Ashes Of Deep Sea

Chapter 91: Chapter 95 Infiltration

Another small group of Sun Heretics, who had infiltrated aboard smugglers’ ships from Cold Harbor, were apprehended and imprisoned in a church near the harbor district.

Fenna, the Judge, returned from the subterranean prison area beneath the church to the rest chamber of the upper sanctuary, where the bishop in charge of the church in this district was already waiting.

“Judge Fenna,” the somewhat gaunt bishop greeted the young Judge with a salute, “May the waves protect your soul.”

“May the waves protect your soul,” Fenna returned the gesture to the bishop and, with somewhat weary steps, walked toward a chair to the side, “This is already the second group of Sun Heretics thrown into prison in the harbor district alone, isn’t it?”

“Yes, we caught a dozen people three days ago—they were discovered and stopped in time while attempting to kill a citizen. Now this is the second group; they were performing dark rituals in an apartment building when a meter reader became suspicious,” the bishop nodded, with a hint of worry in his eyes, “Unknowingly, so many heretics have infiltrated… Thankfully we discovered them early, otherwise who knows how many people their dark rituals could have harmed.”

“Plunder is a transportation hub on the Endless Sea, and with everything being calm in the past four years, many have let their guards down,” Fenna nodded, “However… it’s still uncertain whether we found them early or late. Those heretics who arrived earlier may have been operating in the shadows for some time, only recently being exposed.”

The bishop glanced at the Judge’s expression and, after a moment’s hesitation, asked, “I heard that many people have been caught in other areas as well?”

“Yes, nearly every district,” Fenna did not conceal the truth, “Now, in the dungeons below almost every church, there are Sun Heretics that have been apprehended—some with just a few people, others with dozens… but mostly they are the lowest-level minions, moving around within the city-state to scout for information. Having received little training, they were easily exposed… The high-ranking priests have yet to be discovered to this day.”

As Fenna spoke, her tone also involuntarily grew serious, her face marked with subtle concern.

Since the heretical followers’ actions of searching for the “Sun Shard” had been exposed, the authorities of Plunder and the church had quickly responded, initiating a massive covert manhunt throughout the city and actively mobilizing citizens to report and screen for suspects. The results of this series of actions were indeed plentiful—

In an extremely short time, a large number of heretics who had not managed to react were caught, nearly filling the underground prisons of various churches. Their number almost equaled that of all the heretics found within the city-state in the past four years.

However, to this day, only the mindless minions acting chaotically had been captured, at most some low-level priests wielding “mass-produced Sacred Relics” and freshly blessed. The truly powerful high-ranking forces continue to hide in the shadows.

This left Fenna feeling somewhat irritable and uneasy.

“There are results every day, but we’ve still not caught their ‘main body,’ giving me the feeling that the situation is still deteriorating out of sight,” she said to the bishop in front of her, “With so many heretics operating within the city-state, there must be a high-ranking leader coordinating behind them, but this ‘commander’ has yet to reveal themselves.”

After a moment of contemplation, the bishop slowly spoke: “According to the results of the interrogations so far, these minions only respond to the ‘messenger’s’ orders, and the so-called ‘messengers’ are a group of low-level priests. They listen directly to the voices from the Scions through counterfeit sun masks… Do you think there could be a Scion of the Sun already lurking inside the city-state?”

“A Scion of the Sun lurking inside a human city-state? To be honest… it is logically unlikely,” Fenna’s brows furrowed slightly, “Although they possess great power, they also have a clear ‘trace of presence.’ Their filthy, foul stench simply cannot be hidden… There are churches and patrolling guardians all over the city-state; theoretically, there shouldn’t be any ‘blind spots.’

“So it’s merely speculation,” the district bishop shook his head, “I know that Scions of the Sun find it hard to hide in civilized society, but those low-level ‘messengers’ really do carry Sun Masks with them. Even if they’re not directly controlled by the Scions, they’re certainly in contact with them to some extent… After all, mass-produced Sacred Relics are still Sacred Relics, and the Heretics would consider the cost of their actions—they wouldn’t make arrangements without purpose.”

