Gacha games can't save this bizarre world.

But then the psionic dormancy came.

Emperor Hongwu of the Celestial Empire rescued the land from the iron hooves of foreign invaders and brought the Song Dynasty to another peak.

He also keenly perceived the changes in the world.

Thus, Liu Bowen severed the dragon vein, bringing forward the arrival of the spiritual energy dormancy!

Although various folk tales circulate widely, the actual feat involved mobilizing the entire nation to cut through rivers, mountains, and all the way to the Kunlun Mountains and the roof of the world. It was an unparalleled achievement that only the Song Dynasty at its most powerful period could accomplish, relying on the secret treasures left behind.

Thus began a global psychic dormancy, even more than a hundred years earlier than prophesied.

The slumber of psychic energy caused many pantheons to flee, and extraordinary species also fell silent. The inner and outer worlds began to separate, ushering in the human era.

The snake father had also been playing a big game of captivity in South America, which led to Columbus discovering the New World.

However, while those South Americans escaped the cruelty of the lizardmen and snakemen's sacrifices, they were met with the even more brutal Anssa White bandits.

They were given turkeys and corn as a token of their welcome, but instead they were met with muskets, cannons, and a plague.

Frankly speaking, compared to waging wars for sacrifices, having hearts and lungs ripped out and blood drained from the pyramid altars, it's hard to say which is more cruel: being subjected to a systematic extermination campaign with a blanket of cephalopods thrown into the ground.

Human nature and cunning gods are practically evenly matched.

Now, more than a decade has passed since the psionic resurgence, and those things that had disappeared have returned.

……

In early December, it started snowing in Ame.

But further south in Modu Ge, it's still quite warm. There's practically no winter here.

The Aztecs is a tribal name; they are likely a branch of the Native Americans. They weren't originally native to the Mexican-American region of Central America, but rather migrated from the north. They fled here because they suffered oppression and enslavement in their homeland.

Lake Texcoco is the birthplace of the Aztec tribe, and legend has it that a divine prophecy guided them to this place. An eagle carrying a snake alights on a giant cactus.

It was an island in a lake.

It is unknown what kind of pact they made with their "god" at the time, but they began to build artificial islands in the lake.

They began by layering reeds and mud to expand the island's area. This led to the Aztec civilization and its bloody sacrifices.

Right now, on this island that should have sunk, a group of more than a dozen people are holding a ceremony.

They wore colorful robes covered with patterns of bird feathers and animal bones. The eldest of them was as thin as a zombie, but his eyes seemed to be flashing with fire.

In his hand was a very uniquely shaped gold dagger, inlaid with various gemstones and engraved with strange symbols.

A naked woman was placed on a stone altar that had been continuously subjected to sacrifices, from animals to humans, for a month to "activate" it.

Large amounts of bloodstains formed brown deposits within the altar's patterns, carrying a strong, pungent smell of blood.

Everyone remained silent. Until the moon was high in the sky, a cloud drifted away, and moonlight streamed in, they began to move.

The gaunt old man had somehow transformed into a monster with a snake's head and a human body. The hand that gripped the golden sacrificial knife had also turned into claws covered in scales.

He began to cut, starting from the forehead, as gently as if gliding across the surface of water, but the woman's eyes widened as she felt the blood gushing from her forehead...

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out!

A bullet was deflected by a blue psionic shield that resembled scales, striking the side of the snake-man priest's head.

Someone wants to assassinate the snake-man priest!

The snake-men and lizardmen nearby immediately began to fight back, several of them leaping out like shadows and chasing after the direction of the gunfire.

But the old snake-man remained unmoved, not even pausing his movements for a moment, his expression serious as if he were sculpting a work of art.

"Damn it! These bastards actually have two Bronze-level warriors! We have to leave first! But..." The Witcher Old Saipan glanced at the woman on the altar in the distance.

There's no way to save them, but we absolutely cannot let them complete this ritual.

He pulled out a blood-red bullet, inserted it into his gun, and then pulled the trigger.

A red storm of bullets erupted near the altar!

Although the old serpent-man managed to escape the bullets' range unscathed, the sacrifice—carefully chosen as an offering and bearing the blood of the ancient Karhuajan royal family—was utterly dead!

According to ancient Aztec legends, after arriving in this land, they were allowed to establish themselves in the city-state of Kaljuajan with the permission of the city-state and served it as mercenaries.

Because they performed very well, the two got along very well.

Finally, the Aztec tribes requested that Kaljuajan's princess be married to their leader. King Kaljuajan agreed.

However, they were unaware of Aztec customs. The Aztec leader had already died by then, and the so-called marriage was actually a form of sacrifice.

The princess was brutally skinned alive, which sparked a great war. This was exactly what the serpent father had prophesied.

Then, amidst the flames of war, the Aztecs grew stronger and stronger, and the number of prisoners of war increased with each sacrifice. These sacrifices often involved hundreds or even thousands of people, resulting in rivers of blood!

Now, the snake-man priest wants to recreate the scene from the past in order to reconnect with his snake father, whom he has not been able to contact for hundreds of years.

However, it was thwarted by the old Saipan, the Witcher mentor with a keen sense of smell who had chased after them all the way from Texas.

The snake-men and lizard-men were, after all, extraordinary races that once dominated the entire South America, and their strength was by no means weak.

Moreover, although this operation was clandestine, it was carried out with all our might, and quite a few skilled individuals were involved.

The Old Serpent Priest is a Bronze 3-star warrior, and there is also a Bronze 2-star Lizardman Warrior and a Bronze 1-star Serpent Pursuer.

