Chapter 33: Spear of Destiny
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When Fimbulwinter ends, the twilight of the gods will come.
Tang Lin silently recited the words on the parchment again in his mind, pondering. Suddenly, he felt a chill and involuntarily sneezed.
Why was there wind?
Whole Wheat, who was wearing short sleeves, touched his slightly cool wheat-colored arm and said, “Guys, have you noticed… it seems to be getting colder here…”
All thirteen of them more or less felt the chill and began looking around. Soon, they discovered the source of the cold air.
The painting of the Frost Giant had fluorescent ice-blue frames around it, and the giant within the painting was actually moving, exhaling cold air towards the outside of the painting. Each breath brought a blast of cold wind.
When they had first opened the golden chest, the ambient temperature was like spring, but now it felt like deep autumn.
“It seems the painting has turned into an air conditioner,” Monk touched his chilly bald head and rubbed his palms together for warmth.
Melancholic center-parted hair sighed, “I’m afraid it’s not an air conditioner; it’s a freezer.”
He Lu: “The blizzard can scatter all falsehoods, but by falsehoods… does it mean us?”
Cui Zhan: “This little breeze is far from a blizzard.”
Guan Lan: “If it continues like this, it won’t be far off.”
Monk: “So what should we do now? Should we destroy it before it destroys us?”
Zhou Yunhui: “Should we set it on fire? I have experience with that.”
“Perhaps it’s not that simple,” Tang Lin looked at the oil painting and calmly analyzed, “When the Fimbulwinter ends, the twilight of the gods will come. This sentence can be interpreted in two ways: one, if we forcibly destroy the oil painting, the cold winter ends, and our doomsday arrives; two, even if we don’t destroy the oil painting, the Frost Giant will eventually stop on their own, and by then, it will be our doomsday.”
Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts：“……”
He Lu, Zhou Yunhui, Cui Zhan: “…”
Zheng Luozhu quietly looked at Nan Ge, “Do you ever feel like, no matter how we listen, it seems like none of us are going to make it…”
Nan Ge tightened the belt of her windbreaker, raised her eyes, sharp and resolute, “Let’s die if we must, but let’s die beautifully.”
Zheng Luozhu: “…”
He didn’t understand women.
“Tang Lin,” Fan Peiyang suddenly spoke up.
Tang Lin immediately turned, “What is it?”
Fan Peiyang raised the golden ring, “You better consider this first.”
The hand that had been gleaming gold when they opened the chest was now covered in frost. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before the golden ring turned into an icy one.
But people hadn’t even started feeling uncomfortably cold, and the ring was already freezing. The speed of this freezing was clearly problematic…
“Ding—”
: The Draupnir Gold Ring will be destroyed by ice in 10 seconds. Countdown: 10, 9, 8…
Everyone saw the warning.
“What does this mean?” Zheng Luozhu asked in confusion. “Isn’t this supposed to be the key to opening the door?”
“It means we should put it on Odin the moment we get the golden ring,” Tang Lin replied urgently, looking up.
Fan Peiyang had already started moving; the time they had left was incredibly short, and they needed to make every second count.
However, someone blocked his path even faster. “Give it to me.”
It was Cui Zhan. Without waiting for Fan Peiyang’s response, he took the golden ring and sprinted toward the sculpture at the door.
His speed was astonishingly fast, at least twice as fast as an ordinary person’s sprint. He reached Odin almost in the blink of an eye.
“Clang—”
The golden ring hung on Odin’s wrist, and the frost covering it instantly melted away, once again gleaming with golden light.
The countdown still had a full 4 seconds left.
Is Cui Zhan’s ability related to “speed” in his Stationery Tree?
When Tang Lin was waiting for the key in the previous carriage, he only paid attention to his own teammates and didn’t notice Cui Zhan. It was the first time he had seen Cui Zhan use his ability.
Before he could think deeply about it, suddenly, there was a “caw caw” sound from Odin’s shoulder.
