The nauseating aura Wu Heng sensed came from the Angel Feather.
The cabin door opened, and the scorching aura grew even stronger. The whole world seemed to suddenly brighten.
It was like turning a phone screen's brightness from 90% to 100%.
Wu Heng had already sensed that something was wrong!
It made sense. If even a backward country like this had a Son of God and a Goddess of Prosperity, then the powerful nations surely had their own faiths as well.
With a thought, he tried to contact the Tower Mark and choose to return.
The surroundings changed once more. The bomb craters along the Ganges River gradually repaired themselves!
The murky water that had splashed onto both banks began to purify, then slowly rose and gathered together.
The flesh of the priests who had died on the battlefield rotted and flowed together, coalescing into a new 'Hastur' nest.
The water in the river also streamed upward, gathering into a transparent woman fifty meters tall. The 'Hastur' nest rose into the air and flew into her abdomen.
Veins and membranes extended from the 'nest' in her abdomen, spreading across her transparent body.
The woman, formed from flowing water and moved by veins and membranes, opened her eyes. Blue whirlpools spun rapidly in her pupils, as if expressing her fury.
"Πστη!"
A cryptic, incomprehensible shout of rage burst from the Goddess of Prosperity's lips.
She struck out with her right hand. The waters of the Ganges were sucked away until the river ran dry for a stretch, and a hundred-meter-tall wave surged forth, rushing toward the army with her hand.
These insignificant humans had harmed her children. Once, she had distributed seeds to them and raised them as food for her Sons of God, yet now they dared to turn against their master!
The old man in red robes who had stepped out of the cabin pulled out a flawless white feather that seemed both real and unreal the moment he saw the enormous water monster attack.
Many of the expeditionary forces were new church believers. The bishop naturally couldn't let his children be attacked by a water monster.
Bishop Aslan clasped his hands together, holding the feather against his chest. Then he closed his eyes and began to pray.
"The Lord says that those who rise up and surround us, through the curses of their words and deeds, shall have them returned upon themselves."
A ripple burst from the feather and swept over the army like a protective shield. It did no harm to ordinary people.
But when the enormous wave raised by the Goddess of Prosperity touched the ripple, it seemed to lose all its force and splashed straight down onto the ground.
The moment her right hand touched the ripple, it too scattered like the wave, leaving only the writhing red membranes at her wrist.
"Return!"
Wu Heng wanted to watch the battle, but he didn't dare take any more risks. The moment the ripple swept toward him, he chose to return.
[Would you like to return early] [Items you may take with you:] [World: Tumbbad (60000000 Survival Points)] [Occult: Goddess of Prosperity's Money Pouch (25000 Survival Points)] [Ordinary items: Leather suit*2 (30), Pistol (3 Survival Points), Military uniform (2 Survival Points), Ganges River water (1 Survival Point)]
"Yes. Take the Goddess of Prosperity's Money Pouch, the leather suit, the pistol, and the military uniform."
[Survival Points deducted successfully. Beginning transmission]
Wu Heng passed through a barrier and arrived in the dark, empty settlement space.
His body had reverted to the doctor's leather-suit appearance he'd had when he entered the Lighthouse.
Text began to appear before him:
[Plot Summary] [Anchored world: Tumbbad] [Survival mission completed by default. Awarded 500 Survival Points] [Plot missions completed: Enter the Well of God (1000 Survival Points), kill the Son of God (36000 Survival Points)] [All plot missions completed. Plot rating increased. Exploration level: 43%. Earned one entry ticket to this world's plot] [Plot rating: S] [Settlement complete. Settlement space will disappear in 10 seconds] [Choose destination: Reality, Lighthouse]
Only 43% exploration?
Still, the church and the Indian gods had both appeared, which proved this world ran deep. It made sense that he hadn't reached 50%.
Wu Heng recalled that last time, reaching 50% exploration had unlocked 'Plot World Identity Retention Privilege,' while reaching 50% and completing all the missions had granted 'Origin Fragment*1.'
That 'Origin Fragment' had looked like a transparent shard of glass. It had merged straight into the Lighthouse Mark and disappeared. He had also tried to use the appraisal function on it, but there had been no response.
But then he remembered the Lighthouse's friendly warning last time: unless he died, no one else could obtain an Origin Fragment from the Hellraiser series.
