Chapter 149: Chapter 153: Temporal Lockdown
In the darkness, the statue of the Storm Goddess Gomona still stood silently at the center of the Underground Sanctuary, her face veiled by a thin gauze, overlooking the mortal world.
Of course, if one were to strictly distinguish according to doctrine, the “Goddess” in the Underground Sanctuary was another aspect of Gomona and should be named “Maiden of the Quiet Sea.”
Duncan stared intently at the cold stone sculpture, and he was certain he had heard a voice just now, a whispered murmur as if from a dream, coming from that statue.
However, Sherry and Dog, close at hand, had shown no reaction so far—clearly, he was the only one who had heard the voice.
“Mr. Duncan?” Sherry also noticed Duncan’s strange behavior at this time. She widened her eyes a bit nervously, unconsciously clinging to Dog, “Did you find something?”
“Did you hear anything just now?” Duncan casually snuffed out the flame on his fingertip and cautiously moved closer to the statue of the Maiden of the Quiet Sea while asking in a low voice.
“Voices?” Sherry and Dog looked at each other, shaking their heads, “No, nothing.”
The goddess statue had no reaction to Duncan’s approach and no further voices came through.
Duncan felt he might have been a bit rash this time.
He just felt that the link between the Storm Goddess and this church had been severed. When he had called out Dog and burned down the church doors earlier, no anomalies had occurred, so he became increasingly unrestrained in his exploration, not expecting that a single flame would attract the attention of that “divine being”—if that questioning voice was indeed from Gomona.
From this, he reflected a bit inwardly, deciding to be more cautious next time he acted impulsively.
While reflecting inwardly, he suddenly came up with a question:
Judging by the state of this church, it had clearly been completely abandoned and forgotten before he and Sherry entered. The connection between the Storm Goddess Gomona and this place was also evidently sealed off. By logic, his flame should have been an “invading force” in this church, and after burning, it should have made the corrosion and sealing of the church even worse than before. It was like setting another fire on top of already severely burnt ruins, but why…
After his own flame passed through, the connection between the Storm Goddess and this place seemed to have briefly intensified!?
Wasn’t he an invader? Shouldn’t his flames be quite destructive to the orderly power of a deity? How come it ended up empowering the Goddess?
The more he thought about it, the more confused Duncan became, but he didn’t let his mind wander for too long.
After all, he couldn’t be sure whether the vague whisper was Gomona’s voice or not. He was merely making wild guesses based on that assumption. The more pressing matter at hand… was to consider how to deal with this troublesome church.
After the whisper disappeared, there was no follow-up. Duncan didn’t know what a goddess normally keeps herself busy with, but she didn’t seem to have the intention to keep watching this place, and the rest of the Underground Sanctuary maintained its initial appearance. The flames he had released hadn’t unveiled any “curtain” like they had in the abandoned factory.
He didn’t sense the situation on the other side of the “curtain” either. The flame he had left in the umbrella-wielding freak’s split body was still without a trace. He could only ascertain that the flame was still burning, and had even begun to spread, yet he couldn’t touch the “dimension” where that flame resided.
This church was indeed an important node on the curtain, but with his current state and the influence of the distance between Homeloss and Plunder City-State, it was difficult for him to summon a greater scale of flames or cause more commotion here.
Having weighed these thoughts quickly in his mind, an idea faintly formed in Duncan’s heart.
It was time to play the role of “Enthusiastic Citizen Mr. Duncan” once again.
This church had been concealed to this day; some mysterious force had continuously blocked outsiders’ prying into this place. So, what if… he were to forcefully lift this lid?
He was curious how the Deep Sea Church of Plunder City-State would react to this, and even more curious about what actions the Storm Goddess might take—if he couldn’t open the curtain here, then he might as well turn this place into a major news story.
Of course, it probably wouldn’t work to report it to a few patrolling watchmen as he had done before; that might actually get the first team of investigators killed. As for how to turn this place into big news in a reliable and effective manner… that required some serious consideration.
