381: Chapter 369 Worshiping Gods

A humanoid stone statue stood silently in a clearing at the mountain peak, surrounded by a vast white expanse of wind and snow.

The conference room was unusually quiet as everyone stared blankly at the stone statue on the screen.

A simple stone statue appearing on a deserted mountaintop would certainly make one wonder who was bored enough to painstakingly climb a pathless peak just to place it there, but it wouldn't normally leave people stunned.

The reason for everyone's shock lay in certain details of the statue itself, as well as some other things.

For instance, the falling snowflakes actually changed their path automatically to avoid it, as if a repulsive force existed within a certain range around the statue, repelling all objects that drew near.

Furthermore, its open eyes were not made of stone, but were... vivid, like the eyeballs of a human.

It had no other facial features, such as a nose, ears, or a mouth, which caused everyone to focus more intently on those eyes that seemed to possess life.

"That... what is that?" Although it was obviously a humanoid statue made of stone, someone still asked in confusion.

Others did not mock the person for asking; they shared the same confusion in their hearts.

The room fell into a long silence until finally, the President broke the stagnant air: "Send someone to check it out, immediately!"

The examiner for Seventeen—the hulking man—had just been spotted nearby, making it hard not to associate the appearance of the stone statue with him.

The Soldier who had taken custody of the Russian Man had not yet left when the orders were passed down through the ranks, quickly reaching the captain's headset.

They waited in place for a few minutes until a support helicopter arrived with a roar.

The Soldiers split into two teams: one to escort the man during the evacuation, and the other to board the helicopter and fly toward the target peak.

The distance wasn't very far, and they arrived in about ten minutes.

The clearing at the mountaintop was quite spacious relative to a person, but it seemed slightly narrow for a helicopter.

The helicopter couldn't land, so the Soldiers had to toss out ropes from the cabin to fast-rope down.

Over a dozen Soldiers hit the ground quickly, scanned the area for a moment, and discovered the statue standing right in the middle of the clearing.

Superiors had warned that this was a matter of great importance and that the statue likely involved the supernatural and should not be underestimated. Therefore, the Soldiers did not relax just because no immediate danger appeared; they maintained a combat formation, raised their rifles, and approached slowly and cautiously.

Upon reaching the vicinity, the captain stopped and raised his right fist; the entire squad halted their advance accordingly.

The snow had stopped for the moment. He studied the statue for a long time, then crouched down to scoop up a ball of snow and tossed it gently toward it.

The irregular snowball arched through the air toward the statue. When it reached within a fist's distance of the face, it seemed to encounter a heavy blow and exploded entirely.

The Soldiers, whose moods had just begun to ease slightly, were startled by the sudden anomaly and instinctively retreated several steps.

After a long while without any further movement, the captain steadied himself, activated his headset to contact his superiors to report the situation, and requested further instructions.

The people in the conference room witnessed everything that happened through the screen.

They were certain that the statue was definitely related to Seventeen.

The President narrowed his eyes. He didn't rush to give orders but instead turned with a smile to the visiting delegations from the two countries sitting against the wall: "Gentlemen and ladies, we have very important secrets to discuss. Please excuse yourselves for a moment."

The two leaders naturally understood that he wasn't going to discuss anything at all. They hadn't even figured out the specific function of that stone statue yet; what was there to discuss?

Wasn't he just worried that the follow-up investigation would expose secrets?

Knowing full well that the statue hid a massive secret but being unable to watch, they were naturally unwilling. However, even though they were full of resistance to leaving, under the pressure of the President's sharp gaze, they could only stand up and walk out the door.

The heavy doors slowly closed.

With the doors shut and only their own people left, everyone stopped holding back their opinions.

An Aide immediately spoke up: "Mr. President, please order a lockdown of the site, including the airspace. Prohibit any aircraft from passing over that area."

As soon as he finished, another Aide raised an objection: "No. If Seventeen has its own plans, our rash actions might provoke resentment or even an armed conflict."

The President, who had just taken a call from his secretary and was ready to give the order, couldn't help but hesitate upon hearing this.

Right, perhaps the statue was placed by the hulking man. If he locked down the site and disrupted his plan, would it... It would be great if they could contact him to ask.

Thinking of this, the President felt somewhat frustrated. The other three countries all had stable ways to contact the supernatural, while he was the only one who couldn't find anyone when something happened, left staring in helpless anxiety.

The group discussed for a long time and finally decided to have the squad on the mountaintop station themselves there to prevent any accidents with the statue.

As for whether to lock down the airspace and surrounding area, they planned to send someone to the entrance of Seventeen to try and make contact and seek Seventeen's opinion.

