Chapter 53

The place the ship was teleported to was the Sea God Temple—but not the part open for everyone to visit and pray.

When a church was built in a place fully controlled by a deity, as long as the deity wished, He could use the church as a foundation to open an “inner space,” also known as a Holy Sanctuary or demi-Divine Domain.

Whether a deity could open a Holy Sanctuary had nothing to do with His power, only with His Authority and willingness.

For example, if the Twin Suns wanted to open a Holy Sanctuary, They’d have to build a church on the sun. What would be the point of that?

They could also designate an object on the ground to transmit the sun’s Authority, then expend great effort to modify it. But for the Twin Suns, that was likewise a completely pointless act of brainlessness. If the Holy Sanctuary were attacked, They’d also be wounded.

The Sea God had once been emperor of the sea races, deeply connected to the ocean, which was why He could open a Holy Sanctuary.

“Actually, I think He just wanted to show off; He couldn’t resist flaunting.” Even in the Sanctuary, Xia Xifeng didn’t shut his mouth.

Players who faced NPCs that didn’t give out proper rewards would never have a single good word to say.

The Sea God probably never expected that someone, even in His own Holy Sanctuary, would dare keep slandering Him.

He immediately manifested a majestic, towering phantom to intimidate Xia Xifeng.

Fantasy Realms’ Sea God’s favorite form to present was modeled after the Greek sea god Poseidon.

You know the type: the burly, bearded, half-naked man holding a trident.

This time was no exception.

The Sea God brandished His trident as if about to skewer Xia Xifeng right there on the floor.

Xia Xifeng crossed his arms and sneered. “Go on, aim for my head. Let’s see how much strength you’ve got left.”

Siger: “…”

He looked at Qin Lang.

Qin Lang had, without anyone noticing, retreated several meters away again.

Siger: “…”

Were Qin Lang and Xia Xifeng truly partners? Were they the kind of fake partners who’d flee separately when disaster struck? He and his wife wouldn’t be like that; they’d definitely live and die together.

The Sea God wobbled His trident.

Xia Xifeng still stood with arms crossed, sneering up at Him.

The Sea God hesitated. Pssshht. A stream of water shot from the trident, trying to spray Xia Xifeng’s face.

Xia Xifeng, fully prepared, opened his umbrella just in time to block the Sea God’s water gun.

Siger took a deep breath.

He yanked the umbrella-holding Xia Xifeng behind him and said through gritted teeth, “My Lord, please attend to serious matters!”

Though he felt very sorry to Xia Xifeng, at that moment Siger truly wished the Sea God would deliver a slightly more serious divine punishment upon him.

Stop spraying water! Do you think this makes you look mighty?!

Sea God: 【Apologize!】

Xia Xifeng: “Heh heh.”

The Sea God gathered water, ready for another shot.

Siger extended his right hand flat, and a copy of the Holy Scripture appeared in his palm.

Several chains shot out from the Holy Scripture and bound the Sea God’s trident-wielding hand.

The water stream shattered and splashed onto the floor.

Sea God: 【Whose side are you on?!】

Siger held the Holy Scripture with one hand. “Serious matters. Don’t force me to disregard your face.”

Xia Xifeng was stunned.

He’d thought he was already disrespectful enough to the Sea God. How was this bishop here acting the same way?

What “don’t force me to disregard your face”—were you even giving your Lord any face right now?!

What shocked Xia Xifeng even more was that the Sea God actually dismissed His burly-man illusion and switched to His most energy-efficient big-water-ball form.

The Sea God actually backed down!

Xia Xifeng was so stunned he forgot to continue his prepared script of provoking the Sea God.

Siger was that formidable? Who was stronger, him or Mr. Amuruo?

Siger put away the Holy Scripture and said to Xia Xifeng, “Please show some restraint yourself. If you insult my Lord again, I will not be polite.”

Xia Xifeng turned back to look for Qin Lang.

Qin Lang had silently teleported a few more meters away.

Thank goodness the Sea God Temple’s “Holy Sanctuary” was large enough; otherwise, this dog would’ve teleported right out the door.

Xia Xifeng caved instantly. “I understand. My apologies.”

He perfunctorily performed a knight’s salute to the Sea God Water Ball. “Please, great Sea God, forgive my offense.”

