Yama Reborn-Chapter 526 - 523: [The Conspiracy Begins]

Chapter Five Hundred Twenty-Three: The Conspiracy Begins

The location for the conversation shifted from the interrogation room at the police station to another place.

On the streets of Queens, New York, an ordinary-looking Buick MPV was steadily cruising along.

Inside the vehicle, Nolan sat in the driver’s seat, controlling the steering wheel, while Vanel, Wizard, and Lillian sat in the front passenger seat and the back row, respectively.

The vehicle had already circled three blocks in Queens before Nolan easily turned the wheel.

"Where are we headed now?"

"New Jersey. The tunnel will be jammed at this time, but that’s precisely what I want—traffic," Nolan said casually.

Vanel glanced nonchalantly at the unremarkable van and deliberately provoked Nolan. "I heard you’ve become the key figure for the Octopus Monster Company, but this car you’re driving is really nothing special. Could it be that the Octopus Monster Company can no longer afford to provide its key figure with a better car?"

"I have two of the latest Rolls-Royces at home, as well as two Ferraris, and a McLaren Formula One car. If you like, you can pick one out anytime," Nolan said, completely unfazed by Vanel’s deliberate provocation. "By the way, I have at least six or seven houses like this one in New York, each with a stunning woman, the kind whose expense you can only discern from their luxurious appearance, always waiting for my favor."

Vanel whistled and sneered, "It seems like being a dog for the Octopus Monster pays well, huh?"

"You can stretch your imagination to its limits, but the pleasure still surpasses it." Nolan said this with no hint of boasting, but instead sighed, his tone unexpectedly complex. "You know, Vanel, in the beginning, I tried a few things. I wanted to test the limits of what the Octopus Monster could tolerate, so at first, I deliberately caused a lot of trouble.

"In this most developed country in the world, I intentionally committed murder and arson on a large scale! But everything I did, all the trouble I thought would ensue, was lightly and casually smoothed over by him.

"You know what it felt like? Utterly unperturbed!

"Do you know what kind of shock my mind went through those days?

"It was... I could do anything I wanted! Anything!

"Do you understand that concept? Anything!

"If I pleased, I could turn on the television, spot a beautiful woman—be she a celebrity or a superstar—say I wanted to fuck her, and she would be brought to my bed in record time. How exactly he managed that, I have no idea!

"If I so desired, I could pull out a gun and randomly shoot someone who had done me no harm, and then the incident would just be smoothed over, as if it never happened.

"I even set fire to the company headquarters in Manhattan and blew up an entire floor of offices.

"And then, it didn’t even make the news.

"I sometimes feel that if I were in a bad mood one day, I could barge into that big white house, punch the President in the nose a couple of times, and just walk away...

"I even doubt anyone would stand up to stop me!

"You know, the reason I did all those outrageous things was that I was testing. I was testing his limits.

"But actually, I was testing how much power he truly possessed.

"And the more I tested, the more frightened I became; I even began to waver internally. I couldn’t help but ask myself... why not just wholeheartedly become his lapdog? Wouldn’t that kind of life be amazing?

"I could practically become the Emperor of this world.

"Everything I wanted could be satisfied, could be realized!

"Everything! Truly, everything!

"Do you understand that feeling? The kind that excites me, tempts me, and yet makes me feel a shiver of terror deep within my heart!

"The closer I got to him, the more I felt that the abilities and power these beings possess in this world are bottomless! Like an abyss without a bottom, sucking in all the courage of us humans who try to confront them, a void that can never be filled!

"My heart has wavered countless times; I’ve been terrified!"

Listening to Nolan’s account, the expressions of the three people in the car changed significantly.

Lillian nudged Wizard. "You have a powerful influence in Europe; your status there is comparable to that of an Emperor in the Underground World. Could you enjoy the kind of treatment Nolan describes?"

"Impossible." Wizard glanced at Lillian. "We are merely influential figures in the Underground World. If we act too recklessly in the real world, it will still cause trouble. If the trouble is too great, it will provoke a backlash from the secular world."

"If I were to use an accurate adjective to describe these beings..." Nolan gripped the steering wheel, and Wizard noticed his fingers were clenched so tightly they were white. He gritted his teeth and whispered, "They... they truly are Gods!

"Immortal, indestructible! Possessing abilities we can’t even imagine, standing on peaks we can never hope to climb. With a flip of their hand, they could destroy this world; with a mere flick of their fingers, they could influence its very operation.

"They truly are Gods... God-like existences.

"They can know anything they want to know, do anything they wish to do, and fulfill any request of their devout followers—they genuinely possess that kind of power.

"I know, I understand! To ordinary humans, we Ability Users already seem like Gods.

"But the terrifying part is...

"To us Ability Users, they are *still* God-like existences!

"This gap is too vast. It’s not a difference in power.

"It’s a difference in Life Level!"

Everyone in the car could hear the profound fear in Nolan’s voice. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Vanel, for a moment, seemed to forget his grudge against Nolan for having shot him dead. He couldn’t help but frown and ask, "Nolan, I can tell you’re terrified of them. So, why do you still want to resist?"

"..." Nolan fell silent for a moment, looking at the road ahead. The tunnel to New Jersey ahead was congested, looking like a parking lot.

After a moment, Nolan suddenly whispered the answer.

"Probably because of... anger and hatred."

"Hmm?" The hearts of all three were stirred.

Nolan’s eyes held a hint of madness. "I know I’m a Madman... I’ve known since I was little that I’m a bit crazy. Perhaps for a Madman, the emotion of fear instead ignites something else: hatred.

"So the more I fear it, the more I hate it.

"You know, I’m a racist.

"Don’t misunderstand me; I’m not talking about racial prejudice among humans.

