CDJMM – Volume 5 -Chapter 18 Civilization Rescue Team (18)

Being stared at simultaneously by countless evil eyes—if it were an ordinary human, they would’ve already been polluted into a mindless monster.

The boy crossed his arms, lifted his chin slightly, a casual smile at the corner of his lips.

“Nice to meet you, guest from afar,” he said politely. “Earth does not welcome you. May I ask you to leave?”

Thick black mist surged up from the ground. The roiling, decaying fog twisted together, forming thick grotesque tentacles, black goat hooves, human limbs and organs, and other indescribably evil things.

The moment the black fog appeared, a cluster of sacred white-gold light suddenly emerged beside Le Jing. The rolling darkness let out a scream eerily similar to a human’s wail as soon as it touched the white-gold radiance.

The rotted, collapsing tentacles seemed enraged, thrashing wildly in the air. Countless huge mouths suddenly split open on their uneven surfaces. Their greasy lips slapped open and shut, pulling long strands of dark yellow slime between them. A cacophony of shrill, twisted, nauseating voices erupted:

“……It is you………”

“……Humans are calling……”

“……I want you… to become my believers……”

“……Bear my child……”

“……Mating is the greatest joy……”

“……Wondrous desire……”

“……I permit you to speak my name……”

“……Shub-Niggurath……”

“……The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young……”

Every mouth spewed defilement. Countless evil voices merged into the strongest psychic pollution imaginable—capable of crushing the sanity of any living being, turning them into puppets driven solely by reproduction.

And this was the true horror of the evil god Shub-Niggurath. As the Supreme Mother Goddess, she possessed unfathomably powerful fertility. Legends say she birthed nearly all Old Ones—including Cthulhu—and even all life itself. She was a twisted goddess of reproduction.

She could mate with any creature and give birth to innumerable monstrous offspring.

Although this level of psychic pollution had no effect on Le Jing, the sharp filth still made him frown in discomfort. The screeching obscenity was simply unpleasant to hear.

To describe Shub-Niggurath’s voice—it was like fingernails scraping down a chalkboard, enough to raise goosebumps instantly.

Even so, Le Jing still felt somewhat fortunate—fortunate that the one descending to Earth was Shub-Niggurath, the “Black Goat of the Woods.”

She was unlike Nyarlathotep the “Messenger,” who was sinister, deceitful, and loved causing conflict; nor like Yog-Sothoth the “Key and Gate,” who was omniscient, omnipotent, and all-seeing. Shub-Niggurath possessed only overwhelming, frenzied reproductive desire.

When she responded to a summoning, there were two ways to drive her off:

One, the summoner could disperse her with the summoning incantation.

Two, deal her enough damage that she would leave on her own.

The first method was impossible—because this time, Shub-Niggurath had not been summoned. She descended on her own.

Which meant only the second method remained—beat Shub-Niggurath up badly enough to make her fully understand that Le Jing absolutely refused to mate with her, and she would leave on her own.

……

Xingxiu hid invisibly to the side, expressionless as he observed the coming battle.

The boy’s body suddenly burst with radiant golden light. Amidst the writhing evil fog, he resembled a blazing sun—righteous, awe-inspiring, a presence that no unholy creature dared to touch.

In Xingxiu’s sight, he could see tiny motes like fireflies crossing mountains and seas, gathering onto the boy’s body, merging into the golden radiance. This was humanity’s positive emotions—powerful weapons against an evil god.

Night had fallen. The evil god opened its eyes from slumber. Thus, the boy became the rising sun, using the light of humanity to oppose the chaos of evil.

……

Ji Heguang waited anxiously in front of the TV. Even though he sat inside an air-conditioned room, sweat poured down his back.

Several military experts on the broadcast were analyzing the chances of victory in the Antarctica showdown.

No one knew what was happening there.

Because even looking at an evil god was fatally polluting to humans, the entire Antarctic region had been sealed off. All personnel had evacuated. The closest UN forces were stationed in Chile and Argentina—the two nations nearest to Antarctica.

To understand the battle situation, Ji Heguang knew the military had activated a very cruel plan.

Even through a monitor, gazing at an evil god was lethal pollution. The observer might lose their mind instantly, their body mutating into a monster as their sanity collapsed.

To obtain information about the Antarctic battlefield for strategic planning, the military devised a desperate solution:

Let death-row prisoners watch the surveillance feed, and judge the situation by observing what happened to them.

If the prisoner lost control instantly and turned into a monster, the evil god remained overwhelmingly strong.

If the prisoner remained sane for a longer time, it meant Lele was gaining the upper hand and suppressing the evil god.

If the prisoner remained unharmed… it meant Lele had succeeded in driving the evil god away, and the second blockade would not be needed.

