Ashes Of Deep Sea

Chapter 170: Chapter 174: The Eve of the Storm

The nun who had always been praying quietly before the statue of the Storm Goddess was gone.

Only the empty floor remained in front of the pulpit, the bright gas lamps illuminating the vacant main hall and rows of seats, where Fenna and the guardian warriors searched through the not-so-large main hall without finding the peculiar “nun.”

Fenna, of course, knew that the nun probably “did not exist” from the start—the real body of the other party had clearly died in the Underground Sanctuary years ago, and what remained in the main hall was nothing more than a phantom of her prayers. However, the sudden disappearance of this phantom still made everyone feel uneasy amidst their confusion.

“There’s no one in this corridor or the small rooms!”

Finally, the last two guardian warriors who went to scout returned to the main hall, their report confirming something: the nun’s “phantom” had indeed completely vanished from the church.

Fenna’s brow furrowed slightly as her mind raced—

The phantom had disappeared, but when had it happened?

Was it when she entered the Underground Sanctuary for the second time? Was it when she saw the sequence of numbers written by the real nun just before her death? Or…

Was it when the eerie pale green flames ignited out of nowhere, erasing the traces on the ground?

If it was the former, then the disappearance of the phantom could likely be due to her role as an “Observer from the real world,” which had shattered a part of the illusion here. However, if it was the latter… it meant the ghost captain had made a move.

The ghost captain, while erasing the traces within the Underground Sanctuary, had also erased the nun’s phantom in the main hall—for reasons unknown to anyone.

There would be no more discoveries by continuing to stay here; the urgent matter was to inform Bishop Valentin of the current intelligence, and then go to the archives to confirm the warning signs she had just sensed.

Fenna quickly led her team out of the church, they crossed the grand entrance of the church and looked back to see, as expected, the church in its completely deserted and dilapidated state.

Fenna sighed in relief; at least she had safely left this eerie place with her subordinates. Then, suddenly feeling a hunch, she instinctively looked up at the top of the church.

A plump white dove was perched on the high spire, cocking its head to look over here, utterly harmless in appearance.

Why was this dove still here?

Fenna couldn’t help but be a bit curious, but soon dismissed these minor doubts. After arranging for personnel to stay around the small church, she turned and got into her car, heading back to the main cathedral.

The white dove took flight, swiftly leaving the church.

But the dove did not fly far—after leaving the field of vision of the guardians stationed around the church, it dove straight into a nearby alley.

A brilliant green spiritual flame rose fiercely in the deserted alley, transforming into a gate and vortex, from which Duncan stepped out of the blaze. He then slightly knit his brows and looked thoughtfully in the direction of the church.

It was the right decision to expose this matter, attracting Fenna and the “official power” behind her indeed yielded results beyond expectation—the investigation was moving forward; professionals were indeed professionals, their knowledge far exceeded that of amateurs like Sherry and A-Dog.

When he was close enough, Duncan was able to eavesdrop on the surroundings of his target directly through the “mark” he left on them. As the mark on Fenna had been enhanced during her last visit to the antique store, this eavesdropping even allowed Duncan to some extent, to perceive the young Judge’s emotional fluctuations—he had stayed in the air above the church the entire time with Ai Yi, “observing” the guardians’ scouting process through such monitoring.

Duncan stood quietly in the shadows of the alley, pondering and sorting through the intelligence he had just obtained.

The nun likely confronted her own “Subspace Projection”—there were no other invaders; the invader came from the “crack” in her own soul?

The clergy of this world…once completely overwhelmed by contamination, actually turn directly into a ‘channel’ that connects Subspace with the real world?

Is it only the clergy who are like this, or do all humans have this hidden danger, with the clergy posing even greater risk once contaminated?

Among all the intelligence, this was the point that captured Duncan’s attention the most, also leaving him surprised and confused.

