Going to See Luoya

Karen pointed at the corpses on the ground in the painting and asked Piaget, "What kind of clothes are they wearing?" Piaget raised his hands. "I don't know. When I paint, images just surface in my mind. If not for Mr. Bede, I wouldn't even have known I was painting Yorktown." Mr. Bede spoke up. "Karen, are you trying to ask whether the corpses on the ground are wearing the armor and divine robes of Order?" Karen fell silent. Mr. Bede continued, "All I can say is that sometimes, the exact same picture can be interpreted in different ways." "I understand. I know." Karen stood up and asked, "May I take this painting with me?" Piaget nodded immediately. "Of course you can." Mr. Bede, on the other hand, produced a black-market card and handed it to Karen, saying, "The fee for the manuscript must certainly be paid. That has nothing to do with my relationship with you." Karen knew Mr. Bede wasn't greedy for money. Allen Manor was no longer the dilapidated place it once was; as long as he was willing to contact the manor, he would hardly lack the point coupons needed to travel everywhere with Piaget. Yet he hadn't done so. Perhaps this journey itself carried its own unique constraints and convictions. "The specific amount?" "As for the specific amount, wait until the scene in this painting actually happens, then have someone transfer the corresponding point coupons into this card. Heh heh." "All right, I understand." Mr. Bede bent down, refolded the two silk scrolls, tucked them into the fountain pen, and finally handed the pen to Karen. As Karen slipped the pen into his pocket, he asked, "What are your plans next? What do you intend to do?" "We're temporary hires, and our trial period ends tomorrow. Don't worry, we came to enjoy the bonfire banquet, not throw ourselves into the fire to burn." Karen looked at Piaget and asked, "Has it been hard on you during this time?" "It's been very fulfilling," Piaget answered. "Whenever I pick up the brush to paint, I feel as if Linda is standing right beside me, keeping me company." Mr. Bede suddenly interjected, "Then whenever you paint in the future, I'll stand as far away as possible." "Uh..." Piaget shrugged. "You know that's not what I meant, Mr. Bede." "I have to leave," Karen said. "When this matter is over, how about having a meal together?" "Sure!" Piaget said. Mr. Bede said, "Everyone has their own journey to walk. I believe the true respect one can show a beautiful view is to immediately embark on the journey toward the next one after admiring it." "I don't think there's any need to go to extremes in many things." Karen looked at his prospective father-in-law. "I'm sure Eunice looks forward to seeing her father, Madam misses her husband, and the head of the Anderson family cares deeply for his youngest son as well." Mr. Bede shook his head and asked Karen in return, "Why haven't you gone home, then?" "I... It isn't time for me to go home yet." Mr. Bede walked over, patted Karen on the shoulder, and said, "Neither is it time for me." Piaget asked, "So, are we saying goodbye now?" "What else, Piaget? Your artwork has already been sold. For the rest of our journey, we can travel in far greater comfort," Mr. Bede said. "Oh, all right. You have the final say, sir." Piaget stepped toward Karen and gave him a hug. "My dear friend, if you could turn back into your original appearance, I think this hug would feel a bit more natural. Otherwise, it gives me an odd feeling." "I'm sorry, but I can't fulfill that request for the time being." "I really do like Yorktown. I have many attachments here." Karen nodded. "Yes. After your psychiatric clinic went under, you didn't even pay your staff their severance." "Ahem..." "All right, we need to get back to work. I believe our Section Chief Karen is about to get busy as well." Mr. Bede pulled Piaget back. Before leaving the room, he turned deliberately to Karen and said, "Remember to go back and visit Eunice more often." "I will, sir." "No, you won't. I even suspect you correspond with my daughter less frequently than most people do with their pen pals. You probably only remember her when someone asks if you have a girlfriend and you answer that you already have a fiancée." "How could that be?" "Heh heh." Mr. Bede showed a meaningful smile. "When are you going home?" "In less than two years. About a year and a half, probably." "My daughter was chosen personally by your grandfather to be his granddaughter-in-law. I believe the thing the old gentleman would most like to see after waking up is his grandson..." "Getting married, right? I know." "No, seeing his grandson standing before him holding a great-grandson. If you put in the effort now, a year and a half is plenty of time." "This..." "Have a few more. Leave one behind to learn painting from me." "That is impossible, Mr. Bede." Piaget asked curiously, "Why is that?" He had actually been hoping to serve as the art teacher for Karen's future children. "Sigh." Mr. Bede sighed rather helplessly and answered Piaget, "This touches upon the religious discrimination harbored deep inside the