Man on the ark, forced to become king

Old Carp stood in front of the gate, watching the scenery change until it finally formed a figure exactly like him, bowing slightly to him.

boom!

It was as if thunder had exploded in his ears. When he came to his senses, he was already sitting in a theater chair, looking around blankly. There were empty seats all around him, and he was all alone.

The stage in the distance was noisy, and two knights dressed in distinctive Kazimierz stood facing each other on the stage, as if they were performing an invisible drama.

It was bizarre and incomprehensible.

What exactly does this god want to do?

For the first time, Lao Li couldn't guess what someone was thinking, and had no clue whatsoever.

He cautiously observed his surroundings, but still couldn't figure out what he should do. He just sat stiffly in the chair, letting the knights on the stage begin their duel, without daring to make any other moves.

Bang!Bang!Bang!

The knights on the stage fought back and forth, each move precise and methodical, like two manipulated puppets performing a puppet show.

The whole process was extremely boring and utterly devoid of any fun.

Old Li stared nervously at the progress on the stage, when suddenly a voice rose in his mind—it's time to place a bet.

To watch a duel between knights, he had to place some bets, and the winner would be known after the duel ended. The bets he could place were either rare treasures from all over the world, or—his life.

This isn't watching a show; it's clearly a way to make him risk his life!

What's the point of this? Is this some kind of twisted sense of humor from that god?

Old Li squinted, forcibly trying to calm himself down. After dragging it out for a while, he still couldn't go against the will that kept appearing in his heart. He shakily raised his arm, as if all his energy had been drained away in an instant, and he was about to risk his life.

But the outstretched arm froze in mid-air, as if two wills were constantly fighting each other.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Time passed slowly, and the game between the knights on the stage gradually came to an end, but no chips had been placed yet.

An immense sense of crisis welled up from the bottom of my heart, and an invisible atmosphere of terror began to spread from the surroundings.

That god practically said outright: he just wanted to see mortals struggle helplessly; he just had that kind of perverse pleasure.

His methods were simple and brutal, revealed with almost no concealment, and he had no fear of encountering resistance.

Would a person care about an ant's struggle?

This is probably the mindset of God.

Although it is only a little bit of power, which may be insignificant to a god, it is an irresistible force for ordinary people...

However, this does not include Old Carp.

If you go forward, you'll die; if you take a step back, you'll die too. What other choice do you have?

Rather than continuing to be treated as a plaything and manipulated at will, it's better to take a gamble!

Having made up his mind, Lao Li no longer held back. He opened the wooden box he had been carrying, and dozens of bright yellow talismans flew out, swirling around him and forming a complex three-dimensional structure. The light permeated the air, instantly expelling the invisible power that filled his heart and surroundings.

Even the most powerful gods are not invincible!

At least until He truly decides to take action, there are still ways to resist to some extent.

Hopefully, Lin Lu's side... um?

A light mist suddenly appeared from the surroundings. Old Carp squinted and warily surveyed his surroundings. From within the ethereal mist, a pure gold wine cup adorned with magnificent gemstones emerged.

"People of Yan Kingdom".

A voice, indistinguishable between male and female, suddenly arose, sounding both like a question and a statement.

A hazy mist surrounded them, vaguely creating the silhouette of a hand holding a wine glass.

"you are……"

"Interesting, interesting, Yan Kingdom..."

Old Carp tried to strike up a conversation, but the voice ignored him, continuing to speak incoherently.

Suddenly, the fog dissipated, and the surroundings were no longer the theater stage where knights dueled.

A dilapidated, low-lying forest came into view, and from the depths of the forest, shadowy figures emerged one after another of enormous Originium worms, each as tall as half a person.

One, two, three... Suddenly, countless red lights appeared in the shadows. These were the lights emitted by Originium Bugs, numbering at least several dozen, with many other individuals flashing red light among them.

'Kill them and get the reward.'

Faint white characters appeared in the air and slowly dissipated after a dozen seconds.

Is the gameplay different now?

Did they find simply crushing him to death too boring and want to try a more interesting way of punishing him?

With a wry smile on his face, Old Carp had no other choice but to grit his teeth and block the Originium Bugs' attack.

This wasn't too difficult for him. Although there were more insects and they were larger, they were still just insects and posed no threat to a master. At most, the splattered juices from the explosion would stain his clothes.

but……

There are too many to kill.

