The Goddess of Prosperity Appears

The nauseating aura Wu Heng sensed originated from the Angel Feather.

As the cabin door opened, this scorching aura grew even more intense, and the entire world seemed to brighten suddenly.

It was as if the brightness of a phone screen had been cranked from 90% to 100%.

Wu Heng already sensed that something was wrong!

It stood to reason; if such a backward nation possessed a Son of God and a Goddess of Prosperity, then those powerful nations surely had their own faiths as well.

With a flick of his mind, he prepared to contact the Lighthouse Mark and choose to return.

The surroundings shifted once more; the craters blasted into the banks of the Ganges River began to restore themselves!

The murky Ganges water splashed onto both banks began to turn pure, slowly floating and converging.

The corpses of the fallen priests rotted, their flesh and blood flowing together to coalesce into a new 'Hastur' nest.

The water in the river surged toward the sky, condensing into a fifty-meter-tall transparent female figure, and the 'Hastur' nest floated up, flying into the female's abdomen.

Veins and fascia extended from the 'nest' in her abdomen, spreading across her transparent body.

This woman, formed of flowing water and animated by veins and fascia, opened her eyes. Within her pupils, blue water vortices spun rapidly, seemingly expressing her fury.

"Πστη!"

An obscure, unintelligible roar erupted from the mouth of the Goddess of Prosperity.

She struck out with her right hand, and the Ganges water was drained dry, causing the river to cease flowing for a stretch. A hundred-meter-high tidal wave surged, wrapping around her hand as she lunged toward the army.

These tiny humans who had harmed her children—the very food source she had once provided seeds for and raised for her divine sons—dared to bite the hand that fed them!

The moment the red-robed old man stepped out of the cabin and saw the giant water monster attack, he produced a feather that was flawless, white, and appeared both real and illusory.

Many of these expeditionary forces were believers of the Protestant faith; the bishop naturally would not watch his children be attacked by a water monster.

Bishop Aslan pressed his palms together, cradling the feather against his chest, then closed his eyes and began to chant a prayer.

"The Lord says, those who show their heads to besiege us, by the curse of their own words and deeds, shall have it returned upon themselves."

A ripple burst forth from the feather, sweeping over the army like a protective shield; this ripple caused no harm to ordinary people.

However, when the tidal wave raised by the Goddess of Prosperity touched the ripple, it lost all momentum and splashed vertically onto the ground.

The moment her right hand touched the ripple, it also dissipated and splashed away like the wave, leaving only the red fascia twitching at her wrist.

"Return!"

Wu Heng wanted to watch the battle, but he dared not take the risk; the moment the ripple struck, he chose to return.

[Confirm early return?]

Carryable items:

World: Tumbbad (60,000,000 Survival Points)

Mystery: Money Pouch of the Goddess of Prosperity (25,000 Survival Points)

Common items: Leather suit*2 (30), Pistol (3 Survival Points), Military uniform (2 Survival Points), Ganges water (1 Survival Point)

"Yes, carry the Money Pouch of the Goddess of Prosperity, leather suit, pistol, and military uniform."

[Survival points deducted successfully, beginning transmission.]

Wu Heng passed through a barrier and arrived in the void of the settlement space.

His body had already reverted to the doctor's leather suit image he wore when entering the Lighthouse.

Text began to emerge before his eyes:

[Plot Summary]

[Current Anchored World: Tumbbad]

[Survival mission completed by default, received 500 Survival Points]

[Completed plot missions: Enter the Well of God (1,000 Survival Points), Kill the Son of God (36,000 Survival Points)]

[All plot missions completed, plot rating increased, exploration rate 43%, obtained one plot admission ticket for this world]

[Plot Rating: S]

[Settlement complete, settlement space will disappear in 10 seconds]

[Select return: Reality, Lighthouse]

Only 43% exploration?

However, since both the church and the Indian gods appeared, it proved that the waters of this world ran deep; not reaching 50% was understandable.

Wu Heng recalled the 'Plot World Identity Retention Privilege' unlocked when his exploration rate reached 50% last time, and the 'Origin Fragment*1' granted when the exploration rate hit 50% with all missions completed.

That 'Origin Fragment' had merged directly into his Lighthouse Mark like a shard of transparent glass and vanished; he had tried to use the appraisal function on it, but there was no response.

However, he remembered the Lighthouse's friendly warning from last time: unless he died, no one else could obtain an Origin Fragment from the Hellraiser series.