The Sea God Water Ball wobbled, not saying whether He forgave or not.

Xia Xifeng simply took it as forgiveness.

Siger said, “Can we discuss serious matters now? My Lord, please tell me your true situation.”

The Sea God Water Ball wobbled again, seeming to ponder.

The three waited for a while—Xia Xifeng’s glare had even forced Qin Lang back to his side—before the Sea God Water Ball continued “speaking.”

Sea God: 【Siger, I’m not sure if, after learning the truth, you’ll be drawn into an even deeper crisis. I wish to speak first with the blasphemer and his companion.】

Siger said, rather testily, “Please tell me the truth. Whether you tell me or not, I will never abandon my Lord and will be drawn into this crisis. If I am destined to die for my Lord, I wish to die with clear eyes.”

The Sea God was silent again for a long while.

After a long while, an azure protective barrier enveloped the giant water ball and the three people.

Outside the azure barrier, a streak of silver light descended, “plating” the outer layer of the barrier.

Silver Moon was also watching this place.

Sea God: 【It is no Evil God. It is an Outer God.】

Sea God: 【A god from outside the world created by the Heavenly Father.】

Siger’s body shuddered violently.

He took off his glasses. With his gray pupils as the center, a rim of icy blue spread across his irises.

At the same time, his unremarkable brown hair faded, turning into the same grayish-white as his previous eyes.

Siger: “What is the difference between an Outer God and an Evil God?”

Sea God: 【An Evil God is still a ‘creation’ of the Heavenly Father. Its rules still belong to this world. If an Evil God replaced Me, it would simply be the normal succession of the Sea God. An Outer God is not a ‘creation’ of the Heavenly Father. They will subvert every rule the Heavenly Father established. If They win, all living beings in this world, gods included, will be erased.】

Siger: “If this matter is so grave, why are you only saying this now? Why are you only seeking allies now?”

Sea God: 【I didn’t know before. Silver Moon just told me.】

Siger took a deep breath.

I didn’t know before… I didn’t know before… I didn’t know before…

You were attacked by Outer Gods, and you didn’t know? Then what did you know?!

Seeing Siger’s speechless expression, Xia Xifeng felt profound empathy.

Exactly! What do you gods even know about anything? Do you have to be utterly stupid or nearly dead before you realize your enemy’s true face?

Siger set aside his doubts about the Sea God.

He had far too many doubts about the Sea God. He was long used to doubting and then disregarding those doubts. That was why he couldn’t become a God’s Favored or the Pope.

Siger: “The situation is so critical. The other gods will surely set aside old enmities and ally with my Lord. Please appoint me as your envoy.”

Sea God: 【Useless. Unless those fellows personally experience an Outer God’s power, they’ll never easily believe anyone’s words. Even if they believe the other party is an Outer God, they won’t necessarily believe the Outer God can twist their rules, even though this is knowledge imparted by the Heavenly Father.】

Siger opened his mouth. Siger closed his mouth.

What could he say?

Could it be that all the gods of this world were just like his own Sea God—not a single reliable one among them?

Excessive pride equals stupidity. Do you gods even realize this?!

If the Sea God put it that way, then Siger no longer held any hope for the other gods.

If even his own stupid Lord called them stupid, what hope was left?

Siger said, “What must I do now? Please give your instructions, my Lord.”

Sea God: 【I don’t know. This is also my first time seeing an Outer God.】

Siger slowly raised his hand and swept the stray bangs from his forehead behind his ear, using the hair-fixing gesture to calm himself down.

Siger, don’t get angry. Getting angry is useless.

Haven’t you known for a long time that your family’s god is a complete idiot?

Siger now suspected that the “story” Xia Xifeng used to threaten the Sea God had the Sea God Himself as its protagonist.

My Lord would totally do something that stupid.

Siger looked at Xia Xifeng. “Since you came to see my Lord, you must have a plan?”

Please don’t you also say, “I don’t know.”

Having thoroughly enjoyed the show, Xia Xifeng said with satisfaction, “We do. The Outer Gods are, after all, foreign gods. The fact that They operate in secrecy proves They might not necessarily beat the Sea God in a direct confrontation. We first need to expose Their schemes. As long as Their plot is exposed in advance, even if the Sea God still gets injured, at least He won’t fall.”

