Chapter 713: Ten Plagues

Also in a state of shock were the several princes watching the battle.

They were all caught off guard. Although they had discerned Li Mochen's purpose by the time he ended his fight with 'White Scar', during the period when those two divine beings of rank 20 were successively slain by Li Mochen, even the fastest among them, the second prince 'Dark Angel' El'Johnson, could not react much.

How terrifying!

'Space Wolf' Leman Russ's eyes glowed with a dark light: "This is why I insisted on Chagatai testing him. We can no longer give him time. I predict that in at most five to six years, this man will become our most fearsome enemy in the future."

Today's battle between 'White Scar' and the Lord of Fate stemmed from his dissatisfaction with the outcome of the previous meeting.

"I see. His divinity is powerful and pure, enough to bear numerous divine authorities, which makes his explosive power exceptionally terrifying. I agree with your view, Leman Russ. However—"

El'Johnson shook his head slightly: "For this very reason, I still maintain my previous opinion. At this time, it is even more inappropriate to start a large-scale war."

Leman Russ frowned, looking at El'Johnson for an explanation.

"My brother means that precisely because this fellow is so terrifying, he must be eliminated in one fell swoop."

'Emperor's Child' Fulgrim interjected with a smile: "It's not that we lack the power to deal with him and his pantheon. But Leman Russ, are you sure that if we join forces, we can kill him? If not, you can fully imagine the scene of him waging war across the entire star domain."

'Blood Angel' Sanguinius also nodded: "Though I am reluctant to admit it, his survivability is unquestionable, and his combat explosiveness is terrifying. Without the pantheon to restrain him, he would instead break free from his bonds. And once this fellow escapes, the entire empire's territory will be threatened. This man is akin to the Buddhist 'Victorious Fighting Buddha' or the Taoist 'Pure Source Miraculous True Lord', possessing a restraining power almost comparable to the Chaos Gods. For such a person, we either ignore him or deliver a decisive blow."

Leman Russ fell silent, then swept his gaze back toward Li Mochen's direction.

He admitted that what the others said made sense, but his bestial intuition made him fear that in a few years, that fellow would grow to a point where even the Emperor himself could not eradicate him.

"A large-scale offensive is inadvisable, but the balance in the Bright World must still be maintained. Small-scale intervention is imperative."

'Dark Angel' El'Johnson fell into deep thought: "Horus is already trapped in the Dark World. It's unlikely for him to counterbalance the Lord of Fate while dealing with the two entities in the Dark Abyss. I suspect there is an agreement between them that has bound Horus's hands. Fulgrim, you go to the Bright World. No matter what, we cannot let Him have it too easy. You are authorized to use all resources and any methods. My only requirement is that before the Emperor awakens, you prevent that one from advancing to the rank of God of Gods, and also prevent him from expelling Chaos."

Fulgrim's lips curled slightly: "Meaning by any means necessary? Interesting. I like this job."

His gaze fell upon the Twin Worlds: "Coincidentally, there are a group of pitiful people over there who need my salvation."

Leman Russ's expression relaxed slightly. He disliked Fulgrim, especially his sexual orientation and affected mannerisms, but he had great trust in his younger brother's abilities.

Fulgrim excelled at such things; he possessed abilities nearly comparable to the 'Chaos Four Gods'. He rarely resorted to force, yet over seventy worlds had collapsed under the influence of his machinations.

※※※※

Li Mochen stopped after killing the second person. Although he did not sense the auras of those gene-seed primarchs, he knew that 'White Scar' was not alone.

The gathering of the Terran Empire's Astral Legion had been reported to him by Zhuan Xu and Dack long ago.

Those gene-seed primarchs campaigning across the myriad realms were striving to end their local wars and concentrate their forces. Now, at a distance of 1,700 star-distances from the Twin Worlds, they had formed a heavy army group comprising seven gene-seed primarchs and at least thirty percent of their fleets, constantly posing a huge threat to the Twin Worlds.

It could be inferred that the other princes of the Terran Empire would not stand idly by. Continuing further might trigger a melee. Although Li Mochen was very confident in his and Zhuan Xu's strength, he was not reckless enough to think that his few people could contend with the opponents. At best, he could lead the Blue Blood King and others to retreat safely in front of these people.