Two ravens came to life!
They spread their jet-black wings and swooped towards Cui Zhan, their sharp beaks aimed straight for his eyes.
Cui Zhan instinctively raised his arm to block them, and one of the bird’s beaks pecked at his arm, immediately piercing through his clothes and drawing blood.
After pecking at his arm, the two ravens then went for his hand, and although Cui Zhan’s movements were quick, by the time he drew his knife, his hand was already bleeding profusely from the pecks.
What was even more frustrating was that even with the knife in hand, it wasn’t very effective. The ravens dodged with incredible agility, seeming almost supernatural…
“Whoosh——”
An invisible “arrow” sliced through the air and pierced one of the ravens’ bodies.
At the same time, Cui Zhan’s knife went through the wing of the other raven.
The two ravens screeched in pain, flying back to Odin’s shoulder, and turning back into statues.
Cui Zhan turned around.
In the farthest distance behind him, Air Sniper lowered his arm and said, “You’re welcome.”
In the slightly less distant rear, there were He Lu and the VIP, clearly ready to come to his aid, but they realized it wasn’t necessary anymore.
As for Zhou Yunhui, who was just a step away from him, his face showed pure frustration, “Why did you have to act so quickly? Couldn’t you have waited for me to deal with the other one?”
Cui Zhan gestured towards his bruised and scarred hand back and said to Zhou Yunhui, “With it being like this, should I have waited for you?”
“Since it’s come to this, a few more pecks won’t make a difference,” Zhou Yunhui replied. “Once I deal with the birds, we’ll be even.”
“I save your leg, and you owe me a bird?” Cui Zhan casually wiped his hand, covered in bloodstains, against his clothes, as if he didn’t feel any pain. “Consider us even.”
Zhou Yunhui was extremely frustrated.
Just then, the Frost Giant in the oil painting suddenly blew a rapid, icy wind towards the ceiling.
The ceiling frosted over for a moment, and the crystal chandelier shattered directly.
With a “crash,” crystal shards fell all around.
He Lu and the VIP were standing right under the crystal chandelier. Tang Lin quickly lowered his head to avoid getting shards in his eyes. However, the next moment, he found himself being embraced by Fan Peiyang.
Fan Peiyang wrapped him in his coat, protecting him thoroughly.
Tang Lin was caught off guard, plunged into darkness, and surrounded by Fan Peiyang’s warmth.
The world suddenly grew quiet.
In this dark silence, Tang Lin could hear his own heartbeat and also Fan Peiyang’s heartbeat.
His heartbeat was steady.
Fan Peiyang’s heartbeat was strong.
Zheng Luozhu promptly held up a [One Iron Plate] to shield against most of the fragments.
Without the carriage’s crystal chandelier, only a floor-standing candlestick remained, flickering with dim light.
However, the Frost Giant didn’t stop and turned towards the Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts closest to him, exhaling a bitter cold wind.
This time, everyone saw clearly that the wind carried large flakes of snow.
The six members of the Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts didn’t move. Monk, who was responsible for defense reacted quickly. When he saw the Frost Giant turning toward them, he activated his Stationery Tree, [Wind and Rain Sheltering Crystal House].
A translucent crystal house enveloped them, and the ferocious snowstorm blew onto the outer wall of the crystal house.
“This Stationery Tree is quite different from its owner’s style…” Zheng Luozhu, who was far from the snowstorm zone, couldn’t help but murmur in protest.
However, soon, everyone noticed that Monk’s expression was not right.
The Frost Giant was still exhaling, and the relentless snowstorm kept battering the crystal house.
“Crack.”
The first crack appeared in the crystal house.
“No,” Monk turned to report objectively to Guan Lan, “The freezing effect is too strong; the Crystal House won’t hold for much longer.”
The attack of the blizzard on the Stationery Tree’s controller was felt most acutely by the one controlling the stationery. Others could only watch with their eyes, but Monk was actually bearing the full force of the blizzard.