The secretary took the order and left. The President instructed his subordinates to turn off the live feed of the stone statue, and the visiting delegations were allowed to return to the conference room to continue watching the assessment of the remaining four people.

...

The supplies needed for a long-term stay were quickly delivered to the mountaintop.

The helicopter dropped wooden crates and flew off with its rotors roaring. The Soldiers used tools attached to the sides of the crates to pry them open, took out the various supplies inside, and began to set up camp.

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

Inside a tent, the Soldiers sat around a fire chatting, occasionally adding a piece of wood to it.

"This damn weather!" The Soldier responsible for guarding the statue lifted the door flap and walked in, saying to one of the men sitting in the circle, "Your turn."

The Soldier whose turn it was picked up his rifle, fastened the button at his collar, and stepped out into the wind and snow outside the tent.

The relieved Soldier quickly sat on the empty small stool, stretching his hands out over the fire to warm them: "How much longer do we have to stay here?

When is the rotation squad coming?"

The captain poured a cup of freshly boiled hot water and handed it to him: "Unfortunately, headquarters hasn't notified us yet."

"They haven't notified us of the specific rotation time?"

"They haven't notified us if there will even be a rotation."

"Damn it," the Soldier cursed. To vent his dissatisfaction, he changed the subject: "The man we picked up a few days ago should have gone to Mosco. I wonder if the remaining four have passed the trial."

"It's probably going to be very difficult," another Soldier chimed in.

The Soldier sitting opposite him added, "You saw the chase that day. If the examiner hadn't saved him, he'd probably be seeing his ancestors by now."

The captain joined in: "It's such a pity; we missed a great opportunity to snatch the wolf bone."

"Nothing we could do. Who knew the monsters would suddenly stop attacking people near the wolf bone?"

The group chatted for a while longer before the topic turned to the stone statue.

"What do you guys think that thing is actually for?" As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed outside through the tent fabric.

"It's pretty eerie." The Soldier who had just been rotated in shuddered. "When I make eye contact with it, I always feel like there's a person inside, staring at me with cold eyes."

Over the past three days, all the Soldiers had rotated shifts several times. With nothing to do while on guard, they inevitably studied the stone statue, and they had all naturally experienced what this Soldier felt.

"Exactly, I have that feeling too. It's like it's not a statue made of stone, but a living person."

"Where did it even come from?"

The captain slapped him on the head: "Do you even need to guess? It's definitely the work of Seventeen."

"Not necessarily. Maybe it's some other supernatural force."

"I think that's unlikely.

There are only three supernatural organizations that have revealed themselves: China's Mountain Gate, Ying Country's Hogwarts, and our Seventeen.

They have never gone into the territory of the other two secretly."

"Idiot, if they did, would you even know?"

"Uh..."

The captain waved his hand to interrupt their debate: "I have a bit of a theory."

Hearing this, the Soldiers all pricked up their ears.

After pondering for a moment to organize his thoughts, the captain spoke slowly: "Could it be... a god?"

A god?

The Soldiers looked at each other. After a moment, someone said, "Captain, the gods in our understanding should be the supernatural beings appearing now.

They use supernatural abilities to help ordinary people, and since ordinary people can't understand those abilities, they use 'gods' to explain them.

As for the kind of god you're talking about, the omnipotent kind, I feel..."

He only said half of the last sentence, but everyone knew what the unsaid half was and agreed in their hearts.

The captain didn't mind and continued to himself, "A humanoid statue, appearing strangely in the middle of nowhere, possessing divine abilities—it looks exactly like a god from myths and legends.

If we bowed down to it, maybe there would be a surprise?"

A Soldier started laughing: "Even if the facts are as the captain says, if we bow down without a sincere heart, it probably won't be of any use, right?"

The atmosphere became relaxed. With nothing to do, everyone used their imaginations and followed the topic with some nonsense.

"If it worked, what would the god give us?"

"That depends on what you want."

"Let me think... hmm... a blonde, busty Young Woman wearing a camisole and black silk stockings!"

"Hahaha... I want one too!"

A teammate smiled disdainfully: "You guys should have some ambition."

"Oh? Like what?"

"At least ask for two!"

The Soldiers burst into another round of laughter.

However, before the laughter could die down, the Soldier who had just gone out lifted the tent flap, his voice panicked: "Quick, come over here, the statue is moving!"

"What happened?!"

The captain asked while he and his team grabbed their rifles and rushed out of the tent.

The wind and snow had just paused, leaving only grain-sized snow crystals drifting down.

The Soldiers ran quickly to the stone statue and circled it, but found nothing strange.

The captain asked in confusion, "Where's the movement?"

The guard Soldier swallowed hard: "Just, just now its eyes moved!"

"The eyes moved?"

"Yes! They moved to the right, as if looking at something!"

