Chapter 167

Chapter 167: A High-Level Report.

To be honest, Duncan regretted saying that the moment the words left his mouth—he was genuinely afraid this straightforward Young Lady Vanna would destroy her own eyes on the spot…

The young Inquisitor’s reaction had gone far beyond his expectations. He had imagined that a top villain like himself taking the initiative to appear would certainly trigger strong hostility in Vanna, but he had not expected her actions to be so decisive and fast. In almost the blink of an eye she had identified key elements such as Dream Invasion and Mirror Mediums and had carried out targeted countermeasures. This was completely different from when he invaded Shirley’s dream before.

From start to finish, she even tried her best to avoid communicating with him, the Intruder. That was an “emergency measure” to keep spiritual corruption from spreading when a dream was invaded.

In fact, the difference between a trained high-ranking Inquisitor and some bastard wild-path supernatural was not small at all. If Duncan’s own power had not been so bizarre, and if this entire intrusion had not been built entirely inside Vanna’s own mind, then any slightly weaker Intruder would probably have been thrown out after a single exchange with her.

Now Vanna had calmed down. She only quietly watched the ghost captain who had appeared at the center of her vision. She had not acted on the impulse to destroy her own eyes, perhaps because she had realized this dream had already been completely invaded and ordinary expulsion methods were unlikely to work.

She closed her eyes, but Duncan still stood before her in the darkness, his figure becoming even gloomier. His form flickered between real and unreal in the light of the spirit form flame.

“What do you want,” the young Inquisitor finally spoke, her voice as cold and hard as steel. “How did you invade my dream?”

Her attitude was full of hostility. Duncan only found it interesting. The way this Inquisitor acted now was nothing like the polite, calm manner she had shown when she visited the antique shop.

He truly did not know what kind of reaction she would have if she ever learned the truth of the antique shop.

“I only want to tell you one thing,” Duncan skipped the small talk and spoke bluntly. “If you truly care about the safety of the city-state, you should go to the Sixth District and take a look at that small Cathedral.”

After he spoke, he closed his mouth and stood quietly amid the surrounding flames, maintaining a mysterious and imposing presence.

Vanna froze when she heard the ghost captain’s answer.

In that instant, it was as if something pierced a layer of the Veil and lifted a corner that had always been hidden in her mind. “Sixth District, small Cathedral”—these two words carved themselves sharply into her thoughts, leaving her slightly dazed.

But more than that brief daze, the Mortal Realm of her dream being corrupted by Captain Duncan stirred her heart much more strongly. She tried to offer a silent Prayer to the Goddess in her heart. However, the Goddess’s power could not pierce this layer of illusion. She watched the “captain” in front of her with deep wariness, but could not read any emotions from that shadowy figure that she could use to judge him.

After a few seconds, she finally bit down lightly, forced herself to stay calm, and spoke in a low, steady voice: “You invaded an Inquisitor’s dream just for… this?”

“Judge for yourself,” Duncan said calmly. “I look forward to what you will discover there.”

As he said this, he had already begun to feel his connection to this dream quickly become unstable.

A powerful repulsive force was starting to take effect.

He noticed that Vanna had not calmed down as much as she appeared. Though she was speaking with him on the surface, this young Inquisitor was resisting him, the Intruder, every second with sheer willpower. Her mind was so firm that she had struggled to the very edge of waking by will alone!

This made Duncan realize that the exchange had to end quickly. After he passed on the necessary information, he needed to leave behind a mysterious image and withdraw calmly.

He did not plan to explain too much to her. He did not expect to make his friendly stance clear or build any trust with Vanna with just a few words. The conflict between “Captain Duncan” and a city-state Inquisitor was not something that could be solved by smooth talking. If he explained too much, he would only look more suspicious and might even draw Vanna’s attention toward unnecessary directions.

The spirit form flames spreading through the darkness slowly drew back. Duncan’s figure began to retreat in Vanna’s field of vision.

But in the last few seconds before the connection broke, Vanna still could not hold back her question: “What exactly are you plotting for Pland?!”

In the darkness, Duncan lifted his head. Suddenly, a strong streak of mischief rose in his heart.

He fixed his gaze on the young Inquisitor through the dream, the corners of his mouth slowly lifting. In the ghostly green light of the spirit form flames, Vanna heard the most absurd and baffling sentence she had ever heard since becoming an Inquisitor:

“Order some fries.”

