The Great Worm Lich

“But Altman is dead, so the so-called ‘last sage’ worshipped by the people of the Red Iron Nation is not him, but you, right?” Zhang Lisheng could vaguely guess the reason how his lover became a god and could not help but interrupted her in bewilderment. “But this is too absurd. Tina, y-you’re an Earthling and had nothing to do with the Shrimp World No. 1 before this. How can you just become a god of that world just because of the prayers of the mortals…”

 “No, Lisheng, I have a close relationship with Shrimp World No. 1. I have obtained extraordinary power with the wonders from that world. According to laws of the unseen world, it’s equivalent to inheriting the position of Sage Altman, so of course, I’ll have an unbreakable tie with that world,” The girl fell into a moment of silence and murmured, “I’ll never forget that day when my previous life collapsed, and the day I was reborn. When I first heard Sheila told me that you, my most loved man, and Tina, my best sister Trish… No, I don’t want to remember! Until now, I still can’t think back to that sad moment! That tragic moment that feels as though my heart was being shredded into pieces with a knife… But, amid that pain, I heard the call of the believers and eventually became the guardian god of the Faron World’s Red Iron Nation. I guess this is also a coincidence of blessings that came out of misfortune. Isn’t this meant by the Chinese saying ‘misfortune might be a blessing in disguise’? Oh look, I have a deep understanding of Chinese civilization right? Actually, ever since I got to know you, to better understand your thoughts, I’ve always been secretly learning Chinese culture. Looking back at it now, it’s really ridiculous…”

 “I don’t find it ridiculous at all, Tina. It’s never ridiculous!” The young man interrupted the girl again in a hoarse voice.

 “Not ridiculous? Why is it not ridiculous? It’s extremely ridiculous! When an idiot woman who had been receiving top American open education since she was a child kept working hard without uttering a complaint about the perfect love that she’s longing for, her boyfriend from a conservative country was flirting with her best sister. Isn’t this ridiculous enough?”

 After saying this, the girl leaned softly against the edge of the windowsill like she had lost her energy while the breathing of the young man became rapid. With a pained expression on his face, he was tongue-tied and could not say anything in return.

 Upon seeing the sorrowful expression that she had never seen before on her lover’s face, the girl who was gasping with her head lowered suddenly raised her head and lifted her arm using her entire energy. Stroking the young man’s face gently, she said in a hoarse and weak voice, “I’m sorry, baby, I can’t forgive you. I-I really have never wanted to hurt you like this before, but I can’t forgive you. I really, really don’t wish to retaliate the pain that I’ve been through before, but I can only continue to live and look at you by hating and hurting you. I even betrayed all mankind in order to obtain such qualification. Perhaps you can understand, or maybe you can’t, but please remember, I love you. I love you as much as I hate you…”

 While she was speaking, her voice became fainter and fainter. In the end, her arm lost energy and abruptly fell; her chest no longer undulated. With her eyes opened, she quietly lost her life.

 A few minutes after the girl died, the young man who was motionless in his stupor suddenly murmured, as though he had not realized that the girl beside him had already turned to a corpse with no soul, “I know you love me. Of course, I know you love me. Otherwise, you won’t ‘descend’ to New York and encounter me so coincidentally. You must have made countless efforts. You spoke of it so quickly, but you must have formed numerous attempts to meet me for this one time only. I can’t believe that I’d actually go through such a disgusting ‘soap opera’ plot, but even so, I still want to tell you, rest assured, I will not escape anymore. Escaping will not solve any problem. I’ll go to see you. I swear by my theonym Wizard Li, I’ll definitely go see you when I become stronger and have sufficient power. Then, I’ll use my own method to let you return to my side, even if I have to completely destroy the Shrimp World No. 1 that you’re relying on now, I’ll definitely let you come back to me…”

 

After uttering his selfish and distorted vows in a uniquely brutal and cruel manner, the black-haired young man took a few deep breaths and gradually regained his calmness. His eyes became clear once again.

 At the same time, amid the crowds that had automatically separated at New York’s Times Avenue, something that he had wanted to see finally appeared—a convertible jeep military vehicle with camouflage stripes on the door.

 “Please keep calm. The federal government is already urgently dispatching disaster relief supplies…” Amid the loud broadcast of the military jeep, he once again took a deep breath of the air filled with odor and reached out a hand to gently close the eyes of the girl acting as a medium for the god’s spirit who had lost her soul before jumping down from the windowsill. He then hurriedly passed through the crowd and stood in front of the military vehicle.

 The jeep was driven by a burly white man wearing a helmet and a camouflage combat uniform who was as beefy as a brown bear, with his eyes narrowed underneath his sunglasses as bright as foxes’ eyes.

