Chapter 1915: Chapter 1913: Time Travel Through the Silver Key Gate
After confirming that this matter was related to Yog-Sothoth, Fang Zheng set off towards Dunwich with Erha, Nymph, and Ryoko Asakura, their car humming along.
Professor Amitici was also quite uneasy. Although Fang Zheng reassured him that he would handle these problems, Professor Amitici still called two of his friends to come along and check out the situation. As for Francis—he claimed that he had seen enough already and now wished to just study well, rest peacefully, and restore some of his SAN value. Additionally, since the Cthulhu incident, he had realized the limitations of his abilities, and figured there was no need to join in the chaos when Fang Zheng was already involved.
For Fang Zheng, traveling to Dunwich felt akin to going on a camping trip, but Professor Amitici looked as if he were headed to a market to be executed. When he got out of the car, he couldn’t even stand properly.
"Tsk tsk tsk."
Glancing at the pale-faced Professor Amitici, Fang Zheng shook his head slightly. Honestly, ever since arriving in the Cthulhu World, Fang Zheng had many doubts. His dislike for Cthulhu stemmed from the shadow cast by tabletop games during his university years, but after actual interaction, Fang Zheng found the so-called Cthulhu World not as terrifying as he imagined. Yet, others treated it like a grave threat, which Fang Zheng never understood.
By now, Fang Zheng somewhat understood the origin of their fear.
It was fear of the unknown and of upheaval.
Just like the old professor who went to the Australian desert, why did he go mad? The reason is simple; his spirit was teleported by the Great Race back to 650 million years ago, yet he heard Fang Zheng’s roar in his sleep the night before. This feeling completely overturned his common sense.
Such a situation seems inconceivable to modern people. Isn’t it just time travel? The faster an object moves, the slower time becomes. When an object surpasses light speed, time reverses. Many have read about "Relativity," and the concept of time travel is already well-known, with novels about traveling back to ancient times or bidirectional travel common on the streets.
But in this era, Einstein hadn’t published "Relativity," and the mainstream concept of time was that it was singular and developed forward, that past time was irretrievable. Hence, realizing this, the old professor went mad, mental collapse ensued, and his spirit weakened due to the collapse of common sense and the subversion of values.
Besides, another situation exists, like Fang Zheng being influenced by Nyarlathotep, forced to observe and understand the world from another perspective.
Actually, Fang Zheng had witnessed this once in the Main World, involving his muscular mentor. When his mentor saw platelets, white blood cells, and red blood cells through the electron microscope brought by the Chief of the Necromancy Department, he began to fantasize that his body was filled with those round, disgusting things moving about.
As a result, the muscular mentor languished for a long time.
This is easy to understand. For example, air appears transparent and water looks clear to human eyes. But in fact, everyone knows microorganisms exist in the air, and various bacteria and fungi exist in the water. They are just too small to be seen.
But what if we could see them?
Imagine opening your eyes and seeing various microorganisms floating in the air, like dust mites. You perceive those arthropods gathered into dense masses in the air, devouring the skin fragments you shed on your bed and blanket, then entering your body with your breath. You might even sense the moving tentacles swaying in your nasal cavity, then entering your lungs and slowly dissolving there...
To others, the delicious food is merely a combination of various elements, perhaps originally vibrant food turns into a pile of bloody, squirming creature-like things. When you cut into it, the bacteria on it might even make some kind of shriek...
Of course, for humans, even imagining such scenes feels like a nightmare. But for other creatures, this might be their norm, something they are accustomed to.
Therefore, each species forms its own worldview based on how they perceive the world. But the Cthulhu World can erode these views and replace them entirely, which is terrifying indeed.
Think about it, even in modern times, known to contain bacteria, we don’t see or perceive them, so there’s no particular discomfort. But if you could see things like tuberculosis or E. coli floating in the air, life would become unbearable, possibly leading you to seek solitude in an uninhabited mountain or forest or simply ending all considerations with a snap.
Even if it isn’t that extreme, simply enhancing your eyesight with a tenfold microscope where you can clearly see sweat on others’ faces would make everyone seem like a Long-Haired Monster to you, regardless of male or female.
Fang Zheng himself experienced such issues, uncomfortable using his giant dragon body in close combat after transforming, having gotten used to human form lacking wings and a tail.
Moreover, when transformed back into human form, he didn’t roam around with a spear without clothes.
If seen, he’d surely be reported and taken to the station.
However, for giant dragons... have you seen any that wear clothes?
Thus worldview... it’s sometimes a life-threatening issue.
Fang Zheng entered Dunwich with Erha, and soon everyone realized the tense atmosphere prevailing in Dunwich, where people looked pale and worried, as if stricken by a natural disaster.