"Let today's battle end here. If you still intend to provoke, I will certainly oblige."

After saying this, Li Mochen tore through the void and departed, under the predatory gaze of Chagatai Khan.

He did not directly name the other party's identity. The other chose to hide his identity out of caution, and Li Mochen did not intend to have a direct conflict with the Terran Empire at this time.

When Li Mochen returned, the Goddess of Life and War, Isabel, looked solemn yet feigned calm, but her eyes, as she watched Li Mochen, could not hide their turmoil.

Today she had followed Li Mochen here but had played no role. Yet she understood that this ally's intention was likely more for deterrence.

The Lord of Fate was evidently more powerful; his 'Time Sequence' and 'Jump' seemed to have improved, making him even more elusive.

This was an extremely dangerous existence. The Radwen Pantheon must adopt a more cautious and proper attitude toward him.

Without absolute certainty, it was best not to break the covenant, otherwise it would only establish an extremely dangerous enemy for the Radwen Pantheon.

Even the Landless King and the Terran Empire had to be wary of him; the Radwen Pantheon must multiply that caution tenfold!

Dack the Warlord, however, wore a grinning expression, as if he had foreseen it: "I told him earlier that he would only bring shame upon himself this time."

"It's not exactly bringing shame upon himself. I also admire the strength of this Chagatai Khan."

Li Mochen gazed into the depths of the void, though he could no longer find the figure of 'White Scar': "His mistake was not giving me the chance to defeat them one by one."

In truth, it was because the other party had not expected him to be so ferocious, to bypass 'White Scar' directly and strike at those divine beings of rank 20.

"But next, I reckon they will no longer sit idly by regarding our connection."

Dack the Warlord frowned, seeming somewhat worried: "Our trade contracts and transactions might be affected."

Li Mochen sneered upon hearing this: "Do they dare? I can at least guarantee the safety of all starships within two hundred star-distances of the Bright World."

Dack was taken aback, then also laughed: "If I were them, I wouldn't dare either. Two hundred star-distances is enough."

What he needed to ensure was the navigation safety of his starships during the fulfillment of trade contracts, and Li Mochen's guarantee was reassuring.

Zhuan Xu, during their return to the Bright World, privately asked Li Mochen through mental communication: "Junior brother, did you hide your strength just now? Your power now should be more than that."

He knew that Li Mochen had recently obtained several powerful mythical armaments, and his combat power had fundamentally improved compared to a few months ago.

But in this battle, Zhuan Xu did not feel much change. He was indeed stronger, but less than Zhuan Xu had anticipated.

"I held back a little," Li Mochen admitted frankly. "But even if I went all out, I couldn't kill this 'White Scar'. Instead, it would provoke more vigilance and hostility from them. There's no need."

Zhuan Xu smiled and said no more.

This was actually quite good—showing sufficient deterrence without excessively arousing the enemy's wariness.

Three minutes later, Li Mochen again brought Dack the Warlord and the others back to the Bright World, returning to the Magic Tower of Destiny.

The reason it took three minutes this time was that this was normal speed; the previous instance was the result of extreme burst, consuming a large amount of Li Mochen's mana reserves.

Once host and guests were seated, Li Mochen directly asked Dack: "What good things have you brought me this time? To provoke the Terran Empire and make that 'White Scar' attack you recklessly—could it be that you have obtained the time-sequence mythical armament you promised?"

"A time-sequence artifact? How could it be so easily obtained? If it were easy, I believe the Pangu Pantheon behind Zhuan Xu would not be stingy. However, this time I have brought you not only an excellent substitute but also some gifts that will surprise your pantheon."

Dack the Warlord smiled and took out a scepter from his sleeve, presenting it to Li Mochen: "Please take a look. This is called the 'Scepter of the Time King,' a work of the renowned craftsman of the Terran civilization, Left Hand Dirk. It was forged by a once extremely powerful Time God, but seventy thousand years ago, that God King fell, leaving it masterless."

Li Mochen reached out and took it, examining it carefully, then raised an eyebrow with delight: "Very good! I am quite satisfied."

This 'Scepter of the Time King' possessed five divine authorities: first, Kingship and God King, only weak level, not worth mentioning. But the following Time Sequence, Thunder, and Prophecy were all pseudo-truth-level divine authorities. Moreover, its foundation was very good.

