Life Dungeon Game

That gaze was not one of pain and sorrow.

The little boy in the photo has his back slightly straight, and his muscles seem to be in a state of tension. Rather than sadness, it looks more like a kind of 'guard'.

He Ao frowned slightly and began to go through all the previous videos and photos.

Then he discovered that in almost every scene where no one was watching, Genos was staring intently at his father's corpse, but these photos only showed his back or side view, without showing Genos's face.

If only one or two photos don't show the front of the subject, it can only be said that there was a problem with the snapshot. But if all the photos don't show the front of the subject...

This proves that Genos, who was only eight years old at the time, was intentionally avoiding the cameras.

Finally, He Ao clicked on the video he had watched the earliest one again. This time, he set the speed and activated Hyper Memory.

After Genos Jr. was rescued, his face was briefly captured in the video as the camera turned to the old senator's body.

He stared intently at his father's corpse like a warrior guarding against a wild beast, as if the body would rise from the ground and return from death at any moment.

At that moment, He Ao felt a flash of inspiration in his mind.

He hurriedly left and went back to review the files.

Finally, in the final report, he came across a sentence: "[The senator's body was claimed by his family.]"

Genos retrieved his father's body.

The jumbled clues seemed to have been pulled together by some kind of hook.

But something is still missing; there's still a 'thread' that can connect all the clues.

He realized that he must have fallen into some kind of misconception, the same misconception that the FBI agent had fallen into years ago.

Those agents were unaware of the existence of the Fountain of Youth, so some of their judgments may not reflect the true situation.

He raised his head and looked at Roger again.

"what happened?"

Roger, who was looking at a research report on his wristband, looked up and stared at him.

He Ao quickly said, "Could you ask your senior brother again for me? If the sacrificial array is connected, and the object of the sacrifice is not an 'evil god,' but some kind of high-level object without consciousness, what needs to be sacrificed, and what kind of effect will it have?"

Only living, thinking deities can choose what they like, while the Fountain of Immortality does not necessarily possess thinking.

Chapter 478 'King of the Night'

"Speak slowly."

Roger looked at He Ao with a blank expression.

He paused, organized his thoughts, and repeated the question he had just asked.

Roger said he would ask his senior.

During the time he was asking questions, He Ao once again skimmed through the case file.

“My senior brother said,” Roger glanced at the bracelet, “that anything with strong vitality can please the Goddess of Life, and then, about that sacrificial array you mentioned…”

He paused for a moment, his gaze lingering on He Ao. "He said that the sacrificial array was a sacrificial array specifically prepared for gods, and that only gods could be used as the objects of sacrifice."

"Ok?"

He Ao was taken aback.

Did I guess wrong?

However, Roger quickly added, "But according to my senior brother's understanding, during the Great Cataclysm, those wizards who sought the truth used this sacrificial circle as a template to create a sacrificial circle that did not target the gods."

He lowered his head, looked at the contents of the bracelet, and slowly read, "This kind of magic circle can be used to point to any high-level being or high-level extraordinary object. It is a magic circle used by wizards to enhance their connection with certain high-level extraordinary objects."

What kind of offering is required for this kind of magic array?

He Ao then pressed on with more questions.

“Let me see,” Roger said, staring at the text on the bracelet.

"The sacrificial offering must be an object that has a strong connection with the sacrificer. It can be a cherished item or a part of one's own body. The closer the soul connection, the better the effect after the sacrifice. Wizards of that era often sacrificed their own limbs to obtain the extraordinary power of extraordinary items."

Just hearing the description is enough to imagine how cruel this method of sacrifice is.

"Does your senior brother have the drawings for the sacrificial array and the method for performing the ritual?"

He asked softly.

“No,” Roger shook his head slightly. “This method of sacrifice was so bloody and cruel that it was lost before the original Federation was established. Now, it’s probably only some secret books that have been passed down from the Great Cataclysm era that could record this method of sacrifice.”

He Ao leaned back on the sofa, staring at the light above his head.

This method of sacrifice can explain the sacrifice performed by Genos's father, since the sacrificial circle has long been lost, and this sacrificial circle originated from the divine connection sacrificial circle. Therefore, it is also plausible that the FBI's occult scholars believe it to be a connection sacrificial circle.

And in the inner city, the only thing that can accept such a high-level sacrifice is probably the Fountain of Youth.

But if Genos's father was making a sacrifice to the Fountain of Youth, how did he come into contact with it? If he had come into contact with the Fountain of Youth, or even once had it blooming in the underground garden, then where are those other fountains of youth?

Why is there no trace of the Fountain of Youth left in the underground garden?

There is also the Stars of Beauty Hospital, where the Andavi family once dug up the Fountain of Youth. The Andavi family's historical murals record that a mysterious angel buried the Fountain of Youth.