Duncan didn’t know much about the several gods of this world and their churches, but at least through observing over time, he could confirm that these churches’ stance was on the side of order and protection. The clergy ensured the safety of the City-States in the Transcendent realm, and they also formed the most staunch line of defense against the “deep” contamination of the world.

However, he now knew that this resolute defensive line, under certain conditions, became a “conduit” between the real world and Subspace… Why was that?

If this transformation could occur in all humans, given the right conditions, not just in clerical figures, then what did it mean?

The Subspace, feared by people, seemed to have a more complicated relationship with the real world and ordinary mortals than he had initially thought…

Besides this piece of intelligence, there was also the string of numbers, “1885,” left by the nun.

Indeed, it was a detail that Duncan and Sherry had not discovered during their previous investigation here—a detail that now took Duncan by surprise.

If Fenna’s judgment was correct, the nun had not died in the Sun Shard incident of 1889, but had passed away in 1885. And for the years that followed, this chapel must have been enveloped by distorted time and space!

What did this mean?

Duncan’s thoughts surged as he slowly raised his hand. He gently rubbed his fingertips, and a tuft of ghostly green flame quietly ignited within his line of sight.

He could distinctly feel the Spiritual Fire spreading—in the invisible dimensions, throughout the “other side” of Plunder City-State, and sending him faint feedback.

This was his third confusion.

Not long after Fenna discovered the numbers in the Underground Sanctuary, they vanished into thin air. There had been a brief appearance of Spiritual Fire at that time, and the young Judge surely thought it to be the handiwork of “Captain Duncan,” but in reality…

Duncan was more bewildered than she was.

He hadn’t erased the numbers himself; he was clueless as to why the flames he had released would suddenly appear in the Underground Sanctuary and specifically burn away the numbers “1885”—it gave him the feeling as if the fire hadn’t spread to the church through space, but had spread through time to the year 1885!

Duncan suddenly froze.

Maybe… this wasn’t an illusion…

For some reason, he suddenly recalled the time he studied Alice’s wooden chest, remembering the moment he glimpsed half a century back when the Frost Queen was executed, and the advice he heard—

“Please do not contaminate history…”

Duncan’s face grew solemn, his brow furrowed bit by bit. He thought about a phrase he had heard not long ago:

In this world, anything but Subspace could be contaminated.

…

Fenna hurried back to the Cathedral, intending to go straight to the archives to confirm the severe discordance she remembered. Still, she decided to first report her findings from the small church in District Six to Bishop Valentin.

After hearing Fenna’s account, Valentin remained silent for a long time. He pondered with furrowed brows for quite a while, then muttered with an expression like he was nursing a toothache, “Subspace… indeed, it’s the most troublesome of all troublesome matters…”

“As we were preparing to leave, the numbers pointing to the year 1885 and the nun praying in the main hall had both disappeared, seemingly related to that ‘Captain Duncan’s’ powers,” Fenna added, “But we did not stay in the church to conduct repeated tests, fearing the risk of contamination spreading.”

“Prudent, indeed,” Bishop Valentin nodded slightly, “We can’t be sure of what stance this Ghost Captain has for now. While he indeed provided us crucial information, he also erased some of the clues… In any case, he is not our ‘friend.’”

Fenna pondered for a moment, then looked at the elder before her, “Has there been any response from the church headquarters? Have you reported the situation here to His Holiness the Pope?”

Valentin glanced at Fenna, nodding as he spoke, “I have reported the entire situation to the Storm Cathedral. His Holiness the Pope has indicated that support will be sent as soon as possible—but the cathedral ship is still a distance from Plunder, and even the swiftest courier ship would find it hard to arrive within a few days, so… we must be prepared to rely on ourselves.”

As he spoke, the old Bishop sighed softly and turned to gaze at the saintly image of the Storm Goddess.

“Disaster is brewing, and we know not when it will erupt. Whether Plunder, this jewel of the seas, can clear the clouds, rests on our own skills now.”