Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 999 [The Great Terror Heading North]

I have to say, Fifth Truth did a pretty good job.

Most civilizations, even high-ranking lineages, do not possess a top-tier defense like the Wailing Wall, sufficient to withstand a Mimu invasion, unlike Heaven. If Theta were to successfully invade, the scene would undoubtedly be catastrophic, because it would mean;

— Mathematics no longer exists.

A single symbol, a missing number, can destroy the entire mathematical edifice of civilization. Any system of calculation, deduction, and logic collapses instantly before theta.

No wonder the Patriarch, a former fanatical follower of Saint Cuthbert, suffered a complete collapse of his moral compass upon discovering θ, howling as he cried out:

"We are all insects."

Xia Xiu turned his head to the side, his expression indifferent, his golden pupils slightly contracting in the void.

He spoke in his mind, his voice low and direct:
Is there any way... to contain Theta?

A phantom of Armand slowly emerged, his gaze unusually cold and cautious.

He did not answer immediately, but simply raised his hand, and the genealogical network rapidly unfolded in their consciousness, with twinkling points of light connecting with each other like stars, weaving a vast net of light.

[Ophiuchus Protocol: Activation—]

A cold, impersonal notification appeared in the network. Countless streams of light raced through the grid, as if simulating the emergence of θ, testing every possible containment method.

“I’ll try,” Armand said in a low voice, then turned his head and gave Xia Xiu a sinister grin, his tone laced with malice.
"Take advantage of the fact that this donut is still alive and squeeze out a few more things."

“That guy has more than just the Theta virus; there must be other things. Keep asking around.”

I want to see what tricks Patrick Star—the Fifth Truth they've been hyping up—can pull this time.

He practically shouted the last sentence through gritted teeth, carrying a defiant challenge to the supreme divinity and a naked fighting spirit.

"I want to meet Him."

As expected of the decision-maker who led the Demon King's army in the past, even now as a data ghost, he has not forgotten his hatred for the Fifth Truth.

Patrick Star shattered the underlying logic of the human web, causing his life's work to vanish into thin air.

That's why, even though he's now just a ghost, he's still filled with hatred. Even if he can only be a ghost, he wants to witness this abstract monster being crushed with his own hands.

Xia Xiu noticed the persistence in her eyes, and nodded slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Then, her attention returned to the Grand Patriarch before her.

The medication is still taking effect.

The body, compressed into that of a child, began to stretch and recover over time, gradually transforming into the appearance of a young man. His skin was taut, and his eyes shone with a childlike clarity, yet carried the fear of an adult consciousness.

As mentioned before, the Fifth Church's infection formula is: Membrane virus + cult transmission + atypical cognitive individuals.

It erased "humanity" and replaced it with fanaticism.

At this moment, the X-type drug abruptly simplified the formula—[-Atypical Cognitive Individual].

The Patriarch's membership was forcibly added back in due to the subtraction.

Thus, the young man before us retained both the memories of the believer and the mark of the infection, yet was forced to bear all of this anew from the perspective of a "human being".

What does that mean?
This means he can no longer accept it with the same coldness and fanaticism he had when he was taken over by memes.

He is now a "person".

Therefore, he must use his human mind to confront the fear and dread that the Fifth Truth initially brought.

The young patriarch's hands trembled, his fingertips gripping the tattered robes tightly. The light deep within his pupils gradually became chaotic, reflecting both the lingering fanaticism of the believers and the raw, visceral fear and despair of humanity.

His breathing was rapid, and his voice was hoarse.
"Why...why must I face Him again...from a human perspective..."

Looking at the figure in front of him, whose complexion had turned green again due to the effects of the medicine, Xia Xiu showed no pity whatsoever.

He knew better than anyone the effects of the X-type panacea.

It can make your mind and body regress, making you up to ███ years younger, but that's just a temporary illusion.

Hours later, all the suppressed time will come rushing back at once. It's like compressing a spring tightly and then suddenly releasing it. For any human being, that's a violent twist that can utterly crush life.

Therefore, the Patriarch before him was already destined for this fate. His only end would be to be swallowed up by the time he had suppressed and the corruption of the Mother of the Dead the moment the effects of the drug wore off.

Xia Xiu was well aware of this.

That's why he remained so calm.

"How pathetic, how lamentable," he thought to himself, but remained unmoved. Instead, he gently tapped his silver cane on the ground, producing a crisp sound.