Fenna curled a finger to her chin and, in a moment of thought, suddenly spoke up, “I’ve looked at yesterday’s interrogation record, those heretics were mainly inquiring about the Transcendent event that occurred in the City-State eleven years ago… Do they believe it’s related to the Sun Shard?”

“It seems that way now,” the district bishop nodded, “Though we don’t know the source of their information, they appear quite certain that it was the Sun Shard that triggered the ‘Chemical Plant Riot’ in Plunder eleven years ago… I remember that you were also…”

Saying this, he stopped abruptly, his gaze falling on the notable scar near Fenna’s left eye, and he bowed his head slightly, “My apologies, I misspoke.”

Fenna subconsciously lifted her hand, brushing over the scar on her face, but soon she gave a nonchalant smile and shook her head, “It’s okay, it’s just a scar, and you’re not wrong. I too was a witness to that riot, there’s nothing that can’t be mentioned.”

“Among those in the riot, there were figures from the sect of Heretics as well. The vandals captured after the incident counted over a hundred Sun Heretics,” the district bishop said solemnly, “But now, the Sun Heretics who’ve infiltrated the City-State are inquiring about the event from eleven years ago… It’s as if they truly don’t know what exactly happened here back then. Don’t you find that strange?”

“…Either the Sun Heretics in Plunder City-State acted on their own eleven years ago, which is why the Heretics from other City-States don’t know the truth here, or… The appearance of the Sun Shard in Plunder eleven years ago was an accident, or possibly the work of some third party, and those heretics involved in the riot were just being used as pawns,” Fenna said coolly, “According to the interrogation records from back then, the ‘vandals’ who were captured indeed appeared to be out of their minds. Their madness and loss of control didn’t seem to stem from their own volition, but rather it looked more like they were influenced by a powerful force.”

“…Chasing after twisted and strange objects, only to be dominated and driven mad by such forces, becoming fuel for the fire of chaos, and in the end, discarded in the ashes…” The district bishop sighed, “It’s indeed a life of utmost tragedy.”

For a moment, Fenna didn’t speak. She simply stood up silently and walked over to the window of the rest room.

Through the window, she could gaze distantly upon the port area—the complete lockdown of the entire port had ended, with many docks and piers now back in use, yet Pier One was still under the highest level of lockdown, and the beautiful, brand-new steamship “White Oak” remained quietly docked at the end of the pier, monitored continuously according to schedule and undergoing a daily purification ritual.

The crew of the White Oak had been transferred to the central cathedral—as individuals who had come into close contact with the Homeloss, they were now under the highest level of surveillance. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Heretics following the Black Sun imprisoned beneath the cathedral, a ship that had encountered the Homeloss docked above in the harbor, and a group of sailors who had met face to face with Captain Duncan living inside the central cathedral… The thought alone was headache-inducing.

The sun was gradually setting, but it wasn’t yet the transition between day and night. The district bishop lit several oil lamps in the room ahead of time, their flickering flames reflecting on the window glass.

Fenna withdrew her gaze from the port area, “I heard that the emergency dossier for anomaly 099 has been distributed to the port area?”

“Yes, it just arrived this afternoon. Would you like to review it?” As he spoke, the district bishop pulled out the neatly folded dossier from his side, “Somehow, it arrived later than expected.”

“Let me see it,” Fenna reached out for the dossier, quickly reading it by the dying light of the sunset through the window, and offhandedly explained, “It’s normal to be a bit late—the loss of control of anomaly 099 is quite special, since it broke its seal during direct contact with the Ghost Ship. The bishops of all City-States had to carefully weigh the wording and direction of information in the dossier to prevent this document that’s about to be distributed to all ships from creating too many ‘direct connections’… Otherwise, what should help captains avoid risks could instead inadvertently link them with the Homeloss.”

In the dimming sky light as the sun neared its set, the oil lamp closest to Fenna suddenly flickered—accompanying the unwitting utterance of “Homeloss,” the flame in the lamp crackled softly.