Such cruel, cold-blooded plans would have previously sparked protests worldwide. Humanitarian groups would have fiercely condemned it; some countries might have even erupted into mass demonstrations.

However, when the very existence of humanity and the continuation of civilization were at stake, sacrificing the rights of a few for the survival of the many became unquestionable justice. Anyone who opposed it would be labeled “a traitor to mankind.”

Ji Heguang was not saintly enough to worry about the rights of death-row prisoners. He cared only about his son’s safety.

“Based on the observation of death-row inmate No. 142, he persisted 05.8 seconds longer than No. 141, which indicates the battle is currently in a favorable state. The evil god’s power is steadily weakening.”

Ji Heguang did not feel relieved at all.

As long as Lele was still in Antarctica, he would never be able to rest easy.

“The latest military update: Mr. Jing has transmitted the newest frontline status through the communication device. After being processed by the technical department, the AI automatically filtered out the blasphemous language of the evil god, leaving only the frequency band that belongs to Mr. Jing’s voice. We will now play a portion of the recording…”

…

Li Jingwen stared unblinkingly at the TV screen. She subconsciously lightened her breathing, stretched her ears, and listened carefully to the recording being broadcast.

Even though he was at the dangerous frontline, directly facing the most terrifying, bizarre, chaotic, and insane evil god, the boy’s voice remained as cold and steady as always, as if he were delivering a rigorous scientific report.

“The ground has turned into flesh walls. The flesh masses are wriggling and secreting a highly corrosive liquid.”

“Countless eyes have opened on the flesh walls, possessing powerful evil and filthy energy.”

“The evil god has awakened.”

“In the black fog are countless thick tentacles, goat-like hooves, human organs, and many other strange and evil things.”

“The tentacles have split mouths, and the lips seem to be made of delicate black flesh worms.”

“It calls itself Shub-Niggurath, filled with desire for breeding.”

“Now commencing violent expulsion plan.”

Then the recording abruptly ended.

Death-row prisoners were still dropping dead one after another. Their rate of sudden death sometimes sped up, sometimes slowed down, revealing the tense and deadlocked situation at the frontline.

Li Jingwen’s heart was pounding wildly. It thumped and twisted in pain, and she even suspected she had developed heart disease.

She was truly terrified that, at any moment, the TV program might suddenly broadcast Mr. Jing’s death signal—before going to the battlefield, a transmitter had been implanted in his heart. The moment his heart stopped beating, the transmitter would emit one final death signal.

At the same time, the timed explosive strapped to Mr. Jing’s body would detonate, completely destroying his physical body so that his corpse would not become food for the evil god or a breeding ground for parasitic monsters.

Ten minutes later, the presidents of all nations would press the nuclear launch buttons simultaneously, using humanity’s strongest weapon to fight the evil god.

This was a method that injured eight hundred in order to kill one thousand.

At this moment, all 8 billion people around the world were staring at their screens with the same anxious dread as Li Jingwen.

This was a battle concerning the survival of humanity. The weighty expectations of eight billion people, their desperate faith, and their unyielding determination all turned into points of light that crossed mountains and seas, merging into the body of the boy at the center of Antarctica, giving him nearly inexhaustible strength.

In Xingxiu’s vision, he saw the boy—whose abdomen had previously been pierced through by tentacles, whose body was covered in blood, lying on the ground as if completely exhausted and unable to rise again—slowly stand up once more.

He grabbed the tentacle in his abdomen and forcefully pulled it out. His intestines slipped out of the gaping hole. He roughly stuffed them back in, the muscles around the wound squirmed, and a few breaths later, his abdomen was smooth and intact again with no sign of injury.

Compared to the exhausted, blood-soaked Le Jing, Shub-Niggurath’s body was almost unscathed.

It had only lost a dozen tentacles. The huge gaping mouths on them continued emitting shrill, hysterical screams. Dense clusters of black goat offspring responded to Its call, guarding Its sides and staring at Le Jing with predatory malice.

The boy looked at the terrifying foe that was nearly indestructible and forced out a bitter laugh.

“How terrifying… Truly worthy of being the Supreme Mother Goddess. It’s indeed not something human power can contend with.” Even as he said this, he leapt up once more and charged toward It.

“Will it be my strength that runs out first, or yours—”

Le Jing’s thoughts stalled. A dull pain suddenly struck his chest. He stiffly lowered his head and saw a pale, childish hand pierce through his chest.

Xingxiu stood behind him, expressionless. “You’re too weak.”

“Di di di…”

The transmitter began emitting a sharp alarm. Le Jing closed his eyes and fell, dropping into the surging mass of flesh below.

…

The shrill “di di di” alarm sounded across the entire globe at the same moment. The UN military commander’s expression changed instantly.

