Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 169
The bleary-eyed Bishop Valentine saw the judge Fanna who rushed to the church in the middle of the night, and the old man was completely awake the moment he heard Fanna's first words.

"Captain Duncan entered your dream?!" The old bishop stared at Fanna dumbfounded, and even wondered if he was still asleep. Are you going to investigate?"

"It's absolutely true—although I also know how unbelievable it sounds," Fanna nodded vigorously. She had guessed the old master's church's reaction on the way before coming here, but she couldn't help it, after all, she The degree of confusion is no less than that of Valentine, "The small church in the sixth block...I have very little communication with that ghost captain, and this part is the most important information he revealed."

The old bishop fell silent for a moment. He turned around in silence and looked up at the statue of the Storm Goddess at the end of the church. After some time, he quietly broke the silence: "Fanna, do you still remember when you were at the scene of the cult ceremony in the sewer? Contaminated contamination, after that, we performed a remedial cleanse, and now it seems..."

"I understand what you mean," Fanna took a breath, her expression still calm, "It seems that our purification has never been successful, and the Lost Country is still chasing me, and that ghost captain... His power extends to my dreams."

"Are you still awake?" Valentine turned around and looked into Fanna's eyes quietly.

"Sober, I tried it on the road, and I can silently recite the names of myself and the goddess, and recite the contents of the "Storm Codex"." Fan Na nodded, "It seems that the pollution is still at a shallow level, and the only ones affected are My dreams have not yet spread to my body, words and deeds in reality."

"The pollution is at a shallow level, but it cannot be completely removed. It's like an irreversible countdown..." Valentine's tone was low, with deep worry in his eyes, "You are still the judge of the city-state of Purdue, No one can take your place in a short time..."

Fan Na knew what the old bishop wanted to express.

She has been spiritually polluted by the supernatural power of the upper class. As the judge of the church, her "fortress" has been gradually breached, and a fortress that is about to be breached is unreliable, because no one knows that this spiritual pollution will To what extent, no one knows whether the Fanna who woke up the next morning is still Fanna. She is still serving the Goddess of Storms, but the next second... no one knows who she is loyal to.

If an ordinary guard or priest is polluted by this, the matter is easy to solve. It is very simple to perform a period of confinement and exorcism rituals, or if the city-state is peaceful, she can temporarily hand over the duties to To the deputy, go to the deepest part of the sanctuary to accept the highest standard of "safety isolation" and "divine purification", but...

Now she, the "judge", is in an irreplaceable position. Even if she asks for help from the Church of the Storm headquarters, this problem cannot be solved in a short time.

"...I can't leave my post," Fanna shook her head after thinking for a while, she knew that she was making things difficult for the old bishop, but she must continue to perform her duties, "I have a very bad feeling, We are facing a real, great crisis, which is not even necessarily caused by the Lost Lands or the sun shards. A larger shadow is lurking in the city-state. At this time, I cannot take the responsibility of the judge Give it to anyone, even my own most trusted deputy."

Valentine heard a trace of seriousness in Fanna's tone, and immediately frowned slightly: "The crisis beyond the Lost Land and the sun fragments? Have you discovered anything recently?"

"...I investigated some things in the archives. I was supposed to tell you about this matter the next morning, but now it seems that the situation is more complicated than expected, and the urgency needs to be raised," Fan Na nodded , said in a particularly serious manner, "I have doubts about the time point when the sun fragments appeared in the city-state of Pland, and based on this, I consulted some data from 1889 and earlier years, and found a large number of objects with a low degree of urgency, but Eerie and dense... record of heresy cults..."

Following Fan Na's eloquence, Bishop Valentine finally opened his eyes a little bit.

"These materials are lying quietly in our archives?" After Fanna's voice fell, Valentine exclaimed in disbelief, "No one has discovered it all this time? Even the disappeared 1885 year……"

"No one noticed, our city-state seems to have been 'stolen' part of it, and some obvious 'reality' just disappeared from everyone's sight," Fan Na said in a deep voice, "And this kind of ' Disappearing'...not like solar debris can do."

Valentine shook the scepter in his hand vigorously, his knuckles turned slightly white from the force.

"Do you think there is any connection between this incident and the message 'Captain Duncan' conveyed to you in the dream?" he asked suddenly.