“Tell me.” He leaned down, his golden eyes coldly fixed on the Patriarch’s pupils.

"What else is there regarding the Fifth Truth...?"

His voice suddenly paused, like a knife cutting into flesh, and Xia Xiu's lips curled into a cold smile.

"Don't make me go through 'The Book of Stars' again."

The Patriarch trembled all over, his youthful body carrying the terror of an ancient soul. His lips quivered, his breathing was intermittent, as if the words he spoke would tear him apart.

“The Book of Stars… mentions a special ritual.”

His voice was choked with sobs, and his eyes were filled with fear and confusion.

"Believers... must face north when praying. Even for a moment, bowing one's head must be... directed toward the North Star."

Xia Xiu's eyes flashed, he stared intently at him, and his voice was low:

"Why? What is the meaning of this ritual?"

The Patriarch trembled, his eyes flashing with the pain of being torn apart by memories. He opened his mouth, as if trying to squeeze out the most unspeakable secret, bit by bit, from his throat…

The Patriarch's body was trembling; the effects of the drug had turned his pale face pale, and now it was covered in cold sweat. His voice was thin and rapid.

"Because...because...if I don't do it this way, that thing will devour me..."

He cowered like a child having a nightmare, but his eyes were filled with the fear of an adult, and every word he squeezed out seemed to weigh heavily on his heart.

“That thing… is hidden in the north. Only by facing it when praying can I temporarily deceive it… As long as I bow my head and dare not look directly at it, it will think that I still belong to it.”

His voice grew softer and softer, and he was almost crying.

"But once I turn my back... once I stop facing it... it pounces on me and... tears my memories apart piece by piece..."

The Patriarch's voice was now fragmented, almost hysterical:
"Do you understand? We've all fed it memories... I even fed it my childhood lullabies, my mother's face, just to keep it from touching me! But now... the potion has brought my memories back, I've remembered them all again... It... it will surely return based on those memories!!" The Patriarch's voice went from trembling to steady as he stared at the ground and continued to wail:

"Facing north—there's only one trigger condition—get enough intelligent individuals facing north at the same time."

He raised his hand, drawing a straight line, and quickened his pace:
“When the number of people facing north reaches a threshold, multi-body depolarization series is activated. First, there is a weak signal, the compass spins erratically, the measuring needle shakes, iron filings stand up, and the magneto clock at the street corner is delayed; then the magnetic lines flip, and the geomagnetism reverses for a few seconds as if someone is turning the pages of a book. At the same time, the nerve membrane potential of all those facing north simultaneously goes out of control, and the whole group falls into a coma—the whole street collapses, and the whole city falls silent.”

He took a breath, suppressing the tremor in his voice:

"The target is not limited to humans. As long as it is an intelligent creature with a brain neural density that exceeds the threshold, it is considered a part of it. I call the node with this density the P-value."

“The P-value represents how many people are heading north at the same time—when the P-value is equal to 4987, it will cause a multi-body depolarization series, which will cause the magnetic field to reverse immediately and be accompanied by paralysis of the nervous system, causing all the individuals heading north to fall into a coma.”

"And when they awaken again, they will become the true hosts of the Fifth Truth—not like me, but the original hosts."

Xia Xiu couldn't help but narrow his eyes: "How many times has this happened?"

The Patriarch's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice hoarse and deep:

"Many times... but in human cities, it only really triggers once."

He paused, his eyes unfocused, as if he were being forced to recall that scene from the depths of his memory:
"The three elements of orientation, number of people, and synchronization must be met simultaneously."

If someone randomly faces north, it will not trigger the event.

Only when rituals, prayers, choral singing, and military parades bind everyone's actions and will together as one... will that thing truly descend.

Xia Xiu nodded; he had now grasped some of the key details.

Previously, the queen of the Fomi ant tribe said that the inexplicable rebellion of her three queen rulers was probably related to this phenomenon.

Sure enough, the Patriarch's next words confirmed his guess.

"Actually, the one who triggers this phenomenon the most is not humans, but the Fomi Ants of Jawbone City."

"On that day, the three queen rulers simultaneously ordered the entire colony to relocate. The climate and humidity changed drastically, and the old nest was about to collapse. They had to move all the egg sacs, food, and worker ants. For efficiency, the queens ordered that the entire colony form a straight line to the north and move in the same direction."

