"It all started when Rouyi and I first stepped into the temple."

I intended to tell them the whole story, from beginning to end—

"Actually, the temple enshrines the molted shell of this monster.

At the time, I discovered that the black statue was made of a chitin-like substance. I even confirmed it from behind. There was a very obvious opening on the back of the molted shell, and it emerged from that opening.

In other words, this monster is an insect that grows by molting.

The reason I 'went crazy' was because of that molted shell. There was poison on the shell.

When I poked the molted skin with the bone stick, the poisonous powder in the skin was released. I inhaled some, and then I became like that.

'Zambia' can produce a large amount of this toxin in its body and discharge it through the pores on its body. It then uses the ventilation system of the underground palace to spread the toxin to every corner of the underground palace.

After inhaling the toxin, I could hear your voices and see what you were doing, but I couldn't control my body, speak, or express myself."

I paused for a moment, then continued:

"...Until I saw the God-King Rao in the temple, I realized where the secret of this monster's rule over the kingdom lay.

The God-King never died. He sat on that high platform for a full five thousand years. He couldn't move or speak, just like I was when I was first poisoned.

You can imagine your soul being trapped in a body. You can hear, see, and feel the world, but you can't move. You can only be trapped in one place.

Given immortality, but locked in a prison, God-King Rao has endured this pain for more than five thousand years."

The fatty asked suspiciously:

"I clearly saw the God-King's neck turn and heard the sound 'Ka—Kong—'. What's going on?"

I explained:

"There is actually some residual toxin from 'Zambia' in the temple, but because it has been too long, most of this toxin has been cleared by the ventilation system, leaving only a small amount.

At that time, you and Han Yu were too close to the high platform, so you inhaled some residual toxins, causing slight hallucinations. If the toxin content was at the level of three thousand years ago, you two would already be the God's People of the underground palace.

Since you didn't inhale much, the impact wasn't significant. Those hallucinations are actually part of the daily life of the God's People.

The God-King's sentence 'Ka—Kong—' means 'kneel down', but before the God-King turned to ashes, he did say thank you. This thank you was not a hallucination.

...

By the way, that little monster can also release toxins, but because it hasn't grown up yet, the amount and toxicity of the toxins released are not enough to affect all of us. Only close contact with its toxins will have an impact. Daniel was poisoned by it at close range..."

I pointed to the monster next to me, which was flowing with black liquid, and signaled them to stay away.

"Why did you change completely after seeing the God-King?" the fatty said, expressing his concern.

"That's because—" I said after a moment of thought:

"You can understand the toxins I just mentioned as pheromones that create a neural link.

Although toxins can cause people to have hallucinations and be controlled by 'Zambia' and the God-King, it cannot be denied that it has another function—toxins can link the neural networks of everyone who inhales them.

The working principle is a bit like the Internet. After a person inhales the toxin, they will join the local network of the Gakuye God Kingdom and can connect with others through 'hallucinations'.

Each person is equivalent to a computer in the local network. Through this connection, you can read everyone's memories and thoughts.

The God-King is another kind of existence. His memory is like a server storing the history of the God Kingdom. The God's People learn about the past of the God Kingdom through the God-King, and the God-King records history through the God's People. Therefore, the history of the God Kingdom is as fresh in the memories of the God's People as if it had just happened.

'Zambia' will control people's thoughts through this toxin, raising its image in true or false 'hallucinations', so that the God's People believe that it is a god and make 'worshiping gods' their mission.

Later, the God Kingdom was destroyed, but the God-King did not die. The God-King was completely trapped in the temple because of his immortality, trapped for a full two thousand years.

This is endless torment and pain.

Through the memory of the God-King, I learned the entire history of the God Kingdom for more than five thousand years, and I also learned many secrets.

After that, I agreed to his request—to help him escape from the endless predicament.

But there is only one way to escape, and that is to take out a piece of energy crystal in his body. This energy crystal was once something from a meteorite and is the key to keeping him immortal.

What happened later is what you saw, the God-King turned into ashes.

I learned one thing from the God-King, and this thing is imminent, so I have to act quickly

—'Zambia' wants to use us to restore the God Kingdom."

"Restore the God Kingdom?" the fatty asked.

I nodded:

"After 'Zambia' learned that we had entered the underground palace, it planned to raise us in the way the God Kingdom had previously multiplied, so it didn't kill us at first.

The accidental intrusion of Daniel and the others attracted its attention, but it saved our lives.

The missing travelers who went down the mountain before were also tools that it brainwashed and sent out to attract other people or explorers to enter the underground palace, but its ability was limited by the 'water droplets' after the earthquake, so it couldn't control them from a distance anymore, so those so-called 'survivors' died not long after going down the mountain.

As for why we were included in its plan, I guess it's because there are two women in our team. All the mountaineers and explorers who have come here before have invariably been men.

Without women, there is no way to give birth. Without giving birth, there is no way to continuously provide it with food.

Therefore, the most critical part of the restoration of the God Kingdom is the food supply, and the food supply requires men and women."

"What exactly are those living dead? Why can the God-King be immortal and the king be resurrected?" Rouyi asked from the side.

I replied:

"The reason why these living dead can continue to fight to the last moment even after their hands and feet are broken is not because they are brave or fearless of death.

It's because they had already been killed when they were 'blessed' and became puppets under the control of 'Zambia'.

The so-called 'blessing' is actually 'Zambia' using some method to infuse the power of the meteorite into a person's body. This process will directly kill the person who receives this power.

This power will make the flesh incorruptible and have great power, but the mind will be completely controlled by 'Zambia'. After all, they are already dead, so it doesn't matter whether they have a mind or not.

However, the God-King and the King are an exception. As the first person to seek God, 'Zambia' did not 'treat' them badly.

'Zambia' gave the only two energy crystals in the meteorite to Rao and Dakan.

It gave the eternal life crystal to Rao, and the resurrection crystal in the meteorite, which could bring back the dead and heal the flesh, to Dakan and the subsequent kings.

The God Kingdom's so-called King 'God's Choice' is just a repeated process of taking the resurrection crystal from the body of the dead old king and injecting it into the body of the new king.

Although this crystal created the legendary immortal God of War, the side effects are also obvious. All those who use the crystal's energy will not live to be more than thirty years old, because resurrection and healing are things that overdraw the body.

It is for the God-King's immortality and the King's short life.

But what happened later caused the resurrection crystal to fall into the hands of others."