So he hadn't dared go to the Lighthouse and ask anyone about it. After all, a man's guilt lay in possessing a jade; the Lighthouse wasn't exactly a safe place.
"Return to the Lighthouse."
If he couldn't figure it out, there was no point dwelling on it. Once he grew stronger, he'd understand.
After being strengthened this time, Wu Heng felt that his spiritual perception had grown much stronger. The darkness around him faded, and he found himself standing in Lighthouse Plaza without feeling dizzy.
Wu Heng focused his thoughts on the Tower Mark and entered his private Lighthouse room.
Only after reaching the safety of his room did Wu Heng calm his mind and begin to look back over what had happened. But the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
Again. It had happened again!
Once more, he had been forced out of a plot world by an irresistible power.
He had entered a plot world twice, and both times he had failed to complete the basic survival mission on time. If this had been the Main God Space from his previous life, he would probably have been erased already.
"I'm still too weak!"
Wu Heng sighed and silently swore that next time, he absolutely couldn't let this happen again. What if things got out of control and he couldn't handle them?
After reflecting for a while, he focused his thoughts on the Tower Mark and checked his Survival Points:
Lighthouse ID: SL914 Identity: Tower Guardian Strength: Tier 1, Intermediate Survival Points: 19401
This was after deducting the transmission fee for taking the Money Pouch with him.
Wu Heng raised his hand and took out the Goddess's Money Pouch, then silently used appraisal.
[Appraisal costs 1400 Survival Points. Confirm?]
That was expensive. But the more expensive it was, the better the item probably was.
There was still a lot he didn't understand about this thing, and it was connected to an idea he had.
"Appraise!"
[Survival Points deducted successfully] [Goddess of Prosperity's Money Pouch: Produced in the world of Tumbbad. A natural organ of the Goddess of Prosperity, containing peculiar abilities. Can absorb ambient energy and condense it into gold coins. Its material is tough enough to withstand attacks below Tier 3 and it can repair itself.]
The appraisal information from the Lighthouse made Wu Heng's eyes light up.
'Can withstand Tier 3 attacks and repair itself.'
That was exactly what he needed.
With a thought, Wu Heng went to the silver-armored stall in the plaza, bought a set of surgical tools and ten bags of blood plasma, then returned to his private room.
The stall was still there, but this time it was run by a white-haired woman wearing the same armor.
Wu Heng placed the surgical tools and all the blood plasma he'd bought on the table.
He picked up the Goddess's Money Pouch and inspected it carefully again. Once he decided it was worth a try, he picked up the scalpel.
He slowly cut open his left chest. His bright red, beating heart showed through the wound.
Wu Heng didn't use Siphon. He was afraid the wound might heal, forcing him to cut again. Blood ran down his chest and onto the floor, and he felt the breath of death—the body's instinctive fear.
He took a deep breath and widened the wound. Intense pain surged through his brain, but gradually it gave way to numbness and heat, and the pain faded.
Then he picked up the Goddess's Money Pouch and pushed it into the wound. He bent the blood vessels around his heart and stuffed them, along with his heart, into the Money Pouch.
The Goddess's Money Pouch. No—it should be called a Life Box.
The Life Box tightly enclosed Wu Heng's only weakness, his heart, leaving just a narrow slit at the top.
After completing the heart surgery, Wu Heng focused his thoughts. The blood on the ground dried up, and he tore open two bags of blood plasma. The wound on his chest healed completely.
He felt his chest with his hand. It didn't hurt or feel uncomfortable, though he could sense something foreign inside his body. He'd get used to it eventually.
His right hand brushed over the surgical tools and blood plasma. Everything disappeared from the table and entered the coin space in the Life Box's first layer.
His perception worked again. He tore open the twelve bags of blood plasma that appeared in his hand and moved them back into the Life Box's deeper space.
Wu Heng took out the scalpel and lightly cut his hand. He connected his perception to the Life Box's deeper space, and the partition inside opened. A stream of blood flowed straight from the deeper space into the first layer's coin space, appearing beside his heart.
The blood disappeared, and the wound on his hand healed.
According to the Lighthouse's appraisal, attacks below Tier 3 could no longer kill him in one blow. As long as no one caught him and removed the Life Box, he could keep repairing himself.
It was a perfect surgical enhancement, and Wu Heng was very satisfied.
He eagerly looked forward to the day when he could be like the great Nether River Patriarch of ancient legends, roaring a declaration that would resound throughout the Lighthouse.
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