"Father, I want to go to the church alone to attend mass and pray to the Lord to find a way to save the world. I wonder if it would be convenient for you to give me a ride? My legs and feet are not very convenient." Alyssa's face still had the same gentle smile as always, and her blind eyes looked at the religious man politely.
The religious man's expression was extremely complicated at this moment. He sighed and said,
"Yes, Your Highness the Saint... um, Your Excellency the Theologian."
Chapter 58: Weird Ornaments, "Company" Secrets (6k)
In the dark cabin, the fireplace crackled and the firelight shone on the two people's faces, casting some shadows.
There was also a dark shadow hidden in the shadow of the fireplace, silent.
"Ahem"
The philosopher sitting on the small stool coughed heavily a few times. He now looked older than before, and even his wrinkled skin was covered with terrible marks like corpse spots.
However, in just half a month, he had already entered his twilight years and it seemed that he might reach the end of his life at any time, but there was still a powerful vitality that barely saved his gradually dimming life candle.
The educator sits on the couch next to the philosopher, with whom he has established a connection, sustaining the philosopher's life with the power of his "all-soul" path.
The young boy closed his eyes, his mind seemed to be wandering somewhere else. After a while, when he opened his eyes again, the philosopher's deep and turbid eyes were staring at him.
"How is it going?"
"He is indeed an Awakener of the Weird Side with unprecedented aptitude." The Educator said solemnly, "At least much stronger than the three of us, and even comparable to... the Weird Apostle."
The educator never left the cabin from beginning to end. After receiving the referral from the religious figure, the person who went to interview Alyssa was just an incarnation of the educator created by the philosopher.
"I didn't detect any traces of the 'Company' in her fate, but I'm not sure that the 'Old Man''s' strength... is not inferior to ours." The philosopher said slowly, "Educator, can you rule out the possibility of a strange apostle?"
In fact, neither the philosopher nor the old man can monitor the changes in Victoria all the time. There are many gaps in their respective perceptions, which are all the results of the game between them.
Therefore, in the philosopher's observation, the fate of Saint Alisa is incomplete, but the general outline is clearly visible, and there seems to be nothing special about it, and it is difficult to say that there are any doubts.
The educator was silent for a long time and shook his head. "We know too little about the apostles. I didn't find any corresponding traces, but I can't guarantee it 100%, so I only gave her the most basic task in the layout, and didn't reveal anything else."
At that time, it was the educator's field that suppressed the effect of Luo Ling's spores. It was able to carry out specific containment of the weirdness within the field. In previous practice, this containment would directly cut off the source of power of the weird apostle.
However, it had almost no effect on Saint Alyssa. She showed no signs of panic due to losing the Lord's inspiration, and even her expression did not show much of a ripple.
Although the educator showed great importance to the new pioneer, the "theologian", Her Highness the Saint, he actually revealed almost nothing about the "pioneer".
Because it's uncertain.
Even... I'm not sure if the other party is a pawn of the "company".
Especially at this critical moment, no mistakes can be made.
Historians have clearly expressed their support for the philosopher's path to godhood, so in this matter, TA will not interfere but will provide assistance instead.
However, the three people present also knew that the Pioneer's overall plan would not be fully disclosed to historians, and at least part of it would be concealed to prevent backstabbing.
"Very good. Such caution is necessary. However... if she is fine, she will be a great help to us once she grows up."
The corners of the philosopher's mouth twitched slightly, as if he was smiling, but his wrinkled skin made it difficult to see his expression.
"Philosopher, if you want to continue on your path to godhood, you'll have to move faster."
The historian suddenly spoke up, his cold voice without any tone or emotion seemed extremely disconnected, "The Company is not just waiting."
After the words fell, the historian returned to silence, and the dark shadow almost blended into the gloomy environment around him.
TA rarely directly interferes with the decisions of the other two, but only gives some opinions combined with the opinions of the "company" directors... Of course, this is also the case when he is in the "company".
It was like a thin rope pulling both parties at the same time, vague but unbroken.
"Haha, I can't wait much longer." The philosopher chuckled and said, "Don't worry, when the pointer of fate falls to the right place, it will be my time to ascend to the sequence.
"It's... not much longer."
... ... .
The Cathedral of the Church of Light after the evening mass was different from the daytime. The silence and emptiness seemed to be detached from this world. A blind nun sat alone in the nave, facing the pulpit, and seemed to be praying devoutly.
After the religious man sent Alyssa to the church, he left in a hurry without even saying goodbye, as if he was rushed by something, most likely to work on his promotion.
