Hades, the Urban Legend

Chapter 540: The Mystery

Although the island didn't experience the nuclear explosion that many had feared, the Louis XVI superyacht docked at the port had already departed by the time Yang Chen and the others arrived. They were accompanied by Fodessa and a few remaining special forces soldiers and officials.

"Humph, those cowards ran away so quickly for no reason at all," Lilith pouted angrily, supporting her father.

Sargeras chuckled, "It's better this way. Lord Hades scared them off to ensure that the identities of Apollo and Artemis remain known to as few people as possible."

Yang Chen turned back and smiled, "In a world where humans live, the fewer appearances of gods, the better." He then addressed Fodessa, "Deputy Director Fodessa, even though I can cross the ocean without a ship, my friends can't. You must have some spare vessels, right?"

Fodessa immediately nodded, "Yes, we have backup transport ships. Lord Hades, please wait a moment. I'll personally bring one over."

At this point, Fodessa considered Yang Chen a great benefactor. Without Yang Chen, his entire family would have been doomed, and all of France would have fallen into the hands of the traitor Daipuni! Even though Yang Chen's actions were not for him or his country, Fodessa was deeply grateful.

While Fodessa went to get the ship, Sauron approached with the Death God's Sword encased in a black box, "Lord Hades, what do you plan to do with this sword?"

Yang Chen glanced at it with a complicated expression. He had hoped the mysterious person would come to take the sword, but there wasn't even a trace of them. He waved his hand, "You take it. Once we're back in Paris, have Sea Eagle return it to 'Forgotten Realms' and ask Ron to keep it for me. It's just an ordinary divine artifact. Even if someone else gets it, it won't cause much trouble. I have no use for it."

Sauron was surprised, "Lord, you're not going to visit there yourself?"

Yang Chen chuckled regretfully, "Not this time. I came with my wife to attend Paris Fashion Week. After it ends, we have to return to China. We can't delay. There's also a lot to deal with in China. Staying away for too long is inconvenient."

The old Tang family patriarch's illness, his own headaches needing Jane's examination and treatment, Cai Yan wanting him to take her back to Yanjing, and the Dragon Team's training nearing its end were all pressing matters. Moreover, his family members like Guo Xuehua and Wang Ma were waiting for their return. Yang Chen felt visiting old friends wasn't feasible under these circumstances.

Sauron and the others felt a bit disappointed but respected Yang Chen's decision.

About ten minutes later, Fodessa personally piloted a transport ship to the port to pick up everyone and headed towards the destroyer. As they approached the ice-covered area, everyone felt the biting cold hundreds of meters away.

The vast expanse of ice and snow looked like a giant Arctic floe drifting into these waters. Seeing the scene on the monitor was already shocking, but witnessing it in person was unimaginable—the deathly ice field created by such means!

"You all stay here. I'll handle it and return immediately," Yang Chen said, knowing that the temperature there would be too much for the others on the ship to bear. He then leaped off the deck, landing on the icy sea surface.

Everyone watched as Yang Chen leapt across the sea, moving effortlessly as if the water were solid ground, disappearing from sight in an instant.

On the now "ice ship" of a destroyer, Yang Chen's figure appeared in front of Stern and Alice. The affectionate siblings were leaning against each other, unaffected by the extreme cold, while Lin Ruoxi and her son Harry still lay within the protective shield.

Daipuni, encased in ice, remained motionless, frozen in his previous stance.

Yang Chen circled Daipuni's body, seemingly observing something closely.

"Hades, I really don't understand what's worth studying about this old man. Why make us wait so long?" Stern said, pouting.

Yang Chen gave him a sidelong glance, "Aren't you curious? Even if the bow in his hand is a flawed artifact, it's still a divine weapon. No human, even the world's top agents, could truly wield its power. Yet, Daipuni managed to unleash its full potential.

With that bow, he unexpectedly took down three military bases. While there might have been some bluffing involved, there's no doubt he had the capability to control this ordinary divine artifact."

Stern and Alice frowned, realizing the peculiarity of the situation, though they hadn't given it much thought before.

Yang Chen stopped in front of Daipuni, saying, "Look closely. Even though he's frozen in this ice at temperatures below minus ten degrees, his blood is still flowing. This is beyond human limits."

As he spoke, Yang Chen placed a hand on the ice, channeling his true energy.

"Crack, crack, crack—"

After a series of crisp sounds, the black ice around Daipuni shattered into pieces, scattering on the ground!

Just as Yang Chen had said, once the ice broke, Daipuni didn't remain stiff but collapsed to the ground, sweating profusely and gasping for air.

"Interesting. This idiot's physique is really unusual," Alice commented, knowing well how cold her black ice was and that no human could endure it.

