Chapter 1 The Shrine

In the heart of Lake Beynzz lay a small island, the only island on the lake. Due to its unique geographical location, the island was considered a sacred place. The Church of Glory believed it to be where the Goddess rested in this world. So, they built a magnificent chapel on the island to serve as the Goddess's earthly palace.

Naturally, such a sacred place would be heavily guarded. The outer edge of the island was garrisoned by the most powerful knights of the Church of Glory. It would be impossible to swagger in under their noses. Even Vivian's nocturnal stealth abilities probably wouldn't fool the skills of these Church masters. But Hao Ren had other ways to get in.

On the shore of the blood lake, in a depression that provided ample cover, Hao Ren led his tenants as they crept to this spot. He took out the data terminal. "You fly into the chapel first. If you confirm there's no one inside, teleport us in. Be careful not to be discovered."

"What if I get shot down?"

Hao Ren soothed, "Don't worry, I'll apply for a new one from Raven 12345."

"Screw you!"

Hao Ren rolled his eyes at the data terminal. "Because I firmly believe you can't be shot down. Hurry up and stop dawdling."

The data terminal taunted Hao Ren with a wiggle in the air before reluctantly turning off all its lights and flying swiftly across the sky under the cover of night toward the island in the center of the lake.

According to the information the group had gathered earlier, although the island was surrounded by heavy troops, the central chapel was deserted. As a forbidden area, it was almost always sealed. It only opened its doors twice a year: when the Holy Pearl toured here, the doors opened to welcome it, and when the Pearl left, the doors opened to send it off. Ever since Pope Anthony III issued a new interpretation of the scriptures hundreds of years ago, most people had been forbidden from entering the chapel. Only the following could enter: when the Pearl toured here, four nameless, faceless ascetic monks entered the chapel's front hall as Pearl guards, where they could stay for four days; the Pope of the Church of Glory could use divine magic to determine the date of their death, and in the month before they died, they would hand over the papal duties to their successor and then spend the last month of their life in the chapel; and a special monk who always wore a gray robe. No one knew his identity or name. This monk entered through the back door of the chapel on the night of the full moon of each main month to take care of cleaning and other chores. Apart from these, even the king of Holletta could not visit the chapel.

The extreme strictness of the Church of Glory in these religious regulations gave Hao Ren and his group an opportunity. The Holy Pearl was not in the chapel now, the current Pope didn't look like he was dying anytime soon, and today wasn't a full moon. The lakeside chapel was empty.

While waiting for the data terminal to send back news, Vivian couldn't help but turn to Lily. "Speaking of which, is it really necessary for you to dress like this?"

Lily was wearing black clothes from head to toe, and even her face was covered with a black mask that only revealed her eyes. She looked like a female warrior preparing to break into the Forbidden City alone. Hearing Vivian's words, she immediately tossed her head. "Hmph, you don't understand. It's called professional spirit. How can you carry out a covert operation without wearing night clothes?"

Vivian pointed at Lily's shiny silver tail and ears. "Put these things away first."

Lily continued to toss her head. "No, this is the pride of a werewolf."

Hao Ren felt that the biggest variable in tonight's operation would be this husky, whose mind was often off track. But it didn't matter. In an emergency, Lily could be thrown out. This loud canine was perfect for diverting attention.

"Also, why did we have to bring Doudou along?" Vivian looked at the little mermaid hanging on Hao Ren's arm. "You left her pot in the room."

"I'm worried," Hao Ren poked the little fish baby, who was stiff and holding his arm tightly like an armband. "Without her zoetrope, the little one gets scared easily. Besides, you saw her secretly gnawing on the table in the room just now. I don't dare to let this little thing out of my sight now. Hesperia has been acting like she's lost her soul. I don't believe she can help take care of Doudou."

Just then, a faint whooshing sound came from the night sky. The data terminal appeared ghostlike in the darkness. "There's no one in the small chapel, and it's quiet around. Let's go."

Hao Ren and the others' figures twisted for a moment, and then they were teleported into the chapel on the island in the center of the lake.

The sacred island remained quiet. The Church knights stationed around the island had no idea that their sacred place had been invaded. However, Hao Ren and his group hadn't gathered all the information clearly. Although the lakeside chapel was unguarded, it had its own defenses. The chapel was filled with defensive formations and alarm magic left by successive Popes. Unless authorized visitors or senior members of the Church deactivated the chapel's defenses through a secret route, any reckless intruder would be subjected to the ruthless attacks of countless magic formations.

This was why the Church of Glory was confident in leaving its most forbidden area "unattended."

But tonight, when Hao Ren and his group broke into the chapel, all the defenses and alarm systems were as quiet as if they had fallen asleep.

The bright light of the twin moons shone through the tall, narrow stained-glass windows of the chapel's front hall, making everything inside clearly visible. Hao Ren and his group quickly recovered from the brief dizziness of teleportation and curiously looked around.

Like other chapels, this front hall was simply furnished, without benches or cushions for people to rest. Although the exterior of the chapel was magnificent, the front hall was very simple. The most ornate part was at the end of the front hall, a small altar symbolizing where the Goddess had set foot. It was made of the most expensive Glosstone and placed on a huge obsidian slab. Around the small altar were various exquisite magical artifacts symbolizing the Goddess's authority, making this place seem like a throne.

Not far in front of the small altar, Hao Ren saw that the ground there was completely sunken.

"This should be where the Pearl was placed," Vivian came to the sunken ground, bent down, and touched the smooth cross-section as if it had been cut out by a sharp blade. "It is said that there was originally a high platform here, but it seems to have been transferred away along with the Pearl, and some of the floor is gone as well."

Lily cleverly looked around and suddenly looked up. "Ah, and some of the ceiling is gone too!"

Following Lily's finger, a circular area of the front hall's ceiling was also neatly cut out, corresponding exactly to the depression in the floor below.

Vivian nodded. "As expected, it should be spatial teleportation, and a very primitive and crude form of teleportation. It didn't limit the teleportation target but directly teleported everything within the area." Saying that, she stepped back a few meters and visually measured the range of the original depressions in the floor and ceiling. "It should be a flattened spherical space bubble with a radius of five or six meters, not a perfect sphere."

"Is it man-made or a natural phenomenon?" Hao Ren was very concerned about this.

"I don't know. It happened two months ago. Even if there were man-made magical fluctuations, they should have dissipated completely," Vivian shook her head and looked around. "It seems that the situation on the day the Pearl disappeared is still preserved here, probably to preserve the scene."

Lily squatted down and habitually sniffed the remaining scent on the ground, but she shook her head in confusion. "Strange, there's only the smell of cloth, it doesn't seem like…"

Nangong Wuyue kindly reminded her from the side, "You're still wearing a mask…"

Lily: "…Oh."

At this time, Hao Ren came to the ornate altar, his attention drawn to the mural behind the altar.

It was the same kind of strange mural he had seen in the mountain people's chapel, with bizarre colors of black and red intertwined, accompanied by incomprehensible light.

It seemed that all the chapels of the Church of Glory had this kind of thing. What did it mean?

Hao Ren stared at the mural for a while, feeling that the black and red bands were slowly moving, but whenever he focused on the seemingly floating colors, they instantly returned to their original positions—or maybe they really hadn't moved at all. He didn't understand why the chapel had to place this kind of incomprehensible thing. Logically speaking, this place should have a statue of the Goddess or some other religious totem.

And he vaguely remembered what the mural he had seen in the mountain people's chapel looked like. The one in front of him seemed a little different from that one.