One after another, Originium Bugs burst out of the shadows deep in the forest, and it was impossible to see how many there were. When would this killing ever end?

"Lin Lu, Lin Lu, if you don't come soon, I'm really going to die..."

Even though he knew in his heart that it was impossible for Lin Lu to travel such a long distance from Longmen to the troupe in such a short time, even if she received the news, Lao Li still couldn't help but pray in his heart.

Just consider it a way to comfort myself.

In fact, he knew that he was likely to be defeated here today. Even if Lin Lu came, he possessed the power to fight against the gods, and it would probably be difficult for her to get him out of here.

Whether he can win the fight is one thing, whether he can save the person is another; the two are completely different in difficulty, unless he directly—

Tear!

Just then, the Originium Bugs that had been charging forward suddenly stopped in their tracks. The whole world seemed to shake for a moment, like a bottle being grabbed from the outside and shaken violently. A tooth-grinding shriek filled the air.

Click!

The sound of porcelain shattering fell from the sky. Old Carp looked up and saw the azure sky suddenly cracked with countless tiny fissures, like broken glass.

The temperature is rising.

All the Originium Bugs, including the forest, trembled under the influence of some unknown force, breaking into chaotic fragments. Old Carp stared blankly at the collapsing world, and before he could react, he saw the sky suddenly tinged with a fiery red.

arm!

A crimson hand, blotting out the sky, pierced through the heavens, as if trying to grasp the entire world in its palm!

The seemingly boundless, fragmented world revealed its circular boundaries under the pressure of that palm, like a crystal ball being held from the outside.

In an instant, Lao Li felt dizzy and disoriented, as if he had been thrown into a washing machine and spun around wildly before being pulled out and thrown off the cliff. He felt weightless and empty beneath his feet, and it took him an unknown amount of time before he finally stepped back onto solid ground.

The chaotic light and shadow before my eyes gradually became clear, forming the slender silhouette of the girl.

White hair, white clothes, animal horns, dragon tail, and bright red arms.

A small crystal ball was held in the palm of that fiery red hand, and you could vaguely see an exquisitely crafted model of an ancient castle inside.

"Year...Year!"

Such an appearance, such power—a terrifying name immediately surfaced in Old Carp's memory. He staggered, his already unsteady body completely losing its balance, and he sat down on the ground with a thud.

"Hey, seriously? Am I that scary?"

Perhaps hearing his voice, Nian turned his head to look at him, the scorching heat emanating from his body slowly subsiding, and complained with dissatisfaction, "I just pulled you out of this ball, and you're not afraid of Him, but afraid of me?"

ball?

Old Carp subconsciously looked at the crystal ball, only to discover that the castle model sealed inside seemed to be exactly the same as the castle he had seen before.

Could it be that he was just thrown into this little ball and tormented? Is this the method of the deity hidden in the troupe? Did the Nian beast rescue him? How did the Nian beast end up here?

Many questions arose in his mind. Old Carp swallowed hard and quickly put on a familiar smile. Regardless of why the Nian Beast left Yan Kingdom and appeared in Kazdel, he was saved because of it.

"I apologize for my rudeness. Thank you for your help."

"Well, that's pretty much it."

"Thank you for your hard work, Lao Li."

Lin Lu walked over from behind and patted Lao Li on the shoulder, startling him so much that he almost fell down again.

"It's all over now. I didn't expect you to last so long against a god. You truly deserve to be called the famous detective of Lungmen!"

He gave a thumbs-up to the old carp, who looked terribly frightened, and he was genuinely impressed.

Before arriving here, no one expected that a small theater troupe would possess divine power. Even more unexpected was that after sending out the distress signal, Old Carp remained unharmed for more than ten hours, only suffering some fright. This was simply unbelievable.

"Holding on for so long?"

Upon seeing that it was Lin Lu, Lao Li breathed a sigh of relief, and upon hearing this, he couldn't help but smile wryly.

"Ten minutes is considered long? If He hadn't been playing around, I probably would have been dead by now. If I had known there was something so terrifying here, I would never have accepted this mission."

"I didn't expect that either. Wait, you said ten minutes?"

Just as Lin Lu was about to offer some words of comfort, she suddenly realized something was off about Lao Li's words—it had taken them more than ten hours to get here and rescue people, a whole day, but he said it was only a dozen minutes.

"Maybe it's shorter, I don't know."