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Manual reporting and paper records made statistics impossible in the era without the Internet.
There are only twenty or thirty people here. Even if the number increases tenfold, it is still a drop in the bucket compared to the number of people who actually go missing every year and will not arouse anyone's suspicion.
Kitajima took out the communicator and called several times, but there was no response from the communicator except noise. The signal here was blocked, and he could not get in touch with the team members on the shore.
"Deputy Captain, what should we do?"
The communicator cannot be used, the weapons cannot be used, and the hatch cannot be opened. Can't fight, can't escape.
"If we lose contact for a long time, the people on the shore will know that we are in trouble and come to rescue us."
"But what if they are also caught by the monster?"
Araki was speechless, because this was indeed very possible. Unless the information about the monster was passed on, this would enter an endless loop.
"Ah, I don't want to die yet. I haven't used the new fishing rod yet."
Death is not the most terrible thing. If the plane suddenly crashes or is hit by artillery fire, you will be gone in a split second. What is more terrible is waiting for death to come and being unable to do anything.
"It seems there is only one way!" Bei Dao suddenly said.
"what?"
"Pray to the gods for protection."
Araki thought he was going to say something, but he snorted in frustration. ZAT members don't believe in gods or Buddhas, but in such a situation, he didn't want to argue with Kitajima anymore.
"Amaterasu above, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, I worship Susanoo, may Amitabha Buddha bless you, Almighty God..."
"No, I mean which god do you believe in?" Hearing Bei Dao's nagging, Huang Yuan originally didn't want to pay attention to him, but after hearing him call out all the gods and Buddhas, he couldn't help but speak.
"Ah? I'll believe in whichever god is useful."
Huh? Even if a god heard this prayer, he would probably be struck to death by thunder, right?
"You might as well pray to Gaia."
The Mother Goddess of the Earth in Greek mythology, the legendary will of the Earth, at least she does exist in reality.
Upon hearing this, Kitajima shut his mouth and stared blankly at Araki.
"How...what?"
Araki thought he had said something wrong. Even though he was staring at him like that, there was nothing wrong with his face.
"Deputy Captain, you are so smart!" Bei Dao really prayed to Gaia.
Compared to before, he was much more sincere this time. Just as the vice-captain said, Gaia really exists. Ultraman, in the eyes of humans, is actually no different from a god.
"Mother Earth, Mother Planet, Great Goddess Gaia..." Bei Dao muttered to himself, just like a pilgrim praying in a temple.
If the ZAT members really believe in gods, then the only one they believe in is the Giant of Light who has fought alongside them time and time again.
God and Buddha are just empty talk, only Ultraman will really appear again and again when humanity is in danger.
The god of war who will never fall.
The gods sit high in the sky, and the clay statues of Bodhisattvas face the prayers of all living beings without any thoughts, ideas or ideas. Human prayers have always been just to comfort themselves.
If the sky had feelings, it would also grow old. Therefore, heaven and earth are unkind and treat all things as straw dogs.
But what if this world, this planet, really has feelings, and has its own joys, sorrows, anger and happiness?
The sky is not old, she is still a child. After listening to the prayers, it will respond to the believer's children.
So when Araki and Kitajima came to their senses, they found themselves surrounded by light. All the darkness was swept away in an instant.
The warm sun in winter is so warm.
It was not an illusion or hallucination, they really saw a sea of light. It was the aurora that filled the sky, and beneath the aurora was an endless sea of sand.
The dark cave underground disappeared, and the Permida 2, which was tangled into a cocoon by the monster's silk threads, also disappeared.
They just stood there under the gorgeous starless sky.
"Where is this place?" Bei Dao muttered to himself, as if he was not speaking deliberately but just talking in his sleep.
"Meta's domain."
Yes, there is no doubt that this is the Meta area that belongs exclusively to Gaia that everyone has heard about from the past TAC team members!
They had been here once before, when the Chikuris flower transformed into a monster that ravaged the coast, and Taro first appeared on Earth. Witnessing it with their own eyes once again, it was still breathtakingly beautiful.
It even makes people think that it doesn't matter if they are buried here.
"Close your eyes, something too beautiful will burn your heart."
Upon hearing this, Araki and Kitajima closed their eyes subconsciously, and then realized that someone was talking to them.
Turning around, I saw a girl who looked like a high school student, or maybe a college student.
"who are you?"
"Me? I'm Yakumo Yukari. This question is meaningless because you will forget it soon."
Yakumo was right, they did forget, even forgetting that they had asked questions before.
Her presence is abnormal.
Yakumo was stepping on the gravel, but his feet were not actually touching the ground.
Realm is a very wonderful thing, the realm of light and darkness, the realm of good and evil, and even the realm of life and death.
