From God of Lies to Lord of All Worlds

Chapter 97: Getting What You Wished For

The town of New Salem was truly small—so small that excavation operations in the northern sector caused coffee cups in the southern end to rattle incessantly.

It was so small that the local Sheriff had only taken a few steps outside before being persuaded to return by the mayor of Springfield City.

To prevent any trouble and avoid potential issues, the mayor, backed by several prominent families, generously promised a relocation fee to the thousands of townspeople. In just a single day, he managed to send away the vast majority of the town's residents.

In their place came a wave of new arrivals. Members of various major families rushed to the town, almost all converging within that same twenty-four-hour window.

From the massive life-support vehicles emerged quite a few figures who had once shaken this nation to its core in the previous century!

The oldest among them had even slammed his hands on the table while arguing with Theodore Roosevelt during World War II!

It was truly unbelievable that such people had managed to survive into the modern era, even living to see Golden Hair's second term in office.

Over the phone, Baron voiced his doubts. Golden Hair fell silent for a moment before deciding to let his son face the darkness of this world head-on. He finally spoke.

"They have their own methods of sustaining life, such as blood transfusions or organ transplants. Some even go so far as to periodically replace all of their bodily organs, just to stay alive!"

Hearing this, Baron was stunned into silence.He understood the underlying operational systems of this country, which made him acutely aware of just how terrifying the casual mention of blood transfusions from his father truly was.

This was not a simple matter of replacing a little blood. It meant completely draining and replacing a person's entire blood supply. The sheer volume of blood required was absolutely horrifying!

What if there was not enough?

The answer was simple. The streets were full of people; all they had to do was snatch them up.

Why else did America see such a massive influx of people every year, yet its population remained stagnant for so long? Did those people just walk away on their own?

They had all been consumed. Whether they were undocumented immigrants or local citizens, they were nothing more than disposable supplies.

Baron shuddered violently. "Then right now, if these people survive and all become vampires, wouldn't that mean..."

Hearing his son's fear, Golden Hair began to console him. "Don't worry, Baron. A hundred and sixty years ago, the Federation experienced a similar situation. Yet, in the end, they chose to ally with the Church to eradicate the disaster. This proves that their so-called immortality is likely not as wonderful as they imagine!"

"From now on, stick close to Chris. He is a descendant of Lincoln. According to Professor Thomas, the fact that he can lift that axe proves he is the chosen one!"

"This is crucial. Our forces are currently heading toward Illinois. If you find yourself in real danger, he will be your last line of defense!"

"I understand, Father!" Baron nodded firmly, his gaze fixed on the excavation site in the distance, which was already beginning to take shape.

Driven by the power of capital, the nation's usually sluggish engineering efficiency had increased by over a thousandfold. Soon enough, a peculiar stone sarcophagus appeared before their eyes.

Mayor Tim, acting as the manager for this gathering, immediately began clearing the area the moment the stone sarcophagus was unearthed.

Many workers were promptly driven away from the site. Only the so-called core personnel, along with the members of various families and their security details, were allowed to remain.

With over thirty families, both large and small, combined with their security and service staff, there were astonishingly still several thousand people lingering in the small town.

Naturally, the representatives of these families had all gathered at the scene, taking their places as members of the audience.

Aside from them, the remaining spectators were the few agents from the Federal Special Affairs Bureau. Baron, Gao, and Chris stood off to the side, intently watching everything unfold before them.

Just as the text on the parchment scroll had predicted, the stone sarcophagus was the final destination indicated by the compass.

The red arrow on the bronze compass in Tim's hand was now pointing dead center at the sarcophagus, trembling continuously.

"Open the coffin!" an elderly voice commanded loudly. A squad of heavily armed soldiers immediately stepped forward, wedging their crowbars into the gaps of the sarcophagus.

At that moment, Chris could not hold back any longer. "The prophecy states that if this heart awakens, a massive disaster will strike! Do not open it!" he shouted.

Unfortunately, their positions were tightly boxed in by numerous soldiers. They had no chance to step forward and intervene, leaving them with no choice but to stand and watch the process.

