Chapter 350 – Snow, Fog, and Secrets

Chapter 350 – Snow, Fog, and Secrets
In the dark and heavy coffin, the old bishop whose whole body was wrapped in bandages like a mummy finally said his secret that had been hidden for half a century, and after that, there was a long period of silence.

Agatha’s voice broke the calm: “But it is obvious that this matter is not over.”

The old bishop did not open his mouth, so Agatha asked again, “In your opinion …… nowadays, the frequent appearances of abnormalities within the city-state and the shadow of Dagger Island …… are also in the Frost Queen’s calculations?”

“The Queen is not a god, she may have predicted in advance that there would be an uprising to stop her ‘crazy’ move, but it’s impossible to predict what would happen here half a century later,” Bishop Ivan shook his head, he was still recalling those details from back then, but Probably because time was too far away, many of the details were actually blurred for him, ”I can’t actually remember what the Queen said to me that night, during the spirit sending ceremony, it seemed like she was talking to me the whole time, but as you know, performing the ceremony requires a high level of concentration and the inhalation of incense in advance, I… . can’t really remember what all she said to me.”

Saying this he paused and spread his hands somewhat helplessly, “Under normal circumstances, there wouldn’t be any ‘dead’ being laid on a platform exchanging ceremonial experiences with the cleric performing the ceremony.”

Agatha was silent, quietly pondering for a moment before suddenly speaking, “Can you tell me more about the situation back then? What else did …… you see in that church before the Subterranean Abyss program ended completely?”

“…… As far as I can remember, it snowed heavily on that day as it did this year, and for a long time, the snowfalls, both large and small, almost never stopped, and the snow would often cover the roads in the neighborhood around the chapel, making it impossible to see the boundaries of the roads, and there were a lot more falls because of it. “Bishop Ivan recalled quietly, his low, dulcet voice seeming to draw one’s imagination right back to that cold winter half a century ago, “Often people who had fallen came to the chapel for help – for the neighborhood clinic was full at the time.

“At that time, the Subterranean Program had caused a great deal of consternation in the city; it was not a taboo subject as it is today, and although the core parts were classified, the general public was aware of the existence of such a ‘sea-scouting’ program, and so it was not uncommon for people who came to the church to mention to me what they perceived to be ‘Oddities’ ……”

“Weird things?” Agatha couldn’t help but speak up.

“Yes, strange things; some say they have seen lights appearing in houses that have been unoccupied for a long time, others say their familiar neighbors suddenly changed their appearance when they went out one day, others say they have seen the gates of the cemetery open late at night, and the people who had been laid to rest during the day walked out of the cemetery at night in a grand manner-all All such frightening and bizarre stories, day and night, and given that the most evil thing in the city-state at that time was the Subterranean Project, people then attributed all these abnormal phenomena to the Subterranean Project in one fell swoop, and then …… began to attribute them to the Frost Queen.”

“People who were buried in the cemetery came out in a big way,” Agatha listened to the old bishop but suddenly frowned, as if associating with the present moment, “and there were lights appearing in the uninhabited houses, which …… this hear up ……”

“It sounds a lot like the forged body in Cemetery No. 3 and the room you saw at 42 Fireplace Street, doesn’t it?” The old bishop said slowly, “But the difference with that year is that you saw tangible evidence, and even collected evidence of suspected ‘primitives’, whereas back then there was only all sorts of gossip in the city-state – every day people came to me and saying that they’d encountered something bizarre, but the Guardians went out in all directions and they all came up empty-handed.”

“All in vain?” Agatha asked.

“Yes, of course we have to send people to investigate when we receive a report from the residents, even half a century ago we had these rigorous processes, I sent many people to investigate the scary and strange stories, the cathedral keeper of that year even carried out the investigation himself like you did, but we found nothing, except for the nervous citizens, everything was actually normal in the city-state –But in contrast, inside the test site of the Subterranean Abyss Program was gradually completely blocked off, and all the horrible things happened inside the blockade.

“As for what’s really going on there …… you’ve no doubt seen it in the archives – the constant presence of replica submersibles, the unregistered and unfamiliar traffic, the explorers who have sacrificed themselves in the depths of the sea. ”

Agatha fell silent for a moment, thoughts racing through her mind, and for some reason she always felt that she smelled a hint of violation in the old bishop’s narration, a hint of …… something wrong that had gone unnoticed for half a century.

