Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 294, Section 41: The Spread of Pollution

Click.

On the roadside, almost the instant Tian took the photo, he quickly pulled it out and simultaneously scratched a deep mark on it with his fingernail.

Almost at the same instant, the bats and crows circling and entangled above the car roof were sliced ​​into several pieces as if they had collided with nano-blades.

Blood, flesh, feathers, and fragments of internal organs rained down on the ground, splashing up puddles of filth.

Tian watched calmly as the car sped out of the town, its taillights casting frantic shadows in the thick fog, finally disappearing at the end of the highway leading to Miami.

He turned around and looked into the depths of the town.

Beyond the dim glow of the streetlights lay an endless expanse of darkness, swallowed by thick fog.

The town, which had been silent for a long time, began to breathe a low, dangerous gasp tonight, like a giant beast that had been awakened.

“In real history, Silver Cup Manor was located near Lake Okechobi,” Tian murmured to himself. “After the manor owner finished the game, the manor was either abandoned or destroyed, and the manor owner fell into a deep sleep.”

The reason for the slumber is unclear.

But it must be related to games and silver cups.

Even after the game ended, Tian continued to investigate the clues about Silver Cup Manor.

From the few words left behind by the manor owner, a vague outline can be pieced together: the manor owner has lived for a long time, and his periods of lucidity are getting shorter and shorter.

So, can we speculate that the manor owner, whether he likes it or not, has to start a new round of the game every now and then?

But as the game progressed, while he gained more, he also lost more of himself.

He wasn't even allowed to commit suicide; he could be resurrected after being killed, and could only be killed by the rules.

From this, we can infer that the silver cup possesses strong healing and even immortality abilities.

The game at Silver Cup Manor is the manor owner's final round of the Angel Game, which he speculates is the thirteenth round, corresponding to twelve plus one type of creature.

The conditions for passing the level are too stringent, so real people certainly wouldn't succeed.

Now, they are facing the manor owner who has completed the final rounds and merged thirteen kinds of creatures, including even an angel.

Based on what he learned in the town that day while disguised as a tourist, he had figured out the transmission routes of the pollution, which he identified as three types.

Fish meat is the strongest source of infection. Once you eat it, you're basically doomed. In just one or two days, you'll irreversibly transform into one of the twelve animal forms.

Humans use bait to catch fish, but now the plantation owner is using fish to catch people.

The water source, the tap water here is polluted.

Lake Okechobe suffers from eutrophication and is mostly used for ecological and agricultural purposes. It is not connected to the municipal water system, and the municipal water supply is usually drawn from groundwater.

This demonstrates that the plantation owner's pollution capacity has expanded beyond the large lake to surrounding water sources.

Every drop of water that the town's residents drink daily is silently eroding and transforming their flesh and blood.

Does this mean that pollution of the lake could spread along the water system to the whole of Florida or even the whole of Amy?

Finally, there is the dense fog. The fog rising from the lake and spreading outwards is the lightest, but it is the most difficult to guard against, because people cannot stop breathing.

Even with precautions, oxygen cylinders aren't unlimited; they can drag on and eventually die.

With triple coverage, basically no one who enters the town can escape.

Once an initial infection occurs, the mind will be affected, and some abnormal things will become perfectly reasonable in their eyes.

Then, little by little, they succumb to the allure of rationality, become assimilated, and lose themselves, much like the manor owner.

Agent 11 was an exception; he managed to hold on until he returned to report to Agent 12 thanks to his extraordinary willpower.

But that's all.

The pollution has penetrated to this extent; even with his abilities, he has no way to save it.

Deep within the town, a few short, piercing screams echoed faintly before abruptly ceasing. Perhaps a few remaining conscious individuals, not yet fully transformed, were struggling in despair, but faced with the already formidable horde of mutated creatures, their fate was sealed.

"It is now confirmed that Silver Cup Manor is located at Lake Okechobi, and the manor owner has the ability to pollute water sources and mutate animals."

"Pollution of water sources. The Silver Cup and the Holy Grail Triad?"

Tian had a strong knowledge base and quickly came up with a conjecture about the silver cup.

Legend has it that King Arthur commanded his knights to find the Holy Grail, and only three knights—Galahad, Percival, and Bose—passed the seven trials symbolizing the seven deadly sins and reached the location of the Holy Grail.

