Cathulhu Online, MUNYA!

Chapter 413 – Cathulhu's Bonds and Fateful Encounters

In the void, a man with long hair and a full beard slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the first person he saw. In front of him, an elderly man with long white hair and a white beard kindly smiled and gave him a set of robes to wear.

"Welcome to Mu-Nyang's dantian universe, my clone. You will be called Joshua from now on."

Joshua silently gazed at his creator, digesting the information that the elder had imparted to him. After a minute, he asked his creator.

"Why did you create me? Why did you give me consciousness?"

"Simple. I have a mission for you."

"Yes?" Joshua was puzzled.

The mysterious elder passed him a blueprint and a book. Joshua received it and opened the book, skimming through the content.

It was a research record of a pseudo-lifeform. As for the blueprint, it was for a factory for that research.

Joshua read the blueprint out loud, "War Marionette?"

"I've foreseen the future. In a billion years, Mu-Nyang will start collecting beings from another dantian universe to create a livestock farm, and he will accidentally bring in troublemakers. They will rebel and kill Mu-Nyang's main consciousness and cause a backlash on his cultivation base."

"Who is Mu-Nyang, master?"

"The god of this universe. Without him, you cannot exist."

"…" Joshua quietly nodded. He took that to heart.

The old man continued the explanation, "One of the troublemakers will attempt to take over the universe. He will cultivate sages to govern the law and the reincarnation river. Before that happens, I want you to complete the War Marionette Project."

Joshua flipped the book and studied the detail. He saw several drafts and drawings of the war marionettes that he was supposed to create. But when he flipped to the last page, he saw a note.

[Chaos Seraphim can multiply their consciousness.]

"Chaos Seraphim?" Joshua uttered.

"The War Marionettes are based on Chaos Seraphims that I killed in the past. They are born to cultivate karma and Chaos Elements. Their dantians can automatically generate lifeforms as long as they grow up in the right environment. However, I don't have enough time to nurture or educate them anymore."

"Why?"

"I'm dying, Joshua."

Joshua lowered his head. He felt bad for his creator.

The old man laughed, "Don't be sad. It's not like I'll be dead forever. My soul will live on in this universe as long as Mu-Nyang is still alive. I just have to reincarnate to cleanse my sins. After I'm reborn, I will swiftly regain my cultivation base and heavenly fate crystal. Then, I can surpass my old self and grow even stronger."

"Master has a grand plan, I see."

"Yes. Remember. Until I return, complete the War Marionette Project. Do whatever it takes to support Mu-Nyang and his allies."

"Master can count on me," Joshua deeply bowed.

The old man bitterly smiled. He clapped his hands and created a set of fishing rods for Joshua.

"This is not much, but it's a replica of my soul-bound weapon."

The elder touched Joshua's forehead with his index finger, imparting knowledge and cultivation techniques to him, after which, he slowly faded.

"My time is up. Mu-Nyang is about to wake up now. Remember, do whatever necessary to support Mu-Nyang."

The old man vanished. Joshua gazed at the glowing fishing rod in front of him and his robes before he put the blueprint and the book away. He looked around and found a habitable planet nearby.

.

Years later, Joshua had an epiphany.

His creator said something about troublemakers in Mu-Nyang's universe. Joshua believed that if he could suppress or eliminate the troublemakers before they could rebel, he could change the future. Thus, he started killing hostile lifeforms and foreign entities.

This offended Mu-Nyang as Joshua went out of line. The cat imprisoned him in a mortal world so that he could reflect on his wrongdoings.

Joshua accepted the punishment. He spent his time in a mortal world, studying the research book while he experimented with his mortal followers. He used his knowledge to educate local people to kill time. But later on, he got into an entanglement with the local fief and was forced to leave that planet.

Years later, Joshua gathered enough materials to create the first batch of War Marionettes that his creator had ordered him. Because it was his first time, he started with a batch of seven prototypes.

Two were a copy of a mortal male and a female of the world that he had been residing in.

One was a combination of negative karma and a female dragon.

One was a combination of good karma with a male angel.

Two were a destined pair of lovers, but their starting cultivation base was the deity realm.

And the last one was a powerful giant that Joshua had vanquished.

Trouble ensued after Joshua released them. The pair of lovers fled the research facilities. The giant took in a wandering soul and mistook himself for a fallen race. He destroyed the research center and escaped.

Four remaining prototype war marionettes were injured. Joshua wanted to pursue the escapees, but he chose to save the four prototypes.