It seems that the joining of the "theologian" has brought a lot of pressure to the priest.
After the religious man left, Luo Ling's consciousness took control of Alyssa again.
"Here we go again... You're addicted to taking advantage of me, right? Sooner or later, I'll have to pay you back..."
Luo Ling muttered with a little dissatisfaction, and at the same time used the spore vision to carefully observe the object sent by the educator in his hand.
This is an ornament-like object. Inside the metal hollow shell is a suspended dark black stone ball, and there is a stone base supporting it underneath.
It should have been adjusted by the educator in advance. Luo Ling sensed the breath of the "White Witch" on it, and even a vague sense of its existence.
To be precise, these auras should come from Jiangcheng County. The mycelium of the "White Witch" that has fallen into "death" has been perfectly preserved by this strange ornament.
When Luo Ling first got his hands on it, he felt that it was something extraordinary, but it was not until then that he discovered that it was actually an extremely exquisite sacrificial vessel.
Even though Luo Ling seems to have a lot of sacrificial vessels in his hands now, especially every time he meets Fiona, the other party will directly give him a sacrificial vessel. In fact... sacrificial vessels are quite precious.
Even if it is not a suitable sacrificial vessel, it is still very rare.
Take the recent high-intensity "Company" hatchery clearing mission as an example. The points earned by the entire Twintails team are not enough to exchange for the lowest level sacrificial vessel.
Since the creation of sacrificial vessels consumes considerable resources and experience, even the lowest-level ones are ranked in the top 300. If they are too low, they will have no cost-effectiveness at all. Because they are too weak, the success rate will be greatly reduced.
These sacrificial vessels are basically the practice works of trainee weapon refiners, and their effectiveness is much worse than that of ordinary sacrificial vessels... Even in this case, they are still in short supply.
However, after careful exploration, Luo Ling could not find the purpose of this sacrificial vessel.
The so-called aura is really just aura. Even though the weird ornament simulates the arrival of the "White Witch" herself almost to the point of being a real person, it is still just a simulation and does not have the corresponding power.
After unleashing the power of the "Kingdom", Luo Ling tried to inject the power of Puppet Ballad directly into the strange ornament, but it only made the aura stronger, without any other special changes.
"It's really strange..."
Confused, Luo Ling could only place the ornaments on the shrine used for worship according to the educator's request, and then perform sacrifices and offerings as usual.
But to be honest, this feeling of sacrificing to oneself is really wonderful...
But thinking back on the national mourning, now it should be considered that Alisa is sacrificing and offering sacrifices to the "White Witch", and Alisa is originally her own god's favored one, so thinking in this way... seems normal.
Rather, this is what normal God's favored and God's chosen ones should do. Even Miss Iris is no exception. The way Luo Ling and Elsa get along is another exception.
After a moment of sacrifice, Luo Ling could sense that this sacrificial vessel seemed to have some more power belonging to the "White Witch", and at the same time, Luo Ling sensed that her body had also lost a tiny bit of power.
This level of weakness was like using a small spoon to hang some powder on the wall of a tall building. If Luo Ling did not concentrate on perceiving it at all times, he would have ignored it.
"It doesn't seem to be much different from before, except that the missing power is left in this sacrificial vessel."
Luo Ling frowned slightly. What could this little bit of power do? Even if it was accumulated for a few years, it would be a disaster that could cause a "dangerous and strange" disaster.
But soon Luo Ling felt relieved. If she couldn't figure it out for the time being, she shouldn't think about it for now. Anyway, the sacrificial vessel was in her hands. If something unexpected happened later, she could use the power of "Naraku" to forcibly change the owner of the sacrificial vessel.
Normally, the identity of a sacrificial vessel cannot be changed unless its owner is completely dead. But for "Naraku", this is not a problem at all, he can just "rewrite reality" directly.
—No matter who your previous master was, after the reality is rewritten, the master will be me.
In a sense, Naraku's first ability, "Falling Net", is also a very practical ability, and can often be used to overturn the table, as long as... you don't use it on yourself.
After finishing these, Luo Ling relaxed a little. Just as he was about to leave and let Alyssa continue to handle today's affairs of the Church of Light, there was some noise at the door.
Luo Ling was slightly stunned, but soon realized who it was.
"... elder sister?"
Stasha said softly.
"What's wrong? Stasha."
Luo Ling turned the wheelchair to face the church door. The girl with short flaxen hair leaned against the door cautiously and looked inside curiously.
After getting a response from her sister, Stasha finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly trotted over.