It was originally forged as a truth artifact, so it had pseudo-truth-level 'Solidity', and its magical array was perfect, leaving Li Mochen in awe.

Although it was not of the same system as the Bright World's magic rune array studies, its sophistication surpassed the current level of the Bright World.

Unfortunately, the Time God might have lacked source matter, failing to bring it to its proper rank.

This artifact had great potential, far exceeding all the pseudo-truth-level artifacts in his possession.

Li Mochen's 'Gungnir Holy Spear' and 'All-Heaven Thunder Star Core Sword Formation' also had hope of ascending to truth.

But the former required a large amount of source matter to stack, developing 'innate dao patterns' within the artifact to possibly achieve it. The latter was even more exaggerated, requiring all main swords to reach pseudo-truth level and the core main sword to enter truth level for the whole to reach truth level.

The array of the 'Scepter of the Time King' was already perfect; under equal conditions, it required far less source matter than the 'Gungnir Holy Spear', only sixty percent of the latter to enter the truth level.

However, the three source matters of Time Sequence, Thunder, and Prophecy were very rare and hard to find.

Next, with a thought from Li Mochen, the object transformed into a longsword. Its authorities of 'Kingship' and 'God King' disappeared, replaced by 'Piercing', 'Sharpness', and 'Inevitable Severance'.

This was not only a scepter but also a very powerful weapon.

As long as Li Mochen could collect enough source matter to fill it, he could obtain a powerful truth-level artifact.

Additionally, this 'Scepter of the Time King' had a function that made him very satisfied, even delighted.

"Its price is seventeen billion soul gold coins. I do not accept bargaining."

Seeing Li Mochen frown, Dack the Warlord explained with a wry smile: "This price is indeed a bit expensive for its current abilities. But Your Majesty, you must consider its potential. Also, for this item, I was ambushed and pursued by people from the Terran Empire. They did not want this artifact to fall into your hands."

Li Mochen pondered for a moment, then put the scepter into his sleeve: "A bit expensive, but I can accept it. I admit, Dack, you have done me a great favor this time. And then? What about the gifts you mentioned?"

"Next are these seven magic-powered armors."

Dack the Warlord took out seven humanoid magic-powered armors from his spatial artifact. They were all four meters tall, looking majestic and sturdy.

But regrettably, they were all incomplete, either with terrible wounds on the chest or missing arms or leg parts.

"These are products of the Terran Empire, main god-level magic-powered armors. Although they are currently damaged, I believe your technical capabilities can repair them. The Industrial and Forging God under your command is a true genius. Then there are these: technical data and blueprints of the Terran Empire's warships and battle armors, obtained directly from their Mechanicum, covering at least eighty-nine percent of their war technology."

With a wave of his hand, countless scrolls and papers fell layer upon layer, quickly filling Li Mochen's reception room, which spanned an area of three thousand square meters.

"This is only a part. The complete technical data is ten thousand times the size of all these documents here. It includes ninety-seven types of war weapons, over thirty thousand alloy formulas and their smelting methods, and blueprints for more than nine hundred types of industrial machinery."

"You have surprised me again, Dack."

A look of delight appeared in Li Mochen's eyes. He thought this was indeed an excellent gift, showing the sincerity of the Asura people.

He was already summoning Anthony. His Industrial God was the most professional for these matters.

Anthony's magic tower was located within Li Mochen's Divine Kingdom of Destiny.

Previously, Anthony had taken refuge there, hiding his magic tower and divine kingdom core within Li Mochen's Divine Kingdom of Destiny to defend against attacks from various pantheons. Later, he was too lazy to move out, mainly because Li Mochen's place had formed an industrial cluster advantage. Numerous mages and researchers had settled there, and all of Anthony's research projects could easily find supporting facilities and personnel support here.

In less than three seconds, Anthony appeared in his reception room. His eyes shone as he first examined the seven magic-powered armors one by one, then buried himself in the scrolls and documents.

Li Mochen then asked Dack: "Are these your Asura people's spoils of war? How many soul gold coins?"

He knew the value of these items and guessed that the reason 'White Scar' had set up an ambush was more for these technical data than for the 'Scepter of the Time King'.