head of the Law Enforcement Department of the Church of Order." With that, Mr. Bede pulled Piaget along and departed. Not long after, Richard walked back in while wiping a lipstick mark off his neck. "Finished talking, Karen?" "Finished." "Phew, wonderful. Mrs. Bolifa was truly far too enthusiastic. She said I looked like her late husband. I used to think only men used that kind of line to hit on women, but it turns out it goes both ways." "Let's go. We can head back." "Oh, okay." Karen and Richard walked out of the mansion, and Memphis drove over to pick them up. After getting into the car, Karen said to Memphis, "This matter is huge. Other things can be put on hold for now." Memphis glanced through the rearview mirror at Richard sitting in the back, then nodded. "Pfft..." Richard burst into laughter, pointing at Memphis. "What kind of business could he possibly have?" Memphis asked, "Back to the Inquisitorial Hall?" Karen hesitated for a moment, then said, "Yes, back to the Inquisitorial Hall." It was half past two in the afternoon when they returned to the Inquisitorial Hall. Karen declined Lucie's offer of afternoon tea and called Vic into his room first. Before long, Vic stepped out to announce that all the staff he had brought to the Inquisitorial Hall were to halt their current tasks and enter a state of radio silence. In other words, do nothing, but no one was allowed to leave. In the kitchen, Lucie, who was grinding coffee by hand, gently nudged her husband and asked, "It really seems like something major is going on." "Yeah, mm-hmm." Dake nodded. "The entire atmosphere in the living room has changed." "This is your chance." "In the past, I only knew that chance favors the prepared mind. Now I realize that chance favors the bold. Just walking past the living room a moment ago made me feel like my heart was about to jump out of my throat. Honey, will you look down on me for saying this?" "Of course not. Listen, the doorbell is ringing. Go answer it. It must be someone Karen summoned." "Right, right." Dake washed his hands, dried them with a towel, and walked out of the kitchen to the entryway. Opening the door, he saw an elderly man in a black overcoat standing outside. "Hello, please come in." "Mm." The old man nodded, stepped inside, and followed Dake up to the second floor. "Karen, the guest is here." Without waiting for a response from within, the old man opened the door directly, his appearance shifting at the same moment. "Head..." Dake recognized who the old man was. Bern glanced at Dake and asked, "I'd like an iced coffee, please." "Right away, Lord Head Bishop!" Dake walked back downstairs, sensing that his legs were trembling slightly. As a bishop's son-in-law, he felt he shouldn't be so spineless, but he still couldn't quite withstand this kind of pressure. After carrying the coffee up, the doorbell rang once more. Dake walked over to open the door and saw Alfred standing there, holding the hand of an adorable little boy. "Where is the section chief?" "In the room on the second floor." Dake knew Alfred; Alfred had sent gifts to his household before. "All right, thank you." Alfred led the boy inside by the hand. "Um, would you like something to drink?" Dake asked. "There's no need to trouble yourself." Alfred declined, but he noticed that Dake had crouched down to ask the little boy. "Would you like something to drink, sir?" Dake asked once more. The little boy shook his head. Alfred held his hand as they went up to the second floor. The little boy remarked, "He's a little clever." Alfred nodded. "Yes." The little boy added, "Even if he saw through it, he should have pretended he hadn't. So not very clever." Alfred said nothing. He knew that was his young master's maternal uncle-in-law. The moment the little boy pushed the door open, his appearance shifted immediately into the dwarf Sus. There were only four people in the room: Karen, Bern, Sus, and Alfred, who had brought in a chair to sit behind the door, pen and paper ready to take notes. "It seems things really are quite serious," Bern said with a smile. Sus rubbed the space between his brows rather helplessly. "Why are there always so many troubles in Yorktown?" "Let me explain the whole situation to both of your Lordships first. It all started with an aberrant demon captured last night..." Karen recounted the events, though he blurred and omitted certain details and critical points. Bern picked up his coffee, took a long sip, and chuckled. "A six-winged angel." Sus hopped down from his chair and squatted on the floor. "The secret of the return of the gods." Bern set down his coffee cup and said, "Come now, we can figure out who neglected their duties, letting so many people from the Abyss slip in right under our noses without us noticing a thing." "Bern, are you implying our Whip of Order isn't doing its job properly?" Karen raised a hand and said, "According to the retroactively checked archives and records, the Church of the Abyss has been preparing for this angel for a long time, well before either of you assumed office. Therefore, neither of you bears