Sea God: 【Bullshit. I would never fall!】

Xia Xifeng crossed his arms again and sneered. “Right, didn’t fall. Just got reduced to a tiny blob. Sea God, do you have any item that represents yourself? Please bestow it upon me. Don’t ask what it’s for.”

The Twin Suns should have already revealed his identity as a “God’s Favored.”

Xia Xifeng, who was borrowing the Heavenly Father’s prestige to bully others, was utterly fearless.

As expected, although the Sea God’s water ball trembled violently, He did not refuse.

After a moment, the water ball spat out a trident.

Xia Xifeng picked up the trident and glanced at its attributes.

Quite good. A pity neither he nor Qin Lang could use it.

But with this kind of divine artifact, since he and Qin Lang hadn’t reached max level, they could only “carry” it anyway. It was like storing an over-leveled weapon directly in your inventory in the game—no equip effects. Just having the symbolic meaning was enough.

Xia Xifeng asking the Sea God for an item was about trying to replicate the previous dungeons.

As a lore player, Xia Xifeng was very good at finding “storyline quest activation clues.”

Based on how the previous quest dungeons had activated, he always obtained two “keys”: “a certain level of truth” and “a plot-related item,” which then opened the dungeon.

Following that past experience, if he proactively gathered these two things, he might be able to proactively open the dungeon.

Having obtained the “key item” from the Sea God, the next step was “learning the truth.”

Xia Xifeng said, “Bishop, could you escort me to the royal palace of the King of Atlantis? There’s something I need to search for. After we visit the palace, we’ll return to the outer layer of the church.”

Xia Xifeng guessed the dungeon’s “entrance” was at these two places where the Black Water had first erupted.

Players didn’t understand the inside story of the “Fall of the Sun” because the “involved deity” of this incident had already fallen before players ever entered the game.

By the time the apocalypse arrived and the enemy’s identity was clear, whether it was the vengeful Birth’s Sun or the struggling natives of the game world, there was no longer any need to follow clues.

Following clues was to find the perpetrator, but now the perpetrator was confirmed. As long as they killed all the Outer Gods, they would have avenged the blood debt.

Though players had the will to seek the truth, they could only passively accept the “already existing information” in the game. Matters the game didn’t detail, they had no way of knowing.

Moreover, to seal the Evil God, Leo had erased his and Perila’s “existence” from history. According to the game’s lore, unless Birth’s Sun or the Heavenly Father intervened, even other gods wouldn’t “remember” these two. Players were even less able to learn the truth.

But the incident of the Sea God being attacked was different. The Sea God hadn’t died. When players did the Sea God quest series, even though the Sea God was reluctant to share too much about how He’d been tricked, players could still learn the inside story.

Like where the “Black Water Calamity” had erupted, and who the Outer God’s key pawn was.

The Sea God was not only the first emperor of the Sea Demon race but also their “ancestor.”

Though His projection was murdered by the God of Conspiracy’s projection, the lecherous Sea God had left behind countless bloodlines. These bloodlines scattered, and over a thousand years, the number of Sea Demons carrying the Sea God’s “bloodline” was innumerable.

That trace of “bloodline” wouldn’t grant the Sea Demons any power, but for an Outer God, it was an excellent “stepping stone.”

If you cursed all Sea Demons, the backlash would be enough to gravely wound the Sea God.

The Outer God “Sea of Decay’s” earlier provocations had all been to distract the Sea God. Cursing the entire Sea Demon race was Its true killing move.

Through the utterly worthless, good-for-nothing younger brother of the King of Atlantis, It had scattered seeds of decay throughout the ocean. Using that pawn—who foolishly believed he could become king by relying on an “Evil God”—as the detonator, It had set them all off simultaneously.

The royal family of Atlantis was the direct bloodline of the Sea God’s projection from a thousand years ago.

This bloodline had received the Sea God’s blessing and been acknowledged as His descendants.

So that worthless little punk seduced by the “Sea of Decay” made for an excellent detonator in himself.

Everyone who threw their lot in with the Outer Gods were themselves the very detonators the Outer Gods used to bring about the apocalypse.