I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 193 - 193 192. Dont act rashly its one of us (Bonus

Chapter 193: 192. Don’t act rashly, it’s one of us (Bonus chapter for monthly votes!)_1 Chapter 193: 192. Don’t act rashly, it’s one of us (Bonus chapter for monthly votes!)_1 “Halloween.”

The voice of Old Dream was like a cold desert, sending the temperature in everyone’s hearts plummeting to freezing point.

Flame Heart looked incredulously at his companion.

He clearly remembered the process of getting to know Old Dream; it was just a few years ago. They had just left the city-state and stepped into the Wasteland when a fierce argument broke out between them, almost coming to blows. It had been Giant Arm who gave them both a beating, quelling the dispute.

He vividly recalled the memories of the trio forming a team, hunting, gathering, fighting in the Wasteland. The nights adorned with campfires, under the dazzling stars, filled with laughter and bloodied battles.

How could such a person be a mere disguise by an insect?

Could these insects truly imitate humans to such an extent?

The more Flame Heart thought about it, the more terrified he became.

He broke out in a cold sweat, his complexion pale, as he stared blankly at Old Dream, feeling dazed.

“Calm down, calm down. Maybe Old Dream is under the control of some mysterious power. As long as we leave these ruins, just leave these ruins, he might recover.”

Flame Heart tried to rationalize, not just for Old Dream, but for himself as well.

By now, even if he didn’t admit it verbally, Flame Heart knew the truth in his heart.

He was not human.

He was like the other Wasteland Hunters, an insect that believed it was human.

The Queen Bug of the Nameless City possessed the power to control human hearts and naturally the Heart of the Swarm as well. To deceive those who came to the Nameless City, the Queen Bug manipulated some of the insects she spawned, making them believe they were humans, Wasteland Hunters. They roamed the nearby Wastelands, luring other Wasteland Hunters into the city to explore, becoming prey for the Queen Bug.

This body’s appearance, these memories, this personality, and even the fear he felt now, were all bestowed upon him by the Queen Bug.

Even the emotion of despair was a sham.

A bona fide fake.

Flame Heart took two steps back and collapsed onto the gravel.

He suddenly burst into laughter as if mocking the twisted world.

His laughter echoed through the night in the ruins, soon beginning to tremble.

“Hahaha… ha… ha…”

Eventually, Flame Heart’s voice choked, and his laughter came to an abrupt end.

His expression became vacant, numb, rigid, like a marionette that had given up on performing.

“Halloween.”

The cursed words spilled from his mouth.

Giant Arm simply remained silent.

He glanced at Lu Ban, then back at his companion.

The fear had vanished from his eyes. Giant Arm reached into the pocket over his chest to pull out the Energy Bar that Lu Ban had given him, tore open the wrapper, and took a bite.

“It really is delicious,” Giant Arm mused, chewing and speaking simultaneously.

“Could you please do me a favor?”

Even with their false memories and personalities, Giant Arm still wanted to resist a little.

“Could you please let me die with the appearance of a human?”

He tossed aside the wrapper of the Energy Bar and spread his arms.

Giant Arm’s lips twitched slightly, moving as if trying to make a sound, but he suppressed it, clearly in pain. His mouth opened again, and this time, using all his strength, Giant Arm struggled to contain the instinctive end that was approaching.

“Hal…”

The pained expression suddenly shifted to one of numbed, rigid stagnation, and at the moment Giant Arm’s lips relented, Shia raised her hand.

Boom—

Giant Arm’s head burst open, his body slumping down as blood seeped into the silvery sand, showing a ghostly hue.

In the eyes of Lu Ban, who had come to know the truth, within the vision of True Sight, these three Wasteland Hunters had already transformed into monstrous, grotesque, dark insects.

The power cast upon them had completely faded. By now, Giant Arm, Flame Heart, Old Dream, and others from another group like Iron Fist, No-Face, had all vanished from this world.

Only creatures identical to the other insects remained.

Shia waved her hand, giving the remaining two their release. She bit her lower lip, seemingly struggling to accept this reality.

“Were they humans, or were they insects?”

The Mage girl, Shia, was not sure whether there truly had been Wasteland Hunters like Giant Arm, Flame Heart, and Old Dream, or if these personas were fabricated by the Queen Bug from the very beginning.

Had there once been a group of Wasteland Hunters who wandered here years ago and after being slaughtered by the Queen Bug, had their memories harvested?

Hundreds of similar tragedies might have already played out within the walls of this Nameless City.

Even though the Queen Bug had been killed, and similar tragedies may not occur in the future, what about the past, the hundreds or even thousands who had experienced the disaster?

Moreover, the cognitions of these people had been completely rewritten; they were unable to perceive all this. So, could humanity itself have had its cognition rewritten by some even higher beings?

Even one’s own presence here, it was difficult to prove that one was not just a lump of flesh, endowed with false memories and a disguised body.

Shia felt her rationality igniting like burning wood, her eyes blurring, her brain as if it had been pierced and stirred crazily by a red-hot iron rod, and she couldn’t help but squat down to alleviate the pain.

She could clearly see that on the irregular gravel on the ground, there seemed to be an invisible finger tracing, writing out the System’s text.

[You have perceived the truth that drives one mad]

[Sanity -2]

She breathed heavily, her eyes full of bloodshot veins.

At that moment, Lu Ban’s hand suddenly rested on Shia’s shoulder.

Shia turned to look at her companion.

She saw Lu Ban’s expression become serious, indifferent, lacking in animation.

His mouth opened and closed, uttering a word that instantly shocked Shia’s spirit.

“Halloween.”

The mage girl suddenly straightened up, the discomfort from the loss of sanity dissipating like smoke, replaced by extreme tension and a reflexive raising of her hand.

Just as the spell in her palm was about to take form, Lu Ban suddenly grinned.

“Just kidding.”

His face revealed the smile of a successful prank, and he patted Shia’s shoulder again.

“Stop, don’t attack, it’s a friend, I was just pretending, just pretending!”

Lu Ban hastily stopped Shia from smashing the Void Burst Spell she had conjured onto him.

“So, is it a little more bearable now, not so upsetting?”

He also proudly inquired about Shia’s condition.

“…Should I thank you now?”

Shia raised an eyebrow.

“No need for thanks, it’s what should be done.”

Lu Ban answered.

Shia hurled the Void Burst Spell from her hand.

An invisible energy ball whizzed past Lu Ban’s ear, flew off into the distance, and let out a sharp explosion.

“…”

Lu Ban felt he may have just experienced the greatest threat to his life since entering the Silent Lands.

“The task is completed, we can go back now.”

Shia lowered her hand, having used magic, she had never felt so powerless.

In the past, Shia believed that magic could solve all problems; if not, it meant that she had not learned enough magic.

But now, she realized that some things really could not be solved by magic.

Her cognition was shaken, far more exhausting to Shia than the madness she had seen.

“…We can communicate like this in the Silent Lands, if there are tasks we can take part in together in the future, I will inform you.”

Lu Ban simply conveyed to Shia what Cui Siter had told him and then had a sudden inspiration.

“You wouldn’t happen to know a Chosen by Gods named Du Danping, would you?”

“Who?”

Shia looked puzzled.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Lu Ban shook his head and then chose to return.

After he and Shia had vanished into the silver desert, all fell silent.

But suddenly, a tentacle stretched out from the sand, followed by a slightly smaller bug crawling out of the desert. It did not mutter “Halloween,” but dragged its slightly bloated abdomen, struggling towards a corner of the city in the rising morning sun.

Just as dawn always arrives.

Life always finds a way.

*

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