"Since they are gifts, of course they are free."

Dack the Warlord waved his hand generously: "These are not entirely our spoils. There are still some powerful civilizations and pantheons in this world that have not been conquered by the Terran Empire and Chaos, and have forged deep hatred with both during their resistance. They have high hopes for you, Lord of Fate. Many in the myriad realms hope you can continue to thwart your enemies. And I am responsible for delivering their gifts to you."

Li Mochen nodded: "I also hope I can achieve that. In any case, thank you very much."

About ten minutes later, Anthony finally put down a scroll. He had only looked at the catalog, scanning the information on these documents with divine power, but it still took some time.

"This is only a part of the technical data. There should be more, right? Isn't there electronic data? All paper? Also, have you only translated a small portion?"

"There is electronic data, but your semiconductor technology is a completely different system. As for translation, sorry, only we Asura people can find some people proficient in the Bright World's script."

Dack shrugged: "For the translation of these texts, you have to find a way yourselves. I have brought you a complete set of teaching materials for 'Terran' and 'Osaran' languages."

Li Mochen then asked Anthony: "Can these seven magic-powered armors be repaired?"

He was most concerned about these items that could directly increase their combat power.

"Yes! As long as I can thoroughly study these technical data. The damage to these magic-powered armors is not too severe; most core components are still intact. Repair is not difficult. But their greatest value is providing us with physical references."

Anthony squinted, his expression eager: "Give me two years and enough manpower, and I can restore them to their original state. Give me another seven years, and I can design and produce mass-producible main god-level magic-powered battle armors. These technical data can elevate our war technology by two levels in a very short time."

At this moment, Li Mochen's gaze flickered uncertainly, as if he was thinking of something.

"I can give you ample support. I need you to repair these battle armors as quickly as possible, but for now, focus on perfecting the protective suits—"

Before Li Mochen could finish his words, he suddenly felt a premonition. His mana stirred, creating a cloud of mist beneath his feet, and then an image from the mortal world was projected onto the mist.

It was clearly visible: a massive swarm of mosquitoes was rising from the marshes, blotting out the sky and charging toward every human settlement.

"These are all Children of Nurgle!"

Duck saw it at a glance and knew the truth: "Using mosquitoes to spread viruses quickly is Nurgle's usual tactic."

These mosquitoes were clearly different from ordinary ones; they had stronger bodies, greater speed, and sharper stingers. They flew almost silently, allowing them to approach humans and livestock more stealthily.

Their numbers, exceeding a trillion, made them nearly impossible to eradicate.

"Not much of a problem."

Li Mochen's expression was cold, but beyond that, he showed little emotion: "Prince Duck, please excuse me for a moment."

Anthony's expression was also calm. Li Mochen's advisors had long anticipated Nurgle's possible actions.

With so many worlds in the celestial realms destroyed by Nurgle as precedents, they could roughly guess what the Chaos Lord would do next.

Thus, contingency plans had been made for all of Nurgle's tactics, including these mosquitoes.

With a flash, Li Mochen's main body left the divine kingdom and arrived at the underworld controlled by Angela.

Compared to five years ago, this land of the dead had also undergone great changes. The biggest change was Twilight Dragon City; this core of the underworld had been rebuilt by Angela and fully integrated with her divine kingdom.

—Ever since they could manifest Li Mochen, the couple no longer worried about the security of the underworld or the loss of control over it.

So Angela confidently invested heavily here, building her dream and death divine kingdom, naming it Dream Dragon City.

It was a small world divided into two extremes: one side gathered all the beauty of this world, all the good wishes and dreams; the other side was like the eighteen levels of hell in Buddhist legend, a gathering place for nightmares and evil thoughts.

When Li Mochen arrived, he found Angela still in the garden, manifesting a huge blue dragon.

She was surprised to see him, then understood: "Nurgle?"

The Dream Goddess's expression was grave; she had already noticed the disaster spreading in the material world.

"As I expected." Li Mochen nodded and took Angela's hand: "This time, I'll need your power, Angie."

※※※※

At the same time, in a livestock ranch outside Corsicana, Texas, America.

"Damn FBI! Damn Homeland Security! Damn Church Information Department! Damn Magic Shield Bureau! It's only four hundred kilometers to Dallas!"