However, during the construction of the Limen City, whether it was building the sewers or constructing the underground parking lot for the Qunxing Zhimei Hospital, a large amount of excavation was required to go underground.

Why is this happening?

During the excavation process, no trace of the Fountain of Youth was found.

Could it be that geological movements over the past few centuries have completely buried the Fountain of Youth deep underground? Or perhaps an angel concealed its existence?

But how did Qunxing Pharmaceuticals manage to obtain the Fountain of Youth?

If the Mars Project was driven by the Fountain of Youth, then this means that someone discovered and was using the Fountain of Youth at least twenty years ago.

Why does Red's 'diary' repeatedly emphasize that 'everyone will gain immortality'? If immortality comes from the Fountain of Youth, why 'everyone'?

The last quarryman who possessed the Fountain of Youth had no intention of sharing it with anyone else.

Moreover, even if the person who currently possesses the Fountain of Youth wanted to share it, Starry Pharma would make him 'unwilling' to share it.

The idea of ​​'everyone living forever' seems almost impossible.

Unless the person who controls the Fountain of Youth has already acquired some ability to resist Stars Pharmaceuticals.

Judging from the murals of the Andavi family, those who drink from the Fountain of Youth will become henchmen of the one who controls it.

These henchmen are very likely absolutely loyal to the keeper of the Fountain of Youth, which means that the contents of Reed's diary were also very likely influenced by the person who keepers the Fountain of Youth.

And what is the scope of this "everyone"? Is it the Federation, or the Limen City?

He Ao felt that the questions in his mind had not decreased, but rather increased.

However, there seems to be a clear connection between these problems. He is still missing a breakthrough point: to untangle the first thread of the tangled mess.

He brought his thoughts back to the very beginning.

The old senator wanted to sacrifice some important item to contact the Fountain of Youth, most likely in an attempt to control it, but he is already dead.

The Fountain of Youth fell into the hands of others.

Information about the Fountain of Youth is extremely secretive, making it highly unlikely that someone would obtain such information from multiple sources simultaneously.

Therefore, the person who controls the Fountain of Youth is most likely related to the old senator.

He may have followed the steps left by the old senator and performed the sacrificial ceremony again, thus gaining the 'favor' of the Fountain of Youth.

With that in mind, He Ao tapped the bracelet again and logged into the FBI intranet.

He rummaged through a pile of online files for a while and finally found what he was looking for.

The FBI did indeed investigate everyone around the former senator, even arranging for drones to track his dog for a period of time.

Even Jenos, who is now a senator, was under surveillance by various FBI divisions before becoming a senator.

Although the FBI had no knowledge of the Fountain of Youth, they clearly judged that those around the old senator were likely to hold another sacrificial ceremony, so they placed them under close surveillance.

Especially Genos, who was at the scene and most likely to be corrupted by the gods.

After graduating from high school, Genos went to study medicine at the Star Medical School and left Limen City. His surveillance duties were handed over to other branches of the FBI, and there were no relevant surveillance files in Limen City.

However, the fact that Genos was able to successfully participate in the election...

Judging from the councilor's situation, his identity should be without issue, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Lemon City, during its decade-long close surveillance, found no signs of him being contaminated.

After Genos became a senator, the FBI lifted its surveillance on him.

He Ao searched through other surveillance footage, and the results were all similar: after that incident, no one performed any more sacrificial rituals.

The FBI's intensive surveillance lasted for roughly twenty years.

By then, Project Mars had already begun.

Either the FBI failed to monitor everyone, or the monitored individuals secretly performed the ritual.

However, the probability is very low because the preparation of the ritual itself is not easy. It requires a large amount of extraordinary materials, and such a powerful ritual will inevitably require a hidden space and will also cause energy fluctuations or even strange phenomena in the surrounding area.

If the FBI weren't watching, it might be possible to do this, but once under surveillance, there's basically no way to hold a ceremony.

Of course, it's also possible that there was a 'mistake' within the FBI.

However, this possibility is relatively small, because cults and alien creatures are a red line for the FBI, and the FBI is able to uphold its responsibilities on this line most of the time.

And if the FBI has no problems.

Then it could be that a completely unrelated third party also happens to know about the Fountain of Youth and has taken control of it.

He Ao slowly straightened up, his gaze deep and unfathomable.

Either the ceremony was actually completed forty years ago.

There may have been an undiscovered third party at the sacrificial site, besides the old senator and Genos.

He took the place of the old senator, completed the ceremony, and became the de facto controller of the Fountain of Youth.

But if that's the case, what was the old senator sacrificing?

This sacrificial item must be related to the soul of the person offering it. Why could the old senator use this item, and why could that mysterious third party also use it?

The fact that the old senator died in good health proves that he did not sacrifice his own body, but rather something precious that was connected to his soul.