A common tavern that connects all fantasy worlds

But then he met this fellow Herbert West.

This exchange student from Europe, his talent is simply enviable... Even under his unscrupulous profligacy and waste, it still looks extremely dazzling.

Herbert has a keen intuition for medical problems, can quickly grasp the key points, and propose unimaginable but extremely effective solutions; he can understand all the knowledge after reading the textbook by himself, and he is a master in all theoretical courses. The look of wandering away.

Professor Hill thought that this might be the real reason why he wanted to get angry when he saw him.

But at this time, that stinky brat is definitely not as good as himself... Since he transformed into this state, it seems that what he can see and hear is not limited to this world.Various voices began to whisper in his ears, and although most of the words were meaningless noise to him, there were also some words that he understood inexplicably.

The mysteries of the universe are hidden there, allowing him to see more clearly and hear more accurately... What medicine?What fame and fortune?In front of the things that truly exist forever, these things are dust, even crumbs that are not as good as dust.

The same goes for those two little devils... They will perish tonight, and their blood will open the door to the real.

Suddenly, Professor Hill opened his turbid yellow eyes.

His distorted, human-shaped face floated up from the cocoon, and opened his mouth to the front.

Jess, with a homemade flamethrower in his hand, and Dan and Herbert, holding Molotov cocktails, were rushing forward, using flames to clear a path leading here.

... If other means are not guaranteed to work, at least flames are still effective against these guys.

Professor Hill, who was devoting his energy to these living corpses, roared silently, and opened his mouth where all the teeth had fallen out, revealing the tongue that had turned into ten or twenty tentacles in his mouth.

Even so, what he said could still be understood by several people.

"You... so stupid. Humans, so stupid."

In the pipeline on the other side of the pump station, there are countless black figures crawling from the sewage, like a nest of black maggots, gushing out of the sewer pipe in groups; even the living corpses that have just been set on fire Guys, after pouring it into the reservoir, the flame will be extinguished quickly...

Professor Hill's sticky film of flesh and blood was extending from the corner of the wall to the sewage pool, and streams of yellow-green pus emerged from his body, and fell into the pool along the wriggling blanket of flesh. A pool of water was dyed a similar fluorescent green.

The flames on the living corpse were quickly extinguished by the pool water, and the festering skin returned to its appearance a few minutes ago in the foul-smelling water.

"Herbert West, you don't understand what you've made. But it's all right, you'll understand...you'll all understand soon enough."

Megan in the back was about to vomit from this disgusting guy, but she mustered up her courage, lifted her mask and stepped forward, shouting angrily, "Carl Hill! What have you done to my father!"

The expression on that distorted face suddenly froze, as if Megan's appearance had already given him a great shock.

The only human-like part of him--those yellow eyes rolled over and stared straight at the girl in front of him.Even in the midst of her panic and rage, she was so beautiful, she was like a pure angel descended into the sewer.

"Ellen, your daughter is calling for you... go and bring her to me."

As he said this, a hot current rose again in the part of his body that should have been the tailbone, but now he didn't know where it was.

This girl has such magical powers, even if he is no longer a human being, he will be attracted to her and awakened by her involuntarily, as if he is still alive.

From the pool beside him, Dean Alan Halsey, who had been swollen a lot and had yellow eyes shining, stood up slowly.

His small eyes, which were almost squeezed into a slit by the rotten flesh on his face, stared at the few humans. The strange mental power from Professor Hill behind him was like a net, washing over his consciousness layer by layer. The other party didn't say anything, but the huge and heavy will clearly passed the information to him, just like it passed to hundreds of other living corpses here.

Under the control of Professor Hill, they are like worker bees in a bee colony, giving full play to all their intelligence and instincts, working hard for the collective or the "queen bee", and doing everything possible to achieve Professor Hill's goal.

Megan couldn't believe her eyes, could this bloated, rancid, torn corpse in front of her be her father... He had never done anything wrong in his life, so why did he have to suffer such bad luck!

Dan next to her hugged her shoulders tightly so that she would not unconsciously walk forward under the shock of grief, and persuaded in her ear: "Megan, Megan! That's not your father anymore, like this The living corpses are all transformed after death, and have already lost their memory and will as human beings. Those wandering on the streets are the same, they will only use their identity as human beings to hunt and hunt other human beings!"

Of course Megan knew this too, she had seen what these living corpses could do just now.

But when people have reached this point, who can be indifferent?

She felt sad from her heart, and cried out, "Father!"

At this moment, Dean Horsey stopped walking towards this side, and the yellow light in his eyes suddenly flashed.