"And so, tens of thousands of individuals turned their heads at the same moment, facing north. Densely packed worker ants, soldier ants, hatching teams, and food-carrying teams, the entire Jawbone City was like a black flood, with all the antennae and all the footsteps pointing in the same direction."

His voice suddenly trembled:
"The conditions are now met—orientation, number of people, and synchronization."

"The P-value far exceeded the minimum threshold of 4987. In the next instant, the sky turned white, the magnetic lines flipped, and countless individuals collapsed to the ground at the same time, their tentacles spasming and their bodies stiffening. The three queens also lost consciousness. The vast pheromone network collapsed instantly, and the city fell silent."

The Patriarch's eyes were bloodshot, and his voice was shrill:

"Seven minutes later, they awoke... but they were no longer the same people. The minds of the three Queens had been altered, and the entire race rose again, but could only whisper the same strange prayer."

Xia Xiu's heart stirred, and a knowing glint flashed in his eyes.

It turned out to be the case.

The Fifth Truth is about using these strange and bizarre Myth viruses to wreak havoc on civilization.

Patrick Star is really cunning, creating so many bizarre and strange viruses to kill people; if you don't know the principles and triggering conditions of the viruses, you really could be killed by this scheming old man.

The peaceful countries we see today are the best example.

They encountered two disgusting civilization viruses: one was "Missing Number Theta," and the other was "Northward Phenomenon."

Once θ is input on a large scale, the mathematical system and technological architecture of a civilization collapse instantly. All deductions, calculations, and logic become worthless in its presence.

Technological civilization would inevitably be paralyzed across the board.

To the north lies another kind of terrible toxin.

If enough intelligent beings face north at the same time, the entire city's neural pathways will be disrupted.

He fell into a coma, collapsed, and then woke up again, but he was no longer a human; he was the real Patrick Star.

what does this mean?
This means that even a powerful city-state or a healthy ethnic group could be instantly possessed by Patrick Star during a military parade, a chorus, or a migration.

The "Fomi Ant Tribe" has been utterly ruined by the northward migration phenomenon.

Just as Xia Xiu was lamenting the insidious methods of the Fifth Truth, the backlash from the X-type drug began to manifest.

The Patriarch's body shuddered suddenly, as if an invisible hand were violently pulling him from his very marrow. His youthful appearance, which had been regaining its youthful vigor, began to peel away rapidly; his skin loosened, his veins became visible, and wrinkles grew wildly as if sculpted by a knife.

In just a few breaths, he went from being a vigorous young man back to his old, decrepit state. But this was not the end.

Aging continues.

His white hair fell out strand by strand like withered grass, his teeth loosened with a "crunching" sound, his skin cracked, and his eye sockets sunken. His fingernails were broken, and his knuckles turned outward, as if the gears of time were grinding wildly inside him.

"No—no!!"

The Patriarch wept bitterly, tears mingling with blood streaming from his eyes. He suddenly knelt on the ground, raising his hands high, wailing like a beggar driven mad:
"Great Fifth Truth! Above the starfish! Dimensional traveler! Please spare me! Don't let me die—don't let me be devoured! I'm willing to offer up all my memories, all my thoughts, in exchange for your mercy!"

The voice grew increasingly broken, the cries filled with childlike terror.

"Devourer of the North, I beg you... please don't come after me... I dare not turn my back again! I will always face north! I will always face you!"

However, what responded to him was not pity, but a terrifying engulfment.

The air suddenly turned cold, and an invisible force pressed down from the north. It wasn't the wind, nor the sound, but a pure sense of predation.

Xia Xiu's golden eyes could see clearly—the Patriarch's body was being gnawed away inch by inch.

Starting with the toes, the skin peels away, leaving behind a bloody mess, and the bones are exposed and then turn into dust; then the legs, the back, the internal organs... every part is being gradually erased.

He screamed hoarsely, in so much pain that he could not speak, and his sobs gradually turned into hollow howls.

"Ahhh——!!!"

But the gnawing didn't stop, until the head's last cry was swallowed up.

In the end, the entire body of the Grand Patriarch completely disappeared from Xia Xiu's sight, as if it had never existed.

All that remained was air and a dazzling sphere of light suspended in mid-air, its surface adorned with intricate geometric markings and intertwined, shimmering star-like symbols.

That is one of the seventy-two keys of Solomon.

Having lost its host, it floats quietly in mid-air, waiting for the hand of its next owner.

At the same time, Xia Xiu sensed that some indescribable monster was rushing towards him from the void.

"boom--"