At this point, they were all enraged and began to hunt down old Saipan.

……

The exceptionally brutal chase took place from the surface world into the inner world, lasting for three whole days, during which the two sides clashed eight times.

The lizardman warrior and the young snakeman were both killed by old Saipan's scheme.

Old Saipan was a witcher who had undergone special rituals and lived to be nearly a hundred years old; he was the mentor of witchers throughout North America.

Their rich experience and superb skills can be described as quite artistic.

If you ask him to deal with mythical monsters that are tens or hundreds of meters tall, or some pseudo-silver god, he really has no way to deal with them.

But if you ask him to deal with snake people, lizard people, monsters, supernatural beings, monsters, and the like, he'll handle them like a piece of cake.

He fought three against one, killing two of the younger ones and severely wounding the older one.

Although he was also seriously injured, the Witcher Elder's recovery and adaptability were far more terrifying than those of the snake-men and lizardmen. He managed to escape their pursuit despite his injuries.

However, just when he thought he was safe, he stumbled into a fog.

Three days later, the Bureau of Mysteries confirmed that Old Saipan, one of the thirteen candidates for savior, had sacrificed himself.

Following the death of Black Lincoln, another savior candidate has died.

Although the news of Old Saipan's death has not yet been released, Colt contacted Zhao Hao immediately.

Zhao Hao and Colt met in the fantasy game, and both of them had aliases.

Only here can we be 100% safe from the observation and detection of the American authorities and the secret service. It's safer to discuss sensitive matters here.

"What exactly happened? With Old Saipan's experience and abilities, how could he possibly die in the world of Modu Gori? What there could kill him?" Zhao Hao asked. "Could it be a conspiracy by the demon god of hell?"

Colt shook his head. In the game, he was a long-haired, Asian man.

"No, we don't know the cause of old Saipan's death yet, but we can confirm that it has nothing to do with Hell. There aren't many high-level demons from Hell in South America; they're just small fry. It's just that there are more of them because nobody's watching them. Even if they all attacked together, they couldn't possibly kill the old demon hunter."

"Then what exactly is the reason?" Zhao Hao asked. "Black Lincoln's death last time was very strange. He died inexplicably in the deadly wilderness of India because of a mission from the American higher-ups. Could it be that Old Saipan is also..."

Zhao Hao had no choice but to speculate. After all, the American higher-ups weren't exactly friendly towards him. Although they initially gathered the so-called savior candidates as if they were about to entrust them with important responsibilities, who knew what their true intentions were?

Colt shook his head again: "As far as I know, it shouldn't be. Old Saipan basically doesn't follow the orders of the Bureau of Mysteries; he just does exorcisms and demon hunting on his own. This time, his sudden departure from Texas and his mysterious appearance in Mo Du Ge are still unknown. But it shouldn't be a mission from above..."

"However, the reason I summoned you here secretly is to warn you to be careful. As far as I know, you people are under close surveillance."

Zhao Hao asked, "Is it the Secret Service spying on us? Or is it the higher-ups in America?"

Colt said, "In America, they're being monitored by the upper echelons, and a portion of the Secret Service is also keeping a close eye on things. Meanwhile, in Europe, several countries are watching. I suspect there might be some secret agreement between them, related to you candidates for salvation..."

……

Meanwhile, members of the Skull and Bones Society were also holding a meeting in their secret base.

The old chairman's face was stern: "I don't want to hear about anyone acting in secret and affecting our overall plan. Even if Brooke Saipan is disobedient, he doesn't deserve to die!"

The skull ring on his hand was gleaming, and his jaw was clenching; he looked genuinely angry.

The other members all swore that they had absolutely not sabotaged the plan behind the scenes.

Besides, with their own strength, how could they possibly kill a Bronze-level player?

He's a potential savior, a demon hunter mentor with decades of combat experience!

"So this was an accident?"

Someone brought over a document. "Chairman, based on the few words left by Brooke Saipan, he should have been investigating the Snake Man all along."

"Snake man? Why would he suddenly start investigating snake man?"

"It's not clear yet."

The old chairman twirled the skull ring on his hand, his brow furrowed. "Anything that can attract Brooke Saipan's attention is definitely not trivial. Use Mr. Feynman to gather the information; we must find out exactly what killed Brooke Saipan!"

However, this time Mr. Feynman's calculations took longer and consumed more extraordinary resources than ever before, even more than ten times the amount of previous calculations.

Even the most obtuse person could perceive the meaning behind it.

A day later, the other candidates for salvation were also summoned.

The chubby bureau chief distributed the materials to everyone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are all deeply saddened by the unfortunate passing of old Saipan. But his sacrifice will not have been in vain."

"As far as we know, he disrupted a very terrible sacrificial ceremony. He was eventually hunted down by the snake people and the lizard people. However, his death was probably related to some kind of evil god."

"Furthermore, there are reports that snake people and lizard people are gathering in large numbers in Mo Du Ge's territory; they are about to hold a grand festival..."

Chapter 496 The Snake-Men Who Were Prepared in Advance, Blocking the Land

The great festival of the snake people came more fiercely and more rapidly than anyone had imagined.

While Zhao Hao and other candidates for salvation were meeting, large-scale disappearances began to occur in Peru, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and other parts of South America.

It was a serious situation where dozens or even hundreds of people, or even large parts of an entire village, had disappeared.

In some remote villages, people were passing by just two days ago, but suddenly the village is deserted.

The valuables in those villages were untouched, and some families even left the cooked food in the pot, yet the people were all gone.