Chapter 168: The Old Ones

Above the vast and boundless Saint Heigar.

The half-slumbering Cthulhu Old One [Erosendak] slowly opened one of his sixteen enormous eyes.

Slowly surveying the Saint Heigar below.

He was far enough from Saint Heigar that, within the range of his threads, it appeared only the size of an ordinary half-room.

But Erosendak's gaze fell with perfect clarity upon Mount Ermoco, the ancient god mountain of Saint Heigar.

He could even discern the faintly blooming aura of a Cthulhu Dominator.

A newly born Dominator?

Yet its lifespan is not so brief; its life force, though weak, carries an aura of eternity.

A Dominator born eternal?

This has never happened in past history.

Moreover, it was born in Ermoco, a land filled with memes of chaos and death.

From birth, it has been tainted by the memes of chaos and inevitable death.

Perhaps the eternity is but an illusion.

Like those newly born Cthulhu, seemingly eternal, yet in truth, as time passes, the eternal flame will be extinguished.

As the Old One Erosendak pondered,

"Erosendak."

A voice suddenly rang out.

This voice belonged to another Old One [Badi], also slumbering in this cosmic starfield.

"You sensed it too?" Erosendak spoke.

"Yes, the scent of eternity," Badi's voice came through.

"But I feel this is a false eternity, not true eternity."

"I feel the same."

"But regardless, since it has appeared, it must not be allowed to disrupt our plans."

"Yes."

"This starfield is our starfield."

"Indeed."

At that moment, the voice of another Cthulhu Dominator [Oflo] also rang out.

Though a Cthulhu Dominator, lower in rank than the Old Ones,

his power was in no way inferior to that of the two Old Ones.

"Moreover, I sense a familiar scent on this newly born Cthulhu Dominator."

"He seems to be seeking the remains of other Cthulhu Dominators to devour, absorb, and grow."

"Not seems, but indeed."

"He is hunting for the corpses of other Dominators, and even Old Ones."

"He is eager to grow stronger, which may threaten us."

"Yes, he is an uncertain factor."

"So he must be eliminated."

"Yes."

"Who will act?"

"I still need to continue sleeping."

"Me too."

"There is no time left, and you still want to sleep?"

"Or are you afraid to enter the ancient god mountain, to be contaminated by the remnants of those Primal Mechanical Beings, and by the things newly released after the passage opened?"

The two Old Ones fell silent.

"The remnants left by those Primal Mechanical Beings are certainly terrifying, but the mysterious unknown things spread through the newly arrived Primal Mimic Beings' passage are even more dreadful."

"When we fought the mechanical beings back then, we didn't feel it."

"Only after we exterminated them all did we realize we had all been affected."

"Last time, that eerie cave silently seeped those strange things in."

"But this time, it's a massive release."

"Clearly, that eerie thing has sensed that we have been affected."

"Although we can't figure out exactly what that thing is, it's clearly intelligent, and it's been restraining us in an ancient way."

"This is not what we should be considering right now. Even the Three Pillar Gods have been trying to understand what that strange situation is, but no one knows."

"The only way to avoid being affected by that kind of weirdness is to keep far enough away."

"Can we really avoid it?" Oflo laughed.

The two Elder Gods fell silent again.

Yes, they simply could not avoid that peculiar thing.

The Qiyuan creatures they were about to fight were born carrying that strange thing.

Once they fought, they would inevitably be contaminated.

Unless they did not participate in the battle.

But if they did not participate in this battle,

under the leadership of the Three Pillar Gods, the Cthulhu creatures would be destroyed, and they would not survive either.

Conversely, if the Three Pillar Gods led them to victory this time against those bizarre creatures,

then those Cthulhu creatures who did not participate in the battle would inevitably be purged afterward.

You know, many Cthulhu creatures did not die on the battlefield but in the purges.

"Alright."

Oflo's voice sounded.

"Let me think of a way. I'll first contact that guy. If he's hard to deal with, I'll take action."

"This newly born Dominator is not weak in strength. More importantly, he is still in his growth phase, and it seems his vigorous eternal flame of life is not simple. It appears to have merged the characteristics of several Dominators."

"To be able to perfectly fuse so many Dominator characteristics, obviously this newly born Dominator might possess some special means or abilities."

"If we don't act, so be it."

"But once we do, even if we don't kill that guy, we must drive that Cthulhu creature away."

"We cannot let them disrupt our plans. This is crucial to our survival."

"Indeed."

After some discussion, this stretch of cosmic starry sky fell into silence once more.

...

Emoko Ancient God Mountain, lower region.

Inside a hidden cave.

Gunie sat cross-legged in silence.

"Buzz buzz..."

The special communicator vibrated.

Gunie flipped his hand and took out the communicator.

Cosmic divine power surged into it.

"Buzz!"

A small projection of Adams materialized.

"How's it going?"

Gunie asked Adams.

After the battle back then,

Gunie had once again concealed his tracks and quietly entered the lower region of the Ancient God Mountain.

At the same time, after learning of Gunie's formidable strength, Adams naturally kept in covert contact with Gunie.

After all, being able to befriend a powerful divine controller was something any divine general would desire.

Especially one who vaguely possessed top-tier strength among divine controllers.

"No specific trace information."

"Only a few signs of Erosource creatures appearing."

"But the traces are very scattered. As we intensify our pursuit of Erosource and Qiyuan creatures,"

"these guys have also realized we've been looking for their traces and lairs."

"Therefore, those creatures are very cautious. Once they appear, they quickly hide, and they also possess some very special concealment methods."

"This makes it very difficult for us to track their exact locations."

"But we will keep tracking their information. Once we find a reliable location, I will inform Lord Gunie immediately."

"Then I'll trouble Senior Adams," Gunie said.

"Killing Qiyuan creatures is our duty. Lord Gunie need not be so polite."

After the brief conversation, Gunie ended the communication with Adams.