Guan Lan asked, “In your judgment, what would happen if the blizzard directly hits someone?”
The chilling cold of the blizzard had already seeped through the Stationery Tree and reached every part of Monk’s body. He struggled to contain it, but his teeth were starting to chatter, “Can’t withstand it, even if we don’t die, we will have severe frostbite.”
Guan Lan understood and looked at the VIP and the three team leaders outside, “Did you hear that? a. Resisting stubbornly. b. Seeking our own fortune—”
Before the last syllable of “fortune” could finish, the Crystal House shattered with a “crash.”
Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts promptly chose b, and the six of them scattered.
The blizzard blew onto the carpet, instantly freezing where it landed.
The Frost Giant slowly raised its head, officially entering “indiscriminate attack” mode.
For a moment, the entire train car was ravaged by the blizzard, the air temperature dropping sharply. The thirteen people shivered from the cold, fleeing in a clumsy escape, dragging their gradually stiffening limbs, and even their speech was accompanied by visible puffs of breath.
Monk:, “An attack that can’t even be blocked by armor, it’s definitely a bug!”
He Lu: “How are we going to find the other two items like this?”
Zheng Luozhu: “When do you ever think about finding things? First, let’s focus on staying alive.”
Zhou Yunhui added, “If this continues, we’ll either freeze to death or exhaust ourselves!”
Melancholic center-parted hair said, “Tan Hua, have you figured out a solution to this attack?”
He Lu: “Or think about where the other two items might be and try to leave this train carriage as soon as possible.”
Tan Hua: “Can’t you guys use your own brains? Always relying on others for answers. Your path in life will only get narrower.”
Zhou Yunhui: “I said earlier, just let me set it on fire. But he might even jump out of the painting… Damn, don’t tell me it’s actually possible…”
Cui Zhan: “Instead of scaring yourself, can you at least make some fire to raise the temperature?”
Zhou Yunhui:, “Take a close look at the carpet with your eyes wide-open!”
The victims of the snowstorm, scattered throughout the carriage, all turned their gaze to the carpet.
They saw numerous burnt little holes, almost turning the carpet into a fishnet.
Each black hole represented a futile attempt, and clusters of tiny flames were quietly extinguished in the snowstorm.
Tang Lin hid behind the World Tree, facing the painting of the Frost Giant. Inadvertently, he once again noticed the words beneath the painting and repeated them aloud, “The blizzard can scatter all falsehoods.”
Tan Hua huddled behind the golden chest, shivering from the cold. He said, “No need to repeat it; we ‘falehoods’ are already dispersing!”
Tang Lin looked at him and asked, “What if ‘falehoods’ refer to the disguises covering the ‘true clues’?”
Tan Hua froze.
The blizzard from the Frost Giant once again blew towards the World Tree.
Unlike before, Tang Lin didn’t quickly move to avoid it. Instead, he continued to face Tan Hua and said, “No level can be designed as a dead end.”
“It shouldn’t be us being blown away by the blizzard, but this train carriage!” Tan Hua’s eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, “Everyone, from now on, while avoiding the blizzard, try to lead the blizzard to blow at the objects in this carriage. The sculptures, paintings, candlesticks, carpets, everything counts. The longer they are exposed to the blizzard, the better. The clues must be in these things.”
Melancholic center-parted hair and Monk exchanged a glance and said in unison, “When did you start speaking before the VIP team leader? You’re a real genius!”
Tang Lin：“……”
VIP team leader – he had been “promoted.”
Zheng Luozhu quietly glanced at his boss, worried that the newly formed team might split apart. Although the “team leader” had no real authority, it symbolized status, but his boss was not one to be subordinate to others…
Sorry, he was overthinking it.
His team leader was staring at Tang Lin with an expressionless face, but his gaze was a mixture of tenderness and pride. It was unclear what had put him in such a good mood.