The dream collapsed with a roar, and the connection was completely severed.

In the void of chaotic darkness, Duncan stepped back half a step and looked at the starlight before him, which was flickering unsteadily.

AI, now in the form of a skeletal pigeon, flew through the darkness and landed on his shoulder, flapping its wings.

“No matter what wild thoughts she has next, at least one thing is certain,” Duncan glanced at AI and murmured as if to himself. “The two key pieces of information—Sixth District and the small Cathedral—have now entered the field of view of Pland’s Storm Grand Cathedral. For whatever reason, they will definitely launch the highest-level investigation there.”

Duncan’s plan was simple and effective. All he needed was to pry the lid off that small Cathedral in the Sixth District and draw the attention of the Deep Sea Church over there. As for what Vanna and the priests behind her would think about everything afterward, that did not matter at all.

The greatest moving calamity on the Boundless Sea had personally come to an Inquisitor in a dream to report Heretic corruption inside the city-state. That alone was enough to make those priests ponder themselves to death. But before they finished puzzling it out, they would definitely throw all their strength at that small Cathedral. By then, whatever secrets the Cathedral hid would be dug out by them.

Of course, during this investigation, Vanna might waste some effort because of the existence of the Vanished, but that was just a minor detail.

When he thought back to the little stunt he had pulled at the end of the dream, a faint smile appeared on Duncan’s face.

“Order some fries?” AI, perched on his shoulder, noticed the smile and tilted its head. “Finely dice them for a topping?”

“…Your language is getting more and more broken,” Duncan frowned. “Still, having some fries tomorrow morning is not a bad idea. I can use the chance to teach Alice how to make some proper food.”

…

Vanna’s eyes snapped open.

There was no lamp light in the room. Only the pale, cold glow of the World’s Wound shone through the window into the bedroom. In the dim light, all the furnishings seemed covered in mottled shadows.

Her heart was pounding. It felt as if hot iron bars had been shoved into her skull. The dull ache from severe mental exhaustion and extreme tension pulsed between her two temple points. Her nightgown had been soaked with sweat and now clung cold and uncomfortable to her skin.

But this discomfort was nothing compared to that dream that had been invaded by corruption.

Vanna sat up in bed and carefully looked around. She slowly blinked a few times, then closed her eyes and opened them again.

Each time, her heart thumped hard twice. She was testing whether she had really shaken off that ghost captain’s “phantom”, yet she still feared that his figure would appear in her field of vision the very next second.

Only after she confirmed that she had escaped the intrusion and that this was indeed the world of the Mortal Realm did she finally let out a long breath.

In all her years as an Inquisitor, she had rarely been this tense.

Vanna got out of bed and went to the dressing table not far away.

The dressing table stood there intact, and only her own reflection appeared in the mirror.

She stood in front of the mirror for several seconds, as if to check every detail in it. Then she shook her head hard, pulled open the drawer of the dressing table, and took out a Storm Rune Dagger carved with runes of storms and waves.

She held the Holy Relic, cut her skin, and let fresh blood soak into the runes. Then she offered a Prayer to the Storm Goddess.

In the short Prayer, she heard gentle waves sounding by her ear. The Goddess’s protection, as always, soothed her restless heart.

After reestablishing her connection with the Goddess, Vanna finally relaxed. Then she briskly changed out of her sweat-soaked nightclothes, put on clothes for going out as fast as she could, grabbed the greatsword by the bed, and pushed the door open to leave the room.

A short time later, a private car driven by a steam core broke the quiet of the Upper City center. Under the bright gas streetlamps, Vanna drove straight toward the Grand Cathedral.

She had to tell Bishop Valentine what had happened tonight as soon as possible, along with the strange things she had discovered in the archives earlier. The situation was already far more complicated than expected. This was no longer an affair that Inquisitors alone could handle.

If necessary, Pland might even need to contact the Storm Grand Cathedral that was patrolling the Boundless Sea.

Vanna’s gaze was firm. Her breathing was steady. Her thoughts were clear.

But suddenly, a bit of hesitation rose in her heart again.

She recalled the strange scene at the very end of that dream.

Order some fries… what did that even mean?!