The transmitter sounding an alarm meant one thing—Mr. Jing’s heart had stopped.

The garrison stationed in Ushuaia, the capital of Tierra del Fuego Province in Argentina, erupted into chaos.

“What’s that sound?!”

“That’s… the alarm!”

“No way? Did I hear wrong?”

“Is Mr. Jing really already…?”

“It’s only been four hours!”

“Ahhhhh! I don’t believe it! This must be a dream!”

The commander’s expression darkened as he roared, “Silence!”

The uproar slowly quieted. Countless confused and terrified eyes turned toward the commander on the platform.

The commander’s voice was steady, though beneath it was the faintest tremble. “Everyone— turn right!”

The commander and the one hundred thousand soldiers below him all turned to face south—toward Antarctica.

The commander’s expression was solemn. A glimmer of moisture flashed in his eyes.  “Everyone— salute the hero!”

One hundred thousand soldiers raised their right hands in perfect unison, standing straight as spears, and offered a solemn military salute toward Antarctica.

The salute lasted a full minute. The soldiers’ faces were sorrowful, their eyes filled with tears as they clenched their jaws to give their final farewell to Mr. Jing.

“Everyone— at ease, attention! Turn left!”

In just one minute, the commander had suppressed his emotions and regained the swift, decisive demeanor of a soldier. “Plan A has failed. Activate Plan B. Initiate the second containment line.”

Many soldiers’ tense expressions twisted. They all understood the severe consequences of activating the second containment line.

The Earth would fall into a long nuclear winter. The billions of tons of smoke from the nuclear blasts would rise into the atmosphere and block out the sun. The planet would fall into a prolonged twilight or darkness. The intense radiation would severely damage the food chain. Antarctica would face total biological extinction and fall into eternal icy death.

The oceans would also be filled with nuclear radiation. Water sources would be contaminated, radiation would cause severe harm to humans, and it was estimated that millions of deformed infants would be born…

And those were just the immediate effects. Ecological imbalance, crop failures, livestock contamination—these would all deal devastating blows to human society.

Yet this was the only way for the human species to survive.

Once the Evil God left Antarctica and descended upon human cities, no human would be able to withstand Its corruption. By then, all of humanity would lose their sanity—either die or go mad—becoming grotesque creatures that knew nothing except mating.

Humanity’s ancient ape ancestors spent millions of years climbing to the top of the food chain—not so their descendants could become the puppets of an Evil God!

The commander spoke loudly, his expression grave: “Eight minutes from now, the leaders of every nation will press their nuclear launch buttons simultaneously. We will hold our ground here until the very last moment.”

His gaze swept across the young, resolute faces below. His voice was steady, unwavering: “If the Evil God is not completely destroyed… our remains will be humanity’s final line of defense.”

The commander knew what awaited them. These young soldiers knew as well.

They were stationed in the city of Ushuaia—only eight hundred kilometers from Antarctica.

All residents of the city had already been evacuated three days ago. These one hundred thousand soldiers were humanity’s final stand.

At such a close distance, even the world’s most advanced anti-radiation suits could not fully shield them from nuclear radiation—let alone the fact that they would be facing the most powerful nuclear detonation event in human history.

The infamous Chernobyl incident had a radiation equivalent to 400 nuclear bombs. The nuclear bombs about to be detonated in Antarctica totalled 10,000, equaling 25 times Chernobyl, and 10,000 times the radiation released by the atomic bomb in Tokyo.

All one hundred thousand UN troops—including the commander—were volunteers… death-bound soldiers.

They were equipped with the most advanced anti-radiation gear, only hoping to live slightly longer in the violent nuclear blast, so they could monitor Antarctica’s condition.

If the Evil God unfortunately survived, their remains and the unmanned bombers would at least buy humanity some time—time for more humans to evacuate to other planes of existence.

The commander slowly raised a salute toward the silent army gathered before him, and smiled:  “For humanity.”

A thunderous roar erupted from below:  “For humanity!”

…

A shrill alarm echoed through the empty room. Ji Heguang and Bai Wei sat blank-faced, deathly silent.

“Mr. Ji, Ms. Bai, come with me quickly! I’ll take you to the underground shelter!”

A plainclothes agent burst through the door, urging the dazed couple anxiously.

His urgent voice shattered their petrified state. Bai Wei jolted awake, lifting her pale face—like a mother wolf who had lost her cub—letting out a desperate, heart-piercing wail:

“No! I don’t believe it! Lele can’t be dead! Your signal device must be wrong!”

Ji Heguang roared, “We’re not going anywhere! We’re waiting here for Lele to come home! We promised him—we would wait for him here!”

Bai Wei lunged at the agent, staring at him with desperate hope: “Maybe Lele is still alive, right? That transmitter malfunctioned, right? Only four hours have passed—how could Lele die so quickly?”