"Not sure, but first of all, things like 'stealing reality from the city-state' are not the ability of the Lost Homelander, and second, if this thing is done by the ghost captain, then he has no reason to pollute my dreams, tell me the key clues ——This does not fit the rough and chaotic style of the captain in the records," Fanna analyzed calmly, "unless...he suddenly changed his temper and became a wicked devil who teased the world, or..."

"or?"

"Or become an enthusiastic person concerned about the safety of the city-state," Fan Na spread her hands, "Come and report to me when you see a dangerous factor."

"Ahem, you're making a subspace-level joke," Valentine coughed suddenly, and then glared at Fanna, "Don't make such a joke with me when you know you've already been watched by a higher-ranking transcendent being. It makes me doubt your mental state."

As he spoke, the old man punched his chest, straightened out his breath, and then looked into Fan Na's eyes with a serious face: "Who else knows about the anomalies found in the archives except you?"

Fan Na thought for a while, then shook her head: "Only I know, I'll check it myself..."

She paused suddenly, as if her thinking was a little stuck, but then she shook her head: "I went to check the files by myself."

"That's okay... If there is a conscious black hand behind this incident, then he should not be aware of the conspiracy." Valentine breathed a sigh of relief, and then had to agree with Fan Na's statement just now, "You are indeed You can't leave your post... You should already have an investigation plan for those files, right?"

"Yes, including coordinated action with City Hall."

"Starting immediately tomorrow, I will provide you with all assistance," Valentine nodded immediately, "In addition, I will also report what happened here to the Pope, hoping that the Cathedral of Storms can provide us with some assistance..."

While talking, the old man thought for a few seconds and asked again: "Can you still pray to the goddess normally?"

"Yes," Fanna immediately replied, "The connection between me and the goddess has not been affected by that dream."

Valentine frowned: "But the goddess didn't enlighten or warn you about the spiritual pollution you suffered?"

"...Yes." Fan Na hesitated for a moment, but still nodded and admitted, "The goddess did not warn."

Valentine touched his chin, and after a moment of deep thought, he suddenly raised his head and looked into Fanna's eyes: "...During this time, you must return to the church to rest at night, and do not fall asleep outside the church, and you must Carry the "Storm Codex" with you at all times. Also, if you feel unusually sleepy or exhausted when you are outside, you should immediately go to the church closest to you, can you do that?"

"can do."

"...Well, I hope you don't think this is some kind of harsh treatment or questioning," the old bishop sighed, and despite Fanna's firm promise, he couldn't help but say, "You can't leave your post now, and Prand There is no priest with a higher status than you in the city-state who can serve as your 'supervisor', this is a necessary arrangement on the premise of ensuring that you can perform your basic duties..."

"Please rest assured, of course I understand." Fanna showed a faint smile, and in turn comforted the old bishop in front of her, "I know as well as you what dangerous things we are fighting against, compared to those who sacrificed due to lack of experience and theory Senior, we are very lucky to be able to fight under the protection of the rules."

Speaking of this, she paused, and then continued: "The little church in the Sixth Street District..."

"We must investigate, no matter what the purpose of that 'ghost captain' found you, we have to investigate that church," Valentine nodded slowly, "and... I just recalled a little bit , I can’t remember who the person in charge of that church is, it seems that there is really something going on there.”

"Okay, I'll take the team there tomorrow."

"Well," Valentine nodded slightly, and then looked at Fanna curiously, "Apart from the chapel, what did that ghost captain tell you?"

It's okay if you don't ask this question, but when you ask, Fan Na's expression suddenly becomes weird.

Valentine: "...Why do you have this expression?"

"He... did say something to me, a very unbelievable sentence." Fan Na's face was full of hesitation, "I don't know if we should take it seriously..."

"What's wrong with this? The more unbelievable the content, the more likely it is the key to everything!" Valentine's eyes widened immediately, "What did he say?"

Fan Na hesitated for the last two seconds, and finally took a deep breath, with a serious face: "Order French fries."

Valentine: "..."

After a moment of silence, the old bishop finally spoke again: "Really?"

"It's absolutely true, as true as my belief in the goddess."

"... Ah, then this is indeed... indeed a bit too unbelievable..."

(End of this chapter)