Yang Chen, with a sinister smile, crouched down and stared at Daipuni, saying, "Speak up. Your true background. You're definitely not just some fool pretending to be Apollo. Why has your body become like this? How did you learn about the main gods? How did you obtain two divine artifacts? Answer me, and you might die a bit more peacefully."

The meaning was clear: no matter what, Daipuni was going to die. The only difference was whether his death would be painless or agonizing.

Daipuni's eyes burned with unwilling hatred. He picked up the detonator in his hand, wanting to press it, but suddenly realized that detonating the nuclear bomb was meaningless because there was no one left on the island.

Furiously, Daipuni smashed the detonator into pieces!

Yang Chen remained calm, watching Daipuni gasp for breath, confident in his control of the situation.

After a long while, Daipuni finally spoke hoarsely, "It's the divine light."

Yang Chen's mind was shaken. He hadn't expected that answer at all!

"The divine light? You've been exposed to the divine light?!" Yang Chen couldn't help but feel a bit excited.

Daipuni sneered, "What, you don't believe me?"

Yang Chen pondered for a moment, "Continue. Whether I believe you or not is up to me."

"More than thirty years ago, I, along with many young people of the same age, was captured and taken to an underground research base in Madagascar to participate in a live experiment. Hades, I believe you are very familiar with the organization conducting the experiment," Deipni said.

"Zero," Yang Chen knew all too well because he was once one of those living subjects experimented on.

It was Zero who transformed his body with the Divine Stone. Because of the Divine Stone, he had enough capital to become a god, and also because of the Divine Stone, the tragedies of the past years were triggered.

One of the main reasons Yang Chen personally destroyed Zero back then was his hatred for what Zero had done to him.

And now, he established a new Zero himself, but only to stabilize the order in the assassin world, ensuring that no such live experiments would ever occur again.

Deipni continued, "Actually, that experiment was a failure. At the time, I thought I was already dead, and those mad scientists conducting the experiment also believed I was dead. I don't know if it was because of a mistake they made or if there was an issue at some step. Maybe it was because the position where I was exposed to the Divine Light was at the edge, causing a slight deviation. In the end, I crawled out from the pile of corpses."

Deipni's story was actually quite simple.

This man, like Yang Chen, was exposed to the Divine Light when he was young. However, due to an anomaly in the experiment, although he didn't have the "Wang Nian Derivative Sutra" as a life-saving secret technique like Yang Chen, he still survived.

Even though the experiment was incomplete, the surviving Deipni found that his body was far superior to that of ordinary humans.

Deipni harbored hatred and always wanted to return to the base to seek revenge. But when he successfully rose to the position of leader of the French Security Bureau, he heard that Zero had already been destroyed. With mixed feelings, he returned to one of Zero's bases that Yang Chen had already obliterated to confirm the truth.

Unexpectedly, he discovered a secret room exposed due to a collapse!

In that secret room, Deipni found some documents about the gods, as well as the longbow and the Sword of Death!

What happened later was as Yang Chen had deduced before. After obtaining the artifacts, Deipni's ambition swelled, and he privately established the "Domain of the Gods," taking risks and thinking of controlling the international political arena like the EU under the guise of the gods.

Deipni also worried about being obstructed by the gods, but driven by interests and holding the artifacts, especially after successfully taking down the first military base, his confidence swelled to the point where he didn't care anymore.

After listening to Deipni's words, Yang Chen frowned, not doubting the truth of Deipni's words.

A dying man's words are kind.

However, given that Deipni was such an example, could there be others in the world who also survived the Divine Light?

Kung fu like the "Wang Nian Derivative Sutra" might not be plentiful, but there surely wouldn't be only this one technique in the world. If others also had life-saving methods and survived the Divine Light, could they also have gained special powers?

From Deipni, who was only exposed to the Divine Light and did not fully succeed, being able to use the artifacts, it was evident how powerful the Divine Stone was.

Yang Chen even began to vaguely suspect whether the mysterious person who took the Divine Stone and the power of the Holy Grail might be someone like him who was exposed to the Divine Light rather than a god?!

Pondering these questions, Yang Chen turned to look at Stern and Alice.

Stern understood Yang Chen's doubts, shrugged, and said directly, "Don't ask us. We also don't fully understand the function of the Divine Stone. Otherwise, the first-generation Hades wouldn't have conducted so many experiments."

Yang Chen turned back and smiled at Deipni, "Thank you, I'll send you on your way now."

"Can't you let me go?" Deipni pleaded with a miserable face.

Yang Chen said no more, raised his hand, and with a palm full of true energy, struck down!

Even though Deipni's body was extraordinary due to the Divine Light, he was still flesh and blood and couldn't withstand it.

In an instant, Yang Chen looked down at the headless corpse, shaking off the filth on his hand. To be honest, he didn't feel good because, after the questioning, he had more doubts.

But at this gloomy moment, Yang Chen, turning back, found something even more "ominous" – Lin Ruoxi had awakened?!