He hadn't dared to go to the Lighthouse to consult anyone; after all, a man is innocent, but his treasure makes him guilty. The Lighthouse was not exactly a safe place.

"Return to the Lighthouse."

If he couldn't figure it out, he simply stopped trying; once he became strong enough, he would naturally understand.

After this round of enhancement, Wu Heng felt his mental perception had grown significantly stronger. The surrounding darkness dissipated, and he found himself standing in Lighthouse Plaza without feeling any dizziness.

Wu Heng touched the Tower Seal with his mind and entered his private room in the Lighthouse.

Only after entering the safe environment did Wu Heng calm his mind to reflect, but the more he reviewed the events, the angrier he became.

It was like this again—it happened exactly the same way once more!

He had been forced out of the plot world by an irresistible power yet again.

He had entered a plot world twice, and both times he had failed to complete the basic survival mission on time. If this were his past life in the Main God Space, he would have likely been erased long ago.

"I am still too weak!"

Wu Heng sighed and secretly swore that the next dungeon must not go this way; what would happen if things spiraled out of control and he couldn't keep his grip on them?

After reflecting for a while, he touched the Tower Seal with his mind to check his survival points:

Lighthouse ID: SL914

Identity: Tower Guardian

Strength: Tier 1 Intermediate

Survival Points: 19401

This was the amount remaining after deducting the teleportation fee for carrying the Money Pouch.

Wu Heng raised his hand to take out the Goddess's Money Pouch and silently recited "Identify" in his heart.

[Identification costs 1400 survival points. Confirm?]

It was surprisingly expensive, but the higher the price, the better the item.

There was still much he didn't understand about this object, and it was tied to an idea he had.

"Identify!"

[Survival points deducted successfully.]

[Goddess of Prosperity's Money Pouch: Originates from the world of Tumbbad.

An innate organ of the Goddess of Prosperity, containing strange abilities.

It can siphon environmental energy to spontaneously condense gold coins. Its material is tough enough to withstand damage below Tier 3 and possesses self-repairing functions.]

The identification information provided by the Lighthouse made Wu Heng's eyes light up.

'Withstands Tier 3 damage, self-repairing.'

This was exactly what he needed.

With a thought, Wu Heng headed to the silver-armored stall in the plaza to buy a set of surgical tools and 10 bags of blood plasma, then returned to his private room.

The stall was still there, though this time it was manned by a white-haired woman wearing the same armor.

Wu Heng placed the surgical tools and all the blood plasma on the table.

He picked up the Goddess's Money Pouch and observed it carefully one more time. Only after deciding it was worth the attempt did he pick up the scalpel.

He slowly sliced open his left chest with the blade, and his bright red, beating heart was revealed through the wound.

Wu Heng did not use his Siphon ability, fearing that if the wound healed, he would have to cut it open again. As blood flowed down his chest onto the floor, he felt the scent of death—a primal fear of the body.

Taking a deep breath, he chose to widen the wound. Intense pain flooded his brain, but it gradually gave way to numbness and heat until the pain vanished.

He immediately picked up the Goddess's Money Pouch, stuffed it into his wound, bent the blood vessels around his heart, and tucked the heart itself into the pouch.

The Goddess's Money Pouch—no, it should be called a Life Box.

The Life Box firmly encased his only weakness, his 'heart,' leaving only a small slit at the top.

After finishing this heart surgery, Wu Heng moved his mind to dry the blood on the floor, then tore open two more bags of blood plasma to fully heal the wound on his chest.

He touched his chest to feel it; there was no pain or discomfort, only the sensation of a foreign object inside him. He would get used to it soon enough.

He swept his right hand over the scalpel and the blood plasma, and everything vanished from the table, entering the gold coin layer of the Life Box.

He activated his perception again, tore open the 12 bags of blood plasma that appeared in his hand, and moved them into the deep storage space of the Life Box.

Wu Heng took out the scalpel and lightly cut his hand. Connecting his perception to the deep space of the Life Box, he opened the internal partition, and a stream of blood flowed directly from the deep space into the gold coin layer, appearing right next to his heart.

The blood vanished, and the wound on his hand healed.

According to the Lighthouse's identification, attacks below Tier 3 could no longer kill him in one blow. As long as no one grabbed him and ripped out the Life Box, he could continuously repair himself.

It was a perfect surgical modification, and Wu Heng was very satisfied.

He looked forward to the day when he could be like Styx, the great power from the legends of his past life, and roar a declaration that would echo throughout the entire Lighthouse.

Because there was a plot settlement today, this chapter is longer than usual.