"Then we continue," Alice said. "The operational arrangements need to change."
She looked toward the ship's cabin. "How much holy water is left on board?"
"Excluding everyone's personal quota, we have fifteen bottles of intermediate holy water and twenty bottles of basic holy water," Leonard spoke up.
"Bring it all down and hand it over to the Church."
"We will set up purification barriers along the way," Philip added, turning to the two deacons. "Keep the intervals no longer than twenty steps. Do not skimp on the holy water. We need a stable path for retreat, but more importantly—"
He paused and looked at the beach.
"We cannot let these things spread, and we certainly cannot let them near the Abyssal Hunter."
The deacons took their orders and turned to follow Leonard to transport the holy water.
"Leave one Descendant on the ship," Alice said, looking at Marcus. "Once the barrels have cooled, be ready to provide fire support at any time. Your Ascension Society should have a way to communicate over long distances, right?"
"We will advance along the path blasted open. If things spiral out of control, bombard the passage again."
"Even if our own people are there?" a Descendant asked, a rare instance of them speaking.
"If you get hit, you die," Alice replied expressionlessly. "Any objections?"
The Descendant remained silent for a moment and shook his head.
Marcus's lips curled slightly as he gestured for one of the Descendants to stay behind.
"Fine, I have no problem with that."
"The formation will follow our previous agreement," Alice continued. "The Ascension Society will lead the way, as your people are best suited for this environment. The Nightwatchers will be in the middle, and the Church will bring up the rear to set up purification."
"Dr. Lu will stay by my side," Philip suddenly interjected.
Alice glanced at him.
"I have reviewed his file; he is one of the few in the team who understands this island," Philip said, his expression neutral. "Furthermore, it is safer in the back."
Clearly, the Church's reasoning was insufficient, even strange.
However, Alice did not answer for Lu Yuan, merely signaling for him to make his own decision.
Lu Yuan nodded, signifying he had no objections.
Because when Philip spoke, Lu Yuan had seen a glimmer of blue in the priest's hand; it was Deep Blue, the ore the Iron Whale had brought back.
Evidently, this old religious fox from the Church had something to say to him.
Of course, it was possible this group from the Church was interested in him for some reason, but the exorcism gunpowder in his pocket was no joke, and he had not used Timekeeper even once.
If it was just for self-preservation, he had more than enough resources.
"Then let's set out," Marcus stood up and leapt down from the Abyssal Hunter with the remaining two Descendants and the Arbiter.
Afterward, the group lined up in formation and advanced along the path carved by the bombardment.
The scorched sand, mixed with the charred remains of tentacles, emitted a pungent, fishy stench.
Every twenty steps, the two Church deacons stopped to sprinkle holy water on the ground, reciting prayers in low voices before drawing a few symbols.
A golden light would then spread across the ground.
The still-writhing severed tentacles recoiled from the golden light as if they had been burned.
The further they went into the island, the thicker the tentacles became.
They went from the thickness of a finger to the size of a man's forearm.
At the rear of the team, the Church members gradually fell behind the leading Ascension Society members due to the time required to set up the purification barriers.
"This distance should be enough. Priest Philip, what did you want to say?"
Lu Yuan asked directly, getting straight to the point.
Philip looked at Lu Yuan and took a thumb-sized piece of ore from his sleeve. It was Deep Blue, glowing with a faint, steady light.
"Dr. Lu, you are infected by the Strange Dreams," Philip asked without pretense. "In the Strange Dreams, have you ever seen this?"
Lu Yuan looked at the ore but did not answer immediately, as greyish-white text had already surfaced.
【Detected high concentration of mutated condensate】
【Characteristics: Secretion from the deep tissue of ██; capable of delaying Eerie injuries to a certain extent】
【Warning: Long-term contact can lead to changes in mental structure】
Lu Yuan noted this information in his heart and asked instead,
"Aren't you afraid of being infected?"
"The transmission of the Strange Dreams has its limits," Philip said calmly. "As long as one does not intentionally contact the source, infection is almost impossible. And an infected person can usually only pass it on once."
He paused before continuing.
"You were infected by Laisen; it is almost impossible for you to be contagious anymore."
Lu Yuan fell silent for a moment; the Church's investigation into him was deeper than he had imagined.
"...I've seen some."
Lu Yuan did not provide specific details.
However, hearing this, Philip's brow furrowed, and his expression turned grim.
"What's wrong?" Lu Yuan asked.
Philip did not answer immediately, his gaze fixed on the ore in his hand as if he were hesitating.
A few seconds later, he spoke.
"This thing... isn't ore."
Lu Yuan was taken aback. He had encountered it once before—an 'asset' that had escaped the Ascension Society had a piece of ore embedded in a mechanical organ. Since he couldn't touch it then, Lu Yuan hadn't known what it truly was.
The limited information he had was summarized from the Nightwatchers' archives.
It now seemed that while the Nightwatchers hadn't researched it deeply, both the Ascension Society and the Church knew something... No wonder this mission didn't feel like a rescue operation at all.
"The Archbishop told me," Philip continued, ignoring Lu Yuan's silence. "This thing is related to the Eerie."
Lu Yuan's eyes narrowed as he watched Philip.
"Why are you telling me this?"
Philip shook his head and said nothing more.
Because he didn't know why himself.
If it hadn't been for the Archbishop's instructions, he wouldn't have even wanted to step into these murky waters.
"We're reaching the front, hurry up and follow!"
Alice's voice came from ahead, interrupting their conversation.
Philip tucked away the ore, his face returning to its mask of piety.
"Let's go."
Lu Yuan glanced at him but did not press further, nor did he intend to ask to touch the ore.
He still remembered Old Morgan's warning: if he didn't want the Strange Dreams to deepen, it was best to stay away from contaminants, and Deep Blue was the most direct form of pollution.
Up ahead, abandoned wooden houses appeared on both sides of the road.
They were crooked and decayed, exactly as they had appeared in his Strange Dreams; the only difference was that these houses were covered in bright red tentacles. These tentacles were rooted deep in the ground and were massive, each as thick as a bowl, densely packed and trembling slightly.
In the distance, rusted iron rails extended from a dark cave, coming to a stop before the group.
The wooden support structures at the cave entrance were largely rotten and crawled with tentacles of varying thickness.
When Marcus, who was leading the way, saw the cave, the red light in his eyes flashed violently, for he knew they had reached their destination!
And the moment the group appeared at the entrance, a low thundering rumble echoed from deep within the cave.
Lu Yuan became instantly alert, because the sound was almost identical to the heartbeat he had heard in his Strange Dreams...
Rate on N.U.