The blizzard continued to rage around the World Tree.
Tang Lin crouched behind the tree, enduring the biting cold without moving.
The World Tree had shielded him from most of the blizzard. By now, the animals on the tree were completely frozen, and icicles hung from its branches, but the sculpture didn’t shatter like the crystal lamp.
Fan Peiyang, who was at the burnt painting farthest diagonally opposite from Tang Lin, was worried and spoke urgently, “It’s been long enough; let’s change positions—”
Tang Lin’s limbs were already numb, so he had no choice but to quickly leave the World Tree.
With no target in sight, the Frost Giant turned its attention to Nan Ge, who was standing near the “Twilight of the Gods.”
Following Tang Lin and Tan Hua’s plan, Nan Ge immediately threw herself onto the oil painting.
Although the two oil paintings were on the same horizontal line, the blizzard from the Frost Giant could still reach this area.
Nan Ge seized the opportunity and, at the last moment before the blizzard arrived, swiftly moved away.
The blizzard swept over the “Twilight of the Gods.” The frame froze, and the canvas was covered with a layer of frost and snow, but there was no clue-like item in sight.
Since Nan Ge hadn’t hidden behind an object like Tang Ling had, the Frost Giant’s attack this time was brief, missing its target, and it quickly changed direction to blow towards Guan Lan.
Guan Lan agilely dodged behind the statue of the Light Elves. Being small in stature and the sculpture being a group sculpture of several people, it perfectly shielded him from all the ice and snow.
Guan Lan waited leisurely, hoping for the sculpture to reveal a clue or for the Frost Giant to give up its attack.
In the end, he got the former.
First, there was a faint “crack,” reminiscent of the crystal house freezing. Then came a series of “cracks,” and the frozen lines spread across the entire Light Elves sculpture.
Guan Lan didn’t hesitate anymore; he swiftly ran out from behind the sculpture.
Just as he emerged, the entire sculpture shattered and fell, revealing its true contents—a statue of the Spear of Destiny and a new sculpture.
Inside the Light Elves’s sculpture, there was even a classical-style sculpture of a giant ship.
“Clang!”
The Spear of Destiny fell into the pile of debris.
Tang Lin snapped back to reality. “Give the Spear of Destiny to Odin first.”
He didn’t want to go through another ten-second countdown.
Guan Lan, who was closest, walked over and picked up the long spear. He quickly arrived at the Odin sculpture.
Tang Lin was about to remind him that last time it was a crow’s resurrection, and this time it might be a wolf, but the leader of the Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts had already placed the Spear of Destiny into Odin’s hand.
“Howl—”
Two howls, and indeed, the fierce wolves were resurrected. Guan Lan’s left hand, which had just placed the Spear of Destiny, hadn’t even had time to pull back when the two beasts pounced.
Guan Lan didn’t even dodge; he met the evil wolves head-on, delivering a slap with his right hand. The palm first hit one wolf’s mouth, then scraped the other wolf’s eye. One slap for two wolves, as if it was a fluid motion.
The wolves that he had slapped ended up with one smeared with cream all over its mouth, and the other covered in cake crumbs all over its eyes, making them look like Guan Lan had just served them a piece of cream cake.
“Howl—howl—”
The evil wolves howled in agony and abandoned their attack. They rolled on the ground in pain for a few seconds, then slinked back to Odin’s side, turning back into sculptures.
Except for Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts, everyone else was witnessing Guan Lan use his abilities for the first time and didn’t quite know how to react.
Zheng Luozhu: “Is this… magic? Making cake out of thin air?”
Nan Ge: “It wasn’t empty-handed. In the instant he swung his hand, a cake appeared in it.”
Zhou Yunhui: “So, what kind of magical Stationery Tree is this?”
Cui Zhan: “Poisonous cake?”
Zhou Yunhui: “Can’t you come up with a more heroic name?”
Guan Lan: “Leader Cui guessed it right.”