He opened his mouth, and the sewage in his mouth flowed down the rotting body, and it took him a while to make a sound: "Ah... can't, hurt..."

The swollen corpse turned around and looked at Professor Hill who was still putting the weight of his will on his mind.

The other party was yelling: "Bring her to me, Ellen, bring her to me!"

"Can't, hurt... Megan..."

The living corpse, whose consciousness had completely collapsed, only repeated these words, and suddenly rushed towards Professor Hill, stabbing a piece of glass shards in its hand at the shard that emerged from the cocoon. Opening his face, he directly opened a hole in its protruding eyeball with a poof, and pierced it completely.

Professor Hill's flesh and tentacles covered the corner of the wall shrank suddenly, and let out a heart-wrenching howl. One of the thickest tentacles covered in mucus slammed the living corpse out in front of him, making it Its head hit the edge of the cistern, and a large piece was dented.

Jace clenched the handle of the shield, feeling the sting of the little cross he'd strapped into his palm.

The scene in front of him made his blood surge, and the righteous anger burned his chest, and at the same time ignited the light deep in his soul.

Akarat, the founder of the paladin, once said that yearning for light, love for beauty, hatred for darkness and cruelty, is the "inner light" of all human beings... that is the essence of holy light, even if it does not come from Gifted by angels, everyone can feel the holy light.

In the depths of the underground, where the description of "hiding evil and evil people and evil people" is the best, in the depths of the silver armor, dots of white light flicker, and finally even begin to erupt like a supernova, flooding the sewage, The dark cistern was completely illuminated.

"I will never compromise with evil.... In my name, Jess Adama, in the name of the Holy Light, I grant you equal salvation!"

The paladin threw the flamethrower to the humans aside, and drew the flail hanging behind his back again.Red, radial arcs lit up under his feet, filled with majestic holy light energy for a long time, spreading to all monsters' bodies.

"Go!"

He roared and rushed forward, smashing the skulls of several living corpses in an instant... But this time, nothing could make them get up again.

From a certain pipe on the other side of the cistern, Amelia, who had been there before, descended from the sky, stretched out her hand and waved a bright powder mist, which just covered the whole body of a certain sarcoma.

Hill, who was poked blind in one eye, couldn't see Amelia's movements at all. He only knew that as soon as the powder touched his body, it was like rubbing salt on a slug, making his whole body rotten. Convulsed, it quickly turned into pus and began to melt amidst his terrified screams.

Herbert had already rushed forward, reached out and took out the note, pointed at Professor Hill, who no longer knew what shape it was, and read aloud the incantation behind the note that he didn't understand:

"Yog-Sothoth kadishtuor mggokaog...ahnythor nafl Ymg'bthnk ah'sgn...R'luhah! Hai-R'luhah!"

Chapter 45 What Never Perishes

Although his tongue was about to tie up, fortunately, Herbert finished the incantation in its entirety.

As for what this means... He didn't know, and the librarian also told a few people clearly, don't ask.

Professor Hill yelled words like "Ya-syha'h!", and the whole pile of rotten meat shrank like a leak, emitting a lot of pus and stench... But this place was originally a sewage storage Chi, to deal with the rest of him can be said to be quite suitable.

Soon, all his flesh and blood turned into pus and flowed into the pool, leaving only a piece of wrinkled skin on the ground where the shape of the facial features could be roughly seen.

That thing was actually quite disgusting, but Herbert's eyes lit up, ready to take a closer look... Hill has disappeared, so this thing shouldn't be that dangerous, right?

But as soon as he took a step, an arm with an iron gauntlet stretched out from the side and pressed it on his shoulder.

"Burn it," said Jace.

Behind this man in full armor and shining armor, countless living corpses were lying on the ground in disorder, the yellow-green liquid in his body flowed out from wounds of various shapes, and there was no movement at all. Ordinary human corpses.

Megan ran all the way to her father's side... or rather, the body that used to be her father.

It is no longer possible for him to get up again. In the "salvation" of the paladin, his soul and body have completely rested.He didn't have time to leave any last words, and didn't say goodbye to his relatives, so he left so suddenly and unexpectedly.

Rather, he had already left a long time ago, and what was active here was his remnant body that hadn't decayed yet.

But why, a corpse that has obviously lost human consciousness and memory can break free from Professor Hill's control, is unwilling to hurt his daughter, and even resists?

Dan took the hand of his weeping girlfriend and led her back a few steps.

