I Don't Agree to the Terms

"The Thirteen Divisions, along with the other twelve, are working to resolve this issue, but, alas, as of today, there's still no clue."

"For this matter, the Thirteen Divisions are at their wits' end. It's precisely because of this that we've delayed in contacting you, otherwise, we would have come for you the moment the anomaly surfaced."

Upon hearing this, even Tang Wen couldn't help but feel a tinge of sorrow.

Their everyday lives, though not luxurious, were never afflicted with hunger or the need to endure famine, thanks to the efforts of the Thirteen Divisions to block the anomalies from affecting them.

"It's okay, I wasn't up to anything important this late, and I'm not going to starve." Tang Wen hurriedly said.

Indeed, he was hungry and could be weakened by hunger, yet he could neither starve to death nor fall ill from it.

"Regarding the losses inflicted by you, your relatives and friends at home, the Thirteen Divisions have already been compensating. However, due to your unique situation, it may not be easy for your family members to see you again in the future, given that you are an anomaly. You wouldn't want to wake up one day surrounded by the limbs and body parts you've devoured."

The middle-aged man spoke sternly, and Tang Wen readily agreed with him. When hunger drove a person to desperation, there was no telling what one might do.

The two of them quickly returned to the Thirteen Divisions, where Tang Wen was escorted to a specially designed room—not resembling a prison, but quite ordinary, except for the special materials used in its construction.

"At last, the lad was cajoled into coming here--my efforts were not in vain," Gu Shanhai mused as he watched the recruited Taotie be approached not by himself, but by a puppet shaped from "sprouting beans into soldiers," controlled by the Four Sacred Beasts System.

To maintain the deception, Gu Shanhai had altered certain memories of everyone in the Thirteen Divisions involved in the manufacturing of anomalies, although not extensively, merely tweaking the sequence of some memories.

For instance, the plan for the man-made anomalies only came into existence after the appearances of Yi and Taotie.

The order of events, sometimes, was very significant.

"The progress with the Taotie is going well; it only needs a small catalyst to fully transform into an anomaly."

Tang Wen was not yet an anomaly, just a "half-abnormal," in need of a catalyst.

"Let's use the concept of a second moon as the catalyst, but it needs to be Tang Wen's own suggestion."

What Gu Shanhai desired was quite straightforward; he wasn't envisioning having Tang Wen literally consume a second moon--that was not feasible since the second moon had yet to be born. He intended for the Taotie to devour the concept of a second moon; once this concept was consumed, subsequent iterations, such as a third or fourth moon, would not emerge.

Without a second, the third could not come about unless two moons were born at once. However, if that were the case, the accompanying paradox would still stand; if two moons were born simultaneously, the concept of the second would still exist. Once that concept could not be reconciled, all subsequent actions might collapse and be rendered futile.

Thus, the moon would remain in a state of anomaly unless, of course, what was born anew was not a moon, potentially circumventing the paradox. But as long as there were no triggers, such a scenario would likely not occur.

"My lord, a report has come in from the Linhai region: an exceptional tide phenomenon has appeared," a researcher rushed over, presenting Gu Shanhai with a report.

As Gu Shanhai perused the document, he said, "Ask the personnel stationed on the moon if they have noticed any issues."

The Thirteen Divisions had forged a pathway through the anomalies, making travel to the moon as trivial as visiting a neighboring department.

"Yes, I will inquire immediately." The other party was also puzzled; normally, the reports from the personnel on the moon would arrive much faster. He wondered why there hadn't been any yet.

"Take some extra people with you, I'm worried something might happen." Gu Shanhai was suspicious, too, and for safety's sake, having additional people would provide more security.

The researcher hurriedly left, and after an hour without a return, Gu Shanhai understood something must have gone wrong; otherwise, the person wouldn't have been gone for so long.

Adhering to the "falling into the trap oneself" rule from "Gourd Brothers Save Grandpa," Gu Shanhai decisively decided not to go.

It was clear that something was wrong, so rashly charging in would be seeking death.

He might have many lives, but that didn't mean he could afford to waste them, so he sent a Heart Demon Dao Soldier instead.

Scouting for danger, there was no need for him to personally enter the fray. Heart Demon Dao Soldiers were not only numerous and cheap, but if they died, he could expend a bit of Mana to spawn more. Besides, even without using Mana, they could grow daily by absorbing various emotions.

Choosing from among the Heart Demon Dao Soldiers, he quickly found one that barely had a resemblance to a human form.

A three-meter-tall Heart Demon Dao Soldier, similar to an abomination, had various twisted arms growing from its back, a ferocious mouth on its belly, and atop its thick, invisible neck, a grotesque head. However, this head was not an actual head but a Meteor Hammer disguised as a skull, capable of long-range attacks like the Flying Head Monster.

"They already look like this, trying to resemble a person; it's too difficult," Gu Shanhai lamented somewhat helplessly.

Of course, there might be Heart Demon Dao Soldiers that resembled humans even more closely, but Gu Shanhai couldn't be bothered to search. With a million Heart Demon Dao Soldiers, it would waste so much time to sift through them all.

Therefore, it was better to choose one that was roughly suitable and send it. After all, the personnel from the Thirteen Departments had seen Heart Demon Dao Soldiers to some extent, as there had been so many abnormalities. Few were as ugly as this one, and generally, if one encountered a monster this hideous, there was a ninety percent chance it was one's own kind.

The remaining ten percent naturally included some abnormally ugly ones.

After the Heart Demon Dao Soldier arrived on the Moon, through its vision, Gu Shanhai also saw the situation.

On the dark side of the Moon, a multitude of hair-like, writhing shadowy tendrils had grown. These tendrils were connected to a second moon being born and were transferring something.

To Gu Shanhai, it felt like a mother providing energy to her infant.

"Is this... moving on to the second stage?!" Gu Shanhai immediately realized the problem.

He was unsure of the stages involved in the birth of a second moon, but he was certain this was not a good thing.

Regarding the Thirteen Departments' personnel stationed on the Moon, Gu Shanhai also saw through the vision of the Heart Demon Dao Soldier that they had all been dragged into the shadows on the far side of the Moon, turned into mummies. Their moisture was drained, skins overshadowed by the darkness, looking very black.

The approach of the Heart Demon Dao Soldier naturally drew the attack of these shadowy tendrils, but the Dao Soldier was not weak. Moreover, with the strategy given by Gu Shanhai, its master, before the battle, a multitude of twisted arms from its back continually tore at the attacking tendrils, its huge maw also gnawing away.

However, Dao Soldiers were not the best at fighting alone. Besides the insufficient number and lack of additional enchantments, what was more crucial was that it was not a living being, devoid of corresponding emotional desires, unable to utilize its full strength, and ultimately was overwhelmed, with numerous injuries surfacing on its body.

At best, it could only sustain itself for about ten minutes before dying.

"It seems Heart Demon Dao Soldiers also need to be improved. The disgusting, emotionally-targeted nature is indeed very effective, but when facing these soulless entities, they can only unleash about ten percent of their power." Most of Gu Shanhai's enemies were actually human, and encounters with puppets or soulless beings were relatively rare, as they were the minority.

But now, having encountered one, Gu Shanhai had to consider making improvements rather than leaving it be.

"It seems there are no better materials in this world; I'll have to wait until the next world to look." Gu Shanhai quickly put aside the matter and focused on the situation of the Moon, further collecting various data for the formulation of a subsequent response plan.