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**Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)**
The tide rises with the sun, and falls with the sun.
At sunset tonight, the tide, tinged black under the starlight from mixed blood, surged towards the shore.
In the distant dark clouds, R’lyeh City glowed with a faint green light, like countless ghostly fires ignited within a giant ancient tomb.
Below the East Sea Great Wall, Winter City players stood in a line, their gazes stern, hands resting on their sword hilts. Leading them were (Player Name) (M) and Nobody Does Human Things (M). They stood on separate watchtowers over a kilometer apart, their golden Qi radiating from them like torches on a beacon tower.
“All players, join the unified combat channel!”
Players to the left and right of Nobody Does Human Things stiffened, a wry look on their faces. “Brother Renshi, we’re not on Cain Continent anymore. What unified combat channel do we have? Seeing our HP bars is the last function available.”
“Ah, I just remembered. My apologies.”
Nobody Does Human Things chuckled sheepishly and took out his walkie-talkie. Every player had one, strictly for receiving commands.
In a short while, the black tide seethed, filled with ghostly shadows and the roars of monsters converging into a single sound. The black tide rose dozens of meters high, and with a splashing sound, tens of thousands of fish-like monsters crawled onto the shore.
They were about two meters tall, with strong builds, gray skin, and scales on their backs. Gills lined their mouths, and their eyeballs shone like two lamps, emitting a frenzy of killing intent. Below, their gaping mouths were filled with shark-like serrated teeth—these were Deep Ones, Cthulhu’s most basic retainers, and residents of R’lyeh City.
Among these Deep Ones were a group of slender, gaunt monsters with octopus heads—these were Mind Flayers, Old Ones’ retainers capable of manipulating minds. They were the primary targets for snipers and mages. The closer one got to a Mind Flayer, the more susceptible they were to its bewitchment. Many lower-level players were lured too deep into the Old Ones’ Retainer Legion during battles and were ultimately overwhelmed and devoured.
After landing, these Old Ones’ Retainers immediately scrambled towards the East Sea Great Wall, launching an attack. Dozens of searchlights shone upon them, illuminating dense clusters of Old Ones’ Retainers within circles tens of meters in diameter, like a swarm of locusts.
Beneath the East Sea Great Wall, Corrupted Player players lined up, their massive, strong bodies forming the first defending line against the Old Ones’ Retainers.
“Draw swords—!”
CN Bai Zhu roared.
Behind him, a sea of Corrupted Player players silently drew their spinal swords, demonic Qi swirling around them, killing intent blazing in their eyes.
“The waves seem quite fierce today!”
In the command center, the Commander of the Huaxia Military Region watched the electronic screen. The number of attacking Old Ones’ Retainers was several times greater than on the previous two nights.
In previous nights, the searchlights had revealed gaps among the enemy, but now these Old Ones’ Retainers not only filled those gaps but were even climbing on top of each other, trampling one another as they charged forward with roars.
Anyone witnessing this scene would have their scalp tingle.
“Cthulhu’s power has grown, leading to the birth of so many Old Ones’ Retainers,” Scheming Frog switched between several surveillance feeds, his astonishment growing with each one, his expression becoming increasingly grave.
“This indicates that Qi Wub might not be doing well. Cthulhu is now capable of influencing R’lyeh City on Blue Star again…”
“Mr. Qi Wub has done his best!”
The Commander of the Huaxia Military Region looked at the screen with a serious expression. “We cannot place all our hopes on Qi Wub. Each of us must contribute to this world. Only we ourselves can decide our fate!”
Scheming Frog was startled.
“Sir, are you planning to…”
“Launch the nuclear weapons.”
The old man clasped his hands behind his back, his eyes cast down. He sighed, appearing to have aged several years in an instant, his stoop becoming more pronounced. “I know that nuclear weapons will cause immense pollution to the entire sea area and even the entire northeastern coast of Huaxia. But the entire Blue Star is now at a critical moment of life and death. We still have the chance to launch these nuclear weapons. The weapons in other regional areas can only rot in warehouses.”
“It is indeed a method of last resort.”
Scheming Frog adjusted his glasses.
Among the Winter City players, there were powerful mages.
For instance, Gou Fugui, whose strength was already comparable to a Legendary.
However, R’lyeh was too far away.
He could not venture deep into the sea to cast a forbidden spell on R’lyeh; even with his power, it would be a suicidal act.
To truly strike R’lyeh,
The only choice now was to launch nuclear weapons.
Previously, there had been bombing raids on R’lyeh, but the effects were very ordinary.
Firstly, R’lyeh City was extremely vast, comparable in area to a main island of the Sakura Region. Secondly, R’lyeh had a self-protection mechanism; a gray mist permeated the city, causing bombs to detonate instantly upon contact, resulting in extremely limited damage to R’lyeh.
As for whether nuclear weapons could damage R’lyeh,
Scheming Frog was reasonably confident.
The destructive power of nuclear weapons was already comparable to a Demigod level mage’s tenth-ring forbidden spell. An attack of this magnitude might not affect Cthulhu much, but R’lyeh was merely Cthulhu’s palace, and it was unlikely to be that difficult to deal with.