any responsibility." Bern licked his lips and said, "Then this time, we'll need to mobilize the garrison." Sus asked, "Do you still have influence over the garrison?" Bern answered candidly, "Not openly, no." Sus said enviously, "Then this is the perfect chance for you to reclaim part of the garrison's command authority." The last time Bern lent the garrison to Karen to storm the Whip of Order building, although he was later promoted to Head Bishop, much of the shadow authority once held under his command had been stripped away. This was precisely his opportunity to win back what he had lost. Bern said, "I should be the one envying you. If you can seize that angel and learn the secret of the gods' return ahead of time, your merit... should be enough to earn you a promotion out of this region." Sus waved his hand. "There's really nothing to envy about moving up. Once you reach the Dinge Region, you have to start over again as an underling. On the contrary, the two of you holding real power in this region continuously—how comfortable is that?" Karen listened in silence to the two superiors flattering each other and looking forward to the future. In truth, if not for Piaget's painting, he would probably be joining them right about now. The problem was, since corpses of Order knights and Order priests appeared in Piaget's painting, it meant the Church of Order had intervened, but... had still failed? That six-winged silhouette floating in midair had clearly broken free of its shackles. Bern said, "How about this: we must lay out our plans as quickly as possible without any accidents or oversights. I'll secretly transfer troops from the garrison to ensure outside eyes won't notice." Sus said, "The Whip of Order will lock down that urban district the moment the operation begins, ensuring the fallout won't spread too far." With that, both men turned their gazes toward Karen. Sus spoke first. "Karen, we'll leave the concrete operational plan to you. Once you finish it, hand it over for us to review." Bern echoed, "Yes, make it fast. It's best to have the first draft ready before midnight tonight. Just imagine yourself as both the Head Bishop and your Regional Chief; any support and forces that can theoretically be mobilized may be written into the plan. If anything requires immediate deployment and execution, just send a message directly to the two of us." "Understood. I will do so." Karen did not refuse and accepted the task. The Regional Administrative Office and the Whip of Order needed someone to integrate both sides' forces, and no one was better suited than him. Both men rose to their feet and left the bedroom. Karen did not see them out, remaining seated by the bed. Alfred closed the door and walked over to stand before him. "Young Master, on my way here, I received a transmission from Allen Manor. Mr. Bede, who has been traveling abroad for a long time without returning, wrote a letter inquiring about the arrangements for your wedding with Miss Eunice. I suspect Mr. Bede might have wanted to reach out to you about something." "I already met him, as well as Piaget." "Oh? Is that so?" Alfred was somewhat surprised. "Piaget made a painting and gave it to me. No, he sold it to me." Looking at it this way, even if Karen hadn't bumped into Mr. Bede and Piaget at the mansion, Mr. Bede would have arranged to meet him, or at least found a way to deliver this painting into his hands. He knew Karen's current position and understood that if such an incident occurred in Yorktown, Karen could not possibly avoid being involved. So his prospective father-in-law still cared about his prospective son-in-law. Karen took out Mr. Bede's fountain pen and handed it to Alfred. Upon opening it, Alfred immediately recognized the scroll's material and murmured, "How extravagant." When he unrolled the scroll and examined it closely, his eyes widened. "This..." "What do you think, Afu?" Alfred immediately composed his expression and said, "Young Master, my view is this: if a prophecy cannot be changed, having it or not makes no difference; if a prophecy can be changed, having it or not likewise makes no difference." "Is that truly what you think?" "Yes, Young Master. In the past, I believed many things were predestined—for instance, that you would ultimately become a great being. But ever since following you, walking forward step by step and studying your words and actions bit by bit, I've realized that when we focus calmly on pressing forward, the noise by our ears can simply be ignored." "I can't bring this painting out for them to see." "Indeed. Matters regarding the Mural God Cult remain far too sensitive; it is, after all, an evil cult condemned by Order." Karen added, "If it were merely a question of a cult, I believe those two would turn a blind eye. After all, they both know about and agreed to keeping an organization of Light remnants around to do dirty work. What worries me more is that Piaget's painting might turn out to be too accurate." "That is indeed possible. Mural God Rielsa once broke out from the Door of Samsara. Though she was merely a walking