Galahad, the purest knight, held up the Holy Grail, his soul was guided to heaven by angels, and the Holy Grail disappeared with him, declaring that the mortal world could not bear its absolute purity.

The current water pollution is like one of the challenges. Records indicate that the way to overcome this challenge is to drink the poisonous spring water from a silver cup, after which the poisonous spring will turn into sweet water.

But whether it was a coincidence or not, Tian couldn't be sure. He needed more information, and perhaps one or two more games to verify his hypothesis.

The urgent situation forced Tian to stop his further thoughts. He wasn't good at direct combat and had come here mainly to investigate the aftermath of the Silver Cup Manor story; he didn't actually have much desire for the Silver Cup.

Of course, if given the opportunity, he would still like to study the silver cup.

The thick fog, as if it were a living thing, surged forth from the heart of Lake Okechobi, carrying a chilling cold and a cloyingly fishy smell, silently spreading and covering the towns and villages along the lake, and even further afield.

It swallowed the light, blurred the outlines, and shrouded everything in gray and deathly silence.

Transform everything covered into a place like Silent Hill.

The fog did not cause much chaos, because several small towns along the lake had already been silently and completely submerged not long ago.

The residents and tourists here wear remnants of human skin, but inside they are mutated creatures who no longer identify as human.

Tonight, like the most devout believers, they spontaneously gathered on the lakeside where the fog was thickest, densely packed and of various shapes, all facing the same direction: the depths of the lake's heart.

They were waiting, welcoming them.

They were welcoming their "Lord's" newborn.

Above the lake, in the deepest part of the thick fog, a huge, indistinct black shadow slowly rose and hovered in mid-air, shrouded in mist.

It exudes a truly imposing aura, as if it were the embodiment of the will of the entire lake region.

A voice, rich in reverberation and imbued with an ancient and majestic quality, resounded across the entire lake:
"I have achieved perfect evolution, surpassing all mortals. This body and this power will bring new life to all living beings!"

"Rejoice, all beings."

As soon as the voice fell, a thunderous roar erupted from the lakeside in response.

The elk roared to the sky, the crocodile slapped the water with its tail, and the bats and ravens let out sharp, piercing cries. Countless animal sounds converged into a wave of sound that soared into the sky, as if to tear the night apart.

Then, the revelry began. Herds of deer, like runaway chariots, with their heads down and their huge, metallic antlers protruding, charged onto the road, easily overturning a parked car, twisting and deforming its metal parts.

The sky had long been obscured.

Tens of thousands of bats and ravens gathered into an endless, churning black cloud.

They come together as one, a giant arrow pointing into the distance.

The arrow led the churning fog below, spreading swiftly along roads, rivers, and low-lying areas towards the lights of human settlements.

Further afield, along the complex network of waterways that extends from Lake Okechobi, dozens of kilometers away in swamps, wetlands, and small lakes, mutated crocodiles of far greater size than usual, with scales as thick as armor, slowly crawled ashore.

Their vertical pupils gleamed with a ferocious light in the darkness, locking onto the flickering lights of distant towns. With their thick limbs outstretched, they dragged their heavy bodies to their feet, and slowly began to run, marching toward the edge of human civilization.

Whether humanity is prepared or not is irrelevant.

The Battle of Florida officially began at this moment.

On the road leading out of St. Lucy Port.

The makeshift police tape and roadblocks completely blocked the road, and several police officers wearing bulletproof vests, holding megaphones, maintained order with hoarse voices:

"Emergency traffic control! All vehicles must turn around immediately! Return to the city or find a safe location to take shelter! Repeat! Turn around immediately!"

"What the hell?! Traffic control? Why wasn't there any notice?" A man on vacation leaned out of the car window, waving his arms angrily. "I have to go to work tomorrow! Is there any other way to get there?"

"I heard that all the roads out of the city were just blocked off without any prior notice."

"Neuropathy."

"You need to be able to make a U-turn to direct the cars behind you."

This is a relatively large town located on the eastern side of Lake Okechobe.

Upon receiving an urgent report from Agent 12 via code 10, an internal codename signifying the discovery of something extraordinary and a serious situation, the Security Service immediately conducted a preliminary confirmation via satellite. The President promptly authorized Florida to declare a state of emergency.

The authorities dispatched the police, who could respond the fastest, to block off all the passageways.

