Chapter 69: Chapter 73 Incomplete Memory
Duncan quickly averted his gaze from the golden mask, allowing himself to lower his eyes slightly like the ordinary believers around him, pretending to be ready to listen intently.
He had not yet heard anything useful and couldn’t afford to draw the cult group’s attention too soon.
Just as he lowered his head, that feeling of being watched swept over him again.
Duncan frowned slightly, following the sensation, and sure enough, it was the same girl in a black dress with a strange bell around her neck who was secretly observing him—and when he turned his gaze toward her, she subtly looked away.
This puzzled Duncan.
He was sure he didn’t know her, and there was no information about this girl in the memories of his body’s original owner—why would a follower of the Sun God take such frequent interest in him?
Was it truly because the dove on his shoulder was exceptionally quaint?
His mind wandered for a moment, then he heard the voice of the believer’s leader suddenly coming from ahead—after donning the golden mask, the leader had become an embodiment of some sort of divine power, with a voice that turned deep and authoritative. Duncan couldn’t tell if the leader was deliberately altering his tone or if the mask had somehow blended another consciousness into his voice:
“The prayer is over, the Lord has witnessed our devotion and awe—the grace has already illuminated our souls, brothers and sisters, be grateful, we have endured another difficult day in this dark world, bringing us one day closer to the day the fierce sun revives and order is reshaped.”
The masked “priest” spread his arms, speaking in a tremendously beguiling tone. Then, his gaze suddenly fell on a corner among the believers, his tone becoming gentle and friendly.
“However, before we proceed with today’s assembly, let us first welcome two brethren—they were once ensnared by darkness in these challenging times but, fortunately, guided by the Lord, they have rejoined our community… Introduce yourselves briefly, if you may.”
Two brethren?
Duncan suddenly remembered that the leader did indeed mention earlier that there were other unfamiliar faces in the gathering apart from himself, and immediately he looked in the direction the leader was gazing upon—he saw the girl in the black dress.
Somehow, he wasn’t surprised.
“You can call me Sherry,” the girl stepped forward naturally, speaking openly, “My parents were both believers, but they were unfortunately killed by the minions of the Deep Sea Church four years ago. I have been hiding in Cross District ever since, without contacting other brethren… Thank goodness you came.”
Her voice was low, sounding gentle and obedient, hardly associating such a child with the bloodthirsty heretics.
“Welcome back among us, young sister,” the leader nodded, then looked around at the believers, “Sherry’s parents were victims of a purge by the Church four years ago. We found their names in the list from that year—now for the other brother.”
The leader’s gaze finally landed on Duncan.
“Duncan, living in the Lower City District,” Duncan stepped forward ebulliently prepared, “A few days ago, the Deep Sea Church sabotaged a sacrificial ritual in the sewers, and I am a survivor.”
He kept it brief, but his demeanor was sincere enough, and the news of the Deep Sea Church raiding the sewer cult site had been widely known, even making the front pages of several newspapers. As a result, as soon as he finished speaking, a few believers began whispering amongst themselves, the leader in the center of the assembly nodded and supplemented, “This is also a thoroughly tested fellow who, even after suffering at the hands of those hyenas from the Deep Sea Church, still strived to return to the embrace of the Lord—he has the mark of the blessed as proof, he is credible.”
The leader’s words were followed by glances cast toward Duncan by those believers unaware of the circumstances; some nodded, some sighed, and Duncan continued to cover most of his face, reciting the multiplication table in reverse…
“The brief introduction has concluded,” said the leader, finally addressing the topic of Duncan’s interest, “We shall now announce the latest updates.”
Duncan’s ears immediately perked up.
“Currently, a large number of co-religionists are still converging into the City-State, including staunch Believers and powerful messengers and priests, our power is gradually increasing within the City-State, and the day of reshaping order is approaching…
“But it is undeniable that the minions of the Deep Sea Church have also reacted. Recently, the City-State authorities have been more severe in checking the influx of people, and several of our gathering points have been destroyed by the authorities. Therefore, our brethren in the city must be careful, and the collection of offerings can be slowed down—The Scions of the Sun have issued a directive, we have already collected more than half of the needed power, there are still vacancies, which the Scions of the Sun will handle personally…”
The surrounding Heretics seemed to be greatly moved and began to praise the Sun God’s kindness and greatness. Duncan immediately thought of the sacrificial ritual he had seen in the sewers—these Heretics were indeed collecting power through that kind of ritual, and it seemed… had those called the “Scions of the Sun” actually participated personally this time?
It seems that these Heretics still lack the power they need, as the city hall and the church in Prand had already noticed their activities, but if those Scions were to enter the fray… the Heretics’ plan might still advance!
At that moment, he heard the leader continue, “Our main task right now is to pinpoint the exact location of the Sun Shard. Remember, our goal is always to bring the True Sun back into the world, and recovering the lost Sun Shard is the most crucial link!”
Duncan’s mind stirred—Sun Shard? What is that?
Could gathering a pile of Sun Shards fire up the Spear of Adon?
He felt the dove on his shoulder suddenly restless, as Ai Yi vigorously shook his body and emitted a low cooing from his throat.
Through the connection transmitted by the Spiritual Body’s fire, he could vaguely sense what the dove wanted to do.
It wanted to nag, to nag loudly, urging Duncan to take up the solar energy battle-axe and rally more troops again.
But it could not speak—it was just a dove here.
And that really irritated it.
“Quiet,” Duncan could only mutter softly, while he stroked the dove’s head with the back of his hand to soothe it. Meanwhile, a Believer closer to the leader asked, “Do we have any way to determine the approximate location of the Sun Shard? Is there a way to… detect it?”
“The Sun Shard is currently in a dormant state and cannot be detected by any means,” the leader shook his head, “But the Lord has already given guidance, that shard should be hidden near the Lower City District of Prand. Also considering that new co-religionists have joined today, let me explain the situation again:
“Based on intelligence we have, that shard first appeared in the world eleven years ago and likely triggered some kind of large-scale Transcendent phenomena—possibly a major fire, abnormal high heat across an entire district, or mass spontaneous human combustion, group illusions; these are now the directions of our investigation.
“The City-State authorities have detailed records of Transcendent phenomena over the years, and our esteemed Devotees are already attempting to find these records. Ordinary people living in the Lower City District might still remember the ‘strange events’ that occurred here eleven years ago. Our task is to gather clues about these events to deduce the position of the Sun Shard.
“But be cautious, any probing must be done carefully, although the authority’s control over the Lower City District has always been lax, the Deep Sea Church’s hounds have a particularly keen sense of smell… they have become alert.”
As the leader explained the current situation to the surrounding congregation, Duncan’s mind raced, particularly fixated on the “eleven years ago” timeline—according to the leader, eleven years ago was the day a certain Transcendent object known as the “Sun Shard” made its appearance in the world, but Duncan noticed this timeline for another reason.
Eleven years ago, six-year-old Nina lost her parents.
Seemingly due to a major fire.
Just a coincidence? Are such coincidences possible?
Duncan tried to organize the scattered, broken memories in his mind, but much of them had dissipated with the death of this body’s original owner. He tried to recall, but could only remember one or two vague fragments: his body’s original owner ran out of a large fire, holding his dying niece in his arms, a building blurred out of focus burning and collapsing behind him, and in the distance, the twisted dark streets of the city like shadows, countless frantic people running and screaming…