corpse at the time and could hardly be called a god, Lady Linda seems to have deliberately left the Mural God's legacy to her husband. Mr. Piaget's current position is almost like that of a divine child of the Mural God Cult, while Mr. Bede seems like... his retainer." "Heh." Karen couldn't help but chuckle. Alfred smiled along with him. Clearly, he too was recalling the scene from years ago when he had pledged with utmost conviction to become his young master's retainer. "You and Vic draft the operational plan." "Please rest assured, Young Master. We will give it our all." "Those two had an underlying condition as well. You picked up on it, didn't you?" "Your subordinate heard it. They want this region to resolve the matter independently so they can secure their respective interests, rather than having the higher-ups step in." "By the way, submit an application to Head Bishop Bern for me right now. I need to go to the Dinge Region Sealed Space Administrative Office to see the Laks copper coin. Bern just said that if I need anything arranged, I can message him directly. With his status as Head Bishop, this will be very simple." In truth, the Yorktown Region also had an office for sealed spaces, but Karen did not want to meet Luoya here. He worried that Luoya's descent might cause an immediate reaction from the copper coin inside the mansion. "Understood, Young Master. Your subordinate will submit the application at once. You may set off for the teleportation formation hall right now." That copper coin was currently supposed to be helping the angel maintain its so-called vitality. Thus, if Luoya's assistance could be secured for the plan, the angel would essentially come with an innate layer of sealing on its body. Luoya could even use her power to detonate from the inside when the assault began from the outside, coordinating internally and externally to drastically reduce the mission's difficulty. Yet on the six-winged angel in the painting, there was no trace of the copper coin. This was why his young master needed to see Luoya first—to confer with her in advance. "Young Master..." "Is there something else?" "Your subordinate was wondering: could the absence of the copper coin in the painting mean that the coin had already ended up in your hands by then?" That Laks copper coin was something his young master had reserved long ago. He simply hadn't had the time to search for it due to other pressing matters. Looking back now, however, that had actually been a blessing. Had he gone searching for it earlier, he likely would have run into the Abyss operatives, or perhaps the coordinates Luoya provided had long become useless because the Abyss faction had already retrieved it. "Afu." "Your subordinate is listening." "Many people died." Karen pointed at the scroll on the floor. "How can you be so certain that among the many dead on the ground in that painting, there isn't you, there isn't Vic, there isn't Richard... and there isn't me?" *** The Sea of the Abyss. This was the ancestral court of the Church of the Abyss, a realm engulfed in an endless black sea, where divine halls floated atop the dark waters. The cluster of halls resembled a fleet of temple ships. For countless ages, this place had obeyed a singular pattern: at certain moments, divine halls on the periphery would drift away from the formation and disappear into the depths of the black sea, while ancient, long-lost halls would drift back and rejoin the fold. However, this process of departure and rejoining was exceedingly slow, measured in years. A hall might show signs of drifting away this year, but it would separate gradually, taking a full decade before it drifted entirely beyond sight and could no longer be reached or explored. The priests of the Church of the Abyss had ample time to evacuate personnel from the relevant hall. Naturally, there were also those who preferred to vanish alongside it. Hundreds of years at the shortest, or over a millennium at the longest, when the hall drifted back once more, no living person would remain inside—only carvings and written inscriptions. At this moment, atop the main hall of the Abyss, which sat at the very center and would never detach or fade away, a group of figures in gold-trimmed divine robes stood watching. Their gazes were fixed on a misty hall faintly visible in the distance. According to records, that area was once a square. Legend had it that before the God of the Abyss set out to breach Heaven, he had held an oath-taking ceremony there. In the mythological accounts of the Church of the Abyss, it was known as "Heaven Square." A year ago, the shadow of Heaven Square had appeared, signaling that it was about to rejoin the temple fleet. According to the Church of the Abyss's own records, the last time Heaven Square had vanished was toward the end of the previous epoch, a period when history had fallen into disarray. In any case, following that came the end of the previous epoch and the beginning of the new, current epoch—one where gods no longer walked the world. And now, Heaven Square was returning. "How much longer