Perhaps indeed it was.
From Osborne’s grocery store, Amitici and his group learned of the horrific tragedy occurring in Dunwich. A huge, invisible, transparent creature appeared, and a family mysteriously vanished. They didn’t even know what attacked the household, only traces resembling those left by a giant snail and blood-drained livestock proved it wasn’t just delusions.
Though five policemen came to investigate, they found nothing but the family’s car in front of the ruin.
This heightened the terror among the people.
However, for Fang Zheng, it was no more troublesome than an ordinary hunt.
"Alright, leave the rest to me."
Fang Zheng gripped the rope in his hand tightly. At this moment, the Erha beside him had already let out a low growl and roar, lowering its body. If Fang Zheng weren’t holding it firmly, the Erha probably would have run out by now.
"You stay here and wait."
"Wait a minute, Mr. Van Helsing, we can also help..."
"No, I don’t think you’ll be of much help. Just don’t cause trouble."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng lifted his head again to glance at the distant mountains and then let go of the rope.
"Awoooo—————!!"
With a howl, the next moment, Erha dashed out like lightning. Accompanied by its howl, even the shadows beneath the irregularly shaped giant stones around seemed to shudder slightly. Then Erha disappeared into the forest, and Fang Zheng shrugged and followed. Soon, they vanished from the sight of Amitici and his group.
"What should we do?"
Others exchanged uneasy glances and then asked. Amitici hesitated for a moment and was about to follow when suddenly, his vision blurred, and Ryoko Asakura silently appeared before them, blocking their path.
"I’m very sorry, but the master requires you to wait here and not to cause trouble."
"But..."
"No buts."
Ryoko Asakura smiled, but her tone remained unchanged.
"This is the master’s order and the reason we are staying here. I hope you can cooperate. If you don’t cooperate, then we will have to take extraordinary measures."
"......"
Faced with Ryoko Asakura’s unequivocal response, Professor Amitici seemed a bit uneasy. However, at that moment, a series of sharp night hawk cries suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Everyone turned their heads to see in the forest not far away, it was noisy, as if the night hawks had sensed some terrible presence. Soon, the howling of wolves overshadowed the cries of the night hawks. They seemed to be confronting each other, as if intimidating one another.
The sounds were so eerie that people in the Dunwich region couldn’t help but step out of their homes, looking towards the mountains with fear and curiosity about what was happening there.
As for Fang Zheng, he didn’t need to guess.
In fact, when he arrived halfway up the mountain, the creature had already been firmly bitten by Erha.
On the surface, there was nothing there, just a stench so strong it was suffocating. The chubby Erha opened its mouth, biting nothing but air, sometimes shaking its neck forcefully, looking rather comical. But Fang Zheng knew well that Erha was currently biting into some creature, trying to destroy it.
Unfortunately, Fang Zheng hadn’t allowed Erha to return to its original form, so it could only vent its anger in this way.
"Ahhhh—————!!"
The invisible creature facing them was in dire straits, like a giant fat pig being torn apart by hunting dogs, unable to fight back—a tough position considering Musesha is the Lord of Tindalos, a master of the Time Domain, whereas this creature was just a creature without the power to resist Musesha. It could only scream in agony, desperately writhing its house-sized body, crawling up the slope, while Fang Zheng leisurely put his hands behind his back and followed, like driving livestock, watching the invisible creature struggle forward.
Just like a massive otaku climbing a mountain... Ah, indeed, losing weight is important.
When the creature reached the top of the mountain, it was already on the brink of being torn to shreds by Musesha. Even so, it screamed, using its last bit of strength to rush into a circular stone formation at the peak and cried out.
"Help me, help me! Father!! Yog-Sothoth!!!"
While screaming, the creature chanted some evil and blasphemous spell texts. As it chanted and cried, the previously overcast sky suddenly filled with heavy clouds, followed by a purple lightning bolt descending fiercely from the sky, striking the creature!
Got you!
Almost simultaneously, Fang Zheng swung his hand, and the Pitch Black Greatsword appeared in his hand. A burst of fire shot out, almost simultaneously covering the invisible creature’s body as the purple lightning struck it. A sharp scream burst forth, resounding through the sky, and in just an instant, the nameless creature was completely obliterated under the collision of purple lightning and the scarlet flames. Subsequently, the lightning and flames intertwined, entwining wildly.
The lightning seemed wanting to vanish, yet the flames, with a self-awareness, clung to it stubbornly under Fang Zheng’s control. After a moment, the purple lightning could no longer resist the formidable power of the Primordial Fire, suddenly breaking apart into a circular endless void, and Fang Zheng stepped forward, entering the void.
Soon, the void appeared before him.
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