Infinite Terror: Infinite Reversal

Chapter 124 Killing That Manhattan Man

“Zhang Heng, a professional assassin.” The baby-faced Zhang Heng showed no impatience, repeating the statement with a cold expression.

The other veterans turned to look at Zero again, and this time even Zero's expression became strange... Does the God have some kind of preference for assassins? Last time, an assassin named Zhao Yingkong who claimed to be an assassin came in, and now another assassin has come in?
But Mu Xiang, who was the first to react, let out a breath, his face turned cold, and then pushed up his glasses: "You're the comedic killer Zhang Heng?"

This time, it was Zhang Heng who lost his composure. He was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then his baby face turned red, and he roared angrily, "Don't call me by that nickname!"

Both the veteran and the newcomer were somewhat bewildered, not understanding what the two were talking about...

Mu Xiang's heart was in turmoil. From the overall plot, Zhang Heng of Dawn was certainly a good team member and would never cause trouble because of any melodramatic entanglements... But what about this good team member's conduct...?

But is this comedic assassin Zhang Heng really the same as Zhang Heng in "Infinite Dawn"? Are they both from the 2010s "Final Destination" world?

[Regardless, there's a big story behind it all... After all, even the comedic Heng is an ultimate being...]

Zhang Heng slumped to the ground, unable to maintain his cold demeanor any longer after being recognized by Mu Xiang.

Although the rest of the Zhongzhou team were still confused, Mu Xiang didn't have time to explain...

"Among all the newcomers to veterans, the attack by the fanatical reader in this horror movie is nothing to us, but it is dangerous for the newcomers." Mu Xiang pushed up his glasses.

As soon as he finished speaking, the burly young man leaning against the protective shield fell backward...

"The Terrifying Black Hole" has officially begun!

"You guys go outside first, I'll be right there," Mu Xiang said.

Eight veterans escorted eleven newcomers out, their manner reminiscent of a small group being escorted by a large one.

Mu Xiang scanned the entire bookstore, moving swiftly between the shelves and collecting Sartre Kane's novels one by one into his bracelet.

The novels that were published before are easy to find. Only the most recently released one is not on any bookshelf.

Listening to the frenzied scrambling of the crowd in the bookstore, Mu Xiang confirmed the situation.

This period coincides with the promotional phase for Sutter Kane's new book, *The Terrifying Black Hole*, which, despite not yet being released, is already garnering significant attention. Meanwhile, his already released book, *Hobbes's Doomsday Horror*, has also caused a sensation, selling out in bookstores...

At this moment, the crowd was scrambling for a newly arrived batch of "Hobbes's Doomsday Horror" at the bookstore. In their frenzy to get their hands on the book, the readers resorted to all sorts of desperate measures, using fists, teeth, mops, fire extinguishers... anything and everything.

Mu Xiang dashed into the crowd in less than a second and pulled out a book that was still relatively intact. Thank goodness, the cover was still intact, so it wouldn't affect the search for Sutter Kane's clues.

Then he reached the door and caught up with the rest of the Central Continent team. Of course, he didn't pay.

"I just arrived and I'm already doing free shopping. I guess I'm just doing as the Romans do," Mu Xiang muttered to himself.

Outside the bookstore, a team of police officers stood ready, and next to them was a group of customers who had already been subdued... It seems that under the current circumstances, the local police station has also begun to pay attention to violent incidents in bookstores.

The bookstore's entrance wasn't large, and twenty people going out would be too conspicuous... Meanwhile, Mu Xiang had already seen the police officers surrounding them.

"Zhan Lan, use your mental power to knock them all unconscious." Mu Xiang looked down at his phone.

Whether this was God's arrangement or not, having them arrested as participants in a violent incident the moment they left the bookstore... Mu Xiang certainly wouldn't allow the Central Continent Team to be in such an environment. The more they dealt with the local official forces, the more easily they would be hampered. Even if they weren't participants in the bookstore violence, they would still be detained as illegal immigrants.

Not everyone can escape prison as easily as Mu Xiang and Zheng Zha, so it's best to avoid causing trouble for yourself.

Just as Zhan Lan nodded, something unexpected happened.

One of the new employees, a white-collar worker who had been standing near the front, had already exited the building. Seeing the police approaching, he immediately shouted for help and ran towards them…

Then he was hit hard with several blows and knocked unconscious on the spot. "Continue," Mu Xiang said. "I've already hacked all the cameras here, so you can do it without worry."

Upon hearing this, Zhan Lan unleashed her immense mental power, causing the police officers who came to arrest her to fall to the ground. As for the white-collar worker, Mu Xiang didn't even glance at him before leading the rest of the group towards the hotel he had chosen.

"It's your freedom to leave, I won't stop you..." Mu Xiang said calmly to the newcomers, "But if it affects us, I won't be lenient. And once you leave the team, you can't be added back. In the end, you are temporary members now. We won't abandon you directly, but we have no obligation to protect you either."

The group didn't walk very fast. Mu Xiang used the phone Chu Xuan had given him to input all the information of the veterans and newcomers into the American system. As for the money, he had prepared credit cards in the Main God Space, so he didn't need Zero to go and get it.

