Chapter 1 Sleepy-Eyed

The sleepy-eyed Bishop Valentine met the Inquisitor Vanna, who had rushed to the church late at night. The moment he heard Vanna's first sentence, the old man was completely awake.

"Captain Duncan entered your dream?!" The old bishop stared at Vanna in astonishment, even doubting whether he was still asleep. "That ghost captain took the initiative to find you… just to tell you a location and let you investigate?"

"Absolutely—though I know how unbelievable it sounds," Vanna nodded vigorously. On the way here, she had guessed that the old bishop would react like this, but she couldn't help it. After all, her bewilderment was no less than Valentine's. "The small chapel in the Sixth Block… My communication with that ghost captain was minimal, and this was the most important piece of information he revealed."

The old bishop was silent for a moment. In silence, he turned around, looking up at the statue of the Storm Goddess at the end of the cathedral. After an unknown amount of time, he finally broke the silence faintly, "Vanna, do you remember the pollution you were exposed to at the site of the cult ritual in the sewers? After that, we carried out remedial purification. Now it seems…"

"I understand what you mean," Vanna took a light breath, her expression still calm. "Now it seems that our purification has never been successful. The Ghost Ship *Shi Xiang Hao* (Lost Home) is still chasing me, and that ghost captain… has extended his power into my dreams."

"Are you still conscious now?" Valentine turned around, quietly gazing into Vanna's eyes.

"Conscious. I tried it on the way here. I can fully recite my own name and the goddess's name, and recite the contents of the *Storm Codex*," Vanna nodded. "Currently, the pollution is still in the shallow layers. Only my dreams are affected, and it has not yet spread to my physical body or words."

"The pollution is in the shallow layers, but it cannot be completely eradicated, like an irreversible countdown…" Valentine's tone was low, and his eyes were filled with deep worry. "And you happen to be the Inquisitor of the Pland City-State. No one can replace your position in a short time…"

Vanna knew what the old bishop meant.

She had already been mentally polluted by a higher-level transcendent power. As the church's Inquisitor, her "fortress" was actually being gradually breached. And a fortress that is about to be breached is unreliable, because no one knows to what extent this mental pollution will develop, no one knows whether the Vanna who wakes up the next morning is still Vanna. She is still loyal to the Storm Goddess, but the next second… no one knows who she will be loyal to.

If an ordinary guardian or priest was contaminated like this, things would be much easier. It would be simple to carry out a period of confinement and exorcism rituals. Or, if there was peace and tranquility in the city-state, it would be easy to handle. She could temporarily hand over her responsibilities to her deputy and go to the deepest part of the cathedral to receive the highest-level "safe isolation" and "divine grace purification," but…

Now, she, the "Inquisitor," is in an irreplaceable position. Even if she asks the Storm Church headquarters for help, it will not solve the problem in a short time.

“…I cannot leave my post,” after a brief thought, Vanna shook her head. She knew that she was giving the old bishop a difficult problem, but she had to continue to fulfill her duties. “I have a very bad feeling. We are facing a real, huge crisis. This crisis may not even be brought about by the Ghost Ship *Shi Xiang Hao* or the sun fragments. A larger shadow is lurking in the city-state. At this time, I cannot hand over the duties of the Inquisitor to anyone, not even my most trusted deputy.”

Valentine heard a different kind of seriousness in Vanna's tone. He immediately frowned slightly, "A crisis beyond the Ghost Ship *Shi Xiang Hao* and the sun fragments? Have you discovered anything recently?"

“…I investigated some things in the archives. Originally, I should have told you about this the next morning, but now it seems that the situation is more complicated than expected, and the urgency needs to be upgraded,” Vanna nodded, speaking with exceptional seriousness. “I have doubts about the time node when the sun fragments appeared in the Pland City-State, and based on this, I consulted some materials from 1889 and earlier years, and found a large number of low-urgency, yet strangely dense… records of heretical worship…”

As Vanna slowly explained, Bishop Valentine finally widened his eyes little by little.

“These materials have been quietly lying in our archives?” After Vanna finished speaking,

Valentine exclaimed in disbelief, “All along, no one has discovered them? Not even that missing year of 1885…”

“No one discovered it. Our city-state seems to have been ‘stolen’ of a part. Some obvious ‘realities’ have simply disappeared from everyone’s sight,” Vanna said in a deep voice. “And this kind of ‘disappearance’… doesn’t seem like something the sun fragments can cause.”

Valentine gripped the scepter in his hand tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white due to the force.