The four prototype war marionettes survived, but they lost most of their abilities. Joshua took his time, nurturing them back to health. He also gave them names.

Two replicas of mortals were named Adam and Eve. The female dragon was Lilith. And the male angel was Devil.

As for the two escapees, they were Gaia and Uranus. The giant rebel was none other than Pangu.

After Joshua made sure that the four prototypes were safe, he followed Pangu, Gaia, and Uranus, hoping to hunt them down. Unfortunately, the lover pair sought help from Mu-Nyang, and the latter pacified them.

Because of Mu-Nyang's intervention, Joshua was restricted once again. He was branded, and he could no longer harm Gaia, Uranus, or Pangu even though he was a quasi-sage while the escapees were merely weak immortals.

This vexed Joshua. Thus, he returned to the research facility and entrusted a mission to the four remaining prototypes.

Joshua ordered Adam and Eve to create a new mortal world together and use their power for the greater good. Then, they would reap a lot of positive karma, which would help Mu-Nyang in the long run.

Devil and Lilith were chosen as the punishers. Joshua trained them personally.

Unfortunately, Pangu rose to power too fast. He soon rallied the Mazinger Race, which Joshua had tried to remove from this universe. In the end, Pangu slaughtered many catopuses, cathulhus, and many innocent deities, including Mu-Nyang's consciousness.

As the old man predicted, Mu-Nyang's cultivation base fell. Then, Pangu took over the universe while his disciples became sages.

More chaos followed. While Mu-Nyang was recuperating in the higher realm, he took in another soul to maintain the balance of his universe. Oni God came to life and vied for supremacy.

Lilith also left the facility and created Netherworld Realm. She then governed the dragon race and became a powerhouse in the universe.

Afterward, Devil acted weird. He started talking as if he had been through everything countless times, and his karma turned black. He asked Joshua to help him create a new generation of war marionettes by using him as a base.

Joshua complied. He created 12 copies of Devil and granted them independent conscience and consciousness. That day, the Trumpet Alliance, aka the 12 archangels, were born.

That wasn't enough. Years later, Devil begged Joshua to create another one.

Again, Joshua helped his creation. He created another clone for Devil. Unfortunately, this one's cultivation base was broken, and he ended up as a mortal.

Instead of being disappointed, Devil liked the creation. He dumped the 13th clone on a mortal world and implanted his memory into him.

That was the day Mao Miaomiao came to life.

…

WHOOSH

Shepherd slowly opened his eyes after a long dream. He clenched his fists as he was still frustrated.

"Welcome back, munya," Xiaomao in his angel appearance smiled at Shepherd.

Shepherd widened his eyes as he remembered the voice. He sat up and gazed at his master.

But before he could utter a word, the creator's face in his dream overlapped with Xiaomao's. He was stunned for a moment.

"Master?"

"Yes, I'm your master, munya," Xiaomao raised his brow, wondering if Shepherd hadn't regained his memory.

Shepherd opened his mouth as he was about to report his blunder and how he accidentally gave life to Pangu. But a split second later, he couldn't recall the dream memory.

"What was I doing again?" Shepherd was confused.

"How the hell would I know, munya?!"

"I feel like I forget something VERY important, master. I need to report you about something, but I can't recall."

"About your failure or something?"

"YES! Something like that. But what was it…"

"…"

Xiaomao rolled his eyes and shrugged. Then, he reminded Shepherd, "Do you know where the souls of Titania and Qidia are, munya? They died about the same time as you, but no one found their souls."

Being reminded of his wives, Shepherd clapped his hands, "Oh, right. They're with my original self, I think?"

"Your original self?"

"I mean, my sponsor. I'm a clone of Joshua, and I vaguely remember that their souls went in his direction. We will need to ask him to return them to us."

"I guess we can't bring them back anytime soon. Oh, right, munya. We need to find you a few dantian crystals. You have one year to live, by the way. If you don't increase your lifespan, your wives have to wait for another million years."

"NUUUUUU!! Master, help me!" Shepherd cried like how Nobita cried to Doraemon.

Xiaomao patted Shepherd's head and laughed. He felt like he was raising a child, "There, there. This daddy will help you, munya. For now, you have to stay in my dantian universe for the time being. The outside is too dangerous for a weak immortal like you, munya."

After finishing his sentences, Xiaomao shoved Shepherd into his dantian universe.

In the dantian, Shepherd landed in front of Yuan Hua and Magdalene. The two girls cried and embraced him, leaving Shepherd confused.