Chapter 39: The Appearance of the Goddess of Prosperity
The nauseating aura that Marcus felt came from the angel's feather.
The cabin door opened, and the intense light intensified, as if the entire world had suddenly brightened.
It was like suddenly turning the brightness of a phone screen from 90% to 100%.
Marcus had already sensed that something was wrong!
It made sense; if even a backwater country had Divine Children and a Goddess of Prosperity, powerful nations must also have their own faiths.
With a thought, he contacted the Tower Seal and chose to return.
The surroundings changed; the craters on the banks of the Ganges, created by the bombs, gradually healed!
The turbid Ganges water that had splashed onto the banks began to purify, slowly floating and converging.
The flesh and blood of the priests who had died on the field rotted and flowed together, coalescing into a new 'Hastar' lair.
The river water also converged into the sky, condensing into a 165-foot-tall transparent woman. The 'Hastar' lair floated up and flew into the woman's abdomen.
Veins and tissue extended from the 'lair' in her abdomen, covering her transparent body.
This woman, whose body was made of water and whose blood vessels and tissue pulsed with power, opened her eyes. Blue vortexes spun rapidly within her pupils, seemingly expressing her rage.
"ΠΣΤΗ!"
A deep, incomprehensible roar burst from the mouth of the Goddess of Prosperity.
She struck out with her right hand, and the Ganges River was drained, its flow interrupted, and a 330-foot-high wave surged forth, carrying her right hand toward the army.
These tiny humans who had harmed her children, once the food she distributed seeds to raise for her divine offspring, dared to devour their master!
The red-robed old man who emerged from the cabin, the moment he saw the giant water entity make its move, produced a pure white feather, seemingly real yet ethereal.
Many of these expeditionary soldiers were Protestant believers, and the bishop naturally wouldn't stand by and watch his flock suffer at the hands of this entity.
Bishop Hartford clasped his hands together, held the feather to his chest, closed his eyes, and began to pray.
"The Lord says, those who have shown their power and besieged us will be cursed by their words and deeds."
A ripple burst forth from the feather, sweeping across the army like a protective shield. This ripple posed no harm to ordinary people.
However, the giant waves surging forth by the Goddess of Prosperity lost their strength upon contact with the ripple, splashing vertically to the ground.
The moment her right hand touched the ripple, it too vanished like a giant wave, leaving only the twisting red tissue at her wrist.
"Return!"
Marcus wanted to watch the battle, but dared not risk it any longer, choosing to retreat the moment the ripple struck.
[Choose to return early]
Items to carry:
World: Tumbbad (60,000,000 survival points)
Mysterious: Prosperity Goddess's Pouch (25,000 survival points)
Common: Briefcases *2 (30) Pistol (3 survival points), Military Uniform (2 survival points), Ganges Water (1 survival point)
"Yes, carry Prosperity Goddess's Pouch, Briefcases, Pistol, and Military Uniform."
[Survival points deducted successfully, teleportation begins]
Marcus passed through a barrier and arrived at the void and darkness of the settlement space.
His body had returned to the form he had when he entered the Lighthouse.
Text began to appear before his eyes:
[Story Summary]
[Anchored World This Time: Tumbbad]
[Survival mission completed by default, 500 survival points gained]
[Story missions completed: Enter the God's Well (1000 survival points), Kill the Son of God (36000 survival points)]
[Complete all story missions, story score increased, 43% exploration progress, one entry ticket to this world's story]
[Story score: S]
[Settlement complete, settlement space disappears in 10 seconds]
[Choose to return: Reality, Lighthouse]
Only 43% exploration progress?
But the Church and Hindu gods have appeared, proving this world is quite complex; less than 50% is understandable.
Marcus recalled the 'Story World Identity Retention Permission' unlocked when exploration progress reached 50% last time, and the 'Root Fragment *1' given for 50% exploration progress and all missions completed.
This 'Root Fragment' disappeared directly into the Lighthouse mark like a transparent glass shard. He tried using the identification function, but there was no response.
However, recalling the Lighthouse's friendly reminder that unless he died, no one else could obtain the Root Fragment from the "Hellraiser" series, he didn't dare go to the Lighthouse for advice. After all, "the innocent suffer when they possess treasures," and the Lighthouse wasn't a safe place.
