There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

I remained silent for a while, and vaguely guessed that this professor, whose brain had become hollow, must have made some incredible deal in exchange for the support of this batch of alien Migo flight squadrons.

Of course, calling it support isn't entirely accurate. Migo's plan to launch an attack must have been in the works for a long time, and he was also reluctant to see "Deepsea Explosion" escape. However, to allow them to use this plan—first using an earthquake generator to widen the cracks in the cage to lure out "Deepsea Explosion," and then using a positron cannon to blast into the cracks—Professor Albert Wilmas seemed to be confronting his nightmare once again.

“There’s no question of whether it’s worth it or not.” Mr. Rhodes’ voice was somewhat low. “Sacrificing oneself at the University of Michigan is nothing new. Every year, this university attracts the best people in the world, and then, in all sorts of inexplicable events, half of them end up in mental hospitals and the other half in their graves.”

"Mr. Rod, were you just questioning the professor about causing the earthquake?" I couldn't help but complain.

Mr. Rhodes said without a trace of remorse, “Unlike them, I oppose meaningless sacrifices, especially the sacrifice of the people we protect. If even what we protect can be used as a bargaining chip, then everything we do is merely a utilitarian calculation, and in the end, it will be a reckless gamble with the world as the stake…”

His voice suddenly rose, and he asked, "Do you understand reverence? If the Great Mithril, which possesses so many transcendent powers, loses its reverence, what difference is there between it and these monsters and otherworldly gods who roam the world?"

I remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "Mr. Rhodes, your ideas seem to differ from the mainstream of this world. But what if sacrifices are necessary? What if our power truly cannot stop everything, and the situation forces us to choose to give up some things?"

Mr. Rhodes said without hesitation, "At that time, I would choose to sacrifice myself. It is the only choice I allow and the only choice I can be sure is right."

I thought of the little girl in my world, living in a small town, who longed for her father's return without ever seeing him, and I also thought of the serene and smiling wife waiting for her husband's return. Faced with the crisis of this family's collapse, Mr. Rod also embarked on a journey alone to find a way for his wife to survive and for his family to find redemption. Many people may not understand such selfless abandonment, but he must have shared the same thoughts as the man in this parallel world before me.

That is to exchange one's own sacrifice for hope—even if the probability of success is extremely small.

I suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.

Compared to the chaotic planet of the Wasteland World, where human life is treated like dirt, the people of this parallel world take sacrifice for granted. Rather than dying silently in the face of terrifying beings, the people of these parallel worlds seem to be determined to burn their lives into a dazzling display of light.

“Mr. Rhodes, I’m sorry, but I cannot agree with your point of view.”

I suddenly spoke up. This action seemed to have caught him completely off guard, but meeting his questioning gaze, I began my explanation.

"Although I haven't experienced situations where I couldn't make a decision, I know that these choices are painful. But if it were me, I would choose to keep getting stronger... Maybe this sounds naive to you, but I believe in my growth. I will keep fighting, keep getting stronger, keep pushing my limits, until I know that I can stand high enough to protect everything I want to protect, without having to give up everything I love."

I clenched my fist, recalling my journey from the dazzling city to the present day, and thinking about the efforts I've made for these ordinary days. Instead of the pressure of looking back, I felt a heart full of joy and satisfaction.

Along the way, I built ranches, made friends, faced monsters, contained anomalies, tamed wastelands, and formed teams. I was always blindly charging forward, never considering my own efforts or whether the future was certain.

Because I firmly believe that everything I've done is right, and because I can't think of any other choice besides moving forward.

“Mr. Rhodes, what I mean is… I will choose to protect what I cherish. No matter how twisted, evil, powerful, or barbaric these beings may be, I will fight them to the very end!”

Mr. Rhodes did not laugh at my idea, nor did he think that my statement was due to my naivety.

A strange glint appeared in his eyes, and this action caused both my image and his image to shake, prompting us to quickly stop observing each other.

"The path you have chosen is probably ten thousand times more difficult than mine."

His tone was faint, tinged with melancholy, but he quickly smiled and continued, "But what you've said really reminds me of a friend of mine. If we're still alive and see you again after today... I'll do my small part to help you... take care of me in the other world..."

Before Mr. Rhodes could finish speaking, a huge explosion suddenly rang out, and another shocking event occurred!

Chapter 417 The War of the World (Part 6)

The positron cannon's swift strike not only pierced through layers of dark clouds and black mist, but also struck the terrifying tentacles swaying in the sea of ​​clouds with all its might, pulverizing the forelimbs of "Deep Sea Cataclysm" that had invaded this world. It also suppressed the surging dark green mist and violently blasted it into the cracks of the prison!

Widening the gaps, luring in invaders, and repelling the Outer Gods—this was the battle strategy Albert Wilmas devised, and he carried it out to the very end.

But it was precisely at this final step that everything that happened exceeded our imagination, and overturned the last cornerstone of our rational understanding of the world.