Outside the ranch, Vice Commander of the 49th Sub-Regiment of the Divine Wing Knights, Ibi Brolly, cursed in front of many FBI and Homeland Security employees.

But at this moment, no one had the energy to refute him. Most of them looked pale at the sight before them.

Ahead, countless mosquitoes swarmed, so dense that words like 'thousands' or 'tens of thousands' couldn't describe them; it was at least a billion. They blotted out the sky, surging like waves, covering hundreds of square kilometers, darkening the entire sky.

The many mages and battle priests gathered here from various government and church organizations were frantically summoning flames, creating large patches of high-temperature fire clouds, trying to block the path of the massive swarm.

But this was obviously very difficult. Though small, the mosquitoes had strong elemental resistance and resilience. They weren't particularly afraid of ordinary flames; only temperatures above five hundred degrees could effectively kill them.

This meant mages below level ten were useless, and the many melee combatants present could hardly help. They could only use their own source energy and spells to plug gaps and use grenade launchers, shoulder-fired thermobaric rockets, and other weapons to kill the mosquitoes. But due to the suddenness, they hadn't managed to gather many such heavy infantry weapons.

The sixty-plus high-level mages gathered here had nearly exhausted their mana in less than three minutes.

"How's it going here?"

Wei Jianyi flew in and landed beside them. He glanced into the depths of the ranch, then showed a look of understanding.

"Slaanesh again?"

"Slaanesh worshippers!"

Vice Commander Ibi Brolly snorted: "A full 230,000 head of cattle and over 400,000 sheep were used as breeding grounds for the mosquitoes. The livestock inside have been drained dry. The entomologists we brought estimate there are at least two billion mosquitoes here."

He had a reason for his unrestrained cursing.

This place was only four hundred kilometers from Dallas, the ninth-largest city in America, yet the intelligence agencies had no idea about such a large-scale operation by Slaanesh worshippers.

And there were three more mosquito bases like Alistair Ranch nearby, each with over a billion mosquitoes.

Then Ibi Brolly frowned at his superior: "Why are you the only one here? Can't we find a demigod or even a legendary mage?"

"Can't find them. You know, most of our people are on vacation. There are plenty of demigod mages in Dallas, but their focus is on defending the towns and residential areas."

Wei Jianyi also had a headache. His 49th Sub-Regiment had withdrawn to Texas for rest after half a year of fighting in the dark world, never expecting to encounter this.

"But the military's planes have already taken off. A total of 348 high-temperature thermobaric bombs, each with a yield of 300 tons of TNT, should be enough to solve the problem here."

As he spoke, he scattered thunder and lightning ahead.

Wei Jianyi, now a 'Holy Spirit Knight,' was even stronger than before. The lightning was dazzling and imposing, but the final result was disappointing. His full-force 'Divine Sky Zhou Tian Five Thunder Method' only killed about a million mosquitoes.

Wei Jianyi wasn't embarrassed; spells were never his forte. In lightning magic, Situ Jingyu was the expert.

Then he rose on his sword, using his powerful sword aura and pressure to strike at the swarm.

In an instant, countless mosquitoes burst from within and fell from the sky. But those killed by Wei Jianyi were a drop in the bucket compared to the two billion.

"High-temperature thermobaric bombs? OK, that number should solve the problem here. But what about the city?"

Ibi Brolly shook his head, his voice hoarse: "That's the real trouble, isn't it? If I'm not mistaken, they've already sent a large number of eggs into the city."

"That's not our concern."

After saying this, Wei Jianyi thought of his subordinate's family living in Dallas, so he added an explanation.

"The Church's order to me is to hold out for twenty minutes and keep these mosquitoes out of the suburbs. At most twenty minutes, and the Lord will deal with them."

Ibi Brolly's spirits lifted, and his mind began to relax.

Though Ibi Brolly didn't know how the Lord of Destiny would deal with these mosquitoes, he had no doubt.

The Lord he believed in had never let his followers down.

※※※※

"In ancient times, the Lord of Radiance brought plagues upon Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to free the Levantines. The first plague was the plague of blood; God, through Aaron, struck the water with his staff, and the river turned to blood. The fish died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water."