"Return to the Lighthouse."
He decided to stop thinking about it; he'd understand once he became stronger.
After this enhancement, Marcus felt his mental perception had improved considerably. The surrounding darkness dissipated, and he was standing in the Lighthouse Plaza without feeling dizzy.
Marcus activated the Lighthouse Seal with his thoughts and entered his private room in the Lighthouse.
Once inside the safe environment, Marcus finally calmed down and began to review his actions, but the more he reviewed, the angrier he became. It happened again!
He was once again forced out of the story world by an irresistible force.
Twice he entered the story world, and twice he failed to complete the basic survival tasks on schedule. If this were a harsher system, he would probably have been eliminated by the God-space long ago.
"I'm still too weak!"
Marcus sighed, secretly vowing that he absolutely couldn't let this happen again in the next instance. What if he lost control?
After reflecting on his actions, he activated the tower seal and checked his survival points:
Lighthouse ID: SL914
Identity: Tower Guardian
Strength: Tier 1 Intermediate
Survival Points: 19401
This was after deducting the teleportation fee for carrying the money pouch.
Marcus raised his hand and took out the Goddess's Money Pouch, silently requesting identification.
[Identification cost 1400 survival points, confirm?]
It was expensive, but the more expensive, the better the item.
There was still much he didn't understand about this item, which involved an idea of his.
"Identify!"
[Survival points deducted successfully]
[Goddess of Prosperity's Money Pouch: Originating from the world of "Tumbbad"]
The Lighthouse's assessment: the Goddess of Prosperity's innate organ, imbued with extraordinary abilities, allows her to absorb environmental energy and spontaneously condense into gold coins. The material is tough enough to withstand damage up to Tier 3 and possesses self-repairing capabilities.
This information caught Marcus's eye.
'Resistant to Tier 3 damage, self-repairing.'
This was exactly what he needed.
With a thought, Marcus went to the silver-armored stall in the plaza and bought a set of surgical tools and 10 bags of blood plasma, returning to his private room.
The stall was still there, but this time it was occupied by a white-haired woman wearing the same armor.
Marcus placed the surgical tools and all the blood plasma on the table.
He picked up the goddess's pouch, examined it carefully again, and, deeming it worth a try, picked up the surgical tool.
He slowly sliced open his left chest, revealing his bright red, beating heart.
Marcus didn't use his absorption ability, fearing that the wound would require another cut to repair itself. Blood flowed down his chest onto the ground, and he felt the breath of death—a primal fear.
He took a deep breath and widened the wound. Intense pain surged into his brain, but gradually he felt numbness and warmth; the pain subsided.
He then picked up the goddess's pouch and stuffed it into his wound, wrapping the blood vessels around his heart and inserting them along with his heart into the pouch.
The goddess's pouch—no, it should be called a Life Reservoir.
The Life Reservoir firmly enveloped Marcus's only weakness, his heart, leaving only a slit at the top.
After performing the heart surgery, Marcus's mind stirred, the blood on the ground dried, and he tore open two more bags of blood plasma, completely healing his chest wound.
He touched his chest; there was no pain or discomfort, only a feeling of something foreign inside. He knew he'd get used to it.
His right hand touched the scalpel and blood plasma, and everything disappeared from the table, entering the coin space on the first level of the Life Reservoir.
His senses activated again, tearing open the 12 bags of blood plasma that appeared in his hand and moving them back into the deeper space of the Life Reservoir.
Marcus took out a scalpel and gently made a cut on his hand. His senses connected to the deeper space of the Life Reservoir, and the partition within that space opened. Blood flowed directly from the deeper space into the layer of gold coin space, appearing beside his heart.
The blood disappeared, and the injury on his hand healed.
According to the Lighthouse's assessment, attacks below Tier 3 could no longer kill him in one strike. As long as he wasn't captured and his Life Reservoir removed, he could continue to repair himself.
It was a perfect surgical modification, and Marcus was very satisfied.
He touched his chest where his heart now resided in a stolen god's organ, encased in supernatural protection.
He'd been to Hell. He'd worn the skins of the dead. He'd killed gods and stolen their treasures.
And now, he'd made himself something more than human.
The Lighthouse was full of monsters. Good.
He'd become one too.
(End of Chapter)
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