the money."

"Per your instructions, the nearby jails are already filled to capacity. These people are shamelessly lying on the ground; even when we throw them out, they just run back."

The staff officer said, looking helpless.

"Greed! Forget it, it doesn't matter."

"Soon, their greed will be filled with artillery fire!"

After confirming that everything was arranged properly, Wu Heng had the pilot land the aircraft and issued an order.

Would you be willing to trade your collections, recommendation votes, and monthly tickets for two bags of spicy strips with me?