"The second plague was the plague of frogs; God, through Aaron, stretched out his staff over the waters, and frogs covered the land of Egypt, entering Pharaoh's palace, his bedchamber, and even onto people."

"The third plague was the plague of lice; God, through Aaron, struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice throughout Egypt. The magicians tried to produce lice with their secret arts, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast."

"The fourth plague was the plague of flies; God sent swarms of flies into Pharaoh's palace and the houses of his officials, and the land of Egypt was ruined by the flies."

"The fifth plague was the plague on livestock; the hand of the Lord of Radiance fell on the livestock in the fields, and a severe plague struck the horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, and sheep; almost all died."

"The sixth plague was the plague of boils; God told Moses and Aaron to take handfuls of soot from a furnace and toss it into the air in Pharaoh's presence. It became fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, causing festering boils on people and animals."

"The seventh plague was the plague of hail—the eighth plague was the plague of locusts—"

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

In Los Angeles, atop a four-hundred-meter-tall building, Senator Eddie Crank stood behind a glass wall, staring in horror at the swarms of insects filling the sky.

Behind him, at the office desk, sat a man covered in pustules. From his facial features, he must have been handsome before, but now the tumors and lumps on his skin made him hideous. Some larger pustules even oozed tissue fluid, making him look even more repulsive.

But the man seemed unaware of this. He smiled with a feigned elegance: "I mean to say, what my Lord is doing now is no different in essence from what that holy and great Lord of Radiance did. And my Lord's methods and power are far beyond what Horus could compare."

"Are you trying to convince me to worship Nurgle?"

Eddie Crank stared coldly at the man behind him—his former friend, former FBI executive director, now a fallen Nurgle priest and federal fugitive, Minter Bode.

"And become a freak like you?"

"This is just the appearance of one who hasn't yet truly gained my Lord's recognition."

Minter Bode chuckled softly. He visibly restrained his power, and his appearance changed dramatically, reverting to his original look: "I actually felt more comfortable, natural, and at ease in that previous form. But since you dislike it, I'll drop it. Honestly, Mr. Crank, you needn't worry about that. Someone of your status, if willing to believe in Nurgle, would receive the highest treatment. Otherwise, it would be a waste of your position and power as a federal senator."

Eddie Crank's eyes showed undisguised disgust: "According to the latest regulations from Homeland Security, if I don't contact the outside for ten minutes, the national security forces will launch a rescue operation. As a former FBI executive director, you should know that."

"I know! But I also know you could right now notify the nearby Divine Wing Knights or Homeland Security Purifiers and ensure your own safety."

Minter Bode was still smiling, a hint of mockery in his eyes: "But you haven't, have you? I know you have hope for my Lord. Your poor daughter—you neglected her for your career, and now she's about to leave you. Only my Lord can heal her and keep her by your side. Crank, I can feel your emotions. You want to approach my Lord, but you're afraid. I've been through that journey myself."

"I don't know how you came up with this absurd guess, or where you get the confidence to think I'd step into this bottomless abyss."

Eddie Crank's face turned ashen: "In fact, I've already called the police. Get out, before the 'Divine Wing Knights,' or 'Homeland Purifiers,' or the FBI's 'Limit Knights' arrive."

Minter Bode was momentarily stunned, then shook his head: "You're lying, Mr. Crank. And even if you did call the police now, so what? Do you think they have the energy to pay attention to this place in the current situation?"

He pointed at the swarms of mosquitoes outside the glass wall: "Face reality, Senator. This world will eventually be destroyed—by Slaanesh, or my Lord, or Khorne, or Tzeentch. Do you think a divine system born less than twenty years ago can withstand the Four Chaos Gods? There's no precedent in all the realms. You're a senator; you know more about the outer realms than commoners. You should know how powerful they are."

Eddie Crank looked again at the wall outside, silent for a long moment.

"Let me predict the future trend: this plague will erupt again, and my Lord's growing power will cause the plague virus to mutate further. People will panic, fear, despair, then turn to the evil gods, even indulge in the false pleasures Slaanesh provides. After the power of the Destiny Alliance weakens, they can no longer control the number of Blood Feast Demonic Insects. The power of Slaanesh and Khorne will also greatly increase. They have always complemented each other, never existing independently."