Dr. Hall's plan was progressing quite smoothly. He spread the news about the mural through fellow expert scholars, which sparked a frenzy in the field. Diana thought collaborating with other experts for the study wouldn't be a bad idea, so she didn't stop it much.
Sure enough, Hayven took the bait, both openly and covertly investigating the whereabouts of the mural, clearly refusing to give up. After all, he had seen the mural with his own eyes, knowing its exquisite craftsmanship and high cultural and artistic value. Even in Egypt, where relics abound, it could be considered a national treasure; obtaining a piece like it could ensure a comfortable retirement.
Hall seized the opportunity to root out several moles planted at the Midway City Museum and uncovered many of Hayven's accomplices within the circle. This prince, who hailed from the court of Pharaoh Ramses II, was no ordinary man, causing a storm in the field of Ancient Egyptian archaeology and research.
And then there's the mysterious priest Shit. This guy wasn't foolish enough to attack the Justice League Headquarters directly, but upon being summoned back by Diana, Hal discovered someone lurking around the headquarters stealthily. After capturing a few, they still didn't talk much, assuming it was just some trying to get in during a vulnerable moment.
Upon realizing Hall had found new backing and lost so many men, Shit temporarily halted his actions. The returning Green Lantern Hal also spotted some clues in the mural.
Hall mainly studied the moon, while Green Lantern Hal immediately noticed that the little figures encircling the moon were indeed the Little Blue People, the Guardians of the Universe.
The Little Blue People have an inseparable relationship with the Power of Seven Lanterns. This discovery thrilled the Justice League, proving they were on the right track, as the secret to the movement of the Power of Seven Lanterns might be hidden on the Moon.
Hall did not disappoint, using his rich knowledge of Ancient Egyptian history and culture to find the ritual process associated with the Moon God Khonsu.
In that era of Ancient Egypt, "rituals" were of great importance. Not only in the court were there dedicated priests, but also ordinary priests who took on roles as doctors, teachers, even police officers, all with a complete and refined ritual system.
However, compared to the Sun God, Moon God Khonsu's fame was not as prominent, and few of his rituals have been passed down. Fortunately, Hall was a genuine Egyptian, having preserved much relevant knowledge, and eventually, he managed to piece it together.
"Do we all have to participate in the ritual?" Diana asked.
Hall nodded and said, "The key is not in who participates, but rather in whom the Moon God chooses. Only those chosen by the deity can enter his kingdom. The criteria are varied; it could just be a special birth date or being left-handed that gets you chosen."
"Then we all should go," Hal said, "it would be best if both Diana and I are chosen, but if not, any other members of the Justice League would do."
Hall, however, shook his head without speaking. When they arrived at the ritual site, not all members of the Justice League were present. Diana, Hal, Barry, and Arthur came, while the others did not. Shiller and Deathstroke also participated in the ritual.
Shiller actually had no desire to participate because he knew Khonsu would definitely choose him just to make him work more overtime. Deathstroke didn't want to come either, since he wasn't interested in this kind of mystical stuff. But they both had signed contracts and their employers required them to be there.
The ritual was conducted in the backyard of the base, with the moon hanging high in the sky. Hall laid out various items on the ground and inscribed some Ancient Egyptian scripts. As he began chanting in Ancient Egyptian, the moonlight grew brighter.
Two beams of moonlight descended, surprisingly not on Diana and Hal, but coincidentally on Deathstroke and Shiller instead.
"Looks like the Moon God doesn't favor official personnel," Hal said.
Hall shook his head and said, "No, it's possible that they had prior contact with the Moon God during their previous trip to Egypt, they just didn't know it. You guys haven't been to Egypt, thus naturally, you have no mystical connection with the Moon God."
This explanation seemed much more plausible, leaving Diana with nothing much to say. After all, these two had wandered around Cairo and even ventured into the pyramids, who knows what they might have stirred up, it's no surprise they caught the Moon God's attention.
"Please stand here." Hall pointed to the center of the array. Deathstroke hesitated a bit, but recalling the last escape room scenario in Cairo where being slow cost him much effort, he quickly stepped over.
Shiller didn't hesitate either, stepping into the array. Soon, they were enveloped in a beam of moonlight, and the world turned into a misty, pure white. After another familiar moment of disorientation, what appeared before them was a massive pure white palace.
The ground below was a gray desert, looking very much like lunar soil, yet clearly, they were not on the Moon itself, but in another unique space associated with the mystical moon.
Seeing the palace, Shiller started to feel a headache, while Deathstroke was experiencing a buzzing in his head because, in Cairo, they had already witnessed the prowess of this escape room designer — no design at all, just repetitive work.
But maybe it was their bad reviews that made the dear Moon God very dissatisfied, so he eagerly studied modern game puzzle design. The result was that it would have been better if he hadn't learned.
The previous puzzle segments, at least, still held a touch of the simple artistry, but now it was as if he had taken the worst of everything, discarded the best, and completely produced a piece of garbage.