Amelia, who took the flamethrower in his hand, had no intention of being sentimental. Standing in front of several people, she pulled the trigger on the mountain of corpses in front of her. His body was ignited and turned into a sea of ​​flames.

It's hard to say whether this can completely solve the remaining evil and darkness in this place, but as long as Professor Hill stops making more living corpses, the garrison and police on the surface of the town will be able to clear all the enemies on the ground sooner or later. Leave it to them to deal with it... The task of several people is to solve the "supernatural" things, and now the task has been completed.

By the time Dan, Herbert, and Megan got out of the sewer mouth of Miskatonic University, it was already early morning.Although the sun has not yet risen in this season, the surroundings are still quiet and dark, but the east of the sky has already turned white, and the garrison and police officers behind the defense line are already preparing weapons in full swing, planning to launch a counterattack as soon as daylight arrives.

In fact, after a night of fighting, these officials finally discovered that the living corpses are not so difficult to deal with... Normal gun bullets can cause damage to them, and those guys are just "undead", which is a bit difficult It's just dealt with; after replacing some inhumane equipment that stepped on the red line of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, they can be completely destroyed from the inside out.

Waiting for dawn is just because it is easier to distinguish them and eliminate them at dawn.

But it is very likely that when they go to the town to kill the living corpses after dawn, they will find that there are not many enemies left for them... Amelia and Jess are still staying in the town, with the "salvation" of the paladins With aura, their hunting efficiency doubled.

Because of the reminder before several people entered the sewer, sentry posts were set up above the sewer openings in Miscatone. When several college students got out, they were almost burned as living corpses. Fortunately, Dan who led the way quickly raised his hands, everyone cried: "I am a man! We are men!"

On the second floor of the library, next to the window, the old man who didn't know how long he lived was still sitting there smoking a cigarette, raised his eyes, and silently watched the sun rise in the east outside the window.

After taking a shower and changing their clothes, the young people finally came back, and when they wanted to tell the old man the result, he stopped him with a wave of his hand.

"Seeing you come back alive in human form, I understand... It seems that those things are useful, really good."

Dan heard that this was wrong, and immediately asked: "So...you didn't know whether the powder and spells would work, so let us face that guy?"

The old man smiled silently: "The result is good. Besides, didn't the matter happen because of you? Since you want to take responsibility, I can only help as much as I can. Even if it doesn't work, I will be the same as you, all Do your best."

Herbert was concerned about another matter. He frowned and straightened his glasses, carefully chose his words, and finally asked: "Things are going well, Professor Hill has almost no ability to resist in spells, It was destroyed in an instant... I didn't feel any irresistible power, huge and unknowable terror appeared."

"I've said it before... human beings are insignificant compared to the universe itself, let alone a higher existence that is deeper and more incomprehensible than the universe. Hill is not a member of 'His'. He has never prayed, has no Faith, not even a special bloodline, just a lucky guy who picked up some leftovers and heard the 'knowledge' of a scaly claw from echoes in dimensions. You will be killed by someone for the crumbs you dropped on the picnic The ant picks it up and treats that ant differently?"

The old man took a puff of cigarette with a sneer, his eyes continued to look out of the window with misty eyes, and his tone gradually became flat in the morning light that gradually illuminated the world: "And you didn't 'destroy' him. Since he has lost his human form, then It has been transformed into some kind of power that does not belong to our universe; what remains in this material world is only a small part of his human consciousness. However... the fate of trying to control things that he does not understand is no worse than being How good is it to destroy, you have to keep this in mind.”

The three young men fell into deep thought at the same time.

Just a small part of that incomprehensible, imperceptible knowledge and power can create a real disaster in their world... Thinking about what Hill can touch, I'm afraid it's really what the librarian said, His fate is not going to be any better.

"In that case, why not completely destroy that book and all copies?"

Megan, who knew the least about this matter, asked ignorantly.

"...Because that's not the only threat we face." The old man added, "The greatest tragedy of mankind... is to be born in this universe full of danger, madness and terror. What is recorded in that book is indeed The knowledge that we still can't understand, even just looking at it may cause danger, but that may also be our only life-saving straw; hundreds of thousands, millions of years ago, we also regarded flames as a threat to survival, but later, Instead, it became the beginning of civilization, allowing us to progress a little bit as a species that was nothing special at the beginning, and finally live to the present.

"Perhaps thousands or tens of thousands of years later, when the stars return to their positions, we have already solved this knowledge, cleared all the haze on the way forward, and finally faced the dark universe alone?

"For that moment to come, we must, of course, be aware of the dangers that knowledge may entail, and possess true courage—

"It's not the bravery born out of ignorance, but the 'courage' that fully understands what you are facing, but still decides to stand up straight and face the horror."

