"This island… this whole island is part of an ancient god. Everything on it… the rocks, the soil, those things that look like trees, it’s all the same…"
"The Annihilation Cultists who lived on this island used the island’s resources to build houses, make ships, eat things that grew out of the soil here, and day after day they performed rituals, summoning demons… connecting themselves to the whole island…"
"There aren't any living people on the island anymore. 'It' ate everyone. This island ate them… those idiots… those foolish cultists touched something deep within the island, and it came alive…"

Shirley hugged her knees, sitting on the ground at the edge of the plaza, recounting what she had just seen in fits and starts. She was still shaken, and the fear was deeply imprinted in her mind. The shock of briefly glimpsing "the truth" had put a heavy strain on her mind. Although the captain had "dragged" her out at the last moment, she still felt like something was buzzing in her head, and vague "memories" were darting around in her consciousness.

Agou stood guard beside Shirley, gently nuzzling her leg with its hideous and terrifying skeletal body, trying to soothe her frightened mind—which helped somewhat. Shirley was slowly recovering.

Duncan sat beside Shirley, shielding her mind from the influence of that contaminating knowledge, while curiously asking, "Touched something deep within the island? What exactly did they do?"

Shirley hesitated, searching through her chaotic memories. Too much information had flooded her mind at once, information from the "memories" left on this "living island." She hadn't had time to sort through it, think about it, or even understand it. Now, these chaotic memories were gradually churning up from the depths of her consciousness, and some useful fragments were finally becoming clearer.

"They… they dug too deep."

"Dug too deep?" Maurice frowned immediately. "What were they digging for?"

"In the center of the island, there's a passage leading underground…" Shirley frowned tightly, finally finding some more useful memory fragments. "It was when the sun went out…!"

"When the sun went out?" Maurice's eyes changed slightly, repeating the words as he exchanged glances with Vanna and the captain.

Shirley suddenly seemed invigorated. She matched the sounds she "heard" with the chaotic images she saw, and quickly said, "Yes, that's when! After the sun went out, there was still light on this sacred island. The cultists on the island remained 'awake'… Then they seemed to receive some kind of revelation and started digging in the center of the island… There was already a cave there, with black rock deep inside, and they started digging down like crazy, and then they found a secret chamber, but the chamber was sealed…"

Shirley paused, her tone becoming uncertain again. "They wanted to enter the secret chamber, but they didn't seem to have time to break it open, or even touch the door, before something happened…"

Amper walked over. The young Deep Sea Goddess priestess was very interested in what Shirley was saying. "So, the cultists on the island were all killed because they triggered the 'living island's' defense mechanism?"

Shirley blinked. She was about to nod, but then suddenly felt like she had forgotten something very important, and hesitantly shook her head.

"…No, they weren't killed by a 'defense mechanism'…" She slowly recalled, gradually understanding the "information" swirling around in her mind. After a few minutes of sorting and thinking, she finally understood the "truth." "They were killed by… 'knowledge'…"

As soon as she finished speaking, before she could say anything else, Maurice reacted instantly. "Don't say it!"

At almost the same time, Amper had already instantly pulled out the Storm Goddess's amulet from her pocket and used its tip to pierce her palm. The silent Death God priest leader, who had been quiet all the way, also took out the blessed ash box, and more than twenty marines were using amulets and holy objects to give themselves emergency protection.

Maurice instantly cast several layers of mental protection on himself, and wrapped the Rahm amulet and the colored stone bracelet around his wrist, before finally breathing a sigh of relief and nodding to Shirley. "You can talk now."

Shirley was startled by the scene. She asked subconsciously, "…Is it really necessary?"

Vanna looked at Shirley seriously and nodded. "Yes, because this is a 'knowledge' that instantly killed all the Annihilation Cultists on the island. Although, from your description, it’s related to the rituals they've been performing for a long time, this 'knowledge' may still be dangerous."

Maurice added from the side, "Usually, if investigators accidentally obtain hidden knowledge and survive, the safest and most professional operation is to transcribe the content onto parchment with 'secret words' blessed by the Four Gods, using this method to reduce and filter out the contamination carried in the information—do you know 'secret words'?"