As the crowbars dug deeper, the stone lid was pried up just a fraction of an inch, but it ultimately refused to yield completely. The moment the tension reached its breaking point, the crowbars violently snapped!

Several soldiers were sent flying backward. The shattered pieces of the crowbars spun through the air before clattering onto the ground in front of them.

Just as Tim was about to order another group of men forward, an inexplicable drumming sound suddenly echoed in their ears.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!" The beats were deep and muffled, ringing out in a steady rhythm. Everyone could hear it, as they all turned their heads in confusion, trying to locate the source.

They exchanged glances, their eyes silently asking, 'Did you hear that?' The shared reactions quickly confirmed that they were not imagining things.

"If drums sound from within the coffin under the crimson moon..." Chris muttered. "That drumming is coming from inside the sarcophagus. The words on the parchment scroll have come true!" As the drumming grew louder and more intense, Gao suddenly clutched his chest. "That is not a drum," he gasped. "That is a heartbeat! That heart is still beating!"

He could feel his own heart pounding violently within his chest, perfectly matching the frequency of the so-called drumbeats!

This rhythmic pulsing seemed to carry a strange, hypnotic melody, causing a wave of intense panic to wash over everyone nearby.

"Crack!" A sharp sound of something shattering rang out. The crowd's gaze immediately snapped toward the center, where they saw a web of fractures spreading rapidly across the surface of the stone sarcophagus!

"If a spiderweb of cracks appears on the stone sarcophagus..." This time, it was Baron murmuring the words from the parchment. The prophecy was coming true, piece by piece, yet they did not even have a contingency plan to deal with it.

These Old Money families had gone utterly mad in their pursuit of so-called immortality. There was no way they would destroy the heart as the parchment scroll instructed; in fact, they were likely eagerly awaiting its resurrection!

If they did not have such intentions, why else would they have transported all these ancient, half-dead patriarchs all the way out here?

The three of them had suspected this all along, but now that the nightmare was actually unfolding before their eyes, they could not help but feel a deep sense of dread.

They had all witnessed the incident on Rikers Island. They knew exactly what true Transcendents were capable of. Even a Saint like Leon or George could effortlessly wipe out an entire tactical squad without suffering a single scratch.

Under such circumstances, these people actually believed they could control the so-called Southern Blood Progenitor. Even if it was reduced to nothing but a solitary heart, could it truly be that simple?

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

"Crack! Crunch!"

The two sounds echoed in a relentless, deafening loop. They boomed in everyone's ears like thunderclaps, causing widespread physical discomfort as their own heartbeats dangerously spiked to match the frenzied rhythm.

This agonizing frequency made many people sick to their stomachs. For certain specific individuals, however, it made it impossible to even sustain life!

Right at that moment, cries of sorrow erupted from the vehicles parked outside!

"Grandpa!"

"Grandfather!"

"Elder!"

"Chairman!"

"Patriarch!"

"Head of the family!"

These voices rang out one after another, carrying a bizarre mix of wild hysteria and crushing despair, piercing the ears of everyone present.

The same agonizing cries echoed from dozens of vehicles simultaneously, instantly plunging the entire scene into chaotic uproar.

"What happened?" The trio, who were relatively unaffected and completely out of the loop, stared curiously at the sudden mayhem unfolding around them.

Eventually, it was Baron who leveraged his status as the Crown Prince to uncover the truth amidst the chaos.

"The drumbeats just now caused all those elderly figures to die from ruptured hearts..." Baron reported when he returned. "Anyone over the age of ninety is dead. Not a single one was spared!"

A complex expression washed over the trio's faces. These elderly figures were arguably among the most powerful people in the nation, if not the entire world!

If time had not been so tight, even more of them would have likely crossed the ocean to be here.

Now, it seemed that those who failed to make the trip were the lucky ones. After all, every single one who showed up was dead!

They represented the most ancient echelons of power and status, yet here, they were utterly insignificant. They died just like that—discarded as easily as a worn-out rag, with absolutely no distinction.

Could this be considered a unique way of getting exactly what they wished for? The dark thought suddenly crossed the trio's minds, bringing with it a grim sense of irony.