Chapter 411 – Cathulhu's Dark Scheme
Netherworld
The desolate wasteland was the home of many dragon deities. They and their followers betrayed Lilith to serve Solomon as they couldn't stand Mao Miaomiao and Mu-Nyang's tyranny.
Inside a volcanic mountain hid an underground palace. In the main palace, the king of the underworld sat on his throne, recuperating from his injuries when he snatched Pangu's dantian universe.
It had been a day since Solomon forcefully had teleported protagonist-class players to the game world number 28. He stopped meditating to check the progress of his minions.
"Where are Baal, Belial, Paimon, Amon, and Clem?"
A tall humanoid demon with dragon horns emerged from the red carpet at the center of the hall. He knelt, "Belial reporting to your majesty."
Solomon nodded at Belial. He glanced at the subordinate's level.
99,999
That was the ceiling of the deity realm. The next step was sagehood, which required him to cultivate karma and life force.
Solomon smiled at Belial, "How long has been at the bottleneck, Belial?"
"Reporting to your majesty. About a week ago."
"That's fast. You were level-99,000 the last time I saw you."
"That was two months ago. My progress is slow compared to you."
Solomon liked the humbleness of Belial. However, his expression was solemn as he resumed working mode.
"How is the W-28? How many protagonists have we killed?"
Belial raised his head and gazed at his king. He boldly reported the truth, "Reporting to your majesty, none."
"What?!"
"We have located Xiaomao, Chase, Bianca, Huntsman, Zhou Yu, Ran Tae, and Caesar. As for the rest, they are still in hiding."
Solomon's face darkened. He stood up and bellowed, "We have a million level-9999 dragons over there. How come you can't even kill those fledglings?!"
"Reporting to your majesty. Protagonists are stronger than their actual cultivation base and level indicator. From our intel, Xiaomao is as strong as a level-50,000 deity. Huntsman, Caesar, Ran Tae, and Bianca are fledging deities. Chase is Mao Miaomiao's disciple, so he's about the same strength as Xiaomao. Zhou Yu is the weakest, but he is using Huntsman as a shield."
Solomon almost coughed blood in anger. He deeply inhaled and strode out of the palace. Belial stood up and followed his lord, waiting for his instructions.
As Belial had expected, while walking, Solomon asked him, "Where are Clem and Amon? I sent those two to monitor that world. How did Xiaomao and others survive when those two are present?!"
"Reporting to your majesty. From the recent report, Amon has betrayed us. Clem briefly fought with Xiaomao, but he killed all her subordinates. She is currently recuperating in W-29."
As soon as Belial finished his report, Solomon widened his eyes and turned around. He glared at Belial.
"How the fuck did a weak immortal defeat THAT Orochi?! Did Susano-O help him or something?!"
"Susano-O hasn't been reincarnated yet. It was Xiaomao's mysterious power."
"…"
Solomon's shoulders and arms trembled. He slowly raised his finger and pointed at Belial's face.
"You go."
"Your majesty?"
"You and your armies, go kill those minions of Mu-Nyang. Bring me their souls, dantian crystals, and Heavenly Fate Crystals. You have one day!"
"Your majesty, I'm afraid I can't enter the W-28's domain because of my high level. I'll be struck by the tribulation lightning and the game system-"
"Das war ein Befehl!"
"…"
Belial bit his lower lips, concealing his emotions. Just now, Solomon just blurted out a language that the latter once used when he was a mortal on Divine Theocracy Earth.
"You just have one job. You're the top deity in this realm, and you must bring me their fate crystals. What part of the order you do not understand, vermin?!"
"Your majesty, I understand everything."
"Good! GET LOST AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL I SEE THE RESULT!"
"…"
Belial deeply bowed and sank to the palace floor. He teleported out of the Netherworld Realm.
After Belial was gone, Solomon coughed a mouthful of blood. Although he managed to assimilate Pangu's dantian universe with his, he still lacked supporters and worshipers. Moreover, his blackened karma strings were so fragile that he could barely rely on them for sage abilities.
To cure or recover from this predicament, Solomon needed heavenly fate crystals from the protagonists. As long as he could acquire at least one of them, he could upgrade his fate and remove ill karma from him. Once the black karma was cleansed, he could get stronger and devour Mu-Nyang's stars in his universe.
"Master, the livestock of this universe is mine. I raised them myself, so they all belong to me. You can't steal my livestock and investment!"
Solomon clenched his chest and turned around. He dragged his feet back to the throne room to resume recuperating.
.
.
Meanwhile, Mao Miaomiao narrowed his eyes and observed the retreating dragons. Although they dispersed because of fear, a few of them suddenly died for no reason.
"I didn't do that, munya."
