From God of Lies to Lord of All Worlds

Chapter 96: The Opened "Pandora's Box"

"Your Excellency, Great Leader, we have lost contact with them!" Inside a conference room at the White House, Golden Hair finally received the dreaded news.

"The satellite signals in the area have also been jammed. Should we send someone..."

Hearing this, he suddenly looked immensely fatigued. He waved a hand dismissively. "Forget it. Meeting adjourned."

The officials exchanged uncertain glances, but after a moment of silent communication, they slowly filed out of the room.

No one knew exactly who had orchestrated the ambush, but they all understood one thing: someone in this very room had leaked the intelligence.

"Sigh..." Watching the last of them depart, Golden Hair let out another heavy sigh. He slumped exhaustedly into his chair and closed his eyes.

He recalled his first term in office. Back then, he had felt even more powerless than he did now.

Sometimes, it was not for a lack of effort on his part. The nation was simply too burdened by its deeply entrenched systemic rot. Even with the Advent of the Supernatural looming over them, it seemed the crisis still could not outweigh their selfish personal interests.

Golden Hair could easily guess what these people were trying to do. Yet, despite reaching his current position, he remained completely powerless to stop it. The sheer futility of it all left him mentally exhausted.

"Go ahead and scheme! Keep stirring the pot! Stir up trouble until all of America undergoes an Earth-Shattering upheaval! Plunge this entire continent into disaster, and let us see if it ends well for any of you!"Golden Hair massaged his temples. He was not overly concerned about Baron's safety. There was a strict bottom line to the power struggles among the elites of America; they would never directly target one another's flesh and blood.

After all, everyone knew the unspoken rule: using underhanded, lethal tactics against peers of the same status would only result in mutual destruction.

"Vampires, Werewolves... hah!" he muttered finally. "The mystical and the supernatural are opportunities, yes, but they are also a curse! If they were truly such a blessing, why did the Congress and top officials of that era blindly follow Lincoln's lead?"

"Do they really think I do not know who the true fools are?"

Anyone seeking so-called immortality inevitably had to pay a steep Price. Whatever that Price entailed, it was clearly so unbearable to the people of that era that it had escalated into a full-blown war!

It was just that there would always be arrogant fools who believed they could afford that Price!

......

"Tim Dutton! Who exactly are you representing?" Baron demanded, unable to hold his tongue as he was roughly hauled out of the vehicle.

"You do not need to worry about who I represent, young master!" Tim naturally did not take the bait. He spoke with cold detachment. "Hand over what you have, and I guarantee that no harm will come to you."

Baron remained silent, but eventually shot a reluctant glance at Gao.

The Two-Party Struggle had caused immense friction, escalating at one point to a faction secretly hiring a sniper to put a bullet in Golden Hair.

But Golden Hair survived. He became the Great Leader and launched a ruthless purge against the opposing blue faction. That retaliation included a strict reshaping of the rules of the game.

The political rivalries could involve fierce confrontation and bitter defeats, but everything had to remain on the table. Resorting to private assassinations was absolutely unacceptable.

Because of this, Baron was not genuinely afraid for his life. No one could withstand the vengeful wrath of the nation's Great Leader. He was certain they would not harm him.

However, knowing that the artifacts were going to be stolen still filled his heart with bitter frustration.

Gao naturally understood their precarious position as well. The enemy held the upper hand. Left with no other choice, he ordered his subordinates to retrieve the items from the backseat. Stepping forward, he punched in the code, popping open the secure briefcase to reveal the four relics inside.

Tim clearly had an inside source of information. He did not spare a single glance at the Staff or the mask. Instead, he reached straight for the Parchment Scroll, lightly brushing his hand over it. Immediately, the hidden text projected into the air before their eyes.

The surrounding men scrambled to record the floating script, rapidly snapping photos of the glowing contents.

Satisfied, he picked up the compass, studied the direction its needle pointed, and waved his hand.

"Let us go. We are going to pay a visit to the great President Lincoln, and claim the most precious treasure he left behind for us!"

Gao's face drained of color at those words. "You seriously intend to open that tomb? The text on the Parchment Scroll explicitly warned that it would plunge our nation into a catastrophic crisis!"

"You are steering this entire country straight into the abyss!"

Tim Dutton did not reply. Instead, he silently stepped aside. Behind him, the rear doors of a massive, heavily armored van swung open. Inside lay an incredibly ancient man, hooked up to an array of bulky medical life-support machines just to keep breathing. His skin was nothing but paper-thin, heavily spotted wrinkles, clinging desperately to his bones. Yet, against all odds, he was still alive, his fading existence stubbornly sustained by an astronomical amount of wealth.

The old man slowly shifted his gaze to look at them. A moment later, the heavy van doors slammed shut, sealing him back inside his mechanized tomb.

The mere sight of that living relic instantly clarified exactly why these people dared to act so brazenly, completely ignoring the deterrence of Golden Hair.

"Hilbert Adams!" Baron gasped, his eyes wide with sheer disbelief. "But... he has to be well over a hundred years old by now! He is actually still alive?"

"As a matter of fact, the eldest patriarchs of all the major families are still alive. They are the true power brokers working behind the scenes of this entire nation. Mr. Adams merely happened to be the closest to our current location!" Tim stated smoothly. "Even the Great Leader himself knows better than to openly wage war against a coalition of this magnitude. Do you really wish to keep opposing us?"