While contemplating, Duncan unconsciously revealed a slight smile on his face, the kind of smile a schemer wears when plotting a major scheme. However, this smile startled Sherry and Dog who were beside him, especially the latter who tucked his tail in fright: “Dun… Dun… Mr. Duncan, do you have a plan?”
Upon hearing this, Duncan waved his hand dismissively: “Nothing much, just planning to contribute to the maintenance of City-State order.”
Dog grumbled in his throat, thinking that no one would believe these words, not even the lunatic demons of the Mysterious Deep Sea. Just now, the big fellow’s expression was unmistakably that of a Subspace invader who finally understood the concept of a Subspace invasion and was preparing to execute it…
“Okay, there’s nothing more to see here,” Duncan said, unconcerned by Sherry and the dog’s reactions. He glanced back at the icon of Gomona for a moment with a meaningful look, then turned and walked toward the exit, “We shouldn’t stay here for long.”
The group walked briskly toward the exit, but before leaving, Sherry couldn’t help but stop: “Mr. Duncan, what about… what about the dead nun?”
Duncan too stopped and silently observed the lady who had died in battle.
She was young, tragically so. She was not a combat-ready guardian of the church but died here in the darkness of the Underground Sanctuary, sword in hand.
Suddenly, Duncan realized a problem.
Nuns… why would a nun be guarding the sanctuary? Under normal circumstances, shouldn’t there be a squad of specially trained guardians stationed here?
He recalled the scene he had seen earlier in the main hall.
The squad of guardians seemed to have died in the church’s main hall… and according to the scene he had witnessed in the “superimposed reality,” those guardians had not died in battle but seemed to have just collapsed while praying on the benches.
The guards who were supposed to be stationed at the Underground Sanctuary died suddenly in the main hall without any signs of battle. The nun who was supposed to stay in the main hall died alone in the sanctuary, fighting an invader that seemed like Subspace, leaving behind no trace after the fight. The church was then sealed and forgotten, with some kind of “echo” of the nun returning to the main hall, continuing the daily prayers…
Duncan’s attention returned to the present, and after quietly observing the nun for a few seconds, he spoke softly, “I’m sorry, I can’t bury you. You’ll have to stay here, perhaps someone will come to uncover the truth of that year.”
This matter really needed the hands of a “professional.”
Duncan stood up and walked towards the exit leading to the main hall, while Sherry, unable to hold back, called out from behind, “Ah, are we just going to leave her here?”
“This is called preserving the scene,” Duncan did not look back, “Let’s go. The investigation here is not over, but for what comes next, we don’t need to do it ourselves.”
Sherry made a noise of half-understanding and, with the dog in tow, followed Duncan’s footsteps. They left the Underground Sanctuary and headed for the stairway that led to the main hall.
A slight knocking noise came from behind them.
Duncan abruptly stopped and turned toward the direction of the sound.
A dark wooden door stood at the entrance to the main hall; it was slightly ajar, reinforced with steel and rivets, with faintly visible holy symbols etched onto the door.
Sherry turned and looked back, her eyes widening in terror.
Then she turned back to see Duncan, his face stern and his expression as deep as water.
“The door… the door…” Sherry pointed toward the door, her mouth opening and closing several times, not knowing what to say.
“I saw it,” Duncan interrupted her, then stepped back to the sanctuary entrance and looked at the dark door, gently pushing on it.
The door wasn’t locked, but there was resistance when he tried to push further.
It was barricaded from the other side.
He withdrew his hand and thought quietly for a few seconds, restraining the impulse to set the door ablaze with a flick of a finger.
He already knew what lay behind that door, and the overly strange phenomena here made him give up the idea of trying brute force over and over again.
“Twisted space-time… It’s truly become twisted to a certain degree.”
At the same time, in the Upper City District, the solemn-faced Fenna ended her daily prayers in the Mysterious Deep Sea Church. After arranging today’s tasks with her subordinates, she dismissed her attendants and came alone to the depths of the grand and sacred building.
This was the church’s archives. Under the gaze of the Storm Goddess, it contained all those records involving Transcendents, those not suitable for public disclosure.
In a sense, this place held the history of the Plunder City-State, the church’s “memory” of this land.