“Do you think there is any connection between this matter and the information that ‘Captain Duncan’ conveyed to you in your dream?” he suddenly asked.

“Not sure, but first of all, ‘stealing reality from the city-state’ is not the ability of the Ghost Ship *Shi Xiang Hao*. Secondly, if this matter was done by that ghost captain, then he has no reason to pollute my dream again and tell me the key clues—this does not fit the captain’s rough and chaotic style in the records,” Vanna analyzed calmly. “Unless… he suddenly changed his nature and became a nasty devil who teases the world, or…”

“Or?”

“Or became a warm-hearted person who cares about the safety of the city-state,” Vanna spread her hands. “He comes to report to me when he sees dangerous factors.”

“Cough, cough, your joke is on a whole other level,” Valentine coughed immediately, then glared at Vanna, “Don’t joke with me like this when you know you are already being watched by a higher transcendent being. It will make me doubt your mental state.”

As he said that, the old man patted his chest and, after smoothing his breath, stared seriously into Vanna's eyes, "Besides you, who else knows about the anomalies discovered in the archives?"

Vanna thought for a moment and shook her head: "Only I know. I went to check myself..."

She suddenly paused, as if her thinking was a bit stuck, but then she shook her head: "I went to check the archives myself."

"That's good… If there is a conscious mastermind behind this, then he shouldn't have realized that the conspiracy has been exposed," Valentine breathed a sigh of relief, and then had to agree with Vanna's previous statement, "You really can't leave your post now… You should already have an investigation plan for those files, right?"

“Yes, including coordinated action with the City Hall.”

"Start immediately tomorrow, and I will provide you with all the assistance," Valentine nodded immediately. "In addition, I will also report what happened here to the Pope, hoping that the Storm Cathedral can provide us with some assistance..."

While speaking, the old man thought for a few seconds and asked, "Can you still pray to the Goddess normally now?"

"Yes," Vanna answered immediately, "The connection between me and the Goddess has not been affected by that dream."

Valentine frowned: "But the Goddess has not given any revelations or warnings about the mental pollution you have suffered?"

"…Yes," Vanna hesitated for a moment, but still nodded in agreement, "The Goddess has not given a warning."

Valentine stroked his chin and, after a moment of deep thought, suddenly looked up and stared into Vanna's eyes: "...During this period, you must return to the church to rest at night. Do not fall asleep outside the church, and you must carry the *Storm Codex* with you at all times when you are out. In addition, if you feel unusually sleepy or tired when you are out, you must go to the nearest church immediately. Can you do it?"

"I can do it."

"...Alas, I hope you don't think this is some kind of harsh treatment or doubt," the old bishop sighed. Although Vanna agreed very firmly, he couldn't help but say, "You can't leave your post now, and there is no higher-ranking priest in the Pland City-State than you who can act as your 'supervisor.' This is a necessary arrangement to ensure that you can fulfill your basic duties..."

"Please rest assured, I understand, of course," Vanna showed a faint smile, comforting the old bishop in front of her. "You and I are just as clear about what kind of dangerous things we are fighting against. Compared to those predecessors who sacrificed due to lack of experience and theory, we are already extremely lucky to be able to fight to this day under the protection of the rules."

She paused at this point, and then continued: "Then about the small chapel in the Sixth Block..."

"It must be investigated. No matter what the 'ghost captain' found you for, we must investigate that church," Valentine nodded slowly.

head, “And… I just recalled it slightly, but I can’t recall who the person in charge of that church is. It seems there really are some problems there.”

"Okay, I'll personally lead a team there tomorrow."

“Yes,” Valentine nodded slightly, then looked at Vanna curiously, “Besides the matter of the small chapel, what else did that ghost captain say to you?”

It would have been better if he hadn't asked. As soon as he asked, Vanna's expression suddenly became strange.

Valentine: “…Why do you have that expression?”

“He… did say one more thing to me, a very bizarre sentence,” Vanna’s face was full of hesitation, “I don’t know if we should take it seriously…”

"What should or shouldn't be taken seriously? The more bizarre the content, the more likely it is to be the key to everything!" Valentine glared suddenly. "What exactly did he say?"

Vanna hesitated for two seconds and finally took a deep breath, her face serious: "Get some fries."

Valentine: "..."

After a moment of silence, the old bishop finally spoke again: “Really?”

“Absolutely true, as real as my faith in the Goddess.”

“…Ah, then that is indeed… indeed a bit too bizarre…”