"I am a human racist.

"In my understanding, from when I was very young, still in school, still ignorant, books and all sources of knowledge told me one thing.

"That one thing is: on this planet, we humans are the highest form of animal!

"I’ve believed this for decades. I cannot accept a group of beings suddenly standing above us, overturning this fundamental belief of mine!

"I won’t accept it!

"I like having dogs; my family had one when I was little.

"It was a good dog. It would help my father hunt, catch rabbits, and guard our home. I liked that dog too. I’d feed it, take it for walks, and bathe it.

"But! Guys!

"I like having dogs, but I absolutely cannot tolerate a world where there are beings who can treat us humans like dogs!"

The line of cars inched forward through the undersea tunnel, and cellphone signals began to fade.

Nolan turned around and looked at the three people in the car. "What do you all think?"

Wizard’s face bore a cold smile. "Coincidentally, my thoughts are exactly the same as yours."

"Same here." Lillian, the stunningly beautiful Controller, also sneered. "I also like having dogs, but I don’t like the idea of some existence treating me like one."

Nolan’s gaze fell on Vanel’s face.

Vanel muttered, "What the hell do you expect me to say? ’Orcs will never be slaves’?"

"Excellent. Since we’re all in agreement, our collaboration can begin," Nolan whistled. "Starting now, it will take a little over an hour to get through this undersea tunnel.

"I deliberately drove this very ordinary car and kept a low profile to avoid attracting attention from anyone at the company.

"And in this undersea tunnel, because signals are blocked, it’s relatively the safest place in all of New York.

"We have a little over an hour. We can have a good, long chat."

"That creature can know whatever it wants to know, huh?" Wizard sneered.

"That’s just from our human perspective. But it isn’t omniscient," Nolan smiled. "It is incredibly powerful. If it wants to know something, it can use mental sensing to probe—a power even you, Wizard, as a Spiritual-type Ability User, cannot match. Simply put, even if it wanted its mental sensing to cover the entire planet, it could do it. But my approach is not to provoke its ’desire to know.’ As long as we don’t attract its attention and interest, we can deceive it. And typically, unless it’s something particularly significant, it has no interest in prying. From what I know, it has specific matters it pays close attention to; aside from those, anything else rarely piques its interest."

"Alright, we only have an hour. Let’s start exchanging intelligence," Wizard said, his expression grave.

Half an hour later, a profound sense of helplessness settled over everyone in the car.

After exchanging information, both parties looked grim.

"So... over the past few months... since the operation in Antarctica ended.

"You, Vanel, were shot dead by me, but a powerful Seed resurrected you from death!

"And Lillian and Wizard, both esteemed Controllers, were also captured by it.

"For the past few months... you were imprisoned on the Moon?!"

"Yes, the Moon." Wizard gave a bitter smile. "I know it sounds incredible, but that’s the truth. We were imprisoned on the Moon. That powerful being used a Spatial Ability we couldn’t comprehend to create a spatial prison on the Moon and held us there."

"Then it seems it deliberately gave you some guidance, and eventually, you escaped and returned to Earth," Nolan frowned.

"Yes." Wizard frowned. "Although I can’t understand why... I always felt that the being that imprisoned us deliberately gave us some guidance, as if guiding us on how to achieve breakthroughs in our abilities. But... it seems there was some kind of accident, and we managed to escape."

"Based on your descriptions, I think I know which Seed imprisoned you... In fact, I’ve met that creature," Nolan said with a wry smile. "I almost died."

"Go on," Wizard said, clearly having taken charge of the conversation among the three.

"Based on my experiences these past few days, these Seeds are certainly not creatures from Earth.

"Their life forms are entirely different from ours. I’ve deduced one characteristic: they don’t seem to rely on physical bodies to survive.

"What I mean is, their actions require a physical body, but the body is merely a tool for them.

"I saw it with my own eyes. The Seed that enslaved me—Kamisou Ichiro, the Octopus Monster—was so severely injured by the Seed that captured you that it was on the verge of death. But it was only its physical body that was badly damaged.

"When Kamisou Ichiro returned, it simply casually swapped to a new body and was completely fine.

"So, these creatures, their life forms are different from ours..."

"Spiritual bodies? No... Spiritual Life Forms?" Wizard, being a master of Spiritual abilities, immediately made the deduction.

"Yes, I believe so too," Nolan nodded.

Then, he shared his second piece of intelligence: "These Seeds are in opposition to each other. They are enemies, competing with one another. The Octopus Monster, that creature, was severely injured by the Seed that captured you. It seems that during their conflict, the Octopus Monster violated some agreement between them. After its plan failed, it accepted that as its punishment.

"But I sense that even though the Seed that captured you is powerful, other Seeds like the Octopus Monster aren’t necessarily helpless against it. It’s as if they’re waiting for something, or perhaps pursuing a specific goal—it’s not yet time for them to engage in a life-or-death struggle.

"So, in this probing stage of their competition, if they fail, they accept it without hesitation, readily forfeiting whatever stakes were involved.

"Everyone is exercising restraint simply because it’s not yet time for an all-out, bloody confrontation.

"Currently, the most powerful of all known Seeds is the one who imprisoned you—his name is Seed.

"Then, there are other Seeds, including the founder of the Octopus Monsters, Kamisou Ichiro.

"There’s another one they call ’The Fourth Seed.’ I’ve heard Kamisou Ichiro mention its name; it’s called ’Tree.’

"And there is one more being: a cat.

"This cat is always with that fellow from Huaxia, Chen Nuo."

Hearing this, Vanel’s face remained expressionless, but his heart gave a fierce lurch.

A cat with Chen Nuo? The Gray Cat? A Seed?!