Then the National Guard was urgently dispatched to assist.

Meanwhile, even more elite troops were advancing toward the designated checkpoints set by the various command centers.

Miami, Lake Placid, Palmdale—anywhere that could still be contacted and confirmed to be uncontaminated was quickly marked.

There was no time to evacuate, so we had to distribute weapons to all police officers and veterans.

The helicopter swept across the sky, causing people to look up and realize that the problem was somewhat serious.

"I knew I shouldn't have come here for tourism. I never expected to run into the same troubles as in Georgia, with lockdowns and checks everywhere." A driver spat angrily and stubbed out his cigarette on the roadside.

He and several other drivers who were also stuck in the middle of the road gathered by a small ditch that smelled strange, and smoked to relieve their boredom by the glaring headlights of their cars.

"That's why I came to Florida for vacation, I didn't expect to run into this."

"I heard...it seems to be some kind of supernatural event," someone said furtively, looking left and right. "It's like the monster stories that go around in Japan."

"Aren't all supernatural disasters happening in Japan? And this thing is contagious?"

"Who said that? There have been supernatural events in my family. I was away on a business trip for three months, and when I came back my wife was two months pregnant. She told me it was done by a ghost."

Black guy, right?

Everyone burst into laughter, and the atmosphere became lively.

After the driver finished laughing, his gaze fell on a man sitting quietly on a folding stool beside him. The man's most distinctive feature was that his right arm was wrapped in a bandage and completely bare.

"Brother, what happened to your hand?" The driver pointed with his chin.

The one-armed man was sitting on a small stool and, taking advantage of the traffic jam, was fishing in a small ditch.

"Don't even mention it. A while ago, we went fishing at Lake Okechobe and caught an alligator, which then bit us." The man in the floral shirt next to him sighed, then his eyes lit up, his face full of infatuation, and he spoke in an almost worshipful tone, "But he's definitely the man I've chosen. He never gives up on anything he catches!"

The man in the floral shirt gestured wildly, then suddenly slapped the man with the missing arm on the other shoulder: "The crocodile refused to surrender and even dared to attack us, biting us as soon as it came up. So naturally we couldn't let it get away with it, and in the end, we traded our lives for its injuries!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was filled with awe and respect.

Unexpectedly, he was a ruthless man who lost an arm while fishing for crocodiles.

Even in Florida, a place teeming with talent, one can still find a place.

"A mere crocodile isn't enough to make me give up!"

The one-armed man nodded slightly to everyone with an air of pride.

As soon as he finished speaking, the fishing rod in his hand suddenly sank, and the float was instantly pulled into the water.

"It's on the hook!" the one-armed man shouted, forcefully pulling up the fishing rod with his left hand.

"It's definitely a big fish!" There are plenty of anglers here; you can tell just by looking at the angle of the fishing rod.

This instantly drew the attention of all the drivers, who wanted to see just how big a fish this one-armed hero could catch.

The man with the missing arm smiled, his left hand veins bulging as he wrestled with the giant underwater creature, the fishing line taut and straight.

No, that familiar dragging feeling...
The one-armed man's smile froze, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

Wow!

On the riverbank, which wasn't too dimly lit by the lamplight, at the end of the fishing line, a dark figure emerged from the water and appeared before everyone's eyes.

It has crocodile-like, bumpy, grayish-brown skin, its thick hind legs support its body as it stands, its thick tail drags on the muddy ground, and in its huge crocodile mouth, a fishing line is wrapped around one of its teeth.

No, that's a crocodile!
"What the hell, the desert butcher!" someone muttered, mouth agape.

Alligators crawl everywhere, but this is the first time they've ever seen an alligator walking upright. Has Florida's ecology secretly evolved to this extent?

Before anyone could recover from this mind-blowing sight, the crocodile-man, seemingly stung by the fishhook or enraged by the unrespectful humans on the shore, suddenly appeared before them, like a desert butcher using his ultimate ability, covering several meters in the blink of an eye. And then—

She bit down on the one-armed man's left hand.

"Be careful!" someone exclaimed.

But it's too late.

"Aaaaah—!! Fuck you!!" That damn familiar feeling again, the one-armed man was devastated. Buy one get one free, huh!

Damn it, I'm not bait! Why are they all biting my hand?!

　Thank you to "pi=3.14" for the donation.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)