 He stepped on the brakes and first glanced at the crowd that was faintly in the commotion around him vigilantly. He then made a gesture and instructed the soldiers in the back seat to stand. After holding the trigger of the heavy machine gun in the middle of the jeep, he looked down from the car at the black-haired young man and said coldly, “Relief materials are already being transferred. Please restrain your emotions and stand on the side of the road, sir. Right now, New York is implementing a temporary military decree, and we’ve been authorized by the federal government to suppress all rioters. I gotta tell you that the bullets have no eyes.”

 Despite being threatened, the young man breathed a long sigh of relief. “Has the New York military base restored its communication with the White House? This is great. Sergeant, I’m Zhang Lisheng, the plenipotentiary special envoy of the Shrimp World No. 2 sent by Mr. President Paul Rand of the United States of America. I need your help now.”

 “Special envoy of the president, you’re the special envoy of the president?” A puzzlement appeared on the white man’s face. He reexamined Zhang Lisheng’s excessively young face again and opened his mouth. After a few moments of bafflement, he finally asked. “Asian faces are just too young-looking, do you have any documents that can prove your identity, sir? ”

 “I’ve encountered a plane crash when I escaped from Shrimp World No. 2, and I managed to save myself with great difficulty. All my things are gone, but fortunately, President Rand’s letter of attorney has always been with me,” The young man said and took out a neatly folded document from his pocket before handing it over. Although there was a visible sign that the document was soaked in water before being dried again, the writing was still clear due to its good paper quality.

 The sergeant looked at the document for a while and saw that it was not fake. He studied Zhang Lisheng a few times again and placed his fingers on the beret he was wearing. After giving his salute, he roared, “I’m Sergeant Anton Nichols from the federal New York military base. Mr. Envoy, please get in the car. Charlie, be alert.”

 “Thank you, sergeant.” The young man nodded with a smile and sat in the copilot position. After seeing him getting into the car, the crowds on both sides of the street immediately burst into a small commotion. However, the commotion quickly subsided under the threat of the black gun hole and the slow-moving of the jeep.

 When the sergeant saw that the riot had calmed down, his frown slowly eased away and began to hum an unknown popular song. After driving the car through Times Square, he suddenly asked curiously, “Mr. Zhang, the spatial gate of the Shrimp World No. 1 has disappeared without reason after the catastrophe. You said that you’ve escaped from there, so do you know the reason for its disappearance?”

 

“I know the reason, but I’m sorry, Sergeant Nichols. Although I appreciate your help, I can’t tell you anything because of confidentiality reasons,” Zhang Lisheng pretended to hesitate and replied apologetically.

 “It’s okay, Mr. Special Envoy, I understand. I was merely curious,” Nichols shook his head as if he did not care. After pausing for a while, he continued to ask again, “You can tell me when did you escape from Shrimp World No. 2 then? Don’t tell me that it was when the catastrophe happened? Isn’t that really lucky of you?!”

 

“It was at the same time as the disaster that I left Shrimp World No. 2. I really count myself really really lucky when I recall that scene. Until now, the mushroom clouds caused by the fiery meteorite falling to the ground are still constantly appearing before my eyes! It’s absolutely terrifying!” Zhang Lisheng showed a terrified expression and continued, “To be honest, I really find it surprising that the federal government restored contact with the New York military base today after the dense meteorite rain.”

 “What do you mean by this?” The sergeant asked with an imperceptible flash of brilliance in his eyes.

 “Although the world we live in has long been so weird that there is no way to explain it with science, it’s still impossible for the enormous natural disaster of a few days ago to take place out of nowhere. Those falling meteorites can only be low-Earth orbital planet fragments and satellites captured by the Earth.” The young man said with a smile. “I’ve guessed correctly, right, sergeant?”

 “I can’t answer this because of confidentiality reasons either. I can only say that I can see why you managed to be a federal envoy at such a young age,” Nichols shrugged.

 “Thank you, but do you really not know the name ‘Zhang Lisheng’?” Zhang Lisheng burst into a chuckle and asked in befuddlement.

 “Aha, listening to you like this, it seems like you’re a very famous person, Mr. Special Envoy. I’m sorry though, I have always shown no interest in other celebrities except for football stars,” The sergeant shrugged again and answered indifferently.

 When the two crossed half of New York City while chatting seemingly harmoniously with each other, the jeep finally drove on the suburban highway.

 After another half an hour, the car entered the New York military base after two checkpoints and stopped slowly beside the administrative command building near the coastal sea.

 

Three major-ranked officers assigned by the base commander. When he had received a radio notice from Nichols, they had already been waiting downstairs. They hurriedly walked up to the jeep when it stopped.