Upon entering the palace gates, the first challenge they faced was the Tree Guard, a creature that looked like the final boss — somewhat resembling a multi-headed unicorn — appeared in the palace hall. Its combat style included infinite air time, slow and fast attacks, self-healing potion usage, command reading, and other traits, even making someone like Deathstroke, a cyborg, curse in exasperation.
However, that's what makes a cyborg's strength limitless. Deathstroke managed to block, parry, and backflip infinitely, dealing damage with an N Metal great sword like it was nothing, chopping the boss down in three strikes, uniquely fitting for the top disciple of the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow sect.
Shiller wasn't bad either. Before attending the ceremony, he was cautious enough to pack the revolver. When used against monsters, it was exceptionally effective; one shot blew off one of the unicorn's heads, providing Deathstroke with long-range fire support.
After defeating the monster, it was time for the much-anticipated find-the-fuse segment. To pass through the passage into the main hall, they needed to find eighteen runes on six discs scattered around several dozen rooms. These rooms included stages like "Can't open the door from this side," "The door is barred," "You feel a dark power brooding over the door," "The door seems stuck to the entire space," etc.
The few doors they could open concealed, besides three dogs, an evil magician launching a fireball, a mad nurse slashing wildly behind another door, a self-destructing monster descending from above, and unlimited firepower from legendary machine gun turrets. Inside were unrendered tripwire mines, top-notch old hunters' animal traps, and a cannibal flower that would suddenly take a bite out of you and other monsters.
After frantically gathering all eighteen discs, they were treated to an extraordinarily long CG cutscene: "7450 years ago, the wheat in the Nile River Valley ripened, and the first Ancient Egyptian tribe in Fayoum was celebrating their harvest festival..."
Listening to this, Shiller's vision darkened. The story's background actually started from the origin of Ancient Egyptian civilization. Worst of all, Shiller had almost broken the skip button, but Deathstroke wouldn't press skip either; they were forced to sit through an hour and a half of an Ancient Egypt history and culture documentary.
Luckily, the story only went from the origin to the birth of Khonsu, rather than from origin to extinction; otherwise, it would have taken at least six to seven hours. Thanks to the early birth of Moon God belief, if not, the first thing Shiller would have done after leaving was to make soup with a terrifying great falcon head.
After enduring the lengthy scene, they finally entered the corridor—and then came a series of bizarre jumping puzzles. The passage shattered into fragments in a completely white space, with pieces constantly rising, requiring them to jump from start to finish. There were movable platforms and time-triggered devices, with swinging axes and fire traps besides the two big jumps filled with monsters. One could do a spiral whirlwind attack, and the other delivered invincible flying kicks that almost split Deathstroke's outfit.
The revolver proved useful here again, not because it could hit those monsters, but because the previous gunfire had caused hearing damage that significantly boosted Shiller's strength. The mental torture of the cutscene also paid off—he directly head-butted the ankylosaurus-lookalike spinning top off the platform.
After completing the jump puzzles, next was the maze puzzle. Room A held a clue for Task B; go to Room C, find Item D to place in the cabinet in E, then find F for proof, and finally return to A to submit the task. This involved running across sixteen floors, over two hundred stairways, and enduring thousands of meaningless dialogues.
And all these tasks were merely meant to teach them how Ancient Egypt made a hand-woven carpet. Surrounding the making of this carpet were six extramarital affairs, four generations of grudges, two massive wars, and the downfall of a kingdom. Yet all the while, they never saw the carpet or learned how it was woven.
Khonsu was indeed a bully who picked on the weak but avoided the strong, and Shiller finally understood. No way would this guy bring Hall in, because Hall is obviously one of those super players who'd clear every question mark on the map and still not get tired of it. Although Khonsu is an Ancient Egyptian deity, he's unlikely more knowledgeable about Ancient Egypt than Hall; it'd be funny if he couldn't match him with content.
It's no wonder they say, "the more you tread dark roads, the more likely you are to encounter ghosts." Spreading Pharaoh's curse with Ancient Egyptian murals has led to retribution. Looking on the bright side, after mastering Ancient Egyptian knowledge, he can fabricate more fake artifacts. But on the downside, he might never want to dabble in artifacts again this lifetime.
After experiencing a series of ordeals, they finally reached the end, unsurprisingly — Pharaoh's sarcophagus.
By this time, Deathstroke had already drawn his sword. Any spot along the way could harbor a monster, and he had fought so much he had grown numb. As long as he saw a box, chest, or cabinet, drawing his sword was a sure bet. The chill of my blade arrives first; death is always a step slower than me.
Shiller didn't have high hopes either; the design for this final boss probably wasn't too great. The best outcome would be a big falcon head popping out for him to cut Khonsu down and vent a bit.
With this in mind, Shiller manually pushed open the sarcophagus. And when a familiar face appeared before him, Shiller was stunned.
The sapphire eyes opened slowly, and the moment they focused on Shiller, the person in the coffin was clearly just as shocked.
"Mortal, why are you... how can it be you?!"
"Anatoli?!"
With a "bang," the coffin lid slammed shut — as if unable to accept reality, thinking this was all a dream, preparing to lie back down to sleep — leaving Shiller's hand frozen mid-air.