The agent looked helplessly at the grieving parents. He pressed his lips together, then told them the cruel truth: “When the signal device triggered its alarm, Mr. Jing’s timed bomb was already activated…”

Which meant Mr. Jing could not possibly still be alive.

Bai Wei’s already pale face turned corpse-like. She doubled over, tears finally bursting forth, pounding her aching chest:

“Lele, you’re lying to Mom, right? Mom can’t live without you… If only Mom had stopped you… I regret it—I regret not stopping you!!”

Ji Heguang snapped out of his haze. Heart aching, he slowly crouched beside his weeping wife, pulling her tightly into his arms, his voice choked and hoarse:

“It wasn’t your fault… It was Lele’s choice. Our son… is a hero.”

Even the coldest heart would be moved by such a scene. The agent’s eyes reddened as he bowed deeply to the hero’s parents: “You… are heroes too.”

…

From the living room came the frightened cry of a child: “Grandma! Is Mr. Jing dead?!”

Li Jingwen stood frozen, mind blank, unable to recover for a long moment.

Mr. Jing… dead?

How could he die?

He had changed the world, turned countless impossibilities into possibilities. In the past thirty years, he had created miracle after miracle. He was humanity’s faith, their guiding star. A mere Evil God—a pathetic Evil God—what right did it have to take his life?!

A surge of fury burned through Li Jingwen’s chest, flames of hatred roaring within her.

For millions of years, from ancient apes to Homo sapiens, from sapiens to modern humans;
from ancient Egypt to Rome, from Uruk to the Maya;
from cuneiform to oracle bone script;
from the Xia dynasty to the Renaissance;
from the Age of Discovery to the Information Era—
for millions of years of evolution, for tens of thousands of years of civilization—
humanity had climbed from the weakest mammals to the apex of the food chain.
From crude, primitive savages, they built the vast and magnificent tapestry of human civilization.

And now— Some ridiculous Evil God, some mindless creature that only knew how to m—ate, dared to defile humanity’s glory, dared to destroy human civilization?

How could Li Jingwen not feel enraged?

How could Mr. Jing be killed by such a disgusting thing?

How could humans be enslaved by something so stupid?

How could human civilization be toppled by such an abomination?

…

Le Jing’s consciousness drifted in darkness.

He vaguely sensed something was wrong, but he couldn’t fully wake. His body seemed tightly wrapped and bound by something soft, preventing him from moving.

Suddenly, countless fragmented images flashed through his mind:

Men and women indulging in pleasure, tangled together—humans’ most primitive, instinctive desire.

A man kneeling in worship before a naked woman, suddenly lunging forward to dig out her heart and devouring it in frenzied devotion.

Humans scheming over profit—plots, betrayals, hidden knives, ruthless calculations.

A father killing his son; a son killing his mother; brothers murdering each other; newborn baby girls being drowned by their own parents in chamber pots.

Warmongers initiating ethnic cleansing, tens of thousands of civilians slaughtered like harvested grain; a rival nation’s general burying hundreds of thousands alive.

A serial killer painting a summoning array with the heart’s blood of ninety-nine maidens; cultists killing in the name of gods, cruel and ravenous.

………

Every image was absolute evil—humanity’s sins.

A formless, ethereal voice suddenly echoed, like divine revelation:

“Your struggle is meaningless. Human nature is evil. Humanity is merely an extension of my body…”

“The human heart is hell. I am hell. Become one with me… and you shall… die and be reborn within my flesh…”

These words boomed like thunder within Le Jing’s foggy consciousness, battering his fragile sanity.

For a moment—he wavered.

Was humanity worth protecting?

Precisely because human hearts were hellish and wicked, the Evil God had been attracted and descended upon the world. Humanity brought this upon itself.

So depraved, so rotten—was humanity truly worth sacrificing his life to protect?

Why… was he still holding on?

In a haze, Le Jing felt his body melting, merging into something vast, hot, and moist. A wave of indescribable bliss and ecstasy consumed his brain.

So comfortable so comfortable so comfortable so comfortable so comfortable so comfortable so comfortable so comfortable—

So happy so happy so happy so happy so happy so happy so happy so happy—

He couldn’t think anymore. The overwhelming pleasure robbed him of all thought. Every cell in his body screamed in pain from the unbearable ecstasy.

The supreme goddess Shub-Niggurath let out an ecstatic shriek.

Xing Su stood above, gazing through the layers of tentacles, seeing a stubborn, burning spark of light.

There was one minute left until the nuclear launch.

“Delay the launch.” Xing Su’s voice echoed simultaneously in the minds of several nuclear-armed leaders: “Now… is not yet the moment of true despair.”