At this moment, she switched between the states of light and heavy, allowing gravity to temporarily forget herself, so she walked on the void.
Her existence is so abnormal that she has to hide in the gaps for hundreds of years. Once she sets foot in the ordinary world, she will be rejected by the world.
Fortunately, the world had mercy on these creatures from the darkness. Now she had a place to live in Gensokyo, and she was already extremely satisfied.
But today, she was allowed to step into the real world, just for one day. Because the Sun-shining Shrine Maiden of Izumo Taisha agreed, the world lifted the ban on her.
The Sun Priestess needs to eliminate the evil god. As an insider, she volunteers to help.
She is a youkai, what is this? A shrine maiden's shikigami?
But Yakumo Yukari knew that she didn't even have the qualifications to be a Shikigami.
The straw dogs in the hands of heaven are at least the three noble sons, such as God and Buddha.
Establish a great religion, receive the mandate from heaven, and shepherd the lambs.
Only then will one be qualified to claim to be His Shikigami and look after all living beings in the world on His behalf.
But it is just a monster sage wandering in the world.
Yakumo's mind was racing, but his hands were moving quickly.
Except for Kitajima and Araki, all the humans who were cocooned were brought into the Meta realm and rescued from the cave. The cocoons were scattered all over the sand.
Breaking the cocoon was easy, no matter how tough it was, Yakumo didn't even need to tear it open. She casually switched the inner and outer realms, and those humans escaped one by one.
But looking at the many people who had died, Izumo was not sure whether he should switch between the realms of life and death.
She might not have been able to do it in the past. Even she could not interfere with the laws of life and death.
But now, at this moment, she knew that she could do it easily if He wanted to.
After just half a second of thinking, Yakumo gave up.
She shouldn't speculate on His thoughts; speculating in itself was a transgression.
Life and death are the law of nature, this is common sense. Only when you master the rules should you respect them even more.
The dead, return to dust.
Chapter 367: Destroying the Demon
Suddenly, the monster came to the desert from the cave at the bottom of the lake and let out a faint howl of uneasiness.
It doesn't sound like the croaking of frogs, but more like the sound of a crow perched on a dead branch.
It is not an ignorant creature. It has been worshipped for many years. Even if it had no intelligence at first, the years of incense and worship have given it wisdom that is no less than that of humans.
Something was wrong here, like a divine realm. It jumped a few times tentatively, and ran for a while. Something seemed wrong, but it couldn't tell what.
Reason told it to leave here as soon as possible. Leave this desert, this aurora sky, where there is a deadly threat.
But no matter how far it ran, it could not see the end of the desert. No matter how high it jumped, it could not touch the sunshine in the sky.
The desert is endless and the sky stretches to infinity.
It is a toad monster, but in the beginning it was a toad fairy who was worshipped. It has also heard some folk legends, such as the Buddha Kingdom in the Palm that Monkey King could not escape.
It is certainly not the Monkey King who dares to claim to be equal to the sky, even though the belief in the Toad Immortal is very common in the island country, and it is not the Buddha who trapped it.
So when it jumped again, it was kicked down in mid-air and fell heavily to the ground.
"It's Gaia indeed!"
The giant of light who kicked the monster over fell lightly from the air, making a small hole on the ground and only splashing up dust dozens of meters high.
There was no way, she had tried to be as gentle as possible, it was just that the earth welcomed her so much.
Araki and Kitajima, who fell down due to the earthquake, got up from the ground.
They settled the people rescued from the cocoon and counted them on the spot. There were 53 people trapped in the cocoon. It was impossible to verify whether there were any others who had been eaten by the monster. Among these more than 7 people, only are still alive.
But this is still lucky. If they hadn't been saved by this area, both Araki and Kitajima would have become the monsters' food reserves.
The battlefield was not far away from them and within their sight.
That’s right, even though the monster was running and jumping just now, no matter how far it ran, it was just wandering around in the same place.
The monster also got up dazed. It realized that the real threat to it was the giant in front of it. As long as it defeated the giant, it could return to its nest, feed on humans, and continue to survive.
Humans believed in it on their own initiative, and once they believed in it, they had to take responsibility to the end. Now that they have abandoned their faith, they must pay it back with their own flesh and blood. One sip, one peck, this is fair.
But Gaia obviously does not agree with this "fairness".
She can take in homeless gods, demons, and monsters, treating them all equally, but she will not tolerate the fallen evil gods.
No matter what the reason, anyone who sacrifices humans should be executed!
"The old toad is finished this time."
Yakumo was somewhat gloating. Her voice was not avoiding anyone, but no one could hear it.
Flames spewed out of the toad's mouth, with temperatures reaching thousands of degrees, but the surrounding environment was not affected. The sand and gravel did not crystallize in the high temperature, and its brain could not understand what was happening in the desert.