She accidentally fell halfway through the journey. Fortunately, Luo Ling predicted this through his spore vision and rolled the wheelchair slightly forward, barely catching the fallen Stasha.
However, since Luo Ling still had to remain blind, he did not reach out to support Stasha, but let the girl's body fall directly into Alyssa's arms.
A soft spot that Luo Ling did not have cushioned Stasha's fall a little, and her face sank deeply into it.
"Ah! Sister, are you...are you okay?"
Stasha tried to stand up in a panic, but for some reason she just changed her posture and still leaned in Alyssa's arms.
"Of course I'm fine. It's you, Stasha, who is so careless."
Luo Ling was almost amused by this clumsy sister, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise. After helping Stasha up, Luo Ling asked, "Why did you think of coming to the church at this time? Can't you come later?"
Alyssa usually has to deal with a lot of things, which takes at least an hour or two. Only when the bright moon is high in the sky will her sister Stasha come to pick her up.
"I... I'm afraid..."
There was still a hint of blush on Stasha's face, not because of the physical contact with her sister, but because of her own clumsy appearance just now, which made her feel a little embarrassed.
She hesitated and didn't say it out loud, but Luo Ling had roughly guessed what Stasha was worried about.
It's like the old days...
After a chance separation, when I saw my sister again, her legs had been broken. It was another daily departure, and when I came back, her eyes were empty.
There was even one time when she heard that her sister had been dismembered. If Stasha had not been unwilling to believe it at the time and had not run straight to the church to see her sister alive with her own eyes, I'm afraid... this would have been a fear that she would never be able to escape from for the rest of her life.
The tragedy of the past was as vivid as a nightmare. Even the three months of unreal happiness could not dilute the shadow of the past. Stasha was still worried about the recurrence of the past.
"This won't happen again, Stasha." Luo Ling raised her hand and rubbed Stasha's hair, saying softly, "Sister... won't get into trouble again."
"Yeah... I know, sis."
Stasha vaguely felt that her sister seemed to have come back again. She watched her sister's every move and smile, and a bright smile appeared on her face again.
"However, I still have to continue today's mass. You sit next to me first, and we'll go home together later, okay?" Luo Ling said gently.
"OK."
Stasha nodded repeatedly, then found a place to sit down, took out a notebook, and began to read in the moonlight coming through the church's glazed windows.
This scene reminded Luo Ling of herself in high school, when she also liked to carry some notes with her so she could review anytime and anywhere. Thinking of this, she vaguely missed the past days.
... Forget it, let’s not reminisce about high school life.
After calming her sister down, Luo Ling withdrew her consciousness and allowed Alyssa to continue with today's affairs.
She was willing to do it for her, but the problem was that she basically didn't know how to do Alyssa's work...
It's better to just be a leader. You can do this job even if you have no special skills, as long as you can manage your subordinates... For Puppet Yao, this is almost instinct.
After returning to his main body, he could hear Elsa's snoring, which was much closer than usual. Her warm breath brushed against Luo Ling's collarbone from time to time. She hugged Luo Ling's body with both hands, even her little feet were close to hers.
"Are you afraid that I might sneak away at night?"
Luo Ling didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but still obeyed Elsa.
Night falls.
... ... ... ..
In stark contrast to the remote Golden District, Victoria, the most prosperous London district, was still brightly lit, and even the performance at the Victoria Opera House had not yet ended.
However, as the manager of the entire opera house, Fiona did not stay in the office as usual, but returned to her room.
Unlike what most people imagine about Fiona, the place she lives in is quite simple, with only a bed and a dressing table.
Even the bedside table was just a small table with a candle on it that had been refilled with oil countless times.
This is not because Fiona is deliberately frugal and suffers, it is just a habit she has had for many years.
Fiona sat in front of the dressing table, gazing at the long-handled musket sacrificial vessel on the table with tender eyes, and gently touched it with her fingers. But at this moment, she seemed to think of something and sighed slowly.
Even though Fiona heard from Miss Luo Ling that Lina might still be alive, it was still hard for her to believe. The main reason was that she hadn't come back in several years... She really couldn't understand it.
Soon, Fiona's expression lost its tenderness and became more serious.
She took out a lamp-shaped sacrificial vessel, and when the lamp was lit, the whole of Victoria seemed to have lost something unconsciously at this moment.
yes...
Fiona's presence is missing.
She briefly disappeared from Victoria's past and history. At this moment, there were only two big constellations in the "Society of Destiny". Even in the records of the "Hunting" team, the captain became Frick.