Beneath the darkness of the sea, the boundless ocean was affected by the explosion of the positron cannon, and the resulting waves rose higher and higher, creating immeasurable and terrifying storms that echoed across the entire area. Seawater evaporated, the ocean was parted, and the ancient, dark seabed was exposed to the air, revealing its jagged rocky structure and decaying silt.

Beneath the seabed, the positron cannon did not penetrate the earth's strata as a normal attack would; instead, it entered a huge, menacing dark rift.

The precarious Mads Mountain did not collapse further, and the nearby town was not swallowed by the tsunami. All of this was because the positron cannon fired at the ground, breaking through the strange cloud wall and shooting straight into this bottomless dark green abyss.

This action was like blowing up a septic tank in the toilet beneath hell. A huge amount of dark green mist was affected by the annihilation of positive and negative electrons, and was transformed into flashes, explosive energy, and gamma rays, which frantically traveled through this void. Every moment, dark green mist was scattered inside, and more mist surged in from below.

After a brief period of suppression, the side effects of the positron cannon had wiped out the remaining Migo individuals. The accumulated energy could no longer sustain continuous firing, and finally, after a series of unstable mechanical rhythms and flashes, it triggered a massive explosion in the sky, sweeping across most of the sky.

Then, the cold, nauseating air from the seabed fissure converged into a poisonous gust of wind that blew from that terrifying direction, followed by a piercing scream.

Even from a great distance, I could hear the terrifying sounds coming from beneath the crack!

A muffled commotion arose, filled with heavy breathing and the whistling of the wind, making me imagine that Milton's large group of deformed souls who had fallen into hell lived in that dark and gloomy place.

The dark green gale that withered everything also formed a vortex, spinning wildly and expanding outwards, polluting this world without reservation!

I don't know how to describe what I saw.

Because that murky, dark green mist had become like maggots clinging to bones, spreading everywhere. Released into the air, it resembled an unidentified gel, though it still retained a basic shape—although they came in a thousand terrifyingly unrememberable shapes.

"Those who sleep eternally are not the dead; in the mysterious ages, even death itself vanishes..."

Mr. Rhodes' voice slowly rose, but his tone was filled with uncertain fear. When an energy attack powerful enough to destroy everything is neither blocked nor reversed, but is simply swallowed up by a rift, anyone would feel that sense of powerlessness.

Albert Wilmas's plan has failed!

A sudden realization dawned on me, because after the energy dissipated from the underwater fissure, not even a ripple appeared on the surface. The rampant, dark green poisonous mist also proved its existence, proving that the previous attack could not overcome it.

“Mr. Rhodes, what is that dark green mist? Why can’t we get rid of it?” I asked.

Mr. Rhodes was silent for a moment, then said, “That’s the poisonous fog of the abyss, and also the terrifying apocalypse of this world… The University of Michigan library has a local newspaper that reported a horrific shipwreck, with only one survivor. Such a substance was found on the wreckage of that ship, and it triggered a six-month-long infectious nightmare among chemistry students…”

"They all dreamed of an unfathomable underwater city, its magnificent buildings filled with seaweed and silt. A huge shadow, with countless tentacles on its head, a fat body covered in scales, and soft, claw-like forelimbs, lurked vaguely beneath the dark surface of the sea..."

I asked, "What became of them?"

Mr. Rhodes whispered, “They’ve gone mad… completely mad… This is the first contact between the University of Michigan and ‘Deepsea Explosion,’ and it has shown us that such a terrifying being lurks beneath this sea. Even a clod of earth it has set foot on is far beyond the limits of human comprehension, triggering the most chaotic and insane calm within the human soul…”

I gasped, turning my gaze to the swirling, dark green mist in the cracks, and watching once again as the chaotic colloid eroded this world.

If Albert Wilmas's plan failed, then everything he had just orchestrated probably didn't harm "Deepsea Cataclysm," and might even have helped it break free of its cage and escape its seal, allowing it to accelerate its invasion here...

The remaining cloud walls and thunder fog on the sea surface combined with the dark green poisonous fog, and it multiplied wildly at a speed that could not be detected by the naked eye. From the sea surface below to the sky above our heads, everything had become a chaotic and unknown miasma-ridden land. The rapidly diminishing light made me feel as if I had returned to the town shrouded in dark clouds, as if I had returned to the dark night when a torrential rain fell on this world.

But when my gaze fell upon the fissure in the ocean, I discovered that the seawater in this area still swirled like a funnel, drawing in eddies that could not be filled even by tens of thousands of tons of seawater. It was as if a black hole, never to disappear, remained entrenched in our field of vision.

In my pupils, which widened with fear, I saw an eye—a gigantic pupil hidden deep beneath the sea, composed of a chaotic and evil nebula!

These eyes are a stain on this world!

These eyes are the malevolent gazes of demons from hell!

These eyes are a whirlpool that shatters mountains and oceans!

These eyes represent the ultimate hatred and blasphemy in the universe!