"Did you honestly believe we relied on mere spies to gather this intelligence? No, no, no. The truth is, many of the very people standing behind your own faction are secretly backing ours as well. Regardless of whether they are Democrats or Republicans, the elites of this nation harbor boundless expectations for an opportunity like this!"

"Even if we had not intercepted you here, you never would have made it out of Illinois alive... Besides, the Great Leader is approaching eighty himself. Do you genuinely believe he does not crave this power?"

At those words, both Baron and Gao fell into a grim, defeated silence.

The terrifying legends of the Vampire Progenitor had lain dormant in highly classified archives for over a century. Now, the news of the supernatural awakening had spread like a raging wildfire, igniting an insatiable, desperate greed within the decaying bodies of these aging oligarchs.

They had anticipated the elites' hunger for longevity, but they had vastly underestimated just how utterly unhinged these desperate men had become!

The primal urge to cheat death had united bitter political rivals, binding them together in a mad scramble for this one elusive opportunity.

The recent Advent of the Supernatural had clearly stirred up the dormant ambitions of the powerful. The moment the term Vampire Progenitor appeared in the intelligence reports, those suppressed desires skyrocketed into pure, unadulterated madness!

With their prize secured, the armed convoy abruptly changed their route. Guided by the shifting needle of the supernatural compass, they drove slowly into the night.

New Salem, Illinois, was a small, rustic village where Lincoln had spent his youth. It was located only a few miles away from Springfield.

He had lived out his formative years here, forging the character and strength that would eventually define his legacy.

"The compass is pointing right here!" Chris called out. He was the most reluctant participant in this entire expedition. What these vultures were planning to do was nothing short of absolute blasphemy against his own ancestor!

Lincoln had explicitly warned of the catastrophic danger on the Parchment Scroll, yet not only had they ignored it, they had brought an entire army of grave robbers with them!

However, as a direct descendant of Lincoln, Chris had no choice but to comply. His bloodline made him the optimal user to track the compass's signal.

"It is pointing toward the north side of the village. That area appears to be an abandoned hunting ground!" Tim's secretary, a local know-it-all who was intimately familiar with the greater Springfield region, piped up. "Though, I have never heard of this particular plot of land having any historical connection to President Lincoln..."

"In fact, my ancestor lived right around here during his youth. Mr. Mayor, it sounds like you need to hire a more competent secretary!" Chris scoffed, taking a bitter jab at Tim.

The group pressed forward. The needle on the compass remained perfectly stable until they crossed an invisible threshold. The artifact suddenly shuddered violently in Chris's hand before snapping to point in the exact opposite direction!

Frowning, Chris clutched the compass and took two steps backward. Instantly, the needle violently spun back around to its original heading.

"This is the spot," he whispered. "The sixteenth President of America, His Excellency Abraham Lincoln, lies right beneath our feet!"

"Let me be absolutely clear. If you breach this ground, you will be tearing open Pandora's Box. Once it is open, there will be no closing it!"

He tried to make one final, desperate plea to their sense of reason. But it was completely pointless; these power-hungry men had long since abandoned any trace of hesitation or moral scruples.

"Bring the engineering team in! Excavate this site immediately!" Tim barked, ordering his men into action. "The Roberts family, the Jefferson family, the four major syndicates... their envoys are all rushing here right now. We need to move fast and secure the prize!"

If one were to look at a live satellite feed, they would see heavy, armored motorhomes and sprawling medical convoys rolling out from every corner of America, all converging on the state of Illinois like a swarm of locusts.

These convoys carried the true rulers of the nation's elite families. The ancient, rotting patriarchs who refused to die were all marching forth, staking everything on one final gamble for eternal life!

They were all acutely aware of one undeniable truth: even if God truly existed, the sheer volume of their sins guaranteed they would never ascend to Heaven. And since the pearly gates were forever barred to them, what did it matter if they fully embraced the darkness?

They had been itching to tear open this Pandora's Box for decades, only lacking the proper means to do so. Now that the opportunity was resting squarely in the palms of their hands, they would never let it slip away!

"Such is the frailty of human nature, Alvin," Bai Yang murmured softly. He was comfortably seated in a quaint coffee shop in the nearby town, watching the grand, chaotic spectacle unfold from afar.

Alvin nodded respectfully. "Indeed, Your Crown. You presented them with a choice. Yet, the fleeting moments of clarity from a cautious few were vastly overpowered by the blinding greed of the masses. They are eagerly hurling themselves straight into the abyss of destruction."

Having personally witnessed Bai Yang forge that entity with his own two hands, Alvin knew better than anyone just how utterly terrifying its power truly was!

"Left unchecked, that creature will naturally bring about mass destruction. But apocalyptic ruin is not our ultimate objective," Bai Yang said, a wide, genial smile spreading across his face. "Our true goal is to shatter their reality, forging a new world from the ashes of destruction to harvest even more Wish Power! When hope suddenly descends upon them in their darkest hour of despair, it will instantly convert them into a legion of utterly Devout Believers!"

Alvin bowed his head. "Your Crown, are you implying... that we should have The Church intervene?"

"Exactly. It is high time our good Priest and the Holy Maiden stepped into the spotlight!" Bai Yang replied smoothly. He lightly tapped his knuckles against the wooden tabletop: tap, tap, tap. And with each rhythmic strike of his fingers, the entire town, and perhaps all of America itself, seemed to subtly tremble in perfect resonance!