Zhou Yunhui: “…”
With the Spear of Destiny in place, the Frost Giant finally stopped its rampage. However, the cold air remained, and everyone was still in the “Fimbulwinter,” at best, returning from the “Polar Region.”
“We’re missing a piece of the ship’s plank.” While others were focused on Guan Lan’s Stationery Tree, Tang Lin had already arrived at the ship-shaped sculpture. He stepped on the fragments of the old sculpture, carefully inspecting the ship’s body.
On the back of the ship’s body, near the bottom, there was a clearly missing piece.
Zheng Luozhu was on her knees, saying, “President Tang, I can’t keep up with your speed now. Just tell me, where should I look for the ship’s plank?”
Tang Lin was also clueless, looking at the sculpture, then around the area, his thoughts calm and rapidly turning.
The items that hadn’t been used yet were the “Twilight of the Gods” painting, the “World Tree” sculpture, the candlestick holder, and the carpet.
The carpet had already been burned to the point where it couldn’t even be used as a plank, let alone a sail.
The candlestick holder and the painting didn’t seem to have a use for the moment.
Could it be the World Tree?
Tang Lin’s gaze drifted to the sculpture that still had icicles hanging from it, considering the feasibility of breaking off a piece of the plaster tree branch and fitting it into the ship’s plank position…
No, that wasn’t it.
It shouldn’t be about thinking of the ship’s deck first, but rather considering what’s related to ships in Norse mythology; that might be the clue…
“Why are you standing here daydreaming?” Monk patted Tan Hua’s shoulder. “Go over there and brainstorm with him.”
Tan Hua had come to terms with reality. “I’m only good at explaining things; I’m not cut out for solving puzzles.”
Monk spoke earnestly, “You can’t be like this, always relying on others for answers. Your path in life will only get narrower!”
Tan Hua：“……”
Truly heartwarming team camaraderie.
Meanwhile, Tang Lin finally came up with an idea and raised his head. “It’s the ‘Naglfar’ ship.”
Tan Hua suddenly brightened up, and his reflexes kicked in as he began a brief Norse mythology lesson. “Naglfar, a gigantic ship in Norse mythology, constructed from the fingernails of the dead. When this ship is completed, it signifies the final great battle between giants and gods, known as ‘Ragnarok’ or ‘Twilight of the Gods.’ During ‘Ragnarok,’ this massive vessel carries the enemies of the gods to the battlefield.”
Alright, they knew the reference to the ship now, so…
Zhou Yunhui asked, “Where is the ship’s deck?”
Tan Hua’s expression turned grim. “If we strictly follow the myth, what we need to find isn’t the ship’s deck but the fingernails of the dead.”
Suddenly, the air grew quiet.
The expressions of everyone became serious, and a sense of heaviness settled in.
Air Sniper asked, “Do we have to kill someone to extract their fingernails?”
Everyone: “…”
Tan Hua, “Can’t you keep such thoughts to yourself?”
“Maybe not,” Tang Lin looked in a certain direction. “There are already many dead people over there.”
Everyone followed his gaze, and beneath the gruesome painting of “Twilight of the Gods,” there were corpses strewn all around.
Should they use the picture frame as the ship’s deck?
Or should they cut the lower half of the painting and paste it onto the Naglfar ship?
Or should they simply look for the fingernails of the dead within the painting…
Before everyone could fully develop their thoughts, Tang Lin had already approached the painting, taken out a self-defense dagger, and pointed the tip of the blade at the fingernail of one of the corpses.
This was the closest view in the entire oil painting, the one the painter had depicted most meticulously. Even though it seemed inconspicuous amidst the grand battlefield, under closer scrutiny, one could clearly see that the hand of the corpse was golden.
The details were not finely rendered enough to distinguish individual fingers and fingernails, but the entire hand was golden. Amidst the sea of corpses, it stood out as a conspicuous golden speck, as if the painter had inadvertently added an extra stroke of gold in the flames.
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