"To the right..." The captain was puzzled, so he decided to mimic its posture. He walked behind the stone statue, stood still, and slowly moved his eyes to the right.

When they reached the limit, the tent entered his peripheral vision. His whole body suddenly stiffened, and it felt as if a bomb had exploded in his heart.

"You're... you're joking, right?"

The Soldiers didn't know the reason for the terrified expression on his face and asked curiously, "Wha—"

Just as they spoke, a violent wind suddenly blew across the mountaintop. The wind carried snow crystals into their mouths, causing the Soldiers to cough incessantly.

Normally, a miniature stone statue only twenty-odd centimeters high would have been blown away by such a gale, yet it stood peacefully in the snow as if the wind itself had been summoned by it.

The Soldiers had no time to observe the statue's strangeness; their attention was entirely drawn to the dark clouds appearing out of nowhere in the sky.

The world suddenly went dark, and the wind grew even fiercer, howling as if it wanted to sweep everyone off the ground and throw them down the mountain.

"Captain!" The Soldiers couldn't open their eyes and could only shout for the captain to request instructions.

However, the captain could barely save himself right now.

He saw the stone statue actually start to turn, changing from having its back to him to facing him. Its eyes, clear as crystal and glowing with light, were staring at him.

In that gaze, there was questioning, indifference, and a hint of anger.

The dark clouds overhead began to spin, faster and faster, forming two massive side-by-side vortices.

Looking up, the centers of the vortices were deep and dark, like the eyes of the sky, looking down heartlessly at the earth and at the ignorant mortals who dared to be disrespectful.

Did we anger him?

The captain had an epiphany, but he hadn't laid a finger on the stone statue; even getting close was very... Could it be the casual chat just now?

He remembered his teammates' jokes.

But... did that little thing count as an offense?

The captain couldn't know the answer; there was no time.

Lightning flickered within the vortices, seemingly brewing a furious strike. He had no doubt the target was himself.

What do you do when you've made a mistake?

Make up for the loss, apologize.

The captain couldn't think of any loss the statue had suffered, so the only choice was the latter.

"Quick! Come here, kneel!" The wind was still howling. He didn't know if his teammates could hear his shouts, but he tried his best.

Theoretically, the sound of such a strong wind could easily drown out the captain's voice, but strangely, the teammates all heard it clearly, as if it appeared directly in their ears.

The Soldiers were in a mess, not knowing how to respond. When the captain's order came, they immediately stumbled through the gale to the front of the stone statue, right behind the captain.

"Do as I do!" the captain shouted again, then knelt on both knees in the snow, bowing his head to the ground. "Please forgive our ignorance!"

The Soldiers followed suit.

"Please forgive our ignorance!"

They repeated the plea for mercy over and over. Gradually, the wind seemed to weaken slightly, and the darkness surrounding them seemed to brighten.

It was working!

Everyone felt encouraged; their shouts became louder and their bowing postures more devout.

No one knew how much time had passed, but the wind died down, the dark clouds dissipated, and the midday sun shone on the earth, falling on their shoulders and backs, bringing a hint of warmth.

Their foreheads remained pressed against the snow, not daring to stand up for a long time. It wasn't until half an hour later, after confirming that all anomalies had vanished, that they pushed themselves up on legs that had almost lost all sensation.

The captain first looked cautiously at the stone statue, then surveyed the surroundings.

The tent was still in its original place, not blown away by the wind; even its shape remained intact, without a single tilt, as if no gale had ever come.

The shaken Soldiers walked over: "Captain, what on earth happened?"

"It was just a casual guess of mine, maybe..." The captain suddenly turned around. "Quick, contact headquarters immediately to report the situation!"

"Yes!" a Soldier responded, turning to rush into the tent.

A few seconds later, the Soldier walked out with stiff steps, holding several irregular plastic fragments in his hand.

The captain looked at him: "What are you dazing out for? Hurry and..."

"Captain." He opened his mouth, hesitating for a long while before continuing, "I swear, I really just picked up the satellite phone gently, but... it shattered."

"Shattered? What shattered? The satellite phone?"

"Yes, yes."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

The Soldier seemed to think of something. His gaze fell on the rifle hanging on the captain's chest, then scanned his companions' rifles one by one, and finally looked down at his own.

He pursed his lips, suppressing the turmoil inside and trying his best not to scream: "I, uh, you guys, you'd better look at your guns."

Everyone instinctively looked down. On the side of the gun body above the trigger, several sunken finger prints had clearly appeared.

The mountaintop fell into silence, with only the sound of a light breeze brushing past their ears.

After a long time, someone finally snapped out of it, jumping and hopping in disbelief as if testing their physical strength. The others were jolted awake by his actions, followed by a sudden uproar.