Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 173 Fanna's Discovery

Fan Na stood quietly in front of the steps leading to the underground sanctuary, looking at the black door that had just been restored before everyone's eyes.

Three hours ago, she led the team to this deserted church, and saw the warm and bright lights inside the church, the main hall as usual, the nuns praying quietly, and the clean and tidy pulpit.

Two hours ago, she got rid of the nun who was obviously not right, and led the guards to find this underground sanctuary, and after opening the door of the sanctuary, she saw the truth inside—the dark underground space, as if before The sword-wielding nun who died not long ago, the battle traces all over the basement, and the intruder without a trace.

Two minutes ago, she completed the detailed inspection of the underground sanctuary, and together with her subordinates, brought the nun's body out of the underground sanctuary, preparing to send her to the central cathedral for autopsy and burial.

Then, the body of the nun who was taken outside the church turned into ashes blown by the wind in full view, and the basement door that was broken by violence two hours ago returned to its original state in the blink of an eye. Standing quietly at the end of the stairs, as if mocking the explorers standing on the stairs.

"Judge..." A guard warrior with a short beard approached Fanna with a low voice, "There seems to be some kind of time-space closed loop here..."

Fan Na nodded lightly, but said nothing.

What emerged in her mind was the horrific dream last night, as well as the "Captain Duncan" who invaded and polluted her dream.

The ghost captain's words in the dream echoed in her mind: "...if you really care about the safety of the city, you might as well go to the sixth street and take a look at the small church...

"I look forward to what you find out there..."

Is this what the "Captain Duncan" wanted himself to see?A locked time and space, a small church polluted and isolated by some unknown force, a nun who died fighting a mysterious invader?Why would he let himself see this?What does everything here mean?
Fanna frowned tightly. When she set off this morning, she was still thinking about the conspiracy of the Lost Country and the ghost captain, thinking about whether the other party led her to this small church. She wanted to corrupt and attack her own judge in some way, but now, she suddenly doubted her initial judgment.

Could it be...that ghost captain really just wanted to provide himself with a clue?Like an enthusiastic passerby... reporting to himself heresy in the city-state?
This idea came to Fanna's mind - not long ago, she had said the same thing to Bishop Valentine in a joking tone, but now she couldn't help but bring this absurd subspace-level joke to mind again Go through it again.

The next second, the young judge shuddered and his expression turned pale.

I was actually associating that ghost captain in the direction of "harmless", this must be the mental pollution of the other party at work!I can't keep thinking about it...

"Judge?" The subordinate's voice came from the side again, waking Fanna out of her distraction. The short-bearded guard had a worried expression on his face, "Did you... hear or see something?" Is there something?"

"...No, my mind is very clear." Fan Na shook her head and said to this seemingly reliable subordinate. She knew that this subordinate had contacted Bishop Valentine before departure, and most of them also shouldered the burden at this moment. She has the task of "supervising" herself as an officer, and she has no complaints about it-after all, she has been polluted by Captain Duncan, and it is normal to go out on missions even in shackles at this time.

"The time and space here have been reset, shall we go down and have a look again?" the subordinate asked again.

Fan Na pondered for a while, then turned her head and asked, "What are the 'nuns' doing over there in the main hall?"

"She's still praying," said a guard who had just returned from the main hall. "It seems that any of our activities outside the main hall won't attract her attention."

"Well," Fan Na nodded lightly, her eyes fell on the door at the end of the stairs, she bit her lips after a long time, "Go down again."

She led the guards to the entrance of the underground sanctuary again, stepped forward to push the door, and felt the familiar resistance again—the opposite side of the door was blocked, and it was the nun's body.

Last time, she asked her subordinates to use a crowbar to pry open the hinge of the door, opening the passage while trying not to damage the runes on the door body.

This time, she pressed her hand on the door panel, and after taking a light breath, she suddenly clenched her hands into fists and knocked on the door very quickly.

Within a hundredth of a second, the entire door vibrated undetectable to human senses, and then the solid door suddenly shattered into endless dust, wood chips and metal dust fluttered down, surrounded by Fanna The aura repels and blows away.

The body of the nun fell behind the door, except for the original injuries on her body, there was no extra damage.

And it wasn't until this moment that the guards at the scene heard a very low hum, which permeated as if it penetrated into the human brain, and then dissipated in the blink of an eye.

The warriors cast awe-inspiring gazes at the young judge, and Fanna was used to these gazes. She carried a long sword on her back, took the lantern from her waist with her left hand, and stepped forward after the gate shattered.

The glow of the lantern once again illuminated the dark underground space, and the scene at the entrance was exactly the same as the one I saw when I entered it for the first time. As expected, the time and space here had returned to the original point.

After another careful investigation, Vanna and the soldiers returned to the nun who died in battle.

Not long ago, Fan Na tried to take this nun's body out of the underground church, but now she has realized that this body may have become a "loop locked" like the mutated time and space here. One part, unable to leave this place again.

Quietly watching the nun's blood-stained face, Fan Na pondered for an unknown amount of time before she suddenly said softly: "...Are you still fighting in this cycle of time and space..."

There was a brief silence in the underground sanctuary, until the voice of a guard suddenly broke the silence: "Judge, what do you think... what is she fighting against?"

Fan Na pondered quietly, and after a long time, she raised her head thoughtfully, and analyzed the existing information one by one:
"The underground sanctuary is an excellent sealing environment. After the gate is closed, it is a cage;
"The whereabouts of the guards of the church are unknown, but they obviously did not participate in the battle in the underground sanctuary;

"The nun locked herself here and brought a weapon when she came in, which shows that she foresaw a battle before entering here;
"There are no traces of intruders left here, and considering that the space-time here is a closed structure, the intruders should also circulate here continuously, no matter how fast the intruders run, it is impossible for ta to open the door the moment we open the door." Time to erase all clues..."

The guards next to him listened to the chief's analysis one by one, and some of them suddenly reacted: "There is only one situation where the clergy will actively seal themselves up and prepare for the 'final battle' like this... ..."

"Yes, there is only one situation," Fanna said softly, and slowly stood up, "when the cleric finds that a subspace gate is about to open in his soul."

"Invasion of subspace!" A guard exclaimed in a low voice, "What she is fighting here... is her own shadow?! But... how is this possible, this is a church, and..."

"And no one has received the alarm from this church," Fanna said in a deep voice before her subordinates finished speaking. Of course, she knew how much something was wrong here, "The priesthood that has been completely polluted by the subspace The person will become the carrier and open the door to the subspace in the soul, but usually there is a process, especially in an environment like a church, no matter how urgent the matter is, the guards here should have the opportunity to send out The alarm is right, but now it seems that the nun's contamination has progressed very quickly...so fast that she only had time to grab a long sword and lock herself here..."

Speaking of this, she paused, and then said thoughtfully: "...It may also be that the alarm was sent out, but due to the interference of the subspace, the alarm failed to reach outside the church."

"...But this is not a ship sailing on the sea," the guardian warrior next to him murmured incredulously, "This is land, and the church is under a wide range of protection. How could the power of the subspace corrupt a priest so quickly? , and cut off the entire region from the outside world?"

"You're right, it's not right, everything here is not right, but what's even more wrong..." Fanna said softly, she looked around the underground sanctuary, the light from the lantern illuminated the dark walls and pillars , there seem to be countless sinister secrets hidden in the light and shadow, "If the subspace once polluted this place, where is it now?"

(End of this chapter)