That wasn't the only thing Xiaomao was concerned about. After he slaughtered the dragons, he gathered the fallen dantian crystals and the soul orbs around him by using his gravity domain. However, there were multiple resisting force feedbacks, preventing some of the orbs and crystals to reach him.
Xiaomao snorted and tracked their locations. He closed his eyes and followed the karma strings in the air. A moment later, he saw the faces of three individuals.
One was a half-naked man on top of a tree, absorbing and eating dantian crystals around him. Another one boldly ate the soul orbs raw while a long-haired man simply collected everything into his game inventory.
"Oi, those are my items, munya."
Frustrated, Xiaomao opened his eyes and pointed his finger toward the general direction of Zhou Yu and Huntsman, trying to use the same power when he made Clem fall from space.
Unfortunately, Xiaomao was low on lifespan. Mu-Nyang warned him again.
'Don't use your karma mandate anymore, munya. You will die if you use it again.'
Xiaomao rolled his eyes, "You do know that someone is stealing souls and dantian crystals, right?"
'I know. You don't have to worry about them.'
"One of those motherhumpers is eating soul orbs, though?"
'It's fine, munya. Soul devouring is taboo in my dantian universe. Their karma will be painted black, and their growth rate will be capped at their current realm, munya. That idiot can no longer become a deity.'
"But his level is rising though. I think he reaches level 9999 now."
'That's the best he can do, munya. If he eats more souls, his max level will start to decrease.'
Xiaomao was still concerned about Mu-Nyang's health. Also, his instinct told him that leaving Huntsman alone for too long might harm Mu-Nyang's dantian universe.
"What about your lifespan, Mu-Nyang?"
'I'm fine. I have seven octillion years to live, munya. You should worry about yourself first.'
"Will your lifespan reduce if I eat the dantian crystals?"
'Hahaha! No, munya. Those dantian crystals are actually why I'm encouraging independent cultivators to get stronger. They are like pigs to me. They unintentionally consumed my Qi, grew fatter, and evolved into Qi generators, munya. By the time they reach the sage realm and discover the truth, their karma will be bound to me, and their destiny is to be consumed, munya.'
"You what?!"
'In summary, I give everybody a place to grow as cultivators. When they die, I eat their dantian crystals to increase my lifespan and cultivation base, munya.'
In short, everybody in the universe got stronger to become Mu-Nyang's food! It turned out that the true villain was Mu-Nyang all along! He finally understood why Pangu betrayed Mu-Nyang - He might have learned about the truth and couldn't accept it.
Xiaomao broke a cold sweat. Although he vaguely remembered that he was Mu-Nyang's mentor, he didn't know the detail of why Mu-Nyang left so many rampant cultivators around.
Fortunately, Xiaomao's ethics and morale were long gone. He no longer abided by human laws and standards.
"Does my father know about this, too?"
'Yes, munya. That's why we had a deal, and I exempt his entire family from my food list.'
"Jesus Christ…" Xiaomao facepalmed. He was speechless and astonished. "Cats are evil."
'You're also a cat, too, munya.'
"…"
Xiaomao rested his hands on his hips and deeply sighed. He pursed his lips and closed his eyes for a moment to digest all the information.
A few minutes later, he reopened his eyes and resumed what he had been doing. He ignored the war crime of Mu-Nyang as if the conversation never happened.
"Don't tell this to anyone, son. You're too evil."
'You're the one who taught me this method though.'
Again, Xiaomao slapped his forehead, "I don't remember that."
'You will someday, munya. Hehehe!'
.
.
An hour later, Xiaomao consumed all the dantian crystals. Then, he rechecked his lifespan, using Mu-Nyang as a system helper.
Because of the memory of the fisherman, Mu-Nyang never cut off his communication. He kept chatting with his master as if he wished to cherish every moment with him.
While they were at it, Xiaomao sent Amon to his dantian universe and then introduced her to everybody.
In the dantian universe of Xiaomao, the mermaids glared at their cheating husband while Lilith, Levy, and Lilim smirked at Amon, mocking her for joining their side late.
Levy's spirit patted Amon's shoulder, "Welcome to the club, although you are now my DAUGHTER-IN-LAW!"
"I'm WHAT?!"
Amon and Levy were best friends before the Great Reset. Upon learning that her status was lower than her buddy, Amon was shocked.
"Therefore, you must listen to my order when I tell you, okay? My DAUGHTER-IN-LAW?"
"…"
Amon sulked while Lilith and Lilim giggled at their interactions.
On the other hand, Undine and Nymph dragged Xiaomao to their mansion. What they did was soon noticeable as the mansion bobbed as if it was Ankha's Hut in a certain meme.