Chapter 36: The Whereabouts of the 160 Million Divine Children
After dealing with Governor Freeman's affairs, Marcus returned to the temple site.
Beneath the goddess's fleshy sac, the chassis of three truck beds were already in place. Because they had to dig a section at a time to place the supports, they could only dig from two directions at most.
Although they had enough manpower, working from multiple directions simultaneously could easily cause a collapse.
Therefore, progress had slowed considerably, and it was estimated that it would take another 20 hours before they could actually attempt to move the sac.
While observing the progress in the command tent and preventing any accidents, Marcus picked up a brand-new classified file and compared it with the fragments of information the thugs had found earlier.
"The Embrace of the Goddess of Prosperity" stated that a thousand years ago, after Hastar stole her gold, the Goddess of Prosperity was deeply saddened by the struggle between the many divine children and Hastar.
So she scattered her remaining wealth across the banks of the Ganges, distributing food and seeds equally to everyone, and then left a prophecy:
"I can satisfy the needs of the world, but not their greed; desire will overwhelm humanity."
After speaking, the Goddess of Prosperity opened her arms to embrace the boundless earth, her body becoming ethereal, and she vanished completely from the world.
Five hundred years later, the gods, for unknown reasons, gradually fell into a slumber deep within the Ganges.
Another classified file recorded a mysterious creature incident that occurred in the Ganges near Uttarakhand in 1917.
Local colonial forces, patrolling the Ganges in their gunboats, discovered a creature with a serpent's head, a human body, and spider legs. This creature attacked one of their vessels first.
It was agile, emitted a groan-like cry that could bewitch people, and its limbs could easily pierce through the ship's hull.
They sank two ships, lost 47 crew members, and exhausted all their cannons before finally killing the monster.
Its blood turned the river green, and the captain ordered its carcass to be retrieved, intending to sell it to a British research institute to compensate for the loss.
However, the bodies, placed in the freezer for less than half a day, emitted an incredibly foul stench of decay, permeating the entire vessel.
When the captain opened the freezer, he found only a pool of green liquid inside, rapidly evaporating like gasoline.
Upon returning to port, the freezer was completely empty.
This incident was classified
because, within two days of returning, all the crew members who had inhaled the stench began to decompose and turn green.
Doctors examined them and found their bodily functions were normal. Ultimately, all 92 crew members died of decomposition within three days.
The fact that their unanimous and detailed accounts of the events before their deaths were inexplicable led to the record being kept.
It is said that local devout believers, upon learning what had happened, attacked the houses of all the crew members' families, prayed for three months, and over three hundred starved to death,
claiming they had angered the incarnation of the divine son and were begging for divine forgiveness.
The documents also recorded numerous accounts from the past hundred years of people reporting sightings of strange creatures in the Ganges, as well as reports of ships being destroyed by mysterious creatures and crew members disappearing.
Comparing the two sets of documents, Marcus formed a theory.
Now the bait was ready, everything was in place, and all that remained was the opportune moment.
At the temple site, engineers were working. One soldier quietly asked the person next to him,
"Hey, did you see that ring of tanks outside? Do you think this is really a biological experiment?"
Another soldier, applying flour, looked around and whispered back,
"Shh, to be honest, everyone should have heard the roaring sounds coming from inside."
"Everyone's just pretending not to know. Think about what kind of place this is—a temple!"
a soldier helping with measurements chimed in quietly.
"Yeah, the thing suppressed beneath the temple must be a demon. Is the Colonel going to be an exorcist?"
"We need to be careful. I have a feeling that if we're careless and something goes wrong, those tanks will definitely open fire. We need to be on our guard."
After whispering amongst themselves for a few moments, the group, feeling uneasy, quickly got back to work, but their movements became even more cautious. The entire ruins were filled with an eerie and tense atmosphere.
For the past 20 hours, Marcus had either been in the command center refining plans or personally directing operations on-site to reassure the troops.
During this time, Governor Freeman also came to the Hastar Temple site to observe. He was still worried about Marcus, but after seeing the huge fleshy sphere with his own eyes, he said nothing more and turned away.
"Report, sir, the biological specimen has been completely transferred to the chassis. The mining trucks are in position. Shall we begin the relocation?"
"Begin."
Nathan received permission and began to direct the operation.
Dozens of steel cables were attached to two giant mining trucks, each 52 feet long and 23 feet wide. The vehicles moved slowly forward, their tires pressing eighteen-inch-deep trenches into the road.
The steel cables slowly went taut, making muffled sounds like gunfire.
Behind the specimen, four bulldozers with their front ends converted into buffers pushed slowly to prevent the specimen from slipping.
Under the watchful eyes of 2,356 soldiers from the Engineering Corps and Armored Battalion, the specimen was slowly dragged out of the sinkhole and pulled onto level ground.
Raindrops fell on the specimen's covering cloth and slid down the edges.
"Success!"
"Outstanding!"
"Mission accomplished!"
The entire camp erupted in waves of cheers and applause, the soldiers shouting happily.
The bizarre ball of flesh, surrounded by tanks poised to fire at any moment, had kept everyone on edge all day. Now that the plan had succeeded, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sir, what should we do now?"
Nathan asked, grinning.
"Wait!"
"Set up camp here and wait three days for the operation."
Marcus considered it for a moment and decided to wait until the seventh day to attempt the plan. By then, with the survival mission nearing completion and the possibility of returning, it would be much safer.
Three days later, 18 miles west of Tumbbad village, on the banks of the Ganges, at 3:46 PM.
Marcus was in a helicopter, circling the Ganges, surveying the terrain.
In the past three days, he had consulted a large number of classified files. In India, these files were mostly about faith and prayer, which were of no use to Marcus. He only trusted himself.
"What's with these people guarding the riverbank?"
Marcus frowned. He had ordered all the residents along the way to be dispersed yesterday and given them some compensation for lost work time.
"They left after we gave them compensation, but then they came back, bringing even more relatives and neighbors to collect compensation."
"As per your instructions, the nearby holding cells are all temporarily full. These people are shamelessly lying on the ground; they're thrown out and then run back."
The staff officer said somewhat helplessly.
"Greed! Oh well, it's alright."
"Later, their greed will meet artillery fire!"
After confirming everything was arranged, Marcus had the pilot land and issued an order.
He'd seen greed in Hell, worn the skins of greedy men, and stolen gold from a god of greed himself.
These people didn't know it yet, but they were about to witness what happens when human greed meets divine wrath.
And Marcus would be there to watch it all unfold.
(End of Chapter)
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