until Heaven Square rejoins the main temple fleet?" "Calculations show it will take at least ten more years, and that is with the existing trackers pulling it." If one's gaze shifted forward, a group of angels could be seen before Heaven Square. One end of a heavy cable was bound around each of their bodies, while the other end was hitched to the pillars of the square. They were straining with all their might to drag the square toward the main cluster of buildings. These angels... were trackers. No one else could approach a hall that had not fully returned. Forcing one's way near would result in rapid loss of life; even a temple elder could remain upon such a hall for a single day at most before withering completely into death. Only angels possessed both the ability to approach it and immunity to its effects. "Ten years is too long. We cannot afford to wait. How is the progress on collecting angel remains?" "Many elite squads have been dispatched to ancient battlefields and desolate realms to search. We are even attempting to re-explore the Fallen Heaven, though we have suffered considerable casualties." "I do not wish to hear about casualties." "Understood. Several more angel remains have been discovered outside. After receiving blessings, they have also begun showing signs of 'revival.'" "That angels can revive already signifies that our Lord's return is drawing nearer. Perhaps our Lord's gaze has already penetrated the barriers and arrived here. Otherwise, why would those angels sealed away in the storage vaults be opening their eyes one after another?" "Indeed. Batches of angels from the outside have already been brought back. In Wien especially, a six-winged angel was discovered." "A six-winged angel? Such high-ranking angels are not present even in our storage vaults." "Yes. High-ranking angels existed only in Heaven at the end of the last epoch. He must be a remnant left behind after Heaven collapsed." "Then why hasn't he been brought back immediately? High-ranking angels often possess captain-sequence enhancements, which can vastly increase the pulling strength of these trackers and shorten the time considerably. Furthermore, Wien appears to be traditional Order territory. It is not safe there." "Because his vitality after revival was extremely faint, making teleportation impossible through a magic formation. We are currently utilizing a Laks copper coin found at the same site to bolster him, hoping to nurture a bit more vitality before transferring him." "Be quick about it. You must understand that the one most sensitive to the return of gods is the Church of Order. Those fellows in the Church of Order clearly have their own god, yet they violently reject the gods of other faiths." "Please rest assured, it should be soon. Moreover, news just arrived stating that the six-winged angel's vitality has increased significantly. I have already dispatched Lady Miliwen in person to oversee the reception and teleportation." "Lady Miliwen, is it..." "The divine children of our church are unlike those of others. While many divine children from other faiths enjoy traveling abroad, ours prefer to remain secluded inside the divine halls. Lady Miliwen is already an outlier among our church's successive generations of divine children. Besides, her legacy involves spatial arrays. She is the inheritor of our God Nochi, and God Nochi was a student of God Pamires." "Regardless, bringing that six-winged angel back quickly is what matters most. I can already smell the dawn of a new epoch. Whichever church's main god returns first will likely establish dominance in the new era. Praise the Abyss." "Praise the God of the Abyss!" *** "Hello, here is your receipt... Miliwen Yoan?" "That's me." "All right. Your consigned items will arrive in three hours. Please remember to claim them." "Three hours? Why so long? When I checked them in, I remember the delay was supposed to be only five minutes." "Due to a temporary change, this sector's teleportation formation must prioritize an ad-hoc transport first." "Heh, let me guess. Some big shot is traveling on short notice, right?" "As long as you understand." "Ugh, seriously. Making me wait here for three extra hours." Complaining, the girl took a lollipop from her pocket and popped it into her mouth. With her golden hair, she looked like an angry lioness cub at this moment. Then, she watched as two administrators escorted a young Order priest past her. The staff member who had treated her so coldly just a moment ago instantly beamed with an enthusiastic smile. The girl took the lollipop out of her mouth and asked, "Hey, who was that who just walked by? He's quite good-looking." "That is our Section Chief Karen." "Such a young section chief? His family must be very powerful, right?" "No, our Section Chief Karen comes from orphan origins." "An orphan? I'm an orphan too, just like him. Heh heh." "Can you even compare to our Section Chief Karen?" *Crunch, crunch...* The girl crushed the lollipop between her teeth, turned around, and scoffed quietly in disdain: "Hmph, is he even worthy of being compared to me?"