“That is to say, although the Subterranean Abyss Project caused a lot of panic back then, in reality, all the abnormal events were only concentrated within the test site, and the city-state was actually functioning as usual-although everyone’s psychological pressure was high, and the city’s functioning was difficult due to the Queen’s extreme decrees, and there were constant reports of abnormal events, but analyzing it from the perspective of transcendent power, the ‘contamination’ from the deep sea never actually spread beyond the blockade line back then?”

“…… At the very least, as far as I can remember,” the old bishop nodded gently, but immediately afterward his words changed, “Of course, even so, I’m not defending the Frost Queen of that year for anything, even if the city-state was really everything is normal, her subterranean plan has also strained Frost’s economy and everyone’s nerves to the tipping point, even if the subterranean plan is really always within her control and never got out of control, that rebel …… uprising, it is also destined to happen.”

Agatha, however, seemed as if she hadn’t paid attention to what the old bishop was saying in the end, she just silently pondered for a while, and then shook her head, “It’s better to focus on the immediate future, Bishop Ivan, regarding the current situation within the city, as well as this whistle-blowing letter I’m holding in my hands, I would like to know what you have to say about it.”

“You found traces of the Annihilationists within the city and have evidence that they are behind the push, this is actually a good thing, the most frightening thing when Transcendent Contamination occurs is not the discovery of the enemy, but the lack of discovery of the enemy.”

Bishop Ivan spoke slowly and raised the letter in his hand again.

“This was also mentioned in this whistle-blowing letter you brought – it is suspected that the Annihilationists within Frost City have communicated the power of the deep sea through some sort of secret ritual, causing the deep sea pollution to spill out directly into the city-state, so we should find a way to locate the place where those cultists are holding their rituals. ”

Agatha gazed at the old bishop’s eye, which was exposed beyond the bandage, “You think that the ‘visitor’ of …… who wrote this informative letter can be trusted?”

“At least everything mentioned in the whistleblower letter is now proven to be true, even the parts that cannot be confirmed for the time being are logically valid,” Bishop Ivan nodded, “Of course, I can’t assert whether or not the being who wrote the letter can be trusted or not –The likes and dislikes and perspectives on the earthly world of the Higher Transcendents are different from those of mortals, so we can never get along with Him with the logic of human emotions. “I can only say that we can cooperate with them or even take the initiative to cooperate with them when they temporarily show neutrality or friendliness, but when they suddenly find this boring and are ready to turn their backs on us, we don’t have to be puzzled or surprised; we need to know that the only truly trustworthy and loyal Higher Transcendent Beings in the world are the Four Gods, and everything else is neither an enemy nor an ally. ”

The old bishop’s words contained the wisdom of the greater part of a century, and even though her status was equal, Agatha bowed her head slightly with respect.

“The next time that visitor appears again, I will try to initiate contact with him and see His current attitude.”

“That would be best.” Bishop Ivan nodded and said.

Agatha thought for a moment and then looked at the letter that was currently in the old bishop’s hands.

“Now then, there is only one last difficult puzzle left to solve.”

Along with her gaze, Bishop Ivan’s eyes also fell on the last part of that report letter.

The contents of the entire letter were well understood, but only that last part was difficult to penetrate the deeper meaning of it, no matter if it was the cemetery caretaker who had initially received the letter, or the current Agatha and Bishop Ivan.

The two spokesmen who represented the highest will of the Church in the city-state came together, and the three eyes that were exposed under the bandages stared at the end of the letter.

The mysterious visitor who could not be named had left a riddle in His secret letter.

“What exactly does the string of numbers …… mean?” Bishop Ivan asked hesitantly.

Agatha slowly shook her head, “I can’t see it either.”

“…… Perhaps a soothsayer can be called in to deduce it, or an expert in the fields of numerology and the occult can be called in to work it out together – it could be a secret number pointing to the future of the city-state.”

“Makes sense.”

……

On the edge of Uptown, at 44 Oak Street, immediately off of Fireplace Avenue, Duncan stood at the narrow window at the end of the second floor hallway, gazing out into the fading night.

After several moments, he suddenly turned his head and looked at Vanna, who was gawking beside him, “Do you think they’ve made the call yet at this point?”

Vanna snapped out of her walk and looked confused, “Ah …… huh?”

“Why don’t you go to the bank for me tomorrow and see if they’ve made any calls,” Duncan said with a serious look on his face, “I left an anonymous account number in that tip-off letter that I use specifically to receive tip-off awards.”

Vanna: “…… Huh?”

(end of chapter)