In those eyes, I was horrified to find a blank, lifeless gaze.

Its mountain-like body was unimaginably large, so large that the world could not contain it...

All I could see was this malevolent eye peering into the world through the enormous rift…

It spotted me!!!

Chapter 418 The War of the World (Part 7)

I saw the dark universe spinning in my eyeballs, black planets rolling aimlessly in its layered pupils—they were spinning endlessly in a terror they had never noticed before.

These horrors are unknown, lusterless, and nameless.

That unintentional glance threw my reason into the raging waves of a mad ocean. Immense darkness and pain seized my consciousness, and from that moment on, there was no light in my eyes—although there was no timer, this situation must have lasted for at least five minutes.

Everything that grows in this world depends on light, but there is no doubt that some force seems to have easily overcome it...

I initially thought my consciousness and intuition had been destroyed, but the deafening noise of the rain, thunder, and wind seemed to transport me back to a stormy night in the small town...

"Marcus, stop looking! That thing has noticed this world, and it will infect all living things with its innate madness and chaos!"

Amidst the chaotic noise, Mr. Rhodes anxiously stopped me from staring, "When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you! My defensive crystal barrier can't stop such malice; you'll be torn to shreds by its gaze!"

But my voice was dazed and confused: "Mr. Rhodes... I can't see anything... The whole world is dark... But it seems like something is wriggling in this darkness..."

My voice grew weaker and weaker, and my tone was like a dream as I stared blankly at the enormous eyeball beneath the earth.

"There must be something wrong with my memory... I saw things I've never seen before... other worlds, other galaxies... darkness... lightning looks black, darkness looks like light... no... that thing has captured my mind!"

"The lightning no longer flashes, but the terror remains... the eerie wind... the enormous blur... black wings... save me... those three-part, burning eyes... I can see everything with a terrifying perception that isn't sight..."

In the midst of the chaotic vision, I regained my senses in the last instant, observing the world with a power beyond all other senses.

In that instant, the whole world seemed to stand still. My consciousness, like a scanner, uncontrollably radiated waves, imprinting the scene before me into my brain without the slightest error—

Swaying blades of grass, scattered rocks, expressionless corpses, sweeping thunderclouds, diffused green mist, and Mr. Rod, who seemed like a ghost...

What struck me most was the distorted expression on Mr. Rhodes' face, as if he had witnessed something truly astonishing. His wide eyes made his dilated pupils resemble glass beads, clearly reflecting the scene he was seeing.

In his amber pupils, in the frozen world, a person was shattering like a block of ice, breaking apart into fragments of varying sizes. The scattered pieces, along with the breaking of the rainbow-colored, strange crystal, melted into the chaotic air, like the lingering, ambiguous dream of some early morning, no longer having a place to stand…

Is this person... me?

…………

"Marcus... wake up..."

My brain felt like it was being repeatedly crushed by a giant steamroller, followed by a series of "Ora Ora Ora" sounds, and finally a group of mammoths passing by doing a tap dance over my head. Not only was it smashed to pieces, but it even managed to paint the ground!

Wait a minute, where did all this random, rambling talk come from? Does this make me look a bit out of place in this world?

Oh wait, that "chicken standing among cranes" probably means the chicken is looking at the thighs...

"My head hurts so much!"

I woke up with a scream and found myself lying in a vast, bright, pure white space. Looking up, I saw familiar, damned scenery all around me.

"...You old bastard, get out here and explain to me what happened!"

Just as I finished speaking, a hunched figure appeared in my field of vision, looking at me with a strange expression.

"You brat, do you know what you've done?! Your ability to muddy the waters is unparalleled, second only to Rhodes!"

Old Man Hook squinted at me, his old face full of surprise, and with this powerfully pulled-back expression, he looked several years younger.

That's right, the elderly, the subway, and mobile phones—figure it out for yourself!

"What did I do? I just glanced at the cesspool underground, so why do I feel like I died? Or like I was blown to bits?"

Old Man Hook said bluntly, "You looked directly at the Great Old Ones! I really don't know what you're doing, you bastard, why you always manage to make things spiral out of control!"

I instantly recalled my experience and glared back fiercely: "Then someone explain this to me! Why did the promised journey home turn into a Silent Hill adventure? Tell me, which floor do I know!"

Old Man Hook coughed awkwardly, then turned away and whispered, "This method is inherently risky... Besides, apart from the slightly off location, the latitude, longitude, and timeline are all correct..."

I said in despair, "What a teapot! It's completely wrong! That world just doesn't look right at all. What the hell is that positron cannon? Where is the general-purpose humanoid weapon for decisive battle? I'm starting to suspect that what I've encountered isn't some indescribable being at all, but an apostle!"

Screw your positron cannon! If I had remembered it earlier, I would have gone back and spit my jab at it...

In this parallel world, I seem to have lost all my normal memories, and all the bizarre information in my mind has vanished. It seems that the memories I retain are somehow connected to the parallel world where I was crushed to death by a mudslide in the pasture...