Transforming Succubus: Almost Doomsday

Zhou Baiyu felt a bit nervous.

He was finally approaching the Pantheon. From here on out, he would have to rely on himself.

"By the way, what would happen if I were there at three-thirty in the morning, the moment the cycle begins? Would I be forcibly summoned back?"

"Right now, we don't know. But you only get one chance anyway. If the Pantheon learns of your motives, the outcome, well, you can imagine. The Pantheon won't give you a second chance."

Mel said:

"You must strike decisively, and you must find a way to escape the Pantheon."

Zhou Baiyu nodded.

The door to the golden carriage had opened, a golden passage appearing. He glanced back at Mel.

"Mel, if I am a man soon to die, could you let me see your face?"

This request seemed totally out of the blue, and Mel was momentarily stunned.

Did this guy not care about what was coming next? Why would he ask for such a thing now?

However, unexpectedly, Mel agreed to the request.

She slowly removed her vortex mask, revealing her exquisitely beautiful face.

Ancient beauty.

The phrase flashed through Zhou Baiyu's mind.

Unlike He Lin's seductive charm, Mel's beauty was more dignified and graceful.

Zhou Baiyu couldn't believe that Mel had such a beautiful face.

"That's right... now that I see it, there is indeed a sense of beautiful sisters with He Lin. Unfortunately, He Lin's choice was to be an intermediary, while Mel's choice is to survive alone..."

"The gap between the two must be widening, right? In other words, the person before me, is she a character even stronger than an intermediary?"

As these thoughts flashed through Zhou Baiyu's mind, Mel slowly put her mask back on:

"A face can bring many inconveniences, so I prefer to present myself with a mask."

"Your face, in the Pantheon, is no secret. If you had defeated Karlando, Karlando would not let you off. So you'd better put on a mask as well."

Zhou Baiyu nodded.

Of course, he would also wear a mask.

Though he had a general idea in his mind, Zhou Baiyu still needed to finalize some details about the escape.

"No regrets now. Mel, you're truly beautiful. I originally thought He Lin was the most beautiful woman of your era, but it turns out there's another who's as gorgeous yet utterly different in style."

"Well then, wish me luck."

With those words, Zhou Baiyu followed the golden pathway and jumped off the extraordinary train.

...

...

Pantheon.

The word Pantheon implies that this place is the stronghold of the new god worshippers lineage.

As the most powerful organization in the Advanced World openly, the Pantheon once razed a country to the ground and built a magnificent temple on its territory.

Around the temple, there are thirty-six new gods' temples.

Each of these temples occupies a vast area for the new gods' followers to exchange information, recover from injuries, adjust, or rest and recuperate.

The thirty-six temples surround the Pantheon like a ring. This is the outermost ring.

Moving inward, there is the second ring.

This second ring consists of twenty-four even more powerful new god mountain temples.

Among these, twelve are dedicated to the Punishment group, eight to the Revelation group, and four to the Insight group.

This is where the Pantheon's strongest operational organizations, Punishment, Insight, and Revelation, are located.

Punishment is responsible for combat, Insight for intelligence gathering, and Revelation for talent recruitment and spreading divine messages.

Unlike the outer ring's thirty-six temples, the twenty-four temples are larger and more "ferocious."

This is because this place is the most "corrupt" place in the world.

The twenty-four great crimson eyes, constantly opening and closing, with pupils ceaselessly moving as if alive.

Further inside the second ring, there is the Central Temple, dedicated only to the six strongest new gods.

There are many other buildings around, and Zhou Baiyu's route of advance cannot possibly include any sightseeing.

The Central Temple was at the highest point.

On enormous mountain-sized tentacles, countless followers had built a winding path rooted upon those colossal Corruption Tentacles.

The path spiraled up along the Corruption Tentacles, eventually reaching the Pantheon.

Atop it all, it was said the God of Corruption was enshrined.

Below the God of Corruption were the statues of six new gods.

These six gods corresponded to the six supreme rulers.

However, two of them had died, and one had even had its statue removed.

Thus, the nominal six gods were reduced to five.

The God of Games and Entertainment, the God of Gluttony, the Cycle God, the Sealing and Ritual God, and the God of Thunder and Flame.

As for which new god had its statue removed, no one knew.

Nonetheless, at the beginning of the Pantheon's establishment, there really had been six statues enshrined in the main hall.

Of course, although the statue of the Cycle God was still there, and would exist forever, its most powerful follower had been turned into a special source of pollution.

It was used as a cornerstone for some kind of seal, incarcerating the forerunners of a certain world within the cycle.

Destroying this seal was Zhou Baiyu's objective this time.

Looking at the enormous tentacle towering into the clouds in the distance.

And the palace it upheld—

Zhou Baiyu finally understood why Mel had said that once you saw it, you would know where the destination was.

"It's fucking spectacular; this is the first time I've seen such a huge Corruption Tentacle. I thought Linxiang City was exaggerated enough, but now it seems like a pure land compared to this. Is this an SSS-grade corruption area? Is this the body of the God of Corruption?"

The higher the level of corruption, the heavier the external manifestations like tentacles and crimson eyes became.

Zhou Baiyu kept thinking, did these tentacles have consciousness?

Why did corruption bring these things?

What kind of relationship did this have with the God of Corruption?

"Forget it, that's not what I need to think about right now. The relationship between the king god and the God of Corruption, whether they're two sides of the same coin, or there's some cyclic mechanism... none of this is pressing right now."

"Cannot engage in combat. I must make it to the top."

Standing on the horizon, gazing at the vast palace in the distant sky, feeling the numerous pollutants on this land...

Zhou Baiyu was beginning to feel afraid.

It was just like the story his father used to tell him as a child, about a healthy young boy who came to a city full of sick people.

The boy, having a protagonist's halo, naturally wouldn't fall ill.

But a normal person arriving in such a place would likely get sick quite quickly.

Now Zhou Baiyu wondered if he would encounter various forms of pollution.

Like the previous ones: the pollution that made it impossible to tell lies, the one that caused radishes to grow larger with a blink of an eye, and the one where his mind became full of pity, as if a saint had possessed him.

Now that he had come to the headquarter of the Polluter, he feared that once he went in... he might be thoroughly affected by the pollution.

"Stealth is probably not feasible either; Mel was right, direct combat, ten deaths and no life, stealth, nine deaths and one life."

"But I have only one chance, and nine deaths to one life... may not be enough; I need to find a different way."

Zhou Baiyu was checking the equipment on his body and the items in his inventory to ensure everything was correct—

Then he put on a straw raincoat.

All pollutants would naturally take a liking to Zhou Baiyu because of the aura of the God of Difference and Chaos.

With the straw raincoat, it was easier to pose as one of their own in the eyes of the pollutants.

But now, Zhou Baiyu still had two things to figure out.

First, he had to decide which god's follower he would impersonate.

"I am a follower of the God of Survival and Evolution, but also benefit from the God of Games and Entertainment... however, would impersonating the followers of these two gods be suitable?"

Time was short, and Zhou Baiyu quickly made a decision.

Now there was just one more issue to resolve.

Zhou Baiyu put on his mask:

"With everything ready, now, all I need is a reason that can take me directly to the deepest part of the Pantheon."