Soon everyone checked into a suite at the hotel and booked the entire floor to avoid being disturbed.

Mu Xiang has confirmed that the location chosen by the Supreme God for their descent is Manhattan... just like the place where the story of "The Trembling Black Hole" begins.

Sitting on the windowsill, Mu Xiang searched through the surveillance footage of Manhattan. Relying on his memory of the scene when the protagonist, Trent, was attacked, Mu Xiang quickly found the surveillance video of that area.

“Just yesterday, the protagonist, Trent, was attacked by Sutter Kane’s agent,” Mu Xiang told everyone. “When he received the commission, when he set off to find Hobbes Town, and when he brought back the manuscript are all unclear.”

Zheng Zha scratched his head: "Uh, could you explain it again? I watched that movie, but I didn't quite understand it."

"You could think of it as a story about a writer changing the world... uh, just kidding." Mu Xiang chuckled. "Under the influence of the Great Old Ones, Sart Kane can intervene in reality through his novels, ultimately eroding the real world and bringing the Great Old Ones back..."

Then he adjusted his glasses: "But there are a few things worth mentioning... First, the Great Old Ones, which is a concept from the Cthulhu Mythos, and can be considered a film's homage to the Cthulhu Mythos. For example, 'The Mouth of Madness' could be translated as 'The Mouth of Madness,' which is a tribute to 'At the Mountains of Madness'; 'The Hobb's End Horror' is a tribute to 'The Dunwich Horror'..."

“But I’m not sure if we’ll encounter any Great Old Ones, or what level they’re at… If they really are Great Old Ones from the Cthulhu Mythos, that would be very troublesome.” Mu Xiang sighed as he spoke.

He didn't say the second half of the sentence. The meaning of the infinitely diverse Great Old Ones is complicated. They can be described as innate demon gods or as hidden beings.

Each one of them is easily a Saint-level enemy. No matter how wealthy and powerful the Central Continent Team is now, they are not capable of fighting such enemies. Would the Supreme God really send them to face such an enemy? This would truly be a mission to their deaths.

Even among the Great Old Ones of the Cthulhu Mythos, the extent of their corruption and distortion is difficult to define. On the one hand, a single glance could distort them; many novels even depict gods and Buddhas being corrupted. On the other hand, the Great Old One, capable of being shattered by a steamship, might not even affect Mu Xiang's perception before being flattened by a single punch from him.

Mu Xiang suspected that Sat Kane's so-called Great Old Ones corresponded to fourth-tier gods and demons in the cycle of reincarnation... but these were all speculations. The Titan progenitor, Lo, was Azathoth in the infinitely diverse versions of the Cthulhu Mythos; it's reasonable that ordinary Great Old Ones wouldn't reach the fifth tier, right?
[But we don't know what level of enemy we're facing yet... that's really frustrating.]

"As for the second question, it's about the dissemination of the manuscript." Mu Xiang looked at his teammates who seemed to understand but not quite. "Originally, there could have been multiple interpretations, such as Trent not existing in the real world, but being a virtual character created by Sutter Kane, whose only purpose was to bring the manuscript into the real world. But after watching the surveillance footage, I stopped considering that possibility."

He snapped his fingers: "The movie doesn't explicitly state how long it took Trent to go to the world in the book and bring back the manuscript. All we know is that after he brought the manuscript out, the preceding timeline was distorted. He received the commission in August, but brought the manuscript back in the spring. And 'The Terrifying Black Hole,' which wasn't originally intended for release, was supposedly handed over to the publishing company in July, and by then it had been on the market for seven weeks..."

Zhan Lan touched her forehead: "You mean, it wasn't a hallucination or a memory lapse, but rather that time was distorted?"

Mu Xiang nodded: "That's right, that's the terrifying part... If we don't hurry, he will go to Hobbes Town in the book. What he encounters is none of our business, and he may come back in the next moment, but the timeline will be distorted... We can't change what happened in the spring, and a month later we will face the arrival of the Great Old Ones."

Long Taobing couldn't help but click his tongue: "Then there's no way to deal with it, right? The other side can even change the time..."

“No, according to Mu Xiang, there should still be some…” Zheng Zha’s eyes lit up. “Didn’t you say that Trent was attacked yesterday? Logically speaking, he should only have received a commission at this time, so there should still be time!”

Mu Xiang nodded: "That's right."

"So, hurry up and use your surveillance footage to find him, and then we'll go with him?" Zheng Zha said, his voice trembling with impatience. "Then why are you even running a hotel?"

Mu Xiang waved his hand: "You're only half right. We do need to find him as soon as possible, which is what I'm doing right now."

Zheng Zha was taken aback: "What's wrong? And then?"

"Kill him." Mu Xiang pushed up his glasses.

I wonder if any of you have seen *The Hole of Terror*... Actually, this movie is perfect for a high-difficulty dungeon for the main god. To prevent readers from getting confused, I'll incorporate some plot explanations into the subsequent reasoning and setup. Of course, I'll try to avoid just talking about the movie's plot, since my writing style back then would be considered padding by today's standards ().
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(End of this chapter)