Chapter 1 The Intense Battle in the Alley

The battle in the alley was intense but brief. From the moment the two cultists were exposed to the end of the fight, only a few minutes had passed. However, Vanna believed that the commotion caused in those few minutes was enough to attract the patrolling guardians.

Of course, whether from a standpoint or in terms of strength, she was not afraid of the Frost guardians—but at this time, she had no intention of complicating matters.

Just as she was wondering how to signal Duncan, who had entered the building, the dark door happened to open.

Duncan and Morris appeared in the light.

The next second, Duncan strode towards the alley where Vanna and Alice were. Morris turned back to close the door while outlining patterns resembling ancient characters in the air on the door, as if praying to the God of Wisdom to cast some extraordinary power.

"I sensed movement outside," Duncan said as he approached Vanna and Alice. He looked up at the situation in the alley, frowned slightly, and quickly asked, "What happened?"

"As expected, there were Annihilation cultists watching this place—Alice detected their presence, and we had a brief exchange," Vanna replied immediately. "Both heretics are dead, none escaped, but the commotion may have alerted the guardians. They will be here soon."

"Alice detected them?" Duncan first looked at the doll beside her in surprise, then noticed the strangeness in Vanna's expression, realizing that the situation might be more complicated than he thought, but he didn't press further. He just nodded slowly. "Let's not talk about it. Prepare to move."

"Erase the traces they left behind," Alice said, having finished cleaning up. "Garonne will forget the last twenty-four hours after waking up. Even if skilled mental healers search her memory, they shouldn't be able to restore much."

"Well, good."

Prand, the city-state that lacked the calm of night, no longer needed her as an Inquisitor, but as long as she followed the Vanishing Sail, she would always have a stage to show her talents.

"Starting more than half a month ago, Tirian received strange and contradictory information. Sometimes the information mentioned that Duncan had a 'return of the dead' phenomenon, sometimes it said that these were rumors, and the so-called dead were actually normal residents. Sometimes, this completely contradictory information even came from the same informant," Vanna took over from Alice and continued, "At first, Tirian thought that the Frost authorities were controlling the news, and the church was trying to reduce the impact of strange events on the residents, but now it seems... it is very likely caused by cognitive distortion."

Duncan nodded solemnly, but in his eyes, a hint of joy gradually emerged.

Then, he raised his hand and beckoned in the darkness.

"No one can say for sure how many are copies and how many are genuine. And that's secondary, after all, the copies shouldn't escape his eyes. He can quickly distinguish them when they meet. The most troublesome thing is these normal special people..." Vanna said, pausing, thinking briefly, and then shook her head. "In short, Tirian's informants in this city are not so reliable anymore. Some of them may have been replaced, some may have had their cognition twisted, and some may even be spies of the Annihilation cult... Be careful when contacting them."

The iron-skinned hut was next to the old factory. There was a large hole in the window of the hut. Vanna crawled into the hut through the hole. With the sudden rise of spiritual flames, the figures of Alice and her party appeared in the hut.

Alice opened her mouth, not knowing how to evaluate the young Inquisitor, but soon she focused on something else.

Moreover, Morris was a scholar who was developing in all aspects—he was afraid that he had maxed out free combat and outdoor survival before studying history...

"Don't worry," Alice said, noticing Vanna's gaze. She smiled slightly and raised her hand to outline the sacred runes bestowed by the God of Wisdom, Rahm, on her chest. "Until two years ago, I often explored these ancient relics and cursed ruins on the edge of dangerous waters. The environment there is far more difficult than here—academic research has never been a tense job, especially when dealing with history."

"We can also contact the informants that Captain Tirian has placed in this city," Vanna said from the side. "We should know they can help arrange accommodation and provide information..."

The cold and mysterious northern city-state, the constantly replaced city-state residents, the informants who were once securely placed are no longer reliable, and these seemingly normal and harmless ordinary citizens are gradually experiencing memory and cognitive contamination. Untrustworthy voices fill the entire city, and contamination spreads beneath the surface.

Alice was a cursed doll, Vanna was a beautiful girl and strong warrior, and even Mr. Morris, who looked the healthiest, was an extraordinary person who possessed many divine powers—in terms of strength, there was no need to worry about them, but the cold winter night in this northern city-state might not be so friendly to the old gentleman.

Vanna looked at Duncan with a strange expression.

"Ah, I just thought of being able to continue to eradicate heretics, and I feel a little happy."

Eradicate heretics, purify pollution.

This was good, because everything was back in her area of expertise.

The sound of flapping wings broke the silence in the night. The white dove perched on the roof of a distant building flew swiftly, and the next second, a ghostly green flame flashed in the alley, leaving only the sound of flapping wings gradually fading into the night.

She began to understand another purpose of why Pope Helena sent her to the Vanishing Sail.

She looked at the doll who was standing beside her in a daze.

Vanna thought for a while and felt that the old gentleman was right.

"This is Brown's student, named Garonne—in her memory and cognition, the relevant parts of her mentor's death at sea have been completely deleted," Morris said from the side. "And according to my and the captain's judgment, this situation... may not be an isolated case in the entire Frost."

The historians and folklore scholars in this world are indeed quite hardcore professions. Even the "home-based scholars" who don't leave their homes must have some unique skills, after all, they often fight with the things they are studying, and those cursed books and possessed relics will not honestly lie in the display room.

Duncan's expression suddenly became serious.

The street returned to calmness again—a few more minutes passed before a series of hurried footsteps and the swaying lights of lanterns appeared on the nearby street.

"Alice and I have finished talking about our progress, it's time to talk about your situation."

Ayi didn't leave too far—in fact, it just flew a block away and found a foothold near an old factory.

"It's not a big problem, just don't turn on the lights. Anyway, they can't sense the aura here," Vanna said casually. "We'll wait here until dawn before taking action—is that okay?"

"It was a Deep Sea Embers duplicate, and it self-destructed. We were one step late and only found some clues he left behind," Duncan said, shaking his head. "But this was basically expected. In addition, we also saw a female apprentice in a state of cognitive and memory disorder in this house—she's a normal person."

Duncan immediately looked around, seeing thick dust in the old hut, a wooden bed and simple tables and chairs in the corner, and some sundries piled up on the other side of the room. The cold wind howled in the room, and the hole in the nearby window made a whining noise in the wind.

"I will contact them, but not now," Vanna waved her hand, then her expression became slightly serious. "From today on, be careful to carefully screen anyone you contact in Frost, including those 'informants' mentioned by Tirian."

"It's for temporary rest for the pumping station maintenance personnel, and usually no one comes to live here except during the overhaul period—although I don't know when the overhaul period here is, at least today this is a place where you can rest temporarily," Duncan said as he came to the window and looked outside through the dirty glass. The old factory stood silently in the night, seeing the turbid factory lights and hearing the sound of the machines running inside the factory. "There must be a priest sitting in this factory that operates day and night. If there is an extraordinary battle in the distant block, the alert level of this factory will also increase."

"Captain Tirian's informants are all over the entire Frost... are you saying that it is a cognitive and memory contamination that covers the entire city-state?!" Frost realized the seriousness of the matter. "Is that city-state now..."

Duncan was stunned, then realized something: "You confirmed that this 'Brown Scott'..."

"Is it my illusion? Why do I feel like your mood has suddenly improved?"

As he spoke, he looked at the two people in his sight.

Duncan nodded lightly. He didn't really care about hiding his tracks, but it wouldn't be bad to have fewer people bothering him in the early stages of the operation.