Seeing the expressions of the three young men standing there as if they understood something, but also didn't understand at all, the old man couldn't help showing a smile on his face.

Youth...one of the most wonderful things that a human being possesses.

"Well, I still owe you a story, don't I? Find a chair and come over and make me a cup of coffee... This story is a long one."

After the children finished what he asked, he took a sip of hot coffee, and then said slowly: "In the winter of 1927, a man who was nearly eight feet tall and dressed in rags and dirty clothes walked into the University of Miscattoni. library."

Of course, the paladins Jess and Amelia in the town were completely unaware of these things, as well as the stories the librarian told a few young people.

To put it bluntly, Amelia herself can be considered a "supernatural creature"; Jess has seen countless grotesque monsters, and Professor Hill is not out of this category except for being a little disgusting.

When the sun rose, the garrison and the police began to move out, and of course the two of them stopped... As a result, although Jess fell behind in the first half of the hunt, after recovering the Holy Light and being able to use "Redemption", He quickly caught up, and the final estimated number of prey was about the same as Amelia's.

However, the two of them didn't take this so-called "competition" seriously, they just wanted to destroy as many living corpses as possible.

These living corpses were all human beings who lived seriously before they were alive. It is possible that they have never done anything wrong in their lifetime, but their lives were taken away by unpredictable bad luck. Best way to rest them in peace.

"It seems to be resolved, so I'll go back to the tavern first..." Amelia stretched her waist and said to Jess, "What about you? Do you want to go back with me, to your original world?"

"No, I'll stay here first, go back and say goodbye to them. Thank you, and thank you, Boss Xue."

"Thanks I can, he doesn't have to... He just likes to meddle in other people's business." Amelia curled her lips, held the key, and pushed open the door beside her.

Jess also shook the handle behind the shield, feeling the slightly pinched fingers of the cross wrapped inside, and whispered to himself:

"I still have to thank you."

Chapter 46 From Out of Worlds

[132. No. 132]

"In other words, you actually don't know why this potion works."

In a temporary tent in the Rogge camp, the necromancer Zuer faced his partner in front of him, put down the tube of fluorescent green liquid in his hand, and said helplessly.

"You are the expert in this field." Jess shrugged. If he hadn't seen the necromancer's battle and his attitude towards life and death, the paladin would never have told him of the existence of this thing. .

But... it's true that the world of Sanctuary is now on the brink of disruption, and any help that can be availed.

What's more, paladins have seen the effect of this thing and dealt with it a lot... It's nothing more than another monster that can't be hacked to death, but can only be burned to death.

It's just that he was more cautious, and specially ordered: "Don't use it on living people, it will cause serious trouble."

Zul still replied with the same sentence: "I'm not very interested in living people."

Stepping out of the Rasma's private realm of uncomfortable bottles and cans, the paladin looked around and decided to check out the blacksmith's furnace on the north side of the camp.

After clearing the monsters on the wasteland and killing the blood crow, the camp has become much safer, and there are more Rogues who can be free. Kasha began to reorganize the hunting, because the camp accommodated a large number of Drizzt The life of a Ream refugee who was on the verge of starving for food and clothing was finally a little easier.

Even the profiteer Kidd who would rather die than lower the price... even sold a few of his things recently, probably all of them were sold to the witch, and she was the only one with that kind of financial resources.

The land on the wilderness was turned over and reseeded, of course, under the protection of the Rogues; these sharp archers held storm pulse rifles in their hands, and scanned the surroundings vigilantly, absolutely not letting any hell The monsters crawling out have a chance to harm the inhabitants of the camp.

In time, I am afraid that this place will develop into another village, and finally become a new town... But the location here is still too bad. At first, it was to take in the refugees nearby, so I chose a location with the fewest monsters for defense. More convenient terrain, not the best location for building a town.

The plan to rebuild the wall had been stopped by the blind nun Akara, maybe she was thinking about the same thing.

Speaking of the weapons of the Rogues, these storm pulse rifles, together with the subsequent charging and maintenance services, only cost a bag of gold coins, which is nothing to the witch Issandra.Even if she hadn't insisted on giving the money, the designer of "Duran Duran" from the "Allied Army Systems" company opposite would not even think of asking for a price.

His original words were: "This kind of individual weapon is almost useless. The company has a large amount of inventory that cannot be consumed. You can take it away by reporting a 'loss in